Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 801 ｜ Don’t Fall for Weaponized Empathy

00:00:00.000 The media loves weaponizing faux empathy to convince you that agreeing with their narrative

00:00:05.160 is the only compassionate option.

00:00:07.500 But when we look under the surface of the media coverage of a Texas mass shooting that

00:00:12.660 occurred over the weekend, an impending surge of migrants at the Texas border, and the recently

00:00:17.620 passed Florida abortion law, we see that there is actually a better, more compassionate,

00:00:23.120 more truthful way to approach each of these stories.

00:00:25.500 This episode is brought to you by our friends at Good Ranchers.

00:00:28.860 Go to GoodRanchers.com.

00:00:30.540 Use code Allie at checkout for a discount.

00:00:33.120 That's GoodRanchers.com, code Allie.

00:00:43.800 Hey guys, welcome to Relatable.

00:00:45.940 Happy Monday.

00:00:47.780 Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend reminder that I like to bring to the table every now

00:00:54.540 and then in the words of Elizabeth Elliott.

00:00:56.880 The only thing that you have to do today is the will of God.

00:01:02.340 That might be one of my favorite quotes of all time.

00:01:05.420 The only thing that you have to do today is the will of God.

00:01:08.760 That might seem really overwhelming.

00:01:10.540 Wow.

00:01:10.880 What is the will of God?

00:01:12.040 How do we know?

00:01:12.940 Do we have to sit in silence for hours and hours until he tells us directly in an audible

00:01:17.400 voice what he wants us to do?

00:01:19.720 Thankfully, we have what the will of God is in his word.

00:01:25.320 And if we don't know exactly how that manifests itself in the next moment of our lives, all

00:01:30.900 we have to do, as we say often on Relatable, is take the next right step or do the next

00:01:36.880 right thing in faith with excellence and for the glory of God.

00:01:41.180 That might be changing a diaper joyfully.

00:01:43.480 That might be washing dishes. 0.99

00:01:46.140 That might be a conversation with a friend or sending an email at work in a way that is

00:01:51.020 enthusiastic and kind and excellent.

00:01:54.640 Or it could be taking that big leap of faith that you have been putting off for a really

00:01:58.780 long time, that big step of obedience, that big act of repentance that you know that God

00:02:03.600 has been convicting you of, but you've been too scared to do.

00:02:06.240 So it could be public or private, or it could be personal, it could be political, it could

00:02:12.240 be small or big, but do the next right thing in faith with excellence and for the glory

00:02:16.600 of God.

00:02:17.020 That is literally all we are called to do in any given moment.

00:02:20.700 That's all we've been given the capacity to do.

00:02:22.800 We are all placed on this tiny speck of eternity, on this small spot of the universe for such a

00:02:30.360 finite time, and all we are called to do is to make more beautiful and more orderly and

00:02:37.860 more kind and more loving this small limited sphere that God has providentially placed us

00:02:45.380 in, that we occupy.

00:02:47.600 And so there are a lot of different ways that you can do that, and it'll look different

00:02:50.860 according to our circumstances, according to our age, according to our calling, according

00:02:55.800 to our connections, the people that we know, and according to the gifts that we have been

00:03:00.620 given.

00:03:01.080 So do the next right thing in faith with excellence and for the glory of God.

00:03:06.220 And remember, as we talk about all these things that, of course, we have to talk about every

00:03:09.980 day, that induce, at least in me, I won't speak for you, a lot of anxiety sometimes, a lot

00:03:15.780 of fear, a lot of just sadness of like, wow, this world is just so broken and scary.

00:03:21.900 Three, we are immortal until God calls us home.

00:03:26.560 That's a butchering of someone else's quote, and I can't remember exactly who said it.

00:03:30.400 We are immortal until God calls us home.

00:03:32.340 Remember, Psalm 139 is that he's written every single one of our days before any of them came

00:03:38.580 to be.

00:03:39.040 He is totally sovereign over all of it, and so we can live completely boldly knowing that

00:03:44.340 he has got us.

00:03:46.060 So I wanted to set us up with that.

00:03:49.100 I wanted to lay the foundation for our week and for this episode because, of course, the

00:03:53.800 things that we have to talk about today are not fun things.

00:03:57.200 I wish that I didn't have to get into yet another mass shooting that has occurred.

00:04:03.620 This time, it was in Texas, specifically in Allen, Texas.

00:04:08.100 I grew up in the DFW Metroplex.

00:04:11.800 Allen was about, I don't know, 25 minutes from where I grew up.

00:04:15.800 Allen Premium Outlets, very popular outside shopping center in Dallas, and on Saturday,

00:04:23.200 a shooter decided to spray bullets at a crowd of shoppers, and it left eight people dead.

00:04:32.480 There are several others injured.

00:04:34.320 Some are still fighting for their lives in critical condition.

00:04:38.240 So I'll tell you what we know about that.

00:04:40.220 I was actually told this morning by a friend that there's a family from, it was like the

00:04:46.480 rival Christian high school growing up.

00:04:48.980 There was a family from there, mom, little kids who were all shopping together, and the

00:04:54.980 entire family, except for one of the children, was killed.

00:04:58.600 And one of the children is apparently fighting for his life in critical condition at the hospital.

00:05:04.620 So just, gosh, a tragedy all around.

00:05:09.520 I read an account from someone saying that he dragged this woman who had been shot into

00:05:14.740 a store trying to get her to safety, and she had been shot in the stomach.

00:05:18.980 He said that blood was pouring out, and she was just saying, I don't understand.

00:05:23.780 I don't understand what's happening.

00:05:25.840 Why am I shot?

00:05:27.300 I don't know if that woman lived or died. 0.54

00:05:29.700 I just cannot imagine the absolute devastation and sadness and emptiness these families must

00:05:40.160 feel.

00:05:40.760 That little child who is in the hospital, I don't even know if he's woken up from a coma, 0.94

00:05:44.960 who will realize that his entire family has now been murdered by this senseless, disgusting

00:05:50.340 act of violence.

00:05:52.860 So we'll talk about what happened, and we'll talk about the reaction to it, and what the

00:05:57.040 heck do we make of all of this?

