Point of View October 9, 2026 – Hour 1: Weekend Edition

[00:00:04] Across America, live, this is Point of View. And now, Liberty McCartney. Thanks for joining us for the Weekend Edition today. Lots of news to talk about, of course, and you can follow along with these topics and read the articles that we mentioned for yourself at pointofview.net.

[00:00:30] Around the roundtable with me today, Aaron Smith, Associate Counsel with First Liberty Institute. It's always great to have you on the roundtable, Aaron. Glad to be here. And then joining us by phone, Richard Lim. We talked with him yesterday about his new book on George Washington, and I'm glad he could join us again for the Weekend Edition today. So, Richard, thanks for joining us. Good to be here. All right. Let's jump into some religious liberty news, as we always like to do on Fridays.

[00:00:56] Aaron, this is big. This has to do with the U.S. Supreme Court and a federal law about religious land use. And so, if I'm understanding this correctly, this could actually lead to some big precedent changes that would protect churches and religious organizations and their ability to do what they want on their own property going forward. But break this down for us.

[00:01:19] So, we are super excited to learn and announce last week that the Supreme Court granted our second. We will have a second case in front of the Supreme Court this term, which is awesome. We represent the missionaries of St. John the Baptist. And what they're wanting to do is use their property to build like a modest shrine where they can pray and reflect.

[00:01:41] And really, the question that we're presenting, right, is can you prohibit a religious institution like a church from building a religious structure on its own property? And to listeners, that seems pretty straightforward, right? The answer is no. The answer is the church should be allowed to use its own property. Right. To build a religious structure of some kind.

[00:02:05] Think a shrine, a reflection pool, a cross, you know, think of you're using your own property to build something where you will spend time reflecting or worshiping in consistent with your religious faith. Right. But in Kentucky, apparently you're not allowed to do that. And so what we're asking the court because the Kentucky Supreme Court said, yeah, we can prohibit, you know, this particular religious institution from building this shrine.

[00:02:32] And it's not a substantial burden on their religion. Huh. Which is, you know, you kind of leave. So you're scratching your head going, what do you mean it's not substantial? This is a part of their religious exercise. And then you're telling them they can't do it. Right. How does that not substantially burden their religion? And so that's the question that the court is going to answer is, is does this constitute a substantial burden under the religious land use and institutionalized person persons act, which is otherwise known as our lupa? Mm hmm.

[00:03:02] So and if I'm correct, when I was reading this, this church has actually had this property for over 100 years. So. Right. How does that measure up against kind of the the ordinance there that is preventing them from building that? Right. Yeah. That's a great, great point. They actually the the church owned the right. They own the property before the zoning ordinance existed. Mm hmm. So the zoning ordinance comes in after the fact.

[00:03:31] And that wasn't even I mean, they had allowed them. They said, yeah, you can build it. The neighbors complained and they challenged the grant. So, you know, this this is a very interesting, intricate situation. The neighbors don't want them to build it. You know, so they're using the zoning ordinance to say they can't. That was upheld by the Kentucky Supreme Court said, yeah, you can't you know, you can't build this not substantial burden under our lupa. You know, you're saying it is. It's not.

[00:03:58] So that's the really the question for the court that the court wants to answer. When we offered them to there were two questions presented to the Supreme Court. They took the one about substantial burden. And so we're thrilled that the Supreme Court wants to answer this because moving forward, this is super helpful for people of all faiths to know, hey, my church. Like if we want to use our property to build a religious structure, we should be able to. And the law protects us.

[00:04:26] And the government shouldn't be telling you, actually, no, you don't need that. Actually, yes, your faith. That's not really that important. Because when we're getting into, OK, do the government is not the arbiter of how like whether or not you're complying with your religion. That's between you and your religious conscience. Right. You know, Richard, I always like getting your religious or your historical perspective.

[00:04:50] And, you know, religious freedom has we were talking about yesterday, the foundations of scripture influencing the system of government that we have today. And it's funny to me when I hear about a lot of the topics that we talk about, the cases that First Liberty has to fight and defend really come down to like, do people have a right to exercise their faith in public or in this case, even on their own property?

