Sponsor Message and Introduction to Biblical Worldview and Governance
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Jenna Ellis I love talking about the things of God because of truth and the biblical worldview, the U.S. constitution obligates our government to preserve and protect the rights that our founders recognize come from God, our creator, not our government. I believe that scripture in the Bible is very clear that God is the one that raised up each of you, and God has allowed us to be brought here to this specific moment in time. This is Jenna Ellis in the Morning.
Focus on Midterms, GOP Agenda, and Criticism Regarding Ukraine Funding
Jenna Ellis Good morning. It is Wednesday, October 21, and we are less than two weeks away from the midterms. And hopefully, everyone is making a plan to get out and vote and exercise our civic duty responsibly and in the best way possible to vote our values. And, you know, there's been a lot of talk about where the GOP is with early, results coming in from early voting and the polls and the projections and all of that. But we should also focus on life after, after the midterms and where the gop, if they remain in the majority in both houses, which of course is, is the question mark, is the big question mark for midterms, where their agenda might focus. Because there's also been a lot of talk, and I think, you know, rightly criticism, that the GOP obviously could have done more in the House and Senate to push the Trump mandate that was clearly given in 2024. But then they've continued to do things that are just wildly against that agenda. speaking of things, like giving a lot of money to Ukraine. And President Trump was actually asked about this on the White House lawn a couple of days ago, and this is what he had to say. Cut for intelligence with Ukraine on Russian attacks.
Discussion on Ukraine Aid: Comparisons to Past Administrations and Trump's Statements
Donald Trump Yeah, we share intelligence. We share a lot. We've given a lot to Ukraine. You know what? We've given a lot to Ukraine. They've given nothing to us. Remember that? We've given hundreds of billions of dollars. I gave the javelins to Ukraine when he knocked out. That was me. Obama gave him pillows. You know the expression, Obama gave him sheets and pillows. Trump gave him the Javelins. So don't tell me about Ukraine. We've given a lot to Ukraine. They've given us nothing.
Jenna Ellis Well, he's right. But the question is what?
Steve Deace Why?
Jenna Ellis Why are we still giving money to Ukraine? Why are we still in Iran? I think those are really valid questions. So let's welcome in our good friend Steve Dase, who of course is a radio host over at the Blaze and one of the foremost ranters on air. And Steve, I always appreciate your commentary and you know, my question after listening to that clip was well, yeah, but why? What are we doing here?
Steve Deace I have no idea.
Questioning the Rationale Behind Ukraine Funding and Alternative Perspectives
I have never known from the beginning. we refer to Ukraine on my show as some kind of reverse Wakanda. it's Wakanda for white people. And there must be some secret thing going on here. there must be some secret power outlet for western elites that they're afraid of getting out or losing control of or some, you know, ingenious technology, buried underground. Because for the life of us, we have never as a show been able to figure out why anybody cares about this. And you know, your audiences should be immediately suspicious that the left wing media, from the beginning of this, this has been a major cause celeb. I mean we went literally from Cove to Troons to Ukraine. I mean you can literally just follow a flowchart, virtue signals of you know, normie and cultic corporatist social media. And that's the trail of tears, okay, right there. From Cove to Troons to Ukraine flags. And the reality of Ukraine is that a particular segment of the populace about more than more than a decade ago did vote by popular referendum, that has long standing, ah, ties to Russia going back hundreds of years. Did vote by popular referendum to join Russia. You know, we're all sitting here right now hoping that we didn't get what we wanted. was it Alberta voted to secede from Canada? Okay, well the province of Ukraine actually did vote to do that. Right. And so what you're. The deal has been on the table for essentially since Trump came into office. Just give back to Russia the people that want to go there and Russia will walk away. We'll just move on with the rest of our lives. Zelensky and Ukraine's not taking that deal from the very beginning. And people can say, well that's easy for you to partition somebody else's country. You're right, except I'm the one freaking. And all of you listening to this are the Ones freaking funding the defense of another person's country.
Personal Input on Funding Decisions and Contrasting Leaders: Macron, Putin, and Trump
Right? So if you want my input, it's a little bit like your kids come to you and ask to borrow money, and you're like, sure, what are you going to do with it? Well, you know, I'm going to go to Vegas and find out, you know, if what happens in states, what happens in Vegas really stays in Vegas, pops. Well, then I think I kind of have a. If we're going to Leroy Jenkins the money, then, yeah, I kind of think I've got to say, and what we're going to spend. You guys want to fight to the death for your civilization? You think that that belongs to you and not Russia? God bless you. Okay? But I'm under no obligation to fund it. I can promise everybody within the sound of my voice on this program, your life will not change one iota depending on which, you know, Plutarch, megalomaniac of Europe, controls Ukraine, whether it's the same, Davos, godless hacks who give you leaders the likes of the people that currently lead, what's going on in France. Well, tell me, what's the difference between Macron and Putin? Functionally? You know, I'll give you one. I mean, say what you want about Putin. I don't ever say anything nice, but I've got to be honest. You know me, I'll keep it real. if it comes down to a fight between us and Islam in the west, you tell me. Jenna, let me just ask you, all right? You're doing. You're doing a fantasy draft of allies, all right? And it's US Versus Islam, crusade style. Your choices are Macron, Keir Starmer, okay? You get a package deal of Macron, Keir Sturmer, and Putin. All right?
Steve Deace Who you drafted? Who are you picking? You tell me.
Jenna Ellis Yeah, yeah. No, 100%.
Analyzing Putin's Savvy, Trump's Respect, and Comparing Foreign Aid to Ukraine and Israel
I mean, I think Putin has been incredibly savvy, and I think that we can clearly say that we understand why Trump at least has some respect for him. And obviously, you know, if I ever said that on X, or if people are going to clip this, they'll be like, oh, my gosh, you know, what is she saying? And how dare she turn down, like, 20.
Steve Deace That whole thing that came out a few years ago. The influencers in Russia today, they tried to get me roped in that I got invited. I can't tell you how many times I've turned down Russia Today interviews and everything else.
Jenna Ellis It's. It's hilarious. But, but let me. Let Me tell you my, my theory on why we're spending so much money in Ukraine. And I could be, I could be off on this. This is just a theory.
Steve Deace Can we clarify your audience how much we're spending? Just so you. They know. Let's assume, let's just go ahead and go with the talking point that, the, Tucker Carlsen talking point that we've been fighting a war for Israel with Iran throughout this year. And let's add that to the foreign aid we've sent to Israel for the last, for the period of time since the Ukraine war started. All right, let's go ahead and even account for that money that all the money we've spent on the Iran war is really foreign aid to Israel too. Even if you account for that money, we have given Ukraine three times more money than we have given Israel. That is literally the joker scene where he hits all the mob money in the dark night and just lights it on fire.
Critique of Foreign Policy Decisions, Establishment GOP's Role, and Undermining Trump
This is the biggest foreign policy boondoggle I've seen in my entire lifetime. It has no discernible advantage. I mean, it doesn't. What is the. What, what, in what world is the Davos folks backing that? That's the World Economic Forum folks backing Zelensky. In what world is this? Do we care whether they run Ukraine with George Soros, you know, playing the, you know, the violin behind the scenes, or Vladimir Putin?
Jenna Ellis Let me tell you, my theory has
Steve Deace been a scam from the beginning.
Jenna Ellis Yeah, yeah. So let me tell you my theory, and I've said this on air before, and this is, this is just a theory, but because of the timeline that you, that you put out, right, we have to remember the first impeachment of Trump and the Russia collusion nonsense and all of this. I mean, the left and the right, which, are all of the left and also the establishment gop, which is going to be in the middle of a bloodbath for control on November 4th. Even more than they are right now. The next two years are going to be fraught with the establishment GOP trying to undermine Trump even more than they already are. With people like, you know, Karl Rove and Tillis and Cornyn, you know, suggesting that somehow, Ken Paxton wouldn't be a better senator in terms of values than James Talarico. Right? So, I mean, we're already seeing this and we're seeing, George Bush's daughter who's contributing to Talarico's campaign. The only reason they don't want Talarico, they want Trump to fail so we have to go back and remember the timeline here.
The First Impeachment, Zelensky's Involvement, and a Theory on Continued Ukraine Funding
They wanted Trump to fail, and they thought that he would just resign in the first year of his presidency. So when he actually was wildly successful, they formed this whole Russia collusion nonsense to impeach him. And the first impeachment, we have to remember, involved Zelensky and the phone call. So I think that Zelensky either was promised a giant, never ending paycheck, or he's holding the GOP and the Democrats kind of over the ropes, saying, I'm going to expose this. I mean, like the Epstein files. Why does neither side want to release them? Well, probably because it's damaging to both sides.
Steve Deace And so theory, as I have heard,
Jenna Ellis when, I mean, and I was there, I mean, I got hired by President Trump to defend him and be one of his lawyers in the first impeachment. And so, you know, all of this was what I was living and breathing 247 during that crazy time where everybody actually took impeachment seriously. They don't anymore. But this was, you know, the biggest thing since Bill Clinton's impeachment, and it was taken very seriously. Zelensky was right in the middle of that. and but for that phone call, they would have had to, they would have impeached him on something else. But that was a major factor and he was a major player.
Critiquing the Idea of a New Soviet Union and Discussing NATO's Demographics
And I think they're not forgetting that, but I also think that he has something against, them. And probably the only reason that we are spending all kinds of money with absolutely no goal, absolutely no reason, is because it goes back to the first impeachment. That's my theory.
