Order of Man - VICTOR MARX ｜ The Burden and Blessing of Masculinity

00:00:00.000 My guest today is a man who is not only comfortable with violence, but he's also

00:00:04.100 comfortable with empathy, compassion, and forgiveness. And I think that's exactly what

00:00:09.380 makes us men. The ability to administer violence and the capacity to restrain ourselves and harness

00:00:15.660 it for good. His name is Victor Marks. He's a high risk humanitarian. And today he's here to

00:00:21.220 talk with us about what is really going down in Israel, the risks it possesses to the United

00:00:27.220 States, the fight of good and evil in society today, surrounding yourself with the right

00:00:32.160 people, how to make important decisions based in love and the burden and blessing of masculinity.

00:00:39.680 You're a man of action. You live life to the fullest, embrace your fears and boldly chart

00:00:44.780 your own path. When life knocks you down, you get back up one more time. Every time you are

00:00:50.460 not easily deterred, defeated, rugged, resilient, strong. This is your life. This is who you

00:00:57.160 are. This is who you will become at the end of the day. And after all is said and done,

00:01:02.580 you can call yourself a man. Gentlemen, what is going on today? My name is Ryan

00:01:07.060 Mickler. I'm your host and the founder of the Order of Man podcast and movement. Welcome here

00:01:11.860 today. And of course, welcome back if you've been with us for any amount of time. If you

00:01:16.220 are new, we want to give you all the tools, information, resources, guidance, direction to

00:01:21.580 reclaim and restore masculinity, not only in society, but in the walls of your home and in

00:01:26.660 the communities that we live in. And you know, as well as I do, that we need men to step up

00:01:31.260 now, maybe more than ever. We're at a precipice. We're at a very important time in society. And

00:01:38.040 if we don't step up, things are going to get worse. We're going to see a lot of violence.

00:01:42.460 We're going to see poverty. We're going to see some very destructive and dangerous things

00:01:46.900 to our society and culture. And of course, this country, if we do step up, we have an opportunity

00:01:51.760 to save our families, our friends, our coworkers, our neighborhoods, our communities, and this

00:01:57.480 country. And my job is to give you everything you need to do that. And of course, I'm in

00:02:01.580 the battle as well. Guys, I've got a very good conversation with somebody who's helping

00:02:05.640 lead the charge of masculinity. His name is Victor Marks. Before I get into that, I want

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00:02:56.120 knives or their products at Montana knife company.com. And when you do use the code order of man,

00:03:02.320 all one word at checkout, order of man at checkout. All right, guys, let me introduce you to Victor.

00:03:09.060 He is incredible. He's a former Marine. He's a high risk humanitarian. He's an author. In fact,

00:03:16.040 he comes out with his new book, the dangerous gentlemen this year on father's day. And he's

00:03:21.160 a hell of a human being as he's quite literally risked his life in dozens and dozens of humanitarian

00:03:27.800 operations across the globe, including his latest to Israel and Gaza, which he talks with us today

00:03:34.080 about. So I'm excited about that. Um, I've been following for Victor for years and I'm very

00:03:39.980 honored. We could finally make this conversation happen because I'm inspired by what he's doing.

00:03:44.320 I want to be a better man. And he helps me do that through his example. Guys, please enjoy this

00:03:50.000 conversation. Victor, what's up brother. So great to see you. Honored to have you on the podcast. I've

00:03:56.080 been wanting to have this happen for a very long time, so I'm glad you're here. Well, thanks

00:04:00.200 brother. And I'm glad to be here, but it worked out. God's perfect timing. I think,

00:04:04.600 I think so between your, uh, international travels. Cause if, if I understand correctly,

00:04:10.240 did you just get back from Israel? I did. Yeah. So tell me a little bit about that. Cause I'm

00:04:15.040 interested in the concept of, uh, this, this high risk humanitarian idea. Um, that's something

00:04:22.300 that's very fascinating to me. And I love to see a man who doesn't just talk about improving the lives

00:04:27.900 of other people, but actually going out and putting himself in harm's way to do so.

00:04:32.300 Well, yeah, I mean, I think love is always an action word and the scriptures say faith without

00:04:40.520 works is dead. So, you know, uh, a young man that was on our teams, but was killed during rescuing a

00:04:50.380 girl in Iraq from ISIS. You know, he would say, you know, it's, it's not words that prove who you

00:05:00.800 are, but it's what you do because people get really good at words and I mean, words matter,

00:05:09.180 but the actions prove what you believe. So yeah, we started doing high risk work overseas, uh, just

00:05:17.500 about nine, nine years ago. Um, and first it's nothing I wanted to do. I'll just say that this,

00:05:26.880 this wasn't something that I dreamed about. Uh, and, but it was a calling for me. So it started out

00:05:34.980 in Burma, uh, with Dave Eubank and free Burma Rangers. And, um, we were there for, you know,

00:05:44.140 the end of a year, I did about a 30 day pump into there and we were training guys and who help

00:05:51.620 protect innocent civilians. And then it grew, it grew to where we, we got invited into Iraq to help

00:05:59.220 trauma care for women who had been held captive girls, women who had been held captive by ISIS.

00:06:04.400 So when I took a team into that environment, man, we were just baptized by fire of the need

00:06:13.600 and then how horrific things were. And I'll tell you, Ryan, um, uh, you know, only by the hand of God

00:06:22.360 were, did we see doors open for access and placement? And we became very effective in what we were doing.

00:06:31.140 And so, um, here we are nine plus years later and even been a decade. We're, we're well over 130

00:06:40.800 missions. Um, um, I'm 17 plus times overseas. We still have a home in Iraq. Um, like you mentioned

00:06:50.680 at the opening of this, just in Israel, but I actually went into Gaza and the West Bank and then

00:06:59.540 Northern Israel, uh, I mean, very, very close to the Lebanon border. And it, it just became

00:07:10.000 this unbelievable opportunity to help people. Like you said, from victims to people who needed to be

00:07:22.120 rescued or recovered out of harm's way and to trauma care, to training, we got into a training aspect of

00:07:32.960 people fighting, doing the fighting, protecting. And, um, I just, uh, I'll let your constituents know

00:07:41.260 because people are like, wait, you've been overseas 17 times. You know, was that why you were in the

00:07:47.120 military? I said, no. As a matter of fact, it was all while I was in my fifties.

