The Michael Knowles Show - August 04, 2025


Ep. 1785 - Sydney Sweeney's Titillating Voter Registration LEAKED


Episode Stats

Length

54 minutes

Words per Minute

161.50018

Word Count

8,829

Sentence Count

734

Misogynist Sentences

18

Hate Speech Sentences

33


Summary

Sidney Sweeney's voter registration has been revealed, and apparently, everyone is surprised but me. Plus, a major win for pro-lifers and a major humiliation for the panicans as the White House reveals its new IVF policy, and the New York Times clarifies its desire to kill you and harvest your organs.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 These are questions that take cultures thousands of years to answer.
00:00:04.740 During Answer the Call, I take questions from people just like you
00:00:07.920 about their problems, opportunities, challenges, or when they simply need advice.
00:00:12.700 How do I balance all of this grief, responsibility?
00:00:15.800 How do you repair this kind of damage?
00:00:18.080 My daughter, Michaela, guides the conversations
00:00:20.540 as we hopefully help people navigate their lives.
00:00:24.080 Everyone has their own destiny. Everyone.
00:00:30.000 The Pope and the Fuhrer, the secret Vatican files of World War II
00:00:36.500 is about to start streaming.
00:00:38.460 It is hosted by your favorite podcast host.
00:00:41.440 It is about one of the most maligned, smeared, slandered men of the 20th century
00:00:46.560 who also happens to be one of the greatest men of the 20th century.
00:00:49.880 That would be Pope Pius XII.
00:00:52.360 Daily War Plus members can start streaming August 13th.
00:00:54.640 If you're not a member yet, join today at dailywarplus.com.
00:01:00.000 A major win for pro-lifers and a major humiliation for the panicans
00:01:05.260 as the White House reveals its new IVF policy.
00:01:08.600 Then, speaking of life, the New York Times clarifies its desire to kill you
00:01:14.220 and harvest your organs.
00:01:15.760 Not joking.
00:01:17.120 More important than all of that,
00:01:19.120 Sidney Sweeney's voter registration has been revealed
00:01:22.120 and apparently everyone is surprised but me.
00:01:25.320 I'm Michael Knowles.
00:01:26.000 This is the Michael Knowles Show.
00:01:30.000 Cynthia Erivo, who is an LGBT LMNOP actress,
00:01:51.140 has gone viral for playing Christ in Jesus Christ Superstar at the Hollywood Bowl.
00:01:55.980 We will get to that performance with these long, pointy, scary-looking nails
00:02:00.040 and a million different piercings.
00:02:01.620 And we'll get to it if we have to.
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00:03:11.040 Before we get to any of the other things in the news,
00:03:13.460 including there's a big Christian pop star
00:03:16.540 who says he was miraculously healed of a broken back.
00:03:19.640 There's a lot.
00:03:20.560 There's a lot to get to.
00:03:22.020 It was a long weekend.
00:03:23.120 But before we get to that,
00:03:23.980 obviously the most important story,
00:03:26.000 we now know Sidney Sweeney's voter registration.
00:03:29.320 Drumroll, please.
00:03:30.340 If you're driving, pull over.
00:03:31.300 If you're standing, sit down.
00:03:33.560 She's not a Democrat.
00:03:35.600 She's a Republican.
00:03:37.020 BuzzFeed is reporting that Sidney Sweeney,
00:03:41.200 after the whole American Eagle backlash,
00:03:43.640 has emerged to be a Republican.
00:03:46.520 And so I can't even just say she's not a Democrat
00:03:49.840 because there are plenty of people who would say,
00:03:51.720 well, I'm independent.
00:03:52.800 Well, I don't, you know, neither party represents me.
00:03:55.520 But apparently, according to BuzzFeed,
00:03:57.120 Sidney Sweeney is a registered Republican in Florida.
00:04:00.140 She left California for Florida.
00:04:01.600 That was probably the first clue.
00:04:03.600 I'm not surprised by this at all.
00:04:05.460 Apparently, some people are.
00:04:08.020 Many people are saying, who cares?
00:04:09.760 I don't care what Sidney Sweeney's voter registration is.
00:04:11.860 But that's kind of rich coming from the party
00:04:14.780 that has for 20 years said ad nauseum,
00:04:17.340 politics is downstream of culture
00:04:18.940 and we need to win back the culture.
00:04:20.280 And you want to win back the culture,
00:04:21.200 but you don't care what the celebrities
00:04:23.740 are saying about politics?
00:04:25.100 No, those two things can't be true at the same time.
00:04:27.320 You obviously care what the celebrities say about politics.
00:04:29.680 You say you don't care what celebrities think about politics
00:04:32.100 only because the celebrities are always huge libs.
00:04:34.940 So you say, well, I don't care about that.
00:04:36.400 I'm going to minimize the effect of their political views.
00:04:40.680 But it's good to have popular people,
00:04:43.340 people like Sidney Sweeney,
00:04:44.380 who are objects of affection
00:04:46.700 for a great many men in this country.
00:04:48.440 It's good to have these attractive people
00:04:50.700 support your political side
00:04:52.260 because we live in public life.
00:04:53.600 They're public figures.
00:04:54.940 Politics is about the public.
00:04:56.220 So obviously true.
00:04:57.760 I am not surprised she's a Republican at all.
00:05:00.060 And I think the reason some people are surprised
00:05:02.280 is that they don't understand
00:05:04.340 a basic rule of thumb in Hollywood.
00:05:06.960 And with good reason, I guess.
00:05:09.060 If you haven't spent time around Hollywood,
00:05:10.360 you would have no reason to know this rule of thumb.
00:05:13.100 In Hollywood,
00:05:14.600 if a celebrity is not constantly braying
00:05:18.140 about his left-wing politics,
00:05:20.560 he's a Republican.
00:05:23.280 That's how you know.
00:05:24.200 It's not that some celebrities
00:05:29.060 constantly are mouthing off about politics on one side
00:05:32.320 and some celebrities are constantly mouthing off
00:05:34.780 about the other side of politics.
00:05:36.140 That's really not how it works.
00:05:37.520 There are some exceptions.
00:05:38.600 But generally speaking,
00:05:39.980 they're all constantly braying
00:05:42.060 and mooing and wooing
00:05:43.980 about being huge libs
00:05:45.560 and trying to get you to donate to Planned Parenthood
00:05:47.320 and vote for Bernie or whatever.
00:05:49.080 And then there are some other celebrities
00:05:50.900 who just don't talk about politics.
00:05:53.040 Those celebrities are all Republicans.
00:05:56.260 That's how you know.
00:05:58.300 And there are other reasons
00:05:59.360 that you could tell Sidney Sweeney is a Republican.
00:06:01.600 She looks normal.
00:06:03.340 She's very beautiful,
00:06:04.220 but she looks like a normal, beautiful person.
00:06:08.380 She seems generally happy much of the time.
00:06:12.660 She hasn't mutilated her body
00:06:14.880 in ways that express a hatred of her father.
00:06:18.520 She's not just completely covered head to toe
00:06:20.600 in tattoos with 150 different piercings everywhere.
00:06:23.040 She's not, her hair is a normal color.
00:06:25.560 I don't know if it's a natural color,
00:06:26.640 but it's a normal color.
00:06:27.880 She's just kind of normal.
00:06:29.800 And survey after survey,
00:06:31.900 social science study after social science study
00:06:34.700 shows that conservatives
00:06:36.420 and therefore Republicans
00:06:37.380 tend to be generally
00:06:38.420 a little bit more content in life.
00:06:39.820 They're not screaming and whining
00:06:40.920 and crying about their families
00:06:43.480 or the political order
00:06:44.320 or ultimately reality,
00:06:45.480 which is what liberalism comes down to
00:06:46.900 is just rejecting reality
00:06:49.260 and trying to liberate yourself from it.
00:06:52.420 Now, last bit on this.
00:06:53.580 Some people are going to say,
00:06:54.940 well, Sidney Sweeney is not a real conservative.
00:06:56.820 You know, she does these kind of sexy scenes
00:06:59.220 and she showed too much skin
00:07:01.100 in that American Eagle ad or what.
00:07:02.560 I'm not saying she's Russell Kirk
00:07:05.820 in a pair of blue jeans, okay?
00:07:07.280 I'm not saying she's the blonde reincarnation
00:07:10.060 of William F. Buckley Jr., okay?
00:07:12.860 But she's a Republican.
00:07:14.740 And there are plenty of people
00:07:16.220 in the Republican Party
00:07:17.320 who don't wear three-piece tweed suits
00:07:19.640 all the time, okay?
00:07:21.200 And which is a good thing.
00:07:22.360 Because if the Republican Party
00:07:25.600 only comprised people
00:07:27.240 who wear three-piece tweed suits
00:07:29.360 and bow ties,
00:07:30.180 we would never win any elections anywhere,
00:07:32.220 including dog catcher
00:07:33.320 in the most right-wing county in America.
00:07:35.740 You need to bring in
00:07:37.580 all these eccentric people,
00:07:40.300 the Maha people and the trads
00:07:43.020 and some of the right-wing libertarians
00:07:45.100 and the normal people
00:07:46.520 and the people who don't think
00:07:47.300 that much about politics
00:07:48.460 and a handful of rich people
00:07:50.580 and a lot of not rich people
00:07:52.140 and you got to bring in
00:07:53.060 all sorts of people
00:07:53.760 who don't have exactly the same views.
00:07:56.940 So I'm into it.
00:07:58.100 I love it.
00:07:59.680 The woman who is considered
00:08:00.960 probably the most beautiful,
00:08:03.840 presently popular,
00:08:05.140 attractive Hollywood starlet
00:08:06.580 is a Republican.
00:08:08.580 I'll take the win.
00:08:10.160 I'll take yes for an answer, okay?
00:08:12.160 I know there are all sorts
00:08:13.080 of malcontents on the right
00:08:14.720 who must clutch defeat
00:08:16.480 from the jaws of victory.
00:08:17.660 I will take yes for an answer.
00:08:19.000 One last point on American Eagle.
00:08:20.500 American Eagle has finally responded
00:08:23.100 to the non-traversy