Steve Deace That's as good a theory, as I've heard. And all the messaging on this, well, you know, this is going to form a new Soviet Union. Well, first of all, Putin tried to hold an Olympics, ah, about a decade or so ago. And, his country was so dysfunctional internally, they had the paper mache toilets in the Olympic Village. True story. All right. So, yeah, he's so close to reforming the Soviet Union, he's been unable to subdue Ukraine. Okay, get out of here with all of this. and I'm a child of the 80s, right? You know, I grew up, you know, with Rocky IV and, that being a proxy for the Cold War. Okay. But, you know, history changes. The reality is, if you're watching what's happening in France, you're watching what's already happened in the uk, what's already happened in Germany, we have nothing in common with these Countries and their government. Governments. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The audiences of your show, my show. The only thing I can think of is we have. Most of our audiences have about the same melanin level. That's it. You want to know something funny is we're having all this discourse right now on the right about white nationalism and everything else. Let me give you a stat that'll blow your audience's mind.
The Devil's Temptations and the Roots of Truth in Controversial Narratives
Okay?
Steve Deace so Turkey is the least white country in NATO. Would you like to guess who the second least white country is? We are. Wow.
Steve Deace We are.
Jenna Ellis Wow.
Steve Deace We are the second least white country. All these other countries that we're talking about right now are way whiter than us. Way, way more pagan, way more godless, way more Marxist. Right? Worldview is destiny, not demographics. We have nothing in common with these NATO countries. This entire thing is a scam. Steve, you're starting to sound like Tucker and some of these people. You know, one of the reasons why when, the, you know, James says you're only tempted by that which you really want, right? If the devil came to you and said, hey, you know what? You and your wife have a model relationship. your intimacy is strong physically, emotionally. Why don't you go find a woman you're not attracted to and she's on your wife with her and blow your entire life up? You probably wouldn't succumb to that temptation, Jenna. Probably, right? I'm guessing probably no. So, of course he tempts you with things that are kind of true in order to entice you. Maybe you and your wife are not getting along great, and maybe you've noticed that there's an attractive member of the opposite sex that is paying attention to you. That's the one that he tells you to go for. And he never tells you that you'll blow your life up if you do this. So, of course there's some truth in what things like people like Tucker say. Otherwise, they draw no audiences. If the devil shows up in a. In a red unitard and a pitchfork, you're going to be way more inclined to say no than if he shows up as the. The attractive woman that you never had in high school that now may blow up your life if you say yes. So there's roots of truth in. In some of the things that people like him say. Otherwise, no one would tune into what they say.
Critique of the Ukraine War as a Scam and Lack of Accountability
The reality is this whole war has been a scam from the beginning. The narratives around it have been a scam from the beginning. It's. It's one of. It's Literally one of the worst scams I have seen, in the, in my time on, you, know, involved in politics, which is over 20 years now.
Jenna Ellis And nobody from our side, it seems like, is fighting back. I mean, Trump is out there saying, you know, I've given a ton to Ukraine, but he's not following up with that by saying, and it ends now. And, and I want to question this and I want to go back and have the audits. I want to go back and have accountability. I mean that's, I think the frustration, that's also the frustration in Iran. And, and to say, I mean I was all for saying, okay, they should not have nuclear capabilities, but beyond that, I mean, a year later, what are we doing? Right? And I think that it is a
Steve Deace fair blockading one end of Hormuz while Iran blockades the other. Apparently that's what we're doing and then
Jenna Ellis we're ignoring what's going on here. And so, so the follow up questions to these, of course are, okay, let's say that the GOP wins the midterms and they stay in power. Now what, what is actually the agenda? Because nobody's asking Trump the follow up question and saying, okay, you're, you're saying we've spent all this money in Ukraine. Are you going to continue? What's the plan here?
The Challenge of Defining a Party Agenda and the Role of Unilateral Actions
Steve Deace Well, that's the question. Your question has to be answered from, really every time we get power in Washington D.C. as a party, and has been the question my entire life. And, and it, and it really comes and it's getting, and the answer is getting harder because we have weight. We have way more a champion of the base for a leader than we've had. You know, I could never vote for Reagan. You're younger than me, so I know you could not. So you know, we've never had somebody atop the party who's been a champion for the base like this. And you and I are voting lifetimes. And so there, these, this has been a party that's been unable, except for about six months after the Contract with America 94 midterm election. This has been a party that's never really been able to functionally govern in Washington D.C. and the reason why is because many of the politicians we send to Washington D.C. don't represent really what the base wants. And you mentioned several of those names. You know, how many of these are people that Karl Rove and his wing got elected through Crossroads, for example, his super pac. You mentioned Thom Tillis and Nat Ilk. There's still way more of those kinds of senators, than the kinds of senators people hope that Ken Paxton would become, for example. And this is the price of this is why pretty much everything Trump has done good, with the exception of some good things that were in the big, beautiful bill, almost everything he's done good in now, his two terms as president are unilateral actions and not pieces of legislation.
Jenna Ellis Of course, they didn't want him in 2016, and they don't want to. They don't actually want to make him a successful president because they themselves don't want to govern. But, but aside from all of those things, that one thing. Yes, Trump's done a lot by executive.
Steve Deace I can't answer your question.
Jenna Ellis And he's also.
Steve Deace There's not an affirmative agenda. It's fun. Let me just say it's funny.
The Absence of Affirmative Agendas and Trump's Negative Agenda of Revenge
Democrats can't really tell you what their affirmative agenda is because they'd get annihilated if they did.
Jenna Ellis Yeah, they're starting to say it out loud, like Slotkin, but yeah, yes.
Steve Deace And Republicans, I can't tell you what they would really do either, because they don't know. They don't really know what they would do. They don't know what they would do.
Jenna Ellis And we've seen that over the last two years. But one thing, I mean, Trump's been great on unilateral executive action. I think he was better even in his first term than now, surprisingly. but what his negative agenda has been to take out some of the best people in Washington just for his own, you know, revenge for the primary. Like, ah, former Congressman Bob Good of Virginia who's the leader of the Freedom Caucus. I mean, to, to go after him and take him out. It's like you're, you're cutting down the actual people who would help you and aren't part of the establishment, you know, Tillis kind of Cornyn group. And yes, thankfully, you know, we have Paxton instead of Cornyn running. I think he's a better, champion in terms of what he would actually do and his values and all of that, that he would actually bring to the Senate, personal, stuff aside, but those kinds of things, it's inexplicable. And if, you know Trump, I mean, it's obvious why, but it's inexplicable to say that with all of these things and all of these votes and people against you in D.C. you're going to take out the people that would have voted for you in your actual agenda.
Shift from Ideological to Coalition-Based Parties and the Importance of Loyalty
But it's Because I don't think that Trump really even thinks he's going to have any legislative priorities over the next two years.
Steve Deace I think that this answer is, the answer to this question is complicated, because I think we have moved from an ideologically based party, to, a coalition based party. And Trump made that move. And so you and I grew up in an ideologically based party where ideologues, we are very comfortable there. The problem is, you know, a lot of the people that we're talking and complaining about got elected in that era before Trump, giving out great talking points like Mitch McConnell waving AR15s in front of Kentuckians. And they just sent them back, you know, cycle after cycle after cycle after cycle, because they knew what talking points to use to sound ideological and then just went and did whatever the heck they wanted to do in Washington D.C. that was anything but. So Trump has moved this to more of a coalition based party. And so, in a coalition based party, instead of talking points to demonstrate, that you have the right ideology without any fruit on the tree at all, it becomes really about loyalty. Hm. And that's the structure of the party that we have now. And so we've gone from one batch of mistakes, to a different kind of batch of mistakes. Like with Bob Goode as the example you're talking about. Yeah.
Jenna Ellis And it's, we're gonna have to see where we go from here and focus more on maybe framing an agenda than the coming, you know, MAGA versus establishment bloodbath. But Steve always really appreciate it.
Concluding Thoughts on the Political Landscape and Listener Support
Follow him on X. We'll be right back with more. Hi, I'm Jenna Ellis. Did you know that this content is listener supported? Without people like you, this podcast would not exist. And that's why we need you. A generous monthly gift of any amount will help sustain American Family Radio and specifically this podcast. Please consider becoming a monthly financial partner today by visiting afr.net give that's afr.net give
Marlin Stutzman welcome back to Jenna Ellis in the morning on American Family Radio.
Jenna Ellis Welcome back. And we're talking about life after the midterms because obviously that is the focus over the next a little under two weeks and hopefully everyone who is listening will be voting, will make a plan to vote, know what's on your ballot, vote your values. But we need to also talk about what happens after the midterms and probably the inevitable, bloodbath that is going to happen between maga, Inc.
Navigating the Post-Midterm Political Landscape and GOP Candidate Strategies
Versus the establishment GOP and kind of wrestling for control of the party, Because Trump will be in his last two years in office. And can Republicans, in the midst of all of that and whether or not they keep control of the House, actually set an agenda? Well, let's welcome in Congressman Marlon Stutzman from the great state of Indiana. And Congressman, before we get to, this other WNBA topic that I definitely want to talk about, I want to get your thoughts on, the midterms overall and where the GOP is planning to go after the midterms if they, if you retain control of the House or, if you find yourselves in the minority.
Marlin Stutzman Well, good morning, Jenna. Great to be with you.
Marlin Stutzman You know, we, are focused on winning in two weeks and I think we still have a great shot of winning because we have better candidates. I mean, if you look at like, Minnesota, why is Minnesota trending towards, Myshel lafoya, who's running for Senate? You look at Michigan, and Michigan is trending towards Mike Rogers running against EL Sayed. You see the candidates that are on the other side, and I think as people, as we start getting closer to the election, most conservative, most Republicans pay more attention towards the last couple of weeks before the election day on who they're going to vote for and kind of the, you know, sift through the noise. And I still think we've got a great chance of winning. I mean, even though, you know, in the House of Representatives the headwinds are against us. we should, you know, it should be a bloodbath, but I'm just not convinced that it's going to be. I think that you look at some of our House races in states like Washington, D.C. people are, ah, I mean, the Democrat is running like she's a Republican out there. And so I really think it comes down state by state because in Indiana, I mean, we've got a, strong economy. Yes. We have higher food prices. Yes. We've got a bit higher gas prices. But we've been able to suspend the gas tax in Indiana because we've got a balanced budget and surpluses.
