The Tim & April Show — Episode 71

"Church's ICE Nativity Scene Enrages Allie Beth Stuckey"
Aired: December 16, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, hosts Tim Whitaker and April Ajoy of The Tim & April Show, a podcast powered by The New Evangelicals, tackle the viral outrage stirred by conservative pundit Allie Beth Stuckey in response to a Chicago church’s contemporary nativity scene that depicted Jesus as a refugee, referencing ICE detentions. Tim and April use Allie’s reaction—and her appearance on FOX News with Sean Hannity—as a springboard to unpack broader themes: Christian hypocrisy on immigration, weaponized empathy, “war on Christmas” rhetoric, and the disconnect between Christ’s teachings and Christian Nationalism. The conversation is humorous, passionate, and acerbically critical of mainstream American evangelicalism.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Covering Allie Beth Stuckey Matters

• Tim articulates why he finds Allie’s content especially aggravating compared to even other right-wing influencers:

  “Unlike Matt Walsh and even Charlie Kirk to a degree, Allie really is someone who would claim to be a Christian first and then political second…It really grinds my gears to see someone like Allie completely hijack…the Bible in such authoritative ways while being so either blatantly ignorant, misinformed, or just straight up lying.” (02:13)

• April notes the irony and harm of women like Allie and Candace Owens preaching anti-feminist, patriarchal ideas while living lives unavailable to most evangelical women:

  “They are the spokespeople for their own oppression.” (02:54)

2. Allie’s FOX News Segment: The ICE Nativity Backlash (Starting at 06:48)

• Tim explains the controversial Lake Street Church nativity: Jesus in a foil blanket, hands zip-tied, Roman guards in masks, echoing ICE detention imagery.
• Allie on FOX News with Sean Hannity: Calls the display “blasphemy” and insists Christmas is about Jesus’ divinity and substitutionary atonement, not refugees or politics.
• April retorts: “Saying that it’s about immigrants and refugees isn’t opposite of the gospel.” (08:24)
• Tim points out hypocrisy: Allie ignores literal blasphemy (Trump-compare-to-Jesus books) but is outraged over modern nativity reimaginings:

  “Ally won’t call that blasphemy, but a church...putting up an accurate nativity scene of what would happen to baby Jesus today is blasphemy.” (09:01)

3. Dissecting the Church’s Statement (11:03)

April reads the Facebook post from Lake Street Church in full, emphasizing:

• The nativity reimagines “forced family separation.”
• It draws parallels between the Holy Family’s refugee experience and modern immigration abuses.
• The Holy Family “were refugees...not political interpretation. This is the reality described in the stories our tradition has told...for millennia.”

Tim and April both agree the post is compassionate, biblical, and rooted in justice.

4. Evangelical Definitions and Selective Outrage

• Tim: “Ali talks so emphatically like, ‘this is what the Bible says.’ And it’s just not.” (10:18)
• April: “It’s like, very, like, mean girl Christian, right? She is the epitome of a bully for Jesus.” (10:18)
• Tim unpacks the inherently political roots of the gospel: “The very term…‘Gospel’ was already political, subverting Caesar.” (14:02)

5. Sean Hannity: Weaponized Empathy & “War on Christmas” (15:53, 19:28)

• Hannity rails about “suicidal empathy” and how “the left politicizes Christianity.”

• Allie claims she wrote a book on “Toxic Empathy,” arguing that too much empathy is used to promote leftist—“destructive”—policies:

  “The problem with this toxic empathy is that it actually encourages you to affirm sin, validate lies, support destructive policies like open borders...” (18:41)

• April eyerolls at the “war on Christmas,” reflecting on how she once bought into it:

  “I used to think every Happy Holidays was like a personal diss to my Lord and Savior...” (19:28)

6. Empathy, ICE, and Christian Hypocrisy (20:04 and onward)

• April challenges the “toxic empathy” rhetoric as cover for dehumanizing ICE actions:

  “Their only rebuttal to children being ripped out of their family’s arms is ‘that’s just toxic empathy.’…It is such a dishonest argument…we have never had open borders.” (21:00)