00:05:58.600 Yeah, again, so I go back and forth on whether I should say the name of the shooter.

00:06:06.060 I've said it in the past.

00:06:07.620 Like, if you go back, you'll probably, it'll probably seem like I'm just contradictory.

00:06:13.620 Like, I can't make up my mind, and I guess that's true, because sometimes I have shared

00:06:17.880 the name because it seems relevant.

00:06:19.940 Other times I haven't shared the name because I remember that, oh, right, these people do this

00:06:24.500 for notoriety, they do this for a kind of sick fame, and they want their name to be in all

00:06:32.280 the headlines, and maybe I shouldn't perpetuate that.

00:06:35.020 With the Nashville shooter, I think that we did share the name because there was some confusion

00:06:40.360 about whether this was actually a man or a woman because this person identified as the

00:06:45.160 opposite sex.

00:06:46.020 This time, I'm not going to, and I really want to be more consistent going forward.

00:06:51.440 There's no relevance to the story, this person's name, and just in case he is trying to gain

00:06:56.960 some notoriety, I'll at least play my small part in not giving him that.

00:07:01.360 So this occurred this past Saturday, May 6th, Dallas, Texas.

00:07:06.920 The shooting began around 3.30 local time.

00:07:11.040 He was reportedly using a semi-automatic rifle, which has been repeatedly called an AR-15 style

00:07:17.100 firearm, which I really hate media reporting when it comes to these acts of violence that

00:07:23.320 are perpetrated by people using guns because there's a lack of specificity.

00:07:28.440 There's a lack of knowledge when it comes to guns.

00:07:32.320 AR-15 style typically just means like a big black gun, and so we don't really know the

00:07:40.380 exact firearm, but I did see a very gruesome picture of what was reported to be the shooter

00:07:46.040 laying on the ground after police officers had shot him, and it did look like he was in

00:07:52.040 tactical gear.

00:07:52.820 He did have a big black gun next to him.

00:07:56.260 I don't know exactly what kind of gun it is.

00:07:58.580 I won't pretend that I am an expert on being able to pick that out quickly by looking at

00:08:06.080 a blurry picture, but it was a big black rifle.

00:08:11.600 The shooter was approved to work as a security guard in Texas from April 2016 until April 2020

00:08:17.720 when his license expired.

00:08:19.920 According to the database, he worked for at least three security companies.

00:08:24.420 We haven't heard from these companies.

00:08:25.800 Like, why did he leave them?

00:08:27.100 Was he fired?

00:08:28.240 The strange thing is, though, is that he was, so he served in the U.S. Army in 2008, but was

00:08:37.820 removed because of mental health concerns.

00:08:41.960 So that is a little troubling to me, that he was removed from the Army because of mental

00:08:48.820 health concerns, and then he was still allowed to have this firearm training and become a security

00:08:54.820 officer.

00:08:57.180 We don't know that much more about him.

00:09:00.580 Law enforcement hasn't revealed very much about what they know besides his name, besides

00:09:06.540 his age, where he lived, obviously trying to talk to family, trying to talk to neighbors,

00:09:12.940 trying to figure out a motive and how exactly this happened, why this happened.

00:09:20.260 The neighbors that law enforcement have talked to said they didn't recall any sort of police

00:09:24.180 activity or problems at the house, but noted that he was very quiet with some unusual behaviors,

00:09:29.140 but they didn't elaborate on what those behaviors were.

00:09:32.040 Look, they're probably scared.

00:09:33.640 They're probably shocked.

00:09:35.320 They probably don't know how much detail to give.

00:09:38.420 Eventually, I'm sure law enforcement will reveal some more information about what these

00:09:43.640 unusual behaviors, as the neighbors described, actually were if they were warning signs.

00:09:50.160 Apparently, he does not have a lengthy criminal history, but the media believes that they have

00:09:57.220 landed upon what the motive is for this.

00:10:00.980 Very quickly, they turned out a narrative.

00:10:03.280 Now, you'll remember that the Nashville shooter, who identified as the opposite sex, identified

00:10:09.880 as transgender, had written a manifesto that we knew that law enforcement had found detailing

00:10:17.060 why exactly she committed the act that she did, why she chose Covenant Christian School,

00:10:23.300 why she killed those nine people, including those six children.

00:10:27.300 Not only has the manifesto not been released, which I'm not necessarily a proponent for.

00:10:32.160 I mean, if her manifesto was detailing how exactly you accomplish a mass shooting, I'm not sure

00:10:38.340 that the public would benefit from that.

00:10:40.480 That would easily fall into their wrong hands.

00:10:42.680 But just to reveal the clear motivations, I think that that is of interest to the public,

00:10:48.380 and yet law enforcement has not done that.

00:10:50.460 The media has not pushed for that.

00:10:51.840 The media hasn't even surmised why this person who went to Covenant Christian School, grew up,

00:10:57.440 decided they were the opposite sex, clearly rebelled against her Christian upbringing,

00:11:01.940 went to this Christian school, shot it up, and killed nine people. 0.99

00:11:05.300 Like, they can't even put those pieces together, but they think they've landed on the clear motivation

00:11:10.580 for the shooter who committed these acts of violence on Saturday, two days ago.

00:11:29.240 Also, my apologies.

00:11:30.720 I still, I don't know, allergies, something, spring is here,

00:11:35.480 and so I apologize that I'm still kind of getting over that.

00:11:39.340 All right, let's talk about these media narratives.

00:11:41.380 I first saw Wall Street Journal tweet that this person was a suspected white supremacist,

00:11:48.720 and so I knew that if the Wall Street Journal was reporting that,

00:11:51.920 then CNN would pick up on that quickly.

00:11:54.240 So would the New York Times, and CNN, of course, did.

00:11:58.360 CNN originally reported that investigators found social media accounts connected to the shooter

00:12:02.720 that reveal hundreds of postings and images, including writings with racially or ethnically

00:12:07.860 motivated violent extremist rhetoric, neo-Nazi material, and material espousing the supremacy

00:12:13.480 of the white race.

00:12:15.640 None of the subjects postings analyzed to date were liked or shared by other users, nor were

00:12:21.800 any public comments.

00:12:23.220 The shooter's account did not contain any friends or associates that were publicly visible.