00:08:24.780 that their jeans commercial
00:08:25.860 was apparently a call
00:08:27.060 for a Fourth Reich
00:08:28.080 and channeling the spirit
00:08:30.260 of Goebbels and Hitler.
00:08:32.320 A particularly funny claim
00:08:34.480 given that the CEO
00:08:36.300 and chairman of American Eagle
00:08:37.740 is Jay Schottenstein.
00:08:41.320 Not the most pro-Hitler name
00:08:43.440 I've ever heard.
00:08:44.280 Seems like he's a member
00:08:45.080 of a certain ancient nomadic tribe.
00:08:46.640 But nevertheless,
00:08:48.040 they were calling this guy
00:08:48.780 a Nazi and accusing
00:08:50.280 the advertisement
00:08:51.340 of promoting eugenics.
00:08:53.200 Eugenics which they support
00:08:54.480 when it founds Planned Parenthood,
00:08:56.040 their favorite nonprofit.
00:08:57.880 But eugenics which the left hates
00:09:00.180 when it promotes
00:09:01.000 beautiful blonde ladies.
00:09:02.940 This is what American Eagle
00:09:03.960 had to say.
00:09:04.920 Their first statement on the matter,
00:09:06.460 Sidney Sweeney has great jeans,
00:09:08.120 is and always was about the jeans.
00:09:09.900 Her jeans, her story,
00:09:11.260 will continue to celebrate
00:09:12.360 how everyone wears
00:09:13.100 their AE jeans with confidence.
00:09:15.340 Their way,
00:09:16.100 great jeans look good
00:09:18.080 on everyone.
00:09:19.120 There you have it.
00:09:20.660 And I know a lot of people
00:09:21.580 were worried.
00:09:22.220 They said,
00:09:22.380 oh no, American Eagle,
00:09:24.160 don't back down.
00:09:26.260 There's going to be
00:09:26.820 a cancel campaign.
00:09:27.760 There's going to be
00:09:28.000 a lot of pressure,
00:09:28.500 but don't back down.
00:09:30.500 Don't cave to the woke mob.
00:09:31.980 I hope they don't back down.
00:09:35.020 They were never going to back down.
00:09:37.300 You know how I knew
00:09:38.080 they were never going to back down?
00:09:39.900 Because they put out
00:09:41.720 the commercial in the first place,
00:09:42.840 which was not subtle.
00:09:44.780 And you know why
00:09:45.440 they put out the commercial
00:09:46.200 in the first place
00:09:46.900 and you know why
00:09:47.320 they weren't going to back down
00:09:48.220 and you know why
00:09:48.720 this was a successful ad
00:09:49.880 and you know why
00:09:50.600 they issued this non-apology?
00:09:53.700 Because they saw
00:09:54.440 what happened in November.
00:09:55.860 That's why.
00:09:58.000 We're good, guys.
00:09:59.120 We're good.
00:10:00.840 Woke is over.
00:10:04.040 The particular expressions
00:10:05.940 of woke,
00:10:06.380 notably transgenderism,
00:10:08.780 a lot of the race hustling,
00:10:10.160 it's over.
00:10:12.060 It doesn't work.
00:10:14.340 Corporations
00:10:14.900 that have boards,
00:10:17.500 that have Excel spreadsheets,
00:10:19.600 that have men in suits and ties
00:10:21.920 making cold calculations
00:10:24.260 about what's going to make them
00:10:26.680 a marginal extra dollar,
00:10:28.420 the corporations have concluded
00:10:30.440 that woke liberalism,
00:10:34.080 leftism, progressivism
00:10:35.600 is a loser.
00:10:40.360 Good-looking blonde actresses
00:10:42.420 wearing normal clothing,
00:10:45.120 saying normal things,
00:10:46.000 that's a winner.
00:10:47.180 That's it.
00:10:48.720 American Eagle
00:10:49.520 did not
00:10:50.360 not back down
00:10:51.680 because
00:10:52.940 we were all rooting for them.
00:10:56.260 American Eagle
00:10:56.960 chose not to back down
00:10:58.220 out of a cold calculation,
00:11:01.760 which is really,
00:11:02.520 really great news.
00:11:03.200 This is the winner, folks.
00:11:05.840 In part,
00:11:06.320 this is a generational thing, too.
00:11:08.480 Because I think
00:11:09.260 had it been just the millennials,
00:11:11.920 this company would have had
00:11:12.740 to back down.
00:11:13.200 They couldn't have put the commercial
00:11:13.900 out in the first place.
00:11:14.780 But I think looking at the trends,
00:11:17.220 Gen Z,
00:11:18.800 it's a polarized generation.
00:11:20.840 The ones who have gone left
00:11:21.960 are really far left,
00:11:22.980 like castrated themselves
00:11:24.040 at 15 left,
00:11:25.540 though some have actually
00:11:26.540 come back since then.
00:11:27.360 But I think
00:11:28.440 the broad trend
00:11:29.340 with Gen Z
00:11:29.920 is these people
00:11:30.780 are to the right
00:11:31.580 of Francisco Franco.
00:11:33.500 This liberalism
00:11:34.940 ain't selling.
00:11:36.340 And if you want
00:11:37.400 to get your jeans
00:11:38.520 over the checkout counter,
00:11:40.940 you got to try
00:11:42.060 a different tack.
00:11:42.820 Okay.
00:11:43.380 Now,
00:11:44.120 speaking of Republicans,
00:11:46.220 a major Democrat figure,
00:11:48.380 Eric Holder,
00:11:49.000 he was the attorney general
00:11:49.940 for Barack Obama,
00:11:51.400 he is claiming
00:11:52.580 that Donald Trump
00:11:53.260 is an authoritarian
00:11:54.060 and is actively rigging
00:11:56.080 the midterms.
00:11:56.860 We will examine
00:11:57.560 that major,
00:11:58.620 major claim.
00:11:59.820 First,
00:12:00.300 though,
00:12:01.240 speaking of the next generation
00:12:02.620 and Zoomers,
00:12:03.260 I want to tell you
00:12:03.640 about Hillsdale College.
00:12:04.800 Go to hillsdale.edu
00:12:06.340 slash Knowles.
00:12:08.660 You ever hear the phrase,
00:12:09.920 that's unconstitutional?
00:12:12.500 People toss that phrase around
00:12:13.740 like confetti
00:12:14.840 at a political rally.
00:12:15.700 You hear it pretty much
00:12:16.720 anywhere people gather
00:12:18.280 to debate the issues
00:12:19.120 of the day.
00:12:19.480 But here's the thing.
00:12:20.740 When someone drops
00:12:21.480 that phrase,
00:12:21.980 do you just nod along
00:12:22.820 and take their word for it?
00:12:24.620 Or have you ever
00:12:25.440 actually cracked open
00:12:26.480 the Constitution yourself
00:12:27.640 to see what all the fuss
00:12:28.980 is about?
00:12:30.340 I think you should.
00:12:32.080 And that is one
00:12:32.680 of the many reasons
00:12:33.740 that I'm thrilled
00:12:34.300 about Hillsdale College's
00:12:35.440 brand new free online course
00:12:36.880 called The Federalist.
00:12:39.300 You know those
00:12:39.680 Federalist papers
00:12:40.600 everyone references
00:12:41.420 but few have actually read?
00:12:42.980 They were penned
00:12:43.720 by Alexander Hamilton
00:12:44.740 and James Madison
00:12:45.900 and don't forget John Jay
00:12:46.880 to explain how our Constitution
00:12:48.740 creates a government
00:12:49.700 strong enough
00:12:50.280 to protect our rights,
00:12:51.780 yet safe enough
00:12:52.420 to trust with power.
00:12:54.060 Brilliant stuff.
00:12:55.240 More relevant today
00:12:56.120 than ever.
00:12:57.040 Hillsdale breaks it down
00:12:58.140 into 10 digestible
00:12:59.420 30-minute lectures
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00:13:12.540 at your fingertips.
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00:13:17.400 I love it.
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00:13:21.180 in the entire country
00:13:22.320 and their courses
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00:13:25.300 The Federalist,
00:13:25.940 I highly recommend.
00:13:27.200 Of course,
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00:13:28.100 I highly recommend.
00:13:28.980 Right now,
00:13:29.320 go to hillsdale.edu
00:13:30.120 slash Knowles
00:13:31.000 to enroll.
00:13:31.540 No cost.
00:13:32.060 Easy to get started.
00:13:32.980 Go to hillsdale.edu
00:13:34.140 slash Knowles.
00:13:36.200 Eric Holder
00:13:37.060 making a major,
00:13:38.200 major claim.
00:13:39.760 He's saying that
00:13:40.860 Trump is rigging
00:13:41.640 the midterms.
00:13:42.380 This is just
00:13:43.200 an extension
00:13:43.760 of the same
00:13:44.640 threat to democracy line
00:13:46.600 that we've heard
00:13:47.020 about Trump
00:13:47.420 for 10 years.
00:13:48.280 But don't forget
00:13:48.760 that that line
00:13:50.160 which says that
00:13:50.880 Trump poses
00:13:51.300 an existential threat
00:13:52.220 to our republic
00:13:52.860 almost got him
00:13:54.100 murdered twice,
00:13:54.880 came within about
00:13:55.600 a 20th of an inch,
00:13:56.720 blew off part of his ear
00:13:57.660 in Butler, Pennsylvania.
00:13:58.620 So this is
00:13:59.520 a very serious accusation.
00:14:02.960 Why is Eric Holder
00:14:03.980 saying that Trump
00:14:04.540 is rigging the midterms?
00:14:06.060 Because
00:14:06.540 down in Texas,
00:14:08.880 a group of legislators
00:14:10.080 on a Texas House panel
00:14:11.420 voted on Saturday
00:14:13.420 to advance
00:14:14.640 a new draft
00:14:15.720 of a congressional
00:14:16.460 map.
00:14:16.920 You know,
00:14:17.080 every number of years
00:14:18.460 the different states
00:14:19.980 rewrite their
00:14:21.440 congressional districts
00:14:22.220 because people
00:14:22.660 move into districts,
00:14:23.700 they move out of districts,
00:14:25.380 the balance of power
00:14:26.340 shifts,
00:14:26.800 and so they redraw
00:14:27.560 the districts
00:14:28.040 based on where people
00:14:28.900 are actually living.
00:14:31.180 Eric Holder says,
00:14:32.640 this is beyond
00:14:34.420 the pale,
00:14:35.060 authoritarian,
00:14:36.380 a rigging
00:14:36.880 of our elections.
00:14:38.780 Thank you for joining
00:14:39.620 us this morning,
00:14:40.240 Mr. Holder.
00:14:40.940 You know,
00:14:41.180 you've been leading
00:14:41.660 an effort to stop
00:14:42.700 gerrymandering.
00:14:44.060 Now you say it's time
00:14:44.800 to fight fire
00:14:45.580 with fire.
00:14:46.940 Why the turnaround?
00:14:49.960 Well,
00:14:50.520 I think we have to
00:14:51.340 understand that
00:14:52.240 the nature of the threat
00:14:53.800 that has been
00:14:54.460 put upon the country
00:14:56.040 through what they're
00:14:56.840 trying to do in Texas
00:14:57.860 has really increased
00:14:59.740 the danger to our
