
Loading summary
Ali Stuckey
Wheaton College has backed down after congratulating an alumnus who just joined the Trump administration. What is really going on behind their kowtowing? Two progressive activists. Also, what is going on with Kanye West? There is clearly a spiritual battle at play there. We're going to analyze it and respond to an absolutely absurd post by Pastor Rick Warren. We've got all of that and more on today's episode of Relatable. Hey guys, welcome to Relatable. Happy Wednesday. Hope everyone is having a wonderful day so far. Okay, a couple things before we get started. Remember The Share the Arrows 2025 event tickets will go on sale February 28th and you want to set your alarms, put an event on your calendar, whatever you have to do to remember to wake up first thing in the morning to get your tickets. Because that early bird special, which is $40 off, we have different tiers of tickets this year, as you will see, because it's a different seating arrangement than it was last year. But if you want that steep discount, go ahead and get your tickets right away because we have a limited number of tickets that we can sell at that price. But if you want to make sure for sure that you're going to get early bird tickets, you can subscribe to Blaze TV just go to blazetv.com ally then you will be able to have access to those early bird tickets a few days before. I think it's five days before February 28, so just be on the lookout for that. That will be share the arrows.com it's where you can get your tickets. I'm super pumped about it. And we'll be doing speaker drops and all of that good stuff very soon. Another thing, if you have not gotten my book Toxic Empathy, I really encourage you to just so you will be equipped to have the conversations that we are having today but that are circulating. I still get so many questions of how do I respond to this, what do I say about this? And they typically fall under the five subjects that we focus on in the book. That's abortion, that's gender. That's sexuality. That's immigration. That's a huge one right now. And that is justice, or what is typically referred to as social justice. And we give a very fair description of what the progressive position is on each subject. And then we dismantle that position from a compassionate personal perspective and also from a biblical perspective, most importantly, but also from a scientific and factual perspective. And so by the end of this very quick book, you feel really equipped to be able to get engage with those in your life or engage with those on social media. This book is really a tool book for Christians to be able to support the biblical worldview on each of these subjects and also the conservative position on each of these subjects. So you can get it on Amazon or toxicimpathy.com and if you've already read it or if you've listened to it, if you could please leave a five star review on Amazon. That helps us out a lot. And thank you so much to everyone who has told me about it, that it impacted you and that it's helped you have a productive dialogue with those in your life or maybe it's even changed your mind on something. And I just praise God for that. So thank you to all of you who have contributed to making the book a success. All right, a couple quick updates. Tulsi Gabbard has been confirmed. This is exciting. This is something that I think a lot of people weren't sure was going to happen because she's been a lifelong Democrat and a lot of Republicans had understandable questions about her positions on foreign policy. But she has been confirmed. And then right now, as we are recording, RFK Jr is he is awaiting his confirmation. They are voting on him right now. That's correct, Bri. And do we know when we'll have that news? Sometimes pretty soon. Probably pretty soon. Yeah. But we just don't know. Yeah, could go on for a minute. Okay, so that means Republican legislators are really feeling the heat from the Trump administration, which they should. That's just how these things go. To make sure that they confirm all of Trump's picks. Trump was given a mandate. He was voted for. The American people said, hey, we trust you to be able to take our country in a better direction. We trust you to be able to pick the right people to go in the right positions. And so Trump has made his picks. And so they are also the these legislators are feeling the heat from the American people to make sure that they are confirming the people that Trump has put in place. And let's pray for their success. As we've talked about, we've got questions about what RFK thinks about abortion. He answered some of those questions in his hearing. Tulsi Gabard, too. But her position isn't really going to have anything to do with abortion policy. But let's pray for their success. Let's pray that these people would come to know the Lord. As far as I know, RFK and Tulsi are not Christians. And I am heartened by how many solid Christians are in the Trump administration. But we want even more because they can be correct, politically correct, culturally, they can make good policy decisions, but we want them to have the wisdom that starts with the fear of the Lord. So let's certainly pray for that and pray for their success. One super solid Christian that I am so excited is a part of the Trump administration is Russian Vote. So Russ has just been confirmed as the director of the Office of Management and Budget. And he was congratulated by his alma mater, Wheaton College, after he was confirmed for this position. But Wheaton College, after they posted a public congratulations, they actually took it down because a lot of people were upset. How dare a college celebrate the confirmation of an alumnus that is working for the evil Trump administration. Really, that happened. And then Wheaton basically posted an apology. So I'll get into the details of that. Let me back up a little bit and just tell you about who Russ Vote is. So he graduated from Wheaton, then he went to George Washington Law School. He served as Trump's director of the Office of Management and Budget during his first term. The Senate confirmed his nomination to the same position position on February 6, just a few days ago for Trump's second term after an overnight session in which Senate Democrats stonewalled his nomination. They really did not want him to take the same position because now, apparently he is uniquely dangerous because he was a part of Project 2025 in the Evil Heritage Foundation. He previously served as the vice president of Heritage Action for America, the lobbying arm of the Heritage foundation, before joining the Trump administration. So he wrote Chapter 2 in Project 2025 Executive Office of the President of the United States in the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025. You know, it's funny, we don't hear that much about Project 2025 anymore. I mean, that's all Democrats talked about for months. They said that this is going to be the demise of America, that Trump is going to come into your home and take your birth control and take off your shoes, put. Put you in