Republican Agenda Focus: Debt, Deficit, Fiscal Responsibility, and Economic Priorities
And so I think that's what should be the Republican agenda. We should focus on our debt and our deficit. We will not be able to get this country back to its full strength until we do. So I think you're going to continue to see higher, interest rates, you're going to see higher, the bond markets are going to be, concerned. We did bend the curve with the, Working Family Tax Cut act where we did free, ah, spending. That's one of the reasons why I'll continue to support cars because we're freezing spending. We cannot continue to add to the debt because it's only adding, to the $40 trillion that our children and grandchildren are going to have to deal with. So I think we focus on the fiscal and the economic components to it to get our fiscal house in order in Washington.
Jenna Ellis Yeah, yeah. And, and I agree. I mean, I think that was part of the Trump mandate in 2024. And there, there needs to be more focus, in my opinion, on the domestic issues where we've seen the last year more focused on foreign policy. And it seemed like, the, it seemed like Washington hasn't been quite as focused on the priorities here that we need to be. But, but part of this is, is focusing on just some differences in policy. And you're talking about, you know, having better candidates than the left.
WNBA Controversy: Eligibility, Transgender Athletes, and Defining Womanhood
Well, part of this is just a completely separate view of reality from the left versus the right and you know, Republicans versus Democrats. And this is just so crystal clear. And what's going on still in this controversy with the WNBA and about these two basketball, players, Inez Cantor, Freedom, and then also, ah, Royce White. And the WNBA has a response letter to you that you posted. And this is amazing to me because they're writing in response to the questions you posed in a letter, back in September. And they go on to talk about the W. A. WNBA code of conduct, you know, all of these other things. And then the highlighted section, this is, this is the key here. They say with respect to your question regarding eligibility, because these are for listeners, these are the two players that decided to go for the WNBA draft who clearly are men, but they're identifying as women. Right. And that's, that's the whole point is to undermine this whole trans nonsense. but they say with, with respect to your questions regarding eligibility, only women are eligible to play in the wnba and the individuals you cite in your letter are both men. Well, they didn't give a rationale to how they arrived at that conclusion. So I'm wondering, how does the WNBA suddenly know who is a man versus a trans woman? And are they willing to provide that sort of analysis?
Critique of WNBA's Stance on Transgender Athletes and Political Motivations
Marlin Stutzman Yeah, I talked to Ennis yesterday and I think he was a little bit offended. He's like, you know, I've never met, the Kathi Engelbert, so how does she know that I'm a man? and you know, he's pushing the point. And I really applaud. Enes here for doing what he's doing because he's trying to just call out the hypocrisy that the WNBA has been, practicing over the past. This past season with who can play in the WNBA and the whole trans issue. And you're right. I mean, the letter. When I got the letter back, I just started chuckling because it says only women are eligible to play. Okay, so let's say, you know, from a common sense perspective, you're thinking, oh, we're all, in agreement on what a woman is. But I don't think that's necessarily the case for them. In their minds, as they wrote the letter, they just didn't want to divulge into a definition. But then they go on to say, but the individuals you cite are both men. So it's like they say that definitively, like, well, yeah, they're not eligible because they're men. And they didn't, you know, sit down with them. Did they interview them? Did they say. I mean, because Ennis and, Royce are both saying, I identify as a woman here, so it's really that simple. I should be able to play in the WNBA according to their standards. This is a good step for us. It also, you know, as Enes, if he moves forward with any sort of legal action, it helps him make the argument that you have to come up with a definition. Because if you're saying, I'm a man, but then a trans person can play in the wnba, then there's a double standard here. So I think, you know, it just shows, again, that, the WNBA is trying to play this game to appease the wokeness in the wnba, but again, then protecting it from the circumstances that Ennis and Royce have brought forward towards them.
Jenna Ellis Yeah, and it's so obvious, the game that they're playing, because if they can just unilaterally declare that, Ennis and Royce White are men, and we agree that they are, but then they can say that trans women are women, and we would say, no, clearly they're not. On what basis are they making that differentiation? I mean, is it just the players that they think they want to support? And, I mean, it's obvious that this is for a political determination. And so, you know, issues like this, for listeners who are saying, okay, but, you know, there's a lot more going on in the country right now, and, you know, I understand this issue and whatever. No, this. This actually does really matter, because this gets to your point as well, Congressman, Stutzman, that.
Worldview Differences: WNBA's Ideological Stance and Business Malpractice
That the. The candidates that are running on the left, if you actually look at their worldview, they want to support all of this nonsense, and they want to support socialism, and they want to support, you know, all of these things that are completely irrational and undermining the truth of reality. And so when we look at things like this, it's not just a matter of laughing it off. It's saying, how. How do we have a organization that is as big as the wnba who, by the way, probably a lot of them vote, including this, this commissioner, you know, Kathi. and who do you think that they're probably voting for? I mean, this is the problem with having two completely opposing views of reality that. Absolutely. I don't care what the bumper sticker says. Can't coexist.
Marlin Stutzman Yeah. And you know what's really frustrating to me, Jenna, is, you know, the WNBA is in the midst of their WNBA finals, and they purposefully run off the court during the national anthem, and instead of staying on the court, which the WNBA rules say they are supposed to do, and so they don't even follow their own rules. They don't even follow their own standards. And so, you know, they're playing this game of, you know, she's kind of, you know, trying to earn woke points by, refusing to define a woman, but in reality, she's going to end up in a courtroom or a committee room for questioning because there is a male transgendered, person over in Europe playing in women's basketball who, is dominating because he's a man and is, you know, has talked about joining the wnba. Would they let him play in the wnba? I mean, does he have to have long hair? Does he have to, you know, do the things that the trans men do to portray themselves as women? Is that going to allow him to play in the wnba? That's what we're getting at. Where's that line, that they allow someone to play? Or is it an ideology as well? If you buy into their ideology, then they'll let you play. And I think that's more what it is than anything. But just what bothers me is the way the WNBA management behaves. And I'll tell you, I mean, you look at their ratings after the, Indiana Fever, which, of course, I'm from Indiana, big Indiana Fever fan. you have Sophie Cunningham and Caitlin Clark. Caitlin Clark, of course, is a phenomenal player. And all of a sudden, the Fever are out of the playoffs, Their ratings tank, and then they continue to play this woke game, and the players are running off the court Ignoring the national anthem, Their ratings are falling. If I were an investor in the wnba, I'd want my money back because of malpractice, business malpractice. Because of the way they continue to basically tell the American viewer, and sports lover that wants to watch basketball, like, you know what, we're going to stick this in your eye. And you know what, we don't care what you think. This is how we're going to behave. And so instead of like what Micah Jordan used to do and said, Republicans buy basketball, you know, tennis, basketball shoes, Democrats buy basketball shoes, he focused on basketball. And the WNBA is instead focusing on woke ideology rather than just playing basketball and do it to the best of their ability to. So we can all applaud them.
Leftist Organizations as Activist Tools vs. Conservative Focus on Business
Jenna Ellis Yeah, and I think this goes back to, you know, that, that fundamental difference of goals and worldview and agenda because to the, the Republican, to the conservative, to the capitalists, you know, obviously the better business investment would be to leave politics out of this one and to actually just play basketball, to just, you know, have the sport for the sport. But we see that a lot of these organizations, when they're run by leftists, leftists don't actually care about the goal. They want to weaponize these organizations and use them as activist groups for their goal. And this is completely intentional. And they're doing this and they don't care about the money because they have people, you know, like Soros and donors and others, you know, the left in general, I'm not talking specifically about, the wnba, but you know, the left has a lot of these mega donors that will fund their worldview. And I think that, that Republicans and conservatives and Christians need to care a lot more about worldview and becoming in a sense, better activists than what we have been because we are pushing for reality in a, in a playing field of politics that the left, I think is in a, unfortunately, in some ways is actually playing a smarter game because they disagree and they're advancing their cause. Well, we're, we're assuming that everyone agrees with our view of reality when they just really don't.
Marlin Stutzman Yeah, well, I think, you know, a lot of us as Christian conservatives, we put our 10% towards our church. We put our 10% towards missionaries and church work. they put their 10% towards theater, ah, and movies and entertainment, all pushing an ideology. And that's where we got to go above and beyond. You know, my wife Kristie Anyabwile and I were, have a small theater in Northern Indiana and she's a playwright and she's producing, uplifting family values, productions and. But we see that all the time in theater where the left has taken over theater because that's their way of pushing a message. And it is so woke right now. In fact, Broadway is going broke, for real, because nobody's going and watching the shows that they're producing right now because they're so far left.
Weaponizing Entertainment and Sports for Ideological Indoctrination
They're full of an agenda, that is contrary to the majority of viewers. And so that's why, you know, but they don't see it that way. They see it as pushing their message, their ideology, and they continue to write the checks no matter what. Now I think it's catching up with them a little bit, because there's other audiences out there. There's an audience out there that's looking for family friendly entertainment. And they're going to go to Branson, they're going to go to Pigeon Ford, they're going to go to other places to do that instead of going to NewSong York and putting up with this month that they're producing.
Jenna Ellis Yeah, 100%. And you know, and this is where again, they're not focused on the revenue value. They're not focused on you know, any of this are focused on indoctrination. They're focused on weaponizing, entertainment on, you know, some of these, these sports, agencies and avenues. They're focused on the minds of young people so that they can ultimately then control, the way that they vote in some of the outcomes and the way that they are changing society. And so, you know, I've said for a long time, and sometimes they get pushed back on this. But I'm like, you know, you have to hear what I'm saying, to listeners where, yes, you know, we should be focused on worldview. And it seems like, at times when we're talking about things like this that the left and the Democrats actually want to be world changers more than the conservative right and Republicans. And why do I say that?
