Politics By Faith Podcast, May 20, 2023

MikeSlater

Politics • Spirituality/Belief • Culture

Why We Believe The Mindless Narrative

May 19, 2023

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We have a media today that is fueled not by truth, but by clicks. And a media that will make up the most absurd stories (Trump with prostitutes in Moscow) and people run with it assuming it's true. Today we'll share two viral tiktoks to prove this point and bring it back to the false prophet Hananiah to prove there's nothing new under the sun.

Welcome to Politics by Faith. I'm Mike Slater. Friendly reminder that the transcript of every podcast we do is on MikeSlater.Locals.com. If you're new to the podcast, what we do is we take something in the news that is causing anxiety and we don't like anxiety. I don't want anxiety. So to get rid of it, we talk about the story, then we get down to the root of what's really going on in the story. Like, what is the root sin, basically. Then we give some historical perspective and a biblical story, some biblical piece to help that anxiety go away, and then something that is in our control.

0:00:36
So I saw two very disturbing TikTok videos. I don't have TikTok, but they went viral outside of TikTok. And I think it says a lot about where we are. First, this one's in London. Three younger, I don't know the ages, I don't know if they're in high school, maybe just out, 20, something like that. Three younger black guys. By the way, the race doesn't matter. This is all behavior of the underclass. I cannot recommend enough a book by Theodore Dalrymple, it's called Life at the Bottom, and it's about the underclass of England, race is irrelevant.

0:01:14
So there's this TikTok guy who makes viral videos and the game is walking into random houses. Now it's worth noting that in London, no one has guns. So you could play that game over there. So he's walking down the street with, it looks like two other guys. He got three guys in total. And there's a woman outside of her house, in the front, in the garden. So these three guys just walk into her house.

0:01:45
And she's outside like, what are you doing? And she's like, James, or whatever his name is, or James, James! And he's downstairs, and there's a couple of little kids downstairs with him, and here's what happens. Get inside the house, let's go. Hey, Adam. ♪ I'm trying to go, but I can't go ♪ James? James?

0:02:10
James? James? James? James? Hi. You man come. Hello James. We need to speak to James. James. Hi. Hi. Oh. Is this where the study group is? No. No. What the hell is this? No. Now, what happens? Come on, come on, come on.

0:02:31
We're just in the study group. We've got kids, man. Oh, you've got kids on the phone. Oh, I thought this was a study group. I actually thought. And it's a study group. Now, fortunately for everyone, they just walk away. And that's the end of it. Now, again, there's a very high likelihood that if this happened in Texas, he'd be shot. Now, think about that, too, by the way. What if he did, or what if the guy happened to have a knife in his hand and he stabs the TikTok influencer star?

0:03:03
We do like a Daniel Penney situation. He'd be charged with murder. Could you imagine the headlines if a 40-year-old white guy shot three black teenagers? No other facts would be relevant. It wouldn't matter that they walked into his house. None of that would matter. Or even if this was in London and he just had a knife. If a white guy stabbed a black teenager, oh, he was just looking for something to eat. The facts would not matter. Just like the second story. Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan.

0:03:35
A woman, employee of the hospital, she's a physician's assistant, six months pregnant, by the way, the original New York Post story was that she leaves work and steals a bike from a young black man. Now in New York City they have these bikes, they're called city bikes that you can rent CITI, like the bank, and the bikes, they're locked up in these stalls and you pay with your credit card or your phone and then the bike unlocks and then it charges you until you put it in some other stall, wherever you're going, right?

0:04:06
So the claim is that a young black man took the bike out and she stole it from him and luckily he got it on video and here she is screaming and crying about it, acting like a Karen. New York Post headline, NYC hospital Karen denies trying to steal city bike from young black man. So here's the video that that young black man took. Oh, I took it. Oh, You're not buying you're not crying.

0:05:14
I got you up in here. Where? You pulled it out? There's a very popular guy on Twitter. He said a suspected white supremacist woman that's the lead tried to steal a city bike from a black kid after he paid for it. None of this is true. And when him and his friends wouldn't allow her to steal it she went through all the Karen tactics to try to get the black youths hemmed up. Screaming for help, fake crying, mayo babbling. Did it sound like at the end of that video did it sound like one of the guys said the baby's gonna come out retarded? I think that's what I heard. So this whole thing is framed as she stole his bike and it took about a day or so before her lawyers released her receipt that showed of course she was the one who paid for it. But for whatever reason they decided to come up to her and video it all and try to ruin her life.

0:06:53
She was placed on leave by the hospital because people thought she was a white supremacist. She was in the New York Post as a white supremacist. Jeez. All right. So, we have two things going on here. We have in the second story people believing things immediately without any evidence whatsoever, but believing it so easily because it fits a narrative. And in the first story we have some sensationalism. We have a show. We have watch this, click this. And I want to make the argument here that this is nothing new. There's nothing new under the sun. And there's something pretty darn close to this in the Old Testament, which always blows my mind how everything's in the Bible. So that's the goal. We'll see if it works.

0:07:39
In my head it's great. I'll see if I can make sense of it with words. But what's really going on here? So we got pride involved, we have people doing deceitful things thinking they're invincible. In this case they may be right actually. I'm sure none of these videos is the complete disregard for truth, of course, and proper boundaries, but this added element of doing it for views. So we're going to toss to the wind. We're going to completely throw away and disregard proper civilized behavior for views because Because what these guys did, they themselves put online for people to watch and laugh at and get more followers and this creates this mob mentality.

0:08:36
We talked about mobs earlier in the week and the importance of avoiding the mob. But with social media, everyone creates their own mob even if it's just like a made up one in their head. But they're putting it online so it's like we're cultivating a mob of followers wherever we go, and that causes people to do things that they normally wouldn't do, because now they're egged on by their so-called fans. And we, for a decade or so now, we've just been acting in extra irrational ways.

0:09:07
I don't think those three guys in London would have done that if they weren't filming themselves for views. And I don't think these, maybe five guys or so, and I think it was five guys in New York City, would have done that if they weren't filming it for laughs either. Social media has made people act out of their minds even more than usual. You know what I think of it like, so I don't like birds.

0:09:30
Let's see if this makes sense. I don't like birds. Birds have these beady little eyes and they have no souls. So, they're scary to me because they don't care. From far away, they're fine. Oh, they're beautiful birds, whatever. But a bird up close, I don't like them because they have no moral compass. A friend of mine, here's what I mean.

0:09:53
A friend of mine, his two-year-old son was crawling into a chicken coop and he got stuck headfirst inside of a chicken coop. And the chickens started pecking at his head and they almost pecked his eyes out if dad wasn't there to scare the birds away and pull his son out. If dad wasn't there those birds would have pecked out the kids eyeballs and not even cared. They wouldn't have felt bad. The chickens weren't thinking, well this innocent little boy might need these eyes. This is not proper behavior. This is not becoming of a bird. They just would have eaten his eyeballs and then they would have gone back to eating the bugs off the ground. You wouldn't know that.

0:10:35
I felt like birds and you could see him in the eyes. You look in their eyes you're like oh you don't have a soul and I feel like social media has turned people into equally mindless and immoral zombies. You're like oh I'll just eat this person's eyeballs out. We'll get me views. Great, done. And we've all been made zombified by phones or we've seen it. Hey kids, can you come here for a second? Yeah, yeah, yeah, dad. It's great.

0:11:03
No, I love it. Yeah, yeah. You want, oh yeah, be right there. Right? Or you've done it yourself, right? You're stuck in your phone. It's bad enough when a phone distracts you so much that you go from being a moral, present person into being an absent-minded, amoral person, but it's worse when it goes even a step further into social media making you an immoral person.

