Mark exited his family group chat after Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 election and, shortly after, stopped speaking to his family entirely. He knew his mom and siblings were conservative and pro-life, and though they didn’t really talk politics, his suspicions about their votes were confirmed when he pressed them. They had made a choice, and now he would too.

Mark had taken to social media the day after the election to rant about half the country, but there was little he could do with anger at that scale. His family offered something more manageable: a localized target for a generalized grievance. He couldn’t control how millions of Americans voted, but he could control whether the few he knew who voted for Trump remained in his life.

For anyone seeking a controlled, frictionless existence, cutting people off offers a deceptively clean solution: eliminate the point of contact.

His mother, recently widowed, is heartbroken by her son’s decision to go no contact. She tries to focus her attention on the rich relationships she still has. Mark’s siblings vacillate between annoyance and deep hurt, bewildered that something so distant from the ordinary life of their family — national politics — could enter their intimacy and overwhelm it.

The no-contact phenomenon is one manifestation of a deeper spiritual jaundice. We’re estranged from ourselves in a way that makes the risk and friction of other people difficult to bear. Politics gives that interior unease somewhere to go. It can be particularly potent as a repository for discontent because it supplies both a diagnosis and a culprit. Diffuse dissatisfaction is difficult to metabolize.

Ideology offers a simplistic answer for why you feel bad and who did it to you. And once the culprit is someone you know, you can do something about it.

Obvious forces are contributing to the rise of this phenomenon, a topic I explore in my new book, “No Contact.” Social media is an accelerant driving estrangement in a couple of ways. We habituate ourselves to a curated “community” and proceed to block, unfollow, and mute voices that introduce friction into the seamless zombie scroll. Social media also spawns what I call TikTok psychologists, whose endless short-form videos invite you to examine your workplace, family, or childhood for the hidden toxicity, narcissism, or trauma.

For a fee, you can sign up for courses that will help you “break the cycle.”

The promise is seductive: Excavate your past, locate the wound, identify its author, and your present unhappiness begins to make sense. Pundits and politics offer the same explanatory relief in the present tense, supplying villains and catastrophes with enough regularity to keep us perpetually activated. Past or present, the gaze remains trained outward. We will go surprisingly far down rabbit holes to discover what someone else did to us or is doing to us while avoiding the much more frightening journey down the rabbit hole of our souls.

The accelerants, however, presuppose something already combustible. Social media can supply the siloes, pundits the villains, and therapists the permission, but none fully explains the strange zeal with which we have embraced the promise that amputating even our most primordial relationships can make us well. And we’ve been amputating them at a rapid pace. According to recent polling, 38% of Americans are estranged from a family member, with political and ideological disagreement accounting for a significant share of these ruptures.

While it can be entirely healthy and prudent to distance oneself, even permanently, from an abusive or dangerous friend or relative, the hundreds of estranged parents I’ve encountered across the country — and those I interviewed for the book — testify to a different phenomenon: a diminishing willingness — particularly among young people — to endure the risks and friction that durable relationships require.

And nowhere are the risks higher, the friction more unavoidable, or the returns less certain than in family life.

RELATED: The myth of the ‘good person’

Sylverarts/iStock/Getty Images

Weighing the costs

By our current calculus, family is a fool’s bet. It’s a long-term investment in other human beings, with few variables or outcomes under our control. We choose a spouse without knowing who they will become in 30 years. We have children knowing they will suffer and make us suffer, without knowing what kind of people they will become, what they will believe, what they will make of their lives, or ultimately what they will make of us.

Besides the risk, there is relentless friction along the way: competing needs, irritating habits, misunderstandings, disappointments, heated political disagreements, and obligations that arrive at the most inconvenient times. Family continually frustrates our preferences and interferes with our plans. The people closest to us are those with the greatest opportunity to disturb our peace. The friction is certain, but the return on investment is not, as the no-contact phenomenon makes painfully clear.

For anyone seeking a controlled, frictionless existence, cutting people off offers a deceptively clean solution: eliminate the point of contact. And there is good reason to think its justifying logic metastasizes easily. Colleges that implemented no-contact orders to protect students from predation now report demands for such orders because a roommate ate their bagel or someone looked askance at them in the cafeteria. Avoidance pays an immediate dividend.

But the costs of avoidance compound. First, avoidance makes us more brittle. The more accustomed we become to eliminating friction rather than navigating it, the less friction we become capable of bearing. Avoidance trains us in avoidance. What begins as relief from a difficult encounter can become an increasing dependence on controlling the conditions of encounter.

