Why Do Evangelical Elites Who Pushed Fauci Still REFUSE to Repent? | 8/7/26

Summary

Steve Deace Show – Episode Summary

Episode Title: Why Do Evangelical Elites Who Pushed Fauci Still REFUSE to Repent?
Date: August 7, 2026
Host: Steve Deace
Guests/Co-hosts: Todd Erzin, Aaron McIntyre, John Harris

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Overview

This episode of the Steve Deace Show explores several pressing issues facing American conservatism, with a particular focus on the failure of prominent evangelical leaders to repent for their advocacy of Dr. Anthony Fauci and COVID-era government policy. Through signature banter and sharp critique, Steve and his panel break down the cultural, religious, and political topics of the week—ranging from viral moments in women’s sports to the crisis of authority within Christianity, and finally, the nuts and bolts of the ongoing immigration and housing debates.

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Main Themes & Key Discussion Points

1. Cultural Decline & Viral Absurdity

Aaron's "Montage" and Panel Reactions

• [07:07] Viral clip discussion: The show opens with a viral video of the U.S. national anthem being badly sung at a women’s baseball league event. The panel is mock-horrified, using the segment as a metaphor for broader cultural decline.
  • “I am a broken vessel right now. I am shattered before you.” — Steve (07:48)
  • “As a musician and someone who enjoys music, I just can't abide my national anthem being disgraced in that manner. It's hilarious, but it’s just sad, too.” — John Harris (07:56)
• Observation: The panel uses the anthem clip to lament loss of standards, linking even trivial cultural failures to spiritual and national malaise.

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2. Evangelical Elites, Fauci, and COVID-Era Compromise

Cataloguing the Betrayal

• [14:07] Aaron delivers a summary of prominent evangelical figures who “chastised the brethren” for vaccine hesitancy or skepticism about government narratives, citing:
  • Russell Moore: “These vaccines are cause for evangelicals to celebrate and give thanks to God.”
  • Ed Stetzer: Equated skepticism of the lab-leak theory with sin, condemned dissenters as “gullible.”
  • Rick Warren: Framed lockdowns as “loving your neighbor.”

Who Is Most in Need of Repentance?

• [15:44] John Harris names Joe Carter (Gospel Coalition) as a particularly egregious example for explicitly “endorsing Anthony Fauci” and accusing Christian skeptics of “slander.”
  • “Carter … specifically endorsed Anthony Fauci. He said conspiracies about Fauci the man are wrong, and brought in Christian teaching on slander to apply to it. … It wasn’t just policy. It was the whole man that he ended up endorsing.” — John Harris (16:58)
• [17:50] Aaron singles out Ed Stetzer for his tone and alignment with technocratic authority.
  • “There was no grace for one half of this debate. No grace at all. You were a bunch of idiots, making us look bad, stupid, sycophants, conspiracy theorists, sinful. It’s Ed Stetzer.” — Aaron (19:57)
• [19:58] Todd broadens critique, implicating the Catholic bishops’ conference (USCCB) for refusing to support religious exemptions and arguing faith has become “a vaccination,” not transformation.
  • “Vaccination is how a lot of people view their faith … they can’t wrap their brain around apologizing for this. Most Christians think they were saved by this vaccine because that’s how they view their faith.” — Todd (20:14)

Why The Refusal to Repent?

• [21:39] John Harris recounts how 100 area pastors ignored requests, even gospel opportunities, during the New York vax mandate.
  • “I emailed 100 pastors… guess how many responded? Zero.” (22:43)
• [22:58] Aaron: “It’s not just Fauci, it’s the people we’re talking about—our brethren, supposed to be our brethren—totally and utterly sold us out.”
• [23:57] Steve sees hope, recounting stories of “pruning” where churches found revival after reopening and facing controversy head-on.

How Should Christians Respond Going Forward?

• [27:13] Aaron & Todd propose “earned distrust” for leaders who will not repent, even if forgiveness is possible.
  • “There will be consequences for how badly, the depth, of their betrayal … Positions of decision making, that’s maybe off the table … an earned distrust is very much warranted.” — Aaron (27:13)
  • “I regularly remind them of it when they ask for a commitment of me of a moral nature: Where was your commitment then?” — Todd (27:47)
• [28:31] John Harris compares to the early church: “You can repent, but you’re not going to be a pastor again. You already blew that chance.”
• [29:10] Todd (Catholic): “We have too many pastors … but how much regard you give them and influence in your life—you do have agency on that.”

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3. Immigration as Existential Crisis

Rep. Brandon Gill’s Statement

• [32:47] Congressman Brandon Gill’s X post is quoted: “Everything that directly impacts your life, affordability, safety, cultural stability, all of it is downstream from immigration.”
  • “The only thing complicated is whether we can adult or not. But the math is simple.” — Todd (34:34)
  • “If we checked out, chucked out every single illegal immigrant in this country … would that stuff start to turn around? I think the answer is yes. Or at least I’d like to find out if the answer is yes.” — Aaron (35:09)

Housing Crisis Tied to Immigration and Regulation

• [38:12] John Harris cites $130,000 of every new home cost is government regulation: “That alone is insane. But the smart thing Gill is doing is pinpointing a real problem and channeling it into a policy that could win elections.” (38:34)

Who Can Lead Next?

• [40:03] The panel debates which new conservative voices (e.g. Brandon Gill vs. Marco Rubio) are best positioned to lead the party and the movement forward.
  • “He [Gill] is locating an actual problem… and channeling it into a policy prescription that will help us actually win an election and actually do something about it, which I’m not seeing from a lot of people.” — John Harris (38:38)

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4. Masculinity, Church Decline, and the Spiritually “Feminized” Church

Feminization of Church Messaging

• [61:42–78:11]
  The hosts receive a listener letter on clergy passivity and a lack of engagement with current events; Todd, Steve, and Aaron explore the feminization of religious leadership and its broader consequences.
  • “Why are most people … why are you going to church? Wait a minute. I just want to feel good.” — Todd (64:46)
  • “If you communicate to men the way that is necessary, you’ll often get the women. … When you communicate to men … you will get more activity.” — Steve (67:01)
  • “When you feminize things … you will emasculate the men. … Men have to have a mission and be on mission at all times.” — Steve (67:06)
• [73:48] Aaron expands on the Spider Man meme analogy: When churches target only the “Linda” demographic, they ignore half the flock. “You do need to start talking to the men the way men respond. You have to.”
• [78:11] Steve highlights the vicious cycle of clergy passivity: Many pastors prefer comfort and inoffensiveness to controversy, mirroring broader male disengagement:
  • “They love the passivity. So nothing’s expected of me… turnstiles will just come in and the checks will clear every Sunday. Sign me up.”

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5. Listener Feedback & Cultural Hot-Button Issues

The Language of Political Attack (54:20–58:33)

• Should Republicans attack opponents’ character more directly, as Democrats do?
  • “Why can’t we do both?” — Todd (54:20)
  • Default answer: Conservatives less likely to do so out of cowardice, not strategy.
  • “What are the odds we aren’t using the language Bryson suggests … because we’re just cowards?” — Steve (56:53)
  • “You had me at cowards.” — Todd (57:02)

Catholic Listener Frustration with Priestly Passivity (59:02–65:39)

• Todd reinforces that many priests avoid hard stances on cultural debates to keep giving “warm fuzzies,” especially in wealthy parishes.
• Steve and Aaron discuss how a loss of masculine challenge in preaching is undermining church influence.

Gay Republican Listener Challenges the Show (81:45–91:56)

• “Why does being gay cause you to do so much hate? … Do you have any redeemable qualities for a gay person?”
• Todd bluntly replies: “You should be excommunicated from the Catholic Church. You are not in good standing. That you are a fraud.” (82:46)
• Steve reframes the issue: “You want me to affirm you for what you’re doing that’s wrong. I’m totally fine affirming you for what you’re doing is right.”
  • “Just change the sin. If someone wrote in and said they were a serial adulterer … would anyone feel pressure to look the other way? No.” (85:37)

Starting a Men's Ministry (92:00–96:34)

• Steve: “First, make sure the pastor is on board. Next, answer up front: What do you want the men to do? Not who you want them to become, but do.”

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Fauci and Christian leaders:

  • “There was no grace for one half of this debate. No grace at all.” — Aaron, on Ed Stetzer (19:57)
  • “That pastor looked in the mirror and the Holy Spirit said, ‘Well, you, you’re the problem.’” — Steve (24:42)

• On church decline:

  • “Men have to have a mission and be on mission at all times… If you make it missional, you’ll get your man to be involved.” — Steve (67:06)
  • “The dirty little secret of feminism is the men are fine getting dopamine hit … from women with no responsibility.” — Steve (78:11)

• On immigration/housing:

  • “The only thing that’s going to be complicated is whether we can adult or not. The math is simple.” — Todd (34:34)
  • “He [Brandon Gill] is locating an actual problem… that will affect the outcome.” — Harris (38:12)

• On repentance and authority:

  • “You can repent, but you’re not going to be a pastor again. You already blew that chance. The early church was similar.” — John Harris (28:31)
  • “There will be consequences for how badly … the depth of their betrayal.” — Aaron (27:13)

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Timestamps of Important Segments

• 00:21–03:02: Banter, introductions, pride in “winning both sides of X”
• 03:02–07:48: Cultural montage, women’s baseball anthem, panel reactions
• 14:07–20:14: COVID-era evangelical leaders, listing specific betrayals
• 21:39–23:57: Failure of pastors during mandates, hope for courageous churches
• 27:13–29:02: “Earned distrust” for unrepentant church leaders, precedent from early church
• 32:47–38:34: Immigration, housing, Rep. Brandon Gill commentary
• 54:20–58:33: Listener mail on political rhetoric: character attack vs. issue-based critique
• 59:02–65:39: Listener mail on Catholic priests' silence on current events; feminization of church
• 81:45–91:56: Listener mail: Gay Catholic Republican asks for “positive energy”; panel's theological response
• 92:00–96:34: How to re-masculinize church ministry and men’s groups

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Conclusion

This episode delivers a blend of humor, cultural critique, and deep theological and moral reflection—especially on the themes of institutional trust, masculine leadership, and the cost of compromise within church and movement politics. The panel’s tone is often blunt, unvarnished, and self-effacing, with a snarky edge but clear principles at the core.

Notable closing observation:
“There’s no point going to point number five, because just having one and two accomplished is miraculous.” — Todd (94:37)

Final sign-off:
“In previous generations we had to reign in men eager to run things … In this era maybe some of that craven instinct would be kind of good. Go hard. Have a great weekend. Romans 8, 28.” — Steve (96:34)

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For listeners:
This episode's value comes in its direct challenge to both cultural and Christian complacency, with a call to courage, repentance, and a restoration of honest, masculine leadership—in both church and the civic square.

Transcript

[A]

And greetings. Happy Friday. I am Steve Dace, the only man in America they can have a post on X on a contentious topic liked in a matter of seconds by both Joel berry and Oran McIntyre. I even took a snapshot of that and sent it to you guys.

