Point of View May 27, 2026 – Hour 2 : Wednesday’s Headlines

[00:00:04] Across America, live, this is Point of View. And now, Liberty McCartney. Okay, welcome back to Point of View for the second hour. Had a wonderful conversation with Lathan Watts. And if you missed any of that, I encourage you to go to pointofview.net where you can look at the topics that we were discussing.

[00:00:30] You can always go back to the website or YouTube, Facebook, the podcast, and you can listen to what you may have missed. But let's get into some news of the day. Let's talk about some political news. And I am going to request some calls later, particularly about a topic I want to discuss regarding childhood. So if you have childhood memories, if you're a parent or a grandparent or have any opinions on maybe how we should raise kids

[00:00:54] and if they're too sheltered or not protected enough today, I want to hear your opinion so you can go ahead and get ready to make that call. 1-800-351-1212. But let me give a little bit of an update. I'm, of course, in Texas. We're broadcasting from Dallas. And so I voted in a runoff election yesterday for the Senate race between John Cornyn and Ken Paxton. And you may have already heard, but Ken Paxton won. So from National Review, you can read this at pointofview.net,

[00:01:24] Texan Republicans roll the dice with Paxton. And it really was a blowout. I mean, it was it was not even close. Paxton defeated Cornyn, who was the incumbent, by 24 percentage points. So not a close race at all. And really, I think what this I think this is accurate and what the National Review is saying as well,

[00:01:49] that what we're seeing is that the Republican Party, especially for the hardcore base, the MAGA base, it really is Trump's party. So Trump came in with a last minute, 11th hour endorsement of Paxton. Now, the review argues that that didn't actually push Paxton over the edge because he won by so much. It looked like he was already going to win. And maybe that's why Trump endorsed him so that he could claim another victory with his endorsement.

[00:02:15] But when you are looking at primary voters, and I think this may be true in Texas and elsewhere as well in the Republican Party that is now over 10 years been influenced by Donald Trump. What you are seeing is still out with the old and with the new again. Cornyn, he had a solid conservative voting record in the Senate. He was more soft spoken. Ken Paxton's definitely a warrior. He also has a sordid past.

[00:02:42] And as the National Review points out, you know, lots of scandals. He was impeached as attorney general by his own party. That was only three years ago. Political scandals, they're not really as much of a factor in the post Trump era that they might have been. So it's interesting to see that that is who Texas Republicans decided to go with. And I think that, you know, I don't want to just say it's only because it, you know, Trump endorsed again. He endorsed at the 11th hour. I think it was more complicated than that.

[00:03:12] People probably had a lot of different reasons. But we're seeing the trends of where the Republican Party is moving to. So the Wall Street Journal editorial board, of course, I kind of look at what they have to say. They definitely were a little bit critical because what some polling and surveys have shown is that Tallarico, who is the Democrat candidate for Senate in Texas, would have a chance of beating Ken Paxton. Now, I have my doubts about this.

[00:03:40] I'm happy to get into that in just a moment. But those are what some of the polls have said. That was really the line that Cornyn was pushing is that we've got to beat Tallarico. Therefore, you need to elect me. Apparently, Texas Republicans did not agree with that.

[00:03:55] Wall Street Journal, nevertheless, editorial board thinks that now Republicans better be ready to really shell out and spend 100 million dollars or more to try to keep the seat in November due to just the attacks that they believe are going to rain down on Paxton during the campaign. Of course, you have to look and see what did The New York Times say about it? They're optimistic for Tallarico, not a surprise. We see this. We see this commonly.

[00:04:25] If you remember Beto O'Rourke, people get behind someone they think is going to turn Texas blue or at least purple. It doesn't happen. So I have my doubts that it might happen this time. But I did think that there were a few important observations here in this New York Times article that didn't link this. I'm just kind of reading off of it, basically saying that, look, James Tallarico was born and raised in Texas.

[00:04:52] And their argument is that he is really threading the needle running a Texas campaign. He is supported by the Democratic Party nationally, but he is also visiting very red parts of Texas and trying to make a case for himself there. There's a debate about whether or not he's actually vegan. I don't know. I'm not going to get into that. But as you can tell, apparently that's a big deal for us Texans. We like our barbecue. We like our steak.

