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Failed presidential candidate Al Gore claimed in his 2007 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech that the previous year, “as the Northern Hemisphere tilted away from the sun, scientists reported with unprecedented distress that the North Polar ice cap is ‘falling off a cliff.’ One study estimated that it could be completely gone during summer in less than 22 years.”

Two years later, the climate alarmist told the Copenhagen Climate Conference that new research indicated there was “a 75% chance that the entire north polar ice cap during some of the summer months could be completely ice free within the next five to seven years.”

It turns out Al Gore, whose fearmongering reportedly nets him $200,000 per speaking engagement, was not only wrong about a 20-foot rise in the global sea level “in the near future,” polar bear drownings, and the snows of Kilimanjaro, but also about the future of Arctic ice.

A paper published this month in the American Geophysical Union’s biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal Geophysical Research Letters indicated that over the past 20 years, “Arctic sea ice loss has slowed considerably, with no statistically significant decline in September sea ice area since 2005.”

This slowdown in the loss of Arctic sea ice was pronounced across all months of the year and could “plausibly” continue over the next decade.

The researchers behind the paper — from Columbia University and the University of Exeter — indicated that even with relatively high global temperatures, “climate modeling evidence suggests we should expect periods like this to occur somewhat frequently.”

RELATED: Netflix rebooting ‘Captain Planet’ to push pagan climate propaganda on new generation of kids

Photo by PABLO PORCIUNCULA/AFP via Getty Images

Natural factors, variations in ocean currents in particular, have a tremendous impact in this arena — accelerating, slowing, or reversing ice loss — and have apparently served in recent decades to offset the impact of relatively high global temperatures.

This natural corrective is all the more critical as humans reduce their emissions.

‘Now the [natural] variability has switched to largely cancelling out sea ice loss.’

While the authors take for granted that ice loss over the past 50 years has been driven in part by “human-induced climate change,” they acknowledged that there was actually significant Arctic sea ice expansion during at least one other period of increasing anthropogenic greenhouse emissions — from the 1940s to the 1970s.

An increase in industrial aerosol emissions from North America and Europe reportedly helped cool the Arctic in the mid-20th century. The very phase-out of exhaust — particularly sulfur emissions — from ships that some environmentalists advocated for appears to have “contributed to enhanced global and Arctic warming since 2020,” said the paper.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Program Office indicated that in 2020, new international shipping regulations “drastically” cut sulfur emissions from ships. The exhaust they previously created — reflective clouds called “ship tracks” — had long reflected sunlight back into space, thereby cooling the planet.

“It is surprising, when there is a current debate about whether global warming is accelerating, that we’re talking about a slowdown,” Mark England, the researcher who led the study, told the Guardian.

While willing to admit the alarmism of yesteryear was bunkum, England still was sure to tinge his forecast with pessimism.

RELATED: The climate cult is brainwashing your kids — and you’re paying for it

Photo by Sebnem Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images

“The good news is that 10 to 15 years ago when sea ice loss was accelerating, some people were talking about an ice-free Arctic before 2020,” said England. “But now the [natural] variability has switched to largely cancelling out sea ice loss. It has bought us a bit more time, but it is a temporary reprieve — when it ends, it isn’t good news.”

England emphasized the need to maintain a sense of urgency and alarm, stating, “Climate change is unequivocally real, human-driven, and continues to pose serious threats. The fundamental science and urgency for climate action remain unchanged.”

While Arctic ice loss has slowed, the Antarctic has been gaining ice in recent years.

According to a 2023 study published in the European Geosciences Union’s peer-reviewed journal the Cryosphere, the Antarctic ice shelf area grew by 2048.27 square miles between 2009 and 2019, gaining 661 gigatonnes of ice mass “with 18 ice shelves retreating and 16 larger shelves growing in area.”

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​Science, Arctic, Ice, Climate, Weather, Earth, Arctic ice, Ice sheets, Glaciers, Climate alarmism, Climate change, Global warming, Hoax, Politics 

The New York Times recently published an article attempting to recast the events of Jan. 6, 2021, through the lens of prosecutors who lost their jobs following President Donald Trump’s return to the Oval Office. The piece depicts these lawyers as martyrs in a political purge, forced to leave behind diplomas and personal items as though they were casualties of injustice.