00:07:52.960 All civilian travel. Yeah. A civilian traveling, leading teams into Iraq, Syria, Northern Iraq,

00:08:02.160 uh, Northern Africa, Middle East, Southeast Asia, South of the border. And, um, and I couldn't do it

00:08:09.020 without prayer, without people supporting us. Cause we're independently funded by just small donors,

00:08:14.540 a few big ones, but we don't take government money. And, um, it's been quite the ride to say

00:08:22.440 the least we've helped just in my least over 45,000 women and children. Wow. That's amazing.

00:08:28.900 You know, you said something interesting and, and, and I want to call attention to it and ask you about

00:08:32.960 this because you said only by the hand of God, have you been able to go in and do these things and

00:08:38.140 rescue women and, and, and people who need help, frankly, who can't do it on their own for whatever

00:08:43.300 reason. Um, I'm a believer myself, but I know a lot of men question what that means when a, when a

00:08:51.340 God would allow these situations to happen. And then here you are saying, Hey, only by the hand of

00:08:56.700 God, can we go in and rescue and do this good work? And, and these guys will say, well, what kind of

00:09:01.160 God would allow that in the first place? How do you reconcile the two? Well, it's a, it's a great

00:09:05.400 question and good questions. We should never be afraid to face and work through. I don't have an

00:09:12.560 answer to every question, but this one I do. And because I've had to reconcile it in my own life

00:09:19.100 personally, as a kid and what I went through. And then when you see evil, so what I've learned that

00:09:26.800 you have an all loving God who's a just God and he's righteous, but he did implement for mankind to

00:09:36.220 choose whether they want to do good or evil. He gave us a free will. So everyone has a choice.

00:09:44.180 If he didn't give us that choice, we would be robotic. And therefore we could never have an

00:09:50.060 authentic relationship with them. And men who have kids, if your kid was always scared of you

00:09:56.840 and only came to you out of fear and was like a little robot, there would be no satisfaction

00:10:02.220 out of that or even a spouse. So God allows men, men make the choice to do good or evil.

00:10:09.900 And, uh, God never causes evil to be done. He allows men to choose. Now what's amazing to me,

00:10:16.500 and I've got to know this on the second back half of my life is, you know, God is a great redeemer

00:10:22.480 of the evil that men do. He's a great redeemer without a redemptive fact aspect of God. Uh,

00:10:29.680 it wouldn't work for me. So I have seen God redeem the worst that evil can do. There's always pain

00:10:38.340 and suffering that's involved, but he can redeem it. And I think ultimately justice that's not God

00:10:45.260 on this earth will be, um, at the day of reckoning. So it's, I just tell men, look, I don't understand it

00:10:55.080 all. I don't know why, I don't know why people do certain things, but when I, you know, when I picked

00:11:04.920 up a kid whose parents were murdered by ISIS and went through several checkpoints and, um, to get them

00:11:13.780 out and had grenades and an AK and a team watching after us and to hold him in our house and hear

00:11:25.100 cries, you know, the cries of a baby who was a true orphan by hours, knowing he'll never see his

00:11:32.000 parents again. It, it, I don't place the blame on God, a place of where it should be on the evil men

00:11:38.460 that did this. And I thank God for allowing me and my wife and our family and our teams to be present

00:11:44.660 to bring comfort to this little boy. And, uh, this has been so many times I've helped kids and

00:11:52.160 that it's, it's been horrible. So I just kind of say, Hey, it's a waste of energy to be angry at God,

00:12:00.960 but you could actually, you in some form or fashion could be the answer to the prayer

00:12:06.460 of a release of suffering. So what do we do? Do you feel like, um, I know probably to a lesser

00:12:15.440 degree than, than your personal story, but I feel like the challenging times in my life were presented

00:12:20.680 to me so that I can overcome them and help other people overcome the same. Um, I don't want to put

00:12:25.460 words in your mouth by any means, but I know a little bit about your story growing up. You were

00:12:30.380 physically and sexually abused. You were frankly left for dead. If I understand in an, in an industrial 0.97

00:12:35.480 or commercial cooler, you were left for dead. Uh, do you feel like, do you feel like that's the

00:12:41.040 case for you? Or is it something else entirely? Because I'm wondering if that helped you aligned

00:12:46.320 you towards what it is you're doing now. Yeah, I'd say a thousand percent. And I do talk about that.

00:12:53.260 I believe part of my nature for me is to minimize things that have happened.

00:12:59.240 As a survival mechanism to push, but in doing that, you tend to forget. And, um, you know,

00:13:08.420 I don't, I've never been able to forget about the kids who suffered like I did, which has been both

00:13:15.960 a burden and a blessing. Um, yesterday I'm looking up old videos from, you know, almost a decade ago

00:13:25.240 and I couldn't watch them. I had to turn them off. I started getting emotional. I was like,

00:13:28.920 I don't want to remember all that. It's even good stuff, all the good stuff that we've done,

00:13:34.460 but it, it, it's so personal to me. And I think God, you know, that cliche, you get better or better

00:13:41.640 for me. I just say, well, your heart either gets harder or it, it increases your capacity

00:13:49.820 to help and love others. And I think that's what God has done for me. Now, my wife and family and

00:13:55.700 team, they'll tell the world, don't worry. Victor has these hate humanity days where, you know,

00:14:01.580 he'd rather just kill a bunch of bad people. Uh, uh, and, and I have to guard, I have to guard my heart 0.97

00:14:09.640 about that because like one case recently was a horrible situation where this girl was stabbed

00:14:17.960 multiple times, back face in Southeast Asia, raped and left for dead. Our team recovered her,

00:14:24.280 saved her life by emergency matter. I mean, saved her life. Me and one other fella, we flew down

00:14:31.140 and in 72 hours, um, in 72 hours, um, in 72 hours, we were able to, uh, confirm the arrest of the

00:14:37.920 attacker. And, uh, and I remember when he was in the jail, you know, I, I had my guy said, Hey,

00:14:47.080 go ahead and give me 15 minutes with them. And, and normally our access would be granted. But for that

00:14:54.940 day, for some special reason, all powers that be, cause they ran me and they were like, no,

00:15:02.700 I said, you know, yeah, give them the special tax money. Give them that. Uh, and then I was like,