[00:05:21] So that that might play into it. President Trump thinks it will. I think Tallarico has come out and defended his his meat eating. So anyways, but there are other concerns as well. Here's where I think the New York Times gets it wrong. They think that Paxson is too extreme on some of the social conservative issues. Well, I think that that actually does reflect what Texans think.

[00:05:45] So their example here is that according or retain pertaining to abortion specifically. Eighty three percent of Texans think abortions should be legal in the cases of rape or incest. Eighty two percent think abortion should be legal to preserve the mother's physical health. And eighty four percent think abortions should be legal if doctors determine that the fetus, the unborn baby will die before or not long after birth.

[00:06:10] So as a pro life person, I have my thoughts and responses to all of that from a pro life perspective. But just from a political standpoint, those are still very narrow exceptions for abortion. So just because the majority of Texans may say on a poll that they support abortion in those specific narrow instances,

[00:06:33] it does not necessarily mean that they are supporting abortion rights for the trans community, which is a quote from James Tallarico. So he has said some pretty out there things already. I have seen in the last 24 hours him trying to walk back saying that, you know, people are clipping his most cringy comments from the past. And of course they are because that's campaigning. Right.

[00:06:59] So, of course, they're going to do that. Nevertheless, he has said some pretty extreme things. He has argued very explicitly that he is pro abortion and he believes that is a biblical point of view. Much noise is also being made about the fact that he is a Christian. He says he is. But if you look at a lot of the things he says, and I think Texans that are, you know, Christianity and evangelical Christianity is common in Texas, regardless of political affiliation.

[00:07:26] I think they can see that what he's talking about doesn't necessarily mesh with what we actually see in the Bible. So anyways, why does this matter? Because, of course, we've got listeners in Texas, but we have listeners all over the nation. So why is there going to be so much attention put on Texas? And there is. It's because due to the fact that Paxton won and due to the polling that you've seen that said that Tallarico may have a chance of beating Paxton over Cornyn.

[00:07:54] Now you are going to see people really pushing. You're going to see the money pouring in for Tallarico, because if the Democrats in the midterms think that they can make headway now all of a sudden they are thinking that Texas is a vulnerable state. So you're going to be seeing a lot of attention to North Carolina and Maine, maybe even Alaska, maybe even Ohio. Now you're going to see a lot of attention turning to Texas and you're going to see a lot of noise about whether or not Tallarico can turn Texas blue.

[00:08:23] Again, I have my doubts because I think that Texas is very solidly red. And even if a lot of Texans are more moderate, they they may not want to take that step of voting for somebody who is clearly extremely politically progressive. But we'll see how it plays out when we come back. Let's talk about childhood. A crazy amount of kids are not allowed to play in their own yard. Let's talk about it after we come back from this break.

[00:09:00] This is Viewpoints with Kirby Anderson. You know, much has been made of the slight uptick in spiritual interest among the Gen Z generation. George Barn of the Cultural Research Center agrees that there are a few positive trends, but laments that there are mostly negative trends. He was on my radio program recently to talk about the recent spiritual progress and regress of Gen Z. On the positive side, he discovered an interest in being deeply committed to practicing their faith.

[00:09:29] He also found that there was an increase in weekly Bible reading as well as an increase in the number who depend on the Bible for moral guidance. Those statistics track with industry reports of increased Bible sales and many stories of young adults reading the Bible. Most of the negative trends result from being captive to the culture. The Apostle Paul warns in Colossians 2.8,

[00:09:50] See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition, according to the elementary spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For example, Gen Z generation is much more likely to see nothing wrong with same-sex marriage. They're more likely to prefer socialism over capitalism. They're also likely to consult a horoscope for guidance. They're also less likely to believe in absolute truth, and they believe that the origin of the universe is unknowable and aren't sure that there is life after death.

[00:10:21] George Barna asked this question and then answers it. Is the United States experiencing a time of revival now among its youngest adults? The research gives a lukewarm affirmation of revival at best. While we can celebrate the few positive signs, his research reminds us that we have work to do if we are to reach and disciple this generation. I'm Kirby Anderson, and that's my point of view.