[B]

You did.

[A]

That's. That might be the greatest accomplishment I will have in the year of our Lord 2026.

[B]

That's a Festivus miracle right there. It is.

[A]

He's Todders and he's Aaron McIntyre, not to be confused with the Oron McIntyre. He's John Harris. He's going to join us here momentarily for the day scoop. Don't forget coming up later on, it'll be a feedback Friday when it's your turn to let us know what you think about what we think. And then of course, this part of the show brought to you by our friends over at Preborn, who you guys have been so incredibly generous to. And I'm not shocked or surprised because you're an incredible audience. You're engaged, you're active, and you know that there's no greater cause than the cause of life. And Preborn is right on the front run on the front lines of that war. They're one of the few pro life ministries that I'm aware of that was actually, that was actually prepared and ready for what life post Roe v. Wade was going to look like. That this is really now going to become soul to soul combat. And that's the battle they fight in their clinics every day. For as little as 28 bucks, you can fund an ultrasound that doubles a baby's chance at life. And I would argue maybe does more than that for mama's eternal life because you're convincing a woman to become a mom and not a murderer. But they don't stop there. They are now going to help this new family get started off on the right foot. Diapers, car seats, counseling, and all this stuff they do for the cause of life is free, but we all know it's not really free. That's where you come in with your tax deductible donation [e-mail] Steve. Again, that's preborn.com Steve. And with that, it is time for the day screw. There he is. Good to see you again, Mr. John Harris. Thank you for joining us today. Your weekly look at the week that was begins as it always does, with issue one, Lord Nefarious. What so proudly we hail at the twilight's last gleaming.

[C]

Don't back down. We don't back down. With all due respect if they go low, we don't go high. We take them to the mud and choke them out. And we all know those 250 years weren't perfect. We all know that a lot of that history was built on a set of foundational errors. I got to go to amazing public schools. I got to go to an incredible public university. I got my medical education paid for by the NIH. Growing up just 15 minutes away from me. Children whose families had been here far longer than mine who never got those same opportunities.

[A]

So you moved to Ireland.

[B]

You want to move back to the United States? Correct. When he's done.

[A]

Because I miss my other children greatly, and I miss, you know, New York and my life here. Brought stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight o' er the rampers we watched were so gallantly streaming. To give you an example, one of the more controversial ones is that Piker

[C]

has said America deserved 9 11.

[A]

Are you comfortable with that association? No, I am not. I think that's a dumb statement. On the other hand, he has a whole lot of followers, and there's a lot of things that he's saying that are making sense to a lot of

[D]

people in the restaurant industry. When we're out of something, we say it's 86. And I'd say it's about time we 86 Trump my proximity to whiteness continues. Right. My son is biracial. He's half white and half Korean. And I think navigating what his identity is and how people perceive him is

[A]

always at the back of my. Honestly, I didn't have a lot of dolls because I didn't have dolls that really looked like me much. And that's why I kind of really wanted to make sure this was super intentional, because now they have a doll that looks like you and nails and hair, but also, you can be a killer on the court as well. So, logical male participating in women's sports. What's your personal stance? Yeah, I mean, I'm. I don't know that I would say that I'm educated enough from a scientific

[B]

standpoint, so I'm all about women, little girls deserving to play, and that includes trans women.

[A]

And the rocket red glare the bombs bursting in air Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there still there. Donald Trump did it. He banned transgender athletes.

[C]

Did that help you?

[A]

Do you feel better now? Do you feel like.

[C]

Do you feel like your.

[A]

Your. Your life has improved in any significant manner? Okay, mommy, you got me here at the Twisters parking lot. What do you have us doing. Are you, like, gonna take us out to lunch or something here?

[D]

Yes.

[A]

Let's see. Let's go inside so we can eat really. At Twisters here. Oh, cool. Oh, save the st. O' er the land of the free and the home of the brave. What was that?

[C]

That was the opening game of the female. The first female baseball league.

[B]

That's a.

[A]

What is the female baseball league?

[C]

It's the female baseball league.

[A]

That's a real thing. I had no idea this existed. This is real, apparently. Are they calling it the female or the women's. What are they calling it?

[C]

I don't know.

[B]

They don't see gender. Steve.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

Women's pro baseball league.

[D]

Why are they clapping?

[A]

Yeah. Who is singing that?

[B]

Why are they breathing?

[A]

I mean, I've never. Is that some viral thing? I just have been in a.

[B]

No, I haven't seen it.

[A]

I've had my head in the sand and was unaware was going on. This is. Are we too old for this now? Because that isn't. That is the. That is awful. That is dreadful. That can't be by accident. It had to be a troll.

[B]

That had to be.

[A]

That had to be a troll. It had to be. Oh, my word.

[D]

It's a no for the first female baseball league. That's for sure.

[A]

Yes, it is. So John is the guest. I'm sorry, I am. I am verklempt. All right, John, as the guest here, you always get the first crack at Aaron's montage which has broken me.

[B]

Am.

[A]

I am a broken vessel right now. I am shattered before you, John Harris. What was the most detestable thing you just watched and why?

[D]

It was a wonderful montage, Aaron, to just reinforce to me why I don't want to get out. I just stay home. Don't go anywhere. Don't go to a sports game. That was the worst. I think of all of. I know everything that the political side of it, the Democrats are saying is terrible. But as a musician and someone who enjoys music, I just can't abide my national anthem being disgraced in that manner. It's hilarious, but it's. It's just sad, too. I can't even. I. I still don't know what to say. I'm in shock sitting here.

[A]

Who's the singer? Is this a known person?

[C]

No. She identifies as being in the right key.

[A]

Nice. They all do.

[C]

All three of them or four of them. I couldn't tell how many voices were there there.

[A]

I don't even know what to say to that.

[C]

Legion.

[A]

I, I, I I am. I am horrible. Holy cow. How have I not seen that? Todd, what stuck out to you?

[B]

Well, it's. And I've already posted my thoughts on this yesterday before even seeing the montage on X. But it's the combination of what I have to commit. His name, who's running for Senate in Michigan. What's his name?

[A]

Joe?

[B]

EL Said. It's El Said versus Hong in Wisconsin for just. Absolutely.

[A]

With a dash of Talarico thrown in.

[B]

Looking to the west coast, you know, looking to the other Big ten schools, you know, Oregon, out in California, say no. We got. Hold our beer. Hold my beer. We're gonna. We're gonna see you and raise you on all this. This is why. And listen, I'm equal opportunity until we find out what's going on. We need to shut down college football in the state of Michigan, the state of Wisconsin, and the state of Minnesota. Midwestern values are at stake. These universities are simply spitting in the face. We do not have the right to nice things. So we have to shut down college football until we understand what's going on in the state.

[A]

Aaron, what about you?

[C]

I can't even remember what was in the montage because I was on the phone the entire time during that montage with a plumber. So I apologize. I'm trying to double, multi, triple, quadruple task here. But if I recall, we're doing it live.

[B]

Aaron.

[C]

If I. Are we live?

[A]

This is live. This is live. John is looking at us like, what

[C]

kind of outfit do you run?

[A]

What level of retards am I. Am I on this show right now? Yes.

[D]

We should go do the national anthem somewhere.

[A]

Yes, yes, we should. I'll just indiscriminately scream out, this is why this is live.

[C]

Yes. If I recall, Hasan Piker is in there. If I recall the montage that I did myself that I can't even remember. Less than 24 hours later, Hasan Piker is in there. Hey, Donald Trump got all the dudes out of the sports. Are you happy now? Do you feel better?

[B]

Yes.

[C]

To which I reply, I know this is really hard word to say, and I'm going to do my best not to butcher it the way the national anthem is butchered. My reply to Hasan Piker is, yes, yes, yes.

[B]

Amen. Amen. I say to you.

[A]

Verily, Verily, yes, indeed. I mean, that's one of the things I feel the best about. In fact, if anything, there, it's on a short list of things I feel pretty great about right now, as a matter of fact. Yes, all right, let's get to the. Let's get to the exit question, shall we? On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being Candace Owens score in the Hooked on Phonics final exam, and 10 being how low your IQ has to believe. Has to be to believe any of Candace's Charlie conspiracy theories rank this week's level of total depravity. Todd.

[B]

Hard ten.

[A]

I mean, that song alone is just. It's a ten on its own.

[C]

I think she reached an H sharp there, which is not a note that even exists.

[A]

What orifice did she have to manipulate or appendage did she have to grab to reach said chord, do you think? I mean, she have to peel a toenail off right then and there or something?

[B]

I think she's doing us a favor if how we're.

[A]

I don't even think I can mimic it.

[B]

If how we are living our lives was actually accompanied by a soundtrack, you

[A]

think that would be it?

[B]

That authentically, you think that is the

[A]

national anthem right now? I can't even. I can't even begin to nails it.

[C]

I have a question for John, A technical question for John. Were you able to hear the national anthem during that montage?

[D]

I mean, I heard something. I don't know if it was the national anthem.

[C]

That tells you it wasn't even music. Because if it was actually music, he wouldn't have been able to.

[A]

This is an incredible point, because people don't know.

[C]

Go ahead, Zoom. For whatever reason, our Zoom system blocks out all music to the guest.

[A]

Yes.

[C]

And so it doesn't. Zoom couldn't even deduce that that was music.

[D]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

True story. This is not a troll. If I'm remote, like on my home studio or on the road, I hear everything when I'm. Because I'm connected via Zoom too. On remote, I hear everything other than music. Zoom will not play music over the Zoom. So the fact that you were able to hear that.

[B]

Did AI just become self aware? Yes.

[A]

Skynet is adapted. Is official.

[B]

No, just. It is official.

[A]

It is official. All right. The Zoom, you know, mechanism there was not able to recognize that as music. The fact that you could hear it.

[D]

Well, the hilarious thing is I'm a praise team leader at my church. I actually the minister of music. And when I get up there and someone goes off at the beginning of a song, you all kind of look at them, and sometimes it's me, but I stop or that person stops, and you figure it out. And in this particular video, you could see these other two girls looking at I didn't get a good look. I. I at first thought that.

[A]

No, you. You saw it, right? Yeah, they do look at her like, yeah, what are we doing?

[D]

They're like, what do you. Yeah, what's going on? And she just plows through.

[A]

Yes.

[D]

That's the hilarious part to me. It's like, it's the worst thing ever. And she just makes it worse and worse. And they're like, what are we doing here?

[A]

Holy cow. I mean, I. I mean, that is maybe the most disturbing thing I have seen or heard so far this year. That. That is.

[C]

Wow.

[A]

My. My brain is broken. Let's get to issue two. Let's try to have a more serious conversation because it certainly won't be that much more hopeful which Christian leaders will repent of promoting Fauci to the brethren.

