The month of June has been hijacked by the anti Christian culture
>> Frank Turek: The month of June has been hijacked by the anti Christian culture to show their pride in something God calls an abomination. When you support afr, you help us continue to stand for godly values and provide the resources for you to stay in the know about the enemy's tactics. To say thank you for your gift this month, we'll give you the booklet Inside the LGBTQ push of the 1990s. To help strengthen your convictions, just go to afr.netoffers afr.net offers welcome to today's.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Issues, offering a Christian response to the.
>> Tim Wildmon: Issues of the day.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Huh?
>> Frank Turek: Here's your host, Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association.
>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, good morning, everybody, and welcome to today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network. Thanks for listening to AFR on this Monday, June 23rd, 2025. And, want to welcome Ed Vitagliano. Good morning, Ed.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Good morning, Tim.
>> Tim Wildmon: I guess welcome me back, right?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes, welcome back.
>> Tim Wildmon: and Chris Woodward. Good morning, Chris.
>> Chris Woodward: Good morning.
>> Ed Vitagliano: You were in the nation's capital last week?
>> Tim Wildmon: yes, we, by we, I mean Allison and yours truly, and that's my wife. And then Stephen and Beth McDowell, the Providence Foundation. And we hosted some, of our fine listeners and supporters. We went to Colonial Williamsburg Church, Jamestown and Yorktown, and then we went to Washington D.C. and Mount Vernon and saw, the nation's capital. It was a great week, as we do this twice a year. We do it in June and September, and it was a wonderful time spent with some great folks who pray for us and believe in us and write us checks and, and we thanked them and, we had a wonderful time. We absolutely did.
Military under orders from President Trump bombed three nuclear sites in Iran
Now, while we were there, of course, big news broke, right?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, absolutely. the U. S. Military, under orders from President Trump, bombed three different nuclear sites in Iran. And that's primarily, we will talk about a few other things, but that has been the big news all weekend, long. the president, I, I, I will say this. I don't always agree with everything President Trump does. I don't even agree with everything my wife does. Okay, Right.
>> Tim Wildmon: But you don't say that out loud. That was, no, that was a mistake, what you just did right there. But anyway, go ahead.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes, that's right, because I said it. I can't deny it now, can I? But I'm just going to tell you, President Trump continues to surprise, even shock me in his, with his boldness, thinking outside the box. He basically told the world he's giving Iran two weeks to come to the negotiating table and whatever. Two or three days after he said that.
>> Tim Wildmon: After that time was, expired.
>> Ed Vitagliano: No, yeah, before the time was expired.
>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, yes, yes.
>> Ed Vitagliano: He said two weeks. They got it. And so just to make sure nobody was looking, he says two weeks, we'll give it. And then two, three days later he, he gives the thumbs up and the military performed a, just an amazing feat. By the way, we are going to have Frank Turek on in just a few minutes who I think you said is a Navy, aviator to talk a little bit about the actual formally talk about the mission. But wow, a lot going on. A lot could still happen and probably will happen. But anyway, Chris.
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, just to clarify what I meant by that was that President, Trump and his team had been in negotiations with the Iranian regime for several weeks.
>> Ed Vitagliano: That is also true. Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: Prior to the two week ultimatum.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: Anyway, go ahead, Chris.
President Trump made remarks Saturday night on Iran nuclear strikes
>> Chris Woodward: Well, I mean just to kind of take everybody back to Saturday, night M Much of the United States of America found out after supper, what had happened, in Iran when we got news alerts or whatnot on our phone. And a lot of us were directed to a, presidential address that was going to begin at 10pm Eastern, 9pm Central. And I have some of that audio here. Let's just begin with Trump at the beginning of the remarks, which also included, behind President Trump at the podium was Vice President J.D. vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. But here is President Trump at the beginning of Saturday night's remarks. Clip 1.
>> Donald Trump: A short time ago, the US military carried out massive precision strikes on the three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime, Fordeau, Natanz and Esfahan. Everybody heard those names for years as they built this horribly destructive enterprise. Our objective was the destruction of Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world's number one state sponsor of terror. Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran, the bully of the Middle east, must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier.
>> Chris Woodward: Now since that speech, there have been news reports and even social media posts from Iranian officials saying, you know, they're not going to back down. There were I, I saw a story here as the show, began this morning. President Trump is meeting with his national security team again today to talk about and perhaps prepare for any sort of response from Iran. FOX Meanwhile, had a story yesterday, saying that Iranian officials were going to be talking with their Russian counterparts. And then there was a story from former Russian president, Dmitry Medved. Medved.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Medvedev.
>> Chris Woodward: Thank you.
>> Tim Wildmon: Who, what now?
>> Chris Woodward: the former president of Russia said, though, there are countries lining up to give Iran nuclear weapons again, so this is not over. Medvedev.
>> Tim Wildmon: How you spell that?
>> Chris Woodward: Medved.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Ev. I think Medved. Ed. M, E, D, V, E, D.
>> Tim Wildmon: F. Y' all struggle with that.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I can do it.
