Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - June 22, 2021


Ep 442 ｜ Is Circumcision Barbaric？ ｜ Q&A


Episode Stats

Length

35 minutes

Words per Minute

179.86247

Word Count

6,304

Sentence Count

366

Misogynist Sentences

6

Hate Speech Sentences

10


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Hey guys, welcome to Relatable. I hope everyone's having a great day. Today we are doing another
00:00:14.180 Q&A episode where I answer your questions that you guys sent me on Instagram. If you
00:00:22.200 love this podcast, if you could please leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, that
00:00:26.220 would mean so much to me. Thank you guys for listening and supporting the show. Y'all
00:00:31.600 are the best. As you probably know at this point, I am on maternity leave and so that's
00:00:38.040 why we're doing these pre-recorded evergreen episodes that are Q&As and interviews and
00:00:45.240 topics and things like that. And some of you, by the way, whenever I say evergreen, I always
00:00:49.760 get messages and questions saying, wait, what's evergreen? Well, it's like the tree. It's evergreen.
00:00:56.820 Like it doesn't go through, like the tree doesn't go through seasons. It's always green. And in the
00:01:02.880 same way, evergreen topics are not tied to the news cycle. They're not tied to something that's
00:01:08.180 happening right in that second. They can be talked about at any time because they're topical or
00:01:14.140 they're just not dependent on the cycle of the news. That's what I mean by evergreen. So just
00:01:21.380 wanted to clarify that. Here's a question that I got, which is kind of evergreen. Okay. This is a
00:01:27.820 good example of kind of evergreen because it's talking about something that's happening in the
00:01:32.060 future, but I couldn't talk about it in like five years. It wouldn't make sense. And the question is,
00:01:36.020 should the U.S. boycott the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing? I absolutely think so. I
00:01:43.300 absolutely think so. I mean, would you have supported the Olympic Games being in Nazi Germany
00:01:49.300 in the 1930s or 40s? I don't think so. There's no difference. There's no difference in what
00:01:56.420 the Chinese Communist Party is doing to its own people and is doing to other parts of the world,
00:02:02.700 like South America in Africa via colonization. There's no difference between what that regime
00:02:08.420 is doing and what Nazi Germany was doing in the 1930s. Same kinds of atrocities, same kinds of
00:02:16.220 oppression, same kinds of racism, same kinds of concentration camps, same lack of freedom,
00:02:22.260 except it's even worse because they're more powerful. They're actually more pervasive. And also,
00:02:29.480 it's worse because more countries accept them and don't actually see them as an evil foreign regime.
00:02:37.360 Like America, especially under the Biden administration, has kowtowed to them so much.
00:02:41.660 American corporations love China, despite all of the human rights atrocities that go on there.
00:02:48.000 And then they pretend like they're social justice advocates here by, for example, boycotting Georgia
00:02:52.980 just because Georgia requires voting IDs. Like it's such a joke. And that's why I think, yes,
00:02:58.520 of course, we should boycott the Olympic Games in Beijing 100%. And Joe Biden saying that the MLB
00:03:06.300 supporting the MLB, for example, boycotting Georgia a while ago are taking their all-star game
00:03:12.700 out of Atlanta because of the new voter law requiring voter ID and other things. Also expanding the ability
00:03:20.720 to vote in a lot of counties in Georgia. Him saying that that boycott is fine, but then not being sure
00:03:27.300 about whether or not, at least as I'm recording this, we're going to boycott the Olympic Games in
00:03:31.940 Beijing. That's ridiculous. So you're willing to punish Georgians. You're willing to punish the
00:03:37.500 people of Atlanta, which by the way, is a majority black. And his problem with the voting law is that
00:03:45.980 it's Jim Crow. And so they're punishing the city of Atlanta, which is majority black by trying to support
00:03:52.400 this boycott and this taking out of the all-star game by the MLB from Atlanta. But they're totally
00:03:58.460 fine or they might be fine with hosting or with allowing the Olympic Games or going to the Olympic
00:04:05.240 Games in Beijing. It's all just total and complete hypocrisy. It's hypocrisy. I am so tired of people
00:04:13.780 here, of elites here, of academics, of organizations, of businesses pretending like they're on the right
00:04:20.720 side of history, pretending like they care about equality, pretending like they care about social