00:12:28.020 However, the CNN website has now removed this section.

00:12:32.720 About his social media history.

00:12:35.300 So I think that that's a little bit strange.

00:12:38.060 So they had originally reported that about this suspect, and now they've removed that section

00:12:43.260 of their reporting.

00:12:44.940 A law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity to CNN told the AP,

00:12:49.900 or actually told the AP, not CNN, that federal officials are looking into whether this shooter

00:12:55.140 was motivated by white supremacist or neo-Nazi ideologies, but did not elaborate.

00:12:59.180 So they really, the most that we know is that law enforcement is looking into that.

00:13:05.600 CNN originally reported all these connections, apparently, that law enforcement had made on

00:13:09.680 social media.

00:13:10.380 I guess that's not true, or they didn't have enough evidence for that because they reported

00:13:14.520 it.

00:13:15.080 They ran with it, of course, because it goes with their narrative, because they link white 0.99

00:13:18.860 supremacy with conservatism, with the right wing, and then they had to redact it.

00:13:24.200 I don't know if they apologized for this, but they put it out there.

00:13:27.900 I'm sure it got enough people angry.

00:13:30.240 People aren't going to see the redaction.

00:13:32.660 And then the narrative, of course, is set.

00:13:35.020 Now, before we get into what some other media people have said about this, like, let me just

00:13:39.620 say, I know that we're not saying his name, and we're not going to put up his picture.

00:13:43.700 Um, his name is the equivalent to, and I'm sorry, this is just a fake name that I am making

00:13:51.420 up, okay?

00:13:52.760 This is not a real person.

00:13:54.620 This is not the person, this is not the name of the shooter.

00:13:57.500 His name, though, is equal to Pablo Rodriguez, okay?

00:14:03.840 So they're saying that someone apparently named something like Pablo Rodriguez, who looks like 0.90

00:14:11.140 a Pablo Rodriguez, was a raging white supremacist.

00:14:16.680 CNN's homepage Sunday evening said this, investigators look at Texas gunmen's possible link to right-wing

00:14:23.200 extremism.

00:14:23.940 Now, I want you to really break down that headline.

00:14:27.580 Investigators look at Texas gunmen's possible link to right-wing extremism.

00:14:33.840 Okay, there's a lot of assumptions there.

00:14:36.560 There's a lot of, um, there's a big lack of substantiation.

00:14:40.720 It doesn't say that there is a link.

00:14:42.760 It doesn't say that they found a link, but that there is a possible link that investigators

00:14:47.720 are looking for.

00:14:48.580 So all we know, this is just an idea that investigators or an investigator has in their mind that they

00:14:55.220 are actually looking for.

00:14:57.620 Right-wing extremism, by the way, they call, or they call white supremacy, they call racism

00:15:05.080 a right-wing phenomenon.

00:15:07.140 They link that to conservatism and their mind, there is really, and in their reporting, there's

00:15:13.560 really no difference between someone who watches Tucker Carlson and a white supremacist extremist.

00:15:19.920 And so this is what they do.

00:15:21.320 They tie this kind of violence to the right-wing in general.

00:15:24.860 They don't even know if this is true, but they're willing to surmise it.

00:15:28.640 They're willing to go ahead and put it out there in a way that, of course, like I said, they wouldn't

00:15:32.960 for the Nashville shooter because it helps them.

00:15:36.040 It stokes racial division, which the left-wing media really like, and it stokes resentment

00:15:43.280 and fear of and hatred of the right-wing.

00:15:47.620 It associates all of conservatism with white supremacy so that people are scared to be

00:15:52.900 associated with it.

00:15:54.180 It accomplishes a lot of evil things for the media.

00:15:56.960 The Washington Post reported the gunman who opened fire on an outlet mall in a Dallas

00:16:01.440 suburb Saturday, killing at least eight people, was a man in his early 30s who may have had

00:16:06.100 white supremacist or neo-Nazi beliefs.

00:16:08.240 People familiar with the investigation, said Sunday.

00:16:12.100 So again, like slow down and take in every one of those words.

00:16:17.320 May have had white supremacist or neo-Nazi beliefs.

00:16:22.120 People familiar with the investigation said on Sunday.

00:16:26.520 So not even investigators themselves.

00:16:30.140 Attorney General Ken Paxton told Glenn Beck that law enforcement gave him no details

00:16:35.520 yesterday in a briefing that the Allen, Texas shooter was a quote-unquote white supremacist

00:16:41.640 or held neo-Nazi views.

00:16:43.420 Unlike the FBI and media, they were waiting for facts to come in before jumping to a political

00:16:47.920 conclusion.

00:16:49.460 Now, people are also pointing out because, as I said, there's this partial picture of the

00:16:54.340 deceased shooter that was widely circulated, and people are looking at the different tattoos.

00:17:02.520 I mean, this guy was, this clearly Hispanic guy was covered in tattoos.

00:17:07.860 He had a tattoo on his hand.

00:17:09.920 Some people are saying this is the Texas, this is a Texas cartel gang tattoo.

00:17:15.080 And so people are saying that this is cartel related.

00:17:19.160 Other people are saying, no, this is just the city of Dallas symbol, which I, like, I didn't,

00:17:25.640 I grew up in Dallas.

00:17:26.560 I didn't even know there was a city of Dallas symbol.

00:17:29.580 But people are saying, no, that's the tattoo that was on his hand.

00:17:33.420 I'm not sure the internet sleuths, although internet sleuths are very impressive in their

00:17:37.600 investigations.

00:17:38.640 I'm not sure that they've landed on anything particular here.

00:17:42.640 President Biden, he released his statement on Twitter, eight Americans, including children,

00:17:48.800 were killed in Allen, Texas yesterday, the latest act of gun violence to devastate our

00:17:53.140 nation.

00:17:54.360 And then he goes on to say, once again, Congress must send me a bill banning assault weapons

00:17:58.960 in high capacity magazines, enacting universal background checks requiring safe storage, ending

00:18:04.840 immunity for gun manufacturers.

00:18:07.240 Now, here's the thing.

00:18:08.520 We can debate all of those.