00:15:00.900 democracy,
00:15:01.480 and as a result of that,
00:15:02.960 we've got to do things
00:15:04.160 that perhaps in the past
00:15:05.540 I would not have
00:15:06.300 supported.
00:15:07.060 This is an authoritarian
00:15:08.700 move by the White House
00:15:10.500 to try to make sure
00:15:11.760 that they can rig
00:15:12.500 the election,
00:15:13.340 the midterm elections
00:15:14.140 in 2026.
00:15:16.160 And so I think that
00:15:16.920 a democratic response
00:15:18.340 that is responsible,
00:15:19.800 that is responsive,
00:15:20.760 and that is temporary
00:15:21.740 is appropriate
00:15:23.100 given these facts.
00:15:25.440 If it's responsive,
00:15:26.760 if it's responsible,
00:15:28.700 if it's
00:15:29.400 responsorous,
00:15:31.760 if it's
00:15:32.360 responserific,
00:15:34.360 if it,
00:15:36.220 okay,
00:15:36.480 you want Democrats
00:15:37.040 to respond to what?
00:15:38.400 That Republicans
00:15:39.240 in the Texas legislature
00:15:40.600 who have the majority
00:15:42.240 redrew the congressional maps
00:15:44.980 in ways that might
00:15:45.920 be good for Republicans,
00:15:47.720 in ways that might
00:15:48.620 just reflect the reality
00:15:49.540 of the voter base,
00:15:50.260 but that might also
00:15:51.120 benefit Republicans.
00:15:52.240 And you're saying
00:15:52.660 this is beyond the pale.
00:15:54.040 We have to do something
00:15:54.960 to stop this.
00:15:55.820 This is the rigging
00:15:56.500 of our elections.
00:15:57.260 This is the end
00:15:57.700 of democracy.
00:15:59.200 Okay.
00:16:00.840 Even George Stephanopoulos,
00:16:02.380 who was the hatchet man
00:16:03.340 for Bill Clinton,
00:16:04.080 even George Stephanopoulos,
00:16:05.120 who was head of communications
00:16:06.140 in the Bill Clinton White House,
00:16:07.260 this guy is a Democrat
00:16:08.240 operative through and through.
00:16:10.120 Even he says,
00:16:10.900 wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
00:16:12.340 Don't Democrats
00:16:12.920 do the same thing?
00:16:14.780 You saw what Karl Rove,
00:16:16.140 the former Republican
00:16:16.820 strategist, has said.
00:16:17.920 He said,
00:16:18.400 we've always had
00:16:19.100 partisan redistricting,
00:16:20.460 thus it ever was,
00:16:21.300 thus it ever will be.
00:16:22.480 How is this different?
00:16:25.960 Well, you know,
00:16:26.620 simply because
00:16:27.340 this is something
00:16:27.920 that has afflicted
00:16:28.800 the nation for,
00:16:30.020 you know,
00:16:30.280 an extended period of time
00:16:31.440 doesn't mean
00:16:32.000 that it's right.
00:16:33.340 Oh, there we are.
00:16:35.300 Oh, yeah, I mean,
00:16:36.440 sure, yeah,
00:16:36.840 both parties have done it,
00:16:37.740 but now it's bad.
00:16:39.820 Now, it's always,
00:16:40.640 doesn't mean it's right,
00:16:41.420 now it's bad.
00:16:43.660 Yeah, but Mr. Holder,
00:16:44.700 you never had a problem
00:16:45.440 with it when it was
00:16:46.000 you Democrats
00:16:46.620 rigging the congressional
00:16:47.560 districts.
00:16:48.580 You only have a problem
00:16:49.540 with it now
00:16:49.980 because you're accusing
00:16:51.000 Republicans of doing that.
00:16:52.480 J.D. Vance
00:16:53.100 pointed this out.
00:16:54.500 He pointed this out
00:16:55.300 a few days ago, actually,
00:16:56.000 before Eric Holder
00:16:56.640 made these comments.
00:16:57.720 He said,
00:16:58.340 the gerrymander
00:16:59.160 in California
00:16:59.780 is outrageous.
00:17:00.560 Of their 52
00:17:01.960 congressional districts,
00:17:03.380 nine of them
00:17:04.140 are Republican.
00:17:04.960 That means 17%
00:17:06.260 of their delegation
00:17:07.320 is Republican
00:17:07.920 when Republicans
00:17:09.340 regularly win
00:17:10.260 40%
00:17:11.200 of the vote
00:17:12.020 in that state.
00:17:13.180 How can this
00:17:14.080 possibly be allowed?
00:17:16.500 40% of California
00:17:18.280 among the voters
00:17:19.160 is Republican.
00:17:21.140 17%
00:17:22.020 of the legislators
00:17:22.700 are.
00:17:23.080 Come on.
00:17:24.080 What's that?
00:17:24.480 It's not just California,
00:17:25.480 though.
00:17:26.500 What about,
00:17:27.140 I'm going to take you
00:17:28.840 on a little trip
00:17:29.240 around the country.
00:17:30.640 Have you ever visited
00:17:31.660 the 13th congressional district
00:17:33.840 in the state of Illinois?
00:17:35.200 No, you haven't?
00:17:36.180 Okay.
00:17:37.340 So,
00:17:37.960 CD13 in Illinois,
00:17:39.540 if you're just listening
00:17:40.220 to this,
00:17:41.040 it looks like,
00:17:41.920 it's almost a 90-degree angle.
00:17:44.180 Starts in St. Louis,
00:17:45.820 goes up,
00:17:46.940 curves a tiny little bit,
00:17:48.160 goes right.
00:17:49.480 Looks like a pistol
00:17:50.360 or something.
00:17:51.980 This is through,
00:17:52.820 I'm probably going to
00:17:53.440 mispronounce some of the names
00:17:54.240 of these towns,
00:17:54.840 Decatur,
00:17:55.280 Springfield,
00:17:57.120 Urbana-Champaign.
00:17:59.500 Why is this
00:18:00.480 congressional district
00:18:01.400 look like a weird snake?
00:18:03.940 Well,
00:18:04.460 because,
00:18:05.140 if it just were a plot,
00:18:06.320 if it were a square
00:18:07.040 or a circle
00:18:07.740 or a normal-looking shape,
00:18:09.300 it would include
00:18:10.680 a lot of Republicans.
00:18:12.700 And then,
00:18:13.440 the Democrats
00:18:13.860 would lose a safe seat.
00:18:15.000 So,
00:18:15.460 it just connects
00:18:16.280 a bunch of disparate
00:18:17.400 little Democrat strongholds
00:18:18.740 to give Democrats
00:18:19.480 the seat.
00:18:20.060 Okay.
00:18:20.680 Let's leave Illinois.
00:18:22.580 Let's go,
00:18:23.140 we've been to California.
00:18:24.280 We've been to Illinois.
00:18:24.920 Let's go to Maryland.
00:18:25.920 Maryland CD6.
00:18:28.260 They call this one
00:18:29.180 the earmuff district.
00:18:31.480 It looks like earmuffs.
00:18:33.880 It's right over the top here.
00:18:36.720 You got,
00:18:37.140 it goes down,
00:18:37.660 on the left,
00:18:38.160 it goes down a little bit,
00:18:38.800 on the right,
00:18:39.060 it goes down a little bit,
00:18:39.740 snakes across the top
00:18:40.760 of the state.
00:18:43.620 Why?
00:18:45.200 Because,
00:18:45.580 if it had a normal shape,
00:18:46.900 Democrats could lose the seat.
00:18:48.900 Let's go,
00:18:49.440 you know what,
00:18:49.840 let's go back to Illinois
00:18:50.600 for a second.
00:18:51.580 This one is one of the
00:18:52.920 weirdest ones I've ever seen.
00:18:54.580 Illinois CD4.
00:18:57.620 So,
00:18:58.240 Illinois CD4,
00:19:01.480 hold on,
00:19:02.300 is CD4 the earmuffs district?
00:19:05.040 It's kind of,
00:19:05.640 yeah,
00:19:05.900 no,
00:19:06.080 here,
00:19:06.260 I guess this is,
00:19:06.920 this is,
00:19:08.580 Illinois CD4,
00:19:11.260 no,
00:19:11.420 it doesn't look like earmuffs.
00:19:12.260 This is very confusing,
00:19:13.240 all the Democrat
00:19:13.860 gerrymandered districts.
00:19:15.820 CD4 looks like a big splotch.
00:19:18.500 It looks like a birthmark
00:19:19.480 or something.
00:19:20.200 Starts in Chicago,
00:19:22.300 and,
00:19:23.440 yeah,
00:19:23.660 there we go.
00:19:24.020 Starts in Chicago,
00:19:24.920 moves west,
00:19:25.760 a little tiny bit down
00:19:26.880 to the south,
00:19:27.520 and then west.
00:19:28.320 Then you,
00:19:28.920 you,
00:19:29.240 you meet up with this
00:19:31.040 line,
00:19:32.880 and then it cuts
00:19:33.720 in the upper right
00:19:34.820 into another splotch.
00:19:35.960 It looks like a,
00:19:36.740 a cancerous birthmark.
00:19:40.900 Why?
00:19:42.080 Because that way,
00:19:42.940 Democrats can hold the seat.
00:19:45.140 Eric Holder not whining
00:19:45.960 about that district.
00:19:47.300 Maryland,
00:19:50.660 the other Illinois,
00:19:51.760 all of California,
00:19:52.740 and many,
00:19:53.260 many more.
00:19:53.560 I don't have to have to get
00:19:54.160 through them all on the show.
00:19:57.280 Thus it ever was,
00:19:58.480 thus it will be.
00:19:59.880 This is the best
00:20:00.860 they've got against
00:20:01.580 Trump right now.
00:20:02.320 This is the best,
00:20:03.420 it's sad,
00:20:04.220 actually,
00:20:04.580 to see.
00:20:05.240 After 10 years
00:20:05.940 of calling this man
00:20:06.740 the reincarnation of Hitler,
00:20:08.660 the best they've got
00:20:09.780 to prove that Trump
00:20:10.840 is an authoritarian
00:20:11.680 beyond the pale
00:20:12.620 of normal American politics
00:20:13.980 is
00:20:14.440 some state
00:20:16.940 legislators
00:20:17.800 around the country
00:20:19.400 are
00:20:19.860 gerrymandering,
00:20:21.440 maybe.
00:20:22.880 Sort of things
00:20:23.560 that Democrats
00:20:24.120 have put Republicans
00:20:25.080 to shame to.
00:20:25.720 Look at the most
00:20:26.160 gerrymandered districts.
00:20:27.420 You will see consistently
00:20:28.660 it's the Democrat districts.
00:20:30.480 Republicans do it too,
00:20:31.360 but,
00:20:32.800 and it's their right
00:20:33.400 to do it,
00:20:33.800 by the way.
00:20:34.700 That's a right
00:20:35.400 that they have
00:20:36.020 as legislators.
00:20:37.480 That's the best
00:20:38.120 they got?
00:20:38.640 Okay.
00:20:39.520 Let's turn to other
00:20:40.460 supposed authoritarians.
00:20:42.800 Big news story,
00:20:43.880 you're going to hear it,
00:20:45.080 and since I'm one
00:20:45.960 of the big promoters
00:20:46.760 of this world leader,
00:20:47.940 I want to address it
00:20:49.900 on the show.
00:20:51.600 Naib Bukele,
00:20:52.560 my favorite
00:20:53.100 Latin American strongman,
00:20:55.740 Bukele is the leader
00:20:56.500 of El Salvador.
00:20:58.700 He has just
00:21:00.200 suspended term limits
00:21:02.740 in El Salvador
00:21:03.820 and slightly extended
00:21:05.740 the term
00:21:06.840 of the president's.
00:21:07.940 But,
00:21:09.460 he's suspended
00:21:10.220 term limits,
00:21:11.040 and this has everyone
00:21:11.800 saying he's a dictator.