>> Tim Wildmon: 1. That was just a game for me. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that on a serious.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I was just.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, yeah.
Medvedev said nations are lining up to give Iran nuclear warheads
So. So this. This fella, who we've seen in the news for many years, he is. Is he Vladimir Putin's number two guy?
>> Chris Woodward: He was the president for a period of time when, like, Putin stepped away, when he intended.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Pretended to step away.
>> Chris Woodward: And then Putin, Gloria, you know, he returns for.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, he's.
>> Ed Vitagliano: He's like. I know who his advisors now.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, we've all seen him and heard him over the years. but for him to say that countries are lining up to give Iran a nuclear warhead. What. What is he talking about? I don't think that's true. Does anybody even believe that? I think he's just ticked at America.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, I will say this. It. When Medvedev said that over the weekend, that was the scariest thing I heard, all weekend. Because Iran's making threats, and. And we're going to be talking about this. I mean, closing the Straits of Hormuz. And, you know, there's talk about perhaps sleeper cells in the United States. All things. There's a lot of. A lot of dangerous things that could happen. But when Medvedev said that there were nations lining up to give nuclear warheads to Iran, that. That was very concerning to me. I did some reading on that afterwards. an article in Business, Insider said that, analysts were claiming that. That this is garbage, what Medvedev said.
>> Tim Wildmon: Because Russian disinformation, it was.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes, that it was not really credible. And, one of these individuals, Pavel Podvig. I can't spell that because I'm looking at it. He's a senior researcher in the United Nations Institute for Disarmament, Researches weapons of. He researches weapons of Math. Mass destruction. He said it's impossible in practice because nuclear weapons are not like a bomb or just something you can carry in a, suitcase. He says nuclear warheads come as an entire system with people who need to be trained to keep and service them safely, as well as maintenance facilities and equipment. He also said even tactical nukes, which are more portable and produce a smaller blast, need high level storage. He said, unless you create a nuclear program or almost a nuclear program in the country, there's no way to just give your nuclear weapons to them. So that helped me a little bit because I was very worried that someone like North Korea or even China or Russia might hand off nuclear warheads to Iran that could be used in a variety of ways against Israel or against us. But at least from what some of these people are saying, there were others.
>> Tim Wildmon: Quoted, but it just, it sounded like almost a flippant remark from this guy who's the number two guy in Russia, that, you know, he was like, he was gleeful or something like, oh, well, never mind, don't worry. Yeah, don't worry. a nuclear warhead so they can bomb America.
>> Ed Vitagliano: it would. As I thought about this over the weekend, I, I thought, like you said, how dangerous for the country who gives them the weapons if they were to do that, if they were to do that. I, I don't put anything past Mossad, the intelligence branch for Israel. If that were done to, to find out exactly who did it, sure they would. And, who had handed these over. And then if, if Iran uses those weapons and the people running the country, the mullahs, they're insane. They are eaten up with this apocalyptic religious belief. They're going to use those nuclear weapons.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Then the country who gives them those weapons are responsible for the carnage.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right.
The mission that our military undertook to take out Iranian nuclear facilities is fascinating
All right, well, I want to take a look at the, the mission that took place. I've been reading a lot on this. It's fascinating. The mission that our military, took, undertook to take, out the nuclear facilities, Nuclear, weapon facilities there in Iran. And, joining us to talk about it is our good friend Dr. Frank Turek from Cross Examined Ministries. And I don't have enough faith to be an atheist. RADIO SHOW AND PODCAST how you doing, Frank?
>> Frank Turek: I'm just swell. How's everybody there?
Frank Cree was in naval aviation before becoming a refueler
>> Tim Wildmon: All right, brother. I wanted to ask you, what, you've mentioned it before. What is your, military experience?
>> Frank Turek: Well, I was in naval aviation, but my middle son was in air, force aviation. In fact, he was a refueler. He used to fly KC10s. Now they've retired the KC10s. Now they got the KC135 and they're trying to bring the, 46 on to refuel. I don't know which refuelers were involved bringing the B2s across. But what we used to say about my son Spencer, is that every day he would fly up to 30,000ft, he would sit around and pass gas.
>> Ed Vitagliano: M. Oh, man.
>> Tim Wildmon: Wow, that's.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, that's something, guys.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, yeah.
>> Frank Turek: Hey, hey, if I got, if I got paid to pass gas, I'd be a multimillionaire.
>> Tim Wildmon: Somebody just turned on their radio. They just turned on the radio, first thing they heard, and there was no context at all. Frank, what can you tell us about the mission that was undertaken here? I mean, give us your thoughts on that.
>> Frank Turek: Well, I think this, has been planned not just during the Trump administration, but this mother of all weapons, this bunker buster bomb we've had for, since Afghanistan. It was, it was, or right after Afghanistan, I think we got that weapon. we didn't use it in any military, way. We used it just in training. This is the first time it's ever been used in a military strike. But they've been training for this even prior to Trump. And I think that the Pentagon has known that at some point this might have needed to have happened. And so this has been going on for quite a while now. Refueling is nothing new. In fact, if you've got to take any of these planes across the pond, as we say it, especially the fighters, they need to be refueled along the way quite a bit. Bit. this 37 hour round trip for the B2, they say they were refueled like three times each way.