[00:05:16] Do you have any comments on just kind of situating that in the historical context of our nation? Yes. Well, you know, unfortunately, the modern secular movement has sought to erase any kind of religious influence on this country. And I don't think that can be understated. You know, growing up and learning about American history and reading mainstream books, whether they were kids books or just general books,

[00:05:42] I was basically taught that America was born of secular values and secular enlightenment philosophers rescued the West from religious dogma. And and that was how we got the founding of this country. And as we talked about yesterday, that's just simply not the case.

[00:06:00] I mean, the very idea of a country based on the idea of equality and the idea of all of us being born of a creator, capital C, that that's a theological statement right there. That's the fundamental basis of the country itself.

[00:06:17] And in this particular case, ostensibly, one would say that there might be a tension here between religious freedom and local government authority and property rights and zoning laws. And while zoning laws are legitimate, maybe not necessarily wise, they are legitimate. They should not prevent churches. They should not prevent people of faith from practicing their faith on their own property.

[00:06:43] And so I think if a government allows a church to exist, but it restricts how that church can practice its faith, how free are the members of that church? And I think that's a question that needs to be asked. Right. Right. You can say you have religious freedom, but if you're not able to actually exercise that in any meaningful way, then those are just words at that point. We're approaching a break. But, Aaron, you mentioned that this is the second First Liberty case that the Supreme Court has agreed to hear.

[00:07:11] So remind us what the other case you have before the court this session. Yeah. The other case deals with a law out of Washington state. It's it deals with IPEC is the name is the case name. But Washington wants to basically incentivize children to run away from their parents that want gender transition surgeries or gender affirming care.

[00:07:36] It is saying, hey, if your child runs away from you because you will not give them, you know, gender affirming care, we don't have to tell you where they are. You know, we don't have to tell you anything about what's going on. We the state can decide that it's in the child's best interest to basically hide them from their parents. And, you know, parents have the right to direct the religious upbringing of their children.

[00:08:03] And what the state of Washington is doing is trying to get in the way of that and say we actually know better than you do because we disagree with your religious viewpoint. Right. Wow. I that case makes me so upset when I hear about it. Yeah, absolutely. It should make everybody upset. So I'm very glad that that is going before the Supreme Court. And so, again, go to First Liberty dot org.

[00:08:26] You can find the link at point of view dot net as well and learn more about these cases because these will have implications like so much of what First Liberty Institute does for religious freedom everywhere in the United States. When we come back, let's talk about socialism and whether the vice president knows what that is. I'll be right back after this break.

[00:09:00] This is Viewpoints with Kirby Anderson. Greg Koko was on my radio program recently and has a book coming out next month that will help you better engage nonbelievers in conversations on several different topics. The title of the book is Street Smarts and is a follow up to his bestselling book, Tactics. His tactics book has been so helpful to Christians.

[00:09:20] It equips them to be diplomatic by asking questions that not only gather important information, but also help point out logical flaws with the ideas expressed by non-Christians. Engaging others in controversial conversations is difficult and challenging. His previous book provides a conversational roadmap for those conversations. In Street Smarts, Greg Koko begins by explaining the difference between a harvest approach of reaping and a gardening approach of sowing.

[00:09:47] Jay Warner Wallace, in his endorsement of the book, uses a baseball metaphor and contrasts trying to hit a home run with hitting singles and doubles. This strategy enables you to engage in conversations that you had never thought you might be able to do by asking others to defend their positions and consider a viewpoint they may never have considered. The following chapters provide specific examples from discussions you might have on the street with friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers.

[00:10:14] I found the sample mini-dialogues helpful because they showed how you might ask a question to gain more information, or how you might use questions to identify flaws in another's logic or parry their attacks on Christianity. Whether you are an experienced evangelist, an apologist, or merely an inexperienced new Christian, you will benefit from both books. I would encourage you to pre-order Street Smarts. I've already done so and know you will benefit from the years of experience that resulted in this book.