0:11:29
You do evil things, and your conscience is so seared you don't even care. You don't even know. You're just like, will this get me views? Okay, great, I'll do it. Let's lament this for a little bit, and then we'll give some history and some biblical examples, because this actually is nothing new, which is supposed to make the anxiety go away, but I do think it's worse now.

0:11:58
But let's lament. It all makes me very uneasy. We're just not able to live together as human beings anymore. On my local radio show the other day, there's a town in San Diego that voted to no longer open up their city government sessions with a prayer. And my first thought was, I'm shocked they even still do that. But it's just a shame that we're not a Christian country anymore. It's a shame that we don't have shared values. By the way, that's why I'm so grateful for the Public Square app, if I may. This is actually a perfect time to talk about it.

0:12:39
We do not live amongst each other with shared values. We just don't. And our founders are very worried about that. I lament it, but I'm also not going to continue to give my money to people who have not just different values, but antithetical values, hate my values and have the opposite one. I can't do it. I'm not going to give my money to Adidas and they're just going to have men in women's bathing suits. I can't. I'm not doing it.

0:13:08
So Public Square is my way out. They have curated businesses across the country and near you, restaurants, coffee shops, banks, clothing, makeup, whatever, everything, you name a thing, cars, whatever. And the owners of the businesses have to agree to five values in order to be featured on the app. And you can rest assured, you can have confidence and a joy in knowing that you are spending with people who share your values. Public Square app, totally free to download.

0:13:41
And you go to publicsq.com, you can read those five values on the website. Just scroll way down to the bottom. Public Square app, totally free download. And I'm grateful it's here. I lament that we need it. Because we just don't have a similar worldview anymore. And we don't all need to agree like lockstep, but if 70% of people had a biblical worldview, we'd be a thriving unified nation. John Adams said our Constitution was only made for a moral and religious people.

0:14:11
It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. I came across this Dwight D Eisenhower quote the other day. George Weigel, he wrote a great piece called Ike's Insight in First Things Magazine. So this was 1952. It was right before the inauguration and he was speaking at some event. It just won World War II and he said, our form of government makes no sense unless it is founded in a deeply felt religious faith and I don't care what it is. Like, now, I do care what it is chaos. It's this pluralist diversity is our strength nonsense that's gonna kill us. Let me quote George Weigel here. Authentic religious faith reminds us that this world is not all there is and our obligations extend beyond me. Now, one of the things that social media is it's all about me, me, me, me, me. The idea that a camera can be turned around and constantly focused on me all the time, that's new. So Christianity and authentic religious faith, again, there's more than just the here and now and my obligations are beyond just me. He says, what does any of this have to do though with our form of government? A great deal, I would suggest.

0:15:38
As even a cursory historical survey confirms, self-governance is not the norm in human affairs. One or another form of authoritarianism is. You say, oh, but Slater, we don't have an authoritarian government, we have a democracy. Okay, well, here's the deal. Germany, prior to World War II, created the Weimar Republic. It's because the new government was not formed in Berlin, but it was formed in Weimar. This new government was formed by some of the finest minds of the time.

0:16:06
The designers got the mechanisms of democracy right. Separations of powers, regular elections, independent judiciary, etc. But when the Great Depression brought unbearable pressure to bear on that new democracy, the Weimar Republic crumbled. Then Hitler's third right came into power in an election that wrote the obituary for interwar Germany's brief experiment in democratic self-government. The crucial lesson to be drawn from that debacle is that democracy is not a matter of institutions and procedures alone. So they had the ingredients, they had the separation of powers, they had this, they like on the surface it looked like they had all the parts, but that's not all it takes. It also takes a critical mass of citizens, critical mass. That's why I was talking about like a 70% earlier.

0:16:49
I don't know what the percentage is, but it's more than we have now. It takes a critical mass of citizens living by certain virtues and the convictions that undergird them to make a democracy work so that the result is individual human flourishing and social solidarity. I love that so much. All of the things we take for granted, rule of law, which we talked about last week, free and fair elections, to just treating each other decently, decently like you don't just walk into someone's house randomly, you don't steal things from people and video it to try and ruin their life.

0:17:25
These are all things that we've taken for granted. They're not normal. Like the old way of living in America, the one that you grew up in, that was not normal. That was an anomaly. You have to work to get that. And I lament that it's like we've given up or forgotten and now we're in a very different place. All right, let's get to the history. I just thought of a Ben Franklin quote.

0:18:00
Let me share it at the end of the episode here. So, let's start with history and then we'll get to the Bible. Again, we have two things going on here. We have the sensational video. Look at me, I'm going to go into someone's house for views. And then the second story is the lying about something and us just believing it so quickly because it appeals to a preconceived notion like, oh, clearly the nurse or the physician's assistant, the pregnant physician's assistant stole the bike from the five black kids, five black young men.

0:18:35
Clearly that's what happened. Like, what? Why would we believe that? So we're putting those two things together here. And I think of yellow journalism. Okay, why have I been thinking about that? You know the Durham report, right? This idea that Donald Trump was a Russian asset, Russia collusion. Remember 2016 to 2020, all we heard about was Russia collusion, Russia stole the election.

0:18:56
And excuse me if there's any kids listening right now, but the claim was that the Kremlin had video of Donald Trump urinating on prostitutes in Moscow. And because of that, they were able to control Trump and steal the election for him in 2016. That was the, that is insane. That is absolutely insane. But the media ran with it and would not quiet about, would not hush about it for four years. And the Durham report came out and said, oh yeah, that's a lie. Like that, none of this ever happened.

0:19:35
And the Washington Post and the New York Times won a Pulitzer Prize for it. A Pulitzer Prize back in 2018. Here's what they said, For deeply sourced, relentless, that's for sure, reported coverage in the public interest that dramatically furthered the nation's understanding of Russian interference didn't happen in the 2016 presidential election and its connections to the Trump campaign, the president-elect's transition team, and his eventual administration.

0:20:01
All of it completely made up and they still want a Pulitzer for it. New York Times had no comment when asked if they're gonna return it and the Washington Post said, the Post stands by its reporting. Let me quote John Nolte. He said, you gotta understand what has happened to the left in this country, which includes the corporate media.

0:20:17
To them, the goal of an American living under centralized government fascism is so moral that anything done to further that goal is moral. What they want is so good to them, so righteous, so moral, they will do anything to get their even lie. And they won a Pulitzer Prize for it all. But then it got me thinking about Pulitzer. It's named after Joseph Pulitzer. This is the main guy behind yellow journalism. Do you remember that term from eighth grade social studies class?

0:20:54
This was an era in American media, late 1800s, led by Joseph Pulitzer, also Hearst, kind of an East coast, West coast battle, but the accusations were that these guys were making up wild sensationalist, completely unproven claims to get more readers. Sound familiar? We haven't changed a lick. Social media today is no different. Breaking news! Oh look at this Karen! She's crying! She's sobbing! She stole a bike from black people! Wild sensationalist unproven claims for clicks. Back then there weren't clicks but sales, today clicks. And now people with social media have taken that upon themselves.

0:21:43
Look at this wild and crazy thing I'm gonna do for views. And it's made everyone lose their minds. But the problem is because of broken human nature, it works. So when Pulitzer took over the New York World newspaper, it was a failing newspaper, they were losing money, they had 15,000 readers, and in a very short amount of time they were the biggest newspaper in the country with 600,000. They went from 15,000 to 600,000.

0:22:06
I've told the story a lot here of Woodrow Wilson, the very short of it. In 1919, Woodrow Wilson had a stroke and they kept it a secret for a year. And they kept him hidden for a year. But Louis Seibel did an interview with Woodrow Wilson, wrote this big long article about how wonderful he is and healthy and vibrant. And he's never been sharper and clearer and healthier. And he now has like a new lease on life and a new understanding of what's really important.