>> Tim Wildmon: So, but they left, they left, they left out of, We had decoys here and. Oh yeah, they left out of Missouri.
>> Frank Turek: Right, they did. They went Missouri and they had to go west. And the rest seven go east. And, typically when you fly, you squawk codes so air traffic controllers and such can see you and other planes and that kind of thing. They apparently they weren't squawking anything. They were totally, almost radio silent the whole way.
>> Tim Wildmon: How high up were they? Do you know?
>> Frank Turek: I don't know how high the B2s go. you know, our reconnaissance planes, like a U2 can go up to 60,000, maybe even above that. But, I don't know how, I don't know how high the U2.
>> Tim Wildmon: The reason I ask is, as I understand they were undetectable by radar.
>> Frank Turek: Well, that's why. Yeah, that, that batwing plane is, has about the radar, you know, the radar profile of a ketchup bottle. You know, you're not going to see it. so. And Those next generation fighters, the F35s, they are, have very low radar profile too. So they're designed so the so the enemy can't see you. Also, what, what has been done, and I don't know if it was done on this flight. I haven't read anything about it. But in the navy we had planes that would jam enemy radar. you know, it would create problems for enemy radar. I don't know if they did much of that on this. I don't. It didn't seem like they had any capacity after the Israelis went in there to even put up anti aircraft fire. but of course if you don't see anybody coming, there's no reason to put up anti aircraft fire. So the Israelis paved the way. The United States just went in there and with precision and stealth, just did the job and then got out.
>> Ed Vitagliano: the B2, I just looked it up, has a reported maximum altitude of 50,000ft.
>> Frank Turek: Yeah, I don't know if they could do that with an additional £60,000.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well that, yeah, that's, that may be, that may be true. By the way, the when I quoted this article from Business Insider talking about the about whether or not you could just handle nuclear warheads off to Iran. Brent Creeley, our producer has posted that article on our Facebook, page. So you can check that out. There may be some difficulties with the paywall, but I think Brent's got that sorted out. So anyway, that's just a bit of additional information.
>> Frank Turek: You know, I think since you mentioned this, Ed and I did see that, that former Soviet president or Soviet, Russian president, you know, say, oh yeah, we're going to give them nuclear weapons. Don't you think that's just kind of bluster and a bargaining chip?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, I, I think they, I think rut, I gotta say, I think Russia may have been a little bit embarrassed by what happened because they are allies with Iran. I know that Putin, this might have been in the, with a, with. I don't know if it was a U. S. Reporter that asked him, asked why they didn't help Iran with some of this, with Israel. And Putin said something about, well, there's a lot of Russian speakers now in Israel so we were staying out of it. I don't know if they were just a little embarrassed since they were allies with Iran and they didn't seem to be able to do anything to stop us. Not that they would want to engage US Forces directly, but I think you're right. I think it is a little bit of. Of bluster to try to take.
>> Tim Wildmon: They're just jealous. They're just jealous of the American military. And so they could. He just wanted this. My opinion. They just. He just wanted to get a dig in.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: and the dig is somebody. Countries are lining up in the queue, he said to give Iran nuclear weapons, which that is not true, but he just wanted to say he wanted to do something to scare Americans, you know, like Russia. Is Russia going to give Iran? And are they good about that? They're happy about that. What if Iran gets mad at Russia and turns it around on them?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.
So I want to ask you another thing. I'm in the queue waiting on a question
>> Tim Wildmon: So I want to ask you another thing. by the way, Chris, welcome to the show.
>> Chris Woodward: No, yeah, Chris Woodward. I'm in the queue waiting on a question.
>> Tim Wildmon: You're right. Hey, that's good.
>> Chris Woodward: Thank you.
>> Tim Wildmon: Chris Woodward, Ed Virtagliano, Tim Wildmon. And joining us, from, the great state of North Carolina is a good friend, Frank Turk.
Tim Ferriss: Violence has been part of Islam for 1400 years
I want to ask you, about. Turn. Turn it, to the, theology of the, of the, Mallahs in Iran. So you have a. Something, called, ayatollah, Khomeini. And Khomeini, must be something like pharaohs or bazaars or. It must be a word that they use to describe the supreme leader of the Islamic, I don't know. What would you call it? Movement over there. Is that what you. Is that what it is?
>> Frank Turek: I think, Tim, that it's a slightly different spelling from.
>> Ed Vitagliano: It is. It's Kameni.