00:04:26.020 justice, and lining their pockets with money from the CCP. Like, I don't take you seriously as a
00:04:33.100 corporation, as a company, as an organization, as a sports organization, if that's how you operate.
00:04:39.780 Like, either you actually care, you care about justice and you care about the marginalized and
00:04:45.600 the vulnerable or you don't. But the fact of the matter is, is that they know, companies here know
00:04:51.780 that they can take the popular social justice and racial justice stances. They can still be making
00:04:57.000 money from the most racist and oppressive and repressive regime on earth. And that most people
00:05:03.480 here aren't going to care. They aren't going to know. Certainly progressives here don't care because
00:05:07.120 honestly, most progressives here don't care about what's going on in China either because they've got
00:05:11.320 that entire worldview that really the only real bad people are white and in the West. And so they
00:05:18.600 know that they can get away with that kind of thing. They can just posture. They can virtue signal
00:05:22.840 without actually having to be virtuous. And there was one point when I thought, you know what,
00:05:29.240 private companies, they do what they're going to do, whatever, and conservatives shouldn't boycott.
00:05:35.200 I'm past that. I'm past that point. And I think a lot of conservatives are past that point,
00:05:41.080 where when you realize that the big companies in this country have so much power and have so much
00:05:48.360 sway in the direction of the culture and really have so much say in our freedom and our access to
00:05:56.340 information, our access to communication, our access to travel, and they represent this kind of
00:06:04.260 horrific, hypocritical immorality, you realize that it has to be the government's place
00:06:10.840 at some point, the Republican Party's place at some point, to stop giving so many breaks and so
00:06:19.020 much preferential treatment to these companies that hate the constituents that voted for these
00:06:24.880 Republicans. Republicans no longer can be just the party of tax cuts. They can no longer just be the
00:06:30.920 party of supposed small government. They're not even really the party of small government. They have
00:06:36.780 to be a party with teeth. They have to be a party that says, look, we're not going to give preferential
00:06:41.520 treatment to these corporations anymore. We're not going to be those kinds of conservatives that
00:06:46.260 are just about cutting the corporate tax rates. We're not just going to be the party that says,
00:06:52.740 oh, private companies can do what they want to. We're past that. We're past that. We've got a
00:06:57.860 corporate oligarchy, and the only institution that is powerful enough to push back against them
00:07:02.820 is the government. Now, I'm not talking about all private businesses being regulated or anything
00:07:08.720 like that. That's actually the opposite, or that's completely different than what I'm talking about.
00:07:13.740 I'm just talking about them not getting preferential treatment to the point to where they get so powerful
00:07:17.880 where the corporations are actually the ones punishing citizens. It's an oligarchy. This used to also be,
00:07:25.920 by the way, like a democratic, a more liberal stance. But now, because these corporations are so
00:07:35.300 in lockstep with the social and cultural left, you don't see Democrats quite as much anymore
00:07:40.940 speaking up about corporate power. Sure, you've got somewhat Elizabeth Warren. You've got a little bit
00:07:47.120 of Bernie Sanders in there. But you're not going to see Joe Biden and the Biden administration
00:07:53.140 trying to diminish the power quite as much of these companies because these companies support him.
00:08:01.540 They support his agenda. They support leftism. The system is in lockstep with each other.
00:08:07.240 They're all saying the same talking points. And so now it's got to be a Republican value to say,
00:08:11.640 you know what? And this should be a conservative value to say, I'm against any kind of big organization,
00:08:20.260 whether it's a government organization, a company, a corporate organization exacting its power and its
00:08:30.060 influence to make the lives of individuals worse, to discriminate against people and to punish people,
00:08:37.480 punish states based on their viewpoint and based on the laws passed. Yes, to a certain extent,
00:08:43.620 these companies can do what they want to do, but there's got to be pushback.
00:08:47.720 It can't just be that one ideological side is playing that game and the other side,