Yet this framing fundamentally ignores the real devastation that flowed from the government’s handling of January 6: families destroyed, children traumatized, and ordinary Americans subjected to years of aggressive and politicized prosecution.

Prosecutors were not martyrs. They were the instruments of a system that made martyrs out of ordinary citizens.

Those of us who have worked directly with these families have seen firsthand the long-term impact of the Department of Justice’s unprecedented approach. History cannot be rewritten to cast prosecutors as victims while erasing the lives they targeted from public memory.

The forgotten victims

The most overlooked victims of January 6 have been the children of defendants. These young people endured traumatic government raids that remain etched into their memories. Many remember predawn operations when flash-bang devices exploded inside their homes.

They recall doors being battered down, glass shattering, and heavily armed agents entering their bedrooms. They watched their mothers cry, attempting to hold families together as fathers were taken away in handcuffs. In certain cases, both parents were removed, leaving children to wonder if they would ever see their families whole again.

This was not a foreign dictatorship. It happened in the United States. These tactics, carried out against families who posed no threat, inflicted deep and lasting harm on innocent children. Yet the prosecutors who initiated these cases are now presented as political casualties.

That is an inversion of reality. They were not martyrs. They were the instruments of a system that made martyrs out of ordinary citizens.

The tragedy of Matthew Perna

The case of Matthew Perna illustrates the human toll of this prosecutorial overreach. Perna entered the Capitol, recorded video, and left without committing violence or destruction. Nevertheless, prosecutors pursued severe charges against him, including the application of a “terrorism enhancement” that would have drastically increased his sentence. Media outlets amplified the narrative, branding him as a threat to the nation.

The weight of this combined persecution proved too much for Perna. Before sentencing, he took his own life. His story exposes both the cruelty of the government’s approach and the complicity of media institutions that reinforced it. Today, prosecutors involved in such cases seek sympathy for their professional losses, while families like Matthew’s continue to grieve irreparable personal losses.

An egregious double standard

The broader context highlights a political double standard. Democrats describe January 6 as one of the darkest days in American history. Yet the riots of 2020 — federal courthouses attacked, businesses destroyed, police assaulted, communities set ablaze — are routinely called “mostly peaceful.”

The murder of retired police captain David Dorn, killed on livestream while defending his community, generated little lasting outrage. Entire cities endured months of chaos, but few faced consequences comparable to the sweeping prosecutions unleashed against January 6 participants. Where were the terrorism enhancements then? Where were the years-long investigations, the solitary confinement, the relentless media coverage?

The truth is straightforward: Unrest associated with the political left is minimized or excused. Protests involving Trump supporters are magnified into terrorism. This inconsistency erodes public trust in equal justice under the law.

A critical course correction

Against this backdrop, the decisions by Attorney General Pam Bondi and special prosecutor Ed Martin should be recognized for what they are: efforts to restore fairness to a corrupt system. Bondi took decisive action to remove prosecutors who had shown an inability to separate justice from politics.

Martin, who himself witnessed the events of January 6, understood that Americans cannot be criminalized simply for supporting a particular political movement. His leadership in ending the ongoing persecution of defendants brought accountability to those who had turned prosecutions into a political weapon.

The New York Times calls this a “purge.” A more accurate description is a course correction — an attempt to re-establish integrity in the Department of Justice and reaffirm that justice must not serve partisan ends.

The true victims of January 6 were not federal prosecutors. They were the more than 1,500 Americans caught in the dragnet of politicized charges. They were the families left bankrupt and broken. They were the children who still wake with nightmares of flash-bangs and broken doors. They were people like Matthew Perna, who lost hope under the crushing weight of unjust treatment.

They were also President Trump, the first lady, their son Barron, and allies who endured years of politicized investigations, predawn raids, tanks in neighborhoods, and heavily armed SWAT teams at their doors. These were the consequences of a government determined to use its vast powers not against criminals, but against political opponents.

Setting history straight

We must ensure that these truths are not forgotten. We cannot allow prosecutors to rewrite history by presenting themselves as martyrs. We cannot permit the suffering of families, the cries of children separated from their parents, or the suicide of Matthew Perna to be erased from public consciousness.