0:22:28
He's actually a better president now than before the stroke and he won a Pulitzer Prize for it and it was totally made up. He made up the whole thing. Woodrow Wilson was in awful shape. You could barely get out of bed. He couldn't put sentences together and he made up the whole thing. Lewis Seibold won a Pulitzer for it. He won a Pulitzer Prize and it was in the New York World newspaper. It was in Joseph P. Olson's newspaper. But you just think today how many stories are we told that just are not true at all. The Durham report, Russia collusion never happened. The Republicans in Kentucky just nominated for their governor, I think he was the Attorney General of Kentucky, who did not go after the police officers for killing Breonna Taylor.

0:23:15
Well, we were told that these police officers shot Breonna Taylor because they went to the wrong house. And it wasn't the wrong house, it was the right house. And they were looking for her in the right house and there was a guy inside who shot at them first. But you didn't hear the true story. I'm thinking of, because we're talking about Trump Charlottesville, the very fine people on both sides, lie, like this stuff never happened. But isn't it all just the same yellow journalism that Joseph Pulitzer was famous for?

0:23:43
Buys, reads, clicks. And today, everyone's in it for the clicks. Everyone's in it for the views. Everyone's in it for the follows. And we just go with it, especially if it fits what we really want to hear. Let me give you the biblical example. So I'm reading through Jeremiah and it's just amazing to me how relevant this is for us. These are a people who turned away from God and who are being punished for it. And this is what Jeremiah is warning them about. So Jeremiah was an Israelite priest who lived in Jerusalem and he was the prophet that God used to warn people, the people of Israel, to obey God or else God will punish you by the Babylonians coming from the north and taking over Jerusalem.

0:24:35
And he was right, of course. Israel broke the covenant with God. They were worshipping other gods, Canaanite gods, everywhere. Their leaders became corrupt. They abandoned the Torah. They were engaged in child sacrifice to Baal. It was like awful stuff. So in chapter seven, God says that the enemy from the north is gonna come. Well, God tells Jeremiah, and Jeremiah says that the enemy from the north, Babylon is gonna come and take us over.

0:25:00
Let's jump forward to Jeremiah 28. So at this point, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon put a puppet king in charge in Judah. So a few years go by, and the people of Judah thought that it was now time to rebel against Babylon. Jeremiah in chapter 27 says no don't do that don't rebel you need to just serve the king of Babylon wait and whatever you do do not listen to the false prophets for they are prophesying lies to you. It says 28 verse 15 I have not sent them declares the board they are prophesying lies in my name therefore I will banish you and you will perish both you and the prophets who prophesy to you." That was Jeremiah's message. Enter Hananiah. So Hananiah was a false prophet and he thought that Jeremiah's message was a real downer. So he claimed to be a spokesperson from God. That's what prophet means, he's a spokesperson. He was not. He comes in and says, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel saying I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon within two full years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the Lord's house the Babylonians took everything out of the temple I will I will return I will bring back all the vessels of the Lord's house that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried about one and I will bring back to this place the son of the king with all the captives of Judah who went to Babylon for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon." Now, Jeremiah, the true prophet, in chapter 27, said that they will be under the yoke of the king of Babylon. And Hananiah says, no, no, the Lord says, I will break the yoke. Which of those two messages do you think was more popular to the people of Judah? Which one do you think would have gotten more clicks? If each of these guys were running a church today, which one do you think people would go to? If each of these two guys had a TV show, which one do you think people would watch? Well, Hananiah has had a very popular message. It just wasn't true. Bible commentator F.B. Mayer, he says, men who follow simply their own thoughts or are deeply dyed with the spirit of society around them, are apt to prophesy smooth things, to such as live selfish and worldly lives." In other words, people want to hear what they want to hear.

0:27:28
Just like with the media. If someone says something that fits the narrative, no matter how insane it is, we are quick to believe it, if it fits the narrative, if it fits what we so desperately want to be true. So, of course, who did the king of Judah believe? Jeremiah saying, nope, keep going under the yoke of Babylon. Or did the king choose Hananiah? So, Jeremiah's response was, and this is all done in public, right? So, Jeremiah's response was, listen, I hope you're right. I wish you were right. And then Jeremiah says, but look at the prophets who came before me, Joel, Amos, Micah, Nahu, Habakkuk. They all spoke messages just like I'm speaking now from God and they were right.

0:28:12
But still they didn't believe him. Then there was a cool scene. So Jeremiah, to prove his point, he had a prop. He was actually wearing a yoke around his neck. So Hananiah goes over and he breaks it. And then he gives this big speech. He says, thus says the Lord, even so I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years. So, he goes over, breaks the yoke and Lord's like, see, this is what I'm gonna. So, not only do they have the nice, smooth words, he put on a nice show. Just like our media often does. It all looks very fancy.

0:28:48
Then, God, this is later, then God spoke to Jeremiah to go tell Hananiah and said, you have broken the yokes of wood, but you have made in their place yokes of iron. I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and they shall serve him. In other words, nice try. Nice try, Hananiah. You can't beat God. But don't worry for Hananiah. It ended up okay for the false prophet.

0:29:23
Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah, The prophet, hear now, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, but you make this people trust in a lie. Therefore, says the Lord, behold, I will cast you from the face of the earth. This year you shall die, because you have taught rebellion against the Lord." So Hananiah the prophet died in the same year. It did go badly for him. So to relate this to today, Hananiah told the people what they wanted to hear. He did not want to consider the reality of the situation. He did what was right in his own eyes and he did it in a flashy way, in a way that deceived people from what was true.

0:30:12
Those two social media videos just made me think of this story as everything is so sensational, everything is so convenient, all just fits perfectly. People aren't asking questions, and people are acting out of their minds, not using a dose of common sense, or even wanting to. It's just what makes me feel better. All right, Slater, what's in my control? There's this term going around. I heard it first from Albert Moeller. He was referencing an article in the Wall Street Journal called a diet of darkness, a diet of darkness that the article in the Wall Street Journal is TikTok feeds teens a diet of darkness. A recent study found that when researchers created accounts belonging to fictitious 13 year olds, they were quickly inundated with videos about eating disorders, body image, self harm, and suicide. Of course they were it's a Chinese spyware weapon of war. This is what China was intentionally sending to 13 year olds.

0:31:17
Another article this week in the New York Times, how do you actually help a suicidal teen? It's a dark time for therapists treating adolescents in despair. Gallup poll from this week, US depression rates reach new highs. I think there's a lot of things going on here. But one of the major problems is social media. We've got to protect our kids from this stuff. It is changing our kids, it's changing all of us.

0:31:39
It's changing our nation. It's changing the soul and character and behavior of our nation. It is bad news. And it's such a bummer. And I'm sorry, I hate it. If you happen to have raised your kids in this era when we didn't really know better, I was raised just before it. So I, for the most part, escaped it. Although I have my own temptations as a young adult now. My kids, fortunately, are being raised when we have enough knowledge and wisdom to know it's dangerous, so I'll be able to protect them from it.

0:32:11
I just mourn for the kids who got caught up in it. So that's the first. We need to think of social media as just a deadly poison. It is a deadly poison. Boys and girls, I beg of you, keep your kids off of it. Going back to that author of from First Things magazine, we need to make sure we're feeding ourselves spiritual nourishment, because that will help us better detect the lies and even more crave the truth. George Weigel wrote, as C.S. Lewis observed, our spiritual natures demand nourishment.