00:08:53.060 the conservative side is saying, sure, just yeah, you just do it. Do what you want. Ruin my life.
00:08:58.780 Yeah, that's fine. That's fine. We can't do that. I think we're past that. So that was a long rant.
00:09:04.580 But I do think that the tide is turning and that Republicans are realizing that, look,
00:09:08.960 your constituents, they want you to fight the culture war. They want you to push back against
00:09:14.220 the corporations that hate us, that hate our values. Like they want you to get in the fight.
00:09:20.680 Like I think that the whole idea of like, OK, the Republican Party is only for economic prosperity
00:09:28.800 and small government and low taxes. I just think that most constituents don't want that. They want
00:09:34.360 a Republican Party that has some teeth, that's willing to push back against stuff, that's willing
00:09:39.680 to argue against, for example, chemical castration for kids and not be ashamed of it. Like I think
00:09:45.700 we're done with the Asa Hutchinson's of of the GOP. We just are. All right. So that was a long rant
00:09:53.040 answering that question. Next question. How do you balance the desire for a career and desire to be
00:10:02.960 a mom one day? So if you were a single woman, chances are you need to have a job. Like if you're
00:10:08.940 out of college, you don't live with your parents. Chances are you need to have a job. And I think
00:10:13.080 that your responsibility, our responsibility as people, as Christians, is to work heartily as for
00:10:18.820 the Lord and not for man. So whatever work you have, which I do think it's important to work,
00:10:23.480 to be able to provide for yourself, especially if you're not married.
00:10:29.220 Um, I think that you simply have to find work that you can do well. That doesn't mean that you have
00:10:35.960 to find your dream job. Doesn't mean that you have to find the perfect job. Doesn't mean that you have
00:10:39.520 to make six figures. Doesn't mean that all of your dreams have to come true. Um, it means that you
00:10:43.880 find a job in which you are, um, at least adequately competent to do, and then you do it to the best of
00:10:52.180 your ability and you use every bit of experience that you gain to prepare you for whatever is next.
00:10:57.980 When I started working in PR, I had no idea that I would be doing this one day. And yet there are
00:11:03.380 things that I learned in that first job, even though it wasn't the perfect job for me, and I was not the
00:11:07.340 perfect person for the job that I still apply today. The ability to communicate, the ability to be able
00:11:14.920 to make connections, to make a pitch, to even like write and understand a press release. I think that
00:11:20.340 still kind of benefits me today and doing a job that didn't necessarily come naturally to me,
00:11:25.140 but that I had to learn how to do competently. I think that that really prepares you for whatever
00:11:30.980 is next. It's amazing. Once you get somewhere that just any place, whether it's a small goal or a big
00:11:36.100 goal, when you get there, it's always amazing to look back and to, and to think about all of the
00:11:44.480 little things that you did not realize at the time were preparing you for that thing, but were,
00:11:50.160 there are so many different things that I can think of when I first started doing this. Like I
00:11:54.540 first started working at the Blaze. Um, I'll, well, I'll, I'll tell you some of it. So like I was, um,
00:12:01.720 working in, I was working in PR and then I had a different job when we lived in Athens, Georgia,
00:12:08.240 and then we moved, um, we moved from Georgia for my husband's job. And I ended up through a series
00:12:15.940 of connections, being able to make some kind of like peripheral loose connection at the Blaze.
00:12:23.160 And I showed up at the Blaze one day just to get a tour of like the facility. And then a producer
00:12:27.900 happened to recognize me because I had my blog, the conservative, uh, millennial and was like, Hey,
00:12:33.400 like you should consider maybe like coming here and just being a guest for like a Facebook live or
00:12:38.500 something like that. And I did that. It went well. They ended up hiring me to be a social media manager,
00:12:43.220 not talent, not anyone in front of the camera, being a social media manager at the Blaze. And
00:12:47.980 that was actually my first job at the Blaze. And I didn't like it because at that point I knew I
00:12:53.800 wanted to be in front of the camera. Like I knew I wanted to be talking, but I did it because it was
00:12:59.440 my foot in the door. And I ha I wouldn't have gotten that job if I hadn't had my first job in PR and
00:13:05.380 social media strategy that even though I didn't like my first job at the Blaze, I knew how to do it.