RELATED: Exclusive: Justice for victim’s severe injuries is elusive after he was shot point-blank by police on Jan. 6

Photo by Suspended Image via Getty Images

Justice in America must return to its foundational principle: fairness for all citizens, regardless of political affiliation. Until that principle is restored, we must continue to speak out and to stand with those whose lives were devastated by the misuse of government power.

This is not about revenge. It is about truth. It is not about politics. It is about families. And it is not about power. It is about ensuring that no American child ever again experiences the terror of waking to flash-bangs, shattered doors, and the loss of their parents over politics.

​Opinion & analysis, Opinion, Jan 6, January 6, January 6 victims, January 6th capitol riot, Jan 6 riot, Truth about jan 6, Pardons, Matthew perna, Department of justice, Justice department, Weaponized justice, Prosecutors, Victims 

Peter Thiel might be the biggest head-scratcher in Silicon Valley. He’s a billionaire, a Trump-Vance-supporting Republican, a married gay man, a transhumanism enthusiast, and … drum roll … a “Christian.”

He’s publicly declared that Christianity is true and that Christ is the best role model; he’s deeply involved in various Christian organizations; and yet he’s openly admitted his affinity for transhumanism, believing that the future of humanity is a world where man conquers mortality by fusing with technology. It’s a twisted, human-centric version of the transformed, glorified body Christians are promised after death, says BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey.

Recently Thiel has been in the headlines for his seminars on the Antichrist, which are a bizarre blend of theology and his controversial views on technology and transhumanism. In short, Thiel speculates that Revelation’s beast will be deeply connected to artificial intelligence. Whether a human leveraging AI for control, a pseudo-human system, or an AI-driven global order, Thiel is confident that artificial intelligence will play a key role in the end times.

And he’s not the first to suggest this. The idea that AI and the Antichrist are irrevocably connected — and maybe even synonymous — is a theory that has gained traction in recent years. When you think about it, the proposition isn’t all that crazy. AI’s capacity for global control, deception, economic dominance through digital systems, and false promises of salvation uncannily mirrors Revelation’s description of the Antichrist’s deceptive, totalitarian rule.

Despite Thiel’s theological waywardness, is there merit to his Antichrist warnings? Should we take him seriously?

BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey dove into Thiel’s Antichrist theory on a recent episode of “Relatable.” Her conclusion? It’s complicated.

In an interview with New York Times opinion columnist Ross Douthat on the “Interesting Times” podcast, Thiel described the Antichrist as “a potential systemic threat rather than a literal individual, suggesting it could manifest as a one-world totalitarian state that promises peace and safety but suppresses freedom,” says Allie.

He explained that the Antichrist might weaponize fearmongering about technology’s dangers, like rogue AI, to trick people into accepting a powerful, centralized (likely AI-enabled) authority. In other words, he (or it) would convince the globe that the only way to avoid technology-induced apocalyptic scenarios and ensure safety and peace for all is to consolidate power, including technological power, under a global regime.

But some have noticed a strange incongruence. Thiel co-founded Palantir Technologies, which develops and produces the very types of technology he claims the Antichrist could wield against humanity.

Douthat called him out on this contradiction in their interview. “You’re an investor in AI; you’re deeply invested in Palantir, in military technology, in technologies of surveillance, in technologies of warfare, and so on, right? And it just seems to me that when you tell me a story about the Antichrist coming to power and using the fear of technological change to sort of impose order on the world, I feel like that Antichrist would maybe be using the tools that you are building,” he said.

Another glaring contradiction is Thiel’s support for transhumanism — the merging of man and machine to achieve immortality. This is, again, the very type of technology he warns could be monopolized and weaponized by the Antichrist.

What gives?

When Allie heard Thiel’s Antichrist theory, her red flag immediately went up. Thiel’s prediction seems to suggest that because the Antichrist will promote “technological stagnation” in order to gather power to himself, the best way to prevent such a scenario is to continue investing and advancing technology — even merging with it.

