Point of View December 4, 2024 – Hour 2 : Love is Love

[00:00:04] Across America, Live, this is Point of View, Kirby Anderson.

[00:00:20] If you've been listening to Point of View any length of time, you know that we often times quote from the Worldview Bulletin.

[00:00:25] When it first began, I got a subscription, I've had one ever since, we've encouraged you to get one as well.

[00:00:31] And we do have an article from it today, and it is actually written by the editor of the Worldview Bulletin, Christopher Reese,

[00:00:39] an individual that has both a THM and a Master of Divinity.

[00:00:43] He's a writer, editor, or journalist. You've seen him in a number of different venues over the years with some of his writing.

[00:00:48] But this particular article came out just a few days ago, and it is entitled, A Better Story Than Love Is Love.

[00:00:58] And so, Christopher, welcome back to Point of View.

[00:01:02] Thanks, Kirby. I love your show, and always a joy to be on with you.

[00:01:06] Just before we get into the article, let's again talk about the Worldview Bulletin.

[00:01:12] From time to time, I encourage people to get a subscription, and I'm not asking anybody to do something I have not done.

[00:01:18] And we do have a link there to your website.

[00:01:21] And of course, at the end of any of these articles, there's a place where people can subscribe

[00:01:26] and also get this particular article we're talking about, which I think people will find very helpful.

[00:01:31] But this has been going for some time, and I think it is a great illustration of how you are sort of an aggregator.

[00:01:40] Even this particular article, if I remember right, was actually first published by Summit Ministries.

[00:01:46] And so, in some respects, if you're interested in developing a Christian worldview,

[00:01:50] we have a chance to hear from you and from so many other authors.

[00:01:56] And in some respects, I've been introduced to some of these authors through the Worldview Bulletin.

[00:02:02] Could you maybe share a little bit more about it and its history?

[00:02:07] Right, yes.

[00:02:08] So, again, this was something I started about five years ago, and several folks joined me.

[00:02:16] We have some really sharp Christian scholars and apologists on the team.

[00:02:21] And I know you've had several of them on the show over the years, as you mentioned.

[00:02:27] And so, yeah, we're just trying to proclaim and defend the Christian worldview

[00:02:34] and talking about a lot of current events and how we can understand them in the light of Scripture and theology.

[00:02:46] And, yeah, really talking about the truth and goodness and beauty of the Christian worldview.

[00:02:54] And, again, if you're familiar with certainly some of these writers, Doug Groteis, of course, has been on the program so many times, even before this, and Melissa Cain Travis.

[00:03:05] And, of course, it really was kind of begun because of people like Paul Gould and Paul Copan and others.

[00:03:12] Another one that we met actually because of this, Kelly Keller.

[00:03:16] I've been following her individually in addition to some of that.

[00:03:19] So it's been a way for me to kind of connect up with some people that we've had on the program and to meet others.

[00:03:26] So let me, again, encourage you to go to the website, pointofview.net.

[00:03:30] There's a button that says subscribe, and you can do so.

[00:03:33] This one, a better story than love is love.

[00:03:36] And I like how you start.

[00:03:37] You said, you know, you've probably seen the slogan, love is love, or some variation on a T-shirt, bumper sticker, whatever, poster.

[00:03:43] And, of course, it's been used by various corporate organizations, Facebook, Coke, Vans, Nordstrom.

[00:03:50] You go through a long list.

[00:03:51] And it's kind of like where the corporations, you say, are sort of using this as a maxim to take on an air of moral teachers.

[00:04:00] And so it's like, well, who could be against somebody saying love is love until you start asking, well, what does that really mean?

[00:04:08] And how is that, in some respects, tied back to the idea of LGBTQ?

[00:04:13] LGBTQ.

[00:04:14] So that, in some respects, is why you decided to write this, because you've seen this slogan and this maxim so many different places, haven't you?

[00:04:24] Yes, that's right.

[00:04:25] Yeah, you see it pop up in a lot of places, you know, T-shirts and bumper stickers.

[00:04:31] And it has sort of become a catchphrase for LGBTQ, you know, activists.

[00:04:40] And, yeah, and, you know, as you mentioned, yeah, a lot of large corporations, I think, sort of kind of seize on to that.

[00:04:50] And, you know, a lot of times it kind of feels like it's some virtue signaling on their part.

[00:05:00] And so, yeah, you do see it all over the place.

[00:05:05] Well, and again, I think that there is a good illustration of how sometimes a little slogan or a phrase can sort of win the way of our argument.

[00:05:16] I'm holding up on one of the booklets we made available a while back called Sex and Culture.

[00:05:20] A lot of it is quoting from Carl Truman, who wrote The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self.

[00:05:25] Also, a little bit later, The Strange New World, How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution.

[00:05:32] Because whether it is love is love, or in there we even talk about same-sex marriage, you know, sometimes it's not even words.

[00:05:39] I've seen these bumper stickers just with the word equal sign, and that's enough, you know.

[00:05:43] And the implication is that there is really no difference between opposite-sex marriage and same-sex marriage.

[00:05:49] And so some of these slogans really need to be re-evaluated, and, of course, that's what you do.

[00:05:55] So let's see if we can get into that.

[00:05:57] One of the questions you ask is, what is love?

[00:06:00] And point out the fact that, of course, we live in a world that's awash with phrases about that.

[00:06:04] Popular music and popular phrases and TV shows and romantic comedies, rom-coms, and all those kinds of things.

[00:06:12] But this whole idea of love really needs to be broken apart.

[00:06:17] And so, in some respects, you draw upon, of all people, Soren Kierkegaard, although you also quote from the late Timothy Keller.

[00:06:25] But help us with that, because in some respects, once we understand what love is and what love isn't,

[00:06:32] we can begin to see some of the flaws in that particular phraseology, can't we?

[00:06:38] Right.

[00:06:40] Yeah, the sort of idea of love that's kind of popular in the culture today is the kind of love that's built on the idea of expressive individualism

[00:06:55] or the autonomous self.

[00:06:57] And you mentioned Carl Truman's work, and he's done really interesting and excellent work, you know,

[00:07:03] explaining sort of how we arrived to that concept in our culture today.