0:32:55
Denied healthy food, they will ingest poison to the detriment of both authentic religion and democratic public life. We need to feed our spiritual life with true eternal things. Next week's morning motivations are about growing in grace. And the conclusion, I'll give you a little sneak peek, once we set the groundwork for the fact that we need to grow in grace, then do we want to grow in grace? And then how do we grow in grace?

0:33:20
It's pray, read the Bible, self-examine. That's it. Got to pray, got to read the Bible, self-examine. And you know, you'll be growing in grace. One of the signs is you will take more interest in spiritual things every year. So your desire, you just need spiritual nourishment every day and then the silliness of life will decrease. Like your desire for the silly things will go down. And JC Rao makes the point, he's like, listen, not all the amusements in life are inherently sinful, right?

0:33:57
And you don't need to condemn people who engage them to hell, right? but they just take less and less of a hold over your life and you seek more eternal affections That's a sign that you're growing in grace. That's a beautiful thing So we need to do that and the more you feed yourself spiritual truth spiritual nourishment The more you need of it, and that's great. And then, just to reiterate that point, the more spiritual nourishment you have, you'll be better to see the lies, and it's less likely that you'll be tricked by the false prophets of today.

0:34:40
All right, so how do we end here? What are you gonna leave me with? Well, Exodus 23 says, do not spread false reports, and do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. Right, that's it. I should have come out with that. Do not spread false reports. Don't lie. That's what the guys in the second video did and do not follow the crowd in doing wrong.

0:35:00
That's the first video was they were a part of the crowd. Maybe they were leaving the crowd, but same idea. They were doing wrong and they're doing it with a crowd amidst the crowd, with their own mob. Exodus 23, do not spread false reports. Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. But I want to leave you with this Ben Franklin quote that I just came across. Let me pause here for one second. Let me go get it. All right, here it is. I'm back. This is James Madison writing about what Ben Franklin said in 1787. So Ben Franklin, this is the Constitutional Convention and things weren't going that well. He stood up and said, Mr. President, the small progress we have made after four or five weeks, our different sentiments on almost every question, is, me thinks, a melancholy proof of the imperfection of the human understanding. We indeed seem to feel our own want of political wisdom since we have been running about in search of it. We have gone back to ancient history for models of government, and examined the different forms of those republics which have been formed with the seeds of their own dissolution now no longer exist. And we have viewed modern states all around Europe, but find none of their constitutions suitable to our circumstances. In this situation, it's like feeling hopeless.

0:36:25
In this situation of this assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of Lights to illuminate our understandings? In the beginning of the contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room for the divine protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending providence in our favor. We prayed and it worked and you know it.

0:37:03
To that kind of providence, we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national happiness. And we have now forgotten that powerful friend? Or do we imagine that we no longer need his assistance? Gosh, can't you relate to that in your life too? I was thinking about, oh, the NICU, we were praying every day and now, oh, we're good now. I have lived, sir, a long time. And the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice? Is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, sir, in the sacred writings, that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this.

0:37:51
And I also believe that without his concerning aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel. We shall be divided by our little political local interests, our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and byword down to future ages. And what is worse, mankind may hereafter, from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing government by human wisdom and leave it to chance, war, and conquest. I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of heaven and its blessings on our deliberations be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business." Benjamin Franklin.

0:38:36
How beautiful is that? We have to pray the same for our country. We have to pray for the same in our lives. To go back to Exodus 23, God, I don't want to spread false reports. I don't want to follow the crowd in doing wrong. I only want to know the truth. I only want to know more about you. This podcast is brought to you by Patriot Gold Group, PatriotGoldGroup.com. Last week on the TV, we did a special on the war on the US dollar and it was fascinating. We talked about the central bank digital currency, CBDC, and just that is the ultimate tool of tyranny. And we talked about the dollar no longer being the reserve currency of the world and what that means for you and me and what that means for gold.

0:39:17
Consider gold, see if this makes sense for you and your family. The bottom line for me, the reason I bought gold is I don't trust the people in charge at all and they're gonna blow it. Because you know what, they're not doing what Ben Franklin suggested we all do. They're not praying to God for wisdom. They're relying only on their own human understanding and it will fail.

0:39:38
And all of us are gonna be hurt by it. So I bought gold as a hedge against them. One eight at eight, six one seven, 61 22. And then well, who do you buy gold from? Pitcher Gold Group, it couldn't have been easier. Jack's awesome, the CEO. It's like shockingly easy. This gold, like the FedEx man delivers gold to your door. 1-888-617-6122. That's physical gold and silver.

0:40:07
And you can also ask about how you can have a no fee for life IRA where your IRA or 401K is in physical gold and silver as well. And they are the consumer affairs top rated gold IRA dealer six years in a row and counting. 1-888-617-6122 for a free investor guide or patriotgoldgroup.com. or patriotgoldproof.com.

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Mike Slater@slaterradio

January 24, 2022

Fox & Friends

We were on Fox & Friends talking about all of the train robberies in CA. It's so bad the train company says they may have to ride right THROUGH Los Angeles entirely and never slow down lol. What a joke this state it.

https://archive.org/details/FOXNEWSW_20220122_110000_FOX_and_Friends_Saturday/start/5640/end/5700

That link is a bit odd, I've attached a short video to get the gist.

In short, The rich get richer, the poor get the handouts and the middle class gets out of town.

This causes these progressive politicians to get even more entrenched.

We haven't hit rock bottom yet.

00:00:32

Mike Slater@slaterradio

October 18, 2021

Boys to men, girls to women

How do you do it? Advice please!

Dean Abbott,
"Why contemporary relations between the sexes are so messed up. The problem starts with men because men lead, the masculine pursues and initiates, and problems always start at the level of leadership.

Most men aren't taught that a relationship with a woman means accepting responsibility. No one tells us that a woman represents not only pleasure, but obligation.
The fact that having a relationship with a woman means responsibility and obligation never enters many men's minds.

When these men enter into a relationship with a woman, they are overwhelmed by her needs, her feminine communication style, and her emotions.
Moreover, he unconsciously resents her for having needs at all since he has been conditioned to see her solely as a source of pleasure.
When her anger and disappointment over his irresponsibility gets intense enough, he splits in search of another woman.
He mistakenly believes the problem wasn't his attitude nor that it is a ...

00:07:55

Mike Slater@slaterradio

August 09, 2021

Surly this will be kicked off twitter eventually

00:06:34

Mike Slater@slaterradio

April 20, 2023

Morning Motivation, April 21, 2023

I found a way to easily transcribe the podcasts, so I will post them here first before they go out to iTunes and the rest.

Good morning. Welcome to The Morning Motivation, brought to you by Public Square and Patriot Gold Group. I'm grateful you're here. I was reading a sermon by the great Puritan preacher John Owen in the mid-1600s. I'm so fascinated by this time period, 1600s, early 1700s. We focus a lot on our founding fathers. I think that the Tea Party movement and just conservatism in general has focused a lot on the founding fathers, and that's amazing, but I'm very fascinated by our founding grandfathers or great-grandfathers, the people who created the culture that our founding fathers were raised in.

0:00:44
Isn't that a fascinating era? We got like 1776, like that's great, I love it, I want to know more, I don't know nearly enough. But what about the 1720s? What was going on there? Or the late 1600s? What was going on in America at that time? And you know, we've all heard of the Puritans, but you ...

Mike Slater@slaterradio

October 19, 2022

Inflation and ANGER

I am angry and frustrated. With our Rulers. For getting us in this terrible economy. It doesn't have to be this way.

How could they never learn from past mistakes! This is ANCIENT history, stop printing money...yet, after COVID, we never printed more. Amazing.