the kitchen and tell you to make him a sandwich. That's what we heard. And that you were going to have to exchange your blazer for red robes. That's what we heard was going to happen because of Project 2025. And we never hear about Project 2025 anymore. Isn't that crazy? Isn't that interesting? So in Russ votes Chapter Executive Office of the President of the United States. In the section about the Office of Management and Budget, he writes, the director must view his job as the best, most comprehensive approximation of the president's mind as it pertains to the policy agenda while always being ready with actual options to affect that agenda within existing legal authorities and resources. His role in Project 2025 drew harsh criticism from Senate Democrats, including Chuck Schumer, who called Vote Trump's most radical nominee with the most extreme agenda. Really? Did what I just described to you, did that sound extreme? That he just wants to carry out the agenda of the person who appointed him to the position? In a statement, Chuck Schumer said this Votes confirmation would be a disaster for working families. Wait, was it a disaster for working families the first time he served in it? And a godsend to billionaires who don't pay their fair share in taxes. And also that Russ vote is Project 2025 incarnate. Okay, so he is the embodiment of Project 2025. Schumer said that by voting to confirm vote, the Senate is voting to implement Project 2025. So it's actually going to be Russ who comes to your house and takes your birth control and is. I think he's the one who is delivering the red robes to every eligible maiden in the land. And I think that he. I think that there's a website where you can enter your size to make sure that they show up to your house with the right size red robe. I think that's actually going to be under Vogt's jurisdiction. So I just wanted to clear that up. He also said that Russ Vogt's fingerprints were all over this past week's disaster, referring to the Doge freeze of federal programs and their investigation of the treasury payment system. Oh, no. Russ Vote is making sure that the government is spending taxpayer dollars in a way that is efficient, effective, and transparent. Oh, no. What other disaster is he going to get himself into? Oh, no. I don't want to know where my taxpayer dollars are going. I definitely want them to continue to fund transgender musicals in Colombia. That's exactly what I pay taxes for. That's even. That's why I have a job. I have a job. I have this podcast so I can pay taxes for USAID to fund Serbian DEI workplace programs. That's the only reason any of us on this team get up in the morning knowing that our federal government is sending our hard earned tax dollars to very necessary abortion education seminars in Sri Lanka. So if Russ Vote gets in the way of that, I will be just very upset. What is even the point of any of this? Okay, so that could be why Wheaton College decided that maybe we shouldn't publicly congratulate him. I guess all of this, all of this controversy and Chuck Schumer's analysis is why Wheaton College, where missionary Jim Elliott went to school, what used to be a preeminent Christian institution, why they backed down, deleted their post of congratulations amidst some pushback. Let me pause and tell you about our first sponsor for the day and that is Every Life. I love Every Life. These are the diapers that we use in our home. Not only do they work really well, they've got totally safe, clean ingredients, but they also put their money where their mouth is. When it comes to the pro life cause, they are fully supportive of all of their employees who are either adopting or having a baby of their own. And they also provide these buy for a Cause bundles that you can purchase through their website that supplies resources and baby items to pregnant moms in need at pregnancy centers across the country. And so many of these diaper companies, virtually every diaper company donates to abortion, Planned Parenthood, or to pro abortion politicians. You don't have to worry about that with Every Life. And it's just nice to have yet another way to make sure that the dollars that we're spending actually align with our beliefs, especially a belief as sacred as the sanctity of Life. Go to everylife.com when you use my code ALI10, you'll get 10% off your first order. You're going to love these Every Life diapers. Go to everylife.com code ali10 okay, so here's what Wheaton College originally Posted. This was February 7th. Wheaton College congratulates and prays for 1998 graduate Russell Vogt regarding his senatorial confirmation to serve as the White House Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Well, they posted this on Facebook. And Facebook is where all the angry people come out and they say, I want to make my voice heard. So these comments from alumni included statements like this the work that he is doing negatively and directly impacts countless other Wheaton alum who are seeking to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this country and around the rest of the world. Examples Citation please. Can I get some specifics? Again, like are we talking about Colombian like transgender dancing troops? Like, is that what you're talking about when you're talking about like the funding of the federal government to organizations around the world? I mean, maybe they're talking about World Relief, maybe they're talking about other Christian organizations who are providing humanitarian aid. But as we talked about last week, even Christian organizations or professing Christian organizations like World Relief are actually supporting distributing abortifacient birth control pills to poor countries and even supporting, it seems like abortion procedures in these poor countries. And so again, I think it's actually a very righteous position for those in charge of our budget, in charge of seeing where our tax dollars go, to say, you know what, we need to just at least do an audit. We need to take a look at this and to make sure that we are advancing American interests. And we want a Christian in that position because again, you want Christians to have that discernment. You balance compassion with effective, logical, practical policy that serves the interest of the people that you are serving. According to Religion News Service, another commenter said there are Wheaton alumni out there who really do follow Jesus's teaching in the gospel. So I guess that Russ Vote doesn't because he was a part of Project 2025 and he' serving the Trump administration. So he doesn't really follow Jesus's teaching in the gospel. But they aren't always the ones who are powerful. And so it's incredibly frustrating to see those who I think don't necessarily embody the gospel taking over in the Trump administration. Again, citation. What are you talking about? Give me some statistics. How does Russ Vote in his position? How does he not embody the gospel? Like, how is he not also glorifying God? Like, these people seem to be completely averse to Christians being in positions of influence and