[00:07:11] And sort of the main idea is that, you know, the goal of your life as an individual is to sort of carve out your unique identity in the world.

[00:07:21] And even if that means sort of casting off, you know, tradition or other commitments or, you know,

[00:07:30] not being interested in what anyone else thinks, and you sort of just kind of shape this, you know,

[00:07:37] your personal identity.

[00:07:40] And so that's different from, you know, the way things were, say, previous to the Enlightenment,

[00:07:47] where identities, people's identities were mainly formed through their communities and their faith.

[00:07:55] So this is really sort of a self-centered type of approach.

[00:08:00] And the idea of love, that love is love, sort of grows out of that.

[00:08:07] And it's interesting that Kierkegaard talks about that.

[00:08:14] And he says that the person who adopts this viewpoint, he calls the esthete, which comes from the word aesthetics.

[00:08:24] And so this kind of love is really focused on feelings.

[00:08:31] It's about, you know, what sort of excites me or entertains me or fulfills me personally.

[00:08:39] And that's really the main focus of it.

[00:08:43] Let's take a break.

[00:08:43] We'll continue our conversation with Christopher Reese right after this.

[00:08:57] This is Viewpoints with Kirby Anderson.

[00:09:04] Gerard Butler wrote in the Wall Street Journal that he hopes that four more years of Trump may make America normal again.

[00:09:10] He begins with a Hans Christian Andersen story of the emperor's new clothes.

[00:09:14] A small boy calls out the truth in this charade.

[00:09:17] Gerard Butler points to five items of invisible attire that we've had to wear for too long.

[00:09:23] First is the idea that people who have stolen into this country illegally

[00:09:27] should be showered with all the rights and benefits of citizens.

[00:09:30] We've been told that we cannot deny them those rights and must give them sanctuary in our already strained cities.

[00:09:36] Second is the idea that we cannot take advantage of our vast reservoirs of natural energy resources.

[00:09:42] Instead, we must restrain ourselves from using the energy reserves beneath our feet.

[00:09:47] Third is the idea that after a century and a half of racial progress,

[00:09:51] we are suddenly obliged to believe that America is as oppressive as it was in 1619.

[00:09:56] And we must believe that the best way to right the past wrong of treating people based on the color of their skin

[00:10:02] is to treat people based on the color of their skin.

[00:10:06] Fourth is the idea that children should, without parental consultation or consent,

[00:10:11] be free to choose their gender.

[00:10:12] And they should be assisted by the state in committing acts of self-mutilation.

[00:10:17] Fifth is the idea that democracy and freedom are best protected by denying people

[00:10:22] the right to express certain views that the authorities deem misinformation

[00:10:26] and by weaponizing the law against political opponents.

[00:10:29] If we can reverse some of these harmful and erroneous ideas,

[00:10:33] it is indeed possible that America might become normal again.

[00:10:37] I'm Kirby Anderson, and that's my point of view.

[00:10:46] For a free booklet on a biblical view of anti-Semitism,

[00:10:50] go to viewpoints.info slash anti-Semitism.

[00:10:53] Viewpoints.info slash anti-Semitism.

[00:10:58] You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth.

[00:11:04] Back once again, Christopher Reese with us as we are talking about his article

[00:11:07] that appeared in the Worldview Bulletin.

[00:11:09] If you'd like to know more about the Worldview Bulletin or even get a copy of this article,

[00:11:13] it is available at our website at pointofview.net.

[00:11:16] A better story than love is love.

[00:11:20] And again, you quoted just a minute ago from Soren Kierkegaard,

[00:11:23] the aesthetic, which is kind of like aesthetics,

[00:11:25] but it's the idea that you're really not looking as to whether something is good or bad,

[00:11:31] but more whether it's interesting.

[00:11:33] It's judged on whether it's fascinating or thrilling or exciting.

[00:11:37] The problem with that, as you point out, is that, as the quote says,

[00:11:43] if a wife loses her beautiful skin and countenance or a husband puts on pounds,

[00:11:48] the aesthetic begins to look around for someone more beautiful.

[00:11:52] If the spouse has a debilitating disease, begins to feel life is pointless.

[00:11:57] And so, again, I think we can see that sometimes the secular view of love,

[00:12:04] which is maybe the Greek words phileo or eros,

[00:12:07] don't encompass the other aspect of love, which would be agape.

[00:12:12] And that, as we all know, I think, Christopher,

[00:12:15] individuals who are Christians who have loved their wives all the way to their death,

[00:12:20] even in the midst of difficult circumstances,

[00:12:22] we know parents that have loved their children even when they've been disobedient.

[00:12:27] And it does seem to me that the biblical view of love is much broader than the secular view of love,

[00:12:35] don't you think?

[00:12:37] Yep, that's exactly right.

[00:12:40] Yeah, you know, compared to the Christian view of love,

[00:12:44] that, you know, agape love,

[00:12:46] which is other-centered and focused on someone else's well-being or highest good,

[00:12:55] you know, this sort of love is love type of approach,

[00:12:59] it's very superficial.

[00:13:02] And really, it's based on feelings.

[00:13:05] And so once the feelings are gone,

[00:13:09] then, you know, the aesthetic, as Kierkegaard says,

[00:13:14] will start to look around and try to find something else that will generate those same feelings for them.

[00:13:22] And so, yeah, it's really a very inward-focused, self-centered type of love.

[00:13:29] Well, again, you can see this with Hollywood stars, celebrities,

[00:13:33] scions of business sometimes that just go through serial number of marriages and divorces,

[00:13:41] always sort of seeking the next one.

[00:13:43] And so, first of all, that's one part of your article.

[00:13:46] As a matter of fact, you can kind of break it down in Part A and Part B.

[00:13:49] Part A really talks about one of the big issues of this love is love,

[00:13:54] and that is it has a diminished view of love.

[00:13:57] But then you get into a second article,

[00:14:00] a very important argument,

[00:14:03] and that is the whole idea that all forms of love,

[00:14:08] romantic, sexual, whatever it might be,

[00:14:10] are valid and equal.

[00:14:12] And that's the issue.

[00:14:13] Does love have any boundaries?

[00:14:15] Well, you would think that, at least in a society with some common sense,

[00:14:21] as you point out, there might be a few boundaries.

