Georgia Howe (3:02)

Did you get any arguments from them that you weren't expecting or was it things that you were pretty much prepared for?

Allie Beth Stuckey (3:08)

You know, it's hard when you have 20 people and you don't know who they are beforehand and they know roughly what subjects you're going to talk about. And so they have all of these tools in their tool belt when it comes to these different subjects ready to go. And it's tough because you have no, no idea what people are going to say. And so there were certainly things that were brought up that put me on the spot that I didn't necessarily know about in the moment. And really the last thing you want to do in these fast paced debates is look like you don't know or stop or stumble or stumble or stammer. And so I didn't want to do that. So you kind of have to bob and weave a little bit when they bring up obscure Greek words. Do you know what this Greek or Hebrew word means? Do you know what this is in the original Greek? Do you know Exodus 21:2? And in the moment when it's so fast paced, I didn't. And what you have to do though is you have to have some strategy to be able to always play to your strengths and to go back to what you do know. So rather than going down the rabbit trail, I always just tried to say, let's bring it back to my claim. And that kind of helped put me in a position to be able to defend my argument.

Georgia Howe (4:10)

Now, would you have any notes for either yourself or anyone going forward for preparing for this kind of thing, especially for people who are interested in kind of carrying that torch forward, especially on college campuses and such?

Allie Beth Stuckey (4:21)

Yeah, gosh, there are so many things. I did an episode on it that I just recorded as we're recording this, kind of giving my tips for what to do. And I think a couple things that I would say I won't give all of them because there's like 12, but I would say connect without compromise. That's one of them. So form that human Connection, display compassion and kindness without compromise, without affirming what they are saying. It's possible to do that, to acknowledge that maybe they're feeling pain or maybe they did go through that difficult thing, or maybe that has been that their experience. But here's what scripture says. And always go back to your authority. Always go back to what the word of God says. It's not your opinion, it's not your talent or perspective that you're bringing to the table. When you rely on the word of God, that's a really safe place to be. And again, go back to the claims. Whenever they try to distract you with different red herrings or go down that rabbit trail, don't follow them. You are in charge of this conversation. You define the terms, you set the tone, and you set the parameters. Stay within that, no matter where they try to take you, and you'll be a lot more successful.

Georgia Howe (5:27)

Well, and that probably applies to any kind of topic in debate.

Allie Beth Stuckey (5:31)

Yes.

Georgia Howe (5:31)

Now, you obviously are in a lot of evangelism circles. You do it somewhat from your platform, but also I think you're probably connected to people who do it in real life. And that seems to be bearing fruit. In the past few years, we've seen trends of a lot of young Americans, in particular the. That are heading back to church. What are you hearing from the front lines of people who are connecting with these young people? What's attractive to them about Christianity, and what are some of the really successful ways they've been able to reach people?

Allie Beth Stuckey (6:02)

Yeah, gosh. Especially in the past few weeks, and a lot of people are calling it the Charlie Kirk effect. I've seen so many trends that Bible sales are up, that church attendance is up, that people are downloading the Bible app. They just want to know, like, what was this faith that this person was willing to die for? They've seen the Charlie clips going around, and maybe they didn't realize before that he wasn't primarily a political activist. He primarily was an apologist and an evangelist. And millions of people, I believe, have heard the gospel for the first time ever in the past few weeks. And they want to know, wait, what is this? You're telling me I can be free from sin? You're telling me I can be satisfied? You're telling me I can find deep joy no matter what my circumstances are and that I can have a relationship with God? Tell me more about that. And I'm so thankful for that. And I just want to make sure that we who are Christians, that we meet this moment with clarity. There's a confused and chaotic and hurting world out there. And they are wondering what is true, what is joy. And it's our job as Christians to be a refuge for them and to be prepared to give a reason for the hope that we have, which first and foremost means knowing our word, knowing why we believe what we do, and being able to articulate that with love.

Georgia Howe (7:12)

Now I want to pivot a little bit. I know this is kind of like last week's news, but Taylor Swift has a new album. I know you have some very strong feelings about that. What do you find most troublesome about Taylor Swift just writ large?