[00:10:49] Go deeper on topics like you just heard by visiting pointofview.net. That's pointofview.net. You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth. I don't know about you, but I have memories of being a kid and going out on a summer evening on my bike barefoot, ringing a neighbor's doorbell to say,

[00:11:17] hey, can so-and-so come out to play, and just having fun. Now, of course, my parents weren't neglectful. They weren't abandoning me. But I had freedom to age-appropriate freedom to walk to the park with my cousins that was just a couple blocks away in the neighborhood, or to ride up and down the street on my bike with my friends. I had the freedom to do that, and as I got older, I had a little bit more freedom.

[00:11:44] When I was a teenager, I was able to ride my bike across town, go to the store, go to a babysitting gig, things like that. Well, guess what? People aren't really doing that anymore, and this is where I want your comments. So if you want to talk about your own parenting, if you have advice or questions, because not only is this an important issue culturally for the well-being and mental health of the next generation, I'm a mom with young kids. I'm trying to figure all of this out myself. So I think this could be a fun conversation.

[00:12:12] If you want to join in, 1-800-351-1212, 1-800-351-1212. Feel free to also leave a comment if you're watching on Facebook or YouTube, and we'll check that too. But let's start with this article. You can read it at pointofview.net. It's from the Wall Street Journal from former Senator Ben Sasse. As we know, he is suffering from stage 4 pancreatic cancer that has been diagnosed as terminal,

[00:12:39] and he just keeps speaking about so many important issues. That is a whole conversation in and of itself, the inspiration. That is Ben Sasse right now and The Witness. But he wrote about the indoor childhood being bad for America in the Wall Street Journal. So he said that the digital revolution is, of course, remaking nearly every aspect of American life. And so screen time is a big conversation. We've talked about this.

[00:13:09] How much screen time are kids getting? Well, another part of that conversation, and I think a lot of people are getting behind the push to take screens away. You're seeing phone bans in school. You're seeing more parents become aware of the damage that it might do to their child to give them the tablet or to give them a smartphone too early. But what are you going to replace that with? Well, people, we might say as adults, well, kids will play the old-fashioned way. They'll use their imagination. They'll grab a stick. They'll get a box. They'll go outside.

[00:13:37] Well, maybe not so much, not the outside part. So I saw this survey a few weeks ago, and I'm so glad that SAS cites it here because it gives us a chance to talk about it today. But this is from the Institute for Family Studies. 60% of 6-year-olds have access to Internet-connected tablets, but 58, so basically the same amount, 58% of kids that same age, 6 years old, aren't allowed to play unsupervised in their own yards.

[00:14:06] He says, I think this is a great quote, parents are busy, and they neither can nor should be micromanagers. But when kids can't entertain themselves outside, the screen becomes the babysitter. Here are a few more statistics. At 11, 1 in 4 kids aren't allowed outside without adult supervision. More than half of 14-year-olds don't have permission to leave their streets.

[00:14:34] Was this the case for you when you were growing up? Again, like I mentioned, certainly not for me. But here's the problem with that. If we're not giving kids responsibility at age-appropriate levels, are we even preparing them for adulthood? How are they going to be prepared for the real world?

[00:14:53] He says, nearly two-thirds of 17-year-olds, 17, that's a legal adult in some states, and it's very close to a legal adult all across the United States. You can get drafted. Nearly two-thirds of 17-year-olds can't leave their neighborhoods without adult supervision. Is it reasonable to expect them to vote at 18, to fight in a war, to incur college debt? No. We can't expect that of them if they haven't even been able to walk around.

[00:15:23] So in the book, The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt makes this observation and says that he, when, as a sociologist, when he was researching why mental health was tanking among kids, of course, most of the book is about screen time. But he also talked about giving kids responsibility and freedom and how he and his wife actually made the decision. I think they got one of those Apple AirTags where they were able to give it to their son, who is young,

[00:15:52] and they were able to kind of watch him on their phone but let him walk to the store, which was right around the corner, by himself. And so more people are talking about that, and I appreciate that because I'm like, well, yeah, that's the kind of childhood I had. I had independence. I had increasing levels of responsibility and trust from my parents.