00:21:13.620 He's an authoritarian
00:21:14.700 dictator
00:21:15.620 because he can run
00:21:16.500 for re-election.
00:21:18.200 Someone posted,
00:21:19.120 some guy,
00:21:19.740 I don't know,
00:21:20.140 it's probably not even
00:21:20.820 a real guy,
00:21:21.260 it's probably just
00:21:21.600 some operative
00:21:22.280 Twitter account.
00:21:23.280 He says,
00:21:23.760 if you admire
00:21:25.220 the man on the left,
00:21:26.400 that's Naib Bukele,
00:21:27.740 more than the man
00:21:28.820 on the right,
00:21:29.960 that's Ukraine's
00:21:30.740 Vladimir Zelensky,
00:21:32.120 you're not a conservative,
00:21:34.560 you're an authoritarian.
00:21:36.460 If you like
00:21:37.380 the leader
00:21:38.160 of El Salvador
00:21:38.820 more than you like
00:21:41.260 the leader
00:21:42.180 of Ukraine,
00:21:43.400 you're not a conservative,
00:21:45.060 you're an authoritarian.
00:21:46.600 This is a hilarious line
00:21:48.380 because
00:21:50.040 only one of these men
00:21:52.620 holds elections.
00:21:53.840 Can you tell me
00:21:55.460 which one it is?
00:21:56.760 I'm going to tell
00:21:57.780 this random Twitter account.
00:22:00.460 It's not the guy
00:22:01.460 on the right.
00:22:01.880 It's actually
00:22:03.600 the authoritarian,
00:22:04.740 awful,
00:22:05.200 fascist,
00:22:05.780 dictator,
00:22:06.560 right wing,
00:22:07.460 whatever.
00:22:08.400 He holds elections.
00:22:10.760 The guy on the right
00:22:12.500 does not,
00:22:13.100 Vladimir Zelensky.
00:22:14.580 So that's the first part.
00:22:17.460 What of getting rid
00:22:18.880 of term limits?
00:22:19.760 Do you know who else
00:22:20.560 campaigned tirelessly
00:22:22.960 to repeal term limits
00:22:25.260 on presidents?
00:22:26.200 Ronald Reagan.
00:22:29.260 All these guys,
00:22:30.420 all these people
00:22:30.940 who insist
00:22:31.840 in this really
00:22:33.000 pedantic,
00:22:34.820 condescending,
00:22:36.280 nebbishy kind of way
00:22:37.400 of the true conservative.
00:22:40.920 You know,
00:22:41.120 I'm a true conservative.
00:22:42.320 That's why I support
00:22:43.200 whatever the liberals
00:22:43.980 want to do in Ukraine
00:22:45.260 or anywhere else
00:22:46.020 because I'm a true conservative.
00:22:47.980 I practically support
00:22:49.280 open borders
00:22:49.780 because I'm a true conservative.
00:22:51.040 Okay.
00:22:52.160 Okay.
00:22:53.440 Well,
00:22:53.920 hold on.
00:22:54.260 Now you're a true conservative
00:22:55.420 because you insist
00:22:58.480 upon term limits
00:22:59.980 for presidents.
00:23:01.360 But all those
00:23:02.120 true conservative conservatives,
00:23:03.820 they all talk about
00:23:04.700 Ronald Reagan
00:23:05.340 as though he were
00:23:06.120 an actual canonized saint,
00:23:08.920 St. Gipper.
00:23:10.700 And yet,
00:23:11.140 Ronald Reagan,
00:23:12.400 by the end
00:23:12.920 of his presidential term,
00:23:14.720 into his early retirement,
00:23:16.620 which was unfortunately
00:23:17.540 interrupted by
00:23:18.500 an Alzheimer's diagnosis,
00:23:19.780 but from the end
00:23:22.360 of his second term
00:23:23.180 through the rest
00:23:24.740 of his public life,
00:23:26.300 Ronald Reagan
00:23:26.860 campaigned tirelessly
00:23:28.180 to repeal term limits
00:23:29.660 because there is
00:23:30.720 a term limit.
00:23:31.800 I break with some
00:23:32.780 of my right-wingers
00:23:33.440 when they insist
00:23:33.880 on term limits
00:23:34.460 for Congress
00:23:34.960 or the Senate
00:23:35.480 or for the president even.
00:23:39.600 I see why they want
00:23:40.940 the term limits
00:23:41.820 because they think
00:23:42.560 that these people
00:23:43.240 can be corrupt.
00:23:44.000 That's obviously true.
00:23:45.520 I just think
00:23:46.080 what they fail to see
00:23:46.980 is that
00:23:47.440 when you insist
00:23:49.480 upon these term limits,
00:23:50.420 all you do
00:23:50.880 is empower
00:23:51.380 the staffers
00:23:52.180 and the lobbyists
00:23:52.960 who can be even
00:23:53.720 more corrupt
00:23:54.220 than the electeds.
00:23:55.440 I'm with Reagan.
00:23:56.900 I'm with Reagan
00:23:57.940 and Bukele
00:23:59.240 and all the actual
00:24:01.040 real conservatives
00:24:01.740 who,
00:24:04.420 one,
00:24:05.840 who have,
00:24:06.400 who support
00:24:06.820 practical matters
00:24:07.840 in elections
00:24:08.880 and lowercase d
00:24:10.440 democratic politics,
00:24:11.580 but who also realize
00:24:12.640 that there is
00:24:13.280 more to politics
00:24:14.480 than just procedure.
00:24:15.400 There are substantive
00:24:16.000 goods.
00:24:17.680 And if your
00:24:18.300 political ideology
00:24:19.800 leads you to ignore
00:24:20.740 substantive goods
00:24:21.660 in favor of some
00:24:22.560 abstract procedure,
00:24:23.880 then maybe you're not
00:24:25.260 quite as conservative
00:24:25.980 as you think.
00:24:26.940 That's just my view.
00:24:27.780 Okay,
00:24:28.100 speaking of presidents,
00:24:29.260 great,
00:24:30.100 great announcement
00:24:30.880 from the White House.
00:24:31.940 The libs
00:24:32.560 are furious.
00:24:34.480 The panicans
00:24:35.640 are humiliated.
00:24:37.040 The plan trusters
00:24:38.000 such as myself
00:24:38.900 totally vindicated.
00:24:40.420 We will talk about
00:24:41.000 that first though.
00:24:41.660 I want to tell you
00:24:42.240 about Pure Talk.
00:24:43.380 You need to go to
00:24:43.900 puretalk.com
00:24:44.600 slash Knowles.
00:24:45.400 How many times
00:24:46.260 have you told someone
00:24:47.800 if it ain't broke,
00:24:48.560 don't fix it?
00:24:49.120 That's true
00:24:49.720 about most things.
00:24:51.080 Good advice.
00:24:52.340 Not always
00:24:53.140 for your cell phone
00:24:53.840 because over time
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00:24:56.800 The processor
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00:24:58.220 It's fallen
00:24:58.740 in the commode
00:24:59.540 one too many times.
00:25:00.980 Fortunately,
00:25:01.720 thanks to Pure Talk,
00:25:03.060 your cell phone
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00:25:24.620 Not a dependable
00:25:25.740 5G network.
00:25:26.540 Not a pretty good
00:25:27.240 network.
00:25:27.700 You listen carefully.
00:25:29.140 I'm saying
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00:25:31.440 I've had my
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00:25:34.500 I absolutely love it.
00:25:35.960 Use it all the time.
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00:25:40.360 Supporting companies
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00:25:59.080 I love this news story.
00:26:03.020 This is kind of a niche
00:26:04.160 news story,
00:26:05.120 but if you know,
00:26:06.580 you know.
00:26:07.560 If you know,
00:26:08.380 you know.
00:26:09.400 I'm just going to read it
00:26:10.360 directly from the
00:26:11.160 Washington Post,
00:26:11.820 which is freaking out
00:26:12.600 about this.
00:26:14.240 The White House
00:26:15.180 has no current plans
00:26:17.220 to mandate
00:26:18.420 insurance coverage
00:26:19.700 for in vitro
00:26:21.340 fertilization.
00:26:24.700 I love this.
00:26:25.680 I know there are going
00:26:26.080 to be many people
00:26:26.580 listening to this show
00:26:27.240 who support in vitro fertilization.
00:26:29.400 Even if you do support
00:26:30.600 in vitro fertilization,
00:26:31.720 do you really think
00:26:32.640 that the White House
00:26:34.860 should be mandating
00:26:36.240 that insurers
00:26:37.540 cover it,
00:26:38.360 meaning mandating
00:26:39.420 that people
00:26:40.120 who disagree
00:26:41.600 with in vitro fertilization,
00:26:43.020 who believe
00:26:43.500 that in vitro fertilization
00:26:44.560 is immoral,
00:26:45.340 that they be forced
00:26:46.580 to spend their money
00:26:47.640 to pay for IVF?
00:26:51.060 Come on.
00:26:52.680 This is a big win.
00:26:54.320 Look how upset
00:26:55.120 the Washington Post
00:26:55.800 is over this.
00:26:56.380 Look at the commentary
00:26:57.700 around this article
00:26:58.580 on social media.
00:26:59.800 It'll show you
00:27:00.320 what side of this
00:27:00.840 you should be on.
00:27:01.360 This is a great move
00:27:02.360 from the White House.
00:27:03.260 Major win for bioethics.
00:27:05.260 Good policy move.
00:27:06.840 Good win for pro-lifers,
00:27:08.340 especially.
00:27:10.140 Because I see why people,
00:27:12.120 I see why people support IVF.
00:27:14.240 We all know someone
00:27:15.300 at this point,
00:27:15.880 or at least know someone
00:27:16.640 who knows someone
00:27:17.140 who was conceived by IVF.
00:27:20.600 And we are tempted,
00:27:22.220 not at a rational level,
00:27:23.180 but at an emotional level,
00:27:23.960 to say,
00:27:24.180 well, I like that
00:27:24.940 my friend exists,
00:27:25.560 so I have to support IVF.
00:27:27.340 Well, my sister
00:27:28.000 couldn't conceive,
00:27:29.420 allegedly.
00:27:30.180 And so,
00:27:30.960 she needed IVF,
00:27:32.120 allegedly.
00:27:32.600 Again, I'm a little skeptical
00:27:33.440 because the minute
00:27:34.740 you have fertility issues,
00:27:35.880 you go to a fertility clinic,
00:27:36.780 they try to sell you IVF.
00:27:38.360 And having gone through
00:27:40.580 fertility struggles
00:27:41.780 for a couple years,
00:27:42.800 they were constantly
00:27:43.420 trying to sell us IVF.
00:27:44.400 We said,
00:27:44.760 no, we're not doing that.
00:27:45.680 Two years later,
00:27:46.420 happily,
00:27:47.380 we were able to get a kid.
00:27:48.720 It doesn't work out
00:27:49.300 for everybody,
00:27:49.780 but a lot of people
00:27:51.800 are told they need IVF
00:27:53.320 and they don't really yet.
00:27:54.640 They haven't exhausted
00:27:55.300 the other options,
00:27:56.560 but even beyond
00:27:57.460 these practical considerations.
00:27:59.360 Let's just take
00:28:00.120 that argument on its head.
00:28:02.300 My nephew wouldn't exist
00:28:03.920 without IVF.
00:28:04.800 Therefore,
