Ep 790 ｜ The Rise of 'Christian' Witchcraft ｜ Guest： Hilary Kennedy
Episode Stats
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Summary
Amazon is selling Ouija boards marketed to children and Christians. Also, Disney has more satanic-themed kids shows. But don t worry, there is really good news about abortions at the end of this episode! We ve got both dark and light to talk about today.
Transcript
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Amazon is selling Ouija boards marketed to children and Christians. Also, Disney has more
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satanic-themed, demonic-themed kids shows. But don't worry, there is really, really good news
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that I'm going to celebrate about a decrease in abortions at the end of this episode. So we've
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got both dark and light to talk about today. Lots to cover. This episode is brought to you by our
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friends at Good Ranchers. Go to GoodRanchers.com. Use promo code ALLY for American meat delivered
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right to your front door. That's GoodRanchers.com, code ALLY.
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Hillary, thanks so much for joining us. I only ever bring you on to talk about these very dark
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subjects. Have you noticed that? Yes, it's true. Well, I go on Pat Gray's show sometimes too,
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and it's always about like child grooming or, you know, some sort of unsolved murder. So I like to
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talk about the happy topics, but sometimes these just kind of end up coming to the surface.
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Yes. Well, you're a very bright and cheery person, but also you're a mom. I'm a mom. And so you care
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about what is being advertised for children. And that's what we're talking about. We're talking
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about games. We're talking about shows that have explicit demonic themes that are being marketed
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to kids. And you presented it to us, to my producer. And you're like, do y'all know that
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this is going on? So just tell us, tell us kind of what you sent us and what's going on with the
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different games and shows. Well, first, I love that you talk about these topics, because like you said,
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as a mom, it's something that really concerns me. So I love that you're willing to put this out there
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and talk about it. I started looking at some things that are being sold on Amazon. I stumbled upon this
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and was kind of blown away because we've seen the occult sort of be glamorized in TV shows and in
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books and in movies a lot more recently than it has been in the past. But now they're marketing things
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in very subliminal ways that even Christians are being fooled by it or people who are maybe
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looking into faith practices or becoming a Christian or things like that. So there is a Ouija board
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that they are marketing as a spirit board on Amazon. It's $29.95. It's advertised as a way to
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communicate directly with Jesus. And the little planchette that you put your hands on when you're
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using a Ouija board, it's in the shape of a cross. The way they have it marketed is they say it's perfect
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for churches, prayer groups, or just getting together with friends. It says, unlike other spirit boards,
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this one will never contact evil ghosts or demons. So you can ask your questions with an assured
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sense of safety. Oh my goodness. Yeah. It says, okay, so it's called the Holy Spirit Board by Holy
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Spirit Games, Christian religious talking board for seance. And as you said, it promises that you can
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get your life's most important questions answered straight from the man himself while promising it
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will never contact evil ghosts or demons. And so I don't know, maybe you're a Christian and you think
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this would be fun for my small group, or this might even be fun to give my teenagers. This is a
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biblical form of connecting with the other world, right?
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Right. Well, it's scary because there's a lot of things that you can purchase on Amazon and other
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sites that you think are actually helpful biblical resources or something that will help you in your
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faith journey. Another thing I came across were these things called Psalm cards, and they're supposed to
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have the Psalms on there to kind of help you. I'll read the description. It says,
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they're a source of spiritual inspiration, 150 power verses. And then it says,
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embedded in the ancient Psalm verses are rich images that form a symbolic language. Whether
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you're searching for answers, insights, or spiritual teachings, pull a card from the deck and allow the
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image to offer its compelling, succinct message. And then it says, turn to our companion guide for a
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fuller explanation. Well, so these look like, you know, like when you buy affirmation cards or Bible
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verse cards that you take with you to kind of study scripture or memorize. These are actually tarot cards
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or oracle cards, but you wouldn't know that necessarily by looking at the description. So
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there was one reviewer that was like, I got this. And this is not at all what I was expecting because
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they realized this was something that people are using as an oracle card or a tarot card,
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but it's being marketed as something for Christians to know the Psalms, which I thought,
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you know, there's so many of those things now that are disguised as one thing, but used for something
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else. And we have to really be on guard with what we're being given, what we're giving to friends,
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what we're exposing our children to, but the Ouija board, especially that one, I think, you know,
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some people are saying, well, they meant this as a parody, but even still not everyone will know that
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or see that. And we'll buy that thinking, Oh, this is something that I can use to deepen my,
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my walk with God. And I do think this idea has become popularized even among people who profess to be
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Christians, or maybe who are new to their faith, that there is a Christian way to practice what may,
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they might not call it witchcraft, but practice kind of, you know, psychic readings, using tarot cards,
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using Ouija boards. And they think that this is a, a pure or holy way to, or lightened way to kind
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of connect with the other world or to engage in paranormal activity, not realizing, not fully
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knowing that this is, as you said, kind of Satan disguising himself as an angel of light. And the
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problem is even beyond just being deceived. It is that you are opening yourself up to a very real
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connection with the spiritual world that is not actually of God. And the reason why we know it's
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not of God is because he actually forbids, biblically, this kind of activity. He forbids
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witchcraft. He forbids the use of divination, sorcery, spiritism. He forbids the use of psychics.
