Point of View January 6, 2025 – Hour 2 : Pilgrim Road

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

[00:00:20] Second hour today and of course this is Monday, January 6th.

[00:00:23] And of course the January 6th certification of the Electoral College vote went without a hitch and we did mention that earlier.

[00:00:30] But again if you'd like to read a little bit more about some of this, my commentary today is called Counting the Votes.

[00:00:37] And kind of a look back over what happened four years ago and even looking back over what happened eight years ago.

[00:00:42] I'll let you read that for yourself.

[00:00:44] This hour we're going to spend some time first of all talking about Jason Lovins and Jason Lovins Band.

[00:00:49] Then we'll get back to some issues in the news.

[00:00:52] We've posted a very good piece that comes from Jonathan Turley about censorship, also won by Alicia Finley,

[00:00:59] about the Surgeon General and a lot of issues that we will be getting into.

[00:01:03] We don't cover everything today, we'll certainly deal with that tomorrow.

[00:01:07] But I thought you would certainly want to hear this story, not only of Jason Lovins,

[00:01:11] but about his latest particular work called Pilgrim Road.

[00:01:15] If you are not familiar with him, the band has kind of a unique fusion of country, gospel and worship

[00:01:22] and really kind of is anchored into his Appalachian heritage.

[00:01:26] As a matter of fact, we did today, of course, confirmed one of the youngest vice presidents in history.

[00:01:33] And that is J.D. Vance.

[00:01:35] Of course, he talks about the hillbilly elegy and the rest.

[00:01:39] So I thought there was a good connection there.

[00:01:41] But also, if you are not familiar, he's got an incredible testimony,

[00:01:45] which I think has propelled the band's mission and purpose.

[00:01:48] And then when we get to, of course, the information we have not only on him and the band,

[00:01:54] but also a separate article we've posted on this latest album, Pilgrim Road.

[00:01:59] You can find all of that at the website pointofview.net.

[00:02:04] Jason, thank you for joining us today here on Point of View.

[00:02:08] Hey, Kirby. Thank you, man.

[00:02:10] Honored to be here.

[00:02:11] Well, we are thrilled to hear your story because if people are not familiar,

[00:02:16] your story is one that I suspect I will use again oftentimes when I talk about pro-life issues.

[00:02:22] And you have shared your story.

[00:02:25] Matter of fact, I've come to understand that when you shared it one time,

[00:02:30] a pastor said you need to share it every time you sing.

[00:02:33] And so, again, I'm requiring you and asking you to share a story I'm sure you've shared hundreds of times.

[00:02:40] But for our audience, many of them may be hearing it for the first time,

[00:02:43] but it really is an incredible story of how you came to be.

[00:02:48] Yeah, and that's true.

[00:02:49] I never talked about my story as a kid growing up.

[00:02:53] I had it good.

[00:02:55] I knew I had it good.

[00:02:57] I was so loved, and I very much recognized that, understood that.

[00:03:02] And any time anyone found out about my story, it was always the first reaction of, you know,

[00:03:09] wow, you poor kid.

[00:03:11] Like, he must really have it hard.

[00:03:13] And I remember thinking, like, man, I have it really good.

[00:03:17] So I remember lying to people in elementary school, in middle school,

[00:03:23] telling them my dad lived in California because I was good enough at geography to know that was really far away.

[00:03:28] And I thought it was just easier to tell them that than to have to explain the story because I just didn't want people feeling sorry for me

[00:03:35] because I just knew I had it good.

[00:03:38] And so it wasn't even until I got in college at Morehead State University in eastern Kentucky that I started this band,

[00:03:47] and it just kind of happened.

[00:03:49] And one of our very first bookings was in front of this tiny little church in eastern Kentucky,

[00:03:55] and it was the first night I ever shared my story.

[00:03:59] And it just kind of happened organically.

[00:04:02] I didn't mean to do it.

[00:04:04] It just kind of happened.

[00:04:05] And the pastor came up to me afterwards, and he told me, he said,

[00:04:10] I don't think you understand what God's going to do with your life,

[00:04:13] but you've got to promise me that you'll keep sharing that story everywhere you go.

[00:04:18] And I did, and I have.

[00:04:20] And I now realize that God really has used it in an incredible way.

[00:04:27] And the beauty of it is I didn't have anything to do with it.

[00:04:29] I missed the hard part.

[00:04:31] And so if you don't know, my story is this.

[00:04:34] My mom at 15 years old, she was raped when she was walking home from the pool one day,

[00:04:41] and she don't remember it.

[00:04:44] I've had lots of people tell me, you know, when something so traumatic like that happens

[00:04:49] that your mind can block it out as if it never happened.

[00:04:52] And so my mom didn't remember it.

[00:04:54] And my grandma had four other kids she was chasing around, and she said,

[00:04:59] your mom was my good kid.

[00:05:00] And she said, I completely missed it.

[00:05:03] And my mom would tell you she was very naive for 15.

[00:05:07] She didn't understand anything about babies.

[00:05:09] She didn't know what was happening.

[00:05:10] And then finally one day she told my grandma, I'm sick.