00:13:11.160 I knew what I was doing. I knew enough about social media to get the job. And then because
00:13:15.380 I was there every day and I created opportunities for myself when I was at the Blaze of asking like,
00:13:22.440 Hey, can I make this video? I'll edit it. I'll, I'll make sure that it's filmed the right way.
00:13:27.400 I'll post it on social media. No one has to do anything. And then I was given permission to that.
00:13:31.720 And then slowly, but surely I was asked to do more things when I started doing videos for the Blaze
00:13:36.500 and they were getting millions of views. And then I was able to use that to say, okay, well,
00:13:42.280 can I do this? Can I try this? And that just kind of grew over a matter of months. Um, and you know,
00:13:49.060 there's a lot in between that getting asked to be on Fox news and write things and then write a book
00:13:54.500 and all that. It just kind of grew, but I always think back to the very beginning and the things that
00:14:00.580 prepared me for what I'm doing now, the things that prepared me for my first job, the things that
00:14:05.720 prepared me for the jobs in between. And so all that to say, all you can do is put one foot in
00:14:14.220 front of the other, be as obedient as possible in stewarding the opportunities that you're given
00:14:19.420 to the best of your ability to see everything is an opportunity that's preparing you for something
00:14:25.220 else. And then like, as your life goes on, it could be, I don't know if you're married, but if you
00:14:32.040 get married, it could be that you decide to stop working. Then it could be that you continue to work
00:14:37.280 until you have kids. It could be that you learn, um, how to have, you know, balance motherhood and, uh,
00:14:45.860 also doing something that you love and doing something entrepreneurial or whatever it is. Um,
00:14:52.840 and everything that you do now prepares you for that. You don't have to plan 10 years down the
00:14:58.100 road. Like I didn't plan, I didn't plan my career. I'm sure that's not, uh, like advice that, uh,
00:15:04.280 business gurus would tell you to take, but I didn't plan my career. My entire career has been putting
00:15:10.200 one foot in front of the other, taking things as they come, adjusting as my different life stages
00:15:16.060 come, trying to prioritize the things that matter and trusting God that things are going to go how
00:15:21.520 they're supposed to go and not obsessing, not, not obsessing over a meeting particular goals,
00:15:28.380 just doing what God I hope has gifted me to do and called me to do for as long as he's called me to do
00:15:34.040 it and prioritizing continually the things that matter, which to me are my faith and my family,
00:15:39.940 while still thankfully by the grace of God, being able to carve out time to do something like this.
00:15:45.760 And so you want to know how to balance those two desires. You put one foot in front of the other,
00:15:51.300 and you obey God and he is going to help you. Like he is going to guide you. He is going to show
00:15:58.480 you how to do it, what to do. Also don't worry if like you do have long-term career goals, um, and
00:16:06.620 you know what you want to do and, and you really work towards those. Don't be surprised and certainly
00:16:13.720 don't be disappointed if when you have a child things change. Um, because I have lots of friends
00:16:21.780 and this is something that the studies that the, that the data doesn't pick up on the feminists
00:16:27.140 look at this data and they say, Oh, there's a disproportionate rate of mom staying home instead
00:16:30.860 of dads. It's because of the patriarchy. It's because of sexism. Oh, there's more women working
00:16:36.140 in freelance and part-time jobs that don't have benefits than men. And they think that's part of
00:16:40.840 being discriminated against. The fact of the matter is, is that women are much more likely than men
00:16:46.380 to naturally want to stay home. That's not true of all women. That's not true of all women. I'm not
00:16:51.100 saying that, but it is more likely for women not to feel the societal pressure to do so. I certainly
00:16:57.260 don't think that exists today. Um, but to have the innate desire to do so. And so don't be surprised
00:17:04.260 if you're working hard in your career, you love your career. You're just putting one foot in front of the
00:17:08.380 other, praying to do God's will, praying for, to have discernment and to take opportunities as they
00:17:15.300 come. If, and when you have children, you decide I need to take a break. I need to take a step back.