00:18:10.360 I, I'm not sure that any of these things are actually connected to what happened on

00:18:15.680 Saturday.

00:18:16.900 That's, that's what I just don't know.

00:18:19.620 And what I've, this is what I said after the Nashville shooting, like if the right is

00:18:24.900 willing to come to the table and say, you know what, because I think that we all are,

00:18:29.280 of course we all are tired of this.

00:18:32.420 So tired.

00:18:33.440 Every single time one of these freaking things happens, I'm like, I'm just so devastated and

00:18:38.700 so exhausted.

00:18:39.620 I mean, and of course what we feel isn't even comparable to what the victims and their,

00:18:44.780 and their families have felt, but we all are tired of this.

00:18:49.400 We don't want this to happen.

00:18:51.260 We don't, but look, the fact is, the fact is we do have a second amendment.

00:18:56.660 It's not going to be overturned.

00:18:58.380 Like there is actually a process by which a constitutional amendment is overturned.

00:19:03.240 And by the way, obviously I don't want the second amendment overturned.

00:19:05.920 It's there for a very good reason, but there is, there's a second amendment.

00:19:10.560 You're not going to confiscate people's guns.

00:19:12.740 It's not going to happen in the state of Texas.

00:19:15.040 Sure.

00:19:15.600 I know you could say, well, maybe there's an AR-15 ban.

00:19:19.100 All right.

00:19:20.560 Well, 99% of violence that's perpetrated by people who own guns is perpetrated by people 0.79

00:19:28.020 with handguns.

00:19:29.500 And so the problem is much bigger than these shootings, like the one that we see on Saturday.

00:19:34.480 But look, if we're willing to come to the table and discuss all those things, if we're

00:19:37.560 saying, okay, all options on the table, let's look to see what will change things and save

00:19:43.460 lives.

00:19:44.100 If the right is willing to look at policy that has to do with guns, the left has to be willing

00:19:50.460 to come to the table and to look at the other issues at hand.

00:19:53.400 That means you have to be willing to admit, left side of the aisle, that there are laws

00:19:58.020 on the books, especially in these major cities where so much of this so-called gun violence

00:20:05.760 occurs that are simply not enforced, that our criminal justice system actually incentivizes

00:20:11.700 crime by failing to punish crime, that we have an immense morality crisis, a soullessness,

00:20:21.800 godlessness crisis, that we are encouraging this kind of violence through the rhetoric

00:20:28.080 that is put forth in these salacious and unsubstantiated media headlines.

00:20:33.660 Like, we've got to be willing to look underneath the surface, too.

00:20:37.540 I'm not saying that there is no policy discussion to be had.

00:20:41.420 I mean, you guys know where I stand on this.

00:20:43.280 I think the Second Amendment is important.

00:20:44.820 That doesn't mean that I think that there should be no policy whatsoever surrounding guns

00:20:50.060 and gun ownership.

00:20:51.360 I don't believe that.

00:20:52.700 But if we're willing to come to the table and say, OK, let's talk about this from a 0.99

00:20:56.880 policy perspective, you guys have to be able to come to the table and look at other problems

00:21:02.860 and solutions that exist here, too.

00:21:05.100 Because until you're willing to do that, like, I don't really believe that you care.

00:21:11.360 I don't really believe that you're serious about changing things for the better.

00:21:15.820 However, if all you propose are solutions that are so-called solutions that are never going

00:21:21.500 to be enacted, like, if all you're advocating for is gun confiscation, all you're advocating

00:21:28.720 for is making it as hard as possible for law-abiding citizens to own guns, I can't take you seriously

00:21:34.860 because it's never going to happen.

00:21:36.320 I mean, even looking at something like the AR-15, it's the most popular rifle in America.

00:21:43.320 You're simply not going to confiscate it from the millions of people who own it, like, love

00:21:48.760 it or hate it.

00:21:50.060 That's the truth.

00:21:51.020 And so if we really want things to change, you're going to have to meet us.

00:21:56.240 You're going to have to meet us there and admit that it's not just the guns.

00:21:59.360 Because as I've said, America has had guns and has had a quote-unquote gun culture forever.

00:22:09.060 I mean, we've had millions of guns for a very long time.

00:22:11.680 The AR-15 has been around since the 1950s.

00:22:13.960 It has not functionally changed.

00:22:15.600 And yet it was 40 years before it was used for a mass shooting.

00:22:20.880 And so the guns haven't changed.

00:22:23.120 Even the popularity of guns haven't changed.

00:22:25.500 But something else has.

00:22:26.800 There has been a moral shift, a soul shift, a heart shift, a mind shift in our nation.

00:22:31.600 I'm not saying that there is no policy discussion to be had.

00:22:35.360 I'm not saying that we shouldn't find ways to make sure that law-abiding citizens, that responsible

00:22:42.040 citizens can still own guns while also making sure that these guns don't get into the wrong

00:22:48.620 hands so that people aren't mercilessly murdered.

00:22:52.840 I'm not saying that there's not a conversation there.

00:22:55.040 I'm saying that the conversation is much bigger and much deeper than that.

00:22:57.820 And what I'm seeing is that many Americans are not willing to have it while pointing

00:23:02.320 fingers at us and saying that the right is the problem for caring about the Second Amendment

00:23:06.380 at all.

00:23:08.520 It's a bigger conversation.

00:23:10.040 And until you are willing to address the things that are driving the despair and the

00:23:18.620 depravity that would motivate a person to act like this, then we're not going to get

00:23:24.880 anywhere.

00:23:25.780 That's the truth of it.

00:23:28.300 And like I do, I also think that it's just the rhetoric, the conversation, the debate after

00:23:34.780 a mass shooting, it's just so cynical so quickly.

00:23:39.180 It's so ugly, so fast.

00:23:42.520 There is this person, I think I blocked him at some point, or maybe he blocked me.

00:23:48.520 His name is John Cooper.

00:23:49.400 Not the cool John Cooper.

00:23:50.600 Not the skillet John Cooper. 0.99

00:23:52.360 This is the evil dork John Cooper. 0.97

00:23:55.780 He was a former member of the New York State Legislature. 0.93

00:23:58.460 He worked in both the Biden and Obama campaigns, and he tweeted this.

