Transcription
Hey everybody. So, over the next couple of weeks, I plan to make several videos and write several articles about some of the things that I think we're all learning since the death of Charlie Kirk. And I'll say it right now, I'm going to be very hard on Donald Trump and the MAGA movement for their hypocrisy in this time and for the obvious ways that they're throwing fuel on the fire of our divisions in this nation.
But if you've been around here for a while, I think you probably know some of what I plan to say already. If you read my book, A Christian Case Against Donald Trump, then you'll recognize everything that we're seeing because in chapter 2, I described exactly the approach that Trump and his people are using right now. And I called that chapter the way of peace versus the way of the demagogue. And I think everything that we're seeing out of out of them since September 10th fits that chapter exactly.
So I will get to those things. But I want to follow what Jesus modeled here. Um, the reason that I even write books and make videos about the religious right is that I used to be one of those people. I mean, I was never in an extreme place that that I think the MAGA movement is. But but that is the tribe in general that I came out of. And to the extent that they claim the name of Jesus to justify their actions, then they still are my people on some level if they're using the name of Jesus. So I'm critical of my people. And I think that's what Jesus modeled is he was critical of his people.
So, if I'm going to be as critical of that movement as I feel called to be, I do have to apply the same logic to this channel. And I just want to make sure that we're being careful here and that I remove the speck out of our own eye here before I turn back to the abuses of the MAGA movement.
So, today I do want to talk about why I took a few days off from this channel after I made my video on September 10th appealing for peace. I, in short, I I read some comments there and I read a bunch of other things that were going on not on our channel, uh, in in just a lot of of the the media environment and I was just super disturbed by some of the rhetoric I was hearing and there was very little of it on this channel, but just to the extent that there was some on this channel, I was disturbed and seriously, it was probably only about five comments and even though, you know, if you saw the comments, you might not think that they were such a big deal, I was just rattled to see anything like this on on my own channel.
So, I removed the comments that I saw, but I don't have the time to look at every comment. So, I can't physically guarantee that nothing is going to slip through. So before I start making videos this week about what I think is the really vile rhetoric from the right and before I make a video sharing the facts that show that they're lying about their left-wing violence narrative and a bunch of other videos that I plan to make about them, I have to talk about us.
So let me say this as clearly as I can. I understand why people are frustrated or afraid or angry. And in the heat of the moment on that day when when people like probably you and people like me were being slandered because of the actions of one person, a person, by the way, whose motives we're still not sure about. I understand how anger can cause us to say things more harshly than we intended. And and I saw stuff all over the internet that was just, I think, over the top.
And, um, but if anyone listening to this said anything in the comments here that you regret now and if you think that your comment could be interpreted in a way that might be advocating something extreme, I'd just ask you to please go back and delete it. You know, I can't see all the comments and like I said, I think I only deleted about five comments total on this site. Um, they, you know, they weren't as bad, I'm sure, as you might be imagining. But I meant it when I said in that video on that day that I just, I have a zero tolerance policy for that stuff when I see it.
So, so now I just want to address why I have my position against violent or extreme rhetoric. I mean, beyond the things that I say all the time, the things I can say all the time, I think I can summarize like this. The way of Jesus is the way of peace. And that's not just an absence of violence. It includes justice for the oppressed and and a lot of other things that I talk about all the time on this channel. But at minimum, it is an absence of violence.
So if you want to hear a longer discussion about those issues, I made this video yesterday with Tomier Cucia and we discussed in that video in that podcast episode all of this stuff. And so that's worth listening to. And then I'm also going to post a link down below to a video recording that I made of that chapter that I mentioned for my book, A Christian Case Against Donald Trump. I made a video of that entire book. And so the chapter, uh, chapter 2, the way of peace versus the way of the demagogue, I'll link to that in the in the comments below.
So I'm not going to repeat all of that here, but I know a few people have criticized me for being a pacifist. Like they've called me a pacifist in the comments. And I didn't remove those comments because I think they seemed like genuine critiques of my position. Like, you know, they like somebody asked me if I would have opposed the guy in Germany leading up to World War II. So I'm just going to try to answer that in this way.
I've never called myself a pacifist per se. I mean, I'm not the type who just opposes any use of military force ever, you know, by a government in protection of its nation from an aggressor, for instance. I mean, I've been pretty clear that that I think Ukraine has a right to defend itself from Russia's aggression, for instance. But I am becoming more and more of a pacifist, I guess, uh, even in international situations, just because of what I'm seeing. Like when I see the way as my eyes are being opened a little more to the way that rhetoric is used to justify atrocity, you know, um, I see the way that that rhetoric was used to to get me even on board like I I was on board with Israel's right to defend itself, you know, after the October 7th attacks by Hamas. I was, um, I was just like, well, of course they ought to be able to defend themselves. And I still believe they ought to be able to defend themselves. But I've admitted that like my my basic wiring as, you know, somebody who spent decades in the evangelical movement and in the Republican party, um, that wiring that I that I received, um, during that time, I think that took me too long to well, I think I know it took me too long to recognize the horrors of Israel's genocide in Gaza. And so that that's causing me to question everything about how I view international relations. And I just hope I never make that mistake again of buying into the rhetoric that I've been accustomed to hearing and not questioning it soon enough to the point that I ended up being silent in the face of atrocity.