power. If you believe in God, you believe that God is love, you believe that his ways are better, don't you want people who believe those things also to be in charge of making our policy? It's so strange when I hear these accusations of like, oh, if you want Christians in power, then you're some scary Christian nationalist and you just want empire. And you have confused like the lowly Jesus for this. Like, I don't know, powerful emperor, whatever propaganda they say. Again, it just comes down to like, who do you think has a better chance of making compassionate and good and wise policy? The person who believes in the God who created the world? The person who follows Jesus? The person who believes in a biblical ethic or the person who is anti God? The person who is anti Bible? Do you think that person is going to have a good understanding of the sanctity of life and the proper role of the government and family? Like, if you care about your neighbor, don't you want people in charge who believe in the God whose ways are better and higher than ours? Like, do you believe that the Bible is good or not? Do you believe that God's ways are better or not? Do you believe in absolute truth? Do you believe in objective morality? As a Christian, you should believe those things. And shouldn't you want people who have the most influence over our policy to also believe those things? So to me, it's not about power, it's about loving my neighbor. And because politics affects policy and policy affects people and people matter, I want the people involved in politics and in charge of policy to understand that people matter not just because they have some like, vague spiritual sense of the. Of. Of people having significance, but because they understand someone's worth comes from being made in the image of God. Once we have that shared foundation, I think we're in a much better position to make good quality or a good policy that affects people's lives for the better and raises their quality of life. So it's very strange when Christians to me are like, no, Christians should never be in a position of influence or power or seek that at all. It's, it's very odd. It makes me think you don't really love your neighbor. By Saturday morning, after they posted this, after Wheaton posted this, the post was deleted and a second post was made with the comments disabled. On Friday, Wheaton College posted a congratulations and a call to prayer for an alumnus who received confirmation to a White House post. The recognition and prayer is something we would typically do for any graduate who reached that level of government. However, the political situation surrounding the appointment led to a significant concern expressed online. It was not our intention to embroil the college in a political discussion or dispute. Our institutional and theological commitments are clear that the college as a non profit institution does not make political endorsements. Wheaton College's focus is on Christ and his kingdom. Okay, so they might say that this is not an apology and they actually do say that as we'll get into that. This wasn't an apology. They didn't say that they were sorry. That's true. But their original post was also not an endorsement. They said nothing about politics. They didn't say anything about Trump. They didn't say, hey, we really like your policies, guy. Get after it. Loved Project 2025. They never said that. They said, this is what he has been appointed to and we're praying for him and congratulations. They would have done the same thing if this had been the Biden administration or the Kamala Harris administration and they probably would have gotten pushback for it. I think if they would have congratulated someone who was in the Kamala Harris administration, that there would have been people saying, why would you congratulate this Person, which I actually think they have like more of a grounding to criticize Wheaton for that because Wheaton claims to be a Christian college and Kamala Harris's baby murdering and gender deception agenda is like very blatantly black and white, anti Bible. However, I would understand if Wheaton also congratulated a person who got to that position of government. Um, the fact that they deleted that post that simply said congratulations. That simply said, hey, please pray for this person. We're called to pray for our leaders. Let's pray for him. That God would use him to bring glory to himself. I'm kind of adding on to that. They just said pray for him. The fact that they deleted that when people got upset set, that is. That amounts to an apology. A Wheaton College spokesperson later added that deleting the post was not an apology for their initial post, but it was for Mr. Votes own protection. I think he's fine. Like, what? What do you mean, own protection? What are these people going to do who are commenting on Facebook? A Wheaton College spokesperson told Religion News Service that this was, quote, in no way an apology for having expressed congratulations or for suggesting prayers for alumnus. The social media post led to more than 1,000 hostile comments, primarily incendiary, on Christian comments about Mr. Vote in just a few hours. It was not our intention to embroil the college or Mr. Vote in a political discussion or dispute. Thus we removed the post. Okay, let's give them the benefit of the doubt. Let's take them at their word. Maybe they really thought, oh, we don't want him to see this. We don't want his family to see this. These are really awful comments. And we just want, you know, we. We don't want that. We don't want that for him. We want to honor him or whatever. Still, just from a PR perspective, it looks really bad. It looks really dishonest. Like, I wish. Not that I am a. A publicist, but sometimes I just wish that I could give PR advice to all these different institutions. Like, if you really don't regret it, then repost it and disable the comments. Repost it. You need to double down on it. But you've rewarded all of these people lashing out at the request to pray for an alumnus who is working in the Trump administration. I don't think Russ Vogt was concerned about being, quote, unquote, protected. He, quote, tweeted or quote, posted a post about Wheaton College's explanation, if you don't want to call it an apology. And he just said in all caps with an exclamation mark. Sad, sad. And it is sad. Hillsdale College. That's the conservative Christian college. We have read advertisements for them before. They're awesome. They had also congratulated Russ Vote. They said congratulations to Russ Vote, the once and current OMB director on a Senate confirmation. Then when all of this blew up on X about Wheaton College with a lot of Christians calling them out, Hillsdale said trigger warning. We will not be deleting our earlier post. Congratulations Russ Vote. And of course they shouldn't. Now a lot of this is really not surprising because we've seen a leftward drift in in Wheaton for a long time. I do believe that this is coming from a place of cowardice. I said on X that this is the they are the perfect embodiment of