[00:14:24] One of those would be,

[00:14:25] what about love between a father and a daughter?

[00:14:28] A love between an adult and a minor child?

[00:14:31] Love between humans and animals?

[00:14:35] Love of husbands of multiple wives?

[00:14:38] I mean, go through all the what-ifs,

[00:14:40] and it seems to me that anybody paying attention would say,

[00:14:43] well, obviously there have to be some boundaries,

[00:14:45] but they always want to draw new boundaries.

[00:14:49] Hence, of course, this whole idea that what we talk about in terms of the booklets

[00:14:53] on same-sex marriage, sex and culture, and the rest,

[00:14:57] every few generations, sometimes every few decades,

[00:15:01] we redefine what the boundary is for love.

[00:15:05] But I think you raise another significant issue.

[00:15:07] It isn't just a diminished view of love,

[00:15:10] but this idea of love is love seemingly implies no boundaries.

[00:15:15] And I would think that at least most fair-minded people

[00:15:17] would recognize there have to be some boundaries, right?

[00:15:22] Right.

[00:15:23] Yeah, every society has always had some type of boundaries in place

[00:15:28] when it comes to sexuality.

[00:15:32] And this sort of love is love approach or slogan seems to say,

[00:15:39] we don't need any of that.

[00:15:41] You know, let's cast off all the restrictions,

[00:15:44] get rid of the guardrails.

[00:15:46] You know, any type of love is fine.

[00:15:51] You know, if someone has this feeling inside of them,

[00:15:56] they should pursue it.

[00:15:58] But, of course, you know, even for the secular person,

[00:16:03] you know, this is a slippery slope,

[00:16:06] and that involves some of the things you mentioned there.

[00:16:10] You know, yeah, you know,

[00:16:13] what if a father loves his daughter, wants to marry her?

[00:16:18] You know, what if your love, expression of love,

[00:16:24] involves physical pain somehow inflicting it?

[00:16:27] What if you prefer to love an AI avatar rather than a human being?

[00:16:33] So you can think of a lot of these scenarios where, you know,

[00:16:38] this principle all love is valid is just, you know, clearly not true.

[00:16:43] Well, and again, you also talk about the fact that really,

[00:16:46] if you think about cultures, somewhere they draw some lines.

[00:16:50] Sexuality has never been unconstrained.

[00:16:52] That is, sexual anarchy doesn't last very long in any kind of real culture or society.

[00:16:58] And you point out that that is because,

[00:17:01] let's go down to Romans 2,

[00:17:04] chapter 2, verses 14 and 15, for example,

[00:17:08] that the moral law of God is written on human hearts.

[00:17:12] So we recognize that there are some restrictions,

[00:17:16] should be some restrictions.

[00:17:19] So the next obvious question is,

[00:17:21] well, then, since people believe there should be some restrictions,

[00:17:24] we can't let everybody just do anything they want sexually,

[00:17:26] or in terms of love is love.

[00:17:29] Well, what standard do we use?

[00:17:31] And it seems to me that the standard that has stood the test of time

[00:17:36] and the one that is, of course, divinely revealed is in the scriptures.

[00:17:41] And although it may seem like we're sometimes restricting people's freedom,

[00:17:46] in a sense,

[00:17:47] the God who made us understands what we need

[00:17:51] and understands what's going to lead to human flourishing.

[00:17:54] And it does seem to me that that is, again,

[00:17:58] one of the reasons why we point back to the Bible,

[00:18:00] because we recognize that it is actually not only divinely aspired,

[00:18:05] but even for a non-Christian,

[00:18:07] it certainly has been the basis of the flourishing of Western civilization,

[00:18:13] hasn't it?

[00:18:15] That's right.

[00:18:16] That's exactly right.

[00:18:18] You know, God is our creator.

[00:18:20] He made us and designed us,

[00:18:23] and he knows what it is that will lead to our flourishing as human beings.

[00:18:29] And so that's why he, you know, puts these restrictions in place,

[00:18:36] because he knows if we violate those that, you know,

[00:18:40] it will be to our detriment.

[00:18:42] You know, it will harm and damage us somehow.

[00:18:47] You know, if I decide, for example,

[00:18:51] to instead of gasoline in my car tank,

[00:18:54] what if I decide I'm going to put in grape juice?

[00:18:58] You know, you can do that,

[00:19:01] and I can say, you know,

[00:19:02] I have this intuition that grape juice should go in there,

[00:19:07] and who are you to tell me I can't do that?

[00:19:10] And so pour in the grape juice,

[00:19:12] and, you know, nothing happens.

[00:19:15] So in the same way, I mean,

[00:19:17] God has designed us in a certain way.

[00:19:19] He knows what leads to our flourishing,

[00:19:23] and so when we violate that,

[00:19:25] you know, we always come out the loser.

[00:19:28] Well, just before I run out of time,

[00:19:29] let's again talk about what is available.

[00:19:31] If people go to the website,

[00:19:33] we have a way in which you can subscribe

[00:19:36] to the Worldview Bulletin newsletter,

[00:19:39] and again, Dr. Paul Copan,

[00:19:41] Dr. Doug Grotice, Dr. Paul Gould,

[00:19:43] all have been on the program,

[00:19:44] Dr. Melissa Kane-Travis,

[00:19:46] of course you, Christopher Reese,

[00:19:48] and others have been very much in part of that,

[00:19:50] and over the years,

[00:19:51] we've gotten to meet some other

[00:19:53] very gifted individuals writing about Worldview.

[00:19:57] So if people are interested in subscribing to that,

[00:20:00] or maybe even thinking,

[00:20:01] since we're getting to the Christmas season,

[00:20:03] and giving a gift subscription,

[00:20:05] that's available at our website at pointofview.net.

[00:20:08] So Christopher,

[00:20:09] I always appreciate the good work that you're doing

[00:20:11] pulling together these pieces,

[00:20:12] and thank you so very much for joining with us today

[00:20:15] here on Point of View,

[00:20:16] and let me say,

[00:20:17] first of all,

[00:20:18] Merry Christmas.

[00:20:21] Merry Christmas to you too.

[00:20:23] God bless your work,

[00:20:24] and always great to talk to you.