The Need for Advancing Biblical Worldview and Engaging in Politics
Not because they have better ideologies or their worldview is better, but because they're actually willing to do what it takes to advance their agenda in society. Where if we look at what the agenda has been and even some of, some of the churches, you know, some of what has happened on, you know, the federal and state levels, that could have been better, frankly. But you know, some of this worldview that's just so sloppy and woke, that's coming out of, you know, big eva, they're not advancing the biblical worldview of reality that will impact society so that we have strong, a strong voting base that will put Christians in office to push our values.
Marlin Stutzman Yeah. And, you know, but here's what I tell a lot of my Christian friends, especially those that just don't want to have anything to do with politics. And I understand, you know what, Our kingdom is not of this world. We know that we are, you know, we're traveling through and, you know, we hear that as kids, even in, you know, going to Sunday school and church. And what I tell them, I said, look, I know what, I know that. But you know what? But God put us on this earth for a period of time, and we want to make sure that we hand off the freest nation, the most, productive nation, the nation that protects religious freedom more than anything else. Because all of a sudden, guess what? Your children and grandchildren are still going to be here. And if you do nothing with the freedom that we have now to protect the freedoms that we have in this country, your children and grandchildren are not going to have that. And just think about them, maybe you get to enjoy the silent, We've got
Jenna Ellis a vote and we'll be right back.
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Debate on Christian Participation in Halloween and Horror Genres
Marlin Stutzman welcome back to Jenna Ellis in the Morning on American Family Radio.
Jenna Ellis Welcome back. Well, next week is Halloween or All Hallows Eve. And inevitably, that raises the question, should Christians celebrate Halloween? And, Allie Beth Stuckey had a Clip that went viral yesterday on Saturday social media, talking about not just Halloween, but the concept of horror and that whole genre in general. And it went viral because, I think personally, just looking at the clip, looking at the response, I. I posted my own response, and we'll get to that. I think that this, this clip likely was not the best clip of her broader argument because, of course, there, There is a longer, a fuller show that she had around this, but just the clip itself. I think we do need to talk about and why potentially, it misses the mark and how we should actually respond to this question of whether Christians can and should participate in some of these genres. But this is at least just the clip. And it's about a minute and 15 seconds, about, horror and fear and what Allie posted yesterday on social media. This is cut 5.
Ali Beth Stuckey I just don't think it is at all an option for Christians to not only fully participate in Halloween in all of its darkness and scariness, but I also just don't think that Christians should be a fan of horror in general. Like, I don't think you should be reading books that make you scared. I don't think that you should be listening to true crime podcasts that make you scared. I don't think you should be listening or watching movies that make you scared.
Analyzing the Biblical Command 'Do Not Fear' in Relation to Horror Content
And I have, like, I'm. I've seen Rosemary's Baby. Like, I've seen the really scary movies out there.
Jenna Ellis And now I'm like, oh, I know why my mom didn't want me to
Ali Beth Stuckey watch signs when I was, like, in sixth grade. It scared me. Like, being scared is not, like, how many times. How many times do we read throughout scripture from Jesus and in the Old Testament? Do not fear. Do not fear. And yet we purposely consume content that is meant to make us scared. I don't think we often think about, like, the horror content, the scary content Law and Order SVU that you are imbibing. That is actually a direct contradiction of Jesus's command to not fear or be anxious about anything. So we shouldn't be facilitating fear.
Jenna Ellis All right, so here's what I responded, and then we'll. We'll get into, a couple of the other responses and Allie's pushback, but with just that clip. Right? Because that's what she posted and that's what everybody's responding to. And if you've heard this clip, I agree with the basic concern. Christians should be very thoughtful and biblical about horror and true crime.
The Nuances of 'Do Not Fear' and the Dangers of Glorifying Evil in Entertainment
But I don't think that do not fear. In that context is the right way biblical argument. And here's why. Because in Scripture, do not fear is not this blanket command to avoid every experience that frightens us or to treat feeling afraid or concerned as sinful. Because again and again, those words do not fear come in a very specific context. God is telling his people to not be overcome by fear because he is with us, he is faithful, and, and our hope is in Him. So in Matthew 10, Jesus tells his disciples, do not fear those who can kill the body because he's preparing them for persecution. In Isaiah 41, God tells His people, do not fear because he will strengthen and uphold them. And when Jesus, says, let not your hearts be troubled, in Jon 14, he's preparing his disciples for his departure, promising them peace and promising that he will return again. And there are other passages, of course, in the Bible talking about trusting God in the face of real danger, suffering, uncertainty. you've heard the phrase that's. That's not in the Bible. But, but it's, it's relevant that says, you know, courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that something is more important than fear. And in the biblical context, what is that? God himself is more important. And when we talk about this from, from fearing the Lord, it doesn't mean to be afraid of Him. M. It means that we recognize his authority, in awe of him, and we don't have other idols or other authorities or other concerns separate and apart from what he has told us. So, like in the counseling context, the fear of man is. Is one of those situations that, that a lot of. Of of biblical counseling has to address that are you more concerned with what others will think of you? Are you concerned? And are you, not afraid in the sense that you're literally cowering in fear? But do you have a respect for them over respecting what God has told you? That's called the fear of man. Right? So this isn't a rule in scripture, the do not fear passages that Christians must never feel afraid or that we can't encounter a frightening story. Do not fear is a call and a command to trust the Lord, not a test of whether we can keep ourselves from being startled by a movie. So the better question is what we're choosing to dwell on and enjoy. And this is where I get where Alibeth is going with this, because Scripture tells us as Christians to think about what is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and commendable. It warns us against celebrating evil and calls us to hate what is evil and to Cling to what is good. So that should make Christians cautious about entertainment like we were just talking about with Congressman Stutzman, that entertainment that has a false worldview that may be changing your mind about a, certain worldview concepts, or it's asking you to turn cruelty, murder, demonic, evil, or human depravity into a thrill, a spectacle, or a source fascination. But there's a difference between acknowledging evil and making evil our entertainment and participating in, you know, wanting to identify with these villains or like Allie Beth mentioned Law and Order svu. that's a show I've seen a number of times. And, for the. Probably the same reasons that Allie mentions that I had to stop watching that.
Distinguishing Between Depicting Evil and Glorifying It in Entertainment Choices
Why? Because they are making the. The thrill, these heinous, depraved crimes so fascinating and wanting to get into the mind of, you know, the psychological, you know, killers and, and, you know, these, these horrific crimes. They're making them fascinating instead of saying, here is what justice requires. And, and we've all seen the difference, right? Because the Bible itself tells the truth about murder, betrayal, violence, and sin, but it doesn't invite us to delight in wickedness or become captivated by darkness. It tells a truthful account of men of man's sin and an account of history and what has happened, but it doesn't call us to enjoy it or to participate in the wickedness. So I'm not saying. And I really don't think that Allie Beth is actually saying that every story that depicts evil is automatically wrong or that every Christian who watches something that's labeled as a horror genre is. Is sinning. But what we should ask, honestly, is is this for entertainment? Is this for more enlightenment? I mean, I think there's a difference between watching, you know, Signs as a horror movie versus reading Dante's Inferno. Right? there's a difference between watching Rosemary's Baby versus reading the Bible.
Wisdom in Entertainment Choices: Enlightenment vs. Entertainment, and Christian Engagement
So what is actually helping me recognize evil and grieve what it does, or am I just wanting to be entertained by evil? So that's a much stronger biblical concern, though, than saying you watched something scary and so you disobeyed. Do not fear. And from this clip, I think there was right pushback against just this clip from Ellie Beth. And she's. She's gone on to suggest. And this is what she posted, in response to Matt Walsh. Hang on. I didn't say anywhere that Christians shouldn't want suspenseful or tense things in the episode. I specifically warn against movies that are meant to stoke paranoia, anxiety, and a Nagging sense of dread and fear. I don't believe consuming that kind of content facilitates the peace to which God calls us. I also never said Christians can only watch Christian Brandon entertainment, or that we can't watch things that are complicated and sometimes violent. My favorite movies of all time contain war and suspense and moral complexity. And then she goes on to say, I still stand by what I said. We shouldn't consume content that is intended to make us feel paranoid. And I do think there's wisdom in that, because the, the whole point of living the Christian life is that we should dwell on things that are lovely, that are pure, that are commendable. That doesn't mean that we have this kind of milquetoast sort of, you know, Christian entertainment that doesn't deal with the complexity of the human condition, the fallen state of the world. Honestly, I think that's where a lot of Christian entertainment gets off. But this is where we should be seriously asking ourselves, what do we participate in? And also why?
Christian Discretion Regarding Halloween, Horror, and Cultural Engagement
And this gets us back to the question of Halloween, right? For me personally, and I think that there are some bright lines that Christians should not engage in horror. We should not engage in, you know, costumes, parties, things that are a violent nature, things that get into, the spiritual that, things that are, elevating or celebrating death or celebrating, you know, witches and seances and evil. that's off limits for Christians, what we participate in. Beyond that, like if your church has a trunk or treat, for example, that's, that's a matter of wisdom. What are we teaching our children? Is this a gateway to perhaps, you know, future content that isn't so good, that isn't as pure and lovely? Do we have those conversations? Do we say we're not going to put up the skeletons and the, you know, those kinds of Halloween decorations? We are going to focus on things that are pure and lovely. And I think for Christians, it's a matter of wisdom. And we need to not just go along with what's in the culture, but actually do what's biblical. And so these are incredibly important, conversations that we need to have decisions we need to make. And so I'm thankful to Allie Beth that she at least raised this question. We need to answer it, though, biblically, in context.
Contact Information and Final Thoughts
So as always, you can reach me and my team. Jennaafr.net.
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Sponsor Message and Introduction to Biblical Worldview and Governance
Jenna Ellis We would like to take a moment to thank our sponsor, PreBorn. When a mother meets her baby on ultrasound and hears their heartbeat, it's a divine connection. And the majority of the time she will choose life. But she can't do it without our help. Preborn needs us, the pro life community, to come alongside her. One ultrasound is just $28, and to donate, dial £250 and say the keyword baby or visit preborn.com afr Jenna Ellis in the Morning on American Family Radio.