[00:10:41] I'm Kirby Anderson, and that's my point of view. 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. All right, I actually do think that the vice president of the United States knows what socialism means,

[00:11:11] but this is an interesting clip that's going around of something he said lately when he was actually asked to define socialism. So let's go ahead and play that, and then we can react to it. How do you define socialism personally, and why do you think socialist candidates are popping up everywhere across the country? Oh, man. You know, I guess it's honestly, it's a hard term to define these days because very often socialism, you know,

[00:11:38] classically you would think socialism is about prioritizing workers, and yet in reality I guarantee that most of the self-described socialists running across the United States of America are going to howl about this announcement today, which is prioritizing American workers over foreign workers. So I don't know what the term means anymore. I think in reality what it actually means in the American context is that you want to replace American workers with foreign workers and you want boys to play in girls' sports.

[00:12:05] That's what unites the socialists that I see running across the United States of America today. You know, it's fun. Okay, so, you know, obviously what he's doing there is I think he's trying to highlight what many people who are far left or identify as socialist, what they have in common besides socialism, which are these extremely, you know, radical policies like some of the ones he mentioned having to do with a lot of the transgender issues affecting children,

[00:12:32] and, you know, we're talking about workers and whether or not we're going to support America first and all of that. And so I get that. Richard, something that Point of View has been talking about for a long time, especially leading up to these midterms, really is the socialist surge. And so while it's important to point out, you know, the troubling policies of the radical left, I actually think it was kind of a missed opportunity for him to talk specifically about socialism

[00:12:58] and answer that question of why we're seeing more people, especially young people interested in socialism, why you see more candidates associated with the DSA, Democratic Socialists of America, pop up, because they are basically like copy-pasting from the Communist Manifesto and many of their policies. And I wish that he would have actually taken that opportunity to talk about it. But what are your thoughts? Yeah, I mean, it is.

[00:13:24] It's disappointing because right now this is such a critical battle of our time. Majorities of the Democratic Party support socialism. Majorities of young people support socialism. And it's very important to be able to define socialism if we expect to fight it. We have to know what it is. And socialism, in practice, essentially becomes a centrally planned economy in which the government exercises control over the means of production.

[00:13:52] And we have to be clear about that. Otherwise, it will lead to confusion. Did Venezuela, when it became socialist, did it implode because Chavez and Maduro allowed boys to play in girls' sports? No, it was because of the fact that they supported a policy that undermined fundamental property rights, fundamental rights of people to own, buy, and sell property. And so I think missed opportunity is the right way to put it.

[00:14:22] I also think that his statement almost assumes noble intentions on the part of socialists, that they prioritize workers. And, you know, he said that essentially modern-day socialists have perverted its true meaning. And I think we need to show it for what it is. It's the whole idea of socialism, of communism. It's a false bill of goods. It's a lie.

[00:14:48] And it promises utopia through a man-made philosophy, and it will fail. And we need to be clear about what that is. Yeah, I agree. Something that we have at Point of View, if you want to learn more about this, I'm going to hold up Kirby's booklet. He's not here to hold them up, but he usually does. A Biblical View on Socialism, because he's been writing about this a lot, because he does share this concern that people need to be educated about what this is. And just in case we are wondering if the DSA themselves know what socialist is,

[00:15:17] you can look at their constitution online, and they say, we are socialists because we share a vision of a humane social order based on popular control of resources and production. Well, that's the definition right there, Erin. So, I mean, this is something, I don't know if you have any thoughts on kind of that trend of more young people buying into this, or why, what frustrations might be leading them to think that this is a solution for us.

[00:15:44] Yeah, I think, you know, I don't personally understand what the draw is for, you know, either younger people, you know, middle-aged folks, older people that have believed in socialism for their entire life. I don't understand what the draw is. But, you know, I think that there's a level of, man, we've been doing the same thing for a while.

[00:16:07] And so there's this feeling of stuck, but also a pattern of it's been a long time since we've seen, like, really widespread struggle in this country because we have such a phenomenal country, because we have achieved such great success, and it's starting to fall off, kind of like, which I think we're going to talk about later. Secretary Rubio's comments point to, you know, the dissipation of American exceptionalism.