[00:20:26] We're going to take a break,

[00:20:27] and when we come back,

[00:20:28] we'll get into some other issues in the news,

[00:20:30] but since we've been talking about this idea of love is love,

[00:20:33] there have been some things unfolding on the House of Representatives,

[00:20:37] and a lot of that has to do with Representative Nancy Mace,

[00:20:41] representative from South Carolina,

[00:20:42] and it may be what she is dealing with illustrates

[00:20:46] how if you don't have a proper definition of what love is,

[00:20:51] a biblical definition of what marriage and family is,

[00:20:55] how in some respects you then reap what you've sown.

[00:20:59] I'll get into that in just a minute,

[00:21:01] and then of course we have a very good piece by Cal Thomas

[00:21:04] about institutions,

[00:21:05] we the people,

[00:21:06] and finally maybe just winding down with

[00:21:09] at least another enlightened liberal on a college campus saying,

[00:21:13] you know what,

[00:21:14] maybe we're just a little too hard on some of these conservative students,

[00:21:18] and maybe we need to back off just a little bit.

[00:21:21] That's refreshing to hear.

[00:21:22] We'll talk about all that right after these important messages.

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[00:21:46] Imagine if hundreds of thousands of Americans started praying intentionally together on a weekly basis.

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[00:22:48] Point of View will continue after this.

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[00:23:02] The opinions expressed on Point of View do not necessarily reflect the views of the management or staff of this station.

[00:23:09] And now, here again, is Kirby Anderson.

[00:23:13] Final laugh hour today, just before we get into some of the other articles that are posted,

[00:23:17] since we were talking with Christopher Reese about this issue of love is love,

[00:23:21] and I thought I'd also hold up our booklet on sex and culture,

[00:23:24] which is kind of a good summary of some of the great work that has been done by Dr. Carl Truman,

[00:23:29] who's been on the program with us a couple of times.

[00:23:31] I thought it would be worthwhile giving you a practical illustration.

[00:23:36] And that is, Chris Enlow the other day said that when you look at some of the flap that has developed

[00:23:41] from Representative Nancy Mace,

[00:23:43] you can see in some respects you're reaping what you've sown.

[00:23:47] Now, if you're not familiar, we have had now the election of a Democrat from Delaware who is trans,

[00:23:54] and I won't even try to explain all the issues here,

[00:23:57] but nevertheless, that was a concern on the part of Representative Nancy Mace,

[00:24:03] because that would be the possibility of this person who is, I think, fair to say a biological male,

[00:24:09] but a transgender woman could be entering into single-sex spaces, which are designated for biological women.

[00:24:18] So, of course, wanted to make sure with resolutions that this would not happen.

[00:24:23] I think we also have seen the Speaker of the House deal with that as well.

[00:24:28] But what Christopher Enlow points out is you can't isolate that,

[00:24:32] because he points out that at the same time Nancy Mace, Senator Mace, is defending her support for gay marriage,

[00:24:41] she's speaking out against transgenderism.

[00:24:44] And, of course, she has said that she supports gay marriage, as she calls it.

[00:24:49] She supported twice the Respect for Marriage Act, which we, of course, around the table have some real concerns about.

[00:24:56] And so she says, I voted for gay marriage twice, in fact, and would do it again.

[00:25:01] But, Chris Enlow says, there's a dissonance between the two positions,

[00:25:07] because what she does not understand is the support of the destruction of traditional marriage,

[00:25:12] in which functional and biological differences between men and women are most important,

[00:25:17] is a wholesale rejection of the framework that distinguishes a man from a woman.

[00:25:21] Put another way, let me again quote from Carl Truman,

[00:25:24] and we quote from his books, and one I would highly recommend.

[00:25:27] It's a little bit tough reading, or else you could listen to the interview we did with him,

[00:25:31] The Rise and Fall of the Modern Self, in which he says very simply this,

[00:25:38] supporting the triumph of LGP, lesbian, gay, bisexual, in the acronym LGBTQ+,

[00:25:46] naturally leads to the triumph of T.

[00:25:49] In other words, once you already give the ground over and say that we can redefine sexuality,

[00:25:56] we can redefine marriage, it's only a matter of time before you would also then have to give up the ground

[00:26:03] of redefining, if you will, what we call gender.

[00:26:07] I think sex and gender are the same thing.

[00:26:09] And so again, Chris Enlow ends by saying,

[00:26:12] look, in a society where one is free to throw away sex differences in marriage

[00:26:16] at the behest of personal feelings and interperceptions of identity,

[00:26:20] then one is eventually free to discard sex differences altogether.

[00:26:25] And that is the argument that he makes over Macy's stand against transgenderism.

[00:26:31] If the functional differences between a man and woman can be discarded at will in the realm of marriage,

[00:26:37] then they can also be discarded at will from people being liberated from their biological distinctions.

[00:26:43] I think it's an important argument.

[00:26:45] You know, whether you see that as a so-called slippery slope argument

[00:26:48] or just simply the logical connection of LGB to T,

[00:26:54] you can see part of the problem.

[00:26:56] And again, I recommend the booklet.

[00:26:59] I'm glad to send it to you free of charge on sex and culture.

[00:27:02] Chris Wells have one on same-sex marriage,

[00:27:03] and I think it just gives you a practical application in the political realm

[00:27:08] of what we were talking about today with Christopher Reese.

[00:27:12] Let's get on, though.

[00:27:13] Cal Thomas points out that a recent column by David Brooks,

[00:27:17] he's been on the program with us,

[00:27:18] he's a New York Times columnist,

[00:27:20] and Cal Thomas says as close to a conservative as the liberal newspaper would publish,

[00:27:26] but he talks about a few things,

[00:27:28] and one of his fears of a Trump administration,

[00:27:31] part of that goes back to the person Donald Trump.

[00:27:33] I'll set that aside.

[00:27:34] But the other concern that David Brooks points out,

[00:27:37] in addition to Trump's personality,

[00:27:40] is the Department of Government Efficiency,

[00:27:44] because he's concerned that these actually could begin to wreak some havoc

[00:27:50] in the federal government.

[00:27:52] So, Cal Thomas says this,

[00:27:54] here's the problem.

[00:27:55] Government agencies and programs are not called institutions

[00:27:59] and synonyms such as the deep state and the establishment for nothing.