“It is interesting and maybe questionable that someone who makes a lot of money through technology would say that stopping technological innovation is actually going to, you know, usher in the Antichrist,” she says.

But more importantly, does Thiel’s prediction square with scripture’s accounts of the Antichrist?

The Bible outlines the Antichrist as a “man of lawlessness” (2 Thessalonians 2) who will exercise authority over “every tribe and people and language and nation” (Revelation 13) and eventually declare himself God. He is the evil harbinger of Christ’s second coming.

“So the debate that Peter Thiel is wading into is what is the means by which this person will be able to convince so many people that he is powerful and needs to have all this authority,” says Allie.

“Is it possible that this person uses the threat and the fear of AI-powered Armageddon to gain his power? I would say that is possible. … But is he some kind of metaphor for technological stagnation or climate change or whatever it is? No. [The Antichrist] is an actual man,” she explains.

“I do think it’s interesting that Peter Thiel is talking about something like this. I would recommend that he and every single person get right with God.”

To hear more on Thiel’s Antichrist theories and Allie’s thorough analysis, watch the episode above.

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Relatable, Allie beth stuckey, Relatable with allie beth stuckey, Blazetv, Blaze media, Peter thiel, Antichrist, End times, Revelation, Christianity 

Geo-engineering — the various processes by which the weather is intentionally altered — is a growing concern, not just here in America but across the globe. Many wonder if practices like cloud seeding, where silver iodide or dry ice is dispersed into clouds to induce precipitation, or solar radiation management, where aluminum oxides or sulfates are injected into the stratosphere to reflect sunlight and reduce global temperatures, risks meddling with cosmic forces we can’t even begin to fully realize.

“Geo-engineering really scares me because it seems like we’re starting to play God,” says Glenn Beck.

Even more worrisome is the fact that the Environmental Protection Agency has historically been minimally involved in geo-engineering, leaving it up to private companies and researchers to experiment with delicate weather patterns that potentially impact the entire globe. Far more concerned with imposing strict regulations that stifle economic growth but do little to actually protect the environment, the EPA has largely ignored the growing list of consequences of geo-engineering – like acid rain, ozone depletion, and ecosystem disruption.

But that’s all changing under Trump EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin — a man Glenn says is “killing it.” He is taking charge of the agency in ways we’ve never seen before. Unlike former EPA chiefs, who had limited engagement with geo-engineering, Zeldin has prioritized transparency by launching new online resources to address public concerns about geo-engineering and contrails, while actively investigating private activities of geo-engineering companies.

“I agree with your concern just with the idea of playing God,” he told Glenn on a recent episode of “The Glenn Beck Program.”

“It’s not like [geo-engineering] is thoroughly studied,” “approved,” “trusted,” or “vetted,” he says.

The vast majority of geo-engineering practices, he explains, are spearheaded by “people who just want to do it on their own,” so they lobby for “someone to hand over a billion dollars” so they can “go dump a whole bunch of sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere.”

“No, that doesn’t sound good; it doesn’t sound right; and it shouldn’t happen,” says Zeldin.

Glenn remembers fearmongering about “global cooling” when he was a child. “There were these scientists that said, ‘We need to dump coal ash on the polar caps because that will attract the heat and stop the impending ice age that was coming,”’ he recounts. “Can you imagine if we had done that? What a stupid idea.”

Today, however, global warming is what the majority of “experts” fret about, and that’s what geo-engineering primarily aims to mitigate.

Except global warming — at least the assumption that the planet is catapulting towards combustion — has been proven overblown. Zeldin reflects on how countless predictions about the planet’s demise have failed to come true. “Six years ago, AOC was saying that in 12 years the planet was going to end. … Six years later, obviously that’s not going to happen,” he says.

The days of writing policy based on the doomsday predictions of “experts” are over under Zeldin’s EPA. The Obama administration’s Endangerment Finding that declared greenhouse gases a threat to public health, resulting in over $1 trillion spent on rigid and economically disastrous climate regulations under the Clean Air Act, is the shameful past Zeldin is moving away from.

“When you’re talking about trillions of dollars of federal policy coming out, it should be something decided by Congress. There should be a debate and a vote of the elected representatives of the American people instead of some bureaucrat at some agency deciding to oppose trillions of dollars of regulation on their own,” he tells Glenn.