what I call the mushy middle and that might even be generous. They have chosen nuance and winsomeness over clarity and courage and because of that they have compromised. When you're in that position of believing that the most virtuous kind of Christian that you can be is one that is well liked by the world and that is accepted by secular progressives, you are always going to be susceptible to cowardice and compromise. You are always going to give in to the loudest bullies. And that's exactly what they did. A horrible, horrible example from the college that educated one of the most courageous and influential missionaries that's ever lived, Jim Elliott. And we have more to say on that in a second. Let me pause and tell you about our second sponsor for the day. That's Good Ranchers. You guys know how much we love good ranchers. Did you know that the country of origin labeling law was repealed in so now meat can be packaged here in the US and earn a product of the USA label, even if it was born, raised and harvested overseas. So when you're going to the grocery store and you see grass fed meat, you're thinking, awesome. This is healthy. It says made in the USA. But 85% of grass fed beef in grocery stores, even the kind that says Made in the USA is not really from the US and that's troubling. We don't know really where it's coming from, where its country of origin is. How do they take care of their cows? What are the regulations there? You don't want to have to worry about that. So go ahead and get your meat from good ranchers. It is 100% America raised meat. They're better than organic chicken. They're craft beef. All different cuts of steak, all their seafood, all from American farms and ranches. It all tastes really good. I love having a freezer full of good ranchers meat. It just gives me a lot of peace of mind. It saves me a lot of time and energy to have that box of meat show up at my front door on dry ice every month. Plus when you subscribe now you get an add on of meat for a whole year in every order. So that's chicken, beef, seafood, whatever you want. A free add on for a year plus you get 25 off with my code go to goodranchers.com ally code alley goodranchers.com ally Code Alley okay, so they did didn't make any formal political endorsements Wheaton college in the 2024 election, but they did host a political event with anti Trump speakers Curtis Chang and Tim Alberta. They are extremely, they are extremely left wing and progressive and anti Trump and they are a part of this group of people kind of like Russell Moore and David French, who pretend to be somewhere in the middle and pretend to be nuanced and pretend to transcend politics and transcend partisanship. But really, and you've probably heard this phrase before, they punch right and tickle left. They might sometimes slightly softly criticize progressivism, but really they're going after Trumpism and MAGA and the so called Christian nationalism on the right that they think, I think is much more dangerous, they would say, to Christianity and the country than the baby murder and the gender deception, the genital mutilation and the socialistic economic policies of the left. Really, they start with politics and they try to fit their theology into their politics, not the other way around. No matter how much they tell you that they are abiding by biblical principles and they're just allowing that to influence their politics. That's not true. It is 100% the other way around. And these institutions exist to make Christians feel bad for voting Republican and feel that the moral, more compassionate thing to do is to vote Democrat. And they won't get into the differences in policy when it comes to things like abortion. They will just focus on how bad Trump is and then they will go back to this lazy assertion that we've already refuted today and that is, well, Christians shouldn't even care about having power. Apparently we're all supposed to have anti Christian progressive secularists in power. That's apparently the Christian, the Christian way. And so Wheaton hosted this event. It was hosted on Wheaton's campus last September alongside the after party that's we've Talked about that with Megan Basham. You can go listen to our episode that we did on that a few months ago. It's the political Bible study program created by Curtis Chang and Russell Moore and David French. They say that their goal is to reframe Christian political thinking, AKA don't vote Republican anymore. It's really not more complicated. Complicated than that. So this Curtis Chang person who hosted this, who hosted this event at Wheaton College, he said that Trump's victory is a disaster, a disaster for the country. Here, stop one. I mean, this election I think was a disaster for our country, but it did wonders for my to do list. I was, I just plowed through it as a matter of words. Then around when I saw what was happening, I felt a surge of anger. And then I felt like a surge. I was like, what's behind that anger? Like, I wanted, I was just wanting to blame people for this outcome. And then I was like, oh, I'm actually feeling like anguish. I'm feeling sad. Yeah. So this was the election event that Wheaton College chose to host. As far as I know, they didn't also choose to host. I don't necessarily like a Turning Point event or a conservative event because remember, the afterparty is not nonpartisan. If your church hosted the after party or used their curriculum, then I would say that you are probably at the wrong church because either your pastor is completely ignorant, like not able to discern the true philosophy or world view behind curriculum that he is giving his congregants, which would make him an irresponsible shepherd, or he is just openly progressive and is trying to shame his congregants out of being conservative. And I would definitely talk to a pastor like that. You can try to give him the benefit of the doubt. But I would ask him specifically, what policies, what conservative policies and ideas do you disagree with and how do you back that up biblically? Like whenever I have people that, you know, disagree with me or they just say, oh, Christians shouldn't talk about that stuff, I'm like, okay, can you tell me what specifically you disagree with me on as a Christian and, and, and why? I think it's really illuminating to get into those conversations. Jim Elliott has a plaque at Wheaton College, as he should. Again, he went to Wheaton College and you guys probably already know who Jim Elliott is, but he was the missionary who evangelized in of Ecuador and he was killed by the Aqua Indians that he was evangelizing to and he wrote so much before his death. And obviously Elizabeth Elliot, his wife Had a very long career of speaking and writing on biblical issues. You guys know how much I love and admire Elizabeth Elliot, but Jim Elliot really just embodied the boldness and the courage that Christians are called to. And in 2021, Wheaton removed a plaque on their campus honoring alum Jim Elliott and replaced it with new wording. Because the old plaque that had been there for years had used the