[00:28:05] That's why they're called those.

[00:28:06] They continue to exist regardless of the failure of many of them to perform well

[00:28:12] because they enjoy a political and financial inertia

[00:28:16] that is difficult to slow down,

[00:28:18] much less to stop or reverse.

[00:28:21] These entities may not enjoy widespread public support,

[00:28:25] but they do benefit and do get the benefit from lobbyists

[00:28:29] and interest groups and labor unions

[00:28:31] who, by the way, make substantial contributions

[00:28:34] to the political campaigns of members of Congress.

[00:28:37] And then the example he uses,

[00:28:39] and was one I was going to use the other day,

[00:28:41] was what was called the base realignment closure process.

[00:28:45] This was something that Dick Armey,

[00:28:47] good friend of this ministry,

[00:28:48] a man, a very good friend of the founder of Point of View,

[00:28:51] Marlon Maddox,

[00:28:52] in which he came up with a way in which

[00:28:55] they would close down military bases by groups.

[00:28:59] In other words, if you were to say,

[00:29:01] we want to close down this military base in South Carolina,

[00:29:04] all you South Carolinians,

[00:29:05] we just talked about Nancy May.

[00:29:06] So this one in California,

[00:29:08] this one in Illinois,

[00:29:09] this one in Texas,

[00:29:10] well, you'd have a scream

[00:29:11] that would come from members of Congress.

[00:29:13] So the idea was to actually have a commission,

[00:29:17] a nonpartisan commission,

[00:29:18] look at these different military bases

[00:29:22] and then evaluate which ones were redundant or unnecessary.

[00:29:26] And then Congress had to either vote them up or down

[00:29:29] in their entirety.

[00:29:31] And that changed the equation rather dramatically

[00:29:35] and allowed us to downsize some of the military infrastructure.

[00:29:38] I think that same kind of idea might work as well.

[00:29:42] Well, let me go back to Calo calling,

[00:29:44] counting and call and quoting Cal Thomas.

[00:29:47] He says mess memo to the incoming Trump administration.

[00:29:51] This is the way you can eliminate

[00:29:53] or greatly reduce the size of an underperforming agency or program.

[00:29:57] You make it sound like it is in the self-interest

[00:30:00] of a majority of Americans.

[00:30:02] In the case of government downsizing,

[00:30:04] it is.

[00:30:05] Now he goes back to this quote by David Brooks,

[00:30:08] who then says,

[00:30:10] well, we should preserve these institutions

[00:30:12] and possibly reform them from within.

[00:30:16] Cal Thomas,

[00:30:16] who's lived in Washington, D.C. for a long time.

[00:30:19] By the way, if you don't know,

[00:30:20] Cal Thomas got his name

[00:30:21] because his parents actually worked for Calvin Coolidge.

[00:30:25] His name is Calvin Thomas.

[00:30:27] And his parents actually worked

[00:30:29] in the Calvin Coolidge administration.

[00:30:30] That's another whole story for another day.

[00:30:32] And what she finally says,

[00:30:34] look, eternal life should be the subject of sermons

[00:30:37] by preachers in classroom topics

[00:30:39] and seminary classrooms,

[00:30:41] not government agencies and programs.

[00:30:43] Recalling, of course,

[00:30:44] the statement that Ronald Reagan made

[00:30:46] that the closest thing we have to eternity on earth

[00:30:50] is a government program.

[00:30:52] He says,

[00:31:02] He goes on to remind us

[00:31:09] that the founders really established a nation

[00:31:11] based upon a philosophy

[00:31:12] that the citizens are the ones

[00:31:14] that ultimately hold ultimate power,

[00:31:17] and they only lend that power to government.

[00:31:20] Hence the title of his piece

[00:31:22] called Institutions vs. We the People.

[00:31:25] And today,

[00:31:26] it is more like a power grab

[00:31:28] by politicians and bureaucrats

[00:31:30] telling us how much authority

[00:31:31] over our lives

[00:31:33] they will allow us to have

[00:31:34] while forcing us to pay ever more in taxes

[00:31:38] to support their careers

[00:31:39] and favorite programs.

[00:31:41] That is why he says,

[00:31:43] So many people are fed up with Washington

[00:31:45] and want to see change.

[00:31:47] We're about to learn

[00:31:48] who is more powerful,

[00:31:49] the establishment and its institutions,

[00:31:52] or we the people of the United States.

[00:31:55] It's good piece,

[00:31:56] and it's just a reminder

[00:31:57] that it won't be easy

[00:32:00] to bring about

[00:32:01] some of the structural changes

[00:32:03] that need to take place

[00:32:05] if indeed

[00:32:06] we are going to limit

[00:32:08] the size and scope of government.

[00:32:10] There are whole books written about,

[00:32:12] and I've quoted those

[00:32:13] in some of my commentaries,

[00:32:15] on the administrative state.

[00:32:17] There are whole chapters,

[00:32:18] one of those in Vivek Ramashwamy,

[00:32:20] on the managerial class

[00:32:22] or the administrative state.

[00:32:24] We have a whole booklet,

[00:32:25] I can hold it up right now,

[00:32:26] on the deep state,

[00:32:27] where the concept

[00:32:28] of the deep state came from.

[00:32:30] The fact that we talk about all that

[00:32:32] illustrates only so well

[00:32:34] there is a need

[00:32:36] to really rein in

[00:32:37] the size and scope

[00:32:38] and power

[00:32:39] of the federal government.

[00:32:41] And I do believe

[00:32:42] that if there is a mandate

[00:32:44] that seems to have come

[00:32:45] from the American people

[00:32:46] in the election of Donald Trump,

[00:32:48] it is that.

[00:32:49] The other day,

[00:32:50] I was watching an interview

[00:32:51] done with a billionaire

[00:32:53] who was on Joe Rogan's program,

[00:32:56] Marc Andreessen,

[00:32:57] and he, interestingly enough,

[00:32:59] sounds like an individual

[00:33:00] that most of the time

[00:33:01] probably voted for Democrats,

[00:33:03] but explained how many

[00:33:04] of he and his friends

[00:33:05] have been debanked

[00:33:07] and said,

[00:33:08] we had no choice

[00:33:08] but to support somebody

[00:33:10] like Donald Trump

[00:33:10] to see if we can turn

[00:33:11] some of this around.