So I'm just going to say for all practical purposes right now, go ahead and call me a pacifist if you need to put me in a category. I'm theoretically open to like a just war argument. And I think Ukraine, for example, has a right to defend herself. But I'm starting to think that most claims that people make that their particular war is a just war. I think most of those claims are just BS. You know, unless proven otherwise.
So when it comes to civil war though, you make no mistake. If you're defending the use of violence to achieve political ends, you're advocating for civil war and a reign of terror, whether you call it that or not. So, when it comes to civil war, I'm just never going to be part of that. My entire mission in life right now is to pull us back from the brink of extremism. If I thought that talking and mobilizing politically was over, I wouldn't take up arms. I just, I just wouldn't.
Uh, I understand people who criticize me for that and say, you know, like for instance, what about protecting the vulnerable? And I understand that argument. I understand people who say that my pacifism, if you want to call it that, reeks of white privilege because I've never been oppressed. And honestly, I don't have a good answer to that. I think we could go down the path of listing scenarios that could happen that eventually that path brings us to Germany in the 30s and 40s. Um, I'm just not going to go down that path because I don't think we're anywhere close to that. And I'm doing everything in my power to stop us from ever getting to that place. And to the person who might say, "Well, you're not doing everything in your power if you're committed to pacifism." I'll just say this. If people start lashing out violently, that's what will lead us to something like Germany in the 30s. Because sure, I'm learning that our system isn't as strong as I thought it was. But we still do have so many ways of working within our democracy to bring about justice. Every time someone who opposes this administration acts out in some extreme way, that creates the permission structure for the more extreme responses from the administration. So just on a practical level, I just think my way is better and I'm sticking to it.
I mean, I'm totally willing to do things like put my own body in the way of people who want to abuse the vulnerable in our country. And I'm not opposed to like civil disobedience as long as it's peaceful and organized and so long as people are willing to pay the price if you break an unjust law. That's kind of how civil disobedience works. But but anything beyond that, that's just not who I am. And that's not who I hope to ever become. Like I wouldn't be doing these messages if I thought that it had to to go beyond that in extreme responses.
So, you know, so now I'll just say though, if you've listened this long, I I do want to share just a little bit more on a personal level or at least on a channel level here. The work that I'm doing here is not without risk. Like I've talked about the shootings of the state legislators that happened right here in my own city this summer. And our government is threatening to shut down anyone that they think is stirring up extremist elements that they would accuse of stirring that sort of thing up. And I'm not really worried about myself because I'm not pushing some extreme agenda. And you know, I just need to say though that every time someone in the comments writes something that comes across that way, it puts the work that I do here at risk because they will use anything that they can to try to make somebody look like they're advocating for something they're not. So, on some level, it does put me at risk and it puts this channel at risk if people say things in the comments that that are just, you know, I'll just say again, extreme.
So, as one example, you know, Donald Trump and his minions keep saying that when people call them fascists that we're somehow inciting extremism. So, here's the problem. Like, how do we talk about this? Donald Trump is a fascist. And I'm never going to stop saying that. I mean, he is a fascist by any definition. His government is not a full-blown fascist regime, and hopefully it never will be. But his tactics and his expressed goals are fascist to the core in my estimation. And and I've been talking about that because I think it's true. And because the tactics that fascists use are recognizable. And if we want to push back on what's happening, we have to be able to name it.
So I do have a playlist on this channel called Are We Fascist Yet? And and it's just getting started. I'm making that playlist because I just think it's true that people often misuse words like fascism. So I'm trying to define it very carefully for people and I'm trying to be as truthful as I can be about the facts when I talk about it. But then if I do that and then people respond to those sorts of videos with like really overheated rhetoric and again, there's been very little of this on this channel. I'm just I'm just talking about this cuz I need to talk about it. But, um, if people do that, then then what they're doing is they're they're feeding into this idea that that what we're doing here is extreme. It's not extreme to talk about fascist tactics and and the definition of fascism and to try to show here's where it's happening here. Here's how to push back on it. You know, that's not extreme at all. It's just telling the truth.
So, so, um, it's it's a balancing act what I'm trying to pull off here. And I just need my listeners help in order to pull that sort of thing off. I want to speak more boldly about Trump and about the MAGA movement. So, if I'm going to do that, I just have to make sure that people understand what I am advocating for. What I am advocating for is every possible avenue of peaceful resistance that we can muster, but nothing more than that.
So, so let me say just once again how much I love this community. I I love the fact that you listen to these things and and I'm I'm learning so much by sharing this stuff. And I'm saying all of what I'm saying today just because I want this community to continue to be a force for good in the world. So really, as always, thanks for listening.