“In that 2009 Endangerment Finding, there were a whole bunch of different references to interpreting how the law doesn’t prevent [agencies] from doing something, so therefore, they must be allowed to do it. That’s not how I’m going to operate,” he vows. “I will just follow the plain reading, the plain text of the law, and if Congress wants to change the law, then we’ll follow whatever that change is. That is our job.”

To hear more about what the EPA is doing under Zeldin’s leadership, watch the full interview above.

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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.

​The glenn beck podcast, Glenn beck, Blazetv, Blaze media, Lee zeldin, Epa, Geoengineering, Cloud seeding, Solar radiation management, The glenn beck program 

In recent years, Republicans have enjoyed sweeping victories in the red state of Iowa, most recently with President Donald Trump’s 13-point statewide victory in the 2024 presidential election. However, there are warning signs that this monumental lead is beginning to erode.

For the first time in three years, Democrats managed to break the Republicans’ supermajority after Iowa Democrat Catelin Drey defeated Republican Christopher Prosch for an open state Senate seat on Tuesday. Drey won the district by a jaw-dropping 10 points, which is a dramatic departure from Trump’s 11-point victory in the district back in November.

‘If it can happen in Woodbury County, Iowa, this can happen anywhere in America.’

Steve Deace, a native Iowan and host of the “Steve Deace Show” on BlazeTV, cautioned that this shift is part of a growing political phenomenon in the Hawkeye State that poses a real threat to Republican leadership.

“This is not an isolated incident,” Deace told Blaze News. “They have been doing this to us for several years now. If they can do it in Woodbury County, which Trump won by 23 points in 2024, then they can pretty much do it absolutely everywhere.”

RELATED: Ex-Clinton adviser warns Democrats of dire midterm season: ‘Elections have consequences’

Photo by Rebecca S. Gratz for the Washington Post via Getty Images

Normally, Republicans easily sail to victory in Western Iowa, Deace said. They could even nominate “a ham sandwich for Congress” and it would win because “there is no blue area in that part of the state.” But now that Trump will no longer appear on the ballot, Republicans may have a tougher time.

“What we have seen as a trend line for the last several years now is that if Trump is not on the ballot, our people just don’t turn out. That’s just a fact.”

After Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds announced she would not seek re-election, her imminent departure opened the playing field to a slew of candidates. Notably, Reynolds endorsed Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida’s presidential bid in 2023.

On the Democratic side, former Assistant Attorney General Rob Sand has pitched himself as a gun-toting moderate in an effort to capture some of the Republican vote. On the Republican side, Congressman Randy Feenstra has been considered the front-runner, but Deace says he “excites no one.”

“This is just a complete indictment of the complacency of Republicans,” Deace told Blaze News. “There’s energy on the other side.”

RELATED: The brutal reality Democrats can’t ignore

Photo by Caroline Brehman/CQ Roll Call

One source familiar with Iowa’s ongoing political battles told Blaze News that the GOP’s inability to put forward an energizing candidate is the product of a perfect political storm.

Sand has focused much of his campaign on improving water quality and advocating against the CO2 pipeline projects, echoing the concerns of landowners and farmers. In doing so, Sand and other Democrats have made an effort to make Republicans synonymous with the pipeline, furthering the apparent divide between the GOP candidates and their constituents.

“There is a lot of grassroots to see [Feenstra] as the pipeline guy. … There’s just not excitement for candidates right now,” the source told Blaze News.

“Our people are just not motivated, by and large, to vote for the Republican Party brand as a brand anymore,” Deace told Blaze News. “And so you’ve got to prove to them you’re worth their time and effort for them to show up. And I think that this is a wake-up call for the next midterm.”

RELATED: Defeated Democrat senator attempts a long-shot political comeback: ‘Voters will reject him again’

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The source, who was granted anonymity to speak freely about Iowa’s political landscape, said the disconnect between the conservative base and the lackluster candidates is ultimately because of external influence in politics.

“There is a little fatigue,” the source told Blaze News. “There are a lot of state senators and state reps who are very good, very conservative, if not the most conservative in the country overall. We’re so conservative that the moderates that are in there get more conservative voting records because they just don’t want to take the flak.”