00:15:08.360 I just need five minutes. And, uh, to be quite transparent, you know, I was going to cut off a

00:15:15.360 couple of his fingers. And I know that may sound harsh to some people, but if you saw what he did

00:15:20.500 with this girl, lop it a couple of fingers off, what would not, is not a big deal, but it'd be a 0.99

00:15:27.040 mark and reminder for everyone who saw him, even while he was in. So the, the, the chief of police

00:15:32.940 was like, we know him, he may kill him. I was telling him, I'm not going to kill him. I'm not

00:15:39.540 going to kill him. But that's when, you know, in the quietness of my heart, it was an easy

00:15:45.080 justification to, you know, do something to this guy and his feelings, but God was saying, but,

00:15:50.220 but is that what I'm calling you to do today? Is that what I want you to do? And ultimately we

00:15:55.760 have to submit ourself to God because I've gotten a green lot, green light a lot of times

00:16:01.280 from God, as I understood it, to do things that would stop the manifestation of evil

00:16:07.240 appropriately in different countries. And I, I, I sleep well about decisions I've made

00:16:15.000 based on Lord. This is a honest way forward to bring a solution, but men, if you're not

00:16:24.680 careful, you get sucked into this hatred and darkness. It's almost like there was a movie

00:16:30.440 Spider-Man or some type of foreign thing would get on him and it started to grow and it would 1.00

00:16:36.440 turn Spider-Man to this alien is this black stuff. And then he would do negative. So that's kind

00:16:44.000 of how I see it when, when it comes time for people have to work close against evil.

00:16:49.500 How, how do you personally do that? Because all of us wrestle with that. I'm glad you said,

00:16:53.180 I think, I think just to quote you here, the green light from God to do what I needed to do to stop

00:16:57.160 evil. Uh, I think, I mean, the Bible is rife with experiences and examples of just what you said,

00:17:03.940 uh, but how do you know, number one, how do you know when you have the quote unquote green light

00:17:09.800 and how do you, uh, temper yourself? Are there things that you have in place, um, backstops,

00:17:16.980 if you will, that you have in place to ensure that you're doing what, what you feel God would have you

00:17:22.440 do? Great question. I want to surround myself with men and women, uh, who, who would check me,

00:17:30.420 you know, if they see me pulling a wood chipper out, you know, and they're like, no, it's funny.

00:17:37.240 There's no trees around there. No trees in the desert. Yeah.

00:17:39.980 So I, I, I really do surround myself with very capable. There's a, there's a level of accountability.

00:17:48.380 So none of us slip into nonsense. Um, and then I would say this, um, there are times where

00:17:57.560 you just simply have to ask God, do you want this person here no more? Do you want this group of

00:18:04.440 people to go away? Is, are you wanting to use me in decision-making to change their address permanently?

00:18:12.000 And the Holy spirit, he's not quiet to me. He gives me a piece. He gives me confirmation.

00:18:20.260 And I've heard plenty of times hold or don't. I'll give you a great example. Uh, and this may,

00:18:30.900 I hope people receive this correctly, but about three, I think it was three months ago. Somebody

00:18:37.140 tried to kill me here in the U S they were hiding in a trailer. When I went by it, they shot at me

00:18:43.060 through a tinted window. So it was an ambush. And, uh, we, we measured, it was like a 36 inch

00:18:51.060 difference from point of barrel to my head. And the bullet missed me. The first one was like two

00:18:57.980 inches from my face right here. And, uh, again, it was all measured out. And, uh, you know, my first

00:19:06.280 thought when that happened, it was, I had two thoughts. One that's really loud because there's

00:19:13.100 a wall behind me. I was like, ow. And the second one that I was just, you know, low IQ. Uh, I mean,

00:19:22.580 I drew my weapon, moved off and, and my first thought was, that's not funny. I mean, shooting

00:19:28.360 at me that close, that'd get you killed. And then I realized, Oh, so I, this guy is trying 0.98

00:19:34.400 to kill me. I put my red dot on him where he was. I could have, I mean, it would have been

00:19:39.120 so easy, easy, like not even, you know, nothing to brag about. I could have just smoked this

00:19:44.700 dude. And I heard the Holy Spirit say, don't shoot him. And I put my weapon in, moved to 0.97

00:19:50.400 a different cover. Uh, and I said, Oh, I mean, it wasn't an argument, Ryan. I, I, I must

00:19:57.420 tell your viewers. It wasn't why it wasn't a question. I said, okay. And then I told the

00:20:05.740 guy, Hey man, you, you got to throw that weapon out the way you're going to get killed. Boom. 0.99

00:20:09.940 He shoots again. I moved to a different cover. I put my red dot on him again. Very, I could

00:20:16.360 very quietly hear the Holy Spirit say, don't shoot him. And again, I'm not going to

00:20:20.380 start arguing at my stage in the game and a lifetime of a lot of experiences of you better

00:20:27.100 hear and obey God or won't turn out the best way. Even if you think, well, this is a better

00:20:33.060 way. God knows best. It ended up being a five and a half hour standoff. We called, I called,

00:20:41.100 you know, the sheriff department, which I think it was about a half hour delay before the first

00:20:45.700 unit came. So I had other opportunities to smoke this guy. And what I did tell my wife,

00:20:52.420 cause she was on scene where we were and we had to protect some elderly people in this little 0.99

00:21:00.400 house next to this trailer where he shot him. I just told my wife, I said, now get a shot

00:21:06.380 of him. I said, but if he comes around the corner to come in this house, I'll kill him. 1.00

00:21:12.100 I just want you to be ready. And everybody, I'm going to have to kill this guy. And my wife 1.00

00:21:16.700 was like, okay. And I had a piece too. Cause that, that I can't let him come into the house

00:21:23.160 and kill everybody. So see, that's the green light. I knew. And it's like, okay. So I had 0.83

00:21:29.440 settled that and I felt a piece. It was like, God's in, if he goes on that corner, you can,

00:21:34.900 but he didn't, he stayed up on that trailer five and a half hours standoff with SWAT,

00:21:40.960 you know, drones, everything, EOD, they came out and three minutes before they were going to,

00:21:48.600 you know, hit that door. Cause I was part of this process. He surrendered and he came out