>> Frank Turek: Yeah, it's a different spelling. It sounds the same, but it's a different spelling. It. It's probably just his name. but, you know, as you know, and very few people talk about this in the media, but this is basic jihad that the Shias like to, engage in. Of course, also the Wahhabi, the Wahhabi Sunnis do as well. This goes all the way back to Muhammad. I mean, if you look at 1400 years of history, jihad is a physical struggle, struggle, not an internal, you know, I'm trying to overcome sin kind of thing, or I'm trying to overcome some internal problem. Violence has been part of, global Islam for 1400 years. And for. This is not to say, obviously, that every Muslim agrees with this. Thankfully, only a minority agree with it. But that's a very vocal and violent minority. And it tends to, when it takes over a country, freedoms, go away, as you see there in Iran, and all sorts of trouble occurs. They have been the biggest sponsor of global terrorism ever since 1979 when the Shah was kicked out and Ayatollah Khomeini took over. In fact, 19 years ago this month, I actually went to Tehran. We went on a Noah's Ark expedition. Long story, don't have to tell you all the details, but we went over there and we happened to be over there during the 17th anniversary of Khomeini's death. And the. The streets of Tehran were just lined with all this propaganda, all these flags and pictures of Khomeini and everything. And on the side of buildings they had. One building had a. An American flag and the stars were skulls and the stripes were unfurling as bombs and, you know, down with America. We went to, the old Embassy where in 1979, the Iranians stormed our embassy and took a, number of hostages for 444 days. You remember. And when Reagan was sworn in, they let him go. and on the side of the embassy there was this big mural. It was the Statue of Liberty, but the face of the Statue of Liberty was a skeleton. And underneath it said, we will make America face a severe defeat. This was 19 years ago in Tehran, and I don't think much has changed since then.
>> Tim Wildmon: let me ask you this. what is the, Do you understand the, apocalyptic? And I'm not talking about in the Christian view of that. I'm talking about the, like the 12th Imam. And you mentioned the Shia, which is a branch. There's the Sunni and the Shia. That's two main branches of, our two main divisions, I guess in Islam. The, Iranians, Persians, they subscribe to the, Shia. Shia, denomination, for lack of a better word. So, so what is it that they believe, these mullahs, these imams, about the, 12th Imam and the ushering in the end of the world, that kind of thing. What would you know about that?
>> Frank Turek: I am not an expert in that regard.
>> Tim Wildmon: Make it up because M. It seems.
>> Frank Turek: To me, although that is encouraging them toward violence, even if they didn't believe that that's been going on for 1400 years.
>> Tim Wildmon: Gotcha.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I did. I looked something up about this, if you guys want me to.
>> Frank Turek: What, you get on it? Because if you plug it into AI, we know it's true.
>> Ed Vitagliano: So Muhammad Al Mahdi, he was called the Mahdi, is considered the 12th and last Imam in 12 or Shia Islam. he is. He was born in 868 A.D. and he is said to, he says to have been, Taken into a place of like, spiritual hiddenness. And according to Shia tradition, the Mahdi will reappear at the end of time to establish peace and justice and the victory of Islam over all her enemies. And so my understanding is that the mullahs, who run Iran believe that if they can trigger a worldwide war, but especially a war against Israel, that will bring the Mahdi out of hiding to give victory to Islam.
Ed: Muslims believe Jesus was virgin born, but they don't believe God
>> Frank Turek: But isn't it interest, isn't it interesting, Ed, that when you read the Quran, you know who's going to be the ultimate judge according to them? Jesus.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Really? Oh, yeah, he's one. He's one of the prophets.
>> Frank Turek: They believe that Jesus was virgin born. They believe Jesus was sinless, but they just don't believe he's God.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And they don't believe he was.
>> Frank Turek: They don't believe he died and rose again either. They think he was taken straight to heaven because God would never kill a prophet. I guess they haven't read the whole Testament very much. and that's in Surah 4, verse 157. And the problem with, for them is, is that they have a dilemma. Maybe we can pick this up after the break. If I hear the music coming up.
>> Tim Wildmon: But you do.
>> Frank Turek: All right.
>> Tim Wildmon: Do you hear the music coming up?
>> Frank Turek: I hear the music coming.
>> Ed Vitagliano: That means we'll pick this up after the break.
>> Frank Turek: I mean, shut up.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, that's our shut up music.
>> Frank Turek: That's right.
>> Ed Vitagliano: That is playing.
>> Tim Wildmon: All right, we'll be back. Chris, Ed, and yours truly, Tim and doctor.
>> Ed Vitagliano: we'll let Chris talk.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yes, absolutely.
>> Chris Woodward: I'm in the queue.
>> Tim Wildmon: Frank Turek, with us. We're talking about, several things here. the mission that took place, the very highly successful US military mission which once again showed the capabilities of our, unmatched military. and we'll be back momentarily. Stay with us.
Over 60% of abortions happen through the abortion pill
>> Ed Vitagliano: This June 24th marks three years since Roe versus Wade was overturned. But here's what you may not know. Abortion numbers have surged to a 10 year high. The battleground has shifted from the courtroom to our homes. Today, over 60% of abortions happen through the abortion pill. Taken in silence, often alone. Preborn network clinics are standing in the gap, meeting women in their most desperate hour. And here's what they're seeing. Young mothers, terrified and misled, are delivering their babies, tiny, perfectly formed, onto bathroom floors. These precious babies, once called just tissue, now lie lifeless. 11% of these women who take the abortion pill will suffer serious health complications. Countless others carry emotional scars for a lifetime. When you give to PreBorn. You're not just saving a baby, you're saving a mother too. You're giving her hope, financial support, and the truth. PreBorn has already rescued over 350,000 babies, but there are so many more who need our help. Your tax deductible gift makes this mission possible. To donate now, dial 250 and say the keyword baby. That's £250 baby. Or go to preborn.com afr that's preborn.com afr.