[C]

Simple cursory search during the era of COVID will turn up oodles of examples of our evangelical betters chastising their fellow brethren for not trusting the science, not trusting Foushee, and engaging in sinful conspiracy theories. A few examples come to mind. Russell Moore, former lead of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission for the Southern Baptist Convention, saying, quote, these vaccines are cause for evangelicals to celebrate and give thanks to God. He also claimed those trying to warn against the vaccine were, quote, dividing the congregation one way or another. Ed Stetzer, now at Biola University, of course, had this infamous conversation with Francis Collins at the nih.

[A]

As a Christian and a scientist, do you think there's any basis for a Christian or what would be the basis, if so, to claim a religious exemption from vaccines?

[D]

I have trouble seeing what it would be. I guess I'd like to hear somebody articulate that.

[C]

Stetzer also chastised Christians for questioning the natural origins hypothesis and calling the lab leak hypothesis misinformation and equated asking questions about the lab a sin. There was also, of course, Rick Warren, who colluded with Collins, Fauci et al to frame lockdowns as loving your neighbor. Those are just a few examples that. That come to the top of the mind about how the evangelical elite during COVID still, to my knowledge, have yet to repent.

[A]

Tim Keller's decision to segregate his church by vax status not mentioned since he's no longer alive and isn't here to repent for said maneuver. Nevertheless. So let's get to it. John, first question to you. Who is most in need of repentance here but is yet to do so?

[D]

That's a hard question because you guys are on the front line of this. And I was in the trenches in the evangelical world tracking all this compromise. And there's so many figures that you could talk about. But a lot of the figures were promoting a policy. Right. It was shutting down your church, like Francis Collins said with Russell Moore, or it was, you need to get the vax. Like John Piper said. He said, if you're not doing it, it's because of peer pressure, which is laughable because it's the people pushing it that I think were succumbing to more peer pressure. Or it was. It was something along the lines of policy. Right. So the Fauci himself was not endorsed, at least publicly, by a lot of these leaders. It was implicit. It was maybe indirect. I mean, you did have Francis Collins privately coordinating to try to say, hey, these Great Barrington declaration people, we got to stop them. But there is an example of someone, Joe Carter from the Gospel Coalition. He went out there and he specifically, and I would say the word endorsed is strong enough to really label this accurately. He endorsed Anthony Fauci. He said conspiracies about Anthony Fauci, the man specifically, are wrong. And he brought in Christian teaching on slander to apply to it. He says you're a slanderer if you're doing this. It's still on the Gospel Coalition website, at least last week I checked. They have not retracted. They have not apologized. Joe Carter hasn't apologized. I think that's the worst because it wasn't just a policy. It was the whole man that he ended up endorsing.

[A]

Fascinating is I used to know Joe Carter fairly well, John, in another lifetime, because he was high up in the Huckabee campaign that I was on in the 2008 election cycle. So that's how I got to meet Joe Carter. And then after that, I believe he went and worked for the Gospel Coalition. I want to say that he also worked for Stan Torum 2012. I might be wrong about that, but I know for sure that's where I met him. Was on the Huckabee 08 campaign.

[C]

Is he here in Iowa, Joe Carter?

[A]

No, he's south of Carolina when I knew him.

[D]

Well, he's actually at David Platt's church now. He's been there for a few years working under David Platt. So if you know who David Platt is, it all makes sense.

[A]

It does make a ton of sense. No doubt. What do you think, Aaron?

[C]

Who is most in need of repentance? It's just because I've brushed with this individual multiple times in a previous role. Interacted with him a few times on X. And I do think it's the aforementioned Ed Stetzer. If you go back and you watch that interview with Francis Collins, and Ed Stetzer, as I pointed out as well, was writing about. He said it was a sin. He said we were being gullible. He called his brethren gullible. He called his brethren basically nuts, saying, you're making us all look like idiots. Cut it out with the lab leak stuff, okay? You can. I think there's a way. If you're concerned about that, if you're. For the right reasons, whatever those might be, if you're concerned that people are starting to maybe go down a path, there's a way you can maybe encourage people on how to ask the right questions or critically think through things and expend a lot of grace. There was no grace for one half or one part of this debate. No grace at all. You were a bunch of people who are idiots, making us look back. Bad, stupid. Sycophants, conspiracy theorists, sinful. It's Ed Stetzer. And it's just the interview with Francis Collins. I went back and watched quite a bit of that again. I was trying to forget about it, and I didn't even realize I was trying to forget about it. But going back and watching it again, I realized I was trying to forget that that ever happened. It is. It's. Vile is a good word. It's nauseating. Just absolutely nauseating. Because there's a. You can kind of tell from body language, can't you? Okay, At a certain point, you can kind of tell from body language when somebody is just like, I've arrived, or I'm trying to impress someone, or I'm trying to keep up appearances and make it. Make it known that I have the seat at the table that everybody else wants. And that is what that interview really looked like to me. The tone, the mannerisms, everything. As a Christian and also a scientist, is there any idea or is there any reason why these numbskull Christians could want a religious exemption for the vaccine? It's just nauseating. So it's Ed Stetzer.

[A]

Todd.

[B]

Yeah. I'm not going to let all you Protestants have all the fun. The USCCB is. Was atrocious on this. They continue to be. They're arguing against religious exemptions as we speak. Terrible on this. But there's a reason, Protestant or Catholic, why we're like this.

[A]

Good, because that's where I was going to take the conversation on this.

[B]

Oh, there's a very good reason. Because we even the most Conservative people on faith, total depravity. Ultimately, there's all kinds of pockets in our life and this might be the biggest one where they aren't so much. Vaccination is how a lot of people view their faith. Your faith is actually an exorcism. But most people of faith view it as a vaccination and that's why they can't wrap their brain around apologizing for this. I meant to do good. It's. This is all right. Why wouldn't you vaccinate? Most Christians think this. Most Christians continue to think this about this even after Covid. They think they were saved by this vaccine because that's how they view their faith. I shot in the arm and I'm good now. And now I'm a first worlder. And look at Pleasant Valley Sunday over there in the cul de sac.

[A]

That's a fascinating connection.

[B]

That's why, and until we wrap our brain around this, that your faith is an exorcism and a daily one and not just that shot in your arm. And look, the man in the white coat healed me.

[A]

It's the, it's the shot version of I gave my sins to Jesus once and that's all that's required to me. Nothing more, nothing less, ever again kind of a thing. All right, that's a fascinating connection that Todd made there. John, your thoughts on that?

[D]

Yeah, Todd, I think that's an excellent point and I haven't considered that in detail. I think you're right that there's a low commitment and people think that if they had the right intentions that they're justified. A story that came to my mind as you were saying, that was during that time in 2021 in the state of New York where the religious exemption for the first time I think ever was taken off the table. And I had friends who were losing their jobs and there was one pastor probably within about 100 mile radius who was writing religious exemptions for the few companies who would still take them privately. And that was my father. I emailed 100 pastors in the area. 100. Because I was connected to a nurse who was trying to stage protests against the religious exemption specifically and denying it. And I, and I put in my email, look, there's a gospel opportunity here. You can come, you can speak about the religious persecution element here, but you can also share the gospel with a bunch of people who are concerned about the vax, who don't really care about Christianity. This is an opportunity. Guess how many pastors emailed me back or Even responded zero.

[A]

I was gonna guess pretty number one.

[D]

Pastor got back to me to even say they disagreed. No one said a thing. And I remember that time vividly. It was a terrible time in so many ways. Was clarifying, though.

[A]

Yes, Aaron, you have thoughts on that?

[C]

It's incredible. And as much as last week, watching that all go down, there is even amongst us who are trying to be on the front lines and doing our best, and we're trying to speak the truth and speak up for people who didn't have as big of a voice. There is a tendency to kind of relive that era, especially in light of what we saw last week and say, my goodness, what was the point? We're nowhere near where we need to be. But we cannot ever, ever, ever forget that. We can't forget that era, what they tried to do to us, and the absolute trust that was shaken, frayed, and really torn because of what happened during that era. And it's not just Fauci, it's the people who we're talking about these days, our brethren, people who are supposed to be our brethren, totally and utterly sold us out. And it's going to be hard to forget that, as much as sometimes we would like to because of the depth of how badly we were betrayed.

[A]

I do think there's some good news here. There is a graveyard of betrayal, Aaron, as you just articulated and itemized there. But there's also the opposite. And I go to one of these churches, I can't tell you how many pastors I've either heard from or heard about all over America that got up one day and were like, why are the strips clubs. Why are the strip clubs opened? And I'm closed? And I've heard. I don't know about you, John, how many. If you've heard this, but I've heard a variation of this story dozens of times now from churches all over the country across denominational lines. And essentially that pastor looked in the mirror and the Holy Spirit said, well, you.

[D]

You're.

[A]

Why? I mean, because you're a coward, basically. And the story goes a little bit like this, all right, we're going to reopen, all right? We're going to stop watering down God's word. We're to start actually stop being his editor and preach the whole thing. Church empties out. Oh, no, I'm going to go belly up. What are we going to do? A year or two later, church is twice, three times the size it was before it emptied out because God brought the people that actually wanted to Hear the full counsel of God. And now the church is growing more than ever before. I go to a church with a pastor that this is his story. I have heard this all over the country, from all over the country. I've spoken in some churches all over the country that this story is similar to. So I do think there wasn't just betrayal here. I do think, John, there was also a pruning was done as well. And I think that some of what was threatened to be cut off responded accordingly and walked back into the light.

[D]

Absolutely. The higher you were in authority, the size of your church, the level of impact of your ministry, the more pressure was applied to you because you have all these relationships in elite circles. But I've made the case many times and I've seen this myself. I don't know of any studies on it, but churches with 150, 80, 200 people in suburban and rural areas especially, they actually tended to grow. If they did what you were saying, Steve, because there was a big reshuffling of the deck. A lot of people were leaving churches that refused to open, that were caving to go to churches where it was still open or they had recently opened up because of having the experience you just described. I think of John MacArthur as a good example where their church was shut down for about two months, and he is a bigger church in a very liberal state. And he just said, you know what? This is wrong. We're going to open up. He went to war with Gavin Newsom. It inspired a lot of people to kind of come in behind him and do the same thing. Because courage is infectious. And it's one of the lessons that I learned from that whole era. Courage is actually infectious. If you are someone with courage, you'll notice other people will be strengthened. And I don't know if enough pastors learn that, but certainly I would say on those lower levels, and I don't mean that as a pejorative. I'm just saying churches that were a little smaller, I think a lot of them did learn that lesson and are reaping fruit from it.

[A]

Let's get to the exit question. So we have plenty of time for everybody to give a thoughtful answer here. How should Christians treat the Christian leaders who misled them during this scamdemic and refused to repent?

[C]

Aaron, I think there is going to be, if they repent, obviously forgiveness, but there are going to be consequences for how badly the depth and this is going to be different for everybody, but the depth of their betrayal and maybe in positions of leadership Positions of decision making that's maybe off of the table, but I think there's going to be a very much earned distrust going forward, and I think that's warranted.