[00:05:13] I need to go to the doctor.

[00:05:14] And my grandma had noticed that she had been gaining weight.

[00:05:18] And so my grandma said, yeah, maybe we should take her to the doctor

[00:05:21] and see what the doctor says.

[00:05:23] And so they did.

[00:05:24] And the doctor come out and said, well, she's pregnant.

[00:05:28] And after the initial shock wore off, the best way I know to explain it to people

[00:05:33] is I had a praying mama who said, we're going to go to church and we're going to pray.

[00:05:37] And that's what they did.

[00:05:38] And if you were to have heard her tell the story, she made it sound so simple.

[00:05:43] But I understand it couldn't have been that easy.

[00:05:46] But I just tell people that my grandma very much understood how big God is.

[00:05:52] And she believed, in fact, that he was so big that he wasn't surprised by me.

[00:05:56] And so for her and her 15-year-old daughter, they had some choices that they had to make.

[00:06:01] And so my grandma immediately started walking into this valley with my mother and said, you know, we're going to do this.

[00:06:09] And we'll figure this out.

[00:06:10] And we know that God's not surprised.

[00:06:12] These things that we read in the Bible that he formed me in my mother's womb, that he had plans for me.

[00:06:18] My grandma believed it with all her heart.

[00:06:21] And so they had some choices that they had to make.

[00:06:24] And I'm very thankful to tell you that they chose life.

[00:06:28] And, you know, I do know that adoption was for sure on the table.

[00:06:35] And when my mom heard my heartbeat is when it changed everything.

[00:06:40] And she told my grandma, she said, I want to keep this baby.

[00:06:44] And I tell people, I know that my 15-year-old mama had no idea what she was getting into.

[00:06:51] But my grandma did.

[00:06:53] And she said, okay, if that's what you want to do, that's what we're going to do.

[00:06:56] So through my mom's courage and my grandmother's guidance, they said, hey, we're going to do this.

[00:07:05] And so they did.

[00:07:08] And my mom had me.

[00:07:09] She turned 16 a couple months later.

[00:07:11] So she's 16 years older than I am.

[00:07:15] And went on about life as normal as life could be.

[00:07:18] I mean, I always tell people every time my band plays wherever we are, I always show a picture of my earliest childhood memory that I found.

[00:07:27] I'm actually holding it right now because it's on my desk.

[00:07:30] But it's my mom's high school graduation picture.

[00:07:34] And it happened to be on my third birthday.

[00:07:37] So I always tell people, you know, you're not very many people can say your mom's high school graduation party and your third birthday party happened to be on the same day.

[00:07:46] But it was.

[00:07:48] And that was my family.

[00:07:50] And my family made it very clear to me at a young age that, you know what, you don't have a dad.

[00:07:54] We don't even know who it is.

[00:07:55] But you have a heavenly father who loves you, who loves you more than you'll ever know and would just continue to remind me of that over and over and over and over.

[00:08:06] And I've been able to tell people all over the country that, you know what, that's always been enough.

[00:08:12] I don't know any other way to explain it.

[00:08:15] But that's how amazing this God is that we sing about.

[00:08:19] And it always has been enough.

[00:08:22] And so let me just take a break real quickly because I want to finish the story.

[00:08:26] But we have one of those mandatory breaks.

[00:08:28] But when we come back, we'll continue our conversation.

[00:08:30] And if you would like to know more about the story, well, we have information about that on the website.

[00:08:35] If you'd like to know about this latest album, Pilgrim Road, we'll be talking about that as well.

[00:08:41] All that coming up right after this.

[00:08:58] This is Viewpoints with Kirby Anderson.

[00:09:04] Today is January 6th.

[00:09:06] For the last four years, any time you said the words January 6th, your mind went to the mob that stormed the Capitol on January 6th, 2021, and resulted in more than $2 million in damage.

[00:09:16] This year, the date, January 6th, 2025, will have less drama.

[00:09:20] As one commentator put it, Donald Trump's victory has made January 6th boring again.

[00:09:25] This date is when the joint session of Congress counts the Electoral College votes to formalize the election.

[00:09:31] There was some controversy eight years ago since Hillary Clinton won the popular vote while Donald Trump won the Electoral College vote.

[00:09:38] Some prominent Democrats and media personalities had encouraged the electors in some of the states to vote for Hillary Clinton instead of Donald Trump.

[00:09:46] But the session that took place eight years ago had little controversy.

[00:09:50] But the 2016 election did highlight concerns about what is called a faithless elector.

[00:09:56] In the election, ten members of the Electoral College voted or attempted to vote for a candidate other than the one from which they were pledged.

[00:10:03] Three votes were invalidated under the state's faithless elector law.

[00:10:07] The remaining seven did not affect the election but illustrated a future problem.

[00:10:12] Perhaps the biggest controversy in Congress this January was the vote for Speaker of the House.

[00:10:17] In the past, voting for the Speaker and counting the Electoral College votes have been perfunctory.

[00:10:22] That either of these votes or tabulations as controversial points to the divided nation in which we live today.