Please leave a 5-star review on Itunes. We have a ton of momentum, this is about to break through! Thank you!

Also, I haven't done any lives anywhere becauase we're hosting a daily TV show "Road to Misterms" on thefirsttv.com, and it's taken all of my extra time. And my wife is giving birth any day now, so...it's been a lot around here. But after the midterms, time will free up.

Mike Slater@slaterradio

October 17, 2022

Politics by Faith: Parkland and the Death Penalty

I've gone back and forth on the death penalty many times over the years. I've recently come down on the other side.

Should the Parkland murderer have gotten the death penalty or life in prison?

Please leave a review on iTunes! We need to get to 1k :-)
www.thefirsttv.com/mikeslater

Btw, we're getting the momentum we need, more downloads every day, THANK YOU!

Top8305@Top_Silva

November 26, 2025

Baptized Brethren contest with each other AND against The Church, calling “Lord, Lord” (Mt 7:21-22, 25:11; Lk 6:46), in the Devil’s disunity, whilst the enemy has breached the Gates and is welcomed at and obliged at the most august Court. “Lord, Lord.”

Faith of our Fathers. Jer 6:16; Mal 3:6; Heb 13:7-9; Jam 1:17; Gal 1:6-12; Jude 3; 1 Pet 5:5

THE CODE OF CATHOLIC CHIVALRY

The knight receives as his law the knightly Code of Honor, which is the expression of his absolute fidelity to God:

I. The Knight battles for Christ and His Reign.
II. The Knight serves his Lady the Blessed Virgin Mary.
III. The Knight defends The Holy Church unto blood.
IV. The Knight maintains the Tradition of his Fathers.
V. The Knight fights for Justice, Christian Order and Peace.
VI. The Knight wages war without truce or mercy against the World and its Prince.
VII. The Knight honors and protects the poor, the weak and the needy.
VIII. The Knight despises money and the powers of this world.
IX. The Knight is humble, magnanimous ...

Top8305@Top_Silva

November 19, 2025

You were terse and dismissive in this morning's 7:25 Eastern time call with the Man with four step children applying for Naturalization from his Naturalized U.S. Wife of Philippine descent. You should be more considerate of history about America's relationship such as with the Philippine People, which is quite notable with intrinsic factors which should have favorable weight in consideration the Filipino propensity to immigrate and become American Citizens.

"The Resident Commissioner of the Philippines was a non-voting member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1907 until the Philippines gained independence in 1946. This role was established under the Philippine Organic Act of 1902, allowing the Philippines to have representation in Congress, similar to current non-voting members from U.S. territories."

Don't be so apparently xenophobic and stop misrepresenting American (and Christian while you're at it) History in omission through culpable ignorance.

The Philippines, 1898–1946
...

HISTORY.HOUSE.GOV

The Philippines, 1898–1946 | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives

The relative ease with which the United States dispatched the Spanish squadron in Manila Bay was only the beginning of what would become a nearly 50-year American presence in the Philippines. It was ...

Top8305@Top_Silva

November 11, 2025

Happy Veterans' Day.
Support our Troops. Before. During. After.

St. Martin, Bishop of Tours, Confessor, Soldier of the State, Soldier of Christ
November 11
https://www.bartleby.com/lit-hub/lives-of-the-saints/volume-xi-november/st-martin-bishop-of-tours-confessor

Mike Slater@slaterradio

January 30, 2026

Don Lemon and the Brood of Vipers

Politics By Faith, January 30, 2026

Don Lemon, along with other rioters, was arrested yesterday. He'll play the victim card and tell you that freedom of speech and freedom of the press are under assault. Don't fall for the lies from vipers.

I can't tell the kids not to practice the piano. I can't all day to practice the piano, kids. And then all of a sudden, hey, can you not practice the piano? So he will have to serenade us as this episode goes on. Don Lemon was arrested among other rioters from attacking that church a couple of weeks ago in Minneapolis. You may remember just to jog your memory here.

Here is one of the rioters who was arrested as well. He's standing right in front of the pastor.

You get the idea.

There's a couple dozen people in there. This is the second service of the day. They were just in there pretending to be like a brood of vipers. Pretending to be visitors. And then they all stood up at the same time and did this whole thing. So I don't exactly know what Don Lemon is charged with, but there was talk of charging with the FACE Act.

And I think we've talked about this before, how just beautifully poetic this is, because the FACE Act passed in 1994 was used as a weapon by the Biden administration against pro -life Christians. And part of the FACE Act, I thought it was the entirety of the FACE Act, but only part. It prohibits the use of force, threat of force, or physical obstruction to injure, intimidate, or interfere with anyone obtaining or providing reproductive health services. So you can't get in the way of anyone getting an abortion. I thought that's what it was, but there's another part of the FACE Act. Also still same thing past 1984 that says this all the same stuff, but you can't prevent anyone from exercising their right to religious freedom at a place of worship.

Bridges. what they did there. get it out of the public square, and you can just have it in your church. And enough Christians are like, I'm okay. Thanks for letting us have it in our church. They don't want it in your church either.

This may be a good moment to play this video here. There's a little comedic relief as we continue on here.

Yeah, Don Lemon knew better than to go to a black church. He would have never tried that. It would have been a totally different scenario that would have happened. Totally different outcome. Because we don't play about stuff like that. You're not going to come in and you think he would have got an interview?

Are you kidding me? He wouldn't have got past the aunties at the front. They would have shut that down. He's not even getting in through the front door. Yeah, we don't play the in the name of Jesus. He wouldn't have got in.

We're talking about dudes reformed from the streets, given the testimony aunties never gave up on them. You're going to assert yourself into that situation, but I'll be I'm scared to have my phone on ring when I when I'm at church. This is a different it's a different atmosphere. You know, I don't even want to say what would have happened that day, but a lot of righteous indignation would have went down. We would have righteously indignated that whole situation, shut it all down.

That is very funny. I want to talk on this episode today about Brood of Vipers. A lot of snake imagery in the Bible from the very beginning. One of my favorites is Acts 28, when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire. A viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. Didn't just give a quick little bite, but it stuck on his hand.

He just shook it off. And the people said, oh, you must be a God. The snakes in the Bible, just like snakes in real life, hiding. John called the Pharisees a brood of vipers, John the Baptist, which is a very, a brood. A brood is just a group of people. just means family of but it sounds very evil doesn't a brood just have to say it like that you know no one's ever like oh there's a brood of chickens over there it's always a brood and our broods always vipers a brood of vipers jesus and john 844 said unbelieving jews belong to their father the devil let me read this here you brood of vipers how are you to escape being sentenced to hell that's what jesus said Here's an analysis.

being consumed. Snakes fleeing the fire was a common sight, and Jesus's words to the Pharisees would likely have been called into mind. How could they think they would escape the fire of God's judgment by relying on their own works, which were not at all honest or good? John's and Jesus's calling them a brood of vipers was meant to make them aware of their own wickedness and to call them to repent. A viper in this context is someone who's hypocritical, self -righteous, unrepentant sin. This is Don Lemon doing an interview a couple days after he rioted in the church.

And there's a certain degree of entitlement.

I think people who are, you know, in religious groups like that, it's not the type of Christianity that I practice. Tell me more about the type of Christianity you practice, Don Lemon, you and your husband. But I think that they're entitled and that that entitlement comes from a supremacy, a white supremacy. And they think that this country was built for them, that it is a Christian country when actually we left England because we wanted religious freedom. It's religious freedom, but only if you're a Christian and only if you're a white male. Does anyone really think that the founding father, not the founding father, the founding grandfather, the pilgrims, does anyone think the pilgrims came to America so that one day Somalis could be free to worship Allah?