[00:16:16] It was common in my neighborhood when I was growing up in the early 2000s for kids to be like, oh, yeah, my mom said I had to be home at sunset. You know, go home for dinner. When the sun starts setting, go home. But you might be riding your bike in the neighborhood with friends, and that's okay. But Ben Sass says we've eliminated opportunities for children to learn from low-risk failures, and then we toss adults into the deep end.

[00:16:39] They are not being protected, however, because remember how 60% of 6-year-olds have tablets that can access the Internet? There are so many dangers online, and that is what we've talked about. We've talked about with Claire Morell in her book The Tech Exit, that kids are being exposed to things that harm their intellect, their attention span, also expose them to just really horrible content that might cause trauma or confusion, things that ruin their innocence.

[00:17:09] So we think that they're safe, but they're actually not safe. But what's the solution? Because I'll admit, as a mom of young kids, the world is scary. It's not that I don't trust my kids to walk to the playground that's in the neighborhood because it's not that far away, and my kids are still pretty young. But in a couple of years, I could see them doing that. But let me just be honest, I don't really have an easy time trusting other people to not drive too fast or not look out for my kids.

[00:17:36] And I think a lot of people really struggle with that. And they say, yes, I understand. I want to give my kids more freedom and independence, but I also struggle with the way that the world is. So that's where, again, if you want to call in and give any insight on that, you can. 1-800-351-1212. I'll take your call. But there is an effort to kind of push back against this.

[00:18:03] So let me just wrap up what Ben Sasse said real quick, and then I'll talk about a little bit of legislation. He said that this is a solvable problem. Again, he's arguing for more. Maybe not. There is a movement called free-range parenting, but just kind of like maybe 90s childhood where everybody didn't have screens, but more kids were outside playing. They were able to ride their bike around the block, things like that. So he says we can solve this problem. But the first step is developing an accurate and shared sense of the challenge.

[00:18:32] And so he says a significant reason for the next generation's addiction to screens is the current generation's failure to give them something better to do. Well, what happens when parents try? That's what this piece of legislation is trying to address, because there are some parents who aren't opposed to giving their kids some freedom, some freedom of movement, some independence within reason.

[00:19:03] But oftentimes they get punished for it. This is kind of related to what I was talking about with Lathan in the last hour, where you have more and more different facets and angles of this disagreement between a lot of governments, especially certain state governments and parents over who really is in charge of the child. So this is called Promoting Childhood Independence and Resilience Act, introduced by Representative Blake Moore, who's a Republican in Utah.

[00:19:32] But really, he says he acknowledges these same kinds of statistics. He says children today experience 50 percent less unstructured outdoor play compared to the 1970s, as well as significant declines in in-person socialization. And this and of course, he cites the anxious generation. He cites Jonathan Haidt. It's a lot of the same things we've been talking about.

[00:19:57] And yet, if we want to say, OK, well, let your kids play outside, let them have the old fashioned childhood. Guess what? In Illinois, a woman was cited for child neglect after allowing her 11, 9 and 5 year old children to play in a park near their home. In Maryland, these are real cases. A couple was found responsible for child neglect after allowing their 10 year old and 6 year old children to play outside and walk home by themselves.

[00:20:26] In South Carolina, a mom was arrested for allowing her 9 year old to play at a park. In Virginia, CPS investigated parents who allowed their children to play outside in their own yard. In Pennsylvania, a single mom was placed on the state's child abuse registry for having a 13 year old babysit her 1 year old. How many of you listening had your first job as a babysitter when you were a teenager?

[00:20:51] I know babysitters even younger than 13 who a family friend says, yes, you can you can watch my my little one for a little bit. In Georgia, another mom was arrested when her 10 year old son took a walk. Now, we can't say deal with that kind of oversight and interference in very reasonable things that just a couple of decades ago would have nobody would have blinked an eye at.

[00:21:16] We can't allow that and then say, oh, yes, let's decrease screen time and give our kids an old fashioned childhood. So something's got to give. What do we do about that? Well, we're talking about it on point of view and we have other issues to discuss as well. So join the conversation. You can find the call and information online. We'll be right back after this. Have you ever met a child you knew would do great things? They displayed remarkable imagination, understanding and a zest for learning.

[00:21:42] Now imagine someone takes that child and instead of fostering their potential with a real education, they feed them nothing but lies. You know, that scenario isn't so far from reality.