00:24:03.600 Who do you blame for the Allen, Texas shooting?

00:24:05.740 A, Fox News, B, Greg Abbott, C, NRA, D, all of the above.

00:24:11.140 Okay, so what does that do?

00:24:13.840 How does that help?

00:24:15.240 You saving lives, John Cooper?

00:24:17.900 You helping bring us together?

00:24:19.880 You forging empathy for us?

00:24:22.820 I don't know the answer.

00:24:24.300 I'm not going to pretend to know the answer.

00:24:27.460 I really don't.

00:24:29.180 I'm just, I'm just confounded every time something like this happens.

00:24:34.160 It's not surprising, considering the environment that we live in.

00:24:38.120 It's not surprising, considering the trajectory that we've been on for a very long time.

00:24:43.300 I mean, America is basically in a pressure cooker.

00:24:45.400 There are so many factors that are working against us.

00:24:48.260 It's actually amazing that we are as relatively peaceful as we are as a country.

00:24:56.440 But man, I mean, I want it to end too.

00:24:58.920 I do.

00:24:59.980 I'm willing to come to the table.

00:25:02.180 But like, we have to be reasonable, right?

00:25:05.280 We have to be truthful.

00:25:07.020 Last thing I just wanted to say is thank God for law enforcement.

00:25:10.120 Thank God for law enforcement.

00:25:12.280 Oh my goodness.

00:25:13.120 Can you imagine if Allen, Texas had defunded the police?

00:25:15.980 I am so thankful that they apprehended this suspect so quickly.

00:25:20.720 They shot him dead.

00:25:23.240 And I mean, he's paying the price for his rebellion against God for all of eternity.

00:25:29.160 He sees now and will feel for all of eternity that his deal with the devil was not worth it.

00:25:36.600 And I'm thankful for the justice that he received here on earth.

00:25:39.700 That he was killed immediately.

00:25:42.800 And that while eight image bearers of God, eight precious, innocent people died, just having like a normal, fun Saturday with their families that there weren't more.

00:25:52.420 I'm very thankful for that.

00:25:54.220 So thank God for law enforcement.

00:25:56.340 Thank God for courageous men.

00:25:57.900 And thank you so much for being willing to go into the line of fire amidst all the criticism and very often unfair criticism that you receive.

00:26:09.000 Wow.

00:26:09.240 I am so, so thankful for that.

00:26:11.300 All right, tomorrow we're actually going to have a psychologist on the show who has done a lot of research into the mind of mass shooters and what radicalizes these young men to commit these atrocious acts of violence.

00:26:39.640 This is an amazing psychologist.

00:26:41.860 You're going to learn a lot from him.

00:26:43.220 And so we'll get more into that.

00:26:45.600 We'll get more into that tomorrow.

00:26:47.220 But I did want to talk about just a couple other things that you've probably seen in the news.

00:26:50.640 This one also happened in Texas.

00:26:52.620 In Brownsville, Texas, this is a border town.

00:26:54.880 Eight people are dead.

00:26:55.780 Nine others are injured after a car ran into pedestrians Sunday morning while they were waiting at a bus stop.

00:27:01.380 This apparently happened outside of a migrant center.

00:27:04.680 We don't know the motivation.

00:27:05.880 They're investigating whether it was purposeful.

00:27:08.660 Right now, it looks like it's purposeful.

00:27:13.140 And this was a group of migrants, mostly, apparently.

00:27:19.160 And so we're not totally sure what's happening.

00:27:21.920 Apparently, the person who committed the act is in the hospital recovering.

00:27:28.800 Again, there are some questions about whether this is gang-related.

00:27:34.360 And so just another troubling incident in which both adults and children were needlessly and maliciously killed.

00:27:45.860 And so be thinking about that community as well and the families of the victims.

00:27:49.880 Now, speaking of a border town, I did just want to bring up something that's happening soon.

00:27:55.300 And we'll have to have another episode to talk in more detail about what's going on.

00:28:00.560 But you've probably heard that there is about to be a big change in our immigration system.

00:28:05.020 And that's because the Biden administration is preparing to lift an emergency health rule, this is according to the New York Times, that has been used to prevent hundreds of thousands of migrants from entering the United States, setting the stage for what could be a new immigration surge that inflames political tensions and strains resources across the southern border.

00:28:24.320 So you know that if the New York Times is opening their article like that, then it's going to be big.

00:28:29.760 It's going to be bad.

00:28:30.820 Probably the only TV outlet that's going to be covering it is going to be Fox News.

00:28:35.820 Of course, people will be talking about it here.

00:28:38.060 You'll hear about it on Twitter.

00:28:40.220 More conservative publications will be talking about it and the dangers of it.

00:28:45.420 But Title 42 was the policy that basically said because of COVID restrictions, like, you're not getting it.

00:28:56.120 Now they're going to be removing that.

00:28:58.180 It was put in place three years ago.

00:29:00.480 And this is attracting a huge wave of migrants at the border who are really excited that they're going to be able to get in illegally.

00:29:09.100 And they know that they are going to overwhelm the border.

00:29:12.220 They're going to overwhelm Border Patrol and they're going to be able to get into the United States and live illegally, but probably safely for a long period of time.

00:29:25.040 Look, you don't have to be anti-immigrant or be a racist or a white supremacist to understand the obvious truth that this is dangerous.

00:29:34.980 Anytime you allow in a large surge of people without checking their backgrounds, without going through a legal process, you are inviting more crime.

00:29:45.620 You are inviting more destitution.

00:29:47.720 You are inviting more chaos.

00:29:49.240 And if there is any job that a government has, it is to protect the sovereignty and the border and the safety and security of its citizens.

00:29:57.720 It's to put those things first.

00:30:00.840 It's to prioritize the safety and security and well-being of its citizens before it prioritizes the well-being and safety of other country citizens.

00:30:09.320 Of course, it is moral.

00:30:10.980 It is righteous.

00:30:11.940 It is good.

00:30:12.700 It is compassionate to have a very strong border with extremely strict immigration laws.

00:30:18.280 You can call that whatever you want to.

00:30:21.380 We can debate different kinds of immigration policy.