00:28:05.740 I have to support IVF
00:28:06.940 and you're crazy
00:28:07.480 if you don't support IVF.
00:28:08.560 Okay.
00:28:10.080 Do you agree?
00:28:13.140 Do you concede
00:28:14.000 that while kids are good,
00:28:17.120 it's good to have kids,
00:28:18.000 do you concede
00:28:19.640 that there are some methods
00:28:21.120 of conception
00:28:21.920 that are immoral?
00:28:24.680 Yes.
00:28:25.600 Everyone would concede that.
00:28:28.280 Rape is a method
00:28:29.880 of conception
00:28:30.460 that is immoral.
00:28:31.600 No one would justify rape.
00:28:32.660 No one would say
00:28:33.020 rape should be legal.
00:28:33.840 No one should say
00:28:34.500 taxpayers should subsidize rape.
00:28:36.600 But,
00:28:37.220 hey,
00:28:37.460 I know someone
00:28:38.580 who was conceived in rape.
00:28:39.920 I know multiple people
00:28:40.620 who were conceived in rape.
00:28:42.600 Doesn't mean those people
00:28:43.460 don't have a right to life.
00:28:44.300 Doesn't mean they don't have
00:28:44.900 the same human dignity
00:28:45.760 as everybody else.
00:28:46.480 Doesn't mean that it's
00:28:47.080 not good that they
00:28:47.940 exist.
00:28:48.360 Doesn't mean any of that stuff.
00:28:49.780 But,
00:28:50.980 likewise,
00:28:53.660 no one would justify
00:28:54.980 the means of their conception.
00:28:56.420 We can be happy
00:28:56.960 for their existence,
00:28:57.900 but we don't need to
00:28:58.600 try to justify
00:28:59.720 the means of their conception
00:29:00.760 when it's obviously immoral.
00:29:02.540 What's another
00:29:03.220 immoral means
00:29:04.040 of procreation?
00:29:05.660 Incest.
00:29:06.220 I don't know.
00:29:06.580 The list goes on and on.
00:29:07.860 So,
00:29:08.120 if you grant
00:29:08.920 that in principle,
00:29:12.180 you know,
00:29:12.480 my nephew
00:29:13.160 wouldn't exist
00:29:13.660 with IVF
00:29:14.260 is not a sufficient
00:29:16.760 argument
00:29:17.820 for IVF
00:29:19.920 because you grant
00:29:21.600 in principle
00:29:22.540 that there are
00:29:23.880 some methods
00:29:24.480 of conception
00:29:25.020 that are immoral,
00:29:26.920 then you need to come up
00:29:27.900 with another argument.
00:29:30.100 And I don't think
00:29:30.840 you can
00:29:31.300 because,
00:29:33.780 this is no knock
00:29:34.500 on people
00:29:34.820 who support IVF.
00:29:35.580 this is a novel
00:29:38.240 technology
00:29:39.220 and a novel
00:29:39.740 moral issue
00:29:40.340 that most people
00:29:41.200 have not even
00:29:41.660 really had the opportunity
00:29:42.680 to consider deeply.
00:29:45.180 But when you think
00:29:46.080 about what IVF entails,
00:29:47.580 practically speaking,
00:29:49.100 practically speaking,
00:29:50.180 it entails
00:29:50.700 the murder
00:29:52.040 of a lot of people
00:29:52.860 because it entails
00:29:54.420 making a lot
00:29:55.020 of human beings
00:29:55.720 in little Petri dishes
00:29:56.920 and test tubes
00:29:57.540 and then either
00:29:58.380 killing them
00:29:59.020 immediately
00:29:59.540 or freezing them
00:30:00.680 for a long time
00:30:01.240 and then killing them
00:30:02.020 or
00:30:02.440 if you are pro-life,
00:30:06.300 if you think
00:30:06.520 life begins
00:30:06.960 at conception,
00:30:08.460 you cannot possibly
00:30:09.500 support IVF.
00:30:10.440 IVF
00:30:10.880 drastically
00:30:12.480 increases
00:30:13.060 the number
00:30:13.380 of abortions
00:30:14.000 by orders
00:30:15.440 of magnitude.
00:30:16.660 It doesn't make
00:30:17.620 any sense.
00:30:18.580 Beyond that,
00:30:19.140 though,
00:30:19.320 what else
00:30:19.660 does IVF do?
00:30:20.620 IVF commoditizes
00:30:21.440 human life.
00:30:22.000 It means you can
00:30:22.340 go to the baby store
00:30:22.960 and buy a baby.
00:30:24.240 Not even just
00:30:24.820 buy a baby,
00:30:25.400 order a baby.
00:30:26.580 Custom order a baby.
00:30:27.740 I want the baby
00:30:28.480 to be this sex.
00:30:29.980 I want the baby
00:30:30.640 to have this kind
00:30:31.480 of genetic background.
00:30:33.360 Soon enough,
00:30:34.220 I want the baby
00:30:34.900 to be likely
00:30:35.840 to be this tall,
00:30:36.840 have this colorized,
00:30:37.800 have these.
00:30:38.520 That's commoditizing
00:30:39.420 human life,
00:30:40.000 but human beings
00:30:40.800 are not commodities
00:30:41.420 to be bought and sold
00:30:42.180 on an open market.
00:30:43.040 This is a question
00:30:43.700 that we were supposed
00:30:44.260 to have resolved
00:30:44.720 a while ago.
00:30:46.140 That's another problem.
00:30:47.880 IVF establishes
00:30:48.880 the domination
00:30:49.260 of science and technology
00:30:50.260 over the origin
00:30:51.180 and destiny
00:30:51.940 of human life.
00:30:53.600 Do you have the right
00:30:54.320 for every generation
00:30:55.420 that follows you
00:30:56.200 to engineer them
00:30:59.140 as though they were
00:30:59.780 your science experiment
00:31:00.900 rather than
00:31:02.820 begotten of you?
00:31:06.040 Rather than
00:31:06.780 the sort of thing
00:31:07.480 that proceeds from you
00:31:08.720 that you do not control
00:31:09.700 but is a subject
00:31:10.760 with proper rights?
00:31:11.920 Of course not.
00:31:13.780 There are many
00:31:14.460 more things to say
00:31:15.640 about IVF.
00:31:17.120 I'll leave it there
00:31:17.820 as people are considering
00:31:18.980 these bioethical implications.
00:31:20.200 And end
00:31:22.360 on the point
00:31:23.540 of the administration.
00:31:24.320 I'll just point out
00:31:24.860 some of my fellow
00:31:27.340 pro-lifers,
00:31:28.320 some of my fellow
00:31:29.260 social conservatives,
00:31:31.800 bioethical conservatives,
00:31:33.120 they've railed
00:31:34.460 against Trump.
00:31:36.260 Trump is,
00:31:37.160 oh, he's turning his back
00:31:38.080 on the pro-lifers.
00:31:39.000 Oh, he's supporting abortion.
00:31:40.320 Oh, he's supporting IVF.
00:31:41.580 Oh, he's doing this.
00:31:42.420 Oh, he's doing that.
00:31:42.900 And I just said,
00:31:43.400 yo, guys,
00:31:44.240 yo, yo.
00:31:47.400 He's the most successful
00:31:48.340 pro-life president
00:31:49.040 in my lifetime.
00:31:49.640 He's the first one
00:31:50.400 to show up to the
00:31:50.880 March for Life
00:31:51.440 in person.
00:31:52.760 He's the one
00:31:53.340 who got Roe v. Wade
00:31:54.120 overturned.
00:31:55.520 He's got a good record.
00:31:57.080 And so if he says something,
00:31:58.260 he sends some tweet,
00:31:59.200 he mentions something
00:31:59.760 on the campaign trail,
00:32:00.800 how about you just chill
00:32:01.700 and give the guy
00:32:02.200 a little bit of grace
00:32:02.860 because he's been
00:32:03.460 your biggest advocate
00:32:04.700 you've ever had
00:32:05.620 in the White House.
00:32:07.160 And how about you just
00:32:08.080 maybe give him
00:32:08.740 a little bit of grace
00:32:09.540 because he keeps
00:32:10.800 doing the right thing,
00:32:12.140 even if sometimes
00:32:12.900 the way he talks about it
00:32:13.760 is confusing.
00:32:16.520 Panicans,
00:32:17.060 yet again,
00:32:17.720 on so many issues,
00:32:18.420 on immigration,
00:32:19.020 on trade,
00:32:20.140 on war,
00:32:21.100 on now on bioethics.
00:32:24.300 Panicans,
00:32:24.980 humiliated,
00:32:26.160 I'm happy to say.
00:32:27.960 Plan trusters,
00:32:28.920 yet again,
00:32:31.000 vindicated.
00:32:31.680 Okay,
00:32:32.020 speaking of bioethics
00:32:32.940 and life and death,
00:32:34.100 this is an amazing
00:32:35.080 about face
00:32:35.700 from the New York Times.
00:32:39.540 Headline from
00:32:40.200 the New York Times.
00:32:41.560 No, hold on.
00:32:42.140 You know what?
00:32:42.460 First,
00:32:42.980 first I'm going to read you
00:32:43.800 a headline that I read
00:32:44.740 on the show
00:32:45.280 a couple weeks ago
00:32:46.380 or something.
00:32:47.420 Here it is.
00:32:48.400 A push for more
00:32:49.420 organ transplants
00:32:50.460 is putting donors
00:32:51.400 at risk.
00:32:53.280 Remember this?
00:32:53.940 I covered this story
00:32:54.540 a week or two ago.
00:32:55.580 People across the United States
00:32:56.580 have endured rushed
00:32:57.280 or premature attempts
00:32:58.040 to remove their organs.
00:32:58.860 Some were gasping,
00:32:59.660 crying,
00:33:00.000 or showing other signs
00:33:00.680 of life.
00:33:01.080 So saying,
00:33:01.640 hey,
00:33:02.280 you check the box
00:33:03.060 on your driver's license
00:33:04.600 and then,
00:33:05.520 you know,
00:33:06.220 you get into a car accident.
00:33:07.300 Your kid gets into
00:33:07.860 a car accident.
00:33:08.660 He's there,
00:33:09.140 he's on life support,
00:33:09.900 and then these scavengers
00:33:11.700 go in and cut him open
00:33:13.100 and take his organs out.
00:33:14.260 And he might be twitching,
00:33:15.240 he might be making sounds,
00:33:16.320 he might be crying,
00:33:17.300 saying don't do that.
00:33:17.960 But they say,
00:33:18.680 no,
00:33:18.820 it's a natural reaction,
00:33:19.940 he's not really alive,
00:33:20.800 whatever,
00:33:21.020 they take his organs out.
00:33:22.020 And I've pointed out
00:33:23.240 for a long time
00:33:23.920 that this is pretty sus
00:33:27.220 because it's based
00:33:29.460 not on actual death
00:33:31.200 but on so-called brain death,
00:33:32.880 which is a dubious definition
00:33:34.360 that came up in the 1960s
00:33:35.800 to deal with
00:33:36.900 emerging technologies
00:33:39.120 and ideologies
00:33:39.820 like this.
00:33:40.780 But that,
00:33:41.480 you know,
00:33:41.740 death is when the soul
00:33:42.560 leaves the body.
00:33:43.960 That's what death is
00:33:45.040 from a classical
00:33:46.980 and medieval perspective.
00:33:49.480 And brain death
00:33:50.780 isn't really that,
00:33:53.060 doesn't really seem like that.
00:33:54.540 And so I said,
00:33:55.040 this is a slippery slope,
00:33:56.480 this is really bad.
00:33:57.360 Not only were
00:33:58.200 social and bioethical
00:34:00.100 conservatives like me