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We can see that in Leviticus 26, Deuteronomy 18, 9 through 14, even 1 Timothy 4, 1. It says,
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the Holy Spirit clearly says that in later times, some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving
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spirits and things taught by demons, even those that look like angels of light. So there is a really
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big spiritual, eternal consequence that we're talking about here.
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Absolutely. And I think that some of the ways that people are getting sort of sucked into this
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is through Instagram and TikTok. And TikTok has so many videos that have some sort of
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occult theme or they're teaching some form of witchcraft that it's actually called witch talk.
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There's the hashtag witch talk. So there were 11 billion views on those videos on TikTok last year
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and 7 million posts on Instagram. So that is a lot of content that we're being inundated with. And some
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of it is disguised as a way for you to grow closer to God. It's not overt. You know, it doesn't say
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like, I'm a practicing Satanist or I, you know, I'm a witch. It's something that seems like it's
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something else. And we have to be careful. On the Ouija board note too, I want to point out when I was
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searching for the spirit board and just kind of reading what was out there, there is a Ouija board.
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It's called the kitten board. And this is clearly marketed to small girls. And it looks just like a cute,
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fun little board game, but it is actually a Ouija board. And they have it listed as perfect
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for cute girls. And it has kittens and hearts on it and said it would make a great decoration for
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any bedroom. So just be careful when you're looking for games for children and you're on Amazon what
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you're actually buying because you may be buying something that you don't want in your child's bedroom.
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You know, as we were talking about, it does open you up to real demonic activity. It would be one
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thing if it was just a game that maybe you don't want your kids to play because it's kind of
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inappropriate or dark, but you really do have the possibility of communicating with demons. We know
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that God doesn't communicate to us through this kind of medium. He doesn't communicate to us through
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Ouija boards. So it's not even a question of if you're using one of these, oh, am I hearing from
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an angel? Am I hearing from God? Am I hearing from Satan? Thankfully, we know that God is the God of
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order and peace, not a God of confusion. That's why he gives us his word. So if you want to hear God
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talk, go to his word and you will be able to hear the Lord. If you want to actually hear him,
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you can read the Bible out loud. But going to a Ouija board, you are, you might be connecting with the
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spirit and it will be a demonic spirit. And Satan is not a respecter of persons. He's not going to
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say, well, this cute girl is too innocent or she's too young, or this is a Christian family,
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or this is, oh no, this, this board says Holy Spirit on it. I'm not going to enter through that.
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Look, Satan is looking for every opportunity. He's prowling around like a lion looking for someone
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to devour. He doesn't need these board games. I mean, there are lots of different ways,
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but this is certainly one way that he is looking to try to enter into your life,
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your child's mind, your home in a variety of ways. So it's very real.
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Absolutely. And the last time that you let me come on the show, I got to talk about Disney plus,
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well, it's FXX, which is a subsidiary of Disney. They had a show called Little Demon. It was a cartoon.
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It was aimed towards adults. It had a lot of satanic themes. It was really glamorizing and glorifying.
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Satanism and the occult, graphic violence. There was a huge uproar about it. One Million Moms and a
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couple of other organizations started a petition for all of the sponsors to pull their advertising
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from FXX because of the show. So it looked like the show was going to be canceled. There was all
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sorts of news about it being canceled. Disney's not bringing it back. Well, now Disney has said it's not
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canceled. They haven't said whether or not they're going to release a second season. So they're just not
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saying anything at the moment. However, they're creating a new show that they're testing out in
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Germany that's very similar, except for this is not a cartoon. It's a live action TV show
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called Pauline. And it's about an 18 year old girl who gets pregnant and falls in love with the devil
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after a one night stand. So Disney is testing that out there also had an aspect of that. There is
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at least an implicit sexual aspect to Little Demon because wasn't it that the mom, the human
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demon procreated with Satan to create this Little Demon. So there's also that weird aspect. It's not
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just, OK, here's, you know, a demonic symbol or here's even a demon or Satan. There's always some
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kind of sexual interaction, it seems, in these shows.