Second, avoidance keeps us stuck. Friction is a form of contact with reality. Once contact ends, we lose one of the most powerful correctives to our grievances: the encounter with the actual person. In memory, the mother who wounded us can remain frozen in our minds at the moment of injury. In person, she is harder to reduce so neatly. She is irritating and funny, selfish and generous, capable of the same old failure and suddenly vulnerable in some way we hadn’t expected. The living person keeps interfering with the story we tell about her.

There is a third cost: Avoidance can become a means of avoiding ourselves. Rehearsing the reasons for a cutoff can be a vital reminder to stay away when estrangement is necessary. Persons escaping abuse may need to remember clearly what happened, particularly when guilt or loneliness threatens to draw them back imprudently.

But when the relationship was merely difficult but not dangerous, that same rehearsal can work against us. Avoidance invites us to recount our grievances continually, quieting the dissonance that might otherwise invite us to question our narrative. It’s far easier to rehearse our righteousness than it is to wrestle and reckon honestly with a more complicated account that might in part implicate ourselves.

RELATED: The real reason 1 in 3 Americans are cutting off their family

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Strangers to all?

A culture organized around minimizing risk and friction will eventually find family difficult to justify, because family is a long-term wager on goods that cannot be secured in advance and a daily encounter with people we can’t control.

Before deciding to go no contact, consider that you may be losing far more than you gain by cutting ties. Risk and friction are prerequisites of life and love. Family is indeed a bad bet if we prize control and an untroubled life, but it might be our best bet if we want a more human one.

Mark can eliminate the friction his family creates. He cannot make them cease to be his family. Nor can he know what might have happened had he stayed in contact long enough for all of them to become again something more than the worst thing he believed about them.

There is a terrible risk of remaining. But there is a risk in leaving too: that in protecting ourselves from the people who disturb our peace, we slowly become people incapable of loving and knowing anyone — and will secure one terrible result: remaining a stranger to all and to ourselves.

Editor’s note: This article is adapted from Noelle Mering’s new book, “No Contact: How a Seductive Ideology Broke Families and Friendships and How We Can Repair Them“ (Forum Books), and appeared originally at the American Mind.

​Opinion & analysis, No contact, Family, Donald trump, Politics, Psychology, Estrangement, Friction, Risk, Safe spaces 

Some parents pour years into raising their children in faith and still are forced to watch them walk away. And as a homeschool mother of seven is watching her youngest become a prodigal, she reaches out to BlazeTV host Steve Deace to ask whether she had failed.

And his answer was unequivocal: The story isn’t over.

“None of the stories of your children are finished yet,” he responds. “And for those of you that have prodigal kids, you’re maybe in the most trying time of that story. But the story isn’t written yet.”

Deace uses St. Augustine and his mother, Monica, as an example, explaining that she prayed for her son for “17 years.”

“And he would go on to eventually become arguably the most formidable mind the church has produced in the post-canon era, even to this very day, nearly 2,000 years later,” he explains.

“So that’s I think the most important thing that I could say,” he continues. “Do not quit. Do not give up. Their stories aren’t written yet. They’re not finished yet. So keep that perspective for as long as you can. The story is not over yet.”

“Many of the social pathologies and contagions that are acute in this era have their mustard seeds in the era that you and I grew up in. But even despite that, you and I both agreed emphatically it was still … simpler,” he adds.

Deace explains that it was “simpler” because there “was not an expectation when you sent your kids off to school on the first day of school that you were going to have to deprogram them every single night when they got home.”

“Going to college was considered a rarity and a reward as opposed to smart kids that now are like, ‘I’m never going there because I don’t want to become a gay race communist,’” he says.

“So it’s never easy to raise kids. But it was certainly simpler in the era that you and I grew up in compared to the era we’ve been raising our own kids in,” he continues.

“Their stories aren’t finished yet, either … so if you’re in that prodigal era, do not give up on the Lord. Do not give up on prayer, even till your dying day,” he adds.

Want more from Steve Deace?

To enjoy more of Steve’s take on national politics, Christian worldview, and principled conservatism with a snarky twist, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Biblical advice, Children, Church, Faith, Homeschool, Parents, Prayer, Raising kids, St augustine, Steve deace, Blazetv show 

Most of today’s Gen Zers are criticized for the same list of bad traits: laziness, lack of discipline, social awkwardness, no sense of purpose. So it’s a rare thrill to meet someone like Mary Bowen, who not only defies each of these traits, but lays waste to each and every one of them.