[00:33:13] So some of the things

[00:33:14] that people would never

[00:33:15] have imagined

[00:33:16] four years ago

[00:33:17] would have happened

[00:33:17] in a Biden administration

[00:33:19] have happened,

[00:33:21] and this is why I think

[00:33:22] there seems to be

[00:33:23] a mandate

[00:33:23] under this incoming

[00:33:25] Trump administration

[00:33:26] to turn some of that

[00:33:27] around as well.

[00:33:28] When we come back,

[00:33:30] last piece by Jonathan Zimmerman,

[00:33:32] a Trump voter walks

[00:33:34] into my office,

[00:33:35] and I've got to love it

[00:33:37] when common sense

[00:33:38] is breaking out

[00:33:39] even amongst some

[00:33:40] of the liberal faculty

[00:33:41] on the universities.

[00:33:42] We'll be right back.

[00:33:55] You're listening

[00:33:56] to Point of View,

[00:33:58] your listener-supported

[00:33:59] source for truth.

[00:34:01] Back for just a few more minutes

[00:34:02] and let's see if we can

[00:34:03] talk about what's happening

[00:34:04] on campus,

[00:34:05] and this is written

[00:34:06] by Jonathan Zimmerman.

[00:34:07] Don't really know

[00:34:08] much about him,

[00:34:09] but I thought it was

[00:34:10] kind of interesting.

[00:34:11] He's a professor,

[00:34:12] University of Pennsylvania,

[00:34:14] and teaches education

[00:34:15] and history,

[00:34:16] but he wrote this piece

[00:34:17] that showed up

[00:34:18] in the Wall Street Journal,

[00:34:19] and it is entitled

[00:34:20] A Trump Voter Walks

[00:34:22] Into My Office.

[00:34:23] Pretty good.

[00:34:24] Now, you can very quickly

[00:34:26] figure out that he is

[00:34:27] a liberal,

[00:34:27] and nevertheless

[00:34:28] is a little bit

[00:34:30] more open-minded

[00:34:31] than some that we run

[00:34:32] into on campus so often.

[00:34:34] He says,

[00:34:35] despite what you may have

[00:34:36] read about left-wing

[00:34:37] monoculture in academia,

[00:34:39] we really do have

[00:34:41] conservative faculty

[00:34:42] and students on campus.

[00:34:43] The problem is

[00:34:45] they're afraid to speak up.

[00:34:47] No kidding,

[00:34:48] Sherlock,

[00:34:49] as we like to say.

[00:34:50] And he says,

[00:34:51] okay,

[00:34:51] a student came into

[00:34:52] my office recently

[00:34:54] and told me she voted

[00:34:55] for Donald Trump.

[00:34:55] She asked me to promise

[00:34:57] not to tell anyone.

[00:34:59] And he says,

[00:35:00] I understand why.

[00:35:01] He talks about a student

[00:35:02] at Bryn Mawyer University

[00:35:03] asked for a student's

[00:35:04] rideshare site,

[00:35:05] whether anyone was going

[00:35:06] to a nearby Trump rally

[00:35:08] and was pilloried

[00:35:10] with all sorts of statements

[00:35:12] being labeled racist

[00:35:13] and white supremacist,

[00:35:15] scared and sad.

[00:35:16] She actually called

[00:35:17] the school's suicide hotline,

[00:35:20] two days later went home

[00:35:21] and dropped out.

[00:35:22] He talks about a few weeks ago

[00:35:24] an anonymous student

[00:35:25] posted on Reddit

[00:35:26] to ask if it would be okay

[00:35:28] to wear a

[00:35:28] Make America Great Again

[00:35:30] hat on campus.

[00:35:32] All the replies were

[00:35:33] obviously no.

[00:35:36] Some said,

[00:35:37] you have the freedom to do it,

[00:35:38] just don't be surprised

[00:35:39] when everyone ignores you

[00:35:40] and doesn't want to be

[00:35:41] associated with you.

[00:35:42] One person posted.

[00:35:43] Another one,

[00:35:44] wearing a MAGA hat

[00:35:46] is the social equivalent

[00:35:47] of not showering for a month

[00:35:49] with the moral equivalent

[00:35:50] of kicking puppies for fun.

[00:35:55] Pretty brutal, right?

[00:35:56] Now, he says,

[00:35:57] look, I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat.

[00:36:00] I think Trump is a bully,

[00:36:01] a charlatan.

[00:36:02] I struggle to understand

[00:36:03] how anyone could support him.

[00:36:05] That's precisely why

[00:36:06] I need to hear from people who do.

[00:36:08] Okay, it sounds like

[00:36:09] he could be a little more open-minded,

[00:36:11] but we'll give him

[00:36:12] what his due is.

[00:36:13] He says,

[00:36:15] don't tell that to professors

[00:36:16] around the country.

[00:36:17] Send out emails on November 6th

[00:36:18] offering solace,

[00:36:19] in some cases

[00:36:20] canceling their classes

[00:36:21] because of their

[00:36:22] demonstrated contempt

[00:36:24] for Trump voters,

[00:36:25] not curiosity about them.

[00:36:28] And he says,

[00:36:29] I've heard some colleagues

[00:36:30] say that

[00:36:30] this is really

[00:36:32] a problem

[00:36:32] of self-censorship

[00:36:34] by Trump supporters,

[00:36:35] and it's their problem,

[00:36:38] not ours.

[00:36:39] That what they say is,

[00:36:40] well,

[00:36:41] they should have some backbone

[00:36:42] and speak their truth.

[00:36:45] Again,

[00:36:45] let me give high praise

[00:36:47] to Jonathan Zimmerman.

[00:36:49] I suspect we disagree

[00:36:50] on most everything,

[00:36:51] but that's okay.

[00:36:52] He says,

[00:36:53] but he says,

[00:36:54] what if we discover

[00:36:55] that,

[00:36:55] say,

[00:36:55] I don't know,

[00:36:56] black students,

[00:36:57] Muslim students,

[00:36:58] female students,

[00:36:59] were afraid to express

[00:37:01] what they think?