>> Tim Wildmon: This is today's issues.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Email your comments to commentsfr.net Past broadcasts.
>> Frank Turek: Of today's issues are available for listening.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And viewing in the [email protected] now back.
American family radio Network welcomes back Tim with more of today's issues
>> Frank Turek: To more of today's issues.
>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, welcome back everybody, to today's issues on the American family radio Network. Thanks for listening to afr. I'm Tim with Ed and Chris and Frank, Turek is joining us from North Carolina. We've been talking about, you know, the big story for the last few days, and that is the United States, bombing the, with the bunker busters, the, nuclear, facilities there in Iran meant to, they were there to build, weapons, nuclear weapons to be used and on Israel, on the US on whoever. I guess, Iran would want to do that too. But president, Donald Trump, said we're going to destroy those facilities and he sent our bombers around the world to do so on a mission that was just spectacular. The more I read about it. And it's just, I don't, think any other military in the world would be capable, don't have, they don't have the weapons and wouldn't be capable of, doing, what are, you know.
>> Ed Vitagliano: It was just, it was just a reminder to me. Sometimes we forget how powerful the U. S. Military is and how professional they.
>> Tim Wildmon: Are and how it can reach around the world.
>> Ed Vitagliano: it's extraordinary. We got Frank on here. I don't want to take time away from him.
Frank Bruni: How do you negotiate with religious fanatics
>> Tim Wildmon: M. I wanted, I wanted, I wanted to ask you, Frank, to comment on this. A really volatile and scary part, and I do use that word. I have faith in God. We all have faith in God here to. But it is on a human level, this scary. What I'm about to mention with most countries, most every country in the world, you can negotiate, you can deal with them, you can talk to them on a mutual, understanding of reality. Okay? That's the way I would put it. The Russians, the Chinese, whoever it may be with the imams, the, Khomeini, the, the Moas in Iran, the religious fanatics, the Islamic religious fanatics that control the country, at least now, they don't, seem that they don't deal in the same world that, normal, political figures do. They're coming at it from a theological perspective, and so they don't have consideration necessarily for. This is why they, when they send weapons to bomb Israel, they don't care who it hits.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.
>> Tim Wildmon: Israel and the United States are trying to avoid civilian, casualties. Iran is trying to inflict them.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes. They want to trigger that final war.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. So they don't care about. So they, they, they hate Jews, they hate Christians, they hate Americans. So, what about that aspect of it, Frank, the, religious fanaticism of the leaders and try to deal with them?
>> Frank Turek: Well, that's especially true when their own Quran says they can lie to the infidel. And who's the infidel? Anybody. That's not their brand of Islam.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right, right.
>> Frank Turek: So, yeah. How do you negotiate with something like that? Now, of course, Donald Trump thinks he can negotiate anything with anyone. And if it, if it was possible to negotiate and hold them to it, okay, that would be better than, you know, bombing them. But they didn't even want to come to the table. They wouldn't even talk directly. They were trying to go through intermediaries. so he had really no choice at this point. This was the least worst choice. Let's just put it that way.
>> Tim Wildmon: You mean for Trump?
>> Frank Turek: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.
>> Frank Turek: What else is he going to do? He's not going to allow them to get a nuclear weapon that's off the table. especially someone who has this worldview that they think they're going to bring the end times in, and they're also gonna automatically go to heaven by committing jihad if they die in it. that's, that's the way they, they can. In fact, in Islam, you can't. You. The only way you can be sure you're going to make it to paradise, as they call it, is to die in Jihad. Otherwise, your good deeds have to outweigh your bad. And, And Allah. It's up to Allah whether that happens or not.
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, I told him he's to run outside and take one for the team then, doesn't he? If he really believes that?
>> Frank Turek: Well, yeah, whether or not they really believe it is another question. But how do you negotiate with people that, you know, have a, have a premise that you're the infidel? They can lie to you, they want you dead, they want global Islam that's been going on for 1400 years. This is nothing new.
Frank Turek: Chris, I have a question about Israel
>> Tim Wildmon: All right, Chris, you got a question?
>> Chris Woodward: I do have a question, Frank. You, you travel around the country and you speak at many college campuses. They're obviously out for summer. but I'm curious, have you ever been confronted with a lot of questions about, like, Genesis 12:3 and whether or not Christians should side with Israel, things like that?
>> Frank Turek: I have not. I've seen several people talking about it recently. And, let's. How about just for the sake of argument, we don't even look at the Bible in this situation. Is there any doubt as to who the good guys are and the bad guys are really right?
>> Ed Vitagliano: You talking about.
>> Tim Wildmon: No.