Is that what this is? I got a book right here. I don't even know how this book got here. The kids must have put it on the desk. It's called The American Puritans. It's a great book.

Highlights five different great of our founding grandfather. No more than that. Ten nine. William Bradford, John Winthrop, John Cotton, Thomas Hooker, Thomas Shepard and Bradstreet, John Elliott, Samuel Willard and Cotton Mather. These guys came over here so that one day people could be free to worship Allah.

Not ridiculous.

But that's where this whole freedom from religion. That's where it all that's what it turns into. It's freedom, freedom, separation of church and state, which is totally backwards. And then freedom of religion turns into freedom from religion turns into, I'm going to riot and say, of your church so you can't practice your religion, turns into our founding fathers were here because they wanted everyone to be Islam.

Pretty much. And so, yeah, I absolutely 100%, but it's an intimidation tactic. And, you know, I said, I don't understand how I've become the face of it when I was a journalist. I do understand that I'm the biggest name there. And I'm also, as I was on with my producers this morning, you know, you and Kylie talk all the time. My producers were saying, I said, how did I become the face of this?

And my producers said, Don, you're a gay black man in America.

Oh, yeah. Always a victim. Always a victim. Here's a good example of it. This is Don Lemon in the middle of the riot inside the church. It's a riot.

It can be a protest outside the church. The second you cross into the church with this intention, it becomes a riot. Here he is interviewing the pastor in the middle of the chaos. Keep in mind, just a couple of weeks before this happened, a couple of months, I believe it was, I think it was like July. There was a transgender murderer who killed two children and injured dozens more and traumatized hundreds more in a church in Minneapolis. Surely this was on their minds.

So we have these rioters blocking the doors so parents couldn't get to their kids in the other part of the building, screaming in their faces, you're a Nazi, your pastor's a Nazi, screaming at the kids. So it's a satanic stuff. And here's Don Lemon interviewing the pastor.

What do you think of this?

I mean, this is unacceptable.

It's shameful. It's shameful to, to interrupt a public gathering of Christians in worship.

But there were folks who will say, I have to take care of my flock.

Listen, we live in a, there's a constitution in the first amendment to freedom of speech and freedom to assemble and protest.

We're here to worship.

Obviously not inside of a church, the church in the middle of the service, Don.

We're here to worship Jesus because that's the hope of these cities. That's the hope of the world is Jesus Christ.

I want to be very respectful, but please don't push me though.

We're here to worship Jesus. That's why we're here. That's why we're here. That's what we're about. Don't you think Jesus would be understanding and love these folks? We're about spreading the love of Jesus.

But did you try to talk to them as a Christian?

No one is willing to talk.

Okay.

I have to take care of my church and my family, so I ask that you actually would also leave this building.

You don't want us to chronicle whatever?

Unless you're here to worship.

I'm always worship.

I'm a Christian.

Well, we're here to worship.

We're here to worship.

Okay.

Thank you very much. So in the interview, Don Lemon's leaning into this guy and the pastor here, I can't even express it, lightly places his fingertips on Don Lemon's arm.

And that's when Don Lemon says, don't touch me. Because that's the hope of these cities.

That's the hope of the world is Jesus Christ.

I want to be very respectful.

Please don't push me though.

Don't push me. The pastor's leaning backwards because Don Lemon's in his face. So Don Lemon's in his face, the pastor's leaning backwards, he puts his hand ever so lightly, it's fingertips. Don't push me, always a victim. Breaks into his church, false pretenses, gets in his face while there's danger, it's a very dangerous situation. Don't touch me, don't push me, don't push me.

The woman who organized this all, the Black Lives Matter rioter, she was arrested too and she was handcuffed and she later said she felt like a slave, always a victim. And this is the problem with this too. This is part of their, I'm not touching. I'm not touching. Every little kid does this to their brother or sister, right? I'm not touching.

I'm not touching to get a rise out of you. This is part of their trick. They want you to react and then they're instantly the victim. Don Lemon, when he gets out of prison or whatever, he's going to come out and just talk about what a victim he is. Oh, it's so terrible. So they got you coming and going.

It's part of the trick. So you're just supposed to do the right thing. The solution for you if you're in this position is just to do the right thing. Don't worry about what they want you to do or don't want you to do, or you're trying to think, no, just do the right thing. All right, back to the Bible. He said, therefore, to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, John the Baptist, you brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come, bear fruits that befit repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father.

For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now, the axe is laid to the roots, to the root of the trees. Every tree, therefore, that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Brood of vipers, son of the devil, John says, wrath is on the way. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary. But the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.

You cannot escape the wrath unless you repent. That's it. It's the only way to escape. God will forgive your sins and remove his wrath. The Bible says there's no more condemnation for those who repent and receive forgiveness. Being a Brutiviper in the Brutivipers, son of the devil, your father is the devil, Jesus and John the Baptist all saying the same thing here.

You must repent.

You must make Jesus Lord of your life. We'll end with that pastor in a more calm setting, claiming the only solution to all the problems in the world. Yeah, you know, my message for Don Lemon, my message for the agitators is that one thing I think that we have in common with at least some of the people who came into our building is that we're heartbroken over what's happening in our cities right now. There's a lot of pain in our cities, and we need healing. We're asking for God to send healing. and we believe that healing comes ultimately in Jesus Christ.

And so what I preach, what we preach, is that God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. And so my message to those agitators, my message to the governor of our state, to the state attorney general, my message to both mayors of our cities is to turn from your sin, Trust in Jesus Christ and be safe.

He is our only hope. MikeSlater . Locals . com. Transcripts commercial free on the website MikeSlater .

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Mike Slater@slaterradio

January 29, 2026

Punishment Saves Lives

Politics By Faith, January 29, 2026

We now have video of another attack on law enforcement from Alex Pretti. His death could have been avoided if he had been arrested the first time. We've been told punishment is bad. Yet the Bible says, "Faithful are the wounds of a friend."

Welcome to Politics by Faith, thanks for being here. What a week it's been in Minnesota. Been thinking a lot about the lies that people believed in Minnesota this last week. And we've been told four stories in just the last two weeks. You had Rene Good, the elderly man let outside without a shirt on, the five -year -old who was arrested, and then this pretty guy who was just a guy getting donuts. None of it, none of those four stories turned out to be what we were first told.

And so many people fell for it all right from the beginning. So many people led by emotion and not the truth, not facts, not having any discernment. Gullible Christians. We recorded the TV show episode yesterday, and we had a wonderful guest on who wrote a piece recently about the gullible Christian. And he went into beautiful detail. I'll save that for when we release that here on the podcast, probably tomorrow.

But he spoke beautifully about how the Bible doesn't say anything about avoiding what's uncomfortable. Church discipline is uncomfortable. But of course you need to do it. Proverbs 21 15 justice is a joy to the righteous, but terror to evil doers means evil doers won't like it. It's a terror to them. So what are we just supposed to not have justice?

And you may. So, so if you're the evil doer, you don't like the justice because that means you're going to go to jail. And we have more and more of a society that doesn't like giving justice. I mean, like, oh, I feel bad for that person. Let's not convict them. Let's let them out for the millionth time.

Let's give them another chance. after he's already been arrested a hundred times.

What is this?

This is not how this is supposed to go. I thought of the scripture, Proverbs 27, 6, faithful are the wounds of a friend. I thought of this when I saw the video that was just released of Pretty, it's the guy who was killed by ICE or federal agents this last Saturday. And a new video came out of him 11 days prior and another altercation with law enforcement. He was getting in their face, screaming at them, just rage saying, assault me, assault me.