00:34:00.900 saying this,
00:34:01.780 this got so bad
00:34:02.540 even the New York Times
00:34:03.200 said it.
00:34:03.800 And then,
00:34:04.280 what,
00:34:04.460 two weeks later,
00:34:06.280 July 20,
00:34:06.740 no,
00:34:06.940 10 days later,
00:34:08.060 July 20th to July 30th.
00:34:09.820 Opinion essay,
00:34:12.060 donor organs are rare.
00:34:14.160 We need a new definition
00:34:15.060 of death.
00:34:19.980 The New York Times
00:34:20.980 admitting,
00:34:22.620 hey,
00:34:22.920 we're harvesting organs
00:34:24.020 from living people.
00:34:25.980 That's kind of scary,
00:34:27.080 right?
00:34:27.960 New York Times 10 days later,
00:34:29.320 hey,
00:34:29.520 we need to harvest more organs
00:34:30.820 from living people.
00:34:32.060 Give me your organs.
00:34:33.100 That was fast.
00:34:35.980 But of course,
00:34:36.980 that is the inevitable consequence
00:34:38.540 of consequentialist ethics.
00:34:41.080 That is the inevitable consequence
00:34:43.160 of utilitarianism.
00:34:45.460 Well,
00:34:45.900 you know,
00:34:46.120 look,
00:34:47.260 you're all roughed up
00:34:48.080 from this car accident.
00:34:49.300 You might be in a wheelchair
00:34:50.160 the rest of your life.
00:34:51.260 Who knows?
00:34:51.760 You might not even wake up.
00:34:52.880 And we could give your organ
00:34:54.420 to somebody
00:34:55.200 who will walk
00:34:57.100 for the rest of his life.
00:34:58.180 So isn't it worth it?
00:34:59.040 Doesn't he deserve your organ?
00:35:00.960 That's how we think about it.
00:35:03.000 That's how the New York Times
00:35:04.440 thinks about it now.
00:35:06.940 This is what happens
00:35:07.980 when we tell lies.
00:35:11.360 Our present understanding
00:35:13.160 of brain death
00:35:14.480 is a lie
00:35:15.920 because,
00:35:17.840 at least some of the time,
00:35:19.260 it's not really death.
00:35:21.400 So a thing that is not death,
00:35:22.920 we call death
00:35:23.580 and we act as though it is death.
00:35:24.680 And we do that
00:35:25.380 in order to
00:35:26.620 be able to accrue
00:35:28.100 some of the benefits
00:35:28.960 that we get from
00:35:30.040 people's actual death.
00:35:33.040 And give the,
00:35:33.520 and it can be
00:35:34.300 for the best of intentions
00:35:35.180 because you want to save
00:35:36.020 some kid who needs
00:35:37.300 an organ transplant
00:35:37.980 or something.
00:35:38.560 It can be for the best
00:35:39.580 of intentions.
00:35:40.460 The road to hell
00:35:41.040 is paved with good intentions.
00:35:43.380 And this is it.
00:35:44.440 It is,
00:35:45.640 just keep this image
00:35:46.680 seared in your mind.
00:35:47.860 Because when we talk
00:35:48.600 about the slippery slope,
00:35:50.440 when we talk about,
00:35:51.440 oh, well, you know,
00:35:52.120 if you make this moral compromise
00:35:54.100 and you do this
00:35:55.200 immoral thing here,
00:35:56.260 it's going to lead
00:35:57.340 down the road
00:35:58.080 to bad consequences,
00:35:59.680 people say,
00:36:00.320 oh, forget about
00:36:00.940 your slippery slope.
00:36:03.280 Ten days, kids.
00:36:04.720 Ten days.
00:36:05.900 Wow.
00:36:06.980 A push for more
00:36:08.080 organ transplants
00:36:08.880 is putting donors
00:36:09.580 at risk of having
00:36:10.380 their organs harvested
00:36:11.180 while they're living.
00:36:13.460 We need to harvest
00:36:14.420 their organs
00:36:14.840 while they're living.
00:36:17.160 Same paper.
00:36:18.660 Ten days.
00:36:20.200 Now,
00:36:20.820 speaking of the liberal media,
00:36:21.840 a major liberal media journalist
00:36:24.560 has left
00:36:25.320 the Washington Post
00:36:26.440 and the reason why
00:36:28.340 is just delicious.
00:36:29.960 You've asked
00:36:30.540 for years
00:36:31.680 in thousands of comments.
00:36:33.300 Yes,
00:36:33.540 we actually read them,
00:36:34.540 at least some of them.
00:36:35.460 When is Jordan
00:36:36.220 going to answer
00:36:36.920 our questions again?
00:36:38.300 Not celebrities,
00:36:39.160 not headlines,
00:36:39.800 just real people
00:36:40.420 with real problems
00:36:41.080 looking for real answers.
00:36:42.880 Now he is.
00:36:43.960 Jordan B. Peterson's
00:36:44.720 new series,
00:36:45.300 Answer the Call,
00:36:46.160 is going back
00:36:46.720 to where this all started,
00:36:47.700 to speak directly
00:36:48.420 to the people
00:36:48.940 who need it most.
00:36:50.320 You.
00:36:51.160 This is your chance
00:36:51.880 to ask Jordan
00:36:52.500 questions that keep you
00:36:53.500 up at night.
00:36:54.340 Get new episodes
00:36:55.080 of Answer the Call
00:36:55.900 every Monday
00:36:56.720 on the Jordan B. Peterson podcast.
00:37:00.540 My favorite comment yesterday
00:37:01.320 is from LMS2379
00:37:03.000 who says,
00:37:03.620 Michael successfully injects
00:37:05.140 common sense
00:37:05.940 into philosophy.
00:37:07.000 That's very kind of you
00:37:07.740 to say.
00:37:10.020 Philosophy
00:37:10.420 is common sense
00:37:13.180 and should be common sense
00:37:15.020 and was understood
00:37:15.640 to be common sense
00:37:16.460 for most of the history
00:37:18.840 of philosophy.
00:37:19.540 What was philosophy?
00:37:20.640 What is the original image
00:37:24.380 that we in the West
00:37:25.160 have of philosophy?
00:37:26.760 It's Socrates
00:37:27.720 walking around Athens
00:37:28.960 just talking to people,
00:37:30.760 talking to people
00:37:31.400 in a commonsensical way
00:37:32.620 and asking them questions.
00:37:34.120 That's what philosophy was.
00:37:35.500 That is actually
00:37:36.120 the ideal of philosophy.
00:37:38.960 And he wasn't
00:37:40.680 standing there
00:37:41.220 at a chalkboard.
00:37:42.080 He didn't use
00:37:43.120 a lot of jargon.
00:37:44.380 He wasn't writing
00:37:45.740 25,000 page books.
00:37:47.460 He was just walking around,
00:37:48.740 talking to normal people,
00:37:49.780 asking them questions.
00:37:51.640 And that was philosophy.
00:37:55.400 It was sometimes
00:37:56.340 more formalized,
00:37:57.260 especially into the scholastics.
00:37:58.320 But that basically
00:37:58.900 was philosophy
00:37:59.520 through antiquity,
00:38:00.560 through the Middle Ages
00:38:01.900 and the scholastics,
00:38:03.180 up until modernity.
00:38:05.260 And there was a big shift
00:38:06.560 here with Karl Marx
00:38:07.760 because Marx said,
00:38:09.440 philosophy has sought
00:38:10.320 to understand the world,
00:38:11.100 but I want to change the world
00:38:12.080 in the 11th thesis
00:38:13.160 on Feuerbach.
00:38:14.180 But it's not just Marx,
00:38:15.940 and it actually predates
00:38:16.720 Marx a little bit.
00:38:17.620 Philosophy starts to
00:38:18.820 get a little absurd,
00:38:20.780 get a little jargony,
00:38:22.200 get very, very abstract,
00:38:24.640 but abstract in a way
00:38:25.440 that's not merely
00:38:26.680 able to model reality,
00:38:30.800 but is actually
00:38:31.500 divorced from reality.
00:38:32.920 But real good philosophy
00:38:35.940 for most of this
00:38:36.580 degree of philosophy
00:38:37.220 has been complementary
00:38:39.520 complementary to common sense.
00:38:41.520 Okay.
00:38:42.380 Speaking of the liberal media,
00:38:43.580 Jonathan Capehart,
00:38:44.980 Jonathan Capehart
00:38:45.840 is leaving
00:38:46.820 the Washington Post.
00:38:48.740 He is a major
00:38:49.820 liberal journalist.
00:38:51.940 Here is why.
00:38:54.840 Folks will have noticed
00:38:55.960 that we introduced you
00:38:56.800 slightly differently tonight
00:38:57.840 than we usually do.
00:38:59.080 We should point out
00:38:59.680 after nearly two decades
00:39:01.280 at the Washington Post,
00:39:02.440 you recently made
00:39:03.200 the decision to leave.
00:39:04.280 I just wanted to give you
00:39:04.960 a chance to speak directly
00:39:05.960 to our audience
00:39:06.620 to tell them why.
00:39:07.480 Well, the direction
00:39:11.220 of the opinion section
00:39:13.060 changed.
00:39:14.360 Jeff Bezos,
00:39:15.180 the owner of
00:39:15.840 the Washington Post,
00:39:16.580 as is his right,
00:39:17.880 decided that he wanted
00:39:18.940 the section to focus
00:39:20.960 on the twin pillars
00:39:21.780 of personal liberties
00:39:23.400 and free markets.
00:39:25.180 And it became clear
00:39:26.720 as time went along,
00:39:27.840 and especially when he chose
00:39:29.120 a new leader
00:39:29.920 for the section,
00:39:31.160 that there was just
00:39:32.200 not going to be
00:39:33.220 any room
00:39:34.120 for a voice like mine,
00:39:35.940 especially when,
00:39:37.180 we were told
00:39:37.960 that we would have
00:39:38.660 to be unapologetically
00:39:39.920 patriotic
00:39:40.800 in talking about
00:39:41.440 the positive things
00:39:42.260 happening in the country.
00:39:44.320 So there it is.
00:39:46.420 Take out,
00:39:47.080 he says,
00:39:47.560 look,
00:39:47.820 I want the page
00:39:48.980 to be a little more
00:39:49.540 pro-free markets.
00:39:50.420 Okay, whatever.
00:39:51.240 But pages have a slant,
00:39:53.280 and some people
00:39:53.900 disagree with it,
00:39:54.740 and I don't,
00:39:56.000 you see what really
00:39:56.760 gets him riled up here.
00:39:58.600 You saw the ask
00:39:59.760 that was simply too great.
00:40:01.840 That's when he said,
00:40:02.680 hey, journalists,
00:40:04.360 you need to be patriotic.
00:40:06.000 You need to,
00:40:08.440 he asked two things.
00:40:09.820 He said,
00:40:10.480 you need to be patriotic,
00:40:11.800 and you need to talk
00:40:13.700 about positive things
00:40:15.420 about the country.
00:40:17.100 I don't even think
00:40:17.500 he said exclusively,
00:40:18.540 but he just,
00:40:19.500 sometimes,
00:40:20.920 you have to make
00:40:22.460 any positive observation
00:40:24.760 about the country,
00:40:25.580 and you have to love
00:40:27.440 your country,
00:40:28.020 not hate your country.
00:40:29.100 That was too much
00:40:31.460 to ask.
00:40:32.740 This guy,
00:40:33.420 Jonathan Capehart,