phrase savage Indians. Okay, so that's the old sign. It said he was killed by savage Indians, which is true. So, Originally dedicated in 1957, the plaque was meant to honor the memory of Jim Elliott, Ed McNolly and Nate Saint, as well as Roger Yoderin and Pete Fleming, who were all speared to death by the Waorani tribesmen. Sorry, I think I said something different earlier. In 1956, the old plaque said they chose the jungles of Ecuador inhabited by the AKA Indians for generations. All strangers were killed by these savage Indians. After many days of patient preparation and devout prayer, the missionaries made the first friendly contact known to history with the akas. The college said this language. In a statement, the college said that this language is now seen as offensive by students, faculty, and staff. So someone went over to that and they looked at that plaque, and instead of thinking, wow, someone truly laid down their life to share the gospel with these people. That's incredible. I can't believe that I get to, like, share an alma mater with this person. They said, does that say Indians? I can't believe that says Indians. That's the point that they took from that. And they went and they went to an office and they said, take this down. This is offensive to me. It's not offensive that they murdered Jim Elliot by spearing him to death. It's offensive that they were called savage Indians. So the statement by Wheaton said, specifically the word savage is now recognized. And remember, this is like in the turmoil of 2020, 2021, that they're kowtowing in this way. The word savage is now recognized as being inherently pejorative and having been often used historically to dehumanize and mistreat native peoples around the world. What? They literally murdered him with a spear? I don't know. I mean, that's pretty savage. Wheaton explained that the reworded plaque will honor the martyred missionaries while also respecting the rainy people with whom they share the gospel of the love of Christ. The phrase savage Indians was replaced with indigenous peoples. The plaque will now read, in part, known for their violence to encroaching outsiders and for internal cycles of vengeance killing they were among the most feared indigenous peoples in South America at the time. Look, I think if that had been the original wording, that would have been fine. My problem is kowtowing to the progressive bullies to change something that didn't really need to be changed. It didn't help anything. It didn't make things more. I think that it was fine that the language that they had before, I think it was completely unnecessary to get caught up in the like cries of these activists who really like have no influence or grounding in the first place. We can also see some other progressive values from Wheaton. If you look at LGBTQ issues in 2014, Wheaton hired a, quote, gay Christian blogger Julie Rogers to join the chaplain's office to support sexual minorities on on campus. This is 2014, okay? This happened under the same president who is currently there, Philip Reichen. The administration knew Julie referred to herself as gay, but she would also be required to sign the code of contact, that conduct that says marriages between a man and a woman and sex is reserved for marriage. The president supported Rogers initially, though he encouraged her to maintain a lower proceed profile in both public and social media platforms. But she resigned a year later and began publicly advocating for so called same sex marriage. And we say so called because only God defines marriage and he defines it as male and female unequivocally. So so called same sex marriage and the church. So again, just like a general lack of discernment and I would say like a desire to compromise. We've seen from Wheaton Sexual and Gender Identity Institute at wheaton college in 2019, Dr. Mark Yarhouse. We've talked about him before, how he is really, I think on the front lines of getting Christians to compromise when it comes to gender and use so called pronoun politeness. He's a psychology professor who refers to himself as an evangelical Christian in LGBTQ + studies. He moved his Sexual and Gender Identity Institute from Regent University to Wheaton. He promotes, quote, dialogue between people who view the topic of sexual identity differently on pervert preferred pronouns. According to Christianity Today. He believes that using a person's preferred pronouns is kind, courteous and necessary for building your relationship with that person, unquote. Gay Christians, as mentioned earlier. Doctor, your house is unclear or unwilling to criticize the use of the term gay Christians. And Rosaria Butterfield has come on the show to talk about this and she says it really eloquently and I probably won't even say it exactly how she said it, but like, you're not going to win people to the cross of Christ by affirming the very sin that Christ died to save them from. And that is what is happening when you are using someone's preferred pronouns that don't correlate with their biological reality. The answer is really clear in Genesis 1:27, that God made us in his image as male and female. And because God made us in his image as male and female, that is not only what we we physically, biologically are from the moment of conception, that is also theologically, teleologically also what we are. And the Christian must affirm that. Go back and listen to my conversation with Laura Perry Small where she talks about how her parents never gave in to her new identity as Jake, never called her he him, and it was her parents and her parents Christian friends that she found refuge in after she realized that she had made made a big mistake in trying to transition, who never affirmed her fake male identity, always affirmed who she was as a woman made in the image of God. And it was their truth telling that God used to bring her back. The most loving thing we can do is tell people the truth. That's the difference between toxic empathy, which just cares about how someone feels, and true love, which is defined in First Corinthians 13:6, that love never rejoices in wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. And so it doesn't surprise me that Wheaton is just weak. They're just weak. They're just mushy because they have invited in this kind of deception multiple times. They have invited in the compromisers. And so it shouldn't be that surprising that once they let the Trojan horse of winsomeness and nuance into their gates, that what came out was progressive secular nonsense. And that has really hurt their witness. And so we got to see that on display. And that is true of many institutions. Like Christians shouldn't kowtow to bullies, okay? Do something because it's right. If you're gonna apologize for something, if you are going to take back something that you said, if you are going to correct yourself, whatever it is, do it because it is the right thing to do. Do it because it's what God has called you to do. Do it because God has instructed you in that way in scripture. Don't do it because you're scared. Don't do it