Jenna Ellis I love talking about the things of God because of truth and the biblical worldview, the U.S. constitution obligates our government to preserve and protect the rights that our founders recognize come from God, our creator, not our government. I believe that scripture in the Bible is very clear that God is the one that raised up each of you, and God has allowed us to be brought here to this specific moment in time. This is Jenna Ellis in the Morning.
Focus on Midterms, GOP Agenda, and Criticism Regarding Ukraine Funding
Jenna Ellis Good morning. It is Wednesday, October 21, and we are less than two weeks away from the midterms. And hopefully, everyone is making a plan to get out and vote and exercise our civic duty responsibly and in the best way possible to vote our values. And, you know, there's been a lot of talk about where the GOP is with early, results coming in from early voting and the polls and the projections and all of that. But we should also focus on life after, after the midterms and where the gop, if they remain in the majority in both houses, which of course is, is the question mark, is the big question mark for midterms, where their agenda might focus. Because there's also been a lot of talk, and I think, you know, rightly criticism, that the GOP obviously could have done more in the House and Senate to push the Trump mandate that was clearly given in 2024. But then they've continued to do things that are just wildly against that agenda. speaking of things, like giving a lot of money to Ukraine. And President Trump was actually asked about this on the White House lawn a couple of days ago, and this is what he had to say. Cut for intelligence with Ukraine on Russian attacks.
Discussion on Ukraine Aid: Comparisons to Past Administrations and Trump's Statements
Donald Trump Yeah, we share intelligence. We share a lot. We've given a lot to Ukraine. You know what? We've given a lot to Ukraine. They've given nothing to us. Remember that? We've given hundreds of billions of dollars. I gave the javelins to Ukraine when he knocked out. That was me. Obama gave him pillows. You know the expression, Obama gave him sheets and pillows. Trump gave him the Javelins. So don't tell me about Ukraine. We've given a lot to Ukraine. They've given us nothing.
Jenna Ellis Well, he's right. But the question is what?
Steve Deace Why?
Jenna Ellis Why are we still giving money to Ukraine? Why are we still in Iran? I think those are really valid questions. So let's welcome in our good friend Steve Dase, who of course is a radio host over at the Blaze and one of the foremost ranters on air. And Steve, I always appreciate your commentary and you know, my question after listening to that clip was well, yeah, but why? What are we doing here?
Steve Deace I have no idea.
Questioning the Rationale Behind Ukraine Funding and Alternative Perspectives
I have never known from the beginning. we refer to Ukraine on my show as some kind of reverse Wakanda. it's Wakanda for white people. And there must be some secret thing going on here. there must be some secret power outlet for western elites that they're afraid of getting out or losing control of or some, you know, ingenious technology, buried underground. Because for the life of us, we have never as a show been able to figure out why anybody cares about this. And you know, your audiences should be immediately suspicious that the left wing media, from the beginning of this, this has been a major cause celeb. I mean we went literally from Cove to Troons to Ukraine. I mean you can literally just follow a flowchart, virtue signals of you know, normie and cultic corporatist social media. And that's the trail of tears, okay, right there. From Cove to Troons to Ukraine flags. And the reality of Ukraine is that a particular segment of the populace about more than more than a decade ago did vote by popular referendum, that has long standing, ah, ties to Russia going back hundreds of years. Did vote by popular referendum to join Russia. You know, we're all sitting here right now hoping that we didn't get what we wanted. was it Alberta voted to secede from Canada? Okay, well the province of Ukraine actually did vote to do that. Right. And so what you're. The deal has been on the table for essentially since Trump came into office. Just give back to Russia the people that want to go there and Russia will walk away. We'll just move on with the rest of our lives. Zelensky and Ukraine's not taking that deal from the very beginning. And people can say, well that's easy for you to partition somebody else's country. You're right, except I'm the one freaking. And all of you listening to this are the Ones freaking funding the defense of another person's country.
Personal Input on Funding Decisions and Contrasting Leaders: Macron, Putin, and Trump
Right? So if you want my input, it's a little bit like your kids come to you and ask to borrow money, and you're like, sure, what are you going to do with it? Well, you know, I'm going to go to Vegas and find out, you know, if what happens in states, what happens in Vegas really stays in Vegas, pops. Well, then I think I kind of have a. If we're going to Leroy Jenkins the money, then, yeah, I kind of think I've got to say, and what we're going to spend. You guys want to fight to the death for your civilization? You think that that belongs to you and not Russia? God bless you. Okay? But I'm under no obligation to fund it. I can promise everybody within the sound of my voice on this program, your life will not change one iota depending on which, you know, Plutarch, megalomaniac of Europe, controls Ukraine, whether it's the same, Davos, godless hacks who give you leaders the likes of the people that currently lead, what's going on in France. Well, tell me, what's the difference between Macron and Putin? Functionally? You know, I'll give you one. I mean, say what you want about Putin. I don't ever say anything nice, but I've got to be honest. You know me, I'll keep it real. if it comes down to a fight between us and Islam in the west, you tell me. Jenna, let me just ask you, all right? You're doing. You're doing a fantasy draft of allies, all right? And it's US Versus Islam, crusade style. Your choices are Macron, Keir Starmer, okay? You get a package deal of Macron, Keir Sturmer, and Putin. All right?
Steve Deace Who you drafted? Who are you picking? You tell me.
Jenna Ellis Yeah, yeah. No, 100%.
Analyzing Putin's Savvy, Trump's Respect, and Comparing Foreign Aid to Ukraine and Israel
I mean, I think Putin has been incredibly savvy, and I think that we can clearly say that we understand why Trump at least has some respect for him. And obviously, you know, if I ever said that on X, or if people are going to clip this, they'll be like, oh, my gosh, you know, what is she saying? And how dare she turn down, like, 20.
Steve Deace That whole thing that came out a few years ago. The influencers in Russia today, they tried to get me roped in that I got invited. I can't tell you how many times I've turned down Russia Today interviews and everything else.
Jenna Ellis It's. It's hilarious. But, but let me. Let Me tell you my, my theory on why we're spending so much money in Ukraine. And I could be, I could be off on this. This is just a theory.
Steve Deace Can we clarify your audience how much we're spending? Just so you. They know. Let's assume, let's just go ahead and go with the talking point that, the, Tucker Carlsen talking point that we've been fighting a war for Israel with Iran throughout this year. And let's add that to the foreign aid we've sent to Israel for the last, for the period of time since the Ukraine war started. All right, let's go ahead and even account for that money that all the money we've spent on the Iran war is really foreign aid to Israel too. Even if you account for that money, we have given Ukraine three times more money than we have given Israel. That is literally the joker scene where he hits all the mob money in the dark night and just lights it on fire.
Critique of Foreign Policy Decisions, Establishment GOP's Role, and Undermining Trump
This is the biggest foreign policy boondoggle I've seen in my entire lifetime. It has no discernible advantage. I mean, it doesn't. What is the. What, what, in what world is the Davos folks backing that? That's the World Economic Forum folks backing Zelensky. In what world is this? Do we care whether they run Ukraine with George Soros, you know, playing the, you know, the violin behind the scenes, or Vladimir Putin?
Jenna Ellis Let me tell you, my theory has
Steve Deace been a scam from the beginning.
Jenna Ellis Yeah, yeah. So let me tell you my theory, and I've said this on air before, and this is, this is just a theory, but because of the timeline that you, that you put out, right, we have to remember the first impeachment of Trump and the Russia collusion nonsense and all of this. I mean, the left and the right, which, are all of the left and also the establishment gop, which is going to be in the middle of a bloodbath for control on November 4th. Even more than they are right now. The next two years are going to be fraught with the establishment GOP trying to undermine Trump even more than they already are. With people like, you know, Karl Rove and Tillis and Cornyn, you know, suggesting that somehow, Ken Paxton wouldn't be a better senator in terms of values than James Talarico. Right? So, I mean, we're already seeing this and we're seeing, George Bush's daughter who's contributing to Talarico's campaign. The only reason they don't want Talarico, they want Trump to fail so we have to go back and remember the timeline here.
The First Impeachment, Zelensky's Involvement, and a Theory on Continued Ukraine Funding
They wanted Trump to fail, and they thought that he would just resign in the first year of his presidency. So when he actually was wildly successful, they formed this whole Russia collusion nonsense to impeach him. And the first impeachment, we have to remember, involved Zelensky and the phone call. So I think that Zelensky either was promised a giant, never ending paycheck, or he's holding the GOP and the Democrats kind of over the ropes, saying, I'm going to expose this. I mean, like the Epstein files. Why does neither side want to release them? Well, probably because it's damaging to both sides.
Steve Deace And so theory, as I have heard,
Jenna Ellis when, I mean, and I was there, I mean, I got hired by President Trump to defend him and be one of his lawyers in the first impeachment. And so, you know, all of this was what I was living and breathing 247 during that crazy time where everybody actually took impeachment seriously. They don't anymore. But this was, you know, the biggest thing since Bill Clinton's impeachment, and it was taken very seriously. Zelensky was right in the middle of that. and but for that phone call, they would have had to, they would have impeached him on something else. But that was a major factor and he was a major player.
Critiquing the Idea of a New Soviet Union and Discussing NATO's Demographics
And I think they're not forgetting that, but I also think that he has something against, them. And probably the only reason that we are spending all kinds of money with absolutely no goal, absolutely no reason, is because it goes back to the first impeachment. That's my theory.