Swear words spit in their direction. And as one of the ICE vehicles was driving away, he kicked it multiple times. And one of the kicks knocked the taillight out, which is a pretty good kick. And then the agents got out and they knocked him over and then they let him go. And as he was getting up, you could see the gun in his back pocket. We also found out a couple of days ago that he had another engagement with law enforcement where he broke a rib.

I don't think this was that same engagement. So maybe it was, but so that means there could be three different engagements that this guy had with law enforcement, at least two of them with a gun. I don't think this is this, but there's a certain point where suicide by cop is on the table. I don't think that's what was going on here, but we're getting very close to that. And you're very far away from innocent guy leaving a donut shop who just got caught up in it. But that's what we're talking about.

Renee Good. She was just dropped her kid off at school and she was just driving home and she made a wrong turn and got caught in traffic. No, no, no. But I thought if this was the first time that this guy was involved in law enforcement, if he was arrested that time, His life could have been saved, as is often the case. I saw an article in the Telegraph in England. The headline was, Freed Prisoners Commit Record Number of Violent Crimes.

The Chief Inspector of Probation ordered his arrest. inspection as broken penal system fails to rehabilitate inmates. Somewhere along the line, we got this progressive idea that the only purpose of the penal system is to rehabilitate, and we just keep trying it. Like, well, he doesn't seem rehabilitated, but I don't know, let's just let him out anyway, see what happens. That's not the point of the penal system. The word penal is Latin, it means pain.

means pain and punishment. So like the headline really should say the pain and punishment system is failing to rehabilitate. Well, yeah, that's not the point of it. It's the pain and punishment system. Back to the telegraph. Almost 900 serious crimes have been recorded in the last year as being committed by offenders under supervision of probation after being released from jail.

Are you kidding me? It is the highest number since records began. Accounts for at least one murder and two rapes every week of the year. Every week, someone is murdered and two people are raped from a violent criminal who was released and on probation. And the article talks about this chief probation person who says, oh, we're just missing the warning signs. The warning sign was the first crime.

One person, Jordan McSweeney, killed a 35 year old law graduate after being released from prison. This guy's had 28 previous convictions, 69 different offenses, and he was recorded as a medium risk. If that's a medium risk, What does it take to be a high risk? 28 convictions and you're a medium risk? Try to remember these numbers. This is in America.

This is based off the state prison system in 2014. It's worse now, I'm sure. But in 2014, 75 % of people in state prison had five or more arrests. Five or more? How do you get to five? What is five strikes your out?

What is that?

5 % of people had 31 or more arrests.

Come on.

How do you get arrested 31 times? How can we allow someone to be arrested 31 times or more? New York times said that in 2022, a third of all the shoplifting arrests in New York city came from just 327 people. That 0 .004 % of the population was a third of all the shoplifting arrests. And these people have been arrested over 6 ,000 times. In Oakland, 400 people committed half of the city's homicides.

That's 0 .1 % of the city, half of the homicides. Now, check out this fact. This is the most important point of all. They did a study of juveniles. They found that for every one police contact, and that doesn't even necessarily mean an arrest, for every one police contact, there were 25 crimes that that person committed, which never caught. Some juveniles had as many as 300 crimes for every police contact.

Arresting criminals saves other victims, of course, and that's all you need. That's the only justification you need. And it can save the life of the person being arrested. Now, if it doesn't, that's fine. At least we kept them away from other people so they can't cause harm to them. They can't make their lives worse.

But if it prevents this person from hurting themselves or putting themselves in further bad situations, puts their life perhaps on a redeemable track, then that's great. We don't need them to be out. You don't need to release them. If Alex Pretty was arrested the first time, probably wouldn't have been there the third time. He'd still be alive today. If someone talked to him, if someone told him the truth, faithful are the wounds of a friend.

The true mark of a friend is that they will tell you the truth, even if it hurts. And the state can do that as well with punishment. Like, oh, you're not allowed to do that. You have to go to jail. That's the truth. And it can save their life.

I've talked to people on the radio who were addicted and they got clean in jail. Faithful are the wounds of a friend. The kisses of an enemy are deceitful. The enemy tells you what you want to hear, even if they're lies. Faithful are the wounds of a friend. I read a great article, a sermon from Charles Spurgeon on this.

Excuse my long quotation. Once I start with Spurgeon, where do you stop? He said, ah, brethren, when we were groaning under the chastening hand of Jesus, we thought him cruel. Do we think so ill of him now? So Jesus chastening you, he's rebuking you. It's cruel.

Why are you being so cruel, Jesus? Oh, but do you think ill of him now? We conceived that he was wroth with us, means angry, and would be implacable, unable to be placated, unable to be not angry. How have our surmises proved to be utterly unfounded? The abundant benefit which we now reap from the deep plowing of our heart is enough of itself to reconcile us to the severity of the process. Precious is that wine which is pressed in the wine vat of conviction.

Pure is that wine. gold which is dug from the mines of repentance. And bright are the pearls which are found in the caverns of deep distress. We might never have known such deep humility if He had not humbled us. We had never been so separated from fleshly trusting had He, not by His rod, revealed the corruption and disease of our heart. So great had we never been so separated from fleshly trusting.

We find within us a strong and deep -seated attachment to the world and its sinful pleasures. Our heart is still prone to wander and our affections yet cleave to things below. Can we wonder then that it required a sharp knife to sever us at first from our lusts, which were then as dear to us as the members of our body? We loved these lusts. So foul the disease could only be healed by frequent drafts of bitter medicine. Let us detest the sin which rendered such rough dealing necessary.

But let us adore the Savior who spared not the child for his crying. So great. So we wanted the sin. Jesus caught us away from it and we cried to keep it. It was like a part of our body. We loved it so much.

We wanted to keep the sin and we kept crying like a baby who wants a toy. But Jesus did not stop doing what was good because he knew it was good. We didn't. Not at the time. Now we do. Hebrews 12, 6.

For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son whom he receives. Discipline, chastisement. Good. Good things. Hard things, but good things. And I'll end here with Spurgeon.

We talked about how, you know, we don't like to be bothered with things. If someone came into your house and said, were sleeping at night and someone came into your house and shook you awake in the middle of the night, you'd be mad at them. But Spurgeon says, will the man who is asleep in a burning house murmur, complain at his deliverer for shaking him too roughly in his bed? Hey man, come on. Why are you bothering me?

Uh, your house is on fire.

Okay.

Thank you very much. Would the traveler tottering on the brink of a precipice upbraid the friend who has startled him from his dream? and saved him from destruction. Would not the harshest words and the roughest usage be acknowledged most heartily as blows of love and warnings of affliction? Best of all, when we view these matters in the light of eternity, how little are these slight and momentary afflictions compared with the doom escaped or the bliss afterwards attained? Thank you to the hand that rescued us.

Long afflicted, undismayed, in pleasure. Path secure, I strayed, and this false confidence that I'm living and everything's fine. I'm undismayed in my pleasure. Thou madest me feel thy chastening rod, and straight I turned unto my God. What thought has pierced my fainting heart? I blessed the hand that caused the smart.

It taught my tears a while to flow, but saved me from eternal woe. Oh, hadst thou left me unchastised, thy precepts I had stifled. Thank you for correction, God. And we, led by sentimentality, led by emotions in the real world, shouldn't be thinking that punishment is bad. Punishment can be good. Punishment can save lives.

Punishment can save souls.

Faithful are the wounds of a friend.

MikeSlater . Locals .

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Mike Slater@slaterradio

January 27, 2026

Loving Well In Minnesota

Politics By Faith, January 27, 2026

We'll see if Governor Walz does the right thing and works with the Trump administration and ICE, but this was headed towards another George Floyd cultural moment. The emotional blackmailers were using "love" as their weapon once again.