00:17:22.360 Like I need to pause or I don't want to do this anymore. I have a lot of friends who, who did that,
00:17:28.640 who stopped working and they took a part-time job or they work on the side. I'm very thankful that
00:17:34.880 this job that I have. Yes. It's it. I'm sure it seems like a lot to you guys. And it is a lot,
00:17:40.180 especially right now, as I'm recording, this is like, we're pre-recording so many episodes for
00:17:44.400 maternity leave. Like it absolutely can be a lot, but it also affords me a ton of flexibility,
00:17:50.360 like a ton of freedom to be able to be with my family and to do the things that I want to do.
00:17:56.120 Now it also means that I have crazy hours. It means that I am sometimes working like I'm working
00:18:02.260 in the morning when I'm recording this. And then, because I want to spend the bulk of my day
00:18:05.940 with my, uh, with my child and with my family, it means that I might not start working again until
00:18:12.280 like nine 30 until 2 AM. Um, and that's not for everyone and that's not fun, but that's kind of
00:18:18.420 like the stage of life that we're in right now. And some, and you might decide to do that if you have
00:18:24.360 a child or you might decide you don't, you don't want to work and that's completely fine. Still the
00:18:29.540 things that you are doing now, I promise you God is going to use to prepare you for motherhood,
00:18:35.560 to prepare you, to stay at home, to prepare you, to volunteer, to prepare you, to do whatever it
00:18:41.300 is that he is calling you to do. Don't be disappointed in yourself or think that you're
00:18:45.240 not doing enough or that you're just not a go-getter. If you end up having a kid and deciding,
00:18:51.440 look, I don't want to work. I want to stay at home. Like that's amazing. That's wonderful.
00:18:55.660 And every woman that I've talked to, by the way, feels that at least a little bit after they have
00:19:01.700 a child that either you need to take a step back a little bit, or you just need to quit your job
00:19:07.140 entirely. Almost every single woman that I know has felt that. And she never thought she would feel
00:19:12.180 it, um, beforehand for me. I do think I really did take a big step back, um, after my daughter was
00:19:20.340 born a couple of years ago. And it might not seem like it to you guys, but when I look back to what
00:19:26.400 I was doing before, like constantly posting videos and all different kinds of content, always doing
00:19:33.280 interviews, always on Fox News, always traveling for speaking engagements, that was really fun.
00:19:38.720 And like my husband would get to do that kind of stuff with me. He is a pretty standard, you know,
00:19:42.920 he has a pretty strict nine to five or nine to six ish job. And so we were kind of able to balance
00:19:48.960 that together. And then just when my daughter was born, I did take a step back. Like I did decide
00:19:54.740 not to be so inundated with all of that all the time. Like I'm on Twitter so much less than I used
00:20:02.360 to be. I'm posting other kinds of content very rarely. And I'm sorry, I know you guys like my
00:20:07.940 satirical videos and I love doing the satirical videos, but if something's got to give, it's going
00:20:12.840 to be something like, it's going to be something like that. I, and also because of COVID, but also
00:20:17.620 because of being a mom, like I don't travel nearly as much as I used to. I was traveling almost every
00:20:23.060 week. Um, and I just don't do that. And so it might not seem like it to you guys, but my career
00:20:30.160 has really shifted and it ha I really have taken it. I really have taken a big step back in a lot of
00:20:37.460 ways while still, you know, putting a lot of content out via this podcast. And almost every woman I know
00:20:43.380 does the same thing. Certainly don't be disappointed in yourself. If you do that, you do have to find
00:20:47.820 the balance and God's going to help you find the balance. And I trust your ability to find the
00:20:52.000 balance. And sometimes you won't find the balance until a year after your child is born. So I think
00:20:58.340 that we all have to make sure that our priorities are correct, that we're simply following the Lord
00:21:01.880 and honestly putting just one foot in front of the other and figuring it out as you go.
00:21:17.160 What did your parents instill in you growing up that you would credit with making you who you are
00:21:22.300 today? So I answered this on another Q and a one thing that I I've also mentioned this, like it's
00:21:26.700 difficult to keep up with which questions I've actually answered on these Q and a's. And I don't
00:21:30.440 want to repeat anything. But I think this is a little bit different than what I've been asked