00:21:57.000 and, uh, you know, then have a weapon. And on the 19th of last month, he was arraigned for second

00:22:04.220 degree attempted murder. So, so, so what's the difference? Well, now he has a chance to get right

00:22:13.600 with God, uh, get his life straight. He's going to have to pay a consequence. If I would have killed

00:22:22.160 him, it would have been justified by everybody except God. And God knows the other thing. 0.94

00:22:30.280 It gave me an opportunity to learn to forgive again in a different way. Cause I've forgiven

00:22:37.900 perpetrators of my childhood, different things. This was very fresh. And the first night I forgave

00:22:45.500 him, Ryan, I said, Lord, I forgive that man. And thank you that all I got was shrapnel in my eye

00:22:52.960 from the aluminum frame. Although I told my wife, I think the bullet hit me in my eye and it bounced

00:22:59.920 off. I'm not sure. We'll have to ask it. That's absolutely what happened. Yeah. And she's like,

00:23:04.200 really? I said, I, can I get a patch or something? Uh, I want to walk around like a pirate for a minute.

00:23:10.760 That's right. And I think on my wife, cause she shoots as good as me. So, uh, or I've been

00:23:18.180 overseas and I'm like, you know, man, there was this time ISIS was coming up and they were hitting

00:23:23.940 the, and it was, it was, and she's like, yeah, I know I was next to you, babe. Okay. Remember

00:23:28.620 didn't quite go exactly the way you recall, but pretty close. Or if it did, she literally was right 1.00

00:23:36.860 there. She's like, honey, I was there. I remember. Okay. Can we move on? Like, Oh, all right.

00:23:42.940 I mean, uh, we were just at shot show, just a sidebar. We're out on rain state and people

00:23:48.620 letting us shoot their weapons. And, uh, she sits down behind this weapon and I asked the guy,

00:23:55.060 can she shoot? Oh yeah. And he goes, he got, he's like, ma'am, there's a, there's a hundred yard

00:24:00.240 target right out there. And you want to put the crosshairs. And I said, what's the one way out

00:24:06.420 there? He goes, Oh, that's a thousand yards. I said, can you let the little lady try? He's like,

00:24:12.360 sure. Sure enough. He dialed her in. Boom. She hit it a thousand yards. Every person on our team,

00:24:17.560 five people right there hit a thousand yard shot. Boom, boom, boom. So that goes back to my point.

00:24:22.760 So for great people, I have a history of Lord. Tell me, cause I've done things on my own and regretted it.

00:24:29.720 And like, I should have listened, but yeah, it's, um, I think I know God's grace better.

00:24:37.400 I did get very angry at the person who shot at me here, but it was like a couple days later

00:24:41.320 when, you know, like investigation, measuring the distance. And I went into the trailer and saw

00:24:47.540 how the tinted window, it was an ambush. I mean, he's shooting at me and I couldn't even see him.

00:24:52.980 And I got, I got pretty angry about that. And which is just processing, processing, you know,

00:24:59.940 a trauma. Um, but what was funny was the first officer who came on scene at the end of the night,

00:25:07.160 he's done reporting. He said, I got a buddy next to me, but he's going through a victimization

00:25:12.160 in a brochure. And he says, sir, being shot at is a very traumatic experience.

00:25:18.340 Here's some services we offer and you may want to, I said, Oh, thank you. He said,

00:25:23.600 do you have any questions? I go, do y'all offer like coupons to cold stone?

00:25:28.540 Is that really, that can really help me. And he's gone. He's a younger officer going, I,

00:25:34.340 I maybe we can. And then he's anything else. I go, could you hold me? He's like, okay,

00:25:41.200 this is getting odd. My buddy's like, trust me, he'd been shot at. So yeah. Yeah. So hearing God

00:25:49.000 is important. And I, man, I encourage, man, you got to practice it. Got to practice. God is this you?

00:25:55.400 What do you want me to do? And normally it's uncomfortable stuff, stuff down to yourself.

00:26:01.460 How, uh, how is your wife with all of this? She sounds, it sounds like she's, she's your partner

00:26:05.920 in crime, so to speak. And she's fully on board. Has this always been the case or has, has there been

00:26:11.480 a gradual move or her accepting, Hey, this is just the way Victor is, or what does that relationship

00:26:17.580 look like? Cause I know you guys have had your, your share of marital struggles as well. It seems

00:26:22.320 like you guys are doing some amazing things now. Well, thanks. We, you know, she is an alpha

00:26:27.540 female. And I'm only saying that for lack of a better term. She's, she's a very capable,

00:26:34.560 strong willed woman. There's no other way around it. I mean, she had born miss fitness USA. She had

00:26:40.620 her company before me. So she's not a little Daisy. I call her my rose with thorns and that, that caused

00:26:47.840 problems cause she's super competitive. And we ran martial arts schools together. We trained together. 1.00

00:26:53.340 Um, and quite frankly, I told her, I said, look, you're more intelligent than me. All right. It's

00:27:00.000 not a contest. Um, and we would butt heads and, you know, cause she didn't like me making the final

00:27:06.780 decisions on some things early on. And it came, you know, I got tired of fighting with her. Um, and I

00:27:14.820 just said, look, here's the deal. You make a better decision. You're more intelligent, but you're not

00:27:22.000 the husband. So I have to answer to God. You'll have to answer to him. And if I mess up, he'll do

00:27:29.600 course correction, but you're supposed to support me. And then I let her know. I, before I weigh in

00:27:35.840 on some, I'll say, what do you think? And I helped her understand. I understand your value. It'd just

00:27:42.260 be like a team member, you know, where if you're doing something, let's say you're shooting, you got

00:27:50.260 a spotter. You're not going to tell your spotter. I don't, I don't like, you know, two clips to the

00:27:55.320 right that he's seeing stuff. You don't heat mirages. When is it? So that's, I look at my wife

00:28:03.620 when it's time for me to pull the trigger. But a lot of times I'm like, honey, get behind the weapon,

00:28:08.060 you know, and I would encourage men and wives to learn. Our model is learn to fight back to back,

00:28:13.940 not nose to nose. And she has been with me and some of the most high risk hell zones

00:28:24.780 ever. You, I'll just say this. You want to know a hard conversation is when your wife, you're going 1.00

00:28:33.940 to Syria or Iraq and your wife looks at you and says, if things go sideways, don't let anyone take

00:28:45.000 me. Give me your word. Do not let me be taken by ISIS. And I know what that meant. And I, you know,

00:28:55.000 I was like, this is crazy. Why are we having this conversation? But you know, guys, I do things with

00:29:02.840 who have lots of experience, you know, nobody wants to be taken captive. Yeah, of course,

00:29:08.120 because of the outcomes, but that's a weird conversation to have with your wife.