>> Frank Turek: Okay. Global terrorism has been sponsored by Iran since 1979. Iran is trying to prevent, or, I mean, Israel's trying to prevent them from nuking them.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes.
>> Frank Turek: They've said over and over again we want to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. Now here's an instance where maybe having the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque right there in Jerusalem might be a good thing. If you nuke, if, you nuke Israel, you're going to wipe that stuff out, right?
>> Tim Wildmon: Right.
>> Frank Turek: By the way, Jordan's not going to be real happy. Neither is Lebanon.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right, right.
>> Frank Turek: Egypt happy about that.
>> Tim Wildmon: Saudi Arabia.
>> Frank Turek: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Syria.
>> Frank Turek: Isn't it interesting too, when you look at the surrounding countries around Israel? I think, if I read correctly, that the surrounding countries have 177 times the land mass of Israel and 24 times the population. And they need a Palestinian state.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Right, Right. What?
>> Frank Turek: You know what the Palestinian state is? It's Jordan. And Jordan does not want these people because they're jihadists.
>> Ed Vitagliano: That's, that's, that is absolutely true.
>> Frank Turek: And, and why can't they take Israel out? Why can a group of 10 million people, 20% of whom are Arabs, by the way, in Israel, do you know, do you know there is a, there is a Muslim, a Muslim Arab on the Israeli Supreme Court. Arabs can vote in Israel. They're citizens. Okay.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Frank Turek: How can this small group of people hold off enemies all around them and dominate them? Why is that?
>> Tim Wildmon: Because God's on their side.
>> Frank Turek: And I hear people saying, well, you know, we can't support Israel because, you know, they're apostate, they're not believers. How many kings of Israel were believers?
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, that doesn't change the fact that they're God's chosen people. I mean, that, I mean, all.
>> Frank Turek: Of the kings of Israel were Bad. A few of the kings of Judah were good. The rest were bad. Did God ever say. Well, he did judge them, but did he ever say, well, you know, don't support them? Never said that.
>> Tim Wildmon: Chris, did you have another question for.
>> Chris Woodward: No.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, Brother Frank, we shall let you go. Now get back to what you were doing. I'm sure very important work there around the Turek household.
>> Frank Turek: well, let's keep praying for everybody. I've been praying for the people of Iran.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, me too.
>> Frank Turek: I want to make the image of God. We don't want people to die unnecessarily. No, but the purpose of government is to protect innocent people from evil, and that's what Donald Trump is trying to do.
>> Tim Wildmon: Amen. All right. Thank you, Frank. Appreciate it, my friend. All right.
>> Frank Turek: God bless you.
>> Tim Wildmon: All right, you too.
Tim Ferriss: There are different theological perspectives on Israel and end times
Dr. Frank Turek. I said God is on their side. I didn't mean to sound flippant. I meant that, that's a long theological discussion that would take us days, which, my knowledge would not hold up to. But I would just say this. it's inexplicable to me what Frank was saying, outside of God and the story of the Bible and the Jews being God's chosen people, that Israel would even be surviving today, much less, as he said, carrying out missions like they did inside m. The Mossad, inside Iran.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: it's just miraculous. That's. That's my belief. Go ahead.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah. And listen, I know that there are some different theological perspectives amongst our listeners in terms of the end times and in terms of Israel. I understand that. and we're. And to your point, we're not trying to get into a big theological discussion. My particular view is that, yes, Israel is. The people of Israel are. The nation of Israel are primarily non Christian. Okay. it is true that in the first century, the nation of Israel was clearly judged by God for crucifying the Messiah. Matthew 23. Other places, the prediction of, the destruction of the temple by Jesus. Okay. yes, there are promises that were given to Israel that seem to have incorporated God's New Testament movement in terms of the church. But it seems clear to me also that Romans 11 states emphatically, the apostle Paul says that God is still going to work in the lives of the Jewish people and the nation of Israel. So that when it was reconstituted as a nation in 1948, almost 2,000 years after it had been annihilated by the Romans. That's extraordinary. that it is an extraordinary occurrence When Paul is in, Romans 11 is talking about the nation of Israel, and then the nation of Israel historically ends. And for, almost 2,000 years, the church is going well, how in the world Does Romans 11 get fulfilled? There is no nation of Israel. And then 1948, the nation is reconstituted in almost miraculous fashion. They stave off without an army. They stave off an immediate attack by the nations around them.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right.
>> Ed Vitagliano: In 1948. listen, I don't know how you can deny the fact that God still has his hand on the Jewish people and the reconstituted nation of Israel. So I respect people who disagree with what I just laid out biblically, but that's my, that's my view. And AFA does not have a theological view.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right.
>> Ed Vitagliano: on the end times, there are people who have all kinds of views here inside the ministry. Our, Our mission and our vision is cultural transformation. You want to find out about what your, what your church teaches, you ask your pastor.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. Amen. You're listening to Today's issues on American Family Radio. I'm Tim with Ed and Chris, and I would just say, if you want to download our podcast, you can do that here or any of our shows here on American Family Radio. Just go to afr.net click on podcast and click on the banner with Today's Issues or any of the other shows, and you can listen on demand anytime you want to the, program here.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Hey, by the way, let me just toss in one other thing, folks. Remember that there are a lot of Christians in the Middle east and in Iran, and, they sometimes suffer under persecution. But these are people who love Jesus just as much as people in America do. and so be praying for them as well as a distinct group. Those are your brothers and sisters over there in always in very difficult.