[00:37:02] Would we simply tell them

[00:37:04] to buck up?

[00:37:05] He says,

[00:37:06] no,

[00:37:06] there'd be a long round

[00:37:07] of breast beating

[00:37:08] followed by an endless

[00:37:10] committee meetings

[00:37:11] which would eliminate

[00:37:12] a 10,

[00:37:14] culminate,

[00:37:14] he says,

[00:37:15] and a 10-point strategic plan

[00:37:17] about how to protect

[00:37:18] our threatened students

[00:37:19] in exercising their

[00:37:21] freedom of speech.

[00:37:23] He says,

[00:37:24] first of all,

[00:37:24] I don't think we need

[00:37:25] to do that for Trump voters.

[00:37:26] Last thing we need

[00:37:26] is more meetings.

[00:37:27] But he says,

[00:37:28] we should encourage

[00:37:29] conservative students

[00:37:30] to raise their voices

[00:37:31] and we should promise

[00:37:33] to support them

[00:37:34] when they do.

[00:37:35] I learned a lot

[00:37:36] from this student

[00:37:36] who spoke candidly

[00:37:37] in my office.

[00:37:38] I want others

[00:37:40] to learn from her too.

[00:37:43] Pretty good piece.

[00:37:44] So again,

[00:37:45] you will oftentimes

[00:37:46] see that we'll post pieces

[00:37:47] that we might disagree

[00:37:49] with maybe the politics

[00:37:51] of this individual,

[00:37:52] maybe even his perspective

[00:37:54] about Christianity,

[00:37:55] his perspective

[00:37:56] about society in general.

[00:37:58] But I think he is

[00:38:00] illustrating something

[00:38:01] that I found

[00:38:02] quite frequently

[00:38:03] in the old days

[00:38:04] when I would speak

[00:38:05] on college campuses.

[00:38:06] Many a time

[00:38:07] a professor would say,

[00:38:08] look,

[00:38:09] you've had a chance

[00:38:09] to hear me in this class

[00:38:11] and Mr. Anderson's

[00:38:12] coming in

[00:38:12] to give a Christian perspective

[00:38:13] and wanted to give you

[00:38:15] a chance to hear

[00:38:15] maybe a different

[00:38:16] point of view.

[00:38:17] We may not agree with him,

[00:38:18] but I wanted to give him

[00:38:19] that opportunity.

[00:38:20] That's all I was looking for

[00:38:21] and it was an open

[00:38:23] interchange of ideas.

[00:38:25] Sometimes pretty hostile,

[00:38:27] many times fairly gracious.

[00:38:29] Do you expect that

[00:38:30] on campus today?

[00:38:31] Not exactly.

[00:38:33] So, Jonathan Zimmerman,

[00:38:34] you deserve credit

[00:38:36] and we will give it to you

[00:38:37] and we hope that there

[00:38:38] would be other professors

[00:38:39] like you in the academic world.

[00:38:42] So, just before we wind down

[00:38:44] today, yesterday my commentary

[00:38:46] was on Bitcoin

[00:38:47] and I just thought

[00:38:48] since we were talking

[00:38:50] about the Bitcoin

[00:38:51] strategic reserve,

[00:38:52] I might point out

[00:38:53] one of the big scares

[00:38:54] that has made its way

[00:38:56] around the internet,

[00:38:57] which again is false.

[00:38:59] Once again,

[00:38:59] an illustration.

[00:39:01] Use some discernment.

[00:39:03] Here's one of the posts

[00:39:04] that came out on X.

[00:39:05] According to one user,

[00:39:07] a news published

[00:39:08] by Binance Square,

[00:39:09] researchers from

[00:39:10] a Kentucky-based lab

[00:39:12] have reportedly cracked

[00:39:13] eight out of the

[00:39:15] twelve key memnonics

[00:39:17] curing Satoshi Nakamoto's

[00:39:19] Genesis wallet.

[00:39:20] The wallet is considered

[00:39:21] to be a cornerstone

[00:39:22] of Bitcoin's creation

[00:39:23] as the wallet hosts,

[00:39:25] 1.1 million Bitcoins.

[00:39:27] The partial claimed breach

[00:39:29] by the lab has created waves

[00:39:30] across the cryptocurrency community.

[00:39:33] Okay, how do you evaluate that?

[00:39:35] First of all,

[00:39:36] there's no such thing

[00:39:37] as the Genesis wallet.

[00:39:38] The founder of Bitcoin

[00:39:41] was a man or woman

[00:39:43] or a group

[00:39:44] that called themselves

[00:39:45] Satoshi Nakamoto.

[00:39:47] So that's the first thing.

[00:39:48] But then follow the link

[00:39:49] and you will see

[00:39:50] that this goes to

[00:39:51] the Onion News.

[00:39:53] Now, do I need to tell you

[00:39:55] any more?

[00:39:55] The Onion News.

[00:39:57] Okay.

[00:39:58] And again,

[00:39:58] saying that they had

[00:39:59] partially cracked the code

[00:40:01] of Satoshi Nakamoto

[00:40:03] in a Kentucky lab

[00:40:05] and they were saying

[00:40:06] this is a real threat.

[00:40:07] The words they've decoded

[00:40:09] so far are

[00:40:10] Kentucky,

[00:40:10] chat,

[00:40:12] fried,

[00:40:13] Friday,

[00:40:14] vivo,

[00:40:15] chicken,

[00:40:15] dollar fifty.

[00:40:17] Okay, now you can see

[00:40:18] that this is another one

[00:40:19] of these KFC chicken jokes

[00:40:21] that apparently

[00:40:22] some people didn't get.

[00:40:24] This is a KFC internet joke.

[00:40:26] Have you not figured

[00:40:27] that out by now?

[00:40:28] But for those of you

[00:40:29] that don't understand Bitcoin,

[00:40:31] there is what is known

[00:40:32] as a 12-word list.

[00:40:34] It's your BIP 32-word list

[00:40:37] and they're actually,

[00:40:38] interesting,

[00:40:39] left 2,048 different words

[00:40:41] associated with numbers

[00:40:43] so that you don't have

[00:40:44] to remember the numbers

[00:40:45] if you number the 12 words

[00:40:47] that secures your wallet

[00:40:49] for Bitcoin.