Welcome to politics by faith. Thanks for being here and talk about what's been going on in Minnesota lately. Hopefully it all calms down now. And I think it will with the president's statements yesterday that he talked with the governor and with the mayor of Minneapolis. And that seems like they have agreed to work with ice and handing over the criminals of criminally aliens in Minneapolis. What are we, how, how was that thing that they already did?

It's because they decided that Trump is the enemy and can never be supported in any way. They're the resistance, and they have to fight against Trump. If you want to get more cynical, it's to cover up for all the fraud and failure that's been occurring in their state. And if you want to get even more cynical, it's because all the illegal aliens are counted towards census apportionment, which means they're counted in the census. Still, if you're an illegal alien, you're counted in the census. And that counting goes towards congressional and electoral college apportionment.

In Minnesota, in the last census, kept their house seat, one of their house seats by 26 people, 26, which means if there were 27 fewer Somalis in Minnesota, then they would have lost a congressional seat and they would have lost an electoral college vote. So there's that consideration from progressives as well as to why they were doing everything they could to not support Trump. Alas, perhaps Trump found a way to get walls and fray to fall in line. But what I want to talk about here is the last couple of weeks, It seems like this has all moved in the direction and gotten pretty close to the hysteria of Covid and even George Floyd. And it was crossing the line of pop culture where people, even outside of the political realm. So people on Instagram, like all the mommy accounts on Instagram and interior designing accounts and food accounts and comedy accounts, all these people were posting about ice and stopping ice.

And of course they were using all their pseudo Christian empathy, language of loving others and human decency. And I support whatever political parties in favor of human rights and all this stuff. So I want to chat about that right now. I've also been hearing from more listeners about family and friends and co -workers being more vocal about how horrible ICE is and what's happening in Minnesota. And it doesn't matter how much you say, they're trying to deport child molesters and murderers. And they have, we could spend 20 minutes here going over all the monsters that they've detained in Minneapolis that were just living in the streets, like living in their neighbors.

But it doesn't matter. We could talk about how That illegal alien abandoned his five -year -old son in the car. He ran away from his son. And now no one in the house would accept custody of the child. What's going on there? But it doesn't matter.

Ben Shapiro is famous for saying, facts don't care about your feelings. But the truth is, feelings don't care about your facts. Most people, feelings is all that matters. And you can give as many facts as you want. It doesn't change anything. None of that matters to stiff -necked people.

Someone called in today and said that we need to do a better job of discovering the facts of the fraud in Minneapolis and not just accusations and not just Nick Shirley trick -or -treating on Somali daycare to Somali daycare, but actually get the numbers that people can can see. And I love it. Like, let's do that. And I get the sentiment, but that's not going to matter. That's not going to move people to do what is obviously the right thing to do. During the 2024 election, American citizens got murdered by illegal aliens.

And there were people who didn't care. Now, maybe enough people in the middle, quote unquote, middle did. Trump did win and people voted for deporting illegal aliens. So I remember there was a survey back in March of last year, and it was do you support deporting illegal aliens? And 32 % said, excuse me, 35 % said all of them. 51 % of people said some.

Okay, well, let's break down the sum of those 51 % who said some. 97 % said criminals, criminally, you committed another crime. But 44 % of that 51%, so you're going to get all the people out of all the people that were asked, 35 % said deport all of them. 51 % said some of that 51%, 44 % said any illegal alien who's arrived in the last four years. So that means a majority of people wanted to deport all illegal aliens who have been here the last four years. And then we can even talk about those who have been here longer than that, but there is a mandate here and we cannot forget that.

And it's right. And it's good. And I support it. We've been going hard on the facts on the radio, but I also mentioned this scripture on the radio today. So I want to do it here too, because a lot of people were calling in about people they love. One guy called in about a sister.

One person called in about his mentor. He admires deeply, but his mentor has gone off the deep end. saying things like, well, like Tim Wall said, that the people... Minnesota are like Anne Frank hiding from the Nazis. Anne Frank was captured and killed in a concentration camp. That's not, that's not what's happening here.

I was also talking to a friend of mine who used to be in a cult. And he said, he sees a lot of cult tactics going on everywhere. And he's very aware of this. And he's very careful not to get sucked into another cult. I also am aware. I'm very careful.

to not go too far with different things, because I don't want to have egg on my face. The other day I told the story about, I wasn't even lying, I was making it seem like I knew what I was talking about, which is like a kind of a form of lying, I suppose. But I got egg on my face from that, and I learned a lot of lessons from that moment. I remember the story about the bull weevils, bull weevil fur trapper. You've heard the expression before, you know, if you always tell the truth, you don't have to keep your story straight or something like that. Similarly, if I pause and I think, and I wait, and I take some extra consideration for things, Man, that'll save a lot of heartache later.

There used to be an instinct, or maybe there still is for people. I think, I think in my industry, there's a lot of instinct to be first. I don't have that anymore. And for a lot, there's an instinct to be wild and get attention. I don't, I don't have that either. I'd rather wait and then give context and insight when helpful.

So let's turn to the Bible this morning. I happened to read Hebrews five and this line stood out to me for every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God. that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can have compassion on those. The priest can have compassion. The high priest, he can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray.

Why? Since he himself is also subject to weakness. So you have the high priest here, chosen among the people, making sacrifices for people's sins. This is before Jesus died on the cross. And this priest has to have compassion for people because he's also human. He's also weak.

He's also a sinner. How do you change the mind of someone who has gone astray? I wrote a book about this many years ago called How to Change Someone's Mind. It's more of a pamphlet. It's $5 on Amazon. I think I make $1 .20 if you buy it.

But the most important step for changing someone's mind is making sure that when you go into a conversation, you're willing to have your mind changed as well. I'm not saying you have to change your mind. I'm not saying you're wrong, but you have to be willing to have your mind changed. If you're not, then they're not, and you're never going to change their mind if that's what you want to do. If you want to win an argument, that's a different thing. But similarly here with these political topics going on today, we need to always be reassessing, always be willing To have your mind changed, always be willing to see where you're wrong, because the sooner you admit it, the easier it's going to be to get to the truth.

And that has to be our ultimate goal. Paul said in Philippians 1 9, and this, I pray that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Christ Jesus to the glory of God and praise of God. On the TV show, we're recording it tomorrow. Michael Clary is going to be here. He's going to talk about how he just wrote this piece about how Christians need to stop falling for this weaponized empathy. You're not called to be gullible.

You're called to love, but love with knowledge and discernment so that you can approve of what is excellent. Stick with the truth. Pursue excellence. To love more. Love who? Love what?

Exactly. I think all the outrage from the left is misplaced love. Disordered love. Christian love is a thinking love. It's not a feeling. It's not a trick to love.

It's not a manipulated love. It's not a gullible love. Clary said, without discernment, love gets twisted into a sentimental monstrosity. For the gullible and undiscerning, this kind of pseudo -love claims the moral high ground. It does have some rhetorical advantages, which is why so many people fall for it. It sounds biblical enough to convince undiscerning people that it might be right, but it's not.

These are not arguments of fact or facts. They're ear -tickling slogans, nothing more. It is good to always be on the lookout to see where we might be wrong. Always be on the lookout to see and make sure that we're in the right. You have a lot of people out there who say, we need to love. Just love, love, love.

And you're like, love what? Love how? Love who? Love in what way?

Doesn't matter, just love.

Love evil? Love sin? No, no, no. We're called to have a discerning love towards what is excellent. We are called to love rightly and to love well. MikeSlater . Locals . com for the transcript and commercial free. MikeSlater .

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