Alongside her parents and nine younger siblings, Mary, just 25 years old, has spent the last 12 years building a vertically integrated independent movie studio — Industrious Family Films — which specializes in wholesome family entertainment for Christian viewers.

‘Most of what’s coming out is really — it’s base. And we’re made for more than that.’

In that time, she has produced seven feature films and nearly 20 additional productions. Her studio has recently launched its own subscription-based streaming platform. And now, Mary is directing the studio’s most ambitious project yet: “Fabiola,” a historical drama set during the final persecutions of Christians in the Roman Empire.

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Mary and discuss her unique upbringing, the growth of Industrious Family Films, and how she and her family approach filmmaking against the backdrop of today’s increasingly hollow entertainment culture.

Faye Root: Could you start by telling a little about yourself, your background, and what you do?

Mary Bowen: I’m the oldest of 10 children, and we are all homeschooled. Growing up, we actually didn’t watch any movies. We’d gotten rid of the TV, DVDs, and VHSs. No Saturday morning cartoons or anything. That really gave us an opportunity to grow up without screens. We did a lot of animals, gardening, some instruments.

But in 2012, for the first time in about four or five years, we watched a movie — a film made by a homeschool group in Connecticut. And it inspired us to work on making movies and populating the industry with Christian films that anybody can sit down and watch.

And of course, we watch movies now. But having that break really gave us this “aha” moment because it was not a normal Hollywood mainstream film. So that’s kind of where our love of filmmaking came from.

FR: What’s it like working with your family on your films? Does everybody have an area of expertise?

MB: Many hands make light work for sure. And yes, we all can do it, but we all do have our little areas of expertise.

I’m the creative director, so I’m in charge of camera angles, and I run the camera. I do the costumes, sets, props, editing — the visual stuff. And then my sister kind of runs the show as far as organizing schedules, getting people where they need to be, making sure everything’s streamlined.

My dad does a lot with set decorating and construction, and then my brothers help do that. I have one brother who’s “the tech,” so if something’s not working, he gets it to work. And then another brother who really does everything. He’s especially good at lights.

FR: Your lighting in the “Fabiola” scenes was excellent.

Yeah, we spent two weeks just working on lighting for that — the prison scene. I was really glad with the way it turned out. My brother and my mom did most of that, and then my sister and I stood in as the actors because we were getting all the lighting set up before [the actors] got there.

My mom and dad help a lot with everything. Especially my mom. She’s definitely an assistant director in a sense. She’s also really good at makeup. Some of my brothers can do makeup too, though. And then my sisters, they help with everything.

FR: Can you talk more about your mom and dad and how they influenced your path in life?

MB: They are adventurers in their own sense. We live on a homestead. A dream of my mom’s was to live in a yurt, and they did it. They bought a 30-foot yurt, and that’s what they live in. All 12 of us were in there at one point.

My dad’s a manager at a tire shop. My mom’s always been a homeschool mom. She has seven students in school right now. Three of us are graduated. My youngest brother is five.

They’ve definitely encouraged any reasonable whim or hobby we’ve ever wanted to do and helped us along the way. But they were hands-off enough that we were able to try things. And ruin things. I’ve ruined sewing machines. I’ve ruined cameras. Eventually your mind adjusts, and you think, “My mom and dad bought a $300 camera, and I dropped it.” That generosity … as you grow, you get more of an understanding and respect.

FR: Making a film is such a complicated challenge when compared to most other art forms. But rather than emphasize the need for film school, for instance, I’ve heard you speak about the importance of the deeper skills needed to undertake such an endeavor — hard work, stick-to-itiveness, etc. Could you speak more about that?

MB: Yeah, I think even that came out of just the fact that we were gardening and taking care of animals and things at home. You learn responsibility at a young age.

For example, we had a milk cow, and I was at 10 or 11 when it was my job to take care of the milk cow in the morning — my sister and I. And now, looking back at my younger brothers and sisters who are that age, that’s actually a lot to expect of a kid! But it’s so doable if they’re given the opportunity.

And this translates to film, where yes, it’s super complicated. But you can do it if you’re given the tools and allowed to make mistakes. Your first project doesn’t have to be perfect. Things can happen — just like the cow can get out. But it’s not the end of the world.

So I translate that to film where, actually, if you stick to it, even if it’s hard to do, if you see it through, you have a sense of accomplishment. It’s surprising that you can even do it at a young age. We made our first movie when I was 14.

But that’s the biggest challenge for some people is seeing a project to the end. That’s where a lot of discouragement comes from. It’s hard, and you get in the thick of it, and it’s like, “This is a mess, and I don’t want to ever do this again!” But then you complete it, and you show it, and you have a party, and then you’re like, “Oh, this is so addictive.”