Allie Beth Stuckey (7:26)

Yes. Well, I think that she engages in very toxic relationships and friendships and mentalities about romance and herself. I think that ultimately, as we all did, by the way, at one point before we were Christians, but we see this, you know, glorified through her music. I think she worships the God of self. Like, I think that she is the main character in her life and her songs and her relationships. And you really see that come out in how she communicates and the messages that she conveys. And, you know, I was a teenager, listened to Taylor Swift when I first started driving. That Fearless album was like an anthem of independence and it was really fun. But she was singing about teenage stuff. When we were teenagers, she was singing about teardrops on her guitar. When I graduated from college, she was talking about happy, free, confused and lonely at the same time. Yeah, I was 22 and I felt those things too. But now she's in her 30s and teenagers are still listening to her. But she's talking about being sexually active with someone who's not her husband. And so it's different. Like it's a different person, it's a different kind of music. It's a different brand. And I think Christians and especially Christian mothers need to be extremely cognizant of that.

Georgia Howe (8:37)

Now, a lot of conservatives, Donald Trump most saliently, have gone after Taylor Swift and Swifties by extension. And she's become sort of left wing coded. I've often thought that that might be a strategic mistake since, you know, we need to be winning these young women, not alienating them. And just from a pragmatic standpoint, they're not radicals. These are generally young heterosexual women. They're just out there trying to find their own Travis Kelce So in that regard, they're sort of low hanging fruit for conservatives. What are your thoughts on that?

Allie Beth Stuckey (9:09)

Yeah, I don't know. I. I mean, I don't think that it's the most winsome thing to like personally attack her, but to criticize the principles that she stands for and to appeal to a Christian authority, the Bible, and trying to convince Christian women to follow a different example and to have their daughters follow a different example. It's going to turn off some people, sure, that's true. But I've always been primarily concerned with those who identify as Christians. Like the world is going to world, the secular is going to secular. That's just what they're going to do. But for Christian women who all say that we abide by a particular standard, I want to help those women think biblically as best as I can as a finite person about culture and politics and morality. And Taylor Swift, I'm so happy she's getting married and I'm thrilled for her and I want her to like be so happy and to have kids and also to like follow Christ. I think it's actually very attractive to the right people when we are unwavering on that. I'm just not seeker sensitive. I just really believe that people who are searching for the truth will be looking for it and will find it attractive.

Georgia Howe (10:17)

So I want to ask you about your conference that you just hosted. Tell us about.

Allie Beth Stuckey (10:21)

Share the arrows yes, definitely not Taylor Swift concert, very different than that. And yet we had almost 7,000 women. And that is like almost unheard of, honestly, for a conference, for any conference, but certainly like a conservative conference, a conservative Christian conference. It was just a stunning number. And I'll tell you, a lot of those tickets were sold after Charlie Kirk was assassinated. Like you would think that people would say, okay, I'm bowing out. I don't want that to happen to me. I don't want to be a part of this because I'm scared of that risk that I'm going to take. And the opposite happened, like over, I think it was probably about 2,500 tickets actually. Of those, almost 7,000 tickets were sold in the month after Charlie was tragically assassinated. And I think it just actually did the exact opposite of what Satan wanted it to and that it emboldened people. People said, whoa, whoa, whoa. I've been on the sidelines and silent for so long. This guy just took a bullet for the things I believe. I'm done sitting down. I'm ready to be a part of this. And these are stay at home moms mostly. Like, these are grandmothers, these are aunts, these are students. These are not people who necessarily have a platform, nor are they called to in a lot of cases. But they want to know how can they be bold for the truth in their own lives, in their own neighborhoods and in their homes and jobs and, and all of that. And so that's what Share the Arrows was about. It was about courage. It was about truth. It was about standing up with people who are getting arrows for standing up for what is true. And so it was a really, just amazing, incredible, holy spirit filled day. And I'm very thankful for it.

Georgia Howe (11:57)

Now, I understand you hold that every year. Is it October of every year?

Allie Beth Stuckey (12:00)

This is the second. This is the second year. And it, the date will probably change slightly every year, just depending on the venue and all of that. But yes, it'll probably be the fall every year.

Georgia Howe (12:11)

All right, well, people can follow you on your Instagram or any of your platforms if they want to find out about that. Well, Ali, thank you so much for coming on. I really appreciate it.

Allie Beth Stuckey (12:20)

Thank you so much.

Georgia Howe (12:22)

That was author and podcast host Ali Beth Stuckey. And this has been a weekend episode of Morning Wire.

Allie Beth Stuckey (12:35)

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