[A]

Todd. An earned distrust. I like that term. I mean, I don't like it, but it's a good turn of phrase.

[B]

Well, I certainly practice this actively. I will regularly remind them of it when they ask them something of me of a moral nature. You want a commitment from me? Where was your commitment then? I remind people of this online all the time because they simply will not even acknowledge that they were. Did what they did. Well, okay, I'll make sure that it's acknowledged.

[A]

I totally believe you will do that.

[B]

It's not a will.

[A]

I am actively, like yesterday. Of that I am confident the day before.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Of anything that's been said in the first 20 and a half minutes of this program, of that I am the most confident. John, we got about 90 seconds here. The balance of time for you. What's the right response here, do you think?

[D]

Well, the early church had a situation where people, it was a little different, but they were under the pressure of the government renouncing their faith. And then they wanted to come back when the pressure was lifted. And the answer was, look, you can come back, repent, but you're not going to be a pastor again. You already blew that chance. That's a general sort of sentiment, and I think that probably applies here. Depending on the level of egregious activity they involve themselves in, if they, if they were shut down for a long period of time, then, yeah, pastor is not really your line of work. You got to have courage for that.

[A]

That's a fascinating analogy and precedent to cite there. Any, Any thoughts on that real quick?

[B]

Listen, I'm Catholic, so we have a different chain of. In terms of becoming a, you know, pastor. But John is absolutely just like. We have way too many listen people in social media and podcasts. We have too many pastors.

[A]

So there's a lot of Catholics listening. Let's make that very practical here. So in other words, you're not in a position, you're saying, to remove church officials.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Those decisions are made in a bureaucratic level above you.

[B]

Right.

[A]

But how much regard that you give them and influence into your lives, you do have agency on that.

[B]

And we need to send the herd anyway.

[A]

Good stuff. Sorry, Aaron, we're out of time.

[C]

It's all right.

[A]

We'll come back. Who is more likely to be president one day or one day soon? We'll discuss that next State. The Steve Day Show.

[C]

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[A]

So Anthony Fauci pled the fifth over a hundred times. Last night, Senator Rand Paul posted a picture of two letters that he is sending to the Trump Department of Justice recommending Foushee to be prosecuted for contempt of Congress. For people that don't know or don't remember, maybe that's the exact same crime that Steve Bannon went to prison for. What was it six months for?

[B]

Sounds right.

[A]

I think it was for six months they sent Steve Bannon to prison for contempt of Congress. So this entire ongoing ordeal is still another vivid reminder. As much as possible, take control of your own health. Know as much about your own body as much as you possibly can. Now, I've been working with Jevoty all throughout this year to do that. They have, and I mean this in a good way, the absolute most invasive, intense blood work you're gonna get in terms of knowledge about your body. Stuff I've never even known to ask in the past. All right? And that kind of knowledge will then help them to lay out for you with one of their providers, a blueprint and the resources for you to take control of your health. Now, that blueprint may include for you, as it does for me, their supplement program, which I love. I'm feeling great. I pay for that out of my own pocket. So I'm not just pitching that to you because they. They're giving that to me for telling you about Jevote. Now, I. I'm. I'm paying for the supplements out of my own pocket, and I'm not just going to waste the money now. I am. In fact, I am feeling so. I'm feeling so much better than I already even was. Because, you guys know I've made a ton of health improvements in my life in the last few years, but, I mean, I even went back to Jevity. I'm like, do you guys want to do another blood panel just so I can share the audience, the numbers with the audience? That's how much better I'm feeling. So if you want to give them a try. Jevity is short for longevity. Go to go G E V I T I G E V I t I go.com Daish Use the code DACE. You'll get 20% off at govity.com promo code DACE for 20% off. All right, let's welcome back in our good friend John Harris and we'll tell you about how you can continue to follow his work here. We get to the end of this week's look at the week that was. Let's get to issue three, though.

[C]

How true is this doing it live in the midst of the great burrito wars of 2026, Congressman Brandon Gill, a rising star, had this to say on X. Quote, everything that directly impacts your life, affordability, safety, cultural stability, all of it is downstream from immigration. The choice to vote for a Democrat party committed to opening our borders to the world is a choice to commit civilizational suicide.

[A]

Todd, how true is that?

[B]

Way more true than most things that are uttered by anybody in Congress these days. Yeah, I mean, this is it. It doesn't really matter how you feel about it. When the math is that clear, we just become drunk on our feelings. Just as I laid out with what people think faith actually is, Flannery o' Connor said, you know, everybody thinks faith is this warm electric blanket, but in reality it's the cross. The math on this immigration thing right there, that's not an opinion. It's not. And it's not complicated math. It's actually just arithmetic. It's not calculus. And there's a reason why the Democrats are doing it, why they're flooding the zone like this. It's not remotely complicated. The only thing that's going to be complicated is whether we can adult or not. And that keeps proving to be something we don't want to do. And it's not just the people on the left, it's on the right. We are too distracted. We're too comfortable. We know now we're getting so deep on this that this is going to be messy to fix. But the math is simple.

[A]

All right. Todd says it's simple. Aaron, what do you think?

[C]

Yeah, I think it's pretty simple, but it's the first step in probably a multi step, but not. We're not doing, you know, quadratic equations here. We're doing simple division, subtraction, you know, adding, multiplication. This is the first step in a problem. This is, I think immigration is a good first step. If we checked out, chucked out every single illegal immigrant in this country right now. Magic wand, they're all gone. They're all deported back to their home countries. Is this country spiritually put back together?

[B]

No, no.

[C]

However, a lot of the temporal stuff that we see around us that we've been talking about with the great burrito wars of 2026, all of this temporal stuff that is adding maybe aiding and abetting some of the spiritual demise, would that stuff start to turn around? I think the answer is yes. Or at least I'd like to find out if the answer is yes. At the very least I'd like to figure out if the answer to that question is yes. Because in 2013 I was able to, in a fairly nice suburb of Minneapolis St. Paul, I was able to live on my own on a nice part time income with a little bit of supplemental income from donating plasma, I was able to live on my own, have my own apartment, one bedroom apartment in a decent suburb ish of Minneapolis St. Paul. Just 13 years ago. Last night I checked the rent on that apartment. $650 a month. In 2013, you know what it was

[A]

gotta be over 1000 now.

[C]

It started at $1300 a month.

[A]

Oh my word.

[C]

I think that's a little bit of a problem. I think it's a bit of a problem. And yeah, let's get how about this? I propose a compromise. I do think maybe there is a little bit of maybe amongst certain sectors of my generation. Certainly the zoomers that I see are grinders, but that's just anecdotal. Let's put off having the conversation about poor work ethic, poor financial planning, all that stuff that seemingly there's one side of this debate. Let's put that off until we get them all out, get all of the invaders out, then we can have that conversation. Is that a deal?

[A]

I'd take that deal.

[C]

Could we take that deal? Do you think that's a perceptible deal?

[A]

I think I take that.

[C]

Then we can have that conversation. But until we get the invaders out, we're not going to talk about anybody's lack of drive, anybody's lack of ambition until we get get that problem solved. So I think this is a good first step. And again, Brandon Gill hits the nail on the head.

[A]

You mentioned the suburb that you were once in before you came to work here in Minneapolis. So I live in. You guys know where I live? I live in a nice suburb of Des Moines called West Des Moines, over by the big mall and they're building some new condos over by the, in the same strip mall that Target and stuff isn't over there. I think it's called West Glen, right?

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

And they're advertising and they look like nice condos. They're not very large. Okay. And again, these, this, these are West Des Moines condos. I know some of you that live in like a big urban city, like with some of these condos. This is West Des Moines, not Manhattan. Okay? We're not Manhattan. It's West Des Moines by a Target, right? This isn't Manhattan on the, you know, the Upper east side. This is, this is West Des Moines by a friggin Target. By a target behind Target. They're advertising that they're starting at $1,900 a month. That is hundreds of dollars more than my mortgage payment for a 3,100 square foot home about a mile and a half away in the same neighborhood. Blows my mind. And they're advertising it like it's a great deal. 1900 bucks a month.

[C]

Wow.

[A]

John, what do you think of this entire conversation, what Brandon Gill had to say?

[D]

I think what Brandon Gill is doing is smart. There's obviously a number of contributing factors, right? I don't know if you knew this, I just looked this up the other day. Apparently for your average single family home in the purchasing price of the average home in the United States, $130,000 of that is just regulations which that astounded. When I found that out, I mean

[A]

I'm gobsmacked again like I was during that national anthem.

[C]

Wow.

[A]

Okay.

[D]

Wow. Yeah. I mean that alone is insane. But I think the thing that people are trying to figure out is how come in the last six years really post Covid, the property values have shot up so much and it is a supply and demand issue. There are just not enough places for people to live. When you compare it to the people that are looking. And I think a lot of this has to do with people moving and going from blue states that were more expensive to red states. I'm directly impacted by this because I own property in a red state and I've seen the property values start to match my property in New York. And I like this makes no sense, but it's because of all the moving around. So there's a number of factors. But I think the smart thing he's doing here is this. He is locating an actual problem because that contributes to the demand all of these illegal migrants who are still here. And he's channeling it into a policy prescription that will help us actually win an election and actually do Something about it, which I'm not seeing from a lot of people.

[A]

It's just not esoteric. It's just not a declaration. It's a plan.

[D]

Yeah, they don't have a plan. It's like, hey, I'm going to vote for the Republican. And then the answer I get is like, well, my plan of doing nothing is so much better than your plan. It's like, but you don't have a plan. You're just complaining about the status quo. This guy's actually giving you something that you can do that will affect the outcome. And I think that's why Brandon Gill has a bright future, because he understands politics.

[A]

Let's talk about that future. In the exit question, who's more likely to be president one day, Brandon Gill or Marco Rubio? Todd Rubio. Say why?

[B]

I like Brandon Gill and I'm open to just about anything. But in terms of general levels of candor, you know, J.D. vance is pretty darn good at that kind of thing, too. I mean, I don't. You always.

[A]

So we're talking. He's in the same lane. So we're talking.

[B]

You used to talk about lanes. It just doesn't seem like there's a.

[A]

He'll have to run for another office.

[B]

A need for him at that level.

[A]

Right now, we don't elect members of Congress president. I mean, he'd have to run for another office first. Like senator, definitely. Like governor, per se, in Texas. Aaron, what do you think?

[C]

Yeah, just one quick note as well. I think what John just pointed out is the practical application of what it means to not stay parked at realism that we were talking about yesterday on Theology Thursday, seven deadly worldviews. Pragmatism. This is the practical application. The realist view is that we have a major problem with the cost of housing, the cost of living. Here's the solution. You're not just staying parked at realism. So that's a practical application of what we were talking about yesterday on Theology Thursday. To answer the question, who's going more likely at this point, it's Marco Rubio. I really like what I'm seeing from Brandon Gill, though. But I think Marco Rubio for now, just because he has the higher name id. But keep this up. Brandon Gill for another year, year and a half, two years, and you're gonna have pretty high name ID as well.