[00:10:28] There are certain to be other controversies in Congress this session,

[00:10:32] but when Donald Trump won both the popular vote and the Electoral College vote, he made January 6th boring again.

[00:10:38] I'm Kirby Anderson, and that's my point of view.

[00:10:46] For a free booklet on a biblical view of Israel, go to viewpoints.info.israel.

[00:10:53] Viewpoints.info.israel

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

[00:11:03] Continue our conversation for a few more minutes with Jason Lovins and the Jason Lovins Band,

[00:11:08] celebrating two decades of music and ministry.

[00:11:11] I might just mention in just a minute we're going to be talking about Pilgrim Road,

[00:11:13] which actually comes out January 17th, so it's about two weeks from now.

[00:11:17] But again, you will be able to find out a little bit more.

[00:11:19] But Jason, I appreciate you sharing your story.

[00:11:22] That, I thought, would be very encouraging to our listeners.

[00:11:25] And it's also helpful to me because as somebody who speaks quite a bit on the issue of life and abortion,

[00:11:32] one of the questions I get sometimes is,

[00:11:34] well, don't you at least think that we should allow abortion for rape?

[00:11:39] And I always come back with the answer that over these years I've had a chance in my studio,

[00:11:46] sometimes by phone, but oftentimes in my studio to talk to an individual that was actually conceived as a result of rape.

[00:11:54] And it's really hard for me to look them in the eye and say, you shouldn't be alive.

[00:11:58] And you provide one more story that's a growing list of individuals I've known over the years,

[00:12:05] that I've interviewed over the years, who actually could have been aborted.

[00:12:10] And yet, look at the incredible ministry that you've had all these years,

[00:12:15] even though your poor wife didn't at the time, I should say your mother,

[00:12:20] did not understand at that time some of the circumstances.

[00:12:24] And she was a single mom, had a wife with no husband.

[00:12:29] And so in some respects, you are a testimony to why we really want to speak to this issue of life.

[00:12:35] And so I appreciate you sharing that story.

[00:12:38] Yeah, and it's really been amazing over the years.

[00:12:41] I mean, I can say the past 20 years on the road that I've shared it everywhere I've been.

[00:12:47] And I could tell you a thousand stories of how God has used it in many different ways.

[00:12:54] But that's the overall theme.

[00:12:57] I mean, I've had letters from Baptist deacons that have told me, you know what?

[00:13:04] I always thought there should be an exception.

[00:13:07] But, you know, hearing your story, you've changed my mind.

[00:13:10] And I now understand that God truly can take and make beauty from any kind of ashes that we talk about

[00:13:19] that potentially could be out there.

[00:13:21] And, you know, I just believe that God has given us this platform to be able to do that.

[00:13:30] And because, you know, people can make it super political, but for me, it's just my life story.

[00:13:37] Yes, it is.

[00:13:38] Yeah.

[00:13:38] And so it's not political for me.

[00:13:41] It's my life.

[00:13:42] And I've been able to just share it with love.

[00:13:46] And again, we did a college conference with a few thousand college students.

[00:13:53] And I had a young girl come up to me afterwards, and she just said, I've just never met anybody like you.

[00:14:00] I didn't.

[00:14:00] I just didn't know.

[00:14:01] You know, and I mean, I could tell you a million of those.

[00:14:04] And so it's truly been an honor to be the one to get to share it.

[00:14:08] And like I said, I missed the hard part.

[00:14:11] But it's been just the greatest reward and just the most amazing journey of being able to travel and tell that story.

[00:14:20] So it's been an honor.

[00:14:21] Let me just mention that we do have a link to JasonLovens.com, which is the Jason Lovens Band.

[00:14:26] And that's where you can, of course, preorder Pilgrim Road.

[00:14:29] Of course, we also have a link to that and some of the information from Turning Point Media Relations.

[00:14:33] But also there's a way in which you can find out where the tour is actually taking place.

[00:14:39] And also you could schedule something if you would want to maybe have you share his testimony or the rest.

[00:14:45] But let's talk about that.

[00:14:47] January 17th, just around the corner, 11 tracks.

[00:14:50] Again, Pilgrim Road.

[00:14:52] And as I understand it here, you're looking back over two decades of music and ministry and also really kind of giving the gospel journey from Genesis to Revelation.

[00:15:03] Can you kind of share some of that with us?

[00:15:06] Yeah, this song, Pilgrim Road, it really, it's a hymn.

[00:15:12] And it's been amazing.

[00:15:16] That song actually released as a single.

[00:15:19] And it's just been so cool to be able to share that.

[00:15:23] And it really does remind us of the gospel just from Genesis all the way to Revelation.

[00:15:29] And there's so many neat songs on this album.

[00:15:34] You know, we've always been a band that has kind of stayed true to my heritage just with Appalachia.

[00:15:42] Just the kind of music that I grew up on, just mountain, country, gospel music.

[00:15:48] And then, you know, I was exposed to this praise and worship that happened years ago that kind of took over the church and just fell in love with that.

[00:15:58] And so we've put out three hymns albums over the years.

[00:16:03] We've done some original stuff, some Christmas stuff.