00:30:24.500 But if you care at all about the country that you're leading, about the state that you're leading, then you will do everything possible to keep people out who should not be here. 0.53

00:30:35.600 And if you are not a citizen or you are not here legally, you should not be here, period. 1.00

00:30:41.740 We are very accepting of asylum seekers.

00:30:44.660 We're very accepting of refugees.

00:30:46.980 I'm not saying that we should have no acceptance of these people.

00:30:50.860 But the people who are showing up at the border just because they're there, just because they're fleeing difficult circumstances in other countries does not mean that they are refugees.

00:31:00.140 Yeah, most people in the world could find better circumstances in the United States.

00:31:04.360 That does not mean that they have a right to come into our country and live here illegally.

00:31:08.480 They don't have a right to come to the country at all. 1.00

00:31:10.800 Like, immigration is not a right that you have. 0.98

00:31:12.980 I don't have a right to move to Zimbabwe and to say, I'm just here now.

00:31:17.020 Give me all the benefits of living in Zimbabwe.

00:31:20.200 Let me let me live on the government's dole.

00:31:24.120 Let me get the same protection, the same rights, the same privileges that a citizen has.

00:31:28.380 And actually, Zimbabwe wouldn't tolerate it.

00:31:30.740 Most countries don't tolerate this kind of thing.

00:31:33.700 But America, because we have been guilted by this narrative that says that we have been a force for oppression and white supremacy and imperialism throughout our history, that now we have to pay back those debts by allowing everyone in without any kind of stipulations or regulations. 1.00

00:31:52.580 We're really stupid. 1.00

00:31:54.300 Actually, we are the victims of weaponized empathy. 1.00

00:31:58.300 And I'm writing a book on this that'll be out next year.

00:32:01.000 We are victims of weaponized empathy, where we are told these superficial narratives that everyone who comes here is a refugee.

00:32:09.200 Everyone who wants to be here deserves to be here.

00:32:11.800 And because we have a muddy history with even the discovery of America and indigenous peoples and colonialism and slavery and imperialism and war and all of these things, that we have no moral right to protect our borders.

00:32:28.040 Look, the history of the world is muddy.

00:32:31.060 The history of the world is oppression.

00:32:33.480 The history of the world is imperialism.

00:32:35.520 The history of the world is conquering.

00:32:40.360 And now I'm not justifying all of the methods, all of the means used for each of these things.

00:32:45.600 But that is the truth of it.

00:32:48.000 And so that would that would mean that no one has the right to their own country.

00:32:53.600 No one has the right to have citizenship. 1.00

00:32:57.140 No one has the right to an orderly nation.

00:33:00.120 No one has the right to protect their borders.

00:33:03.100 And some people do believe that.

00:33:04.620 Of course, that is the end goal of maybe like extreme forms of globalism is not just interaction between nations, but literally borderless nations.

00:33:13.780 I mean, Open Society Foundation that is, you know, a Soros-backed organization really believes in that.

00:33:21.060 They push this kind of migrant crisis. 0.74

00:33:23.000 They fund this kind of migrant crisis because they want chaos in the West, particularly in the United States, because a weaker America is better for the long term agenda of making sure that there is a world power that is not the United States, but is actually put in place by the people at the World Economic Forum. 0.75

00:33:43.880 And if that still sounds conspiratorial to you, it's OK.

00:33:47.900 You got a little time to catch up, maybe till like tomorrow.

00:33:52.220 You can go back and listen to some episodes that I've done with Justin Haskins, and he will

00:33:56.860 map all of that out brilliantly for you.

00:33:59.900 So this is not just spontaneous.

00:34:02.040 This is not just coincidental.

00:34:03.780 This is planned.

00:34:04.720 This is strategic.

00:34:05.560 It will absolutely, absolutely lead to the deterioration and the endangerment of people in the United States, immigrant or non-immigrant, white, black, brown. 1.00

00:34:17.320 It doesn't matter.

00:34:18.720 Massive surges of unchecked, unregulated migration are bad for countries.

00:34:24.840 They just are.

00:34:25.840 Doesn't mean those people are not innately made in the image of God.

00:34:28.620 Doesn't mean they're not beautiful, wonderful people who could be very productive citizens, but let them become productive citizens the right way.

00:34:34.800 If you change the country through this kind of massive transition, it leads to destabilization.

00:34:47.080 It leads to more division.

00:34:48.820 It's not good.

00:34:49.820 And the Biden administration, of course, we already know that they're sellouts.

00:34:52.680 They don't really care.

00:34:53.520 They don't care at all.

00:34:55.200 They don't care about the well-being of the country.

00:34:57.760 I think we've seen that in how they've handled China.

00:34:59.700 So just understand that's coming up.

00:35:01.780 I don't even know what is there to do about it.

00:35:04.120 I'm sure Governor Abbott in Texas is doing the most that he possibly can.

00:35:07.880 I pray and hope that he does.

00:35:10.320 But there are only so many border agents.

00:35:13.240 So I'm sure that there are other people out there that have proposed solutions.

00:35:18.420 We'll see exactly what's going to happen.

00:35:20.760 Title 42 is set to expire at 11.59 p.m. Eastern on Thursday.

00:35:26.440 So Friday is going to be very interesting.

00:35:29.980 Now, our role as Christians is not to say that we should have open borders and not to

00:35:35.880 say that we have to accept everyone who wants to come here.

00:35:38.780 But of course, the people who are here, they're here.

00:35:42.620 And our responsibility is to care for those who need care.

00:35:46.560 And that's what Christians are going to do. 0.94

00:35:48.020 That's what churches are going to do. 0.56

00:35:49.460 They're going to show up, make sure that people are fed, make sure that people are cared

00:35:53.640 for, that they do have shelter, that they do have clothing.

00:35:56.980 That is our responsibility for the people here.

00:35:59.400 And we can simultaneously do those things.

00:36:01.740 We can simultaneously love people as image bearers of God, understand that they come from

00:36:05.740 a difficult circumstance, while also saying it is best for everyone in other countries,

00:36:10.820 in our country, to have a strong border and to have strict border laws.