FR: What do you think of the mainstream films coming out of Hollywood today?

MB: I don’t watch a whole lot of movies that come out right away. Most of what’s coming out is really — it’s base. And we’re made for more than that. We’re made to love beauty and to aspire to nobleness. And we need to provide that for each other, actually. We need to give that to each other so that we can all be good and wholesome people and pleasing to God.

And when you’re constantly being given base entertainment, society slowly declines. And so I don’t consume a lot of modern films.

Angel Studios has really filled a hole for a lot of Christian families who don’t watch mainstream movies. And that’s great because they’re missing a part of our culture not having the experience of going to the theater, getting popcorn. Going to see a movie is like going to a baseball game — everyone should experience it. Having a pagan society creating entertainment has made it so we can’t just go enjoy a film.

Pure Flix — they don’t do theatrical runs — but the same thing. I really hope that our studio can be as big as those names just to help populate more films that people can go watch without worrying about covering their eyes.

FR: You’ve said that when making your films, you try to follow the moral censorship regulations, which were pretty universally followed in Hollywood in the 1930s to 1960s.

MB: Yes. The fact that we don’t even have a decency code for what we show each other today shows how bad our society has sunk. In some senses, a code like this would need to be updated because it’s missing things that should be a problem now that weren’t a problem then. It would be interesting if some group would get together and make one.

But yes, there are even little things, which don’t seem like they’re as big of an issue now. For instance, it was very rare to show two people in a bed together, whether they were married in the film or not.

But these guidelines were important. And it wasn’t only about promiscuity or modesty issues. In the storytelling, good vs. evil had to be resolved. Evil always had to be presented as evil. It had to be overcome by good; it couldn’t just be left with loose ends. The bad guys couldn’t get away.

Just the fact that moral censorship regulations existed in Hollywood at one point is actually kind of amazing — whereas now, I mean, Steven Spielberg just made a movie where he said you will question the existence of God.

We almost need a parallel society — and we’ve talked about this: actually having parallel entertainment. Likening it to “Fabiola,” those early Christians almost had to live underground and have a parallel society. And history repeats itself. Things have gotten so base, so disgusting, so low.

FR: Can you tell me about your streaming platform?

It started as a subscription-based app, and all of our films were there. Unfortunately, we found that the phone thing wasn’t clicking with our audience. So then we transitioned to a streaming service more like Pure Flix, and it has taken off really well. It’s been one of the most successful things we’ve done, so we’re really excited about it.

We’ve also got other filmmakers with films of a similar quality as ours, and they’re able to put their films on our streaming service, so we can share them with new audiences.

It’s just $24 a year, and there are around 40 films available.

RELATED: ‘The Faithful’ puts focus on Bible’s female figures

Fox Broadcasting Company

FR: Could you tell us a little more about “Fabiola” and what inspired you to make it?

MB: So the story is set during the last Christian persecution, and Fabiola is a pagan Roman noblewoman — kind of a philosophical pagan. But when her dad dies, she has to wrangle with this thought of, “Do I believe in an afterlife? What is the point of existence?” She’s trying to answer these questions that didn’t really come up before, and in her search, she gathers around her many smart, content people who she later learns are Christians.

And they are executed. Persecuted and martyred. And she has to decide whether she’s going to continue to play this happy pagan or she’s going to take the stand and become a Christian — even though it might cost her her life. Several well-beloved Catholic saints like St. Sebastian and St. Agnes are portrayed and weaved into the story as well.

It’s based on a novel we read [in school], and when I read it, I thought, “When we’re ready to make an epic, this is going to be our dream project.” And so here we are working on it. We’ve filmed three scenes so far. Two will be in the end film. We’re working on completing our fundraising this year. Then we’ll be filming in 2027 and set to release in the fall of 2028.

FR: What advice would you give to homeschoolers — or any young person — who’s looking to build a business of their own?

MB: I would say just do it. Get started. Just start it, and you’ll figure it out as you go along. But definitely don’t wait for a better time or a better situation or a better opportunity. If you have an idea and it’s a dream, get started right away. Don’t be scared.

I run into that even just among people my own age. Some people are like, “I want to go to film school and then I’ll start making movies.” I made my first movie on an iPad. Just do it. With what you’ve got. Do it right now.