[00:16:06] And this song, this album really does kind of tie it all in.

[00:16:11] And I mean, we've got a couple of just cool old school mountain gospel songs that are just kind of rocking.

[00:16:18] And then, you know, some new worship songs that we're super excited about.

[00:16:22] And then we just keep going back to this song, Pilgrim Road.

[00:16:25] And again, it's truly a hymn.

[00:16:27] I mean, it's a bunch of verses and a refrain over and over.

[00:16:31] And just a beautiful reminder of the journey that we're on.

[00:16:34] And we're just very excited about this album.

[00:16:38] Let's talk about how people can connect up with you.

[00:16:40] First of all, I might just mention that you have a music video.

[00:16:43] So that's about four minutes long.

[00:16:45] And I would encourage people to go to the link that we have provided there to find out a little bit more.

[00:16:50] There's also, of course, a way in which if they are interested, they can order that.

[00:16:54] It will be, as we said, coming out January 17th.

[00:16:58] There's also a way in which they can subscribe to your email.

[00:17:01] They can even find out where your tour is going, maybe even schedule one for their own particular community.

[00:17:06] But I see with the unique set of circumstances that you have, not only your testimony, but the music.

[00:17:13] This would be just a great opportunity for you, various organizations, maybe churches, to use your ministry in an effective way.

[00:17:21] So talk about how people can connect up with you.

[00:17:25] Yeah, that's great.

[00:17:26] So, yeah, Jason Lovens, JasonLovensBand.com.

[00:17:29] You go follow us on all the social media.

[00:17:32] We've got it all.

[00:17:33] If you look up Jason Lovens Band on any of your social media platforms, you'll find us.

[00:17:38] And we've got a bunch of dates booked this year.

[00:17:41] We average about 40 weeks a year on the road, and it's mostly weekends.

[00:17:46] But we stay very busy, and we love coming, leading worship, sharing my story.

[00:17:52] And it's different every week for us.

[00:17:55] I mean, one week we may be doing a youth conference, and there will be a few thousand kids.

[00:18:00] And then the next week we're in a town in Backwoods, Mississippi, doing a bunch of old gospel songs at a little tiny church.

[00:18:09] And so we do all these different things every week, and it's just the neatest thing.

[00:18:13] But, yeah, you can find us there.

[00:18:15] I actually handle all of our own booking myself.

[00:18:18] So when they email the booking page or anything, they're going to talk to me directly, and that's how we've always done it.

[00:18:24] And we'll try our best to continue to do that.

[00:18:27] But, yeah, it's awesome.

[00:18:29] And so we definitely have a few weeks this year that we still have open that we want to book.

[00:18:34] So I appreciate you saying that because that's what we do.

[00:18:37] We come in, we lead worship, do our thing.

[00:18:39] If they want a concert, we'll do that as well.

[00:18:41] But I always tie my story in everywhere we go.

[00:18:45] So good.

[00:18:45] Let me just mention, too, you were talking about the social media.

[00:18:48] We actually, on our website at pointofview.net, have your picture.

[00:18:51] We have a link to Facebook.

[00:18:53] We have a link to your website, a link to X and the rest.

[00:18:57] But real quickly, I thought I'd mention one other thing.

[00:18:59] You always include a Spanish language selection.

[00:19:03] Some of my most recent books have been translated into Spanish.

[00:19:07] And I found this to be a very significant opportunity to expand and to increase your ministry.

[00:19:14] And you found that to be the case as well, haven't you?

[00:19:17] Yeah.

[00:19:18] So the longest running member in my band, his name is Rodney Mora.

[00:19:22] And Rodney is from Venezuela.

[00:19:24] And I met Rodney in college over 20 years ago.

[00:19:28] And he's my piano player and our music producer.

[00:19:33] I mean, he does it all.

[00:19:34] And he's incredible.

[00:19:35] And he's got a beautiful voice.

[00:19:37] And so he grew up as a worship leader in Spanish at his church in Venezuela.

[00:19:42] And he grew up in a Christian home and had an American pastor that married a Venezuelan woman.

[00:19:49] And they moved back there and started a church.

[00:19:50] And they found Rodney, and he became their worship leader.

[00:19:54] So by the time he was a senior in high school, he had learned English to interpret for these missionaries from this land called Kentucky.

[00:20:00] And they ended up wanting to make a way for him to come to college.

[00:20:05] And his dreams were coming true because he never dreamed it was possible.

[00:20:09] But they made a way, and the Lord brought him there.

[00:20:13] And I'm the luckiest person for it.

[00:20:15] So just about everything we've ever put out, we've had a song in Spanish on there.

[00:20:21] And he's incredible.

[00:20:22] So yeah, he does that as well everywhere we go.

[00:20:26] And it's pretty neat.

[00:20:28] Well, Jason, I appreciate you taking the time to talk with us.

[00:20:32] And again, if people would like to connect up with you, you can find it, of course, at the website, pointofview.net.

[00:20:38] Or you can just go to jasonlovens.com.

[00:20:39] We have all the links that you need.

[00:20:41] And so thank you for joining us.

[00:20:44] And thank you for sharing your testimony.