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Both of those, Little Demon and Pauline, are both like a coming of age story. And so it's like right
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around the time that children are sort of, their hormones are raging and they're experimenting with
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things or they're kind of awakening to who they are. And so they're really focusing on, oh, as
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they're doing that and they're becoming more sexual, they're also exploring their spirituality and they
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keep kind of interweaving those two things together. So this show, like I said, they're going to test it
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out in Germany and see how it does. I think they think it's a little too racy for the U.S. market after
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The Germans. Always, always at the beginning of the slippery slope, it seems.
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But yeah, so that's supposed to be coming out this year. And then I do have some good news.
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There is a show called Owl House. It's a cartoon that's been on Disney Plus. And this takes place
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in the Boiling Isles, which was created from the body of a dead god where demons and monsters are an
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accepted part of society. The heroine's a 14-year-old who stumbles onto a portal to the demonic realm,
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befriends a witch. And even though she doesn't have any sort of magical powers, she starts to
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become an apprentice to this witch. Anyway, this is not a children's show. Disney has it rated for
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ages seven and up, but it has a lot of sexual themes in it as well, along with the witchcraft and
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the occult. But I found out it was just canceled on April the 8th. So for parents everywhere,
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I mean, they're saying it's canceled. Maybe in a couple of years, they'll be like, ah.
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Right. You just don't ever know. But that was another show that got a lot of backlash. And so
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the creator said she believes it was canceled because it didn't, quote, fit the Disney brand.
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But at this point, we don't really know what the Disney brand is anymore. So you just have to be
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careful when you're looking at even those cartoons that seem so cute and harmless. And this one in
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particular, Owl House won an award for being creative and innovative as far as children's
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programming goes in the last year. So, you know, when you see a cartoon is getting a lot of acclaim
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and getting awards, you think, oh, this is going to be really cute and interesting. That's not always
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the case. So. No, not at all. And as you were saying, the products also that are marketed to kids,
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I mean, you see a lot of like astrology type things that are marketed, especially to young girls.
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It's almost always to young girls and not to young boys. I think these shows, but also the
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different toys and the games. And I think it's just because the nature of girls, one, they're a
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little bit more curious in the spiritual. They're more emotional themselves. Also, I think there is
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a bigger aspect of social contagion among girls that, OK, if you have three people at a sleepover
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that are using a Ouija board, there is some pressure by the other girl to say, oh, I want
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to be a part of that. I want to be included in this. And I think there's also more of a temptation
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to kind of, I don't know, manifest a different identity through witchcraft or spirituality. And
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certainly the witch talk that you're talking about is mostly women. It's mostly women who are
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trying to manifest a better life through a variety of kind of witchy means. And some of
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them are more seemingly innocent than others, like sage burning, the use of crystals for
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kind of spiritual purposes, all kinds of things that I think are seen sometimes as just, well,
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this is kind of the new age of self-help and self-love, but really do have an occultish background.
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And I think along with that, it's finding a sense of belonging with a group because I've
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had two personal friends in the last year who suffered a lot of loss in their families and
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they really were searching for things and both have turned to Wicca to kind of find a community
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and a group. And even in this Disney Plus cartoon, they talk about how this main character
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kind of sets herself up to create a new family through her witchcraft exploration and says,
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you know, I don't know what the family situation is in the cartoon, but they talk about her making
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a new family as she studies witchcraft. And I thought, you know, that really is sort of at the
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heart of a lot of these things where people just want to feel like they have a place that they belong,
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where their life makes sense, where they can create the family they want, maybe instead of
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the family they have. So these sorts of cartoons and games really appeal to that because it gives
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you a sense of community. A lot of these are things that you can do with a group.
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Yeah. It just goes to show that in a post-Christian world, people don't stop worshiping
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and they don't stop seeking. They still want to connect to something higher. They still want to
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believe there's something more than meets the eye. They still want, as you just said, community,
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but I think they believe or they have been deceived into believing that Christianity can't offer that
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because Christianity demands that you give things up, which is actually true. Christianity does demand
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that you give things up. And so I think the message of Christ that you have to deny yourself,
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take up your cross and follow me versus the satanic message of you can worship yourself and you can find
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happiness and fulfillment that way. The same lie that basically he told Eve in the garden today in
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our hyper-individualistic, narcissistic society. I think that that message is very attractive.