Steve Deace That's as good a theory, as I've heard. And all the messaging on this, well, you know, this is going to form a new Soviet Union. Well, first of all, Putin tried to hold an Olympics, ah, about a decade or so ago. And, his country was so dysfunctional internally, they had the paper mache toilets in the Olympic Village. True story. All right. So, yeah, he's so close to reforming the Soviet Union, he's been unable to subdue Ukraine. Okay, get out of here with all of this. and I'm a child of the 80s, right? You know, I grew up, you know, with Rocky IV and, that being a proxy for the Cold War. Okay. But, you know, history changes. The reality is, if you're watching what's happening in France, you're watching what's already happened in the uk, what's already happened in Germany, we have nothing in common with these Countries and their government. Governments. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The audiences of your show, my show. The only thing I can think of is we have. Most of our audiences have about the same melanin level. That's it. You want to know something funny is we're having all this discourse right now on the right about white nationalism and everything else. Let me give you a stat that'll blow your audience's mind.
The Devil's Temptations and the Roots of Truth in Controversial Narratives
Okay?
Steve Deace so Turkey is the least white country in NATO. Would you like to guess who the second least white country is? We are. Wow.
Steve Deace We are.
Jenna Ellis Wow.
Steve Deace We are the second least white country. All these other countries that we're talking about right now are way whiter than us. Way, way more pagan, way more godless, way more Marxist. Right? Worldview is destiny, not demographics. We have nothing in common with these NATO countries. This entire thing is a scam. Steve, you're starting to sound like Tucker and some of these people. You know, one of the reasons why when, the, you know, James says you're only tempted by that which you really want, right? If the devil came to you and said, hey, you know what? You and your wife have a model relationship. your intimacy is strong physically, emotionally. Why don't you go find a woman you're not attracted to and she's on your wife with her and blow your entire life up? You probably wouldn't succumb to that temptation, Jenna. Probably, right? I'm guessing probably no. So, of course he tempts you with things that are kind of true in order to entice you. Maybe you and your wife are not getting along great, and maybe you've noticed that there's an attractive member of the opposite sex that is paying attention to you. That's the one that he tells you to go for. And he never tells you that you'll blow your life up if you do this. So, of course there's some truth in what things like people like Tucker say. Otherwise, they draw no audiences. If the devil shows up in a. In a red unitard and a pitchfork, you're going to be way more inclined to say no than if he shows up as the. The attractive woman that you never had in high school that now may blow up your life if you say yes. So there's roots of truth in. In some of the things that people like him say. Otherwise, no one would tune into what they say.
Critique of the Ukraine War as a Scam and Lack of Accountability
The reality is this whole war has been a scam from the beginning. The narratives around it have been a scam from the beginning. It's. It's one of. It's Literally one of the worst scams I have seen, in the, in my time on, you, know, involved in politics, which is over 20 years now.
Jenna Ellis And nobody from our side, it seems like, is fighting back. I mean, Trump is out there saying, you know, I've given a ton to Ukraine, but he's not following up with that by saying, and it ends now. And, and I want to question this and I want to go back and have the audits. I want to go back and have accountability. I mean that's, I think the frustration, that's also the frustration in Iran. And, and to say, I mean I was all for saying, okay, they should not have nuclear capabilities, but beyond that, I mean, a year later, what are we doing? Right? And I think that it is a
Steve Deace fair blockading one end of Hormuz while Iran blockades the other. Apparently that's what we're doing and then
Jenna Ellis we're ignoring what's going on here. And so, so the follow up questions to these, of course are, okay, let's say that the GOP wins the midterms and they stay in power. Now what, what is actually the agenda? Because nobody's asking Trump the follow up question and saying, okay, you're, you're saying we've spent all this money in Ukraine. Are you going to continue? What's the plan here?
The Challenge of Defining a Party Agenda and the Role of Unilateral Actions
Steve Deace Well, that's the question. Your question has to be answered from, really every time we get power in Washington D.C. as a party, and has been the question my entire life. And, and it, and it really comes and it's getting, and the answer is getting harder because we have weight. We have way more a champion of the base for a leader than we've had. You know, I could never vote for Reagan. You're younger than me, so I know you could not. So you know, we've never had somebody atop the party who's been a champion for the base like this. And you and I are voting lifetimes. And so there, these, this has been a party that's been unable, except for about six months after the Contract with America 94 midterm election. This has been a party that's never really been able to functionally govern in Washington D.C. and the reason why is because many of the politicians we send to Washington D.C. don't represent really what the base wants. And you mentioned several of those names. You know, how many of these are people that Karl Rove and his wing got elected through Crossroads, for example, his super pac. You mentioned Thom Tillis and Nat Ilk. There's still way more of those kinds of senators, than the kinds of senators people hope that Ken Paxton would become, for example. And this is the price of this is why pretty much everything Trump has done good, with the exception of some good things that were in the big, beautiful bill, almost everything he's done good in now, his two terms as president are unilateral actions and not pieces of legislation.
Jenna Ellis Of course, they didn't want him in 2016, and they don't want to. They don't actually want to make him a successful president because they themselves don't want to govern. But, but aside from all of those things, that one thing. Yes, Trump's done a lot by executive.
Steve Deace I can't answer your question.
Jenna Ellis And he's also.
Steve Deace There's not an affirmative agenda. It's fun. Let me just say it's funny.
The Absence of Affirmative Agendas and Trump's Negative Agenda of Revenge
Democrats can't really tell you what their affirmative agenda is because they'd get annihilated if they did.
Jenna Ellis Yeah, they're starting to say it out loud, like Slotkin, but yeah, yes.
Steve Deace And Republicans, I can't tell you what they would really do either, because they don't know. They don't really know what they would do. They don't know what they would do.
Jenna Ellis And we've seen that over the last two years. But one thing, I mean, Trump's been great on unilateral executive action. I think he was better even in his first term than now, surprisingly. but what his negative agenda has been to take out some of the best people in Washington just for his own, you know, revenge for the primary. Like, ah, former Congressman Bob Good of Virginia who's the leader of the Freedom Caucus. I mean, to, to go after him and take him out. It's like you're, you're cutting down the actual people who would help you and aren't part of the establishment, you know, Tillis kind of Cornyn group. And yes, thankfully, you know, we have Paxton instead of Cornyn running. I think he's a better, champion in terms of what he would actually do and his values and all of that, that he would actually bring to the Senate, personal, stuff aside, but those kinds of things, it's inexplicable. And if, you know Trump, I mean, it's obvious why, but it's inexplicable to say that with all of these things and all of these votes and people against you in D.C. you're going to take out the people that would have voted for you in your actual agenda.
Shift from Ideological to Coalition-Based Parties and the Importance of Loyalty
But it's Because I don't think that Trump really even thinks he's going to have any legislative priorities over the next two years.
Steve Deace I think that this answer is, the answer to this question is complicated, because I think we have moved from an ideologically based party, to, a coalition based party. And Trump made that move. And so you and I grew up in an ideologically based party where ideologues, we are very comfortable there. The problem is, you know, a lot of the people that we're talking and complaining about got elected in that era before Trump, giving out great talking points like Mitch McConnell waving AR15s in front of Kentuckians. And they just sent them back, you know, cycle after cycle after cycle after cycle, because they knew what talking points to use to sound ideological and then just went and did whatever the heck they wanted to do in Washington D.C. that was anything but. So Trump has moved this to more of a coalition based party. And so, in a coalition based party, instead of talking points to demonstrate, that you have the right ideology without any fruit on the tree at all, it becomes really about loyalty. Hm. And that's the structure of the party that we have now. And so we've gone from one batch of mistakes, to a different kind of batch of mistakes. Like with Bob Goode as the example you're talking about. Yeah.
Jenna Ellis And it's, we're gonna have to see where we go from here and focus more on maybe framing an agenda than the coming, you know, MAGA versus establishment bloodbath. But Steve always really appreciate it.
Concluding Thoughts on the Political Landscape and Listener Support
Follow him on X. We'll be right back with more. Hi, I'm Jenna Ellis. Did you know that this content is listener supported? Without people like you, this podcast would not exist. And that's why we need you. A generous monthly gift of any amount will help sustain American Family Radio and specifically this podcast. Please consider becoming a monthly financial partner today by visiting afr.net give that's afr.net give
Marlin Stutzman welcome back to Jenna Ellis in the morning on American Family Radio.
Jenna Ellis Welcome back. And we're talking about life after the midterms because obviously that is the focus over the next a little under two weeks and hopefully everyone who is listening will be voting, will make a plan to vote, know what's on your ballot, vote your values. But we need to also talk about what happens after the midterms and probably the inevitable, bloodbath that is going to happen between maga, Inc.
Navigating the Post-Midterm Political Landscape and GOP Candidate Strategies
Versus the establishment GOP and kind of wrestling for control of the party, Because Trump will be in his last two years in office. And can Republicans, in the midst of all of that and whether or not they keep control of the House, actually set an agenda? Well, let's welcome in Congressman Marlon Stutzman from the great state of Indiana. And Congressman, before we get to, this other WNBA topic that I definitely want to talk about, I want to get your thoughts on, the midterms overall and where the GOP is planning to go after the midterms if they, if you retain control of the House or, if you find yourselves in the minority.
Marlin Stutzman Well, good morning, Jenna. Great to be with you.
Marlin Stutzman You know, we, are focused on winning in two weeks and I think we still have a great shot of winning because we have better candidates. I mean, if you look at like, Minnesota, why is Minnesota trending towards, Myshel lafoya, who's running for Senate? You look at Michigan, and Michigan is trending towards Mike Rogers running against EL Sayed. You see the candidates that are on the other side, and I think as people, as we start getting closer to the election, most conservative, most Republicans pay more attention towards the last couple of weeks before the election day on who they're going to vote for and kind of the, you know, sift through the noise. And I still think we've got a great chance of winning. I mean, even though, you know, in the House of Representatives the headwinds are against us. we should, you know, it should be a bloodbath, but I'm just not convinced that it's going to be. I think that you look at some of our House races in states like Washington, D.C. people are, ah, I mean, the Democrat is running like she's a Republican out there. And so I really think it comes down state by state because in Indiana, I mean, we've got a, strong economy. Yes. We have higher food prices. Yes. We've got a bit higher gas prices. But we've been able to suspend the gas tax in Indiana because we've got a balanced budget and surpluses.