because people are asking you to and you feel bad and you just want to maintain a relationship. That is called cowardice. That is called fearing man over God. That is called making an idol of yourself because you care more about how you are thought of than you are glorifying God. Christians are free to be courageous because we serve an audience of one and Wheaton would do very well to remember that. All right, we've got some time to talk about Kanye and what is going on with him. Let me pause and tell you about our next sponsor for the day first, and that is Preborn. Preborn is an amazing large network of clinics across the country. They offer all kinds of free resources to pregnant moms in need to help them choose life. Like free sonograms so that mom can see the baby on the screen, see the humanity of their child, even hear the beating heart. And they also offer the abortion reversal pill. I have seen, Matt, babies who are alive today because their mom walked into a pro life pregnancy center got an abortion reversal pill after they had taken the abortion pills and their babies were able to survive. This is amazing technology that Preborn uses every day to save babies lives. So if you want to be a part of this life saving work that Preborn is doing, they can only do it through your donation. So donate to them@preborn.com Ali that is preborn.com Ally okay, I just want to talk about what is possibly going on behind the scenes here with Kanye West. We talked a little bit on our Grammys episode about the display at the Grammys and how he showed up there. This was his first time going to the Grammys and I believe six years he showed up there with his now wife whose name is Bianca, and she was buck naked, completely and totally naked. She made a show of it. And of course this is probably a publicity stunt. Apparently he's got an album coming out. But people were obviously upset about this. This is exhibitionism. People also raise questions about is she okay? Like is she being forced to do this? Is she being trafficked in some way? Is she being drugged? Are they both on drugs? This is very scary and very sad because there were pictures of little kids like seeing this woman completely naked, which is just awful. It is just awful in every way. And I questioned whether there's something demonic going on there. We know that a few years ago he was leading Sunday services. And even though I didn't love everything about that because he was like, like partnering with people like Joel Osteen, the infamous prosperity gospel preacher. But he was also putting out amazing music like the album Jesus is Lord, which to this day I will stand by the fact that that is an amazing album that is like largely theologically solid and everyone, myself included, was really excited about that. At the time, some of the things that he was saying about like sexual morality and not wanting his wife to be scantily clad were really good. And I think when you have especially a prominent Christian, any Christian, certainly, because Satan just loves to steal joy and steal people's effectiveness and attack people, but especially when you have a prominent Christian who has the potential to reach a lot of people with the gospel and with righteousness, like you are going to have Satan go after him. And based on his latest rant on Acts, it does kind of seem like that's what's going on here. I do think he obviously has mental health issues, but this seems to be very spiritual as well. He went on this rant on X last Thursday in which he praised Adolf Hitler. And he said that antisemitism is just some BS that Jewish people made up. He said, I love Hitler. He said, I'm a Nazi. He said, some of my best friends are Jewish and I don't trust any of them. Okay? And then he went on to defend his wife's nakedness at the 2025 Grammys. He goes, I have dominion over my wife. This ain't no woke woke as feminine feminist shit. She's with a billionaire. Why would she listen to any of you dumb broke people? People say the red carpet look was her decision. Yes. I don't make her do nothing she doesn't want to do. Okay, I'm a little confused. Dominion what doesn't what she wanted, okay? She definitely wouldn't have been able to do it with my approval. You stupid woke pawns. I have no respect or empathy for anyone living because no one living can f with me. But I do love some people and I give them favor. I just feel so sorry for his children. And then he started posting hardcore porn. I did not see this, but I saw people talking about it. And then Elon took action. He labeled his account not safe for work, essentially muting his account for a regular user. So very troubling. This is not the first time that he's posted anti Jewish statements. He said he was going to go death con three on Jewish people in 2022. And so he seems to have some beef with Jewish people. On Monday, west was dropped by his talent agency 33 and west, his agent, posted on Instagram that effective immediately, they no longer work with him anymore. There is a former employee who is Jewish who is now suing Kanye, who says that she was subjected to anti Semitic vitriol, that he would text her things like hail Hitler. That is just so freaking awful. It is so awful. When we think past just, wow, that's like, a salacious thing to say. I mean, when you think about what Hitler actually did, what the Holocaust actually was, and that so many of the Jewish people here today actually have ancestors that were tortured and murdered during the Holocaust, for someone to be allegedly subjected to that kind of harassment is just beyond. I mean, just beyond evil. The lawsuit includes a series of texts that Kanye sent her. Or she says. These are screenshots from him and another Jewish employee. He says things like, welcome to the first day of working for Hitler and called her ugly as f again, texted her hail Hitler. Hours after she complained about the text messages to her man manager, Connie's attorney sent her an email terminating her employment. So I'm just. I'm. I'm very disturbed by what's going on with Kanye. There will be people who will continue to say, like, oh, there's some cryptic masses. There are always, like, people who claim that, really, Kanye is communicating something different than what he's actually saying. And, like, maybe that's true to some degree. I don't think that there's any excuse for saying something like this. Like this in combination with posting the pornography and what went on at the Grammys, there's something very dark and very demonic going on here. And we should pray not only for him, but pray for his wife, pray for his children, pray for everyone involved, because obviously the Kardashian clan, they've got their own issues, too. And it's just sad. I feel like these kids can't, like, you know, they don't see in a chance in some ways, but to have this kind of instability to look at, to not even have, like, a present father that you can rely on and trust, but then is also going out and posting pornography and hoisting up his naked wife in public, I. I mean, that's got to be extremely traumatizing. And so I. I think we've just got to remember that Satan is a prowling lion. He is always roaming around looking for someone to devour. And right now, it looks like he is devouring and has completely eclipsed Kanye's influence and is using it for the worst. But remember, God is a God of redemption. And if you are breathing, there is hope for redemption. There is hope for salvation. There is hope for God to soften his heart and to change his mind and to win him back, just like there is for anyone. And so I pray for that. One of the things that I was worried about at the time, whenever someone who is Prominent becomes a Christian. I always just have the urge to tell them, like, just step back. And I even think I said that at the time when I did an episode on his apparent conversion a few years ago, like, just kind of go away for a while and read the Bible and learn how to live. And maybe that's not the calling for every person who converts to Christianity publicly, but it seems like it would be a good rule of thumb. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. It is harder for a rich man to pass through the eye or to get to heaven than it is for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. But of course, we know God follows that up. Jesus follows it up with. With God, all things are possible. So God can save anyone. But the power and the prominence and the money and everything and the fame, everything that comes with can be extremely corrupting. But the grace of God can transcend all of that. And I just pray. I just pray that it does. All right, I've got one more thing. I just had to respond to this Rick Warren post, which might be like the worst theological interpretation that I ever seen in my life. And that's really saying something because, you know, the craziness that we talk about. Let me tell you about our last sponsor, and then I'll end on that. My last ad for the day is about a new documentary series on BlazeTV.com by BlazeTV host Matt Kibbe. The series is called the COVID Up. He talks to Dr. Richard Ebright, who is a molecular biologist from Rutgers University. He's had Dr. Fauci on his radar since 2001 during the whole anthrax scare. And he watched as Dick Cheney empowered Foushee and the NIAID with the authority and funding for biodefense that was once reserved solely for the Department of defense. And so Dr. Ebright has a lot of insight. He's been watching this for years and years. He has a lot of insight into the government's role in very dangerous research and covering up the consequences of that research. And he has revealed how all of this played into the COVID disaster. And Matt Kibbe is asking him all the most important questions. You've got to check this out. Go to fauci coverup.com alli you'll get $30 off your subscription. You'll also have access to all kinds of Blaze TV content, including mine. Use code code SMOKING GUN for $30 off your subscription. Fauci coverup.com ally code SMOKING GUN. Okay, Rick Warren. Okay. You remember purpose Driven life. Like, this is the guy that disciple generations. Most of our parents read purpose driven life. Maybe you were a high schooler and your parents are like, you gotta repurpose driven life. And I'm sure that there were really, you know, good things there. There were probably some truths in it. I don't think I ever read it. But it was also widely criticized for prosperity driven a lot. It was like a graduation gift for a lot of graduates. I remember. So Saddleback Church. This is the church that hosted Obama in 2008, when Obama famously said that he supports marriage only between one man and one woman. How far we have changed. But Rick Warren has also been an advocate in the past few years of women being pastors. And that caused Saddleback to have a split from the sbc, the Southern Baptist Convention, which holds to the biblical view that only men can be pastors. And so Rick Warren has been sliding towards progressivism, I would say, for a while. But he is a part of this crowd that is like, oh, winsomeness, nuance, transcending politics. And here is his defense of that position. Okay, are you ready? Are you. Are you ready for this exegesis? Okay, here's. Here's the post. That is a picture of our Lord on the cross. And then he's got the two thieves on the cross next to him. Okay? And here is what brother Rick Warren decided to say. John 19:18. They crucified Jesus with two others, one on each side and Jesus in the middle. The guys on both sides were thieves. If you're looking for the real Jesus, not a caricature disfigured by partisan motivations, you'll find him in the middle, not on either side. Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, it took me a good second to understand what brother Warren is saying here. Okay? It took me a second to really, really imbibe and understand what he could possibly be arguing here. Because certainly a pastor who has been a pastor for so many years is not saying because Jesus was physically in the center of Golgotha, that he had two people being crucified to his side, that he is also the center of Republican and Democrats. Like, no, he's not saying that. He's not saying that. He's politically moderate because the crosses in the middle of the three crosses when he was crucified. Right, Right. But it does seem like that is what he is saying. It seems like he is saying that Jesus is not partisan. And look at the fact that he was in the center cross to prove that. Here's what I said On X, Jesus is not in the middle on the murder of children, on gender deception, the definition of marriage. And he's really not in the middle on anything else. We might have disagreements on where the Bible lands on certain aspects of certain issues, but he is not in the middle of our most contentious cultural conversations of our day. In fact, I seem to remember him having a particular disdain for lukewarm people, people who are neither hot nor cold. Genesis 1:27, Matthew 19:4 through 6. It's very clear on what God thinks about the sanctity of life, the value of image bearers, the definition of marriage, the definition of gender. It's not confusing. It's only confusing if you want it to be for your political purposes. Ironically, this kind of statement is far more partisan and political than those who simply say, you know, Jesus being God and the Word being God's Word is like really clear on these so called political issues of the day that are really just biblical theological issues. This is bad. Do not proof text in this way allow the Bible to speak for itself. That might cause some disagreements. And Christians can in good faith disagree on some things. But on the big ones, like on the big topics of our day that are in the center of our political discussions, marriage and gender and identity and sexuality and abortion. The Bible is so extremely clear on that. Thank God for it. And so let's, let's pray for Rick Warren that he would have the clarity that comes from God's Word and the discernment that comes from the Holy Spirit. All right, that's all we got time for today. We'll be back here tomorrow with Chief relay to Bro.