00:21:34.880 before. What did your parents instill in you growing up that you would credit with making you
00:21:39.760 who you are today? Well, there's there's a lot of things. I mean, my parents were conservative
00:21:46.220 Christians and they worked they were not raised with any kind of wealth. They created a lot of
00:21:53.600 opportunities for themselves and they worked really hard to make sure that my brothers and me
00:21:58.780 had opportunities that they didn't. And so they were they were Christians. They were, you know,
00:22:04.580 they're concerned. They are Christians. They are conservatives. They raised us with those values.
00:22:08.520 They also made sure this was a high priority for my parents to make sure that we also got a
00:22:14.380 Christian education. I understand that's not necessarily accessible to every single person, but
00:22:21.540 that was just a priority for them to make sure that I had that and that I was inundated with a
00:22:28.220 biblical worldview as much as possible. And I think that that really helped me when people ask me,
00:22:33.520 how do you you know, how do you research your podcast or like this must take you a really long
00:22:38.420 time? You've got all of these biblical references and your podcast episodes. Yes, it does take me a
00:22:43.400 long time to when I really write out a podcast episode or we get into something theological,
00:22:48.680 it takes me a long time to do it. But thankfully, it's not because necessarily I'm scouring
00:22:54.600 scripture. I would say one gift that my parents gave me was the biblical worldview that just pervaded
00:23:02.020 my life growing up in that I have a familiarity with the Bible and with scripture that makes that kind
00:23:08.880 of preparation and makes that kind of cross-referencing, makes that kind of referencing of
00:23:13.720 scripture very easy for me today. And I can't take credit for that. Yes, of course, there's been a
00:23:19.740 relationship with God independent from my parents. There's been study of theology and of the word
00:23:24.200 independent of my parents. But because of that foundation and because of that worldview that I
00:23:29.260 was taught so much growing up, you know, from school and church and just conversations with them,
00:23:36.580 that kind of stuff is very easy for me now. And I think that that's something that I want
00:23:40.880 for my daughter even more so. Like we talk a lot about, you know, catechizing your children,
00:23:47.260 the importance of teaching them a solid catechism that asks questions and they memorize the answers
00:23:53.980 according to scripture. For example, like the first question of the catechism that we use is who made
00:23:58.620 you? And the answer is God made me. And, you know, I wish that I had maybe been taught more theology and
00:24:04.700 more apologetics and more answers to questions like that growing up. But I did have a biblical basis for
00:24:11.720 everything that I learned. And because of that, that helps me very easily. Whenever I see a lie in
00:24:18.540 culture or whenever I see a twisting of scripture, I am easily able to think, well, hang on, that
00:24:25.400 reminds me of the scripture that actually contradicts that. And I think that is a wonderful gift that my
00:24:30.660 parents gave me. And I think that's a gift that we can give to our kids, that if we can so fill them
00:24:36.200 with the word of God, that when they confront these conflicts and these problems in the world,
00:24:40.040 they're able to say, hang on, hang on, I've this, this actually contradicts what I have been taught
00:24:46.480 through my biblical perspective. And what an amazing gift and like what equipment we can give them
00:24:52.140 and tools we can give them, um, in that. And so I would say that I also, you know, got parts of my
00:24:59.640 parents' personality. I'm very different, um, than, uh, my brothers who are a lot more easygoing than I am.
00:25:08.000 Um, I think my parents would also say that it, there were difficulties. I'm very, you know,
00:25:13.140 strong-willed as you can pop, pop, probably, uh, imagine, it got tongue-tied there for a second,
00:25:19.720 probably imagine. And, you know, growing up when you are, you've got that kind of personality,
00:25:27.380 you're headstrong, you are argumentative. Um, it can be difficult when that comes in this, like,
00:25:35.340 this, you know, small package of a child thinking that she knows everything and wanting to argue
00:25:43.560 everything. But, um, we got through it. We got through the toddler years, we got through the
00:25:49.420 teenage years. And my parents, um, you know, they gave me a lot of gifts in equipment and in love and