Industrious Family Films is currently fundraising for “Fabiola” to meet its production cost goal of $1.25 million. If you would like to support the film, you may contribute by heading to the official film website.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

​Entertainment, Filmmaking, Catholic, Christian living, Fabiola, Christian martyrs, Roman empire, Industrious family films, Mary bowen, Angel studios, Pure flix, Lifestyle, Interview 

A viral TikTok showing a daughter berating her mother over her support for Donald Trump has struck a chord with Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck — but not because of the political disagreement itself.

Instead, Glenn sees something larger at play.

“You made a wrong decision,” the daughter yells in the video. “And if you apologize to me for taking away my rights and the rights of everybody who can relate to me on these videos, then we would be fine. I told you in that text when you apologize for what you’ve done to this whole country, what you’ve had a hand in doing — you had a hand in this.”

“You and your people did this to my country — to all of our countries,” she added.

“That is the problem. You think it’s your country and there’s my way or the highway,” her mother responded.

“Murder is wrong! Racism is wrong! You know, he was sued over seven times for not serving black people,” the daughter yelled. “What do you have to say? What do you have to say to that?”

The daughter then called her mother “racist” and “hateful.”

“If there’s not a man in the house, then she needs to say, ‘Get out of the house. … You can have different opinions, but you are not going to speak to me that way in this house. Period,’” Glenn says.

“Show some respect. But we don’t do that any more. And the reason why is we’ve forgotten who we are. We’ve completely forgotten who we are. … We’ve lost our story as a nation; we’ve lost our story as a people,” he adds.

Glenn notes that this problem stems from people no longer knowing who they are.

“When you can actually be silent for 20 minutes and just be alone with your own thoughts, you’re comfortable with knowing who you are. But I don’t think most of us even know who we are any more or why we’re here or what life is really for,” he explains.

“We are beginning to think we’re all here for politics. We’re not here for politics, gang. We’re not. We’re not fighting politics. We are fighting the collective versus the individual,” he says. “And that is a God thing.”

Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Daughter, Donald trump, Identity, Mother, Politics, Tiktok, God, Glenn beck, Blazetv show 

The fiancée of a 45-year-old man said he accidentally bumped into a teen at the Minnesota State Fair on Saturday — after which he was punched, and then a gang of as many as a dozen “kicked and stomped” on his face.

As a result, the victim’s jaw reportedly was fractured in multiple places, which required emergency reconstructive jaw surgery, according to the Pioneer Press.

‘It was just an absolutely senseless act of violence.’

Heather Hoffman told the paper that her fiancé, Sammy Kimbrough, was walking with two friends when he accidentally bumped into another person, “which is inevitable when you’re in a crowd.”

The Pioneer Press said attendance at the Fair throughout Saturday was 198,842.

“This young man ended up getting into a verbal conversation with Sammy, becoming aggressive,” Hoffman added to the paper.

“That bump … from my fiancé to a teenager escalated,” Hoffman told WCCO-TV.

She told the Pioneer Press that “Sammy had tried to say ‘excuse me,’ ‘back up,’ when he then got punched.”

That’s when others “kicked and stomped on his face,” Hoffman added to the station.

She told the paper that the youth was with a group of about eight to 12 people, “and once one of them punched him hard enough and knocked him down, others came and stomped his face into the pavement when he was already unconscious, causing his jaw to be fractured in multiple places, ending up in emergency reconstructive jaw surgery.”

The Minnesota State Fair Police told the Pioneer Press that no one had been arrested as of Wednesday morning.

Kimbrough was released from the hospital after two days, the paper said, adding that his mouth is bandaged shut and — because one of the fractures in his jaw was so high — there are bands to hold his jaw in place with the other side where surgical plates were placed.

“Once that that fracture heals enough for him to open his mouth, he then will have very extensive dental surgery as he has a whole lot of broken, knocked-out and loose teeth …” Hoffman noted to the Pioneer Press.

Kimbrough works for a construction company as a mason tender and has insurance, the paper said, but Hoffman said she expects his medical bills will be expensive.

RELATED: Blaze News original: 19 nauseating times cowardly thugs ganged up on — and savagely beat up — lone victims

“He is still in excruciating pain,” Hoffman also told the paper.

“It was just an absolutely senseless act of violence.”

She added to the Pioneer Press that Kimbrough works summer security during Friday night car shows at Roddy’s Bar & Grill in North St. Paul and knows how to de-escalate situations, which is what he was trying to do Saturday.

Hoffman also told the paper that she wants arrests and prosecutions in the case; the Minnesota State Fair Police Department said anyone with information about the incident can contact them at 651-288-4500.

She added to the Pioneer Press that they go to the Fair every year and usually feel safe there, but Kimbrough has “already mentioned that he’s done with the Minnesota State Fair for the rest of his life.”