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Oh, I can get all of the fruits of spiritualism without having to deny myself anything. And we know
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Absolutely. I think that's, I think you're spot on with all of this and that people want to be able
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to control their outcomes themselves instead of giving their life up to, to God and letting him
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be in control. They want to be able to control it. And these are all different ways that they think
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There's a huge market for this. And I think a lot of Christians are deceived by what is kind of
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referred to as the new age, which I think is sometimes a gateway into full-on witchcraft,
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because some of it sounds very similar to the self-help stuff that we hear, the manifestation.
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You think something, it can come into being. Basically, you deserve your goals. There's this
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inner goddess inside of you that you just have to unleash and you'll be able to find and fulfill
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all of the things that you're searching for. These are new age self-worship, even kind of
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witchcrafty beliefs that I think even professing Christians have unknowingly taken on. Pew Research
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did this interesting study to examine what Christians and those who have no religion believe
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concerning the new age beliefs of things like reincarnation, astrology, psychics, and spiritual
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energy and objects. That's something that we say a lot. I even will say that, like, I don't like the
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energy of that. And I don't mean it in a new age way. I kind of just mean like vibe, which is
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actually also new age. I guess just like the feeling of it, but it has become so colloquial.
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Most Americans self-identify as Christians, but some still hold one or more new age beliefs. So
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about 60% of American adults accept at least one of these new age beliefs. Reincarnation,
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astrology, psychics, spiritual energy, and physical objects. 60%. 47% of evangelicals accept one of
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these beliefs. Almost half. Wow. 70% of Catholics. 70% of Catholics believe in one of these new age
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beliefs. 70% of Protestants in the black tradition believe them. 56% of agnostics. 80% of people whose
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religion is nothing in particular. Adults under the age of 65, those who have not graduated from college,
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racial and ethnic minorities, and Democrats are more likely to hold at least one new age belief.
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Isn't that interesting? I think it's both shocking and not shocking at the same time because I think
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because we have these sorts of programs, and you and I have talked about this before offline about how
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a lot of these TV shows or games have been around for a long time. And, you know, you're exposed to it
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little by little over time, and then you become desensitized or you think, oh, it's not that bad or
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it's harmless or, you know, it's not that big of a deal. And I think that is why so many professing
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Christians are like, well, I mean, horoscopes is just kind of a silly, fun thing. Or, you know,
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going to a psychic, oh, that's just something silly and fun we did, you know, for a birthday.
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But they do still sort of believe, well, it could be real or, you know, maybe this person has a gift
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from God. And it's because we've been so conditioned to see it and hear it and get used to the language
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that it suddenly doesn't seem like that big of a deal anymore. And I do think that's why it's
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important to kind of keep an eye on what's going on with our TV shows or our games or our books,
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because the more of it we allow in, the more normal it becomes. And then suddenly the things
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that are good and are right and are pure don't seem important anymore. So, yeah.
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And it just causes fear, I think, in our kids too. That's what we were talking about right before
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the show, that this isn't new. Maybe the explicit satanic symbolism is newer. Like you see people like
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Sam Smith or Lil Nas X. I mean, they are just explicitly dressing up like a caricature of Satan.
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I mean, I don't think Satan really does have hooves and a pitchfork, but still, they're not ashamed of it.
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I do think that that is somewhat new, although maybe the rockers of the 80s were kind of like that too.
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But certainly marketed towards children. And people made fun of your, you know, Southern Baptist
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grandma in the 80s who took that kind of stuff seriously and really cared about the content that
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their kids and grandkids were consuming. But now that we've grown up, I'm like, oh, yeah, I think my
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parents were right that I shouldn't have been watching Are You Afraid of the Dark? I'm aging myself.
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The 90s. So weird. That was something that was on Disney. Even some of those like original movies
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that Disney put out, a lot of them were cute and wholesome by today's standards. But some of them were
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just scary. And because I wasn't allowed to watch them, but, you know, I had two older brothers.