[00:21:53] From a young age, Americans are fed a consistent stream of distorted facts from the secular indoctrination they receive in many public schools to the biases presented as fact in many colleges and universities to the barrage of misinformation from the mainstream media and the lack of moral grounding in our society. It's not that Americans aren't capable of understanding the truth. It's that they aren't exposed to it enough.

[00:22:19] You can expose more Americans to the truth when you give to point of view where listeners receive facts, perspective and biblical truth they don't get from society. As long as we have truth, we have hope. Give today at pointofview.net or call 1-800-347-5151. Pointofview.net and 1-800-347-5151.

[00:22:50] Point of View will continue after this. You are listening to Point of View. The opinions expressed on Point of View do not necessarily reflect the views of the management or staff of this station. And now here again is Liberty McCarter.

[00:23:17] Okay, let's talk a little bit more about the Promoting Childhood Independence and Resilience Act because you can read the article from former Senator Ben Sasse at pointofview.net talking about the need for children to be able to play outside. And I think initially most of us can all say yes, absolutely. And if we want to decrease screen time, we have to give the kids something better to do. And yet 60% of kids that are age 6 have internet connected tablets.

[00:23:44] And yet 58% of kids that same age aren't allowed to play unsupervised in their own yard. So we also talked about how the parents who are trying to say, I'm going to give my kids a little more independence. For instance, let my 10-year-old take a walk. Let my 9-year-old children walk around the corner maybe to the local parks. They're getting investigated and arrested and accused of child abuse and neglect.

[00:24:11] So what this bill would do would basically try to prevent that from happening. So it instructs the HHS to conduct a public study on how state and state child welfare agencies can empower parents to give children opportunities to participate in reasonable independent activities.

[00:24:33] That's kind of the functioning word here, which is a little loosey-goosey because people can interpret reasonable independent activities very loosely depending on parenting style and things like that. But they are directing the HHS to say, okay, how can we equip states to empower parents to be able to give their children this freedom without having to get accused or charged with something if they aren't directly supervising them at that moment?

[00:25:00] There also are plans, according to this bill, that would direct child welfare agencies in states to go through training to prevent unnecessarily traumatic investigations and separations. Because even if a family is investigated or accused, because, and you know what a lot of this comes from? Neighbors will, you know, see a child walking alone, think, I think that child's too small.

[00:25:27] And I think part of this is that nobody knows their neighbors anymore. And instead of going out and checking or going down the street and saying, hey, you know, is your kid allowed to be outside? I just wanted to check on them. They'll just call the police. And then the police will come and then you have to do an investigation. And a lot of times that can be very traumatic for the family, because even if it doesn't come to anything and they don't end up getting charged or arrested, then that can be a traumatic experience for the kids and for the parents who are just trying to let their kids walk to the park or something like that.

[00:25:57] So it does some things like that that just give parents a little more freedom. Here's how it ends. Ensures parents have the freedom to raise their children as they see best. So that is really what we should want is for parents to have the authority over their own children to make the decisions that are best for their children. I did want to just look at a little bit of research really quickly because we've already talked about a lot of the research. We've talked about the Anxious Generation.

[00:26:25] Jonathan Haidt's other book that he co-authored is The Coddling of the American Mind. And again, to Senator Sasse's point, you can't really just wrap kids in bubble wrap, keep them inside their whole lives and then say at 18, OK, go off to college or the military or wherever, and then expect them to not expect to still be supervised or, for lack of a better term, coddled. And as Sasse points out, it's not the kids' fault.

[00:26:49] Jonathan Haidt actually was disinvited from giving a commencement address at a university because apparently the student body didn't like the message of his book, The Coddling of the American Mind, which is ironic because he was critiquing kind of cancel culture and helicopter parenting and things like that. But he wasn't critiquing that generation. He was critiquing the way they were raised. His whole message to young people is you are resilient.

[00:27:16] You can be strong, but you haven't really been given the necessary tools in order to develop those skills and that confidence. So this is an article from AEI, American Enterprise Institute, from a while back. Just going to quote a little bit here. Research shows that children who are allowed to take small risks, climbing, exploring, walking to school, develop greater problem-solving skills, confidence, and resilience. They learn to manage fear and make judgments about risk.