00:36:15.260 Rather than incentivizing the very dangerous track of migrants that come here from South 1.00

00:36:25.980 America, rather than endanger our own citizens and our own resources, we protect our sovereignty.

00:36:33.540 That is what a government is supposed to do.

00:36:35.840 That's what a government is supposed to do.

00:36:37.660 We can do those things while also loving the people around us well.

00:36:45.260 All right.

00:36:55.060 So this is a kind of just a different topic.

00:36:57.740 But I did want to touch on this because I've seen this article circulating.

00:37:01.660 I've been meaning to talk about it.

00:37:03.980 Speaking of media reporting and how they spin particular narratives in order just to make

00:37:08.680 people angry without allowing people to think.

00:37:11.320 Speaking of the weaponization of empathy, here is CNN doing just that with abortion.

00:37:18.200 So here's the title of the CNN article that was published last week.

00:37:21.560 Because of Florida abortion laws, she carried her baby to term knowing he would die.

00:37:26.640 This is very similar to a story that NPR published about a Texas woman whose daughter had anencephaly,

00:37:34.000 who was forced to birth her daughter rather than aborting her daughter at 20 weeks.

00:37:39.160 And we talked about that then.

00:37:40.820 This is very similar.

00:37:43.620 So here's what the article says.

00:37:45.240 A Florida woman unable to get an abortion in her state carried to term a baby who had no kidneys.

00:37:52.140 This is called Potter syndrome.

00:37:54.480 And sometimes this is actually treatable through steroid treatments.

00:37:58.380 They are able to help the baby form kidneys if they are not yet formed.

00:38:03.140 I don't know exactly if her situation or if her son's situation was treatable, but it is

00:38:08.620 not always a death and it's just FYI.

00:38:11.560 She said her pregnancy was proceeding normally until November when at 24 weeks, an ultrasound

00:38:15.580 showed that the fetus did not have kidneys and that she had hardly any amniotic fluid.

00:38:20.920 Her doctors told her that the baby was sure to die.

00:38:24.360 The condition is called Potter syndrome and the specialist said it was incompatible with life.

00:38:28.540 Now, just FYI, again, there are a lot of women, I'm sure there are women out there who are 1.00

00:38:33.300 told that their baby is incompatible with life and that ends up not being true.

00:38:38.780 And so I think it's very unfortunate.

00:38:40.240 I'm not saying that's true in this case, but I think it's very unfortunate that there are

00:38:43.540 so many doctors who jump the gun by using that term that is described for such a wide array

00:38:50.380 of diagnoses.

00:38:51.760 I mean, sometimes you'll even hear doctors say that someone with Down syndrome, that they

00:38:56.180 may be incompatible with life just because they won't have the same life that you and

00:38:59.720 I do.

00:39:00.080 So that's a very broad diagnosis that I think, again, is just an unfortunate weaponization

00:39:07.560 of their medical expertise that basically can guilt women or fear monger women into having

00:39:13.400 abortions that they shouldn't have.

00:39:14.980 Her doctor told her that it was too late to terminate the pregnancy in Florida, which bans

00:39:18.440 nearly all abortions after 15 weeks.

00:39:20.760 The law does provide exceptions, but the doctors weren't sure if this situation fell under those.

00:39:29.720 But actually, it would.

00:39:31.680 Now, I'm not saying that this is a good thing, but this is what the Florida law says.

00:39:35.520 The new restrictive abortion law allows abortions after 15 weeks, okay, second trimester, if two

00:39:43.000 doctors simply confirm the diagnosis of a fatal fetal abnormality in writing.

00:39:48.860 But this is what we keep hearing, that even if these states have exceptions, even if the

00:39:55.920 law is clear about this, that the doctors are so scared, that they're so confused, they're

00:40:01.380 so befuddled by these regulations that they just won't do anything.

00:40:06.500 They're so scared that they're going to lose their licenses, that they won't even perform

00:40:12.060 life-saving procedures for fear of violating the law.

00:40:15.580 And so you'll hear the left say, that is still the fault of these legislators.

00:40:19.760 That's the fault of these pro-life laws, that these doctors are so confused and so scared.

00:40:24.060 Look, I'm not buying that.

00:40:25.660 I'm not buying that in Texas, there are good faith, good doctors who actually are ethical

00:40:34.900 and truthful, who are saying, I'm not going to treat that ectopic pregnancy because I don't

00:40:41.200 know whether or not it falls under the acceptable practice, according to new Texas law.

00:40:48.720 When the Texas law, just like all pro-life laws in every state say, yes, you can perform

00:40:56.120 the procedure to remove the ectopic pregnancy.

00:40:58.660 You have to.

00:40:59.500 You have to.

00:41:00.120 The baby is obviously not viable in that case.

00:41:03.480 The woman is going to die. 1.00

00:41:05.400 You have to remove this child. 0.99

00:41:07.640 Every state allows for that.

00:41:09.560 And so if there is a doctor who is saying, I am not going to perform this life-saving

00:41:14.340 procedure, I'm just going to allow this woman to die or to at least be on her deathbed, 1.00

00:41:21.300 that is not the fault of the law.

00:41:23.300 That might be the fault of the doctor.

00:41:25.100 It might be the fault of the media.

00:41:27.360 It might be the fault of the hospitals who are supposed to clarify this policy for these

00:41:33.880 doctors sowing confusion.

00:41:35.800 It's not the fault of the law that's saying, I'm sorry, but you can't just dismember healthy

00:41:41.500 babies.

00:41:42.820 Like, that's not the fault of pro-life laws.

00:41:45.620 There have always been regulations around abortions, especially in red states.

00:41:49.520 Doctors have always had to navigate this.

00:41:51.500 They've always had to figure out if the law allows them to perform abortions for certain 1.00

00:41:56.220 reasons at certain times.

00:41:57.760 They've always had to do that.

00:41:59.320 So you're saying now, all of a sudden, they have no idea how to just because they've changed

00:42:03.560 or become a little bit more strict.

00:42:05.420 All of a sudden, they're like, well, I guess I'm just going to let my patients die.

00:42:08.380 There just seems to be a politicization of women's lives going on here for the purpose 1.00

00:42:14.580 of trying to push back against pro-life legislation.