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And so sometimes I would watch things that I wasn't supposed to. And I would be laying in bed,
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you know, probably five years old, scared because I just watched Are You Afraid of the Dark? And I'm
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like, yes, I am. I'm scared of these ghosts actually, you know, come into my room. But I didn't
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want to tell my parents because I knew that I wasn't allowed to watch it. And then if I confess that
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that was why I was scared, then that was no good. And so that's also just something that we don't
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want to give our children. If we can protect them as much as we can, we don't want to fill them with
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the anxiety that comes from that kind of content, right? Absolutely. They're only little ones and
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you want them to be able to enjoy their childhood and not lay in bed in fear at night because of
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something they've seen on YouTube or on TV. And, you know, not all of it's bad. A lot of the shows have
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little things, you know, that maybe seem occultist or have themes. Like I was telling you,
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Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, sometimes Minnie dresses up as a witch. And, you know, there are some of
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those shows where it's not overt and we can't police every single thing. But you're right,
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like just being able to kind of have a handle on what's out there and be cognizant of it and not
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allow them to just watch YouTube or YouTube kids where it's just streaming constantly because we
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don't know. And, you know, the people who are getting upset about what books kids are reading in
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school, we do need to monitor what's out there. We do need to protect their minds. We do need to know
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what they're reading and what teachers are talking about in the classroom. That's important. It was
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important a hundred years ago. It's important today. Yeah. And all the people who watch Sabrina
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the Teenage Witch are now growing up and they're making, I know. And you watched Bewitched too. I
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don't think I watched that, but there are all those vampire shows that we watched, the books that we
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read. There was a lot of dark stuff. I even remember like watching Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice is also
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very dark. Some of the like, is it, what's that kind of like nightmare before Christmas type
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stuff? Who's the guy? Tim Burton. Tim Burton. I almost said Tim Horton, but I think that's a
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coffee brand in Canada. Anyway, so that kind of stuff was also dark. And so we did grow up with a
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little of that. And now, and I think we would like to say, well, we turned out fine. One, you know,
00:23:43.880
maybe it did negatively affect us then, but also like, okay, well now our generation is the one
00:23:48.400
creating all of this smut. That's, oh, that's a great point. Cause yeah, I read all the like
00:23:53.400
goosebumps and all the R.L. Stine and yeah. And I didn't think it was a big deal as a kid,
00:23:58.840
but you're right. Like, yeah, exactly. Like some of them really were scary. And you know, I think
00:24:04.200
age appropriate is also what's important. Cause I feel like they've changed the standards for what's
00:24:08.880
age appropriate. What was rated R when I was a kid is now PG, right? It's just crazy how they've
00:24:15.740
changed the standard, but children's brains are still developing the same way, you know? So I,
00:24:21.460
I don't know. I don't always go by what like Disney plus saying this L house cartoon was okay for seven
00:24:27.440
plus. Well, clearly it's not. Clearly it's not. So. And kids are little sponges. Like I just
00:24:32.340
even notice with, with my kids, the things that they repeat, the things that they say.
00:24:37.240
And you think when they're young, well, they're not going to remember this. This doesn't affect
00:24:41.400
them. Cause I don't remember things from when I'm three, but you don't realize how everything that
00:24:45.540
you're consuming, especially at that age is becoming formative for you.
00:24:50.200
Yes. A hundred percent. It's just being embedded in their little minds.
00:24:54.380
Yeah. And so it's so important for us to know about this stuff. I wouldn't have known about it if
00:24:58.680
you hadn't pointed it out. So thank you for pointing it out. As always, Christians just need to be
00:25:02.640
discerning and God is so gracious that he has given us his word. And so if you're looking
00:25:07.220
for answers, if you're looking for fulfillment, if you're looking to connect to something bigger
00:25:11.700
than you, God gives us that through Christ and through his word. And so that's a wonderful
00:25:17.560
privilege. And we don't actually have to worry when we open up the word that we are communicating
00:25:22.260
with some kind of dark force, but only what is good and right and true.
00:25:26.020
Absolutely. It's the only place we need to look.
00:25:27.920
Yep. Thanks so much, Hillary. I appreciate it. Where can people follow you and find you and
00:25:32.800
I'm on Twitter and Instagram at Hillary Kennedy, and it's just Hillary with one L.
00:25:38.620
Thanks, Mom, for making that tough for everybody.
00:25:40.560
Yes. And she does the four-minute buzz for Glenn, and you're a guest on a lot of shows
00:25:45.440
too. And maybe you'll see her on a random commercial, like I do sometimes when I'm traveling
00:25:50.500
the country. And I look up and I'm like, there's Hillary.