Podcast Title: Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey
Host/Author: Blaze Podcast Network
Episode: Ep 1139 | Wheaton Bows to the Mob, Kanye Hails Hitler & Rick Warren Turns Lukewarm
Release Date: February 12, 2025
In Episode 1139 of Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey, Allie delves into a spectrum of pressing issues from a Christian conservative perspective. The episode navigates through the controversy surrounding Wheaton College's reversal on congratulating Russ Vote, Kanye West's alarming statements and actions, and a critical analysis of Pastor Rick Warren's recent post. The discussion is interspersed with updates on political confirmations and promotional segments for upcoming events and sponsors.
Backing Down from Russ Vote: Allie begins by addressing Wheaton College's recent decision to remove their public congratulations to Russ Vote, an alumnus appointed as the White House Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Russ, a graduate from Wheaton, previously served in the same role during Trump's first term and has strong ties to the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025.
Project 2025 and Political Backlash: Allie explains that Project 2025 has been a focal point of criticism from Senate Democrats, labeling Russ as embodying the project's extreme agenda. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer harshly criticized Russ, equating his confirmation to the implementation of Project 2025.
Reactions and Institutional Response: The backlash against Russ's appointment led Wheaton College to delete their initial congratulatory post, citing an overwhelming number of hostile comments. A spokesperson clarified that the removal was for Russ Vote’s protection, not an apology for the initial post.
Comparison with Hillsdale College: In contrast, Hillsdale College maintained their congratulatory message for Russ Vote, emphasizing their support despite the controversy.
Allie's Analysis: Allie criticizes Wheaton College for what she perceives as cowardice and a shift towards progressive values, undermining their Christian foundations. She underscores the importance of Christians in leadership roles to uphold biblical ethics in policy-making.
Exhibitionism at the Grammys: Allie discusses Kanye West's recent appearance at the Grammys, where he and his wife Bianca showcased provocative behavior, raising concerns about potential exploitation and the influence of spiritual battles in his actions.
Anti-Semitic Rants: Kanye's troubling statements on social media, including praises of Adolf Hitler and anti-Semitic remarks, have led to severe backlash. His comments have not only tarnished his reputation but also resulted in legal actions from former employees.
Impact on Personal Life: Allie expresses concern over the negative influence Kanye's behavior has on his family, particularly his children, highlighting the emotional and psychological toll of his actions.
Spiritual Battle and Hope for Redemption: Allie attributes Kanye's actions to a spiritual battle, emphasizing the importance of prayer and redemption, reaffirming faith in God's power to transform lives.
Analysis of Rick Warren's Post: Allie critiques Pastor Rick Warren's recent social media post, where he references Jesus's position on the cross to suggest non-partisanship. Allie argues that this interpretation dangerously sidelines Jesus's alignment with biblical principles on key issues.
Biblical Clarity on Social Issues: Allie emphasizes that the Bible provides clear guidance on moral and social issues like marriage, gender, and the sanctity of life, and contends that reducing Jesus's role to a neutral stance is theologically flawed and politically laden.
Call for Discernment and Prayer: She urges listeners to pray for Rick Warren's understanding and alignment with biblical truths, advocating for a return to clear theological positions over political neutrality.
Tulsi Gabbard and RFK Jr.: Allie provides updates on political figures Tulsi Gabbard being confirmed and RFK Jr. awaiting confirmation. She discusses the pressures Republican legislators face to uphold Trump's nomination choices, highlighting the intersection of faith and politics.
Christian Influence in Administration: Allie praises the presence of devout Christians like Russ Vote in the Trump administration, advocating for more Christians in government roles to ensure policies are aligned with biblical and moral principles.
Allie concludes the episode by reiterating the importance of maintaining strong Christian values in leadership positions and resisting progressive pressures that dilute biblical teachings. She emphasizes the need for Christians to courageously uphold truth over appeasement, advocating for policies that reflect the sanctity of life and biblical ethics.
Allie also underscores the significance of discerning true Christian leadership and the dangers of compromising faith to appease secular or progressive agendas. She encourages listeners to remain steadfast in their beliefs and to actively engage in political processes that honor God’s commandments.
Promotional Segments Skipped: The episode included advertisements and announcements for events like "Share the Arrows 2025" and sponsors such as Every Life, Good Ranchers, and Preborn. These segments were omitted from the summary as per instructions to focus on content-rich sections.
Listener Engagement: Allie encourages listeners to subscribe to Blaze TV for early access to events and to read her book Toxic Empathy for deeper insights into engaging with progressive ideologies from a Christian standpoint.
Episode 1139 of Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey offers a fervent exploration of the tensions between Christian conservative values and progressive influences within educational institutions, prominent public figures, and religious leadership. Through incisive analysis and passionate discourse, Allie calls for unwavering adherence to biblical truths in the face of societal pressures, advocating for a leadership that genuinely reflects and upholds Christian morals and ethics.