[00:27:45] They also develop stronger social skills because independence means negotiating friendships and conflicts without adult supervision. By contrast, children who are constantly monitored are more likely to become anxious, risk-averse, and overly dependent on adults. And at first for parents, this might seem counterintuitive because you want to eliminate the risks and you want to eliminate the hardship. But letting your kids, again, at age-appropriate levels, handle that independently. It gives them confidence. It's how they build their skills.

[00:28:15] Now, again, as I mentioned, I fully believe in all of this. And yet, I still have to struggle as a mom because the world is a scary place, right? But I think it is important to note, and this is from earlier this year, crime rates are dropping, okay? Data from 40 American cities shows a decrease in crime rates across 11 out of 13 categories of offenses last year, according to the Council on Criminal Justice. So we've talked about this point of view. We've talked about it. Kirby's mentioned it.

[00:28:45] That compared to times in the past, really we are seeing a decline in crime that doesn't necessarily always make us feel better. But I just thought I would mention that as people are having these conversations about free-range childhood and how to raise kids and things like that. So really, we have to be able to give kids risk. We have to allow them to be able to build their confidence. This was another really good point, and then I'll move on. This is from Ben Sass. He said, and I didn't know this. You probably know this.

[00:29:15] I didn't know this. Of the 12 Apollo astronauts who walked on the moon, 11 were Boy Scouts who had learned to live by the Scouts' motto, be prepared. And, of course, that was back closer to the founding of the Boy Scouts, which was a great organization at the time. He said, from Western expansion to space exploration, Americans have succeeded by pushing boundaries and embracing challenges. That kind of pioneer spirit starts with the adventures and misadventures of childhood.

[00:29:44] So sometimes kids have got to get a scraped knee and learn how to overcome that in order to be confident and be willing to take those risks and challenges that have really defined the American spirit. I thought you would enjoy that. You can read those articles at pointofview.net. But I do want to turn to something else just here for the last few minutes of this segment and then maybe in the next as well. You may have seen that Pope Leo issued his first encyclical on Monday. Now, I'm not Catholic. I'm Protestant.

[00:30:13] OK, but I do think this is important, not only because Pope Leo issued the encyclical on the topic of artificial intelligence and just digital technology in general. But this is something that really does form kind of the social teachings and conversations about ethics and morality and what Christians should believe for a large portion of Christians. It's discussed worldwide and even Protestants who maybe aren't Catholic.

[00:30:41] They can still benefit from a lot of the biblical principles that are often found in encyclicals like these. So this one is kind of a mixed bag. I haven't read the whole thing, so I will say that right out front. I would like to be able to read it, but I have read several parts of it. And I think that Yuval Levin, who, of course, is an author and been referenced here on Point of View, he had a really great breakdown of it. It's actually pretty thorough.

[00:31:08] And based on what I've seen and what I've read and what I know about this topic already, I think both his praises and criticisms are really spot on. So I wanted to take a moment. You can read along at pointofview.net. But I wanted to take a moment and kind of go through some of that, because really, as you know, on Point of View, we've talked about AI and we've talked about how do we approach that from a biblical perspective.

[00:31:32] But let's go ahead and talk about this because the encyclical, which is just a papal teaching that the pope tends to issue periodically. It is going to form a lot of these conversations about AI and the Christian response going forth, I think. So this was it was entitled Magnifica Humanitas or Magnificent Humanity.

[00:31:51] So what is interesting is that Pope Leo uses two Old Testament examples to help us frame our thinking about AI and technology in general, the Tower of Babel and the Wall of Nehemiah. So about the Tower of Babel, he argues this is a quote from the encyclical.

[00:32:12] So the Tower of Babel reveals the limits of any effort that, however grandiose, arise from self-affirmation, sacrifices human dignity for efficiency and aspires to reach heaven without God's blessing. Nehemiah is rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. On the other hand, is an example of a project pursued not only with divine blessing, but also with prudence about human affairs.

[00:32:38] Therefore, the primary choice is not between a yes or no technology, but rather between constructing Babel or rebuilding Jerusalem between a power that claims to dominate the heavens and to people who work together in the presence of God to rebuild the walls of fraternal coexistence. To break all that down, basically in Babel, you really see the sin of pride. You see the sin of people thinking that they can achieve a godlike status.