[00:40:50] I may give you more information

[00:40:52] than you really want to know

[00:40:53] but never the case.

[00:40:55] And so these represent,

[00:40:57] if you will,

[00:40:57] a human-readable

[00:40:59] 128-bit random number

[00:41:01] and that random number

[00:41:03] is so large,

[00:41:04] I think some people

[00:41:05] have estimated

[00:41:05] it's getting close

[00:41:06] to the number of electrons

[00:41:08] in the universe.

[00:41:09] So the possibility

[00:41:10] that two people

[00:41:11] would have the same

[00:41:13] recovery seed

[00:41:13] for their wallet

[00:41:14] is none.

[00:41:16] Not slim,

[00:41:17] it's none.

[00:41:18] And so nevertheless,

[00:41:19] that's what this whole idea

[00:41:20] was about.

[00:41:21] But if nothing else,

[00:41:23] you are probably going to hear

[00:41:24] more of those,

[00:41:25] especially since they

[00:41:26] have talked about,

[00:41:27] as my commentary yesterday

[00:41:28] talked about the

[00:41:29] Bitcoin Strategic Reserve,

[00:41:31] there will be a piece

[00:41:32] of legislation being put

[00:41:33] forward by Senator

[00:41:35] Cynthia Lemus

[00:41:35] and you'll probably

[00:41:36] be hearing a lot more

[00:41:37] about it

[00:41:37] and you'll probably

[00:41:38] hear a lot more

[00:41:39] about the internet scares.

[00:41:41] But again,

[00:41:42] a good illustration,

[00:41:43] maybe to put a smile

[00:41:44] on your face,

[00:41:45] that if indeed

[00:41:46] you hear something

[00:41:48] like that,

[00:41:48] go and follow the source

[00:41:50] and when you get

[00:41:50] to the Onion News,

[00:41:52] that should be enough

[00:41:54] to tell you

[00:41:54] that there is nothing

[00:41:56] to it.

[00:41:56] When they then tell you

[00:41:58] that the words

[00:41:58] are Kentucky

[00:41:59] and chicken

[00:42:00] and a few other,

[00:42:01] by the way,

[00:42:02] I looked it up

[00:42:02] and the words

[00:42:03] like Kentucky

[00:42:04] are not part

[00:42:05] of those 12-word

[00:42:06] recovery seed words,

[00:42:08] that should be enough.

[00:42:09] And nevertheless,

[00:42:11] scare going around

[00:42:12] the internet,

[00:42:12] which is as false

[00:42:14] as some of those

[00:42:15] fake hate crimes

[00:42:17] and all the more reason

[00:42:18] to emphasize,

[00:42:19] once again,

[00:42:20] be skeptical,

[00:42:22] use discernment,

[00:42:23] check it out

[00:42:24] and you'll see

[00:42:25] that there is nothing

[00:42:26] to that particular scare

[00:42:28] and so we'll probably

[00:42:29] cover some others

[00:42:30] in the future.

[00:42:31] Tried to end

[00:42:32] on a light note,

[00:42:33] hope it makes you smile,

[00:42:34] if nothing else,

[00:42:35] another KFC joke

[00:42:36] making the way

[00:42:37] around the internet

[00:42:40] and I guess

[00:42:41] we should have

[00:42:41] expected it by now.

[00:42:42] There will probably

[00:42:43] be a Christmas one

[00:42:44] or a Santa Claus one

[00:42:45] so we'll maybe

[00:42:45] talk about it,

[00:42:46] but let me one last time

[00:42:47] just mention that

[00:42:48] if you're interested

[00:42:49] in the church initiative,

[00:42:50] some of the things

[00:42:51] that Steve Grissom

[00:42:52] has talked about,

[00:42:53] that's on the website.

[00:42:54] If you'd like to know

[00:42:55] a little bit more

[00:42:55] about the piece

[00:42:56] by Christopher Reese,

[00:42:58] it's on the website

[00:42:59] at pointofview.net.

[00:43:00] Thank you for helping us

[00:43:02] meet our goal

[00:43:02] of Giving Tuesday.

[00:43:04] Megan, thank you

[00:43:05] for engineering the program.

[00:43:06] Steve, thank you

[00:43:06] for producing the program.

[00:43:07] We'll see you tomorrow

[00:43:08] right here

[00:43:09] on Point of View.

[00:43:10] It almost seems like

[00:43:11] we live in a different world

[00:43:13] from many people

[00:43:14] in positions of authority.

[00:43:16] They say men can be women

[00:43:18] and women men.

[00:43:19] People are prosecuted

[00:43:21] differently

[00:43:21] or not at all

[00:43:23] depending on their politics.

[00:43:25] Criminals are more valued

[00:43:26] and rewarded

[00:43:27] than law-abiding citizens.

[00:43:29] It's so overwhelming,

[00:43:31] so demoralizing.

[00:43:32] You feel like giving up,

[00:43:34] but we can't.

[00:43:35] We shouldn't.

[00:43:36] We must not.

[00:43:38] As Winston Churchill

[00:43:39] said to Britain

[00:43:40] in the darkest days

[00:43:41] of World War II,

[00:43:42] never give in.

[00:43:44] Never give in.

[00:43:45] Never, never, never.

[00:43:46] Never yield to force.

[00:43:48] Never yield

[00:43:49] to the apparently

[00:43:50] overwhelming might

[00:43:51] of the enemy.

[00:43:53] And that's what we say

[00:43:54] to you today.

[00:43:55] This is not a time

[00:43:56] to give in,

[00:43:57] but to step up

[00:43:58] and join Point of View

[00:44:00] in providing clarity

[00:44:01] in the chaos.

[00:44:02] We can't do it alone,

[00:44:04] but together,

[00:44:05] with God's help,

[00:44:07] we will overcome

[00:44:08] the darkness.

[00:44:09] Invest in Biblical clarity

[00:44:11] today at

[00:44:12] pointofview.net

[00:44:14] or call

[00:44:15] 1-800-347-5151.

[00:44:18] Pointofview.net

[00:44:20] and

[00:44:21] 1-800-347-5151.

[00:44:27] Point of View

[00:44:28] is produced

[00:44:29] by Point of View Ministries.