[00:16:37] And the effects that that has had on the world. But, like, the answer is, let's educate, you know, and I think we're trying to do that. I agree that, you know, there's a level of missed opportunity, but also would people have listened if Vice President Vance had gotten up there and done a really good job explaining socialism? I mean, he kind of took it tongue-in-cheek and said, let's call out what they're doing.

[00:17:02] You know, they are cloaking socialism almost in, like, a lie. They're telling you that they're really for equal treatment of, you know, transgender rights and those sorts of things. But that's one level, the underneath level of what they're trying to push, which is what you read from their website. You know, common ownership of the means of production and equal distribution of wealth, which has been the heart of socialism since its beginning.

[00:17:31] Right. You know, one of the things that you can also find if you look up their website, if you look up the program.dsa, I'm giving them advertisement here, but I really want people to understand what this is, especially since the elections are coming up and you have people who have won primaries that have been promoted that are potentially going to be in Congress, you know, that are believing these things. And when you scroll down, it's like, imagine a day off work in a future without capitalism.

[00:18:00] Speaking of bills, you don't really have them anymore. What would that world be like? And so they are painting like a picture, a utopian picture, like you said, Richard. And I feel like and I know we've talked about this on the Millennial Roundtable, Next Generation Roundtable before, but we have to educate. But at the same time, not dismiss some of the frustrations that Aaron was mentioning. OK, their affordability is difficult for young Americans right now.

[00:18:29] Maybe they are, you know, frustrated with a lot of the political situation. And then you have kind of this untethering from, you know, kind of religious worldviews or or rooted communities. And so people tend to kind of go off in more radical directions when that happens. So, I mean, it's hard. But how do we kind of thread that needle of really educating about like acknowledging that, OK, yeah, things aren't perfect right now,

[00:18:57] but this isn't the direction that we want to go? Yeah, I know. I think that that's all a fair question. And I think, you know, one thing I noticed recently there, I think there was a survey that showed that the term capitalism is is has been turned into such a pejorative that it has low approval ratings. But the term free market and freedom has much higher acceptance rates. And I think the idea is obviously how you message it.

[00:19:25] You know, one of the jokes that I like to say to my coworkers is whenever they talk about any kind of social problem, I sarcastically say, you know what will solve this? Abolishing all right to private property. And even though, you know, we laugh, but that shows the absurdity of it because they've turned socialism into this idea of compassion. But what it actually is is a violation of our fundamental God-given rights.

[00:19:52] And it's a it's immoral. And so I think part of it is how we frame it and not fall into the trap of of the pejoratives that they've created. Well, let's talk about educating people for a moment, because this is something that might come up. It might come up with coworkers, peers, classmates, you know, kids, teenagers who are especially seeing these things online. So, again, you can reach out to Point of View and request a copy of Kirby's booklet, A Biblical View on Socialism.

[00:20:21] He's also got several commentaries on this on online. But he answers some of those questions because a lot of people will say, well, what about, you know, the examples in Acts in the Bible where the disciples and the believers were sharing things in common? And he really goes down and answers those questions in a great way to talk about the difference between, OK, a voluntary kind of sharing of resources among a group of believers.

[00:20:48] But the precedent was that that was their property to begin with, that they chose to share. That was not the government owning, you know, all of the private or no private property. That was not government ownership and kind of explains the difference there. Another point just to kind of what you said, Erin, a minute ago, is that they are kind of cloaking their vision in all of these different supposed rights.

[00:21:12] And that's something that we see a lot on the far left is intersectionality, where if you're for this, you have to be for all of these other things. But we do need to look at that bottom layer, which is really rooted in Marxism, of what socialism actually is and educate people about that. But let's talk about Marco Rubio's recent speech, and we'll do that when we get back from this break. I'm sure that you've noticed that social media is now filled with information generated by AI.

[00:21:39] Why? Dramatic descriptions of politicians and music stars supposedly making statements about a current issue, leaning into the microphone, looking into the lens, opponents silenced. It's powerful, it's riveting, and it's all lies. Even several national television networks were recently found using enhanced pictures, meaning manipulated, falsified, literally not giving a true picture.

[00:22:07] So many liars, so much deception. Where can we turn for truth? Right here, from Kirby and the team at Point of View. We need your support. Please, join the Point of View Truth team today with a monthly gift of $30 or more. Together, we can shine the light of truth and dispel the darkness and deception of this day.