[00:20:45] Thank you for your music.

[00:20:47] And thank you for being with us today here on Point of View.

[00:20:49] Thank you, Kirby.

[00:20:50] It's my pleasure.

[00:20:52] We're going to take a break.

[00:20:53] And when we come back, a couple things I did want to talk about before it winds down.

[00:20:57] One is Jonathan Turley.

[00:21:00] Again, an individual who might not necessarily agree with us theologically or politically all the time.

[00:21:04] But nevertheless says the United States has got to get out of the censorship business.

[00:21:09] And actually points out to what was happening with his idea of the Global Engagement Center.

[00:21:14] We'll explain that.

[00:21:15] And then some comments about the Surgeon General, which Allison Finley says probably has done more to politicize science than anyone else.

[00:21:25] So we'll talk about that right after this.

[00:21:30] There is an old military saying, if you don't have communications, you don't have anything.

[00:21:37] Good information is the key to success, not only for those in the military, but for all of us.

[00:21:43] You can't take positive, productive, and helpful action if you don't have good information.

[00:21:49] Point of View Radio's main role is to provide good information.

[00:21:54] And we distribute that information not only here through our radio program, but online and through our various social media channels.

[00:22:02] You know that big tech isn't exactly a supporter of what we do.

[00:22:06] So you need to take intentional steps to keep in touch with us.

[00:22:10] Make sure you follow us on Twitter, at PointofViewRTS, which of course stands for Point of View Radio Talk Show.

[00:22:19] At PointofViewRTS.

[00:22:22] Also, make sure you follow us on Facebook, Point of View Radio Talk Show.

[00:22:27] We won't overwhelm you, usually just one post a day with information on our guests and what's important.

[00:22:33] The information you need when you need it.

[00:22:37] Point of View Radio Talk Show on Facebook and at PointofViewRTS on Twitter.

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

[00:22:57] You are listening to Point of View.

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

[00:23:10] And now, here again, is Kirby Anderson.

[00:23:14] Final half hour as we continue our conversation today on this Monday in January.

[00:23:18] And one of the things that we talk about so often here on Point of View, as illustrated by this booklet I'm holding up right now called Censorship.

[00:23:27] And this is our biblical view of censorship.

[00:23:29] Is that there is just a real concern about the fact that there has been such an attempt to censor so-called misinformation, disinformation.

[00:23:39] Sometimes you hear malinformation.

[00:23:41] And there's been such a call for censorship.

[00:23:43] We've learned about how much censorship has actually taken place because of the so-called Twitter files.

[00:23:50] That is when Elon Musk was able to buy Twitter, changed it now to what is called X.

[00:23:57] We learned all sorts of back room dealings between the federal government and various social media.

[00:24:04] Of course, we've actually produced a booklet in the past on social media censorship.

[00:24:08] But this one goes far beyond that.

[00:24:10] And there was really a need to change this.

[00:24:13] Some of that has been changed, interestingly enough, by the actual acquisition of X and the covering of some of this.

[00:24:23] As we're going to talk about in just a minute, we also have this administration's Global Engagement Center, which was not funded.

[00:24:32] And that is going to change with, of course, the Trump administration.

[00:24:36] But one other reason, which I talk about in my booklet, is there's a very good book that came out by Jonathan Turley.

[00:24:43] And this is the next article that we've posted for you on the website.

[00:24:48] Jonathan Turley is an individual who would, I think, describe himself as left of center.

[00:24:53] But he has been a real free speech advocate.

[00:24:57] He is a professor of law at George Washington University.

[00:25:01] And he has written this book called The Indispensable Right, Free Speech in an Age of Rage.

[00:25:07] It came out this last year.

[00:25:09] And it's something that we recommend.

[00:25:11] And I always try to recommend Christian books.

[00:25:14] And you will notice in the suggested additional resources, I mentioned a couple of our articles and booklets we mentioned.

[00:25:22] I mentioned a Sean McDowell book.

[00:25:24] And then I do mention his.

[00:25:26] And even though he's not necessarily coming at it from a Christian point of view, I still think that is the case.

[00:25:32] As a matter of fact, I give you a whole section here on free speech in the Bible.

[00:25:37] Because oftentimes the best defenders of free speech have been like John Stuart Mill and a number of others who aren't necessarily looking at it from a Christian point of view.

[00:25:48] But they're looking at it with a sense of common grace.

[00:25:51] And that, I think, is one of the things that I've appreciated about Jonathan Turley.

[00:25:56] So, nevertheless, here is his article in which he says, with the departure of 2024, we now say goodbye to one of the most reviled offices in the Biden administration.

[00:26:09] And that is the Global Engagement Center.

[00:26:12] He says, I discussed the center in my recent book, The Indispensable Right, Free Speech in an Age of Rage.

[00:26:19] And he says, getting rid of the Global Engagement Center is a good idea.

[00:26:24] But I might just, he doesn't mention this too much, mention that it almost continued on.

[00:26:29] Because if you might remember when they had to actually continue the funding.

[00:26:34] And if you go to our website at pointofview.net, you'll see that we actually had as our take action item, which is still up there at the moment, avoid a government shutdown.