00:42:18.680 So, I mean, abortion or Florida's like pro-life law or abortion law, rather, is still more

00:42:25.940 liberal than it is in a lot of other red states.

00:42:28.380 So two doctors in this case, in the CNN case, they could have signed off and said, yes, this

00:42:35.660 is a fatal fetal abnormality.

00:42:38.140 And this woman is justified in having abortion. 1.00

00:42:40.600 She could have had an abortion at 24 weeks if she wanted to. 1.00

00:42:45.200 But CNN doesn't put that in the headline.

00:42:47.220 Of course, they don't clarify that for us as something that we actually have to really

00:42:52.440 dig for.

00:42:53.940 And so Florida law actually didn't prevent this woman from having an abortion. 1.00

00:42:57.500 Again, not that I would support that.

00:42:59.880 Not that I support that being a right.

00:43:02.100 But this story is a non-story.

00:43:05.080 It has nothing to do with Florida law.

00:43:06.980 It might have to do with the doctors.

00:43:08.900 But here's where the weaponized empathy comes in.

00:43:11.200 Like, we're supposed to ignore what the Florida law actually says.

00:43:15.880 And we're also just supposed to say, how awful, how awful that this woman was forced to carry 0.99

00:43:21.160 her baby.

00:43:21.980 How awful that this woman was forced to remain pregnant for however many weeks until she delivered

00:43:26.540 her baby, who then died.

00:43:28.200 And she had to conduct a funeral for.

00:43:32.540 Which, yes, it is awful.

00:43:34.160 Like, we can't have empathy for this woman. 0.96

00:43:36.020 Listen, I am 24 weeks pregnant.

00:43:38.360 Oh my goodness, I cannot imagine going to the doctor and hearing that my child doesn't

00:43:43.100 have organs to survive.

00:43:44.820 I would be absolutely devastated.

00:43:47.160 I would be crushed.

00:43:48.340 And yes, the rest of my pregnancy would be terrible.

00:43:52.220 I would be so sad.

00:43:53.820 It would be only the strength of the Lord that would pull me out of just like a deep, dark

00:43:58.560 depression.

00:43:59.100 So yes, I can feel for this woman and understand the pain of this and how shocking and traumatizing

00:44:04.800 this diagnosis must have been.

00:44:08.080 But am I supposed to be upset that this child wasn't dismembered in the womb and instead got

00:44:15.180 to be born and to be held by his loving, by his mother who loved him, got to meet her

00:44:22.120 and then got to die and be buried in a proper burial and honored at a proper funeral rather

00:44:29.440 than dismembered by forceps and discarded like medical waste?

00:44:35.560 Like, is that what empathy is supposed to push me towards?

00:44:38.620 You're saying that true empathy and true compassion and true love says, yeah, this baby should have

00:44:43.760 been violently murdered in the womb and then thrown away like trash rather than allowed to 0.57

00:44:50.460 be born, to be held, to be seen, to be loved, and then to be buried with honor and dignity? 0.60

00:44:57.620 No, I reject that.

00:44:59.680 I reject your definition of empathy.

00:45:02.000 I reject your faux compassion.

00:45:04.600 Like, I tweeted this.

00:45:06.540 And of course, most of y'all, of course, agree with me that it's still a human being.

00:45:12.760 And a human being deserves dignity.

00:45:14.860 A human being deserves life.

00:45:16.600 A human being deserves to be met and to be held.

00:45:19.080 A human being doesn't deserve to die by the cold and sterile grip of forcep before they're

00:45:24.960 even able to take their first breath.

00:45:27.520 But then, you know, I got people saying, wow, you're cruel. 0.98

00:45:31.740 You're evil. 0.98

00:45:33.120 That's so awful. 0.99

00:45:34.100 How could you possibly say something like that?

00:45:37.160 Look, you believe that it's okay to dismember babies for any reason.

00:45:41.700 I don't want to hear your lecture on morality, on ethics, on compassion.

00:45:46.980 If that's your position, you know nothing of it.

00:45:49.200 But I'm sorry, I believe that this baby is a human being, made in the image of God, with

00:45:54.760 dignity, and should have been treated as such.

00:45:57.460 So no, CNN.

00:45:59.160 I reject your emotional extortion.

00:46:02.180 I'm not going to be upset that this sweet baby got to be gestated and got to be born

00:46:09.440 and got to be held and got to be buried.

00:46:11.180 I am very glad that he was not simply torn apart and thrown into the trash.

00:46:18.980 I'm very glad of that.

00:46:22.100 You can always look out for that.

00:46:23.840 In every media headline, like how are they trying to weaponize fake empathy?

00:46:30.240 By not telling the whole truth or directing our attention towards something and having us

00:46:35.640 ignore the rest of the story or the facts of the story.

00:46:41.180 All right, guys.

00:46:52.600 Like I said, we'll be back here tomorrow with a psychologist.

00:46:55.100 We're going to be getting into the mind of a mass shooter.

00:46:58.160 Gosh, what causes this?

00:46:59.120 What material are they seeing online?

00:47:01.100 How is social media and the internet playing a role in all of this as well as what's typically

00:47:06.000 referred to as like the incel movement that might be playing a part in all this craziness?

00:47:10.780 I'm really excited to talk to him and to just get some insight.

00:47:14.120 On another happier note, Mother's Day is coming up.

00:47:19.360 Maybe, Relatable Bros, if you order by today, you will be able to get relatable gear for your

00:47:24.900 gal, for your baby mama by Mother's Day.

00:47:29.020 If not, you could do a late Mother's Day gift.

00:47:31.620 I've got my relatable shirt on now with the little salmon on there.

00:47:36.740 If you know, you know we're salmon because we swim upstream against the current of chaos

00:47:42.660 and confusion.

00:47:43.660 That's what we try to do here on this podcast.

00:47:45.320 I've also got fish on my back too.

00:47:47.260 I think it says be a salmon on the back.

00:47:49.200 Lots of different colors, lots of cute stuff, lots of hats, totes, all that good stuff.

00:47:55.160 All right, that's all we got time for today.

00:47:56.620 We will be back here tomorrow.

Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - May 08, 2023

Ep 801 ｜ Don’t Fall for Weaponized Empathy

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