00:29:12.540 And, and then there's fun parts too. I remember we were in Syria leading the team to an ISIS 0.99

00:29:19.320 confinement camp. And we were, we had to hide in this little place one night. It was, I can't even,

00:29:25.820 it's not a hotel. It was just this little, and we were in a second story room and Assad's men 0.64

00:29:32.840 were about 150 yards from us. So I got a guy on the door with a, you know, weapon. We have

00:29:40.860 a dog, one of our trained dogs and that a tomahawk. And so we get in this, it's rackety little place

00:29:50.540 and nasty, but we got to catch some shut-eye. I think we had done eight hours on the road,

00:29:56.860 you know, home by home, trying to get to where we are before the next day. We're laying there in bed,

00:30:01.140 exhausted. Ryan, I turn over and look at her and said, Hey, what's up? I said, what? I said,

00:30:09.560 Hey, you know, got that rule, new country. The love. She's like, you gotta be kidding me.

00:30:18.080 We got ISIS. We're going to, I said, I want to tell the story to operators and team. I go,

00:30:27.020 all I got to say is mission accomplished. So yeah, that was the Arabian night that night. 1.00

00:30:33.420 So under great stress and hardship, we have to choose. I mean, you either spend your energy

00:30:42.340 on being an ass and not making things work out or go, Hey, let's just, let's focus on the positive 0.99

00:30:48.940 here. What let's have fun. Let's have fun with our lives. Stress is enough. And so not nose to nose, 0.98

00:30:55.760 but back to back.

00:30:59.020 Man, let me just step away from the conversation very quickly. Guys, we only have five spots to our

00:31:03.500 uprising experience on May 2nd through the 5th, 2024. And I would love for you to join me and also 19 other

00:31:10.780 men for an unforgettable experience to forge deep bonds with other high caliber, high producing

00:31:16.840 men. When you join with us, you're going to descend to Southern Utah to be put to the test in a way

00:31:22.760 that you've never been before. And you're going to walk away with new bonds and new information that

00:31:28.740 are going to help you elevate your life across all fronts. Now, remember, we only have five spots

00:31:34.340 remaining, and I want you to be one of those five that come with us because this is going to be

00:31:39.740 an experience that yes, we've done in the past, but it's been six years. So I've got some new tricks

00:31:44.880 up my sleeve to help you take your life to the next level. You can join us this spring in May

00:31:50.200 and get registered at order of man.com slash uprising. That's order of man.com slash uprising.

00:31:57.000 I hope to see you there.

00:32:00.400 Yeah, that's powerful. Tell me a little bit about your recent trip to Israel and Gaza,

00:32:05.660 Gaza, because I think there's a lot of misconception. I think there's a lot of

00:32:09.520 propaganda. There's a lot of misunderstanding. I mean, I hear it. I'm not an expert, so I can't say

00:32:14.560 that I know much about it other than what I received through the news and various outlets. But

00:32:19.340 it seems to me that people are so confused about what in the world is happening in Israel.

00:32:23.560 Yeah. Well, there is some confusion. We were there literally the week after it happened.

00:32:31.360 We assembled a team. We got access and placement and an invitation because I won't go. There are

00:32:37.080 people that try to force themselves into situations, organizations, and then they end up calling me.

00:32:44.820 You know, one of my guys saying, hey, are y'all in country? What are y'all doing? Can we do something

00:32:48.500 with y'all? And we're like, thanks. No, there's not a need. We're, love you guys. Go do what y'all

00:32:56.480 need to do. And for us, first, I had to see the carnage. I had to see the attacks. I had to see with

00:33:06.440 my own eyes the places that were hit. That was my first order of business. And I will say it was

00:33:13.400 the worst carnage I've ever seen in my life of massive slaughtering. And I was at the, I mean,

00:33:20.320 I was at the music grounds. I was in the kibbutzes. Um, and it was so bad, Ryan, that I made a 1.00

00:33:30.160 commitment. When I came back from that pump, I said, uh, I will never wear the same boots again.

00:33:35.180 And I didn't, um, I will not put those boots on. I walked in so much children's blood and just,

00:33:43.880 I mean, seeing bloodstains where kids and women are being dragged out hands on a wall where, you

00:33:51.600 know, a child's trying to grab a wall and they got blood on their hands. It was just nonstop. It was

00:33:56.300 just nonstop. Going to a room where the dad had pulled out his pistol and emptied his mag casings

00:34:03.300 everywhere. Then looking at the rounds that a mosque was shooting through the door and then killed all

00:34:09.460 of them. Um, so I saw it firsthand and it was evil. It was unprovoked. It's unjustified. It was a terrorist

00:34:21.620 act. Now where confusion comes in is people say, one, how did they even get in? Because Israel is so tight.

00:34:32.100 And two, why was there a six hour delay of the idea of forces to respond to the attack? Those are

00:34:40.220 valid. And I'll say this risking relationships. There's some messed up stuff in the leadership in

00:34:47.800 Israel. Absolutely messed up. And I have relationship with SF teams units that we train that are fighting 0.99

00:34:56.640 right now. I get, I still get calms for prayer and encouragement. I mean, we, we outfitted,

00:35:04.900 we brought gear, stuff that they need, but I'll tell you some very bad leadership decisions were made

00:35:13.320 to not allow the IDF to respond because we're talking the Gaza strips. I mean, from where helicopters could be

00:35:22.300 spun up and they could hit, I mean, it's like a 10 minute deal and they're always on semi alert

00:35:29.920 because rockets never stopped. While we were there, we caught 2000 rockets that had come in from Hamas.

00:35:39.200 So there is bad stuff happening in the leadership of Israel that people better be fired or prosecuted

00:35:46.880 because as always, it's the kids that pay the biggest price for man's selfishness and war.

00:35:54.880 But the other pieces, the Palestinians, right? I have Palestinian friends. I went into the West Bank.