[A]

The question really reveals, Jon, whether you think what's more likely to be the direction of the party that the after post Trump? I mean, do you think in the immediate. All right, the more conventional conservative movement is able. And these are not neocons. I hate that. Ok. I mean, I mean, Joe Berry and Dana Lash are not neocons. That's retarded.

[B]

All right.

[A]

I know these people. They may not be the MAGA people you like, they may not be as populous as you want them to be for some of you, but they're not neocons. Okay, so whether kind of. But they are kind of the traditional. They would be the people that would have supported Ted Cruz and Ron DeSantis, for example. What's more likely in the short run that they will be able to capture the flag here, post immediately Post Trump in 2028 or that that ship is so sailed now that there's time for a Brandon Gill in the long, in the long run to become a standard bearer of the party? That that's really what the question belies.

[D]

I think there's time for Brandon Gill, like Brandon Gill has a, I think a bright future ahead, like I just said. And if he keeps doing what he's doing, this is a winning formula because it unites everyone and he's not getting involved in issues that will divide as much. So those issues are going to have to come up. He's going to have to face them. And depending on how he navigates that, I think will determine where he goes with all of this. But I don't, it's hard to speculate on this, but I was thinking the other day and this is a very likely outcome if you do have a third party come up and it hasn't happened yet, but Tucker Carlson has been teasing about this. I think what will likely happen is those, those people who are attracted to that are likely going to lose. And part of it is the fact that right now I'm seeing a lot of beautiful loser type sentiment among that crowd. They can criticize the Trump administration all day long, but they can't offer practical actionable items that will actually win elections. And Thomas Massie and Marjorie Taylor Greene are great examples of that. So you have to actually win to scale up and you have to beat the Democrats. If you have a third party that basically leeches off of people that are disaffected Republicans and they don't actually win that, I don't think it's going to be a long term strategy because once the Democrats show their hand, which they're doing now is the montage at the beginning showed people will run for the hills. People will see, oh yeah, I remember the Biden years now. I remember people are trying to get me all complaining about Trump, but, man, that was so much worse. And that's an opportunity for the Marco Rubios of the world to be the solution, because they actually have competence, they've won, they've managed things. I think in times of crisis, hopefully that competency will shine through. But I'm all for the populists in the sense of people who want to see America, America first policies and all of that. So I'm hoping there can be a working together, not with Tucker necessarily, but with guys like Brandon Gill and Marco Rubio.

[A]

The other problem is, let's face it, the Tucker group is just united by what's the one single thing that unites them? Just a hatred of Israel and Jews. I mean, I just. That's, that's essentially the, the uniting principle. I mean, that's, that's the one thing that they all have in common. All right. I mean, Thomas Massie is a randy and libertarian, has a lot different views on many things than a Marjorie Taylor Greene professed to, for example. So then how. So why would they break off to form their own thing? If we already had a wide coalition party on the right, then why would we need another one? The break off is that's their uniting principle. And there might be all kinds of people that will give you clicks for that online. I don't see that that's any kind of critical mass of voters in the not too distant future whatsoever.

[D]

You don't think Anakasparian's gonna be the running man?

[A]

I kind of don't. I kind of don't. But, you know, I've been wrong before.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

All right, real quick. It appears like AG was in Trump's first term. It's starting to look like DHS is the black hole of Trump's second term. All right. I mean, Christine Ome and whatever went on there. Mark Wayne Mullen now and his remarks. All right, very quickly. So we get predictions in as well. If you could just replace Mark Wayne Mullen with one person alive right now, unilaterally, who would it be and why?

[B]

Daniel Horowitz.

[A]

I like that. Sean Harris, go ahead.

[D]

Tom Homan.

[A]

I like that, too.

[B]

Aaron.

[C]

Stephen Miller, Crazy like a fox.

[A]

Yeah, all those choices are great. All right, let's get to predictions. Aaron, I'll lead off with you.

[C]

I think I'm going to re up what I said. I know what happens in the overtime usually needs to stay in the overtime, but I'm going to predict that a better or group of betters this season in college football will sue a college sophomore Football player for allegedly not scoring when the game was in the balance and their total or their spread was hanging in the balance as well and

[A]

just taking a knee to run the

[B]

clock out of something. Just too much money. Arian.

[A]

All right, Todd, go ahead.

[B]

Because of the rise of Sophie Cunningham and XXXY protest, there's at least going to be one team, if not the whole league this season that is going to boycott.

[A]

Just sit out a game at wnba.

[B]

Sit out the game, if not strike during the right. During the middle of the season. Because the invincible ignorance in that league is like out there.

[A]

Indeed, John.

[D]

I'm totally ignorant on the wnba. What's. What's even the WNBA exactly think that their national anthem can only get better than the women's bas.

[A]

You don't have to make a WNBA NBA prediction, John. It can literally be about anything if you have one. But I'm. Yeah, I'm actually going to.

[D]

I think.

[A]

Go ahead.

[D]

The Republicans are going to do a little better than everyone's predicting online. There you go.

[A]

Okay. I'm going to do a WNBA prediction too. Not knowing, Todd, what yours was going to be. I think at least one player by the end of this year will come out as being. As having been trans a trune all along. At least one player will do this. Hey, I've actually been just a trune this entire time. Right. And why is it, why is it going to be Brittney Griner?

[C]

I just think at least one player, an incredible biopic. Trune all the way.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Trune all along.

[A]

Trunes all the way down.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yes. No, I think that's going to happen. I mean, let's just do a quick poll of the panel. Do you guys believe that there's not a single one in that league right now?

[B]

Well, I guess everybody thinks it's Brittney Griner.

[A]

Yeah. Aaron, you think there's not a single one? Yes or no?

[C]

No.

[A]

John, what about you?

[D]

I was going to say it would be surprising if one of them came out as a straight heterosexual.

[A]

Well, that's. Yeah, that's the breaking news. Yes, that's. That'll preach right there.

[B]

So, Scott, you're back.

[A]

Good to see you again, brother. Quickly let people know where they can find you. Your substack, John, real quick. Go substack.com. harris, you'll be smarter if you check that out, I promise you. Good to see you again, brother. We'll come back. Hour two. Your feedback on a Friday is next. Traditional home security only alerts you after a break in and that's too late. Simplisafe is changing that. Stop.

[C]

This is simply safe. Police are on the way.

[A]

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[A]

All right, back here with hour two Live Live. We're live and on demand here on Blaze tv, Radio and podcast. I'm Steve Dase alongside Todd erzin and Aaron McIntyre. Let us know what you think about what we think. In fact, we're going to find some of that out here in a few minutes on a feedback Friday. But if you want to be considered for a future one, email the show steve dace.com that's D E A C E. You can also like us on Facebook Me we in gab. Follow me at Steve Dacia on X Instagram and TikTok. Subscribe to our Rumble channel at Steve Dace on Rumble and please, please please please. If you're a podcast listener, if you haven't done this yet, hit the subscribe button. Or if you're on Apple itunes these days, that's follow to ensure that every time we do a new episode it is for sure right there in your podcast feed feed so that you're assured of never missing an episode because why would you want to do that? You can also leave us a 10 or want to be one of the tens of thousands to leave us a five star review Again thanks to each and every one of you for one of those. And we were talking earlier again about opportunities to take control of your health in light of what we continue to learn, which is everything we suspected was going on during this pandemic is exactly what was happening. So to make sure that you don't get caught in well that could never happen here. The next time that happens. This is what I love about our friends over at Jace Medical is they ran into the fight. They, they came to us watching what was happening during that time, that bleak time in our nation's history. And so they have now greatly expanded their menu of what they have available from the OG Jace case to all kinds of first aid kits, the kids case with pediatric medications and more. They want to make sure that you're prepared to the next time they try to take award winning drugs that have been known to save thousands and thousands of lives and tell you they're dangerous. Or horse paste. Here, take this cancer drug that failed with a black box warning instead. Yes, that happened. All right, so use my exclusive promo code DACE to check out for a discount on your [e-mail] jac promo code dace at checkout for a discount on your [e-mail] promo code dace my last name for a [e-mail] all right, are we ready for some feedback Friday?

[B]

You bet.

[C]

Yep.

[A]

All right, let's let it rip here. Let's start here with Bryson, shall we? Bryson says you've said for a while that Republicans generally run for office to be somebody, while Democrats generally run for office to do something. From my limited vantage point being somewhat of a nobody who tries to be politically aware, there seems to be a pattern anytime, broadly speaking, a Democrat or liberal commie attacks a Republican, whether it's a rhino or genuine conservative, it's with the purpose of attacking the character of said Republican. For example, Trump is a racist, literally Hitler. I've been called a hypocrite and wicked for supporting ice and I'm sure you can think of more examples. But when a Republican attacks a Democrat, the attack is generally based on what the Democrat does. I don't personally have any friends who swing left, but the attacks generally seem to be based on how. They generally seem to be based on how many babies they want to kill or kids they want to trans or illegals they want to let walk free. Is there any significance to this? What if we started attacking character? Not necessarily character assassinating in the bad sense, but rightfully calling someone who enjoys killing a murderer or someone who wants to cut off the genitals of miners a creeper or pervert, such things like that. Or like I said before, maybe we already are as a movement and I just can't see that from my limited vantage point. Like I mentioned earlier, PS Listen to the Robbie Starbuck takedown of Candace you guys played on your show and his her psycho conspiracy theories. Dude, that was freaking brutal. You were right. So. So Trump is the closest to what Bryson has suggested, right? Crazy commies, terror. I mean, Trump is the closest to that. There have been times in the past based on their beliefs that labeling Democrats as a type rather than where they were on issues has worked well for the right. Reagan basically took the term liberal and destroyed it. That's why they had to rebrand after the Reagan era. First they were new Democrats then. Now they're known as progressives so they had to rebrand the word liberal to the point and this brings up the second one that comes to mind to the point that George Herbert Walker Bush just destroyed Michael Dukakis on being a card carrying member of the ACLU so but that's also not exactly what Bryson is talking about so let's take a look at our own let's just use our own state let's use the laboratory we're the most aware of a state that has been until recent times a fairly purple state so Republicans and Democrats could both win statewide on a regular basis. It's way but it's become way redder in recent years. Right. What happens if Zach Lane just starts running on Rob Sand? His Democrat opponent is a pervy groomer creeper and a murderer who thinks there's ought to be no restrictions on abortion. I mean if we saw those ads in Iowa given how red our state has become what would be the reaction to that do you think? I don't know. I'm asking you.