00:25:56.680 in support that, um, helped me have the confidence to do what I do now. And my dad still provides me,
00:26:05.440 well, both of my parents, but I call my dad a lot and ask him for advice, ask him for wisdom,
00:26:11.180 ask him to explain certain, um, you know, political issues for me or particular law for me.
00:26:17.640 He's got a lot of wisdom and just practical things. I've had a lot of contracts that I've
00:26:22.100 had to negotiate in the past few years of my life. He's been super helpful in all of that.
00:26:27.800 Like he always gives me really good advice and like what to do. I've got these opportunities.
00:26:32.500 I don't know what to say, or I don't know how to respond to this person in this particular
00:26:35.860 business situation. My dad is, um, a very effective business person. And so he has also really helped me
00:26:43.600 in that. And gosh, the gift that you give your children as just a mom, a present mom and a dad
00:26:50.600 who cares, a present mom and a dad who give you wisdom and give you advice and don't just let you
00:26:58.160 think whatever you want to think and do whatever you want to do. My parents are pretty strict
00:27:01.700 growing up, um, too strict on some things. They would be okay with me saying this too strict on
00:27:06.900 some things and probably didn't encourage enough discipline in other things. Um, and, but I'm so
00:27:15.260 thankful that they weren't the parents that allowed me to do whatever I wanted to do and think whatever
00:27:20.120 I wanted to think and wear whatever I wanted to wear and watch and listen to whatever I wanted to
00:27:24.260 watch and listen to. I'm so thankful for that. Um, because I think that they protected me in a lot
00:27:31.680 of ways while I also was able to develop skills like critical thinking and understanding difficult
00:27:36.580 problems and issues in the world. Um, and there's just nothing that can replace a mom and a dad.
00:27:44.260 You need both. There's nothing that can replace that. Both of them have such like unique places
00:27:49.820 in my life. Their personalities are different. What they bring to the table is different. Their
00:27:53.880 gifts are different. Their weaknesses are different. The things that they did well as parents and did
00:27:59.100 not as well as parents are different. And so I'm very thankful for, you know, what I,
00:28:04.620 what I learned from them and what I hopefully am able to pass down to my kids. And it's not just
00:28:10.140 my parents. It's also like my grandmother also had a huge influence on me, which I've talked about,
00:28:15.360 um, before. And she was like, I also think I'm going on a rant, but I'm also thinking about
00:28:21.720 like what she provided for me since she lived with us. She was a refuge. She was a refuge for me,
00:28:29.620 for someone who, like I said, was, you know, I was always like inviting conflict and argumentative
00:28:36.660 and getting in trouble and things like that. My grandmother, you almost just like need that
00:28:42.120 person in your life to spoil you or need that person in your life who is going to tell you
00:28:47.720 all the time, how great you are. And I know, I know like that sounds like something that maybe I
00:28:53.440 wouldn't say. And that sounds like something that's maybe, um, isn't all that healthy, but as
00:29:00.260 a child, like you do need that source or that person who is just going to like be sweet to you
00:29:09.600 when you, when you need it, or even when you're acting up. And that was what my grandmother and I
00:29:15.160 could start crying. I'm not going to start crying, but that's what my grandmother was to me. She was,
00:29:18.600 but, but, you know, she was also disciplined. She also taught me a lot of stuff, but to always have
00:29:22.960 that like safe haven that if I was in trouble in my parent with my parents, I would be able to go to
00:29:27.700 my grandma and still, you know, get, you know, get love and get a Werther's original candy. Like
00:29:35.760 I actually think it's important for kids to have that too. So anyway, I'm very blessed. I had a very,
00:29:40.880 you know, good upbringing with lots of different dynamics that I understand not a lot of people,
00:29:45.900 not everyone has. Um, so when you ask me, you know, what my parents taught me a lot, a lot,
00:29:52.340 and life teaches you things too. And really just to have the guidance and the safety and the security
00:29:57.200 of parents when life teaches you those hard lessons, I think it's just completely irreplaceable.
00:30:03.380 So moms, dads, grandparents, you have the most important job in the world, the most important
00:30:10.080 job in the world. I think that we don't understand like what we give to our kids.