“But there’s a money factor in play,” the source added, speaking about lawmakers who ascend to national politics. “There’s a reason a bunch of these guys don’t want to go to D.C. They want to stay home. They got a farm to worry about.”

“There are danger signs,” Deace told Blaze News. “Because if it can happen in Woodbury County, Iowa, this can happen anywhere in America.”

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​Ron desantis, Donald trump, Kim reynolds, Rob sand, Randy feenstra, Steve deace, Steve deace show, Iowa, Swing state, Blue state, Red state, Republicans, Democrats, Christopher prosch, Catelin drey, Pipelines, Woodbury county, Politics 

Happy Sept. 1 to all — even the haters and losers in corporate media who, truth be told, haven’t had a great year.

That doesn’t mean no one’s winning. On Wednesday, One America News announced that Google’s YouTube TV will now carry the channel in its basic package. The deal comes just three years after OAN was dropped by Verizon and DirecTV under pressure from advertisers, activist groups, rising costs, and a political climate openly hostile to conservative media.

The cracks in profits and the resulting hard decisions and pivots are everywhere to see.

Meanwhile, the corporate press keeps sinking. President Donald Trump, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, collapsing public trust, and brutal market shifts have combined into a perfect storm for the old media guard. Line up the casualties, and the wreckage speaks for itself.

Carr set the tone just weeks into the new administration with a Feb. 11 letter to Comcast and NBCUniversal alerting them that they’re under investigation to “ensure your companies are not promoting invidious forms of discrimination in violation of FCC regulations and civil rights laws.”

FCC rules under the Communications Act have long barred companies from discriminating on race, sex, religion, or age. But this marked the first time an administration used those tools against woke corporate culture. It was a warning shot heard around the world.

The shake-up didn’t stop there. On Feb. 24, MSNBC cut ties with Joy Reid, its longtime host known for race-baiting and peddling conspiracy theories.

Days later, on Feb. 26, Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos announced a major shift in editorial policy: The paper would now “focus on personal liberties and free markets.” The move looked less like patriotism and more like a calculation to protect Bezos’ global business interests. Still, it stunned the Post’s anti-Trump staff, many of whom saw it as surrender to the country’s new conservative mood. Opinion editor David Shipley quit in protest almost immediately.

Then, a month later on March 27, Carr kicked off the second week of spring by sending another letter warning of an investigation into DEI policies violating civil rights law — this time to Disney and ABC.

Spring capped off on June 8, when ABC senior national correspondent Terry Moran fired off a middle-of-the-night rant about how White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller’s “hatreds are his spiritual nourishment.” He wrote the post just over a week after he interviewed the president in the Oval Office.

It’s the kind of unhinged post that would have been standard fare during Trump’s first term, but times had changed, and ABC fired him. Moran stands by his characterization of Miller. He’s now “an independent journalist.”

By summer, the hits to corporate media were coming harder and faster. On July 2, CBS announced it was settling with Trump over deceptive edits to its “60 Minutes” campaign-trail interview with Vice President Kamala Harris.

The $16 million settlement mirrored ABC’s settlement with Trump seven months prior, paying approximately $1 million to cover Trump’s legal fees, with the rest going to the future Trump presidential library. It also included an agreement to release future, unedited transcripts of presidential interviews.

During the spring, as part of the blowback over the Harris interview, CBS had hired a producer to oversee “sensitive” content. That oversight led to the April 22 resignation of longtime “60 Minutes” producer Bill Owens.

Then on July 17, CBS announced it would not renew Stephen Colbert’s contract. It was the end of the 32-year run for “The Late Show” and a dismal result of how snide and political it had become since David Letterman’s departure from the show a decade ago.

The very next day, on July 18, the Senate passed the White House’s rescission package, ending taxpayer money to PBS and NPR. The hyper-Democratic television and radio networks had been conservative targets for decades; now, they were on their own. Four days later, on July 22, NPR’s newsroom chief, Edith Chapin, announced she was leaving the company.