[00:22:32] Give now at pointofview.net or call 1-800-347-5151. Pointofview.net and 800-347-5151. Point of View will continue after this.

[00:22:59] 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 McCartney. So on October 7th, Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke in Greece. He was in Athens.

[00:23:24] And man, if you are going to listen to this speech, you need to watch it because the framing is so cool. It's at sunset. He's in front of the Parthenon, and he's talking about the Western civilization as a culture and the history of that. And so just the optics are great. But you can find a link to that at pointofview.net. We have an article from Noah Rothman in the National Review where you can find the link and read some highlights.

[00:23:50] But we'll talk about it a little bit here because, I mean, really, I think that this was a shining moment for the Secretary of State. Obviously, we can talk about whether or not we think this is a he's going to run moment leading up to 2028 or if this is just Rubio being Rubio and being a good statesman, which he is. But also, I really appreciate it.

[00:24:14] And I think that it is important to note that this was on the anniversary of the horrific terrorist attacks in Israel. And we talked about that earlier in the week. But this was on that anniversary, and he's talking about the excellence of Western civilization and the heritage of Western civilization and speaking to Greeks in Greece about that heritage, really, that America owes the Greco-Roman world.

[00:24:39] And so he talks about, I mean, there's just so many great quotes in here where he says that what we inherit from the Greeks is the conviction that the unknown can be known, the confidence that the world can be charted and measured and mapped and understood, that there is a rational order to the cosmos governed by certain fundamental laws, laws that men can observe and the mind can understand. He's talking about the foundation of natural law there.

[00:25:06] And he talks about that, you know, the foundation of the Western mind was the pursuit of these truths of truth, beauty and goodness, things that could be found and could be discerned and could be attained. And that really even that paved the way for Christendom as well. So a lot of great stuff in there, Aaron, that I think it's really important because one of the other things he says is that this is not something that we focus on in the West.

[00:25:32] In fact, it's something that we often feel guilty about in kind of our modern woke era, this kind of excellence, this heritage of excellence that we get from the ancient world. So what were your thoughts on this? Yeah, I mean, I didn't get a chance to watch the entirety of the speech, but I did watch, I think, probably over half of it.

[00:25:57] And it was just I thought, man, how refreshing is it to have almost an elevated conversation about Western civilization? There's been a lot of, you know, hateful remarks about America and all of these things. And Marco Rubio calls it out for what it is, right? All of a sudden, nationalism has become this dirty word. We are shamed of American exceptionalism. We have settled for mediocrity.

[00:26:25] And it was just refreshing to hear him speak about let's look at our heritage and celebrate, you know, where we came from, celebrate the pursuit of excellence and how it has defined America up until almost modern culture. But it doesn't have to like mediocrity does not have to define America. There is a we are in a moment.

[00:26:54] And I would advocate and hope that we would choose the pursuit of excellence. And I think that, you know, for for better or, you know, like maybe Rubio runs for president. This is that announcement. But maybe it's just a justification for this is why what Trump is doing is good.

[00:27:13] This is why the policies of this administration are worth pursuing and why I'm the secretary of state and why we're advocating for American values on the world stage and American strength and peace through strength. And but also doing diplomacy, realizing that we're an exceptional nation and we should behave that way on the world stage.

[00:27:35] Yeah. One of the things he said was that today, too often we preoccupy ourselves more with the comfort of the worst than the potential of the best. I thought that was really insightful and convicting. Richard, he also noted that the founding fathers cited Plutarch, he said, more than any other source. I think maybe the Old Testament is the most cited source of the founding fathers. But Plutarch, the Greek historian.

[00:28:02] And so, you know, as we're talking about the founding and you've been obviously studying this and just wrote your book about George Washington and the kind of government that the founding fathers wanted to create, so many of these ideas had a long history and heritage throughout Western civilization. Yes, absolutely. And I think the word refreshing is right because this is very much an antidote to the left's vision of Western civilization.