[00:26:46] When there was an attempt to avoid a government shutdown, they came up with a 15,000-page attempt to extend that.

[00:26:55] And one of those was to continue funding the Global Engagement Center.

[00:26:58] Well, that did not last, and that's a good thing.

[00:27:01] Because, as he points out, getting rid of that, he says, is like weight loss resolutions.

[00:27:07] It will take more than a commitment if we're going to restore free speech in the United States.

[00:27:13] And, of course, he points out in December how the Biden administration tried to keep the funding, but Republicans refused.

[00:27:19] But only after they realized what was in that attempt to extend the funding of the federal government.

[00:27:25] And so then, Jonathan Turley goes on to say,

[00:27:47] Again, recognize this is your classic liberal who has, I said, liberals oftentimes believe in free speech, as do conservatives.

[00:27:56] But the left does not.

[00:27:58] Leftists or Marxists do not.

[00:28:01] And so he finds himself oftentimes arguing against other people who also identify themselves as leftists, but they are not necessarily liberals.

[00:28:11] He says with the elimination of this Global Engagement Center, other offices, he says, lamentably, still remain.

[00:28:19] For example, the cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency.

[00:28:24] Even in the Department of Homeland Security, you've had various attempts to address issues of disinformation and misinformation and even what they call malinformation.

[00:28:36] And he points out that there are very good studies that demonstrate what was taking place.

[00:28:42] For example, he talks about Stanford University had what was called a virology project.

[00:28:48] And it pushed to censor even true facts, since the argument was true stories could fuel hesitancy.

[00:28:55] So the censorship got so bad that we're not just moving against people that are misinforming people or maybe people that are deliberately trying to misinform people.

[00:29:07] But we also want to censor people that are telling true stories or giving true facts because, you know, that might affect the willingness of a person to, I don't know, take a vaccine, listen to a particular speaker, what it might be.

[00:29:22] And so there are oftentimes cases of people who are openly trying to censor any kind of ideas that they disagree with.

[00:29:32] He goes on to say that years ago, some of us wrote about the creation, and we talked about this on Point of View, of the infamous disinformation governance board, which was supposed to be implemented at Homeland Security under the so-called disinformation nanny, an individual that we, of course, talked about on the program as well.

[00:29:53] And he then points out that when the Biden administration caved to public outcry and disbanded the board, many celebrated.

[00:30:00] But as he previously testified, the Biden administration never told the public about a far larger censorship effort in other agencies, including an estimated, again, this number is just amazing, 80 FBI agents secretly targeting citizens and groups for disinformation.

[00:30:21] And so he points out that the system has function like a multi-headed hydra where cutting off one head only allows two more to actually grow back.

[00:30:33] And so he says now with the cutting down and the shutting down of what's called the Global Engagement Center, that will eliminate about $61 million from the federal budget.

[00:30:46] And also it actually give pink slips, if you will, to 120 employees.

[00:30:53] But then he goes on to warn us, however, these employees will find ample opportunities not just in other agencies, but in the academy, that is in the universities, and even in state agencies.

[00:31:07] And he says they're even pro-censorship sites like Blue Sky, which are becoming safe places for liberals who do not want to be triggered by opposing views.

[00:31:20] So if you think that censorship is actually coming to an end, certainly one very positive sign has been the decision to completely dissolve the Global Engagement Center.

[00:31:36] But as Jonathan Turley points out, the sad reality is some of those individuals will find places to work in other agencies, maybe in the universities or even in states.

[00:31:50] And so he says rooting out this censorship system will require a comprehensive effort by the new Trump administration.

[00:31:58] And so he says, here's my New Year's resolution that I hope many in the Trump administration will share.

[00:32:05] Let's get the United States out of the censorship business in 2025.

[00:32:11] Very good piece by an individual that probably wouldn't necessarily agree with us on some of the political issues or even the theological issues we discuss here.

[00:32:20] But I think a good reminder of the fact that the constant emphasis has been in the Western world is to allow for free speech and to certainly fight against censorship.

[00:32:34] So one of the books I would recommend, even though it's written by a person we wouldn't necessarily always agree with,

[00:32:40] is this book by Jonathan Turley, The Indispensable Right, Free Speech in an Age of Rage.

[00:32:47] If you go into probably any Barnes & Noble, you can find it there.

[00:32:51] And of course, we mention it in the booklet I'm holding up here on censorship.

[00:32:55] And if you haven't received this censorship booklet, let me just encourage you to give us a call or to even to write to us.

[00:33:03] I'd be glad to send you a free copy.

[00:33:04] But it's another reason why I hope that some of you, as we go into 2025, consider what you might do to support this ministry.

[00:33:12] For your gift of a dollar a day, $30 a month, you become a Truth Team member.

[00:33:17] You receive the Outlook magazine.

[00:33:19] You receive these booklets every single month.

[00:33:22] And that's just another way you can support this ministry.

[00:33:25] It's another way you can fight this censorship business and this censorship industrial complex,

[00:33:32] which needs to be rooted out under the Trump administration.