00:36:03.880 There are even Christians who are Palestinians that love God. There are Muslim friends I have.

00:36:09.960 I mean, very close to that hate Hamas, but it's, it's like most people of our persuasion,

00:36:20.760 we're not big fans of Biden in the administration, right? Cause they just suck. And, and I would say 0.99

00:36:28.880 this, what can we do to change Biden's decision on the border? Like, but we haven't done any,

00:36:35.400 there's been no formal evil seeps keeps coming in, pouring in Hamas is about a thousand times worse 1.00

00:36:43.400 than Biden, because if you stand up or say anything, they just kill you. They'll kill your family. 0.99

00:36:50.120 So I need people to understand there are great, wonderful Palestinians that just want a simple life. 0.99

00:36:57.040 And I'd say this is the number of percentage I got. It's, it's speculation, but about 70% of the people

00:37:04.920 would not want to live under Hamas rule. But that other 30% Palestinians mixed with Hamas, 0.89

00:37:11.900 they're evil, man. And people like that, what people don't understand, let me ask you, 0.93

00:37:18.400 did you know this? That when Hamas hit the initial 23 events, boom, they come through, 0.97

00:37:25.200 they're killing, raping. Did you know a second wave came in from, from Gaza? 0.99

00:37:32.300 Yeah. No, I didn't know that.

00:37:33.600 A second wave, your viewers, I'm telling you firsthand, second wave came in and they were

00:37:38.280 Palestinians. They were Hamas sympathizers, all civilians. They came in, man, they're finding 0.98

00:37:46.580 people hiding, they're shooting them, they're raping them. They're taking batteries out of cars 0.99

00:37:53.360 because they can't get them. And it was like a, it was pillage and plunder. So this is where the

00:38:02.040 Israelis struggle with this sense of justice and a hatred. And I'll tell you what, if it would be 0.98

00:38:15.620 equivalent to a terrorist organization coming up through Tijuana, killing about 45,000 people in

00:38:22.500 San Diego up to say, you know, Oceanside or whatever, if that happened, man, people would be

00:38:31.080 freaking out. If my friends in Texas, if, if cartels started firing rockets over the border,

00:38:38.940 hitting towns, how long do you think we would? No, one day of that, not one day of that. And there's

00:38:46.320 going to be a bunch of hurt feelings. So, so it's both and, but again, we, we've been able to help

00:38:53.180 close to 5,000 kids who've, it really suffered. And did we go into Gaza? Yeah. I mean, it was a

00:39:03.760 reconnaissance group. We were told we were the only Americans that have been allowed to go into

00:39:09.120 Gaza. Um, and you know, the most important thing I did there was pray literally at one point I'm

00:39:18.280 standing silhouetted with my hands up praying against evil because God, I felt like God told me

00:39:25.520 to. I got IDF guys hiding for cover smartly. I would have been there too, but God said, you stand and

00:39:32.240 pray. And these guys, even some FTF teams are going, what the hell? There's a sniper. And there

00:39:39.400 was, we got video. And I'm just praying. And, um, I hear the, the tracks of a tank and this tank

00:39:52.820 comes out of nowhere, turns its turret and hits that building. And I was like, that worked.

00:39:59.780 That was good. And I, I, I'd never put my hands down until I was done. And I remember when we were

00:40:05.980 rolling out, a friend of mine, uh, there just courageous warrior. His name is guy. He's like,

00:40:14.340 wow. Wow. You guys faith. That's a lot of faith. And then he's like, why are you here?

00:40:22.560 Sick as God loves us. We love y'all. He told us to come and help. So there's still over a hundred 0.77

00:40:30.400 hostages in Gaza. And, um, if I had to roll the dice, I I'm hopeful, but I'm realistic. It's all 0.98

00:40:43.700 going to get way worse than it has already with, with the body count on both sides. And I need people

00:40:51.980 to know who waving Palestinian flags. If you're not at the same time cursing Hamas and standing

00:40:59.700 against them, then you're a Hamas sympathizer. Don't wave, don't wave a Palestinian flag without 0.99

00:41:05.360 equally saying Hamas is evil because it, that's the reality. And, you know, uh, here in America,

00:41:15.620 I give young people a pass because they're just so many idiots that, you know, they'll protest about 1.00

00:41:21.180 anything. So I'm like, you're young and foolish. I give you a pass. Those people who are like a 1.00

00:41:26.760 little more aggressive in their stance, right? And I'm like, uh, you're a sympathizer. And I would

00:41:33.200 have agencies watch you because now you're at risk for being radicalized for Hamas's beliefs here in

00:41:39.960 the U S and then there's other people that just come right out and support Hamas. I'm like, you

00:41:45.440 should be arrested or deported right now, which brings me to this next point. People had better

00:41:52.600 get really ready for what's going to happen in America. I'm not a doomsdayer. I'm not a conspiracy

00:41:59.780 guy, but I have lived, my family and I have lived through the zombie apocalypse. We still have a

00:42:06.880 house in Iraq. I know what it's like to live in a war zone, wartime era and all that. There are far

00:42:14.300 too many bad people that have been allowed to get into the U S by our government intentionally.

00:42:22.440 There are sales because trust me, I have team members that still have TS security cleansers and

00:42:29.800 higher. And that's how we stay alive on a lot of stuff. And that's why we're so effective. Our

00:42:36.100 network, we don't move on assumptions. We, we, we base on what we do on facts, but the facts are there

00:42:44.680 a lot of people in the U S right now that are nefarious characters in sales organized and structured

00:42:52.320 from multiple nations, multiple, and they're waiting for the green light. And the two things,

00:43:01.020 my friends, SF fighters in Israel told me, I said, how, what, what would you say to this attack?