[00:28:31] I thought a lot about the self-hating nature of the left in in how they view America and how they view the West. And I've come to the conclusion that it's really a false humility. They've taught us to be ashamed of our country's past, to be ashamed of the West's past, past rather. And they passed this along as being humble and aware of our flaws.

[00:28:57] But the problem is, is that their critiques are based on lies, the lie that our founders declared independence mainly to preserve slavery or that the West is somehow responsible for all of the world's ills. And what it is, isn't humility. It's arrogance. It's the arrogance of rewriting history for an agenda. It's the arrogance of not appreciating all that our forefathers have done.

[00:29:21] And when I say forefathers, I go all the way back to ancient times, our Christian forefathers, as well as our Roman and Greek forefathers. And also our forefathers that have built this country, the founding fathers. And in a sense, it's the worst kind of arrogance. It's one that masquerades as humility. And I think that Secretary Rubio was was right to call it out and show us a different vision, one that appreciates our past.

[00:29:49] You know, one of the things that you mentioned, Richard, was this kind of desire, this modern desire to be aware of our flaws. And I think any reasonable person is OK with acknowledging flaws. And they should be. But what's ironic is that if you adopt this more relative worldview on that the far left does, where you can't say one thing is better than another and morality is objective, subjective, there's no objective truth,

[00:30:19] then you really can't even talk about flaws because morality just changes over time. So how can you talk about flaws? How can you be ashamed of your nation if nothing's actually right or wrong, if all things are equal? The very. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. The idea that there are flaws means that there's some sort of standard. That's too. You're you're being too rational that that that that requires you to understand logic and how it works. So it doesn't stop them.

[00:30:47] The Greeks taught the they taught logic. There's classical education. And it's a thing, people. You can still educate your children this way to observe logic. One of the things Plato wrote about was actually training up children to recognize reason. And of course, he was not writing from a biblical perspective. But I you know, there is so much of that foundation of natural law and recognizing that there is some sort of objective truth.

[00:31:11] You know, Richard, this is something we were talking about even yesterday, like George Washington's circular after the Revolutionary War, kind of his pre farewell address, where he talks about his prayer for America and like the kind of trends that he believed led to a Republican form of government. And those are things that were based in an objective morality and recognition of what is right and wrong. Our country was founded on objective truth.

[00:31:40] I mean, the statement that we're endowed by a creator, that's a theological statement. And yes, it's ironic because they claim to be the heirs of reason and rationale, and yet they're not. And it's fascinating because I think they've been able to take things like morality and turn that into a supposedly quaint notion, when in reality, it is reality.

[00:32:08] And, you know, another Washington quote that I love is from his inaugural address, where he says that no nation can expect heaven's blessings when it disobeys heaven's eternal rules of order and right. And so our first president affirming objective morality right there. Yeah, absolutely. Well, I mean, Aaron, what do you what do you think here?

[00:32:32] Do you think that this is something that is going to maybe help Americans to think a little bit higher thoughts about our heritage and and what it means, what Western civilization means? Or is that is that a hope too high that you are going to actually watch this? I hope so. I mean, I I don't know what how my algorithm compares to other people's algorithms or how it's probably pretty different. But but even on the you know, if you were following even just the Wall Street Journal,

[00:33:01] you were going to see their editorial board was writing about being, you know, with the speeches of the year. Right. So I hope so. I haven't lost all faith in the American people. I think there are plenty of people just like, you know, people listening right now, you and I, Richard, that that are thinking. I agree. And I've been thinking this for a while, you know, and it's just nice to hear someone use their platform to to elevate American exceptionalism in our history. Yeah, I totally agree.

[00:33:29] So, again, check that speech out if you haven't. It is encouraging to see somebody in the administration talking about more of those fundamental ideals. There was another statement given on October 7th in New York City. We'll talk about that contrast when we get back.

[00:34:00] It's been four years since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe versus Wade. And yet the U.S. has more abortions, 21 percent more today than we did when abortion on demand was the law of the land. Surgical abortions are down in states that ban them. Chemical abortions are way up, accounting for about two thirds of abortions in this country. The drug mifepristone is used to cause the abortion and can be obtained by mail without a medical exam. This allows abortions to take place even in states where it's outlawed.