00:25:53.440
I do like to do the occasional commercial, Sonic America's Drive-In.
00:25:56.980
Exactly. Exactly. So if you recognize her, that's probably why. Thank you so much, Hillary.
00:26:14.860
Okay. So Christians must be on guard. I don't have to tell y'all who are listening to this podcast that
00:26:20.900
things are dark and things are evil out there. But remember that, as we said yesterday,
00:26:27.740
God's work doesn't always make headlines. His eternal plan of redemption is always going off
00:26:32.780
without a hitch. All things work together for the good of those who love God and are called
00:26:37.100
according to his purpose. Romans 8, 28. And he is still in the business, as ever, of saving lives,
00:26:44.380
of redeeming souls. And he is going to accomplish his purposes. And sometimes we have to dig deep for
00:26:53.020
the good, redemptive, beautiful, life-giving things that are happening because they are happening on a
00:26:58.820
daily basis. And he uses, graciously, Christians to be ambassadors of that goodness, of that light,
00:27:06.700
and of his life-saving purposes. And one of the ways that I love to see Christians being used in such
00:27:15.560
magnificent and miraculous ways is in the saving the lives of unborn children and caring for their moms
00:27:22.520
and dads. And thankfully, because of the hard work, mostly of Christians, they're pro-lifers of all
00:27:29.280
different kinds of religious backgrounds. But the vast majority of people who are anti-abortion in this
00:27:34.840
country are Christians, follow Jesus. And so because of the hard and persistent work, both in
00:27:42.500
the public and the private sphere of this group, we saw, after 49 years of basically unfettered bloodshed
00:27:50.920
of these pre-born children, the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the Dobbs decision last year, which then
00:27:56.440
allowed states to enact very strong restrictions against abortion. And we didn't know exactly what the
00:28:03.760
result would be. All we heard from the media was that women are going to die. Women are going to
00:28:09.060
die because of this. And we've talked about this in depth. We've debunked a lot of the stories,
00:28:13.600
a lot of those talking points. We can link some of those past episodes. We don't have time to get
00:28:17.740
into all of that right now. But we also knew and hoped that this would save the lives of image bearers
00:28:24.420
of God, that this would prevent these young children, these babies from going to the slaughter.
00:28:30.620
And according to CNN, that is exactly what has happened. So they reported last week that 32,000,
00:28:38.640
there were 32,000 fewer abortions in the United States six months after Dobbs. Like, let's just stop
00:28:45.840
right there. 32,000. 32,000 human beings that are going to be here on earth. Maybe more than that,
00:28:56.360
because in some of these cases, you might be talking about twins. You might be talking about
00:29:00.740
triplets. That would count as one abortion, but that would obviously count as two or three image
00:29:05.360
bearers of God. So at least 32,000 human beings are here on earth, are saved because of a law that was
00:29:15.800
passed in Mississippi that made its way to the Supreme Court that caused the Dobbs decision to be
00:29:23.120
decided by justices who were appointed over a span of 30 years, but by, I believe, five different
00:29:30.740
presidents. And all of this was put into place by pro-lifers who were persistent and who were
00:29:36.940
consistent in their fight on behalf of unborn children. And so now, because of this Dobbs decision,
00:29:44.400
32,000 fewer abortions were performed in six months. That's of 32,000 children who were saved,
00:29:53.000
or at least 32,000 children who were saved from poisoning in the first trimester, poisoning and
00:29:58.680
dismemberment in the second trimester, second trimester towards the end of it, and then towards
00:30:05.300
the third trimester, that involves forcing the baby into cardiac arrest using the same chemical
00:30:11.940
combination that is used in the lethal injection of murders on death row to make sure that that baby
00:30:18.020
dies inside the womb as it tries to wiggle away from the point and the pain of the needle containing
00:30:25.540
that deadly chemical combination. And then that baby is dismembered and brought out of the womb. There
00:30:32.040
were babies who were saved, who were saved from that fate because of the decision by the Supreme Court
00:30:39.780
and because the laws that have been enacted in conservative states. Praise God. Christian,
00:30:45.720
this is why politics matter. This is why politics matter. What do we say so often? Politics matter
00:30:51.680
because policy matters because people matter. That's an alliteration that we came up with on this show
00:30:57.700
that we talk about so much because it is so incredibly true. The Christians who say we shouldn't
00:31:04.180
get involved in politics, we shouldn't be involved in the culture war because it's too divisive,
00:31:09.020
it's too worldly. We don't want to get our hands dirty with that. We don't have to read up about
00:31:15.320
the complicated, complex issues. None of that matters. Jesus is coming back. We don't care about
00:31:21.860
the right or the left or Democrats or Republicans or voting or elections because we know Jesus is in
00:31:27.300
charge. Yes, Jesus is in charge. Yes, he's coming back. Yes, there will one day be a world without any
00:31:32.800
partisanship, without any politics, where we won't have to vote. We won't have to worry about abortion.