00:43:08.760 Two things. Everyone said, two things. We were underprepared. We simply were underprepared. We

00:43:14.960 never thought we, their plan, their plan was like maybe eight to nine Hamas guys get through. So each 0.97

00:43:23.840 community only had 10 rifles, 10 rifles in the entire Gator community, 10 rifles with 50 rounds each

00:43:31.780 that was in the armory. And that's what they were prepared for. They were overwhelmed by about 3000 guys

00:43:38.200 and RPGs. And I mean, they were outfitted. I'm prepared. The second thing, Ron was, they said,

00:43:44.640 we underestimated our enemy, underestimated the capabilities. And right now Americans by and

00:43:54.740 large are lazy, apathetic, and ignorant. And, and I'm saying a large portion, there's a core group of 1.00

00:44:02.900 people now that are standing up that are, you know, and I'm telling you, that's especially combat

00:44:11.460 vets. They're the last ones that want to get involved because they've seen it. And believe me,

00:44:18.660 it is a lot like Mel Gibson in that movie, the Patriot, you put your tools away. And it's like,

00:44:25.200 don't, I don't want to become that person again, just handle this. And there's so many good guys

00:44:33.720 and they don't want to be awakened because if they do, I'm telling you, it doesn't matter a title.

00:44:42.080 It doesn't matter. These men will lead and people will follow them because if we're getting attacked

00:44:48.480 in multiple locations, if they're attacking our grid, if food supplies are dismissed,

00:44:54.700 leaders will always rise up. And all we want is peace. Those of us who have seen a lot of nonsense

00:45:03.340 overseas. And for me, it's like I said, I, you know, how many times in the last 10 years, all in my

00:45:09.760 fifties, it's like, I want peace, man. I'm a grandfather. I want peace. I want my grandkids to live.

00:45:18.480 But I'll tell you, you know, it's, I really believe in my heart. It's not if, but when right

00:45:27.560 now, Iran is attack is antagonizing the U S through all these attacks on bases, what they need 0.96

00:45:35.640 jihadists. Believe me, I've got some of the best counter-terrorist experts on our task force

00:45:41.620 and in our ministry for what we do. And that's why we've been very successful.

00:45:48.480 And, and, and what we do, cause these are experienced, thick data, men and women from

00:45:53.520 analysts to operators, from Delta unit to team six and everybody in between. But I'll say

00:46:02.120 this and only say that to kind of, cause that's what people, but trust me, other teams, SF

00:46:09.120 Rangers assist. Oh, they're all great guys who really did the deal down to Marines who are 0.80

00:46:15.480 crayon eaters. And you always know what you're going to get because they'll, they're head first

00:46:19.860 and they'll do the fighting. But it's very important for people to understand, be prepared

00:46:24.700 so you're not paranoid, understand and know your neighbors, find out in your neighborhood. Who's,

00:46:30.180 who's elderly, where the single moms get to know them. Um, what I can't stand are, you know, 1.00

00:46:37.980 that older version of preppers are like, you know, I got my, I got mine. I got, I got my food

00:46:44.760 and my guns. Anybody comes around, I'm gonna shoot them. I'm like, no, you won't. Have you 1.00

00:46:48.580 ever shot somebody? Have you ever, have you ever had to kill somebody point blank because

00:46:53.280 they want to get your, you know, tuna fish. So stop with this stupid, you're, you want to help 1.00

00:47:01.960 people. And now if marauders come by, if people are going to loot, then some people, they need to 1.00

00:47:10.240 get their feelings hurt where that won't happen. But you got to do this based out of love. And some

00:47:15.980 of the best guys I've ever served with on my teams who are legends in many circles, trust

00:47:23.320 me, they do their stuff out of love. And you know, some people are gifted with extreme

00:47:30.820 violence against evil and they need to be respected and appreciated because they're the ones you

00:47:38.340 want pointing forward. Just like a claymore mine, point them toward the enemy. I'm rattling

00:47:43.740 on, but you give me passion about that stuff because I, I, I care for America and, and I've

00:47:49.000 seen, and I know what can happen and I don't want it to. I feel like I'm a watchman on the

00:47:55.160 wall and I got to shout it so people understand. And again, my life and experience in history,

00:48:02.080 it doesn't lend itself to sensationalism or conspiracy. It's just, we're just very real and we keep

00:48:10.440 doing what we're doing. I'm grateful for you and those other men and women who are gifted

00:48:16.880 with extreme violence. Um, I want to be respectful of your time. I know you've got a, a deadline and a

00:48:22.160 hard stop, so I'm going to get you out of here. Uh, will you let the guys know where to connect

00:48:26.720 with you? We didn't talk about it much, but you've got a book coming out this father's day called

00:48:30.500 the dangerous gentlemen. So, um, maybe they can connect with you in that way. When the book comes

00:48:34.760 out, I'd be honored to have you back on and do a part two of this podcast to promote the book and

00:48:39.000 the message. Um, let the guys know where to connect with you. Yeah. You know, thank you. And, and I'd

00:48:44.700 love that. It's, um, the dangerous gentlemen, it's just a book of, uh, of stories of life experiences

00:48:50.880 because I'm, you know, I, I call myself one of the older lions wanting to help the younger and

00:48:57.360 midlines, you know, uh, navigate through the minefield and it's a, it's an easy read. And

00:49:04.620 that, I mean, people, I have a lot of thousands of men that contact me because of the reach of

00:49:10.960 social media, right? Outside of that, I'd just be, nobody would know about me, but you know,

00:49:16.540 they say mentor me. I need to be mentored. And I go, well, I am. If you follow me on social media,

00:49:21.740 if you're on my email list, if you read my books, I am entering use the best I can,

00:49:27.440 but the Victor marks with the next.com. I do have an email on there that people can sign up for.

00:49:33.240 And then I have a daily intelligence brief that I would, I would highly recommend. Uh, it's just

00:49:39.080 Victor marks.com forward slash D I B daily intelligence brief. And we just put together a

00:49:46.720 single page of recommendations from food to communications to right now I'm going through

00:49:53.100 best weapons that I think are fit. And people look, they don't have to have a lot of money to

00:49:59.160 get prepared. Uh, you know, I'm a, I'm an edge weapon guy. I have a signature blade and, and I have

00:50:06.860 friends who make knives. They send them to me and I love knives, but I've been in the countries where

00:50:12.480 you couldn't sneak a weapon in and you know, you can't carry, but we would go and find a

00:50:20.800 screwdriver, wrap it with tape, make a, make a little sheet sticking on a belt line so that that

00:50:27.780 could get people's attention. Cause you can kill somebody, just go with a screwdrivers. You can,

00:50:32.860 you know, $400 blade. So there are some practical things that people should be watching and listening.

00:50:39.860 And I'm telling you between now and the election, and then the year after something's bad.