[B]

It depends on what other messages and ads were out there. If if it was the only ad as true as it is it I don't based Steve has been talking just this week about the important to understand the reality of the lay of the land I really in a healthy society this a it wouldn't be happening but careening in the wrong direction this ad should take care of it because it's true and you can't have anything to do with this stuff but it can't be the only message it there has to be more you my answer when you Steve started reading is why can't we do both I mean you got to attack all the things that they actually do but yeah messaging I did this this is why I gained so much traction and they had the cops coming after me I was using the term groomer before almost anybody I can think of nationally like I didn't pattern that after anybody I really was one of the first regularly using it of course people started using it with far bigger platforms than mine but I knew that this thing had power because I started using it in Carlisle and they were cease and desist letters calling the cops on me because it absolutely works now I also had the receipts on any number of fronts so it wasn't just one arrow in my arsenal but it was a pretty damn effective one.

[A]

Aaron, what do you think of this?

[C]

Yeah you have to walk and chew bubble gum at the same time. You can see and just remember we were still yes in a honeymoon. Yes but there was Some real momentum. January of 2025, you remember that? You remember all of those executive orders. And it really did seem for a minute there until the Trump administration started acquiescing to Judge Reinhold in the 666th district of Babylon, it really did seem that we put the luft on their heels a little bit comprehensively. It really did seem like that. So you always have to walk and shoot bubblegum at the same time.

[A]

I think you guys gave. You guys both gave very thoughtful answers, for sure. I think. Let's. Let's follow up with this question. What are the odds we are not using the language that Bryson suggests because we thought it through with the strategic nuance that you guys just tried to articulate, or we haven't even, as a movement, progressed to that point because we're just outright cowards to even consider something like that.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So that. So that would be a case of having maybe the wrong answer for the. Or the right answer for the wrong reason. So therefore you're. You're still wrong. Is that what you're saying?

[B]

You had me at cowards. I mean, my goodness.

[D]

I mean.

[B]

Yeah, we are.

[A]

Aaron, what do you think the answer to that is?

[C]

Can you restate the question one more time, just so I may?

[A]

What are the odds that we aren't using en masse the language that Bryson suggests because we have walked through the strategic nuance that you and Todd were just trying to articulate, or we haven't even gotten to the step of considering that we're just too big a cowards to even think about it from the

[C]

jump until proven otherwise. I think on questions like this, when it comes to the broader populace of doing anything that requires intestinal fortitude, we live in Missouri, so I'm with Todd. My default answer, even if it's not fair. Maybe not fair all the way until there's a critical mass of people who have shown that they're just not cowards and they don't really care what people say about them, what people think about them. They're not embarrassed to say things then. Yeah, I need you to show me that before we start considering any other. Any other explanations.

[A]

By the way, during the top of the hour break, man, I got besieged from emails by people telling us who the singer was. Oh, yeah, I saw that in that clip. So you knew.

[B]

I didn't know. All right? They just told.

[A]

So. So that that singer is Martha from Martha and the Vandellas back in the day.

[B]

She's not in her primary.

[A]

You either die the hero or see Yourself become the feeling, the villain sister. Right? That's where someone's just got to tap her on the shoulder and say, meemaw, Meemaw, man, there's a quilt over there that needs to be knitted.

[B]

Okay?

[A]

I mean, come on, Meemaw, be a little self aware here. All right? We're past our bikini and singing phases. You're in the quilt making, biscuit making phase.

[B]

Is that her hometown or something?

[A]

I have no idea. I have no idea. But. But she's out of the singing and. And cocktail dress phase of life. And she's in the biscuit making, quilt making phase of life. Amen. Can I get an amen on that? That's pretty obvious. Yeah. Kevin, let's have a little. Have a little self awareness here.

[B]

A little R, E, S, P, C, T, maybe.

[A]

Same, same. That's the same vine. I'm feeling you. That's good. All right, we'll move on. All right, Todd, this is kind of for. Not just for you, but kind of. This is from Rebecca. I attend two different Catholic parishes. One at home, which is a large, wealthy parish, and another in a rural small town that is very small and poor. I have only once heard my priest in the country speak of any current events directly, and that was after the Olympics mocked the Last Supper. I loved it and wished I could have heard more of this, but that has never happened. My priest at home will never speak to current events. I've lost a lot of respect for that priest here at home. So the country priest has done it once, and that's when The Olympics was that 24. They did the trainee mocking of the Last supper. Right? The 24 Olympics in Paris. Right?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

All right, so she. That would. That. That did get the dander of her country priest, but the. The city where she lives in the city priest won't ever address this or bring this stuff up at all, she Sundays. Back in 2021, I became aware of filthy books in our local school district, and I started a journey of almost a year filing lengthy, detailed book complaints. Each month I stood at the board meetings with a small group of people trying to alert parents and to encourage them to speak out against the horrible content being forced on their children. This was especially stressful to me as the people I stood before at those meetings were people that I used to work with. I had worked as a secretary for four years for the now assistant superintendent, and all of the people in the administration present at the meetings were former co workers. Then I did something I've never done in my Life. I scheduled an appointment to talk to my priest about this in hopes he would alert the parents in our church to what their children were being exposed to without their knowledge. I hoped that they would then attend the board meetings to push back against this. I'm sorry to say that I found myself disappointed when my priest told me in our meeting that he would talk to the parish and then did not follow through with doing so. I prayed to God to forgive me for the feelings of disappointment I now harbor for this priest. I wonder why priests are not speaking more to current events in their parishes. Is it because their local archdiocese determines what they are allowed to address? Think how the amendment to make abortion part of our Ohio constitution may have been different had priests spoken out on the issue during that time. I would be interested in getting Todd's take on this and would also appreciate his references to how your different topics relate to Catholics differently than say you guys on the evangelical side occasionally. So on the latter matter, that's really my call. As the host of the show, I try to make sure that that is addressed as much as possible. But I'll try to be more mindful of that because we do have a large Catholic audience. The rest of it though, I'll let you handle Todd. Go ahead.

[B]

You are right. Here's something. It's funny what a lot of Protestants, evangelicals would be surprised at if they're willing to take an honest look at that. The homiletics of your average Catholic priest, you know the whole notion that's not in the Bible. You have a totally different religion. The homiletics of your average Catholic priest, way more biblical. Then you understand there's an Old Testament reading and then there's a new non gospel New Testament reading and then there's always a gospel and we go through on a three year cycle. And those readings aren't like random, they're connected. So you see the typology, Old Testament, New Testament and even priests that you know aren't fire and brimstone, they'll connect the dots, do a good job on that. That, that really it that needs to be better too. But that's far less of a problem than what you're talking about. They would rather, much rather do that than get into current events. And there's a really, really sad. It's not that they don't know what's going on. There's just too much money and it's why you're here instead of current events. You know what, you absolutely hear way more during the homily before church, after church, we got to pay the bills, yo. Well, dare I say. And one of my favorite priests said as much like, maybe we'd be better at paying the bills if we actually did better homiletics on current events. And because the church people are hungry for that, they want. They're coming for answers about what's going on in this hell on earth that we could. We've constructed. But if they get too real about current events, they know, and this is true. People get mad. Heck, I got mad. The deacon started lecturing me about masks and vaccination. Yeah, I went up and scared him straight. I had that guy peeing down his leg and he deserved it. But that's where they're terrified of that because there's all kinds of people who are like, you know. No, no, no, no. That's not. I want. Like I told you earlier, I came here to feel good after my vaccination. I didn't come here for all of this darkness and demonology. There be dragons. What can I tell you? So that's what I got for you on that. You're right, sister. And that's probably going to have to be enough for now. You've done all that you can.

[A]

And frankly. Can I add something to that? Get your take on it?

[B]

Of course.

[A]

Maybe one of the reasons why she's in this position is because she's done all that she can. Like maybe if, I don't know, 15, 20, 30 other people might have done all they could. Maybe it wouldn't have been up to poor Rebecca to do all she's trying to do. See what I'm saying?

[B]

What I'm saying, why are most people even. Even conservatives, Catholic or Protestant? Why are you going to church? Wait till minute. I just want to feel good.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Okay, well, that's. This isn't the Hallmark Company. I. I don't want you to feel bad. Depressed, angst, ridden. No, the faith is supposed to take care of that. But you're. It's neither.

[A]

You're.

[B]

It's supposed to be honest. And that doesn't always mean smiling. It means remembering you're a sinner. It means smashing idols. It means helping the poor, which is like. I know people have turned that into a warm fuzzy, but that's not just supposed to be writing out a check. That can be icky. We just. The church is broken, all right? It's just broken.

[A]

I mean, and this is just systemic across Christendom, which is why the west has fallen and where all that is left and I Think that, Aaron, I'd be curious to see how much you think on the evangelical side of things, feminizing this. I mean, you come out of the Christian music world. And so when I often joke about Mildred or whatever her name was in a given market, the whole thing is about. This is the picture of this soccer mom dropping her kids off at school, listening to the uplifting and hope filled music. All right. And that's essentially you guys is the benchmark, right? In that, in that, in that, in that subculture of the audience you're looking for. And that's been a lot of the church culture too. And I think one of the problems is when you make, when you feminize, when we talk about feminization. Let's define that for a second. All right? Because in, because the way you communicate to women and men is different. And the truth of the matter is because the man is the head, if you communicate to men in the way that is necessary, you'll often get the women. I mean, what is more likely. Well, until the current era anyway. Until the current era.

[B]

Yeah, I was gonna say actual.

[A]

Okay, actual men. Until the current era. What was more likely? That your girl would end up, if, if she liked and respected you would go with you to go see the new Clint Eastwood Dirty Harry movie or you were gonna go with her to see the latest version of La Casa Fall? What was more likely?

[B]

The former. The former.

[A]

And no one questioned that.

[D]

Right?

[A]

Right, no one questioned that. That's not necessarily the case today. Right.

[B]

It's not even close.