[00:34:28] Ten percent of women who take mifepristone end up in the emergency room. Missouri Senator Josh Hawley is calling on Congress to ban the drug. Pro-life leaders are insisting if Congress cannot ban it, restore safeguards that used to exist regarding the use of the abortion pill. In 2000, the Clinton FDA approved a two-drug abortion regimen to be used during the first seven weeks of pregnancy. Over time, pro-abortion administrations have eased restrictions on its use.

[00:34:55] In 2016, the Obama FDA extended the requirement to 10 weeks gestation and allowed non-physicians to prescribe the drugs. The Biden administration eliminated the requirement that women seeking a medical abortion be evaluated in person by a medical professional. Now, these medication abortions are prescribed via telemedicine. That means there's no physical exam, no ultrasound study.

[00:35:18] Prompt ultrasound evaluation is key in diagnosing ectopic pregnancy, which can prove deadly to the mother if not caught early enough. Senator Hawley recently told a pro-life audience, the primary maker of the abortion pill is a company called Danko. Danko is based in the Cayman Islands and shuns FDA oversight. According to the senator, they make only one product, the abortion drug. The senator says their entire business, their entire industry is based on killing American babies.

[00:35:46] Senator Hawley has seven co-sponsors for his bill to ban mifepristone. What about your senators? For Point of View, I'm Pena Dexter. You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth. So we've been talking about Western exceptionalism, American exceptionalism,

[00:36:11] and the foundations of that that were acknowledged in such a wonderful way, I think, by Secretary of State Marco Rubio on October 7th. On the same day in New York City, Mayor Zoran Mamdani, and I did mention this on Wednesday, but let's talk about it again. He released a statement on the three-year anniversary of the October 7th attacks on Israel.

[00:36:36] And he starts out with what Eli Lake and the Free Press calls a little bit of throat clearing. He talks about this day being profoundly painful for so many New Yorkers. On that day, Hamas killed more than 1,100 Israelis and abducted 251 others. By the way, every other source you look at rounds the number to 1,200, but he decided to round down to 1,100.

[00:37:03] I mean, and he does technically say more than, but it's just kind of interesting that he is diminishing the number there. But anyway, he makes a statement, you know, this is horrific war crimes. We grieve alongside family and neighbors who still carry that unthinkable loss. But then he goes on to say the suffering did not begin nor end that day. It instead continued through the Israeli government's devastating ongoing genocide in Gaza.

[00:37:30] And, Richard, I mean, what a contrast between kind of the two directions that we're going as a nation. Yeah, absolutely. And this is really the classic leftist tactic of creating a false moral equivalence between two sides, portraying the murder of thousands of Israelis with Israel's response in self-defense against the perpetrators of those murders,

[00:37:58] as if the actions of a sovereign state defending itself against a terrorist group bent on its destruction are equivalent. And they also make he also makes the Marxist presumption that the weaker side in this is automatically the oppressed side. And therefore, we're talking about Hamas here is is in a sense morally justified in fighting against the stronger side.

[00:38:24] And we know as Christians that God detests unjust weights and that justice should be applied without bias. But I think we can kind of see the Marxist spirit behind this. Yeah. I mean, Aaron, it was interesting after the statement came out throughout the day, he went to a few different vigils and ceremonies. And he was not really getting a lot of applause from either side after the statement. No, no one.

[00:38:53] No one was clapping for Mayor Momdami. In fact, he was getting booed and protested himself because he made this decision to try to speak out of both sides of his mouth. And he ended up making enemies of everyone. And so I don't I have low expectations for him. But this is like I mean, this is bad. This is I he could have chosen not to say anything. And that would have been better.

[00:39:22] Well, it would have been better for him. I think it would have been, you know, he just he probably should have just not said anything. I think he's thinking that now to himself, like probably shouldn't have said anything. Or maybe he's so arrogant that he's like, I did the right thing. I'm you know, I I both. You know, I'm in I'm joining, you know, Israel in their sorrow. But also, you know. I don't know.