00:50:48.120 The probability is so high unless, and this is my caveat, unless I think Christians, 1.00

00:50:54.320 and that's what people of faith, repent, turn from their wicked ways, humble themselves before

00:51:00.580 God almighty. He's the only one that can heal our land. It's, that's the only hope from the

00:51:06.720 Christian perspective. And then the others just take care of people. So yeah, follow me on 0.98

00:51:11.700 victormarchs.com. Of course I'm on all the social medias. If you haven't heard my interview with

00:51:17.600 Sean Ryan, that to date is the best three part series I've ever done on my life story. And I'll

00:51:24.960 never do it again. I told Ryan, I said, Ryan, this is it, man. I'm doing this for you and your audience.

00:51:31.100 But, uh, you know, there's a movie out of my life story, Victor Mark story on YouTube. It's,

00:51:37.720 it's a little dated, but you'll get to see my real biological dad in that you'll get to hear my

00:51:42.840 wife, kids. It's, it's personal. And I would encourage people to watch that. It's an hour.

00:51:48.920 Uh, the other thing I would say right now, very important. There's a film coming out February the

00:51:54.840 8th. So if, if y'all are watching this past that it's called letters to the American church,

00:52:01.140 and I think Epic, uh, you have to watch it online, but just listen to me letters to the American church

00:52:09.560 is the best short documentary film I can recommend right now to give people of faith, a very clear

00:52:16.960 understanding of the comparison between Germany and what's happening right now. And before faith

00:52:24.060 can be increased, you've got to look at the facts and go, Oh, this makes sense. And then, um, we have

00:52:30.800 a spiritual warfare film coming out later this year, the book, and I'd ask people to pray. I, I, I know

00:52:38.280 it sounds silly, but you know, prayer matters. If you want to support us, great. We, we love that.

00:52:44.000 We're not, we don't pour mouth to anything. We feel like what God gives us, that's our resources

00:52:49.300 to do what we do. But you know, I gotta, I just got a photo of a girl who's got a glass eye that's 1.00

00:52:57.460 hanging out. It's like plastic. It was because of ISIS and our team in Iraq's like, Hey man,

00:53:04.420 nobody's going to help this girl. I'm like, we will, but let's get that girl, you know, situated. 1.00

00:53:11.560 But I ask people for prayer and, um, and I'm very intentional about what, you know, me personally

00:53:19.800 from fitness, strength, mental capacity to spiritual, uh, readiness. And I think it's just a good time for

00:53:29.900 people to be motivated to be mission ready in all those areas because, uh, sooner or later,

00:53:35.460 we're all going to die. And I tell people, you better have that box checked that you're all right

00:53:41.960 because it doesn't matter everything else that that is the ultimate. Okay, here we go. And there's no

00:53:49.700 reason for people not to be prepared for that. And my faith is through Christ Jesus. And I'm,

00:53:55.840 I'm bold about it because I just, I believe it. And I've shared my faith with ISIS fighters

00:54:01.840 right before they were going to take a dirt nap. And, and I'm just like, you want to know how I

00:54:09.900 know? And they're like, please tell me as their hands are behind their back. And I'd share my faith

00:54:13.960 and I'd say, I hope you find that in Christ Jesus for your surety of salvation. So I appreciate you.

00:54:21.000 Let me close with this, man. I know what it takes for a man to get out of his comfort zone

00:54:25.780 and move from that, move from that, just struggling apathy, you know, day-to-day grind,

00:54:34.200 not feel like his value or mission, but you did something at some point in your life, Ryan,

00:54:40.880 where you said, no, I can do better than this. And you've kept God first in your family and,

00:54:48.660 and you're helping other men. And that is a huge, that is a huge thing. I, I tell men,

00:54:56.360 don't think you got to go overseas to get something done. You better be called to it because

00:55:02.600 trust me. And I've seen it. I've seen it. I've held dead and dying men. You want to make sure in

00:55:08.940 the lane that you're supposed to run in. And, you know, there's nothing heroic about trying to hold

00:55:14.820 your guts in or legs blown off when you weren't even supposed to be there. And it's completely

00:55:20.480 heroic and courageous. If you die serving God in the way that he's called you to do. So I tell men,

00:55:27.020 die to your own flesh. Stop looking at porn. Help us pedophiles in the U.S. by leading a better life. 1.00

00:55:35.360 Love, love your family, love your kids, man, protect them against evil. Stand up and fight

00:55:42.900 that fight. That's the first line of defense. And that's what matters. So thank you, man. I

00:55:47.960 appreciate you. That's the best way I know how to say it. Thank you, Victor. I appreciate it. We'll

00:55:52.960 sync everything up. Keep doing what you're doing. We'll, we'll keep following and we'll lead on our

00:55:57.280 end as well. So I appreciate you. Thanks for taking some time with us today. You bet.

00:56:01.620 Gentlemen, there you go. My conversation with the one and only Victor Marks. I hope you enjoyed that

00:56:08.340 one as much as I do. And I hope you're called to lead and called to action. Obviously we're not all

00:56:12.260 going to do what Victor does. I don't even think that's a necessity, but I think we can do our own

00:56:16.360 part within the walls of our homes, our communities, our neighborhoods, our businesses. And the more that

00:56:21.500 we step up and boldly assert ourselves as men to help lead others, I think the better society is going

00:56:27.940 to be. So please make sure you connect with Victor, take a screenshot real quick, tag Victor, tag myself,

00:56:33.340 hit me up on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, X, et cetera. Um, look for his new book coming out on

00:56:38.740 father's day, which is called the dangerous gentlemen. And then the meantime, make sure you

00:56:42.720 support Montana knife company and use the code order of man to save some money when you do. And then

00:56:47.860 look at our uprising experience may 2nd through the 5th, 2024. You can do that at order of man.com

00:56:54.720 slash uprising. All right, guys, that is our conversation for today. We'll be back tomorrow

00:57:00.480 for our ask me anything until then go out there, take action and become the man you are meant to be.

00:57:06.860 Thank you for listening to the order of man podcast. You're ready to take charge of your life

00:57:11.480 and be more of the man you were meant to be. We invite you to join the order at order of man.com.

Order of Man - February 06, 2024

VICTOR MARX ｜ The Burden and Blessing of Masculinity

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