Chris Bell wonders about spiritual nature of conflict between Iran and Israel
>> Tim Wildmon: I want to ask you one other question, and Chris, I want to play some of these clips. We got some great, clips, audio clips from over the weekend. And this may not be. We've talked about this issue before, but it relates to the spiritual nature of this particular conflict between Iran and Israel. Okay. and I know you. I've studied history. You've studied history. typically, wars are fought over land. Not always, but over the course of history, people have warred over land. Right? That's what's going on in Ukraine. With Ukraine and Russian war right now, it's over land. Right? Control of land. So that's a primary reason for warfare in the course of human history. Now with Iran and Israel, it's a Weird conflict. And I say weird or strange or unusual, out of the ordinary, however you want to phrase it. Iran has no border with Israel. They're like 1500 miles apart or something like that. there's so Iran. The Iranians are Persians, the Israelis, you know, Jewish, and they're surrounded by Arabs. So, the Hamas and Hezbollah, the two terrorist organizations, one in Gaza, one in Syria, that have been just harassing and targeting Israel for a long time, they have no kinsmanship with, the Iranians, you know, in Persia. So why is Iran and their m. their mullahs, and they mentioned spiritual. I think we're going to get to that just meant they're, they're mullahs, their religious leaders in Iran. Why are they so obsessed with a tiny little country 1500 miles away which has nothing to offer them? I mean, there's no, you can't, you're not going to go into Israel and get a bunch of, you know, natural resources, you know. So what drives the obsession that, the Iranians have had since 19, 79 with the destruction of the nation of Israel? Why don't they target Bolivia?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Why don't they target the Congo? I mean, what is it about Israel? It isn't even on their border, near their border, that they, they just can't, control. Well, stand.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Now, I'm not, I'm not an expert on this, but I have done written some articles and done some research on this. My, My understanding is that theologically Islam teaches this, that there are two realms on the face of the planet. There is Dar are al Islam, which means the House of Islam. And there is Dal al Harb H A R B which is the House of War. And the House of War is. Are lands that are not subjugated to Islam. Dar al Islam, is the House of Islam. Those are countries that have been subjugated to Islam. And the belief theologically is that once a land has been subjected to Islam, it belongs to Islam forever. And so when Israel was granted land in the Muslim theological mind, in the House of Islam, that was an abomination. And the Jews cannot control that land because it belongs to Islam and, and does forever. So that's why you have those who believe in real Islam, okay, the, what we call the radicals, they may very well just be the ones who actually believe Islam. The Muslim Brotherhood and, And, the Iranian, Shia Muslims, the bin Laden types. The bin Laden types, they have to obliterate the Jews and end the nation of Islam or Allah will be Angry with them. And this in part is why you have, this is why no one wants. Frank Turek just said, nobody wants these radicals in Jordan or Saudi Arabia because they believe Saudi Arabia and Jordan are compromised, because they're living the good life and they won't eliminate Israel and they won't go to war with the west, which is their Islamic responsibility. And that's why they don't want. That's why Egypt kicked the Muslim Brotherhood out of Egypt and they, you know, moved over to, to Gaza. So the reason why Iran hates Israel and hates America for protecting Israel is because we stand behind Israel and help prevent the Muslims from taking that land over again.
>> Chris Woodward: I'm going to go with demonic as the answer. It's a demonic power feeding off the hatred that this people group has for another one. I mean, we get the God of the Bible from the Jews. Jesus himself said salvation is from the Jews. They hate Israel, they hate, America because they are demonic.
>> Tim Wildmon: That's why we're called the Great Satan and Israel's the Little Satan.
>> Ed Vitagliano: That is exactly what.
>> Tim Wildmon: But what you just described at least would explain in some way the way these people think. By these people, I mean the Iranian religious leaders like Khomeini, they think that the, Jews, what they call the Zionist, have land that belongs to the Muslims, even though it's a Shia Sunni division too. They can't stand each other. A lot of them talking about that division, Islam, but still they're common enemy are the Jews in Israel. And you know what, Israel has put up with a lot over the years. And the Hezbollah, the Hazma, Hamas, they've been getting their financial support from Iran.
>> Tim Wildmon: And so if you knew that somebody was funding your terrorist organizations that were constantly attacking your country, it's kind of surprising to me that Israel's not attacked earlier against Iran. But All right, you got some, clips to play for us? Well, we do, yeah.
Iran wants the Strait of Hormuz to be shut down
>> Chris Woodward: related to this because one of the things people are panicking about is what is this going to do to my gas prices? That's a question many Americans are asking today. I've already seen Fox cover this.
>> Tim Wildmon: Are they panicking about it?