[A]

But see, that's how it's supposed to work. I mean, that's what, I mean, if you, if, because, you know, women do actually like men. And so when there's a, when there's, when men are men, they have a tendency to go where men are. I mean, if you ask most women which sports they like the most, My experience working in sports media. My wife plays here too. Soccer or, I'm sorry, football and hockey. Why? Well, because until recently, hockey, I would still say this applies, but that's where men are most. Being men, they're the most masculine sports. And so they, they enjoy those the most, I think. So when you, when you communicate to men because of the way men must be communicated to, you're going to get more activity, you're going to get more active. Because the, because you can't ever let a man get complacent. You can't ever say to a man, you've done enough. You can't ever do that. All right, that's the first step to losing your guy. That doesn't mean, though, you don't congratulate him and thank him for all the stuff he's done up until this point, you do that for sure, but you don't ever say to him, and that's why you don't ever have to mow the lawn ever again. It looks so great. You'll never have to do it again. Is the grass going to continue to grow? So you're going to have to do it again. Okay. All right. So men require, as a. Not. Not perpetually, but as a base level of communication, challenging on some level. For women, it's the opposite. Not always, but in most cases. All right, women, few can feel very overwhelmed, often because of the state of men in our culture are often. Are often very overwhelmed. And so therefore, they need more of an encouraging word. When you base the church off of feminizing the language, you're going to get the kind of stuff that we're talking about here. Well, people come here for an escape. No, they should not. No, they. They should come here to be equipped to do the. As saints, to do the work of the ministry, not to escape. Well, you know, they got. They get that all week long. We don't want to bring that into the church. I know. That's how you communicate to a woman. Hey, listen, you had a bunch of bratty, snotty, you know, puking kids all week long. The last thing you want on date night is to talk about that again. That's how you communicate to a woman. That's not how you communicate to a man. You tell a man, hey, well done doing the job this week. We're gonna get you all fired up and recharge. Go do the job next week again because the work's not done. Never done. You want to know when your work's done? When you're dead, that's when it's done. Done. When you're dead, it's done then. And so when you, when you feminize things, when you put reaching women first, you will emasculate the men. You will play into their carnal instincts to be passive like the sons of Adam we are. You'll play into the instincts of. Well, wait, you mean I can get, you know, orgasmic relief from you and not have any responsibility associated with it at all? In fact, I don't even have to leave mom's basement. Just swipe right. Great. Okay. You're playing into the lowest denominator of male behavior. Men have to have a mission and be on mission at all times. You want, ladies, if you want your man to be more relatable to you, to be more involved in your life, make it missional. If you make it see, you make it relational when you communicate with us because that's who you are and that's how you want to be communicated to. But if you want your man to communicate to you that way, you need to communicate to him missionally. Otherwise he will be lazy, he'll check out, he'll be complacent. No one's ever, no one's ever won a war or, or had a great comeback in a football game by the coach coming in at halftime or the general before the troops deployed, saying, you know what I think I just really want everybody to have fun and do their best. And if we don't win, don't take it too seriously. You tried your hardest and that's all that matters. Nothing great's ever been accomplished by saying that to men before deployment. Has anything great been accomplished by ever saying that to men? No, you cannot communicate like that to men. You simply can't. And so that. But, but that's the. Because we feminized everything we played into the docility and complacency that carnal sinful men will have to fight our entire lives. We have to fight the instincts to do this and become like this. And I think that's a. That. That is that I think these things are symbiotic. Aaron, do you have any thoughts on that?

[C]

So the type of priest or the type of clergy that the letter writer was talking about, the type of priest that Todd was discussing talking about masks and loving your neighbor. And Becky or Linda, the archetype of Christian radio. It's like the spider man meme, all pointing at each other, you know, Becky, Amalgamation. Linda, the amalgamation. The target demographic of Christian radio. Somebody who is a stay at home mom or a single mom on their way to or from picking up kids, they want stuff on the radio that's not going to have profanity in it. They want things that are safe. They want things that are encouraging. They want unoffensive encouragement. No risk of diving off theological divisive deep ends. They just want things safe. Safe. Is that in and of itself for a mom with two, three, four snot nosed kids in the car just trying to hold things together while, you know, before dad gets home from work? Or maybe there's not a dad in the picture. Is that a bad thing? She's not listening to rap? No, that's not a Bad thing in and of itself. But when your entire mission as a ministry, an all encompassing ministry, whether that's a media ministry or whether that's church ministry, is targeted and catered to Linda or Becky, that's when you're quite frankly not doing your job as a minister of the gospel. You're not doing your job. You're absconding from ministering to half of your. Half of your flock, basically. Half of your flock. And so what was the name of the book that we had on? Was it Weak or Loser Theology? Yeah, Michael Clary this week from Michael Clary. Yeah, that's kind of a little bit what we're talking about here. It doesn't mean automatically that if you start preaching fire and brimstone, as a rule, every single syllable, that's automatically going to mean that the men are going to pep up. It wouldn't hurt to try, I would say. But you do need to actually start talking to the men the way men respond. You have to. Yes, the church corporately has to correct.

[B]

They like fire and brimstone. Again, within the Catholic context, if it was just a word. But if you started calling them to deed. Oh my goodness. My wife was asking me just a couple weekends ago and it was a rhetorical question because like have I really thought recently about becoming a deacon within the church, which is, you know, it's more formal. And I said you. No. And you and she. Yeah, I know why. Because I would be me and I wouldn't just be talk connecting the dots. I would. We all know what I'd say. I said, man, I see an idol problem. I'm challenging you a year. You're going to give up football. You know how crazy that would drive people? You're going to make me do what? You're going to make me feel guilty about that when I tithe like this. No, I'm taking. This is sister. That's a current event. Pick the current event. Everybody's got one where they say, ah, fire and brimstone. You really gave me that Old Testament. Now I want you to be the Old Testament right now. You, your generation, you're the ones who are alive right now. No, we're broken. The people are going to church because they want a Hallmark card. Yes. Even on the conservative side, Catholics and Protestants, they want warm fuzzies.

[A]

Again, I, I can't stress enough. The men won't by and large. There's always exceptions. Okay, but you see this in prophetic history. Did the judges appoint themselves to defend the Jews or did the. The Jews appoint The. Or did God have to appoint the judges? How did it work?

[B]

God?

[A]

God had to appoint the judges. Did m. Did, did any. Did Samson just walk out one day and said, you know, I've got all these biceps, God, I'm here to lead? Is that what happened?

[D]

No.

[A]

The men will not lead collectively on their own. Abraham did not walk out of his father's idol making business, stare longingly like the end of some, you know, Christian movie made for blue haired grandmas and, and stared longly out into this, into the deep cavernous blue sky and say, I give myself to the Lord. He didn't know what a Lord was. God had to come to him. The men always have to be challenged. Always.

[C]

Always.

[B]

And that's going to be from the moment.

[A]

From the moment they're cognitive. Cognitive. They're cognitive as a, as a child to the moment they're a vegetable or dead as an adult. The men have to be challenged or the dog will return to its own vomit. That's just who we are. So when you feminize the messaging of everything to make it encourage feminism, that does not mean bad, it just means ineffective in the case that of what you're asking for. If everything is about reaching women and catering to women, you will leave the men behind. The men will not complain. They'll be like, oh cool, nothing's expected of me. I just got to sit here for an hour and then go home. That's all I got to do. That's it. Okay, I can do that. That's what we'll do. That's what we'll do. The men have to be challenged. I cannot stress that enough. You communicate to men differently if you aim for communicating. And I don't mean this, obviously, obviously we're in a strict feminine setting, then none of this matters.

[D]

Right?

[A]

But in a corporate setting, you know, to paraphrase, there's an old line from C.S. lewis, aim for heaven and you get earth thrown in. Aim for earth and you get neither. So let, let's, let's turn that phrase to this conversation in a corporate setting, not in a strictly feminine setting. In a corporate setting. Aim for the men, you'll get the women thrown in. Aim for the women, you'll get neither. You have to communicate to men differently. You just have to. And a lot of the reasons just to point to Aaron's, you know, Spider man meme that this is a, this goes in a vicious circle. The reason that won't be done is because if you do that, then the men will respond and then they're going to say something like this, what are we going to do about this? And a lot of the men in our pulpits don't want to do anything about this. And the dirty little secret is just like the dirty little secret of feminism is the men are fine. The men are fine. Getting dopamine hit and, and, and nerve relief from women with no responsibility. So they're not against feminism as much as they claim. The other. This applies to the pulpit, to too many pulpits as well.

[B]

They would.

[A]

They love the passivity. So nothing's expected of me. I'm not. I, I don't have to be a pariah in the community. I don't have to follow in the footsteps of more my forefathers who were chased out of towns and persecuted, tormented, maybe beaten or killed. I don't have to do any of that. And the turnstiles will just come in and the checks will clear every Sunday. Sign me up.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

More feedback. Friday in a moment. The steve day show. Back here on the Steve Day show, brought to you by our friends [e-mail] hey, how do you navigate a real estate market where there's approximately 635,000 more buyers for homes than there are homes available? You don't. That's exactly why you need an agent that you can trust.

[B]

You.

[A]

You cannot.

[B]

All right?

[A]

You can't do that. All right. So that's why you need an agent you can trust. And where would you find said agent? Well, the name on the website says it all. Head over there today. Realestate agents, iTrust.com is where you can go because in these, in these unprecedented times, Bing. I wanted to make sure you were still aware, still awake over there.

[B]

Yeah, we haven't thrown that brought me out of the bullpen much on that.

[A]

I know, I know. I that's, I mean that's a deep cut for oldies in the audience for the olds. Yes. All right. So in these unprecedented times, make sure you have. We're doing it live.

[B]

Doing it live.

[A]

Make sure you have an agent you can trust at Real Estate Agents I trust dot com. Again, that's Real Estate Agents I trust.

[B]

That's the new Bing.

[A]

Is that the new Bing?

[B]

We're doing it live.

[A]

Just randomly inserted at times. Yes.

[B]

Even with guests are on for no reason. Just. What. Where am I?

[A]

We've got some like senator on.

[B]

Yeah, I know.

[A]

We're doing it live. We're doing it live.

[C]

I thought of a third way. I thought of a third way. You Know, I laid out there was two options. Either when we tape that we have to bring an extra change of shirt.

[A]

Yep.

[C]

Okay. Or we just tell people. We lean into it and we just tell people, this is tape.

[A]

This is tape.

[C]

This is tape. This is not live. Over and over and over. There's a third option.

[A]

Yes.

[C]

We wear the same shirt every single

[A]

day of every episode. So no one knows.

[C]

Yes.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

See, I had thought I was. I was just about to mandate, actually, that we do bring in different shirts because lots of shows tape. Lots of game shows tape, for example, you know, like 20 episodes in a day. Right. All right. And, you know, the host comes out in a different suit or something every time. I was actually just about to mandate that. Maybe you noticed during superhero T shirt week a couple weeks ago, the Friday that we had to tape so I could go to Alaska, I brought two different shirts so I could switch shirts. Okay. So I was just about to go ahead and say, we're going to need. We should do that moving forward until enough of you complained. And that was a sure way of making sure that was never going to happen. Just never was going to happen after that. Like I said, it is more likely we will come in here for the shows we have to tape. We will come in here bare chested. All right. Topless. Now, then we are going to change shirts and let. Someone's got to put that in a contract at this point. All right.

[B]

So say we all.

[A]

So say we all. Yes. All right, let's get to Jim Carrey. He says, I'm Catholic, I teach fourth grade. I'm a married man. And. And. Oh, I'm sorry. Let's reboot. Ready? I'm Catholic, I teach fourth grade. I am married to a man, and I have a daughter. Our daughter was in foster care and we were able to adopt her. She has a much better life than if she stayed with her biological mother. She can get any information she wants about her mom. Our daughter has my sister and my mother as feminine influences. I am a Republican and do not like the gay agenda. I found your show or I like your show, but I always feel that you can never give any positive energy to someone who is gay. Is that true? Do you find any redeemable qualities in a gay person? Even if that gay person has many of your beliefs and is raising a responsible child with morals and beliefs? Why does being gay cause you to do. Why? Why did. Why does being gay cause you to do. To do so much hate? I will still listen to you, but it makes me sad. That you cannot be civil to people with different wiring. All right, who wants to tackle this one first?