Roddy’s Bar & Grill is planning a raffle for Kimbrough on Oct. 10 to raise money for his medical bills and lost wages, the paper said, adding that Hoffman is a bartender at Neumann’s Bar & Grill in North St. Paul, where they’re collecting money.

“Many of you know Sammy and our amazing bartender Heather. They are wonderful people who are always there when anyone needs, right now they need us,” the bar posted on social media, according to the Pioneer Press.

“We have a donation bucket going behind the bar, and it will keep going as long as it needs to be!”

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​Physical attack, Minnesota, Brutal beating, Surgery, Crime 

In the book of Genesis, the rainbow symbolizes God’s covenant never again to destroy all living creatures in a global flood.

Then came the 1970s, when artist Gilbert Baker created the rainbow flag that became an enduring symbol of gay rights and, eventually, the broader LGBTQ movement.

Athletes reach audiences traditional religious institutions often struggle to reach, particularly young men.

Now some Christian athletes are beginning to reclaim the symbol — and something larger along with it.

A recent episode of A.J. Rice’s “Dangerous Laughter” podcast featured sports journalist Steve Eubanks discussing his new book, “Godball: How Athletes Are Saving Christianity.” Eubanks’ central argument is that professional and college athletes are increasingly using their platforms to express Christian faith openly and that this may reflect a broader religious revival, particularly among young men.

Athletes pray publicly, talk about Jesus in interviews, and use social media to communicate directly with fans. They no longer depend entirely on sportswriters or television networks to interpret what they believe.

That matters because athletes who embrace fashionable political causes are often celebrated, while those who express traditional Christian beliefs can encounter a different response.

Chicago Bulls guard Jaden Ivey learned that lesson this year. The Bulls waived him for “conduct detrimental to the team” after he criticized the NBA’s embrace of Pride Month and described LGBTQ celebration as “unrighteous.”

Jonathan Isaac drew criticism in 2020 when, citing his Christian faith, he stood for the national anthem and declined to wear a Black Lives Matter shirt. Tim Tebow became one of the most polarizing athletes in America more than a decade ago, largely because of how conspicuously he displayed his Christianity.

Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker faced enormous backlash after a 2024 commencement speech at Benedictine College defending traditional Catholic teaching on marriage, family, and gender roles.

RELATED: The WNBA’s identity crisis is bigger than basketball

Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Yet Eubanks argues that the cultural resistance may actually strengthen the phenomenon. Athletes reach audiences traditional religious institutions often struggle to reach, particularly young men. Sports reward discipline, sacrifice, teamwork, perseverance, delayed gratification, and submission to something larger than oneself — virtues naturally compatible with Christian teaching.

The most literal example of Christians reclaiming the rainbow came earlier this summer in San Francisco.

During the Giants’ Pride Night, pitchers Landen Roupp, J.T. Brubaker, and Ryan Walker wrote Bible verses on their rainbow-themed caps. Roupp cited Genesis 9:12-16 — the passage describing God’s covenant with Noah and the rainbow as its sign. A fourth pitcher, Sam Hentges, declined to wear the Pride cap altogether. MLB issued formal warnings to the three players who altered their caps.

The episode contained an irony almost too perfect to invent. The rainbow began in Scripture as a sign of God’s covenant. Christian ballplayers invoked that meaning and found themselves in trouble for altering a rainbow symbol adopted by the modern gay-rights movement.

Commissioner Rob Manfred later acknowledged another wrinkle: Giants players had not been properly informed that wearing the Pride caps was optional.

Eubanks sees these episodes as part of something larger.

There is evidence for at least part of his thesis. Gallup reported this year that the share of young American men who say religion is “very important” in their lives rose from 28% in 2022-23 to 42% in 2024-25. Young men also reached roughly the same level of religious service attendance as young women.

Sports may be one conduit for that renewed interest.

Consider Sophie Cunningham of the Indiana Fever. Cunningham has described herself as a “woman of God” and this summer publicly opposed transgender women competing in women’s sports, saying young girls “shouldn’t have to go against biological men.” The comments brought predictable backlash, but Cunningham refused to retreat.

RELATED: MLB’s Pride police strike out against Christian players

Blaze Media Illustration

That willingness to speak plainly is central to what Rice and Eubanks describe.

Young athletes do not need to become theologians. They need only refuse the increasingly strange proposition that Christianity belongs safely in private while every other moral and political creed may be displayed at center court, midfield, or home plate.

This is where “Godball” becomes more interesting than another collection of inspirational sports stories.