00:40:33.920 I'm out.
00:40:34.760 I have to be a patriot?
00:40:36.460 I'm out.
00:40:38.020 I have to say
00:40:39.040 any positive thing
00:40:40.460 about America
00:40:41.020 ever even once?
00:40:43.060 Nope.
00:40:43.840 I would rather
00:40:44.600 lose my job
00:40:46.080 than do such a thing.
00:40:50.380 Is it too much?
00:40:50.900 There are going to be
00:40:51.300 some people who say,
00:40:52.360 well,
00:40:52.660 actually,
00:40:53.200 a journalist should be
00:40:53.920 totally neutral
00:40:54.540 and above everything
00:40:55.380 and indifferent to all,
00:40:56.920 and he just needs,
00:40:58.080 he can't be a patriot.
00:40:59.320 Good grief.
00:41:00.460 No one can be neutral
00:41:01.760 about everything.
00:41:02.540 We're not blank slates.
00:41:04.320 We're not a tabula rasa.
00:41:06.420 We're human beings.
00:41:08.900 We have desires.
00:41:10.200 We have prejudices.
00:41:11.280 We have affections.
00:41:12.720 We have loyalties.
00:41:13.600 We have bonds of kinship.
00:41:14.720 We have countries.
00:41:17.820 You can tell the truth
00:41:19.680 while being a human being.
00:41:24.960 It is possible.
00:41:27.140 Can liberal journalists
00:41:27.960 tell the truth?
00:41:28.680 No.
00:41:30.020 And they go even further.
00:41:31.040 They can't even tell the truth
00:41:31.820 about being human beings.
00:41:32.780 Okay.
00:41:33.400 Well, he's out.
00:41:34.120 See ya.
00:41:35.940 I've got to get to
00:41:36.960 the story that I wanted to avoid.
00:41:40.720 Cynthia Erivo.
00:41:43.040 Cynthia Erivo.
00:41:44.940 She's this actress.
00:41:47.020 Looks a little bit funny sometimes.
00:41:49.480 She's an actress.
00:41:50.060 I'm not commenting even
00:41:51.220 on her natural appearance.
00:41:52.200 I'm saying she sometimes
00:41:53.440 in performances,
00:41:54.540 she has really long,
00:41:55.920 pointy, scary nails.
00:41:57.660 Lots of tons of,
00:41:58.680 tons of piercings
00:42:01.200 and kind of hunched over.
00:42:02.520 And that's,
00:42:03.140 that's how Cynthia Erivo,
00:42:05.860 a woman,
00:42:06.940 decided that she would play
00:42:08.680 Christ
00:42:10.460 in Jesus Christ Superstar
00:42:12.340 at the Hollywood Bowl.
00:42:13.100 I've been waiting for you.
00:42:16.720 Yeah!
00:42:18.760 I've been waiting for you.
00:42:21.260 Yeah!
00:42:22.800 Every time I look at you,
00:42:25.920 I don't understand
00:42:28.480 why you love the things you did
00:42:34.440 get so out of hand.
00:42:39.120 You'd manage better
00:42:40.620 if you had
00:42:42.780 my blood.
00:42:45.820 Oh!
00:42:54.920 That's enough.
00:42:55.680 That's all I need
00:42:56.320 of the,
00:42:56.900 of the performance.
00:42:59.060 You know,
00:42:59.320 the one thing I'll say
00:43:00.000 for Cynthia Erivo,
00:43:00.840 she is striking looking.
00:43:02.620 So,
00:43:03.200 which is helpful
00:43:03.920 for actors.
00:43:04.580 It is,
00:43:04.880 and the brand
00:43:05.260 of striking looking.
00:43:06.060 Okay.
00:43:07.200 What does the director say?
00:43:10.400 Cynthia's brilliant.
00:43:11.140 Her voice,
00:43:11.720 presence,
00:43:12.180 and simultaneous power
00:43:13.260 and vulnerability
00:43:13.820 absolutely blows my mind.
00:43:15.160 Working with her
00:43:15.760 has been a dream.
00:43:16.420 I'm excited
00:43:16.960 by the challenge
00:43:17.800 of presenting
00:43:18.580 the audience
00:43:19.040 with a production
00:43:19.780 led by a female
00:43:20.760 black Jesus
00:43:21.900 and encourage the audience
00:43:23.640 to expand their minds a bit.
00:43:25.880 Originally utilizing
00:43:27.200 rock and roll,
00:43:28.040 Jesus Christ Superstar
00:43:28.880 is supposed to provoke
00:43:29.720 and challenge.
00:43:30.340 That's the point.
00:43:31.380 And shouldn't the teachings
00:43:32.040 of Jesus transcend gender?
00:43:35.060 And this is going to convince
00:43:36.180 some Christians
00:43:37.180 because obviously
00:43:40.000 Christ's teachings,
00:43:41.480 well,
00:43:41.720 it's not that they
00:43:42.160 transcend gender.
00:43:43.400 It's that they speak
00:43:44.400 to both genders.
00:43:45.500 They speak to men
00:43:46.120 and to women.
00:43:48.160 But even if,
00:43:51.180 let's just grant the premise
00:43:52.680 that Christ's teaching
00:43:54.420 transcends gender.
00:43:57.000 Christ does not transcend gender.
00:43:59.660 And this is a real
00:44:00.740 stumbling block for people.
00:44:03.780 Christ does not transcend gender
00:44:06.340 in that Christ is a man.
00:44:09.060 Christ has a holy mother,
00:44:10.380 the Virgin Mary.
00:44:12.740 It's not,
00:44:13.180 the whole story
00:44:13.600 isn't all just men,
00:44:14.280 but Christ is a man.
00:44:16.860 And this is the part
00:44:18.260 that is just impossible
00:44:21.040 for people to understand.
00:44:24.240 This has been,
00:44:25.740 and especially in the
00:44:28.200 fullest extent
00:44:29.420 in the crucifixion,
00:44:30.600 this has been
00:44:31.320 a stumbling block
00:44:32.600 in foolishness.
00:44:34.340 This is,
00:44:35.180 just to quote,
00:44:35.800 1 Corinthians chapter 1,
00:44:37.420 20 to 25.
00:44:38.380 Where is the wise man?
00:44:39.160 Where is the scribe?
00:44:39.780 Where is the debater
00:44:40.380 of his age,
00:44:41.000 of this age?
00:44:42.600 Has not God made foolish
00:44:44.100 the wisdom of the world?
00:44:45.300 For since in the wisdom of God
00:44:46.560 the world did not know God
00:44:47.900 through wisdom,
00:44:48.580 it pleased God
00:44:49.340 through the folly
00:44:49.980 of what we preach
00:44:50.700 to save those who believe.
00:44:52.160 For Jews demand signs
00:44:53.500 and Greeks seek wisdom.
00:44:55.140 But we preach
00:44:56.140 Christ crucified,
00:44:57.780 a stumbling block
00:44:58.740 to Jews
00:44:59.340 and folly
00:45:00.520 to Gentiles.
00:45:01.740 But to those who are called,
00:45:03.020 both Jews and Greeks,
00:45:04.040 Christ the power of God
00:45:05.040 and the wisdom of God.
00:45:06.240 For the foolishness of God
00:45:07.360 is wiser than men
00:45:08.340 and the weakness of God
00:45:09.580 is stronger than men.
00:45:10.680 This is the key here.
00:45:13.000 Here,
00:45:13.560 St. Paul is writing
00:45:14.220 about the crucifixion,
00:45:15.360 but we can extend this
00:45:16.780 even to the whole
00:45:17.960 of the incarnation.
00:45:19.120 This is a stumbling block
00:45:20.300 to Jews
00:45:20.960 because
00:45:22.760 in the Jewish understanding,
00:45:25.760 God's not supposed
00:45:26.360 to be a man.
00:45:28.820 This is folly
00:45:29.920 to Gentiles.
00:45:30.620 This is ridiculous
00:45:31.880 to Gentiles.
00:45:33.400 Not just that,
00:45:34.580 as St. Paul is describing,
00:45:35.620 that God can be crucified,
00:45:37.500 but how can God
00:45:38.400 be crucified?
00:45:38.780 Because God
00:45:39.360 has a human nature
00:45:40.780 in Christ.
00:45:43.280 A divine nature
00:45:44.240 and a human nature
00:45:45.080 together.
00:45:47.720 And that means
00:45:49.020 Christ is a man,
00:45:50.180 which means
00:45:50.840 he looked like something.
00:45:51.820 And he didn't look like Cynthia.
00:45:52.740 He looks like something,
00:45:53.760 I should say.
00:45:55.380 But during his sojourn
00:45:56.600 on earth,
00:45:57.040 he looked a certain way.
00:45:59.000 Glorified body
00:45:59.620 looks a little bit different too,
00:46:00.780 but in the resurrection.
00:46:02.320 But
00:46:02.500 he doesn't look like Cynthia Erivo.
00:46:05.160 He does in the sense
00:46:05.900 that we're all human beings.
00:46:07.100 But he
00:46:07.840 is a certain height.
00:46:09.940 He's a certain sex.
00:46:11.360 He has certain hair.
00:46:12.820 He is a certain race.
00:46:14.780 He is,
00:46:15.440 he's particular.
00:46:16.860 There is a particularity
00:46:18.120 to God.
00:46:20.060 That is
00:46:21.020 a fact
00:46:22.420 of the Christian faith.
00:46:23.520 A fact revealed
00:46:24.480 in the Christian faith.
00:46:25.440 That is
00:46:26.300 a stumbling block
00:46:27.700 to Jews
00:46:28.100 and folly
00:46:28.520 to Gentiles.
00:46:30.100 And all these people,
00:46:30.940 these directors,
00:46:31.860 oh,
00:46:32.380 how wise they are.
00:46:33.200 Imagine though,
00:46:34.020 what if
00:46:34.720 Christ
00:46:35.880 were
00:46:36.800 Cynthia Erivo?
00:46:38.340 And again,
00:46:38.820 not just,
00:46:39.260 it's not even just about
00:46:40.060 her natural appearance.
00:46:40.980 It's
00:46:41.180 the long,
00:46:42.560 pointy nails.
00:46:44.120 It's all of the mutilations,
00:46:45.720 all of the
00:46:47.260 piercings
00:46:49.680 and all the rest of it
00:46:50.580 being hunched over.
00:46:51.980 It's a presentation
00:46:53.400 that I think
00:46:55.860 is intentionally
00:46:56.940 or unintentionally
00:46:57.880 looks,
00:46:59.640 doesn't quite look divine.
00:47:02.760 That's
00:47:03.160 the issue.
00:47:03.900 And it comes out
00:47:04.820 of a scandal.
00:47:05.560 All these wise people,
00:47:06.300 imagine if.
00:47:07.480 But listen,
00:47:08.000 I'm going to show you
00:47:08.360 how smart we are.
00:47:08.980 Imagine if
00:47:09.840 Christ were a woman.
00:47:12.380 Imagine if,
00:47:13.140 imagine if.
00:47:13.700 Yeah.
00:47:14.340 That sounds to me
00:47:15.560 like the
00:47:17.300 thought of the wise man,
00:47:18.840 the scribe,
00:47:19.560 the debater of this age.
00:47:21.640 But the foolishness of God
00:47:22.860 is wiser than men.
00:47:24.380 Okay.
00:47:25.140 Now,
00:47:25.660 speaking of Christianity,
00:47:26.700 one story,
00:47:27.160 I have to get
00:47:27.860 to,
00:47:28.480 this was called
00:47:29.180 to my attention
00:47:30.000 by my very
00:47:31.700 hip,
00:47:32.980 cool,
00:47:34.220 pop culture oriented
00:47:35.580 Protestant producer,
00:47:36.740 Mr. Davies.
00:47:37.700 Have you heard of
00:47:39.180 Forrest Frank?
00:47:42.120 Is that the name?
00:47:43.100 Am I getting the name right?
00:47:43.980 I'm not intentionally
00:47:44.620 getting it wrong,
00:47:45.180 Mr. Davies.