[B]

Well. Well, since Catholic, at the very least, I don't want to bury the lead. I'll wait till I want to say one thing. No matter what else is said, you should be excommunicated from the Catholic Church. And you are. You should be formally excommunicated. You need to understand, and I'm telling this as a matter of kindness, I will not tolerate this lie. You have excommunicated yourself. You are not in good standing with the Church. You are not Catholic, that you are a fraud. You should be excommunicated. Commence, everyone.

[A]

All right, well, now that we're off on this conciliatory tone, Aaron, I'll let you pick it up from here.

[C]

When you say your daughter has a better life than she ever would have, what do you. What is what? What is what? What? What do you mean by better? How would you get that definition? Where does the scale of better, worse, good, bad come from in your lexicon? I think you need to answer that question. If it is better in the cosmic sense, in the sense of our creator, God, root word of good is what God? God is good. If God is your plumb line for good, did God inspire through human authors the Bible? Is the Bible true? How do we know what is true in the Bible? Do you really believe that the Bible is good and true? So what is your definition of better? What's your definition of worse? What's your definition of good? What's your definition of bad? If it's God's definition, then you, by your own admission, are lying. Your daughter does not have a better life. If you're talking in terms of. And you're. If you're talking in terms of being provided for, is that the only thing in God's economy that matters? Far from it. The same God that created them, male and female, also promises us in the New Testament. Look at the birds. God gives them what they need. Do you think he won't provide for you? If it's a question of provision, God's always already promised your daughter that he's going to provide for her. What's good is your daughter having a mom and a dad. Secondly, you don't have any positive energy. You said something about not having any positive energy for homosexuals. Again, what is positive? What is negative? If it's God's definition of good and bad, positive and negative, then the most positive energy we could give you is what Todd just told you. That may sound really harsh. That may sound really mean. It might not feel very good to hear that, but that's about the most loving thing that's been said on the show all day. It is the most loving thing. It is the most positive thing because Todd loves you enough having never met you to tell you the truth. So those are what I want to say.

[A]

Let me add a couple things here. Number one, this one is for the audience, okay? If someone had emailed in and said, I am a serial adulterer, I have a harem and a collection of women all over town, I'm a traveling salesman, I'm very successful, and I have a harem of successful women all over town and all over the state and all over the country. Very active Tinder account. And my wife is completely in on it and doesn't care. If anything, she is pleased that I'm now leaving her alone. And we both do an excellent job raising our kids. They're all well adjusted. Right? Would any of you within the sound of my voice feel any immediate tinge of pressure to look the other way at that or virtually any other sin that I could mention? No. So the only reason that. So the only reason you do here is because there is a social movement behind this particular sin that causes you to come up with and feel pressure or obligated to come up with some ulterior explanation or workaround than what Todd just bluntly opened up the conversation with. If just change the entire thing. If Jim here had emailed and said, I cheat on my wife all the time, all the time, but overall I'm a good parent, I'm Catholic and I'm a serial adulterer and that's how I identify. If Todd had said exactly what he said to that man, would anyone within the sound of my voice sit there and say, that's cold, that's harsh. Is that. Are we really going to start with that? No one would. No one would. No one would. So the only reason that you wouldn't do that here with this particular sin is you've been worked over by a culture. So I think that's an important point for the audience writ large. As for Jim, as for you in particular, I think Scott Besson, I know we joke about him being number one in our homosexual treasury power rankings because we don't know of another homosexual treasury secretary ever. But objectively, is Scott Besson, as far as we know anyway, doing a bang up job. Is he one of the best, most effective messengers and carriers of the agenda? The Trump administration has sure. Have we not acknowledged that.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Do we agree with Scott Besson's choice of sin? Scott Besant also believes that he is married to a man with a family. Do we affirm any of that at all, ever? Would we affirm any of that at all?

[B]

Never.

[A]

At the same token, without affirming that, are we willing to recognize that Scott Besant is making an overall contribution, though, to the values that we do still have in common, despite the obvious. The obvious obstacle between us, as we

[B]

would if they were a mechanic fixing our car. Well, correct.

[A]

So, I mean, with all due respect to you, Jim, I think I'm already doing what you were asking me to do. I was already doing it. I was already doing it. I think, Jim, the reality is. You want me to affirm you.

[B]

Yeah. What answer did he think he was coming to? Yeah.

[A]

I mean, you wanted me. You want me to affirm you for what you're doing that's wrong. I'm totally fine. Affirming you for what you're doing is for what. That. For what you're doing is right. You know, when I was about to. When my wife and I were about to divorce and blow up our family, you want to know why you didn't know anything about that? Because I wasn't really proud of it, frankly. All right. Todd and Aaron, you wouldn't know when Todd and Aaron found out about that. The day that I admitted it on the air was the day that they found out about it. You know why? Because I wasn't really proud of it. Because I knew what I was doing was wrong. I knew it was. I just didn't know the way out. I just didn't know the way out. I felt like there was no way out. I felt cornered, felt like I was drowning, and there was no way I was going to be able to swim to the surface. It just. The harder I swam to the surface, the further away it seemed. But I knew it was wrong. I didn't mention anything because I didn't want to affirm it. Didn't ask for affirmation. I never tried to give you my side of the story as to how we got there. You know, I think in the. In the. Not. I think in the future, Amy, will and Amy and I will be more forthcoming about our story to try to help more couples maybe at some point in the future. We've talked about that. But. But I didn't. I didn't try to get out ahead of it. I didn't try to plant seeds just in case I had a moral failing here and to try to, you know, defend myself. I, I didn't do any of that. I knew what was going on in my personal life was wrong. I wasn't proud of it, but I didn't know the way out of it in the end, Jim, that's really the only difference between me and you. That's really the only difference is I knew. I knew the moral failing in my life was wrong and I lied to myself too. I'm still going to be a good dad and everything else. Kids won't be hurt by this. They're adults are getting to be. That's the difference between you and me, Jim, is you want your sin to be publicly affirmed. I was ashamed of mine and didn't want it discussed. And it was only when on the. It was only really when I was on the other side of it now and, and the Lord brought us back to together into the light that I felt now freed up to talk about it because that shame was gone. That's really the only difference. Otherwise I'm already doing what you want me to do. There's all kinds of people I don't agree with on stuff that if we agree on other things. I work with them on stuff all the time. All the time. You see them as guests on the show. How did we open the show? We joke I might be the only man in America that could. And like literally, like back to back, within two minutes, I got simultaneously reposted by Jill Barry and or I McIntyre on an issue. Those guys are daily trying to literally kill each other online. Now, how do I get that? How do I. How did I do that? Because when I think Joel Berry is right, I affirm Joel Berry when I think he's wrong. Guess what I don't do affirm him. Nor, by the way, do I expect Joel Berry to affirm me when he thinks I'm wrong. Same goes for Oran. When Oran is right, I affirm him. When I don't think he is, I don't. Do I expect him to affirm me when he thinks I'm wrong?

[B]

No.

[A]

No, no. So, Jim, I'm happy to affirm you when I think you're right. And I'm not going to affirm you when and where I think you're wrong and to love my neighbor as I love myself. I hope you hold the same standard to me. And then I think we're all good here.

[B]

Good play on.

[A]

Jordan writes, our church is and has been going through a renewal period for many years now. Part of what it needs is what your show speaks of often, which is that the men need to be spoken to as men and challenged to understand their responsibilities appropriately. If you were starting a men's ministry with that goal in mind, what would be your top five categories of things to hit first? Number one is, before I did that, I would make sure the leadership in the pulpit on Sundays was in favor of this and would. Would. Would make sure it's preaching on Sundays aligns with this. You're not. It's not going to work to have effeminate preaching on Sunday and then come back on a, you know, for a pancake breakfast on Saturday morning where we're actually. That won't work. That won't be sustainable. All right? The culture runs under headship. The pastor is the head of that local church. So that pastor has to be. Has to make sure that he is. That the church in and of itself is going to reinforce that and bless that. By the way it. It handles its own proper business. Doesn't mean, dude, you've got to, you know, become man church. Is that what it means? But you can't, you know, you can't do the, The. The. The feminized preaching and then have, like, a robust men's ministry. Those two things won't go together long term, I promise you. They won't. They won't. So I would actually start with that. Are we in strategic alignment with the pastoral leadership? The next thing I would do if the answer to that is yes, answer up front. What do we want the men to do? What do we want them to do? Men will not just come all the time and, like, confess their sins and get that off their chest. And I really feel heard. Thank you. And walk. They won't at first. They will, but then after a while, if you don't give them something to do, they're just gonna be like, I got, dude, I got lawns to mow, kids to take to practice. I mean, I got, you know, games to watch. I'm not. I got stuff, you know, what are we doing here? We're not going to do anything. I'm out. So number one, make sure there's alignment in the pulpit from the pastor, who's the leader of that local church. And number two, make sure you go, know, going in, what do we want? Not what we want the men to become. Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope.

[B]

No.

[A]

What do you want them to do? What do you want them to do? I'd start with those two things. You guys have any thoughts here before we get out?

[B]

There's. Yeah, there's no point going to point number five, because just having one and two accomplished is miraculous.

[A]

If you get those things, then all the other questions you want to know will happen, just, I think, kind of organically.

[B]

Yeah, but there's going to be great. There's going to be great pushback. More than you think. Even if you think there's an appetite out there for some put from the guys. We want more. We want more telling what the Bible tells you, what more actually is. There's pushback. Are you sure you really want this? There's a lot of that,

[C]

yeah. It might even be as simple as before we start going to school board meetings, before we start going to, you know, knocking on doors, before we start standing up to the bullies in the community, the bullies that are trying to groom the kids, whatever that looks like in your community. Maybe it's as simple as the thing that you do is making sure all your guys are in shape. That's kind of important.

[A]

That could be a thing you do.

[C]

That could be the first thing you do. Let's just get together, make sure we're all, like, working out together and keeping each other accountable, that we're staying in shape. Maybe it's something as simple as that. You know, you're not really accomplishing anything other than making sure you're in shape, which is really important for your family, which is your first responsibility, making sure you're around as long as you possibly can, as God would will. And then beyond that, once you're doing that regularly, start adding things. Going to the school board meeting, going. Making sure the groomers are staying out, doing the things that we talk about on the show all the time.

[B]

Here's a dirty little secret. The men's group used to be the city council. The scoop. I mean, that. That's true. Just the fact that we just have to reprogram Menda, like, again, their basic fundamental duty. You're supposed to want to run the show. Want to?

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

In.

[A]

In previous generations, we had to reign in men who were too eager to take over and run things in ways that more serve their own interest than the Almighty is right. In this era, we're kind of like, maybe some of that craven instinct would be kind of good. Go hard. Have a great weekend. Romans 8, 28.