Republican Agenda Focus: Debt, Deficit, Fiscal Responsibility, and Economic Priorities
And so I think that's what should be the Republican agenda. We should focus on our debt and our deficit. We will not be able to get this country back to its full strength until we do. So I think you're going to continue to see higher, interest rates, you're going to see higher, the bond markets are going to be, concerned. We did bend the curve with the, Working Family Tax Cut act where we did free, ah, spending. That's one of the reasons why I'll continue to support cars because we're freezing spending. We cannot continue to add to the debt because it's only adding, to the $40 trillion that our children and grandchildren are going to have to deal with. So I think we focus on the fiscal and the economic components to it to get our fiscal house in order in Washington.
Jenna Ellis Yeah, yeah. And, and I agree. I mean, I think that was part of the Trump mandate in 2024. And there, there needs to be more focus, in my opinion, on the domestic issues where we've seen the last year more focused on foreign policy. And it seemed like, the, it seemed like Washington hasn't been quite as focused on the priorities here that we need to be. But, but part of this is, is focusing on just some differences in policy. And you're talking about, you know, having better candidates than the left.
WNBA Controversy: Eligibility, Transgender Athletes, and Defining Womanhood
Well, part of this is just a completely separate view of reality from the left versus the right and you know, Republicans versus Democrats. And this is just so crystal clear. And what's going on still in this controversy with the WNBA and about these two basketball, players, Inez Cantor, Freedom, and then also, ah, Royce White. And the WNBA has a response letter to you that you posted. And this is amazing to me because they're writing in response to the questions you posed in a letter, back in September. And they go on to talk about the W. A. WNBA code of conduct, you know, all of these other things. And then the highlighted section, this is, this is the key here. They say with respect to your question regarding eligibility, because these are for listeners, these are the two players that decided to go for the WNBA draft who clearly are men, but they're identifying as women. Right. And that's, that's the whole point is to undermine this whole trans nonsense. but they say with, with respect to your questions regarding eligibility, only women are eligible to play in the wnba and the individuals you cite in your letter are both men. Well, they didn't give a rationale to how they arrived at that conclusion. So I'm wondering, how does the WNBA suddenly know who is a man versus a trans woman? And are they willing to provide that sort of analysis?
Critique of WNBA's Stance on Transgender Athletes and Political Motivations
Marlin Stutzman Yeah, I talked to Ennis yesterday and I think he was a little bit offended. He's like, you know, I've never met, the Kathi Engelbert, so how does she know that I'm a man? and you know, he's pushing the point. And I really applaud. Enes here for doing what he's doing because he's trying to just call out the hypocrisy that the WNBA has been, practicing over the past. This past season with who can play in the WNBA and the whole trans issue. And you're right. I mean, the letter. When I got the letter back, I just started chuckling because it says only women are eligible to play. Okay, so let's say, you know, from a common sense perspective, you're thinking, oh, we're all, in agreement on what a woman is. But I don't think that's necessarily the case for them. In their minds, as they wrote the letter, they just didn't want to divulge into a definition. But then they go on to say, but the individuals you cite are both men. So it's like they say that definitively, like, well, yeah, they're not eligible because they're men. And they didn't, you know, sit down with them. Did they interview them? Did they say. I mean, because Ennis and, Royce are both saying, I identify as a woman here, so it's really that simple. I should be able to play in the WNBA according to their standards. This is a good step for us. It also, you know, as Enes, if he moves forward with any sort of legal action, it helps him make the argument that you have to come up with a definition. Because if you're saying, I'm a man, but then a trans person can play in the wnba, then there's a double standard here. So I think, you know, it just shows, again, that, the WNBA is trying to play this game to appease the wokeness in the wnba, but again, then protecting it from the circumstances that Ennis and Royce have brought forward towards them.
Jenna Ellis Yeah, and it's so obvious, the game that they're playing, because if they can just unilaterally declare that, Ennis and Royce White are men, and we agree that they are, but then they can say that trans women are women, and we would say, no, clearly they're not. On what basis are they making that differentiation? I mean, is it just the players that they think they want to support? And, I mean, it's obvious that this is for a political determination. And so, you know, issues like this, for listeners who are saying, okay, but, you know, there's a lot more going on in the country right now, and, you know, I understand this issue and whatever. No, this. This actually does really matter, because this gets to your point as well, Congressman, Stutzman, that.
Worldview Differences: WNBA's Ideological Stance and Business Malpractice
That the. The candidates that are running on the left, if you actually look at their worldview, they want to support all of this nonsense, and they want to support socialism, and they want to support, you know, all of these things that are completely irrational and undermining the truth of reality. And so when we look at things like this, it's not just a matter of laughing it off. It's saying, how. How do we have a organization that is as big as the wnba who, by the way, probably a lot of them vote, including this, this commissioner, you know, Kathi. and who do you think that they're probably voting for? I mean, this is the problem with having two completely opposing views of reality that. Absolutely. I don't care what the bumper sticker says. Can't coexist.
Marlin Stutzman Yeah. And you know what's really frustrating to me, Jenna, is, you know, the WNBA is in the midst of their WNBA finals, and they purposefully run off the court during the national anthem, and instead of staying on the court, which the WNBA rules say they are supposed to do, and so they don't even follow their own rules. They don't even follow their own standards. And so, you know, they're playing this game of, you know, she's kind of, you know, trying to earn woke points by, refusing to define a woman, but in reality, she's going to end up in a courtroom or a committee room for questioning because there is a male transgendered, person over in Europe playing in women's basketball who, is dominating because he's a man and is, you know, has talked about joining the wnba. Would they let him play in the wnba? I mean, does he have to have long hair? Does he have to, you know, do the things that the trans men do to portray themselves as women? Is that going to allow him to play in the wnba? That's what we're getting at. Where's that line, that they allow someone to play? Or is it an ideology as well? If you buy into their ideology, then they'll let you play. And I think that's more what it is than anything. But just what bothers me is the way the WNBA management behaves. And I'll tell you, I mean, you look at their ratings after the, Indiana Fever, which, of course, I'm from Indiana, big Indiana Fever fan. you have Sophie Cunningham and Caitlin Clark. Caitlin Clark, of course, is a phenomenal player. And all of a sudden, the Fever are out of the playoffs, Their ratings tank, and then they continue to play this woke game, and the players are running off the court Ignoring the national anthem, Their ratings are falling. If I were an investor in the wnba, I'd want my money back because of malpractice, business malpractice. Because of the way they continue to basically tell the American viewer, and sports lover that wants to watch basketball, like, you know what, we're going to stick this in your eye. And you know what, we don't care what you think. This is how we're going to behave. And so instead of like what Micah Jordan used to do and said, Republicans buy basketball, you know, tennis, basketball shoes, Democrats buy basketball shoes, he focused on basketball. And the WNBA is instead focusing on woke ideology rather than just playing basketball and do it to the best of their ability to. So we can all applaud them.
Leftist Organizations as Activist Tools vs. Conservative Focus on Business
Jenna Ellis Yeah, and I think this goes back to, you know, that, that fundamental difference of goals and worldview and agenda because to the, the Republican, to the conservative, to the capitalists, you know, obviously the better business investment would be to leave politics out of this one and to actually just play basketball, to just, you know, have the sport for the sport. But we see that a lot of these organizations, when they're run by leftists, leftists don't actually care about the goal. They want to weaponize these organizations and use them as activist groups for their goal. And this is completely intentional. And they're doing this and they don't care about the money because they have people, you know, like Soros and donors and others, you know, the left in general, I'm not talking specifically about, the wnba, but you know, the left has a lot of these mega donors that will fund their worldview. And I think that, that Republicans and conservatives and Christians need to care a lot more about worldview and becoming in a sense, better activists than what we have been because we are pushing for reality in a, in a playing field of politics that the left, I think is in a, unfortunately, in some ways is actually playing a smarter game because they disagree and they're advancing their cause. Well, we're, we're assuming that everyone agrees with our view of reality when they just really don't.
Marlin Stutzman Yeah, well, I think, you know, a lot of us as Christian conservatives, we put our 10% towards our church. We put our 10% towards missionaries and church work. they put their 10% towards theater, ah, and movies and entertainment, all pushing an ideology. And that's where we got to go above and beyond. You know, my wife Kristie Anyabwile and I were, have a small theater in Northern Indiana and she's a playwright and she's producing, uplifting family values, productions and. But we see that all the time in theater where the left has taken over theater because that's their way of pushing a message. And it is so woke right now. In fact, Broadway is going broke, for real, because nobody's going and watching the shows that they're producing right now because they're so far left.
Weaponizing Entertainment and Sports for Ideological Indoctrination
They're full of an agenda, that is contrary to the majority of viewers. And so that's why, you know, but they don't see it that way. They see it as pushing their message, their ideology, and they continue to write the checks no matter what. Now I think it's catching up with them a little bit, because there's other audiences out there. There's an audience out there that's looking for family friendly entertainment. And they're going to go to Branson, they're going to go to Pigeon Ford, they're going to go to other places to do that instead of going to NewSong York and putting up with this month that they're producing.
Jenna Ellis Yeah, 100%. And you know, and this is where again, they're not focused on the revenue value. They're not focused on you know, any of this are focused on indoctrination. They're focused on weaponizing, entertainment on, you know, some of these, these sports, agencies and avenues. They're focused on the minds of young people so that they can ultimately then control, the way that they vote in some of the outcomes and the way that they are changing society. And so, you know, I've said for a long time, and sometimes they get pushed back on this. But I'm like, you know, you have to hear what I'm saying, to listeners where, yes, you know, we should be focused on worldview. And it seems like, at times when we're talking about things like this that the left and the Democrats actually want to be world changers more than the conservative right and Republicans. And why do I say that?