• Tim rails against double standards:

  “Why is it when a white man shoots up a school, he’s a lone wolf…but if an undocumented immigrant commits a terrible crime, suddenly…all undocumented immigrants are invading...” (27:15)

• April: “This might be the most accurate nativity scene we could have this year. Because these Christian nationalists would deport Jesus.” (31:14)

7. Deeper Theological Critique: Red Letters, Repentance, and Moral Inconsistency

• Tim and April challenge the evangelical focus on atonement over Christ’s teachings:

  “There’s a reason they rarely cite the red letters.” (42:58)

• April:

  “Nothing to add. I would just repeat what you said.” (on the reframing of ‘truth’, 40:29)

• On Trump/abuse apologetics:

  “They genuinely say that all sins are equal…so they don’t think assault is that bad because…thinking it is as bad as doing it in the eyes of God. Those are not the same.” (48:52)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• April:

  “They are the spokespeople for their own oppression.” (02:54)

• Tim:

  “Feminism fought for the rights of people like Allie…She shits on the very thing that gave her the platform. Oh, it’s insufferable.” (03:41)

• Tim:

  “Allie talks so emphatically like, ‘this is the gospel,’ and it’s just not.” (10:18)

• April:

  “It’s like, very, like, mean girl Christian, right? She is the epitome of a bully for Jesus.” (10:18)

• Tim:

  “Why is it that when a white man shoots up a school, he’s a lone wolf…But if an undocumented immigrant commits a terrible crime…all undocumented immigrants are invading our country...That’s how you know this is racist or bigoted.” (27:15)

• April:

  “These Christian nationalists would deport Jesus…this might be the most accurate nativity scene that we could have this year.” (31:14)

• Tim:

  “The entire premise is built on their own supremacy. If Jesus was alive today…he’d probably be dead from a bomb falling on his head because of…Allie and the Trump regime fueling the IDF.” (32:15)

• April:

  “If you have a belief system where you have to label certain forms of empathy as toxic…you are doing it wrong.” (34:13)

• Tim:

  “Toxic empathy is when a judge lets a rapist off the hook with absolutely no consequences…But Allie doesn’t call that out. She thinks that welcoming immigrants is toxic empathy. Oh, miss me.” (35:17)

Key Timestamps

• 02:00 - 05:00: Why Tim & April are covering Allie, internal critiques of the evangelical/conservative influencer class.
• 06:48 - 15:00: Allie’s Fox News segment; introduction and analysis of the ICE nativity.
• 11:03: Lake Street Church’s nativity Facebook post read in full.
• 20:04 - 22:36: Deconstructing “toxic empathy” arguments and the realities of ICE enforcement.
• 27:15 - 34:00: Calling out Christian double standards, racism, and bigotry.
• 38:40 - 44:14: Digging into what “truth” really means in evangelical rhetoric; critique of damage done by warped theology.
• 47:10 - 52:51: Evangelical apologetics gone wild, Trump’s unique standing, and the failure of “repentance” logic in evangelical politics.

Noteworthy Segment: April’s Reflection on ICE & Nativity (31:13)

“I’m just very thankful that I can see those nativity scenes and not be offended and not have to try to scramble my way into justifying that as a Christian…this might be the most accurate nativity scene that we could have this year. Because these Christian nationalists would deport Jesus.”

Tone & Style

The episode is lively, at times exasperated, marked by a balance of biting critique, humor, empathy, and honest self-reflection. Tim and April’s critiques are sharp but rooted in a sincere plea for justice and authentic Christian values. They use lived experience, theological knowledge, and current events to call out hypocrisy and direct listeners toward a more inclusive, compassionate faith.

Suggested Listen for:

• Christians wrestling with politics, justice, and faith
• Those questioning evangelical cultural narratives
• Listeners interested in how faith intersects with U.S. immigration policy and culture wars

Listen for clear, passionate engagement with both current events and theology—punctuated by pointed humor, memorable rants, and sincere calls for a Christianity that looks more like Jesus and less like American nationalism.