Athletes occupy an unusual position in American culture. They embody physical excellence, discipline, competition, loyalty, and sacrifice. Millions of young people watch them, imitate them, and listen when they speak.

If even a fraction of those athletes begin speaking openly about Christ, marriage, family, sex, sacrifice, and moral order, they create a cultural influence far beyond the stadium.

And perhaps the rainbow is the perfect place to begin.

Christians never needed permission to remember what it meant first.

Let the Godballers become the new heretics — and reclaim the rainbow.

​Athletes, Covenant, God, Baseball, Christians, Book of genesis, Harrison butker, Jaden ivey, Benedictine college, Pride night, Mlb, Nfl, Rob manfred, Sophie cunningham, Indiana fever, San francisco giants, Steve eubanks, Jonathan isaac, Opinion & analysis 

A man was arrested by San Francisco police after he allegedly picked a fight with the “wrong person” — a U.S. Marine veteran who is also a martial arts teacher.

The video of the altercation was captured at Crissy Field public park on Sunday by KRON-TV and showed a man brawling with James Hidalgo.

‘The guy was a built guy, and he knew that he could intimidate 90% of the people today. … He just ran into the wrong person.’

Hidalgo spoke to KRON and gave his side of the story, which began when he was simply walking his dog Argis at the beach at about 12:30 p.m.

“I saw this guy being loud; I didn’t pay no mind. I thought he was trying to get someone’s attention,” Hidalgo recalled.

“I said, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ Just kind of put my hands up and was like, ‘Hey, man, OK, and then he came in and tried to punch me,” he added.

The video shows the man punching at Hidalgo while his dog hops around them.

“So then I pinned him down to the ground until the cops got here,” Hidalgo said.

He held the man down for a few minutes while bystanders called 911 and the United States Park Police responded. They put both in handcuffs and questioned them.

“According to witnesses, the suspect physically assaulted a stranger. The suspect was arrested,” read a statement from the USPP.

The other man was arrested and taken away. Hidalgo said he understood the police had to follow through with their investigation.

“I was in the United States Marine Corps, so I understand that there’s protocol for all this, and you have to let the professionals deal with what they do,” he added.

The KRON camera crew was in the area for a different story and just happened to capture the fight as it began.

RELATED: San Francisco cops injured after ‘Trans March’ mob tries to stop them from arresting suspects

Hidalgo was checked by paramedics and released. He said he was glad he had to deal with the man rather than someone else.

“Imagine a nanny with her kid here. What is she going to do? The guy was a built guy, and he knew that he could intimidate 90% of the people today,” Hidalgo said. “He just ran into the wrong person

He said he plans on pressing charges against the suspect, who was not identified.

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​San francisco, Martial arts, Us marines, Viral video, California, Crime 

Quick — what’s the most ridiculous relic of the woke era, the one even the most liberal of liberals would probably rather forget?

For our money, it’s the land acknowledgment.

Sweeney caught holy heck last year when she dared to playfully blur the line between genes and jeans for American Eagle wear.

You remember those. When every award show or ribbon cutting had to start with someone pretending to feel bad about “stealing” the country from Native Americans (although not bad enough to give it back).

The ritual has mostly faded from view — aside from Billie Eilish’s recent cringeworthy attempt to bring it back.

And after that awkward moment, we’re all ready to move on, right?

Not Adam Carolla.

During his remarks at the first-ever GOP midterms convention, the comic brought down the house with a caustic callback to peak 2021:

“All right. I would like to start tonight with a land acknowledgment. … This is the greatest land in the history of mankind. And if that bothers you, you, your communist and hippie buddies, should get the hell off it!”

Too late? Not by our lights. Sorry, libs. Some things are so embarrassing you never get to live them down.

Whoopi 101

It’s like they never left.

“The View” is back and just as disassociated from reality as ever.

The ABC chat-fest returned from its late-summer vacation and proved the hosts hadn’t used the downtime to catch up on their reading … or thinking.

Never change, ladies.

Here’s Whoopi Goldberg recoiling in horror over Sen. John Fetterman making a guest appearance at this week’s GOP midterm convention. Seems she has other plans for the Pennsylvania moderate.

You could be, you know, helping us block this idea that we’re taking votes away from people. You could stand for that. That would be a good thing. You could stand for bringing back education, real education to our kids in the schools and fight for all the things that we have grown up with and make them better.

Goldberg followed this rant with a detailed, point-by-point criticism of Republican policy.

Just kidding!