[00:39:48] I'm not going to condone genocide in, you know, Gaza, which like exactly like Richard said. I mean, Israel is acting in self-defense against a terrorist attack. This is not these are not the same. Right. So, yeah, he tried to play like they're the same. Tried to you know, I don't know what who wrote that for him. He wrote it himself. I don't know. But there was a bad, bad decision for him. I mean, we shouldn't be too surprised here. I mean, he was hesitant to condemn the phrase globalize the infatata while he was running.

[00:40:18] If you want to look at his wife, I mean, you've got very troubling ties to extreme terrorist organizations and some of the activities that she's participated in. Whenever you are looking at this again, it just Richard, you're so right that there is this false moral equivalence. And again, it goes to the root of socialism, to that Marxist worldview. And it might seem like we're harping on that. But this is we this is becoming more popular and more common.

[00:40:48] And so why does why do so many people automatically see Gaza as the oppressed people here? Even though when you even talk about the definite definition of genocide, Hamas was actually the one committing genocide or trying to commit genocide against Israelis, against Jewish people, they were doing harm to them. Just because they were Jewish. Israel defending itself against terrorists is not genocide.

[00:41:14] But in a Marxist worldview, and you can go back and read the Communist Manifesto if you want it. There's oppressed and oppressors. And that's the foundation of critical theory, which we see applied against, you know, across so many different fields today. And it really is that that fundamental belief that, OK, if you are weaker, then you are automatically, you know, you are the oppressed. Therefore, you are in the right.

[00:41:38] And Richard, you know, Victor Davis Hanson actually theorizes that this is why so many people hate Israel, because they have been so successful. They have gone from being oppressed and still are, if you want to talk about the actual definition of oppressed, to succeeding in spite of that and becoming, you know, this flourishing democracy in the Middle East where nations around it are not because of the worldviews that they hold. But really, it is that fundamental difference there that you were talking about.

[00:42:07] Yes, absolutely. And I think it's one of those things that, unfortunately, it plays right into the hands of the Marxists. And one thing that I know Dennis Prager has said is that leftism feeds off of the desire to be a good person. People feel like they are being good by, quote unquote, helping the oppressed.

[00:42:33] And unfortunately, we've seen this in the church, too, where people believe that, OK, you know, it says in the Bible to help the poor.

[00:42:41] Therefore, any group that is oppressed qualifies as the poor and are automatically right, even though if you look at the Bible as a whole, you see a much different picture that one can care for the poor and be compassionate without threatening fundamental rights of people, as well as weighing right and wrong, regardless of one's station in life.

[00:43:09] And so, yeah, I think that's something that we need to provide clarity on. Yeah, absolutely. Well, we're about to come to a break. But, you know, Aaron, I just think, you know, we've been talking about Vice President Vance, Secretary of State, Mayor of New York. We're coming up to the midterms. And in many ways, it seems like, OK, these are our kind of our options. Like these are the different directions that the nation could be heading. And what are we going to choose? What's our generation going to choose?

[00:43:37] Are they going to get out and vote and what are they going to vote for? And it's kind of concerning. Like these are some big differences here, like two totally different directions. Yeah, there's a there's a lot of like there's a lot of options on the table as far as I mean, you take your pick. Everybody's got a different opinion about something nowadays. And what what are we going to choose? What is the what what how is our generation going to define itself is the question. Right.

[00:44:03] This this period in history for America has consequences, just like every period of history. I mean, we can we can quote Ronald Reagan until the cows come home. Right. We every generation is responsible for democracy. Like we have to continue to protect it. The problem is that, you know, the Democrats are parading around. Liberals are parading around. The DSA is parading around saying we are that we are pro-democracy.

[00:44:32] And, you know, the right wants to destroy democracy. The right is not advocating for getting rid of the Supreme Court or the Senate or the president. Right. They're not trying to make everything subordinate to a House of Representatives that's going to be massive and and own everything. And so they want to destroy the constitutional order. And so I know I mean, look, we live in a constitutional republic, so we need to define our terms.

[00:45:00] I think it's super important as we go into these debates. Let's define our terms and have conversations so that we can make the right choice for for us and for our children. Well said. I agree. When we come back from the break, let's talk about more news and also feel free to join us in the conversation. We'll be right back. At Point of View, we believe there is power in prayer.

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