00:47:46.500 That's correct.
00:47:47.480 Forrest Frank.
00:47:48.280 Forrest Frank is a pop musician
00:47:49.900 and he has a song
00:47:52.000 that just hit number one
00:47:53.160 everywhere,
00:47:53.860 I guess,
00:47:54.340 Lemonade.
00:47:55.540 And he wrote
00:47:56.500 another song
00:47:57.180 recently
00:47:58.040 while he was
00:47:59.140 waylaid
00:47:59.920 and it's called
00:48:00.880 God's Got My Back
00:48:01.800 and he wrote that song
00:48:02.740 because this guy
00:48:03.700 was skateboarding.
00:48:05.120 He's got blonde tips,
00:48:06.760 he's always smiling,
00:48:07.860 kind of funny facial hair
00:48:08.940 and writes
00:48:10.600 pop guitar songs
00:48:11.580 about worship.
00:48:12.220 This man is the most
00:48:13.560 perfect
00:48:15.000 American Protestant
00:48:16.120 there has ever been.
00:48:18.420 This guy,
00:48:18.820 so,
00:48:19.180 but here's the story.
00:48:20.680 He's waylaid,
00:48:21.240 he writes this song.
00:48:22.980 Broke his back.
00:48:25.320 Now he's claiming
00:48:26.300 a miraculous healing.
00:48:30.780 Guys.
00:48:34.480 Do you want to tell them?
00:48:35.860 What do you mean?
00:48:36.900 I'll tell them.
00:48:38.300 Guys.
00:48:39.900 So I broke my back
00:48:41.160 exactly two weeks ago.
00:48:42.620 It's today,
00:48:43.220 day 14.
00:48:43.720 I got an X-ray
00:48:47.420 and a CAT scan.
00:48:49.160 It showed
00:48:49.840 that I had
00:48:51.000 multiple fractures.
00:48:52.180 Could not move
00:48:52.780 an inch without
00:48:53.560 excuse anything.
00:48:54.880 I wake up today,
00:48:56.880 forget to put on
00:48:58.320 my back brace,
00:48:59.580 just start
00:49:00.160 doing the morning.
00:49:01.800 I pick Bodhi up
00:49:03.440 and then I realized,
00:49:04.880 wait,
00:49:05.180 I'm not wearing my brace.
00:49:07.080 What is going on?
00:49:08.760 I'm wearing my brace
00:49:09.660 right now for a precaution.
00:49:10.680 Order an urgent X-ray,
00:49:12.580 go get the X-ray,
00:49:13.560 I have complete healing
00:49:15.260 in my back.
00:49:16.180 I have no fractures
00:49:17.180 in my back.
00:49:18.320 No sign of a fracture
00:49:19.880 in my back.
00:49:21.060 So,
00:49:21.760 praise God,
00:49:23.300 we saw a miracle.
00:49:24.900 Mwah.
00:49:28.720 It's pretty cool, huh?
00:49:30.420 As I mentioned,
00:49:31.980 I'm not familiar
00:49:32.740 with this guy.
00:49:34.440 Whenever I hear
00:49:35.000 claims of a miracle,
00:49:36.340 I,
00:49:37.400 it's not,
00:49:37.880 it's not even
00:49:38.380 that I'm skeptical.
00:49:39.380 It's just that
00:49:39.840 I want more information.
00:49:41.700 I want to test
00:49:42.540 all natural hypotheses
00:49:44.060 first.
00:49:44.760 I'm not calling
00:49:45.240 the guy a liar.
00:49:47.140 I don't,
00:49:47.400 he seems like
00:49:47.820 a very nice guy.
00:49:49.660 For me,
00:49:50.400 I have stuffier
00:49:51.520 musical tastes.
00:49:52.640 When I want
00:49:53.160 Protestant praise
00:49:53.920 and worship music,
00:49:54.840 I turn to
00:49:55.580 Johann Sebastian Bach.
00:49:56.880 But,
00:49:57.480 this guy writes
00:49:58.100 some bops,
00:49:58.660 there's no doubt
00:49:59.160 about it.
00:50:00.000 Obviously,
00:50:00.780 50 million Frenchmen
00:50:01.540 can't be wrong.
00:50:02.020 But,
00:50:04.400 it is entirely
00:50:06.540 possible
00:50:07.100 that this guy
00:50:08.480 had a miraculous
00:50:09.500 healing.
00:50:11.000 And this,
00:50:11.340 this calls to mind
00:50:12.280 St. Thomas'
00:50:13.040 teaching on miracles.
00:50:14.520 Which is,
00:50:15.340 one,
00:50:15.880 do miracles exist?
00:50:18.100 The answer is yes.
00:50:21.100 Why is that?
00:50:22.760 Because miracles
00:50:23.820 are supernatural.
00:50:26.240 So,
00:50:26.580 they go beyond
00:50:27.260 the natural order.
00:50:28.100 Now,
00:50:28.740 if you
00:50:29.280 even just acknowledge
00:50:30.720 that the natural order
00:50:31.960 exists,
00:50:32.640 you know,
00:50:33.340 time and space
00:50:34.080 and stuff
00:50:34.500 and all that,
00:50:35.540 if you acknowledge
00:50:36.340 that the natural order
00:50:38.440 rests upon something
00:50:40.080 or someone,
00:50:41.500 if you acknowledge
00:50:42.160 that the natural order
00:50:43.320 is not sufficient
00:50:44.300 to explain itself
00:50:45.500 and its origins
00:50:46.480 and its,
00:50:47.140 its continuation,
00:50:49.080 then you are granting,
00:50:50.820 using your natural reason
00:50:51.780 from the natural order,
00:50:53.180 that there is such a thing
00:50:54.120 as a supernatural order.
00:50:55.860 You are,
00:50:56.280 you are,
00:50:56.960 you are,
00:50:58.020 looking beyond nature
00:50:59.120 given the evidence
00:51:00.080 that you have from nature.
00:51:00.960 Okay,
00:51:01.180 so miracles can
00:51:02.060 in principle happen.
00:51:03.440 If you're a Christian,
00:51:04.140 you think miracles
00:51:04.860 certainly happened
00:51:05.500 in the Bible,
00:51:07.340 the Old Testament,
00:51:08.120 the New Testament,
00:51:08.820 the Book of Acts.
00:51:11.040 Do they happen today?
00:51:13.220 I think they do.
00:51:14.080 The Christian tradition
00:51:14.920 is that they do happen today.
00:51:16.340 I see evidence
00:51:16.880 of miracles all over the place.
00:51:18.500 One of these might be too.
00:51:19.920 So,
00:51:20.820 then what are miracles?
00:51:22.480 Well,
00:51:22.900 miracles are ways
00:51:24.080 to point beyond
00:51:26.380 the natural order,
00:51:27.520 to the supernatural order.
00:51:28.940 You can know
00:51:29.400 some things about God
00:51:30.300 just from nature,
00:51:31.080 like God's existence,
00:51:32.320 but you can know
00:51:32.700 other things about God
00:51:33.440 from the supernatural order.
00:51:34.560 And St. Thomas,
00:51:35.560 in the Summa Theologiae,
00:51:36.700 in the Summa Secunda Secundae,
00:51:38.800 I think it's question 178,
00:51:40.620 says that,
00:51:41.800 that there are two kinds
00:51:42.700 of miracles.
00:51:45.100 Miracles
00:51:45.580 that are wrought
00:51:46.720 to point
00:51:48.660 to the holiness
00:51:49.440 of
00:51:50.400 an assertion
00:51:52.040 and miracles
00:51:54.000 that are wrought
00:51:54.660 to point
00:51:56.000 to the holiness
00:51:56.540 of an individual person.
00:51:58.960 So,
00:51:59.600 there's one,
00:52:00.440 and he describes
00:52:01.260 St. Jerome,
00:52:02.100 I think,
00:52:02.440 writing about
00:52:03.080 the Gospel
00:52:04.240 of St. Matthew,
00:52:05.980 where
00:52:06.360 it says,
00:52:07.620 people
00:52:07.920 who are imperfect,
00:52:09.340 people who are even
00:52:09.940 downright bad people,
00:52:11.280 can perform miracles
00:52:12.280 calling on the name
00:52:13.040 of Christ.
00:52:14.720 And
00:52:15.020 when they call
00:52:15.660 on the name
00:52:15.920 of Christ,
00:52:16.380 they can,
00:52:18.020 miracles can happen.
00:52:18.980 And that
00:52:19.860 is to show
00:52:20.640 the power of Christ.
00:52:23.000 Nothing about
00:52:23.800 the person
00:52:24.600 through whom
00:52:25.120 the miracle happens,
00:52:26.320 but the power
00:52:27.120 of Christ,
00:52:27.720 that God's power
00:52:29.360 is far greater
00:52:30.980 than our weaknesses.
00:52:33.000 He says there's
00:52:33.480 a second way,
00:52:34.100 which is to point
00:52:34.780 to the holiness
00:52:35.220 of a person.
00:52:35.820 Here he points
00:52:36.320 to the book
00:52:36.960 of Acts,
00:52:37.720 where St. Paul
00:52:38.740 is,
00:52:39.440 people are touching
00:52:40.420 handkerchiefs to him
00:52:41.400 and then bringing it
00:52:41.940 to sick people
00:52:42.480 and feeling the relic
00:52:44.260 or the handkerchief
00:52:45.000 heals the person.
00:52:47.040 And that's to point
00:52:47.860 to the sanctity
00:52:49.080 of Paul
00:52:49.820 and the authority
00:52:50.340 that Paul has in Christ.
00:52:51.700 And that's,
00:52:52.300 but those are two
00:52:53.340 distinct ways
00:52:54.800 in which miracles happen,
00:52:56.180 both of which point
00:52:57.360 ultimately to God's glory,
00:52:59.340 to the reality
00:53:00.860 of Christ
00:53:01.460 and God's glory
00:53:02.280 and
00:53:03.940 the authority
00:53:05.360 of,
00:53:06.140 well,
00:53:07.020 the authority
00:53:07.420 of the mystical
00:53:08.400 body of Christ,
00:53:09.060 the authority
00:53:09.440 of the church.
00:53:10.660 And so,
00:53:11.700 getting to
00:53:12.460 what we were just
00:53:13.040 talking about
00:53:13.260 with Cynthia Erivo,
00:53:14.960 a real scandal
00:53:17.200 for people
00:53:17.560 is the particularity
00:53:18.580 of Christianity.
00:53:20.920 God's a man
00:53:21.720 and he has a mother
00:53:23.160 and he has apostles
00:53:25.180 who pick successors
00:53:28.040 and he establishes
00:53:29.440 a church
00:53:29.960 and he gives people
00:53:30.640 particular power
00:53:31.560 and particular sacraments
00:53:32.620 and it's also particular.
00:53:33.900 And that's just,
00:53:34.540 for the Greeks
00:53:35.080 who are so waylaid
00:53:36.860 by philosophy,
00:53:37.820 abstract philosophy,
00:53:38.700 they can't,
00:53:39.200 they don't like
00:53:39.620 the particularity of it.
00:53:41.000 And for the Jews
00:53:41.860 as well,
00:53:42.660 they don't like
00:53:44.000 the imminence
00:53:44.800 of it.
00:53:47.080 But it's forever,
00:53:48.540 so it's everyone,
00:53:49.280 you know,
00:53:49.500 Jew and Greek,
00:53:50.020 that's everybody.
00:53:50.960 And yet,
00:53:53.040 there you have it.
00:53:53.800 That's how God
00:53:54.180 chooses to reveal himself.
00:53:55.340 And he reveals himself
00:53:56.060 in very particular ways
00:53:57.060 and in particular miracles
00:53:58.280 and maybe
00:53:59.040 even a miracle
00:54:00.420 to Mr. Forrest Frank.
00:54:01.640 Okay.
00:54:02.460 Today is Music Monday.
00:54:03.420 Speaking of music,
00:54:04.100 the rest of the show
00:54:04.600 continues now.
00:54:05.160 You don't want to miss it.
00:54:06.000 Become a member.
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00:54:10.140 We'll see you next time.