[00:33:37] Let's take a break.

[00:33:38] We have some other things that need to change.

[00:33:40] All that coming up right after this.

[00:33:55] You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth.

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

[00:34:02] Let me just mention that tomorrow we're going to be talking with Andrew Wilson,

[00:34:06] in which he argues, and I think very persuasively in his book Remaking the World,

[00:34:12] that the year 1776 was very important.

[00:34:16] Now, if you have been receiving some of my booklets, one of those is on historical cycles.

[00:34:21] And I do point out that 1776 was a very significant year.

[00:34:25] It was, of course, the Declaration of Independence.

[00:34:27] It's when Adam Smith wrote The Wealth of Nations.

[00:34:30] But his argument is it changed the West in even more significant ways into a weirder society.

[00:34:37] And he uses weirder as an acronym because W stands for Western, E stands for educated, I for industrialized, R for rich, D for democratic,

[00:34:50] E for ex-Christian, and R for romantic, in which he actually takes you through all sorts of things that happened in 1776,

[00:34:58] in addition to, of course, the American Revolution, as well as the Declaration of Independence.

[00:35:04] But Thomas Paine's Common Sense, Edward Gibbons, the history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire.

[00:35:11] In terms of industry, James Watt's steam engine, as well as Immanuel Kant's critique of pure reason.

[00:35:18] You have David Hume, Edmund Burke, John Adams.

[00:35:23] It's really just an incredible resource.

[00:35:25] And so we're going to spend some time.

[00:35:27] Actually, I'm going to tape it and then we'll play it tomorrow.

[00:35:30] And I think you will learn a lot about how 1776 was a very significant year for America.

[00:35:38] But it also was, in some respects, a turning point in the Western world.

[00:35:42] And we'll get into that in more detail with Andrew Wilson.

[00:35:46] Let me just real quickly take this last article by Alicia Finley, in which she is very critical of the current Surgeon General,

[00:35:56] and in a sense can't wait for him to leave as well.

[00:35:59] Because she says the Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, has done more to politicize science

[00:36:04] and erode trust in public health leaders than anyone other than maybe Anthony Fauci.

[00:36:10] And she talks about the most recent report in which she says that some cancers provide evidence that some drinking would lead to some cancers.

[00:36:22] Probably a better way to say that.

[00:36:24] And makes the link between drinking and various kind of throat and mouth cancers.

[00:36:31] But the reality is, and you know that I'm not necessarily a defender of drinking at all,

[00:36:37] but there has really been no established connection for moderate consumption.

[00:36:43] It's usually for heavy drinking.

[00:36:45] And that comes from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine,

[00:36:50] which found an insufficient link between, say, moderate drinking and cancer.

[00:36:55] There are many good reasons not to drink, and we've talked about those on the program,

[00:36:58] and I've done many commentaries on that.

[00:37:01] But instead, what she is concerned about is the fact that here is an individual who,

[00:37:07] the first time he posted an advisory back in 2021,

[00:37:12] was declaring that we have a problem with health misinformation,

[00:37:16] and that health misinformation is a serious threat.

[00:37:19] And then, because of that, has actually tried to do what he can,

[00:37:25] back to the point we made just a few minutes ago,

[00:37:27] to censor individuals who were in any case writing about or speaking about issues that he would disagree with.

[00:37:37] And as a result, said that this misinformation has caused us to reject public health measures,

[00:37:43] such as masking and physical distancing,

[00:37:48] which actually turned out to not necessarily be as good as actually spread.

[00:37:53] So here is an individual who has been very concerned, in many cases, about health misinformation.

[00:38:01] And when it is inaccurate information, very easily dismissed by the scientific areas,

[00:38:08] then I think that's exactly what the Surgeon General should be doing.

[00:38:12] But in many cases, we've come to recognize that instead,

[00:38:16] when they talk about trying to prioritize early detection of misinformation,

[00:38:22] that in some respects what it meant is we want to censor any COVID views

[00:38:28] that either he or Dr. Anthony Fauci might disagree with.

[00:38:34] And as a result, of course, you're well aware of the fact that some of those individuals

[00:38:38] later sued Dr. Murthy and other public health officials,

[00:38:42] and one of those individuals now is going to be heading up the NIH.

[00:38:47] Well then, if that was not enough,

[00:38:51] Elisa Finley points out the fact that you also had this report from the Surgeon General

[00:38:56] about workplace mental health.

[00:38:59] Should we be concerned?

[00:39:00] Of course we should for any kind of mental health issues,

[00:39:04] whether from students, people in the workplace, or whatever.

[00:39:08] But instead, the focus was on the need for more unions,

[00:39:14] and yet one of the significant causes for mental health and chronic stress,

[00:39:20] well, I don't know, could have been maybe the inflation we talked about

[00:39:23] in the first part of the program

[00:39:24] that was created in large part by all the government spending.

[00:39:28] But that wasn't the case.

[00:39:30] His solution instead was require employers to provide paid family leave

[00:39:35] and also provide a predictable living wage.