The Need for Advancing Biblical Worldview and Engaging in Politics
Not because they have better ideologies or their worldview is better, but because they're actually willing to do what it takes to advance their agenda in society. Where if we look at what the agenda has been and even some of, some of the churches, you know, some of what has happened on, you know, the federal and state levels, that could have been better, frankly. But you know, some of this worldview that's just so sloppy and woke, that's coming out of, you know, big eva, they're not advancing the biblical worldview of reality that will impact society so that we have strong, a strong voting base that will put Christians in office to push our values.
Marlin Stutzman Yeah. And, you know, but here's what I tell a lot of my Christian friends, especially those that just don't want to have anything to do with politics. And I understand, you know what, Our kingdom is not of this world. We know that we are, you know, we're traveling through and, you know, we hear that as kids, even in, you know, going to Sunday school and church. And what I tell them, I said, look, I know what, I know that. But you know what? But God put us on this earth for a period of time, and we want to make sure that we hand off the freest nation, the most, productive nation, the nation that protects religious freedom more than anything else. Because all of a sudden, guess what? Your children and grandchildren are still going to be here. And if you do nothing with the freedom that we have now to protect the freedoms that we have in this country, your children and grandchildren are not going to have that. And just think about them, maybe you get to enjoy the silent, We've got
Jenna Ellis a vote and we'll be right back.
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Debate on Christian Participation in Halloween and Horror Genres
Marlin Stutzman welcome back to Jenna Ellis in the Morning on American Family Radio.
Jenna Ellis Welcome back. Well, next week is Halloween or All Hallows Eve. And inevitably, that raises the question, should Christians celebrate Halloween? And, Allie Beth Stuckey had a Clip that went viral yesterday on Saturday social media, talking about not just Halloween, but the concept of horror and that whole genre in general. And it went viral because, I think personally, just looking at the clip, looking at the response, I. I posted my own response, and we'll get to that. I think that this, this clip likely was not the best clip of her broader argument because, of course, there, There is a longer, a fuller show that she had around this, but just the clip itself. I think we do need to talk about and why potentially, it misses the mark and how we should actually respond to this question of whether Christians can and should participate in some of these genres. But this is at least just the clip. And it's about a minute and 15 seconds, about, horror and fear and what Allie posted yesterday on social media. This is cut 5.
Ali Beth Stuckey I just don't think it is at all an option for Christians to not only fully participate in Halloween in all of its darkness and scariness, but I also just don't think that Christians should be a fan of horror in general. Like, I don't think you should be reading books that make you scared. I don't think that you should be listening to true crime podcasts that make you scared. I don't think you should be listening or watching movies that make you scared.
Analyzing the Biblical Command 'Do Not Fear' in Relation to Horror Content
And I have, like, I'm. I've seen Rosemary's Baby. Like, I've seen the really scary movies out there.
Jenna Ellis And now I'm like, oh, I know why my mom didn't want me to
Ali Beth Stuckey watch signs when I was, like, in sixth grade. It scared me. Like, being scared is not, like, how many times. How many times do we read throughout scripture from Jesus and in the Old Testament? Do not fear. Do not fear. And yet we purposely consume content that is meant to make us scared. I don't think we often think about, like, the horror content, the scary content Law and Order SVU that you are imbibing. That is actually a direct contradiction of Jesus's command to not fear or be anxious about anything. So we shouldn't be facilitating fear.
Jenna Ellis All right, so here's what I responded, and then we'll. We'll get into, a couple of the other responses and Allie's pushback, but with just that clip. Right? Because that's what she posted and that's what everybody's responding to. And if you've heard this clip, I agree with the basic concern. Christians should be very thoughtful and biblical about horror and true crime.
The Nuances of 'Do Not Fear' and the Dangers of Glorifying Evil in Entertainment
But I don't think that do not fear. In that context is the right way biblical argument. And here's why. Because in Scripture, do not fear is not this blanket command to avoid every experience that frightens us or to treat feeling afraid or concerned as sinful. Because again and again, those words do not fear come in a very specific context. God is telling his people to not be overcome by fear because he is with us, he is faithful, and, and our hope is in Him. So in Matthew 10, Jesus tells his disciples, do not fear those who can kill the body because he's preparing them for persecution. In Isaiah 41, God tells His people, do not fear because he will strengthen and uphold them. And when Jesus, says, let not your hearts be troubled, in Jon 14, he's preparing his disciples for his departure, promising them peace and promising that he will return again. And there are other passages, of course, in the Bible talking about trusting God in the face of real danger, suffering, uncertainty. you've heard the phrase that's. That's not in the Bible. But, but it's, it's relevant that says, you know, courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that something is more important than fear. And in the biblical context, what is that? God himself is more important. And when we talk about this from, from fearing the Lord, it doesn't mean to be afraid of Him. M. It means that we recognize his authority, in awe of him, and we don't have other idols or other authorities or other concerns separate and apart from what he has told us. So, like in the counseling context, the fear of man is. Is one of those situations that, that a lot of. Of of biblical counseling has to address that are you more concerned with what others will think of you? Are you concerned? And are you, not afraid in the sense that you're literally cowering in fear? But do you have a respect for them over respecting what God has told you? That's called the fear of man. Right? So this isn't a rule in scripture, the do not fear passages that Christians must never feel afraid or that we can't encounter a frightening story. Do not fear is a call and a command to trust the Lord, not a test of whether we can keep ourselves from being startled by a movie. So the better question is what we're choosing to dwell on and enjoy. And this is where I get where Alibeth is going with this, because Scripture tells us as Christians to think about what is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and commendable. It warns us against celebrating evil and calls us to hate what is evil and to Cling to what is good. So that should make Christians cautious about entertainment like we were just talking about with Congressman Stutzman, that entertainment that has a false worldview that may be changing your mind about a, certain worldview concepts, or it's asking you to turn cruelty, murder, demonic, evil, or human depravity into a thrill, a spectacle, or a source fascination. But there's a difference between acknowledging evil and making evil our entertainment and participating in, you know, wanting to identify with these villains or like Allie Beth mentioned Law and Order svu. that's a show I've seen a number of times. And, for the. Probably the same reasons that Allie mentions that I had to stop watching that.
Distinguishing Between Depicting Evil and Glorifying It in Entertainment Choices
Why? Because they are making the. The thrill, these heinous, depraved crimes so fascinating and wanting to get into the mind of, you know, the psychological, you know, killers and, and, you know, these, these horrific crimes. They're making them fascinating instead of saying, here is what justice requires. And, and we've all seen the difference, right? Because the Bible itself tells the truth about murder, betrayal, violence, and sin, but it doesn't invite us to delight in wickedness or become captivated by darkness. It tells a truthful account of men of man's sin and an account of history and what has happened, but it doesn't call us to enjoy it or to participate in the wickedness. So I'm not saying. And I really don't think that Allie Beth is actually saying that every story that depicts evil is automatically wrong or that every Christian who watches something that's labeled as a horror genre is. Is sinning. But what we should ask, honestly, is is this for entertainment? Is this for more enlightenment? I mean, I think there's a difference between watching, you know, Signs as a horror movie versus reading Dante's Inferno. Right? there's a difference between watching Rosemary's Baby versus reading the Bible.
Wisdom in Entertainment Choices: Enlightenment vs. Entertainment, and Christian Engagement
So what is actually helping me recognize evil and grieve what it does, or am I just wanting to be entertained by evil? So that's a much stronger biblical concern, though, than saying you watched something scary and so you disobeyed. Do not fear. And from this clip, I think there was right pushback against just this clip from Ellie Beth. And she's. She's gone on to suggest. And this is what she posted, in response to Matt Walsh. Hang on. I didn't say anywhere that Christians shouldn't want suspenseful or tense things in the episode. I specifically warn against movies that are meant to stoke paranoia, anxiety, and a Nagging sense of dread and fear. I don't believe consuming that kind of content facilitates the peace to which God calls us. I also never said Christians can only watch Christian Brandon entertainment, or that we can't watch things that are complicated and sometimes violent. My favorite movies of all time contain war and suspense and moral complexity. And then she goes on to say, I still stand by what I said. We shouldn't consume content that is intended to make us feel paranoid. And I do think there's wisdom in that, because the, the whole point of living the Christian life is that we should dwell on things that are lovely, that are pure, that are commendable. That doesn't mean that we have this kind of milquetoast sort of, you know, Christian entertainment that doesn't deal with the complexity of the human condition, the fallen state of the world. Honestly, I think that's where a lot of Christian entertainment gets off. But this is where we should be seriously asking ourselves, what do we participate in? And also why?
Christian Discretion Regarding Halloween, Horror, and Cultural Engagement
And this gets us back to the question of Halloween, right? For me personally, and I think that there are some bright lines that Christians should not engage in horror. We should not engage in, you know, costumes, parties, things that are a violent nature, things that get into, the spiritual that, things that are, elevating or celebrating death or celebrating, you know, witches and seances and evil. that's off limits for Christians, what we participate in. Beyond that, like if your church has a trunk or treat, for example, that's, that's a matter of wisdom. What are we teaching our children? Is this a gateway to perhaps, you know, future content that isn't so good, that isn't as pure and lovely? Do we have those conversations? Do we say we're not going to put up the skeletons and the, you know, those kinds of Halloween decorations? We are going to focus on things that are pure and lovely. And I think for Christians, it's a matter of wisdom. And we need to not just go along with what's in the culture, but actually do what's biblical. And so these are incredibly important, conversations that we need to have decisions we need to make. And so I'm thankful to Allie Beth that she at least raised this question. We need to answer it, though, biblically, in context.
Contact Information and Final Thoughts
So as always, you can reach me and my team. Jennaafr.net.
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Jenna Ellis discusses the critical issues surrounding the upcoming midterms and the GOP's direction post-election. Joined by Steve Deace, they analyze the party's stance on foreign aid, particularly regarding Ukraine, and the implications of recent political decisions. The conversation also touches on the importance of a clear agenda for the GOP moving forward and how the party can better represent its base. As they navigate through current events, Jenna emphasizes the need for voters to understand their values and the significance of civic engagement.
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