00:31:36.660
We won't have to worry about drag queen story. We won't have to worry about all of these things,
00:31:40.900
but we occupy the here and the now. And God did not place us here arbitrarily. If he did not want
00:31:47.480
us to occupy the here and the now and all the spheres of the world that are embedded in a society,
00:31:56.960
then he would have kept us in heaven. He wouldn't have given us these bodies. He wouldn't have placed
00:32:02.880
us on this tiny speck of eternity on which he placed us. But just like in Jeremiah 29, where we see
00:32:09.700
the exiles of Israel in Babylon and where God tells them, look, dwell where you are. Seek the welfare of
00:32:21.220
the city in which I have placed you as exiles. Christians are exiles in this world. God has placed
00:32:28.100
us providentially, purposely to be where we are and when we are. We are to seek the welfare of the
00:32:37.160
city, of the country in which God has placed us. One way, not the only way, but one way to do that
00:32:43.800
is through politics. And look, for us, abortion, the reality of male and female, the definition of
00:32:52.660
marriage and the family, while the world may call these political and culture war issues,
00:32:57.720
for the Christian, they're not. For the Christian, they're not. They're primarily biblical issues.
00:33:03.260
Yes, they become cultural and political. That's okay. They're moral. There are even philosophical
00:33:08.980
questions about them. But primarily for the Christian, they're biblical issues. They're theological
00:33:15.740
issues. These are issues that Christians have cared about far before the creation of the American
00:33:22.080
political system, far before the forging of Western civilization. These are issues that
00:33:27.100
Christians have cared about since the beginning of the church. And these are issues that we still
00:33:32.280
care about today because they're biblical issues. They're Genesis issues. They're Genesis 1 issues.
00:33:37.740
They're actually Genesis 1 issues. God created the heavens and the earth. If God created the heavens
00:33:43.700
and the earth, then he's the authority over all of it. He says what is and what isn't, what's right
00:33:47.240
and what's wrong, what's good and what's bad, what's good and what's evil, what's false and what's true.
00:33:52.760
He says when life begins. He says what life is valuable. He says what male and female is.
00:33:58.340
And there is not a realm in all of the earth over which he does not have ultimate authority. That
00:34:04.100
includes the political realm. So yes, how we vote, how we engage in these issues is a part of submitting
00:34:10.340
to the authority of God who is the creator of all things. We don't get to compartmentalize any part of
00:34:16.160
our lives or any part of the universe away from our faith or away from God. A worldview is supposed
00:34:22.140
to be total. And if we believe the first verse of the first chapter of the Bible, that is going to
00:34:27.720
affect how we think and what we do about everything, how we vote, how we talk, the issues that we advocate
00:34:35.020
for. Go down a little bit more. You'll see Genesis 127. That answers most of the controversial
00:34:40.700
culture war questions that people have today for the Christian. That God created us male and female.
00:34:46.700
In his image, he created us. In his image, he created us male and female. That answers the question
00:34:54.120
about what gender is. That answers the question about what a marriage is. That answers the question
00:34:59.220
about the value of human life. We are made in God's image different than any other creature creation
00:35:04.200
on earth. Done. We see what we should think about abortion, about gender, about the family. The
00:35:10.120
foundation is right there in the first chapter of the first book of the Bible. And when we submit to
00:35:17.480
God's authority in these things, we see lives saved because God's way is always better. God's way is
00:35:24.460
always better. Okay. Let me finish a little bit more about what CNN said. There were about 5,000
00:35:29.720
fewer abortions each month on average than there were in the months before the ruling, a drop of
00:35:33.940
about 6%. And the 13 states that enacted bans following Dobbs abortions fell by more than 95%,
00:35:39.700
with just a few reported each month from July to December. Praise God. Praise God. There were more
00:35:45.860
than 8,500 telehealth abortions in December, more than double compared to April. So there is that.