[00:39:39] And as Elisa Finley points out,

[00:39:42] whenever he would identify a problem,

[00:39:45] he would only identify problems for which there might be some kind of liberal

[00:39:49] or progressive solution.

[00:39:51] Another one was an advisory about the epidemic of loneliness and isolation.

[00:39:56] I've done a booklet on loneliness.

[00:39:59] No doubt about that.

[00:40:01] Very significant issue.

[00:40:03] What was the solution?

[00:40:04] Well, to improve social connection,

[00:40:06] that is, increase access to public transit.

[00:40:11] I love Elisa Finley saying,

[00:40:12] has he ever ridden on the New York subway?

[00:40:15] And then, of course, he had the publication,

[00:40:18] which we've talked about before on this program,

[00:40:20] of an advisory on firearm violence

[00:40:24] and called that a public health crisis in America.

[00:40:27] And so, again, we know what that means,

[00:40:31] restriction on concealed carry, open carry permits,

[00:40:35] and a variety of others.

[00:40:36] Then had a health hazard for children,

[00:40:38] but, again, recognizing the solution would be child care subsidies

[00:40:43] or tax credits, universal preschool.

[00:40:47] The point that she was making is,

[00:40:50] is that every time he would find a social or medical problem,

[00:40:54] the solution in almost every case was to have greater government.

[00:40:59] She points out that he might have done some good

[00:41:02] had he drawn attention, as she says,

[00:41:04] to, I don't know, actual public health problems

[00:41:07] like teenage marijuana use,

[00:41:10] post-traumatic stress disorder among veterans.

[00:41:13] But she says such advisories wouldn't get headlines

[00:41:17] or advance the left's goal of expanding government control over Americans.

[00:41:21] So instead, he used the government pulpit

[00:41:24] to promote himself and progressive policies.

[00:41:28] And so she ultimately, at the end, says good riddance to him.

[00:41:32] We are seeing a remarkable change from one administration to the next.

[00:41:37] That will happen two weeks from now.

[00:41:40] But this is just one more reminder of kind of the regime

[00:41:45] which we found ourselves under,

[00:41:47] whether it was talking about the economy,

[00:41:51] whether it was talking about health care,

[00:41:52] or a variety of other issues.

[00:41:54] And I thought, certainly as we were in the waning days

[00:41:58] of the Biden administration,

[00:42:00] I thought it might be worthwhile to point out

[00:42:02] just a few of those really important issues.

[00:42:05] Well, I hope you can join us tomorrow.

[00:42:07] Andrew Wilson is an individual that has had this book out for some time,

[00:42:11] but we now have a chance to talk with him

[00:42:14] about how, in many cases,

[00:42:17] there was a remarkable shift in 1776,

[00:42:22] and that was remaking the Western world.

[00:42:25] We'll be talking about him

[00:42:26] and, of course, getting into some other issues in the news.

[00:42:29] One last time, don't forget that we still have available to you

[00:42:33] our trip to Greece,

[00:42:34] which will take place May 17th to the 27th.

[00:42:38] If you'd like to know a little bit more about that,

[00:42:41] if you'd like to get a brochure,

[00:42:42] I would encourage you,

[00:42:43] even though we go off the air,

[00:42:45] you can give us a call at 800-347-5151.

[00:42:49] Of course, you can simply go to the website,

[00:42:52] pointofview.net.

[00:42:53] You can leave us an email there,

[00:42:54] and we would be glad to send you the information

[00:42:57] that you need as well.

[00:42:59] Most importantly,

[00:43:01] great to get back the team

[00:43:02] that we always appreciated working with.

[00:43:04] Megan, engineering the program.

[00:43:05] Steve, thank you for being a producer,

[00:43:07] and we will see you back here tomorrow,

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

[00:43:11] It almost seems like we live in a different world

[00:43:14] from many people in positions of authority.

[00:43:17] They say men can be women,

[00:43:19] and women men.

[00:43:20] People are prosecuted differently,

[00:43:23] or not at all,

[00:43:24] depending on their politics.

[00:43:26] Criminals are more valued and rewarded

[00:43:28] than law-abiding citizens.

[00:43:30] It's so overwhelming,

[00:43:32] so demoralizing.

[00:43:33] You feel like giving up,

[00:43:35] but we can't.

[00:43:36] We shouldn't.

[00:43:37] We must not.

[00:43:38] But as Winston Churchill said to Britain

[00:43:41] in the darkest days of World War II,

[00:43:43] never give in.

[00:43:45] Never give in.

[00:43:46] Never, never, never.

[00:43:47] Never yield to force.

[00:43:49] Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might

[00:43:52] of the enemy.

[00:43:53] And that's what we say to you today.

[00:43:56] This is not a time to give in,

[00:43:58] but to step up and join Point of View

[00:44:01] in providing clarity in the chaos.

[00:44:04] We can't do it alone,

[00:44:05] but together,

[00:44:06] with God's help,

[00:44:08] we will overcome the darkness.

[00:44:10] Invest in biblical clarity today

[00:44:13] at pointofview.net

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

[00:44:19] Pointofview.net

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

[00:44:27] Point of View is produced by

[00:44:30] Point of View Ministries.