[00:33:06] We can look at all the things we can accomplish on our own. We can build a tower that reaches the heavens versus rebuilding the Wall of Nehemiah, working together, working with God, directed by God. That's a helpful framework, I think. And many people have likened a lot of the idolatry that we're seeing in the technical age to the story in the Tower of Babel. So it's helpful.

[00:33:31] But as Yuval Levin knows, and as I think as well, it misses the mark because really we should take that conversation about idolatry a little bit further. We'll discuss it more when we come back and maybe take a phone call or two as well. So stay with us right here on Point of View.

[00:33:58] You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth. Okay, I do want to keep talking about this encyclical from Pope Leo and how, as Christians, we should approach the issue of AI and the idolatry conversation. But first, I do want to take a call. Barbara in Georgia called regarding our conversation about kids and freedom. Barbara, thanks for calling in. Hi. Yes. It's a very difficult issue.

[00:34:27] It's so bad that the military today actually has classes on something they call adulting, which I had never heard of. But apparently it is to shift the mindset and to teach basic skills like decision-making. And it's because I believe we're no longer a moral culture.

[00:34:53] You know, we've lost that ability to depend on our neighbors to watch our kids when they're out in the front yard playing. You know, it's a very serious issue, Chelsea. And I really don't have a solution for it. Yeah. Well, Barbara, I appreciate your call. And that's such a great point. You know, Barbara said that our moral foundation in our nation has declined.

[00:35:21] And that's exactly what we were talking about with Lathan in the first hour, that whenever we don't have a moral society, a moral foundation, we can't trust each other. And we can't trust people to follow the law. So I think you hit the nail on the head, Barbara, that in order to really embrace that freedom that we need to thrive as humans, we have to have a moral society. And I remember the word adulting. When you said that, it took me back because I wrote an article several years ago.

[00:35:48] I think it was probably back in 2020 or earlier where I said, millennials, we've got to stop using the word adulting. Because and I have been guilty of it in college. But it really became a trend where doing something as simple as paying a bill or going to fill up your car with gas is like, I'm adulting today. No, you're just doing a normal human thing at an age appropriate level. And you don't need a trophy because you did something that adults do. So great points, Barbara. Thank you so much for calling in.

[00:36:14] And I think this kind of wraps us back into this conversation with technology and idolatry and artificial intelligence as well. Because when you are looking at formation, really, that is a key question that as Christians we need to ask when we're talking about digital technology. How is it forming us? And if kids are inside and they're on screens and now they've got AI, you wouldn't believe how many people I know who are like, yeah, my kid already discovered chat GPT.

[00:36:43] They talked about this and that. Then that's what's forming them rather than the real world, real relationship, real risks and overcoming and confidence building. So let's talk about that a little bit, though. I mentioned before the break that in the encyclical, Pope Leo does talk about idolatry. And one of the things that Yuval Levin critiques or criticizes is that he wishes he would have taken that train of thought even further.

[00:37:12] So Pope Leo does say that with regard to the Tower of Babel example, you saw idolatry of profit over the well-being of humans. And of course, we see that in a lot of cases today, including with the building of AI and tech. I mean, we probably should, but don't and don't want to think about the parts of the smartphones that we're all carrying that were harvested in unethical ways.

[00:37:40] Let's just put it at that. There are so many products that we in Western society and very privileged places consume and buy and purchase without even realizing how unethically they are actually created, often with slave labor around the world. So that is certainly something that we need to take into consideration with technology development as well, because it's a big part of the conversation. But I think the idolatry, this is where I agree with Levin. We need to take that even further.

[00:38:07] Like, let's say, OK, yes, people are idolizing profit, but what else are they idolizing? And I think it really goes to a core thing that human beings have always idolized. And that is control. That is the promotion of self, the delusion that we should actually be in charge. We should be God, not God being God. So I'm going to reference a couple of authors here. One, you'll recognize C.S. Lewis. He comes up a lot in conversations.