00:35:52.180
There is that, that women are still seeking abortions. Women who want abortions may cross
00:35:58.480
state lines. That's all true. And that's still tragic. But yes, we want to make it as difficult
00:36:03.160
as possible to murder a child. And so even though I am not happy, I am not glad that a woman can cross
00:36:09.380
state lines and get someone to kill her child. I still want it to be as difficult as possible for
00:36:17.180
someone to do that in these red states. That is absolutely just.
00:36:33.540
States with the largest declines in the number of abortions during the six-month period after the
00:36:38.120
Dobbs decision compared to baseline, Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, Ohio, Arizona, Louisiana.
00:36:43.360
And then there were also states where there were significantly more abortions, Florida,
00:36:48.580
Illinois, because, you know, Florida just enacted that six-week ban, has a lot of exceptions,
00:36:52.820
but did enact a six-week ban. Prior to that, I think it was 15 weeks. Prior to that, not too long
00:36:58.000
ago, I believe it was just last year that it became 15 weeks. And then before that, I'm pretty sure it was
00:37:03.080
24. It was a very liberal state for abortion. And so 7,190 more abortions in Florida and more in
00:37:13.200
Illinois, North Carolina, Colorado, and Michigan. So we see that abortion restrictions work. That
00:37:18.760
doesn't mean that we don't care about the well-being of the mother. That doesn't mean that we
00:37:22.060
don't believe that we shouldn't save her life when that is needed. I believe that the
00:37:27.400
mother and the child should get all of the medical care possible in order to save and protect both of
00:37:34.080
them. We understand that, unfortunately, early delivery is sometimes necessary to save the life
00:37:38.720
of the mother. And in that process, the baby might die. We just don't believe in intentionally
00:37:43.720
killing a child inside the womb because both of those lives matter. God believes that both of those
00:37:51.420
lives matter. And as far as after birth, I don't want to hear that Christians are only pro-birth. Yes,
00:37:57.360
we're pro-birth. I think that's better than being anti-birth, by the way, even if we were to stop there.
00:38:01.880
But Christians don't stop there. Christians have been doing the work that pro-choice activists say
00:38:07.840
needs to be done before we can really be pro-life for years and years and years, really since the
00:38:13.260
inception of the church, but certainly since Roe v. Wade in the 70s. The pregnancy centers that provide
00:38:18.840
all of the resources that meet all of the needs that this mother, that these families could have,
00:38:26.720
they have existed for a very long time. If you're concerned that there's not enough work being done
00:38:30.860
for these women in crisis who find themselves with surprise pregnancies, why don't you just take a
00:38:35.460
second to look up your local pregnancy center? Show up there today. See what money you can give.
00:38:40.080
See what time you can give. I promise. I promise that they will put these things to good use. So
00:38:44.020
rather than just complaining about work that's not being done, why don't you be a part of the solution
00:38:48.560
as many Christians have been for years and years? So thank you, God. Thank you, God, for saving these
00:38:53.080
lives. I pray for the lives of these image bearers. I pray that they would know Christ and the power of
00:38:58.440
his resurrection. I pray that they would make a beautiful and positive impact on the space that
00:39:04.100
they occupy. Their lives are not a mistake. Their lives might be hard. They might be poor. They might
00:39:09.760
be with parents who did not expect them and do not want them. That doesn't mean that they don't
00:39:14.920
deserve to live. They do because they are image bearers of God just as much as the rest of us. So
00:39:20.000
praise God. Praise God for the work that he's doing. I just wanted to close out on a positive note.
00:39:25.120
All right. Thanks so much for listening. Tomorrow we will be with James Lindsay. So we had to reschedule
00:39:31.760
that from last week. Oh, man, we've got so much to cover. So many of the things that you guys have
00:39:36.740
been asking me to cover. We are finally going to get to tomorrow. That horrible Washington law that is
00:39:46.980
now saying that kids can be taken away from their parents if they want a gender transition and their
00:39:52.840
parents don't support it. The UN pushing to decriminalize child rape. They call it sexual
00:39:59.540
interaction between an adult and a minor. But we know what that really is. We're going to be
00:40:03.620
uncovering all of that. What's really going on? And we're finally going to be talking about the
00:40:06.820
Bud Light controversy, too. And James Lindsay is going to break it all down for us. We might also
00:40:11.220
talk about a few of our disagreements. So it'll be good. It'll probably be two parts because I always
00:40:15.920
have a lot to say with James Lindsay. So that's all I got for today. Thanks so much for listening.
00:40:21.560
Leave a five star review if you love this show. Appreciate you guys. See you back here tomorrow.