As for “real education,” does she mean far-left indoctrination like Colorado high schoolers committing violence at anti-ICE protests? Sorry, Whoopi. That’s on your party …

RELATED: ‘Do me the biggest favor’: President Trump keeps the crowd laughing as he makes the case for Republicans

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Ghoulish groupthink

Few things are as insufferable as film festival “standing ovations.”

There’s nothing wrong with celebrating an outstanding performance, especially in a live setting like the theater. Once awards season hits, however, what brings an audience to its feet is more likely to be adherence to Hollywood groupthink than artistic excellence.

And they tend to go on and on. Remember: The longer you clap, the more virtue you signal.

Take the new documentary “NAZA,” which argues that Israeli forces are systematically targeting and killing innocent Palestinian civilians.

That’s one way to spin October 7.

The movie has earned rapturous reviews to date and is a likely Oscar contender in the Best Documentary field. The screening also sparked a record-setting 25-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival.

We’ll have to wait and see if the filmmakers turn their artistic sights on Iran next, a country where the government slaughtered tens of thousands of its own citizens …

Male call

Sydney Sweeney is making America male again.

The actress is back with a new, provocative ad campaign for Novig, a sports trading app. Sweeney uses a series of sports items to cover up select portions of her figure, all the while promoting a product that doesn’t go near politics.

Triggering.

Sweeney caught holy heck last year when she dared to playfully blur the line between genes and jeans for American Eagle wear.

She survived that cancel culture attack and is now shoving it in the left’s face. Here’s betting leftists won’t look away when the ad comes on their TV sets …

Old time rock ‘n’ roll

Rock stars behave themselves better than they ever did.

Remember all the tales of groupies gone wild, trashed hotel rooms, and other flights of debauchery? Now, rockers beg for forgiveness after stepping out on their spouses.

That’s progress, but the headlines are a little less fun to chew over.

Enter Van Halen. Or more specifically, Alex Van Halen and Sammy Hagar. The two once rocked the world after Hagar took over for David Lee Roth in the mid-1980s. These days, the rockers don’t see eye to eye.

“In my opinion, Sammy Hagar is a complete idiot,” Van Halen said when a Brazilian interviewer brought up Hagar’s 2011 memoir.

Hagar responded with the 2026 version of drunken fisticuffs at Whisky a Go Go: a stern Instagram post.

“This comment and post is so unnecessary at this time in our lives, but I guess the truth hurts sometimes. Peace already.”

Sounds like there’s only one way to settle this AARP-approved altercation: on the pickleball court.

​Adam carolla, Cancel culture, Hollywood, Land acknowledgment, Whoopi goldberg, Billie eilish, Gop midterm convention, Movies, Tv, Entertainment, Lifestyle, Toto recall, John fetterman 

On July 24, timed to WNBA All-Star Weekend, Mattel launched Atlanta Dream All-Star forward Angel Reese’s signature Barbie doll.

Reese, ironically nicknamed the “Bayou Barbie,” now has a miniature lookalike that wears a pink basketball uniform with her No. 5, signature headband, leg sleeve, plus miniature Reebok Angel Reese 1 sneakers.

All of this is well and good, but where BlazeTV’s Sara Gonzales draws the line is Reese’s comments about the why behind her Barbie doll.

While the three-time All-Star confessed to some selfish motives — “I told [Mattel] I really wanted to have a Barbie doll one day and to have a Barbie is like you got to be iconic,” she said in a press conference — she also justified the doll as representation.

When asked what kind of dolls she played with as a child, Reese answered, “I didn’t have a lot of dolls because I didn’t have dolls that really looked like me much. And that’s why I kind of really wanted to make sure this was super intentional.”

Sara immediately throws the flag.

Reese, she points out, was born in 2002 and is 24 years old — well after Mattel’s long push to put more than one kind of girl on the shelf.

“We looked it up and between 2002 and 2014, Mattel … released between 250 to 350 unique black Barbie dolls,” says Sara. “So I don’t know where Angel Reese was, but there were plenty of black Barbie dolls to choose from.”

“In fact, Barbie has been making black dolls since the ’60s. So I guess Angel Reese would rather just play the victim … than just play with your black dolls,” she adds.

Sara doesn’t dispute a young girl’s desire to have a doll that looks like her.

“I totally get it,” she acknowledges. “It’s just that [Reese] already had them.”

“As much as they complain that they’re underrepresented … when they do get representation, it’s never good enough, or they have to erase it,” she sighs.

To hear more, watch the episode above.

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

To enjoy more of Sara’s no-holds-barred takes on news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Sara gonzales, Angel reese, Wnba, Barbie, Mattel, Blazetv show