00:30:15.900 Just by loving our spouse and just by providing them security and direction. Um,
00:30:22.640 we can see, we can see the damage that it causes when kids don't have that and they grow up to be
00:30:29.500 completely reckless and directionless adults. It's not good. It's not good. And so we can pay it
00:30:36.060 forward and we can make an impact. If you don't ever know what to do, by the way, people have always
00:30:41.040 asked me like, how do I change culture? How do I change society? It starts at home. Like the
00:30:45.660 family is the incubator of Liberty. It is the incubator of, for morality, for values,
00:30:52.080 for a worldview. Like you have the biggest influence and should have the biggest influence
00:30:56.380 on your child. And it's never too late to try to instill them, uh, with the values that are good
00:31:03.160 of kindness and of personal generosity and of respect, no matter what someone looks like,
00:31:08.920 no matter where they come from, of seeing people as image bearers of God, of caring about truth and
00:31:14.740 real biblical justice, all of those things, they happen, they're learned in the home. And that is
00:31:20.380 how we can make an impact, um, on the future. All right. I think I have time for one more question.
00:31:29.300 Maybe a couple more quick ones. What version of the Bible do you read? I use the English standard
00:31:35.440 version. I like English standard version because, and I might've answered this one too already,
00:31:41.000 but it's word for word rather than thought for thought. NIV is thought for thought translation.
00:31:46.840 NASB, I think it's another word for word translation. KJV, word for word translation. NKJV, word for word
00:31:54.040 translation. ESV, word for word translation. The message is like broad concept for broad concept
00:32:00.640 translation. So it's going to be a lot less literal, a lot less exact. Um, NIV is a little bit more
00:32:06.740 colloquial. So it's a little bit easier to read. ESV can be a little bit harder to read, but that's
00:32:12.280 because it's more of an exact translation, but it's more colloquial than the NKJV. Um, so that's why
00:32:19.520 I use the ESV and the ESV study Bible is an amazing commentary with lots of resources in it.
00:32:34.900 Here's a controversial question that I'll be perfectly honest. Like I haven't really thought
00:32:40.220 about this a lot and I have, but I've seen people, I've seen people ask this question a lot. And I
00:32:47.740 think it's kind of weird that people are asking this question. Someone said, should Christians
00:32:52.320 circumcise their sons or is it barbaric? Well, it's obviously not barbaric because it's something
00:32:58.520 that God required of his people, um, when in, in ancient Israel. And so to say it's barbaric
00:33:08.360 would be to say that God's commands are barbaric. And so I'm not sure that I can hold God to that kind
00:33:14.720 of human standard. That sounds blasphemous to me. So I don't think you can say it's barbaric
00:33:19.540 from what I understand. It's done for health reasons. Um, it's done for cleanliness reasons
00:33:25.020 today. Christians don't do it in a way to, um, show that you are like set apart in the way that
00:33:33.240 Israel did. Um, I don't think that's required of Christians today, but do I think it's a sin?
00:33:41.140 Some people try to compare it to female genital mutilation. It's not the same thing. That is,
00:33:47.600 that is not the same thing. You are not getting rid of a particular function there. It's typically done
00:33:54.420 for cleanliness, for health reasons. Now I think that's a personal choice. I'm not going to weigh in
00:34:00.840 on, you know, the morality of it or whether or not you should do it. I don't really care. I don't think
00:34:07.280 it's something that's like a big societal question that has a huge societal impact that needs to be
00:34:12.340 like debated in Christian forums necessarily. But I do see this question a lot. I don't think
00:34:17.860 it's correct. There's like a men's rights movement that's trying to say that this is wrong. I understand
00:34:24.340 that perspective. I understand. I do. I understand what you're saying. Um, I think it's a personal
00:34:31.200 decision to be made and that there's not a whole lot of morality that can be ascribed to it. Um,
00:34:37.820 I don't know if my answer is going to be controversial or not. Um, but yeah, it's interesting
00:34:44.300 that this is even kind of like being debated right now. I think it's a choice. I think it's a choice
00:34:48.980 that you make with your family and yeah, it doesn't really affect me what choice you make with your
00:34:56.580 family. All right. On that note, I will end this episode and see you guys back here soon.