[00:38:35] So I think he really knew what he was talking about and predicted a lot of things that we see today. But also Paul Kingsnorth, who last year he published a book called Against the Machine. And I really appreciated this specific chapter where he quoted a lot of the spiritual language that many of the tech leaders in Silicon Valley are using to describe their work. Remember the article yesterday on searching for God in Silicon Valley? Paul Kingsnorth wrote about kind of the same phenomenon as well. So here are some quotes from that chapter.

[00:39:05] Transhumanist Martine Rothbloss, new religion, Terrasim, says that by building AI systems, we are making God. Fellow transhumanist Elise Bohan says we are building God. Does God exist? Asks Google maven Ray Kurzweil. I would say not yet. These people are doing more than trying to steal fire from the gods referencing ancient mythological stories. They are trying to steal the gods themselves or build their own versions.

[00:39:34] In short, we seek openly now to become the gods we always wanted to be using technology as the force which will get us there. So to boil this down, I think he so masterfully identifies the core temptation at the bottom of every fallen human heart. And that is that we want to be God. We want to be in charge. So there is a lot in Kingsnorth's book Against the Machine. I recommend it. It's a fascinating read. I don't agree with everything in there.

[00:40:02] But an overarching theme is that humans just don't want to live within our God-given limits. We don't want to submit to any authority outside of our own. And so we see that we see that technology, especially if people reject God, if they're materialist, if they're transhumanist, which we've talked about that ideology before, then they will try to create their own value system. And they think that they can create this awesome thing. It's very similar to the Tower of Babel.

[00:40:29] God didn't punish the people who built the Tower of Babel because of their using human ingenuity and working together to make a really awesome tower. No, it was because they were idolizing their own power and ability and control, wanting to be like God. Well, that reminds us of something else that happened very early on in human history in the Garden of Eden. Because how does the serpent tempt Eve? Did God really say, well, he's trying to keep knowledge from you. You could be like God.

[00:40:58] And so what happens? She eats the fruit separation from God. Even Lucifer himself. Given all of this, all of these gifts by God, but rejects them because he wants to be God instead. We are not so different. And human beings have always used and will continue to use any tool at our disposal to try to solidify our autonomy and our separation from God,

[00:41:27] even though we are still in our hearts created in his image drawn to him. It's this dichotomy that unless you are living in submission to God and recognition of him as the creator and designer of the universe that you're going to deal with. C.S. Lewis wrote about this in The Abolition of Man, which I referenced in the first hour as well. He wrote that humans would be so enamored with our ability to conquer nature that we would keep conquering.

[00:41:53] We would keep progressing air quotes there until we eventually conquered ourselves out of existence. And I think that is what we are seeing today. It's the same root issue. And I'm not saying that everybody who is working on AI or uses it is dealing with this. But in general, we are seeing a lot of conversations about the ability, the productivity, the efficiency. And look at what we can create. Look at what we can do.

[00:42:23] But deep down, I think it is an idolatry problem. And I think that the encyclical based on what I've read so far, and I'm going to keep digging into it because, like I said, I think it's going to impact a lot of conversations going forward, whether you're Catholic or not. I think it did identify idolatry as a problem. And it's really important to go back and read those biblical stories like the Tower of Babel and the building of the Wall of Nehemiah. So those are really important. But we need to be willing to take that conversation even further.

[00:42:52] And a theme, as I said at the beginning of the show today, is really truth, objective morality. What is true? Well, as Christians, we know that, and we have to be willing to submit to it. And that's really how we're going to change culture. So it's been great being with you today on Point of View two days in a row. I'll be back with you for the weekend edition on Friday. But tomorrow, you'll have Kirby right here on Point of View. It was not that long ago that censorship appeared to be almost inevitable.

[00:43:20] Free speech was being attacked and strangled in many places. And some of us wondered if this was the end. But now, many feel a new sense of hope, a chance for a fresh dawn. Let me caution you. Now is not the time to relax. It's a time to press forward, to use this fresh opportunity to proclaim and learn how to apply truth to current issues.

[00:43:46] By the fact you're here, listening right now, that tells me that you recognize the vital role Point of View plays as a voice of truth. For more than 50 years, we've informed and equipped people who have made a real difference. And when you give to Point of View today, you breathe life into what can be a new golden era for the truth. Please, take a moment right now and invest in truth.

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