>> Chris Woodward: Well, there are some people that are, I think, feeding panic.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right.
>> Chris Woodward: you know, there are some news outlets that just want to do a segment on it, but when you spend hours and you keep going back to it, I think people start to panic. And then they go to the gas station and then they're buying out the gas and whatever else. Certainly diesel customers, should be very concerned about this. But, you know, related to this, over the weekend it was announced the, Iran wanted the Strait of Hormuz to be shut down, therefore cutting, ah, impacting, oil transportation. some people though, that are not scared about it include, Ben Shapiro, who did make these comments over the weekend. clip seven.
>> Speaker F: Approximately 20 million barrels of oil per day, about 20% of global consumption, pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Of the oil that transits Hormuz, 70 to 82% of all of it is destined for Asian markets. China is the single largest recipient. China, along with India, Japan and South Korea, accounted for 67% of all crude oil and condensate flows through the Strait in 2022 and the first half of 2023. So China bleeds first. Analysts say if this, if this is what happens, then actually the people hit hardest are, wait for it, the Chinese. So that seems like a really stupid strategic move. How about the United States? Well, the United states imports about 0.7 million barrels of oil per day of crude oil and condensate from Persian Gulf countries through the Strait of Hormuzas of 2022. That accounts for 3% of total US petroleum liquids consumption. Not 70 to 82%. 3%. So again, could that be a long term problem in the same way that it's kind of a problem that the, that the Houthis have shut down the Red Sea? Sure, that could be a problem. Also, it could give Israel an excuse to just sink the Iranian navy.
>> Chris Woodward: I will tell you this. If you are concerned about gas prices today, you should be less concerned that then you should be less concerned today with Donald Trump in charge of oil and gas policy than God forbid, Kamala Harris. Because Kamala's answer to this would have been more solar powers, solar panels and windmills and all these other novelties, that aren't going to happen.
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, this was one of the reasons that, President Trump won the election is that I think what factored in was leadership, especially on the world stage. And President Trump had four years of experience in that. We got to see what he did.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah, I mean, oil, gas is dirt cheap.
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, but Americans, I think, trusted President Trump, they obviously more than Vice President Harris to handle big situations like we're in right now. but, do you have the clip where President Trump is talking about loving God?
>> Chris Woodward: Yes, we do.
>> Tim Wildmon: what do we. So this was also part of the speech Saturday night.
>> Chris Woodward: This is how he ended it after he talked about what we had done. And it was Very successful. And then he mentioned this clip 15.
>> Donald Trump: And I want to just thank everybody and in particular God. I want to just say, we love you, God, and we love our great military. Protect them. God bless the Middle East, God bless Israel and God bless America. Thank you very much. Thank you.
>> Chris Woodward: It was a very brief speech, but that was kind of a mic drop moment there at the very end.
>> Tim Wildmon: It was a brief speech. And then he referred to the press conference, the next day, which would have been yesterday, by Secretary of Defense Pete Hexith and the General, Raisin raising Cain.
>> Ed Vitagliano: We're all going to hear. Remember, it was Storming Norman in the first Gulf War.
>> Tim Wildmon: What do you think about Trump saying, we love you, God there?
>> Ed Vitagliano: I've never heard anything president say something that seemed so personal. you know what I'm saying?
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I mean, I've heard lots of presidents say, you know, we thank God.
>> Tim Wildmon: We, you know, God bless America.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Bless America. That this sounded like something Right. From his heart.
>> Tim Wildmon: I agree.
>> Ed Vitagliano: You know, I've never heard. I never heard a president do that.
>> Tim Wildmon: I could be wrong. I don't think President Trump would ever tear up.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. But, Because he's too much of an alpha male.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes. Right.
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, I don't know if he's too much of an alpha male. That's not for me to judge. I guess he's an alpha male.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. But, I mean, he's still. He sounded like he was about to tear up right there. Almost.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah. It sounded genuine.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yes. That's what I mean.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Now, I like Tim saying I can't read his heart, but it sounded genuine. And we can't forget he credits God saving his life.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yes.
>> Ed Vitagliano: On that assassination attempt. Now, again, I, I don't know who he thinks God is. I've heard some people say he is a Christian. I. I can't from, from this distance, there's no way I can tell. But if he's not already a Christian, God is working in his life. That sounded like a genuine we love you, God.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. I mean, it just sounded like he, he was almost going to choke up.
Chris: I don't think that was in the speech at the end
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: That's what. I don't think that was in the speech at the end.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: I think that was straight from his heart.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: I'm saying, I don't know that. I'm just guessing by the way he delivered it, because he had already kind of finished his official remarks.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: And. And as President Trump is prone to do, he's going to inject his own.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes. Right.
>> Tim Wildmon: His own. He's gonna. He got speechwriters and he's got his own commentary. Yes, and they're often mingled. Alright, we're going to take a short time out right here. Thank you, Chris.
>> Chris Woodward: Thank you.
>> Tim Wildmon: We'll be back with Steve Paisley. Draw it all in just a few minutes.
>> Ed Vitagliano: The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.