Then it was back to business. On July 24, the FCC approved a Paramount Global/CBS-Skydance Media merger. The deal came complete with a commitment to eliminate DEI and to install an ombudsman over CBS News. These moves were a direct result of the FCC’s push to actually enforce the Communications Act’s public interest standard, which requires balanced viewpoints for companies that want to use public spectrum.

Biden-appointed FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez was furious. Monitoring for bias, she claimed, is a terrible threat to press freedom.

On July 31, it was back to the Washington Post. That day, “fact-checker” Glenn Kessler, columnist Jonathan Capehart, and dozens of other Democrat journalists accepted the struggling paper’s proposed buyout package.

The following day, Aug. 1, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced it would shut down under the business pressures caused by the end of taxpayer funding.

All that, and the year is far from over. The cracks in profits and the resulting hard decisions and pivots are everywhere to see. When you combine the pressures of declining profits and a rightly distrustful public with an administration interested in using the tools of the American civil rights regime to actually protect all classes of Americans, it’s a near-perfect storm.

Gentlemen, it’s time to reap the whirlwind.

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The floundering of the Democratic Party is becoming impossible to ignore while Republicans continue to make positive gains in swing states. At least one mainstream media outlet is now admitting that Democrats are in trouble ahead of the 2026 midterms, and the numbers appear to prove it.

CNN data analyst Harry Enten broke down the major gains in voter registration in key swing states for Republicans.

‘The Democratic brand is in about as good a position as the Cracker Barrel rebrand.’

Looking at the data from Arizona, Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania, Enten said, “The Republican Party is in their best position at this point in the cycle since at least 2005, in all four of these key battleground states.”

Enten showed that Arizona had a three-point gain in Republican voter registration; Nevada had a six-point gain. Strikingly, North Carolina and Pennsylvania both had an eight-point gain in Republican voter registration.

RELATED: Trump DOJ targets North Carolina for shaky voter registration

Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

“Are there any bright spots for Democrats? Have they picked up any ground since January 1 in terms of party registration? I’m not seeing it in these key swing states, these four key swing states. That’s what we’re talking about: party registration margin gain since January 1, 2025.”

“The Democratic brand is in about as good a position as the Cracker Barrel rebrand,” he added.

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​Politics, Harry enten, Voter registration, Gop, Republicans, 2026 midterms, Swing states, Cracker barrel 

A recent Gallup poll has revealed that alcohol consumption in the United States has reached a record low in nearly a century, with only 54% of the country reporting that they drink.

The data is consistent with other research, including Monitoring the Future’s national substance abuse poll that found a drastically reduced interest in alcohol among students from 1975 to 2025.

The subcategories of the Gallup poll revealed several bits of interesting information:

Women were more likely to quit drinking than men, with an 11% drop in drinking rates since 2023, compared to a 5% drop in men.White adults were more likely to quit drinking than adults of color, with an 11% drop in drinking rates since 2023, compared to a 2% drop in people of color. From 2023 to 2025, the largest declines in drinking rates were among people earning less than $40,000 per year, with a 14% drop, and those earning $100,000 or more per year, with a 13% drop. In contrast, drinking rates among those earning between $40,000 and $99,999 fell by only 4%Younger generations were more likely to quit drinking than older generations, with a 9% drop in adults ages 18-34 and a 10% drop in adults ages 35-54, compared to a 5% drop in adults 55 and older. From 2023 to 2025, Republicans had a 19% drop in drinking rates, compared to a 6% drop among Independents and a 3% drop among Democrats.

It’s this latter statistic that Stu Burguiere, BlazeTV host of “Stu Does America,” is most fascinated by.

His theory is that conservatives’ massive drop in drinking rates has a lot to do with the pressure to take the experimental COVID-19 vaccine. The anti-vaccine resistance largely fueled MAHA and ignited a movement of distrust in health institutions. Couple that with the new studies coming out that challenge the outdated advice that moderate drinking is safe, maybe even healthy, and perhaps that’s why Republicans are ditching the bottle in droves.

Stu’s theory seems to be consistent with the subcategory of the Gallup poll that assessed people’s perception of alcohol’s impact on health. All three categories showed a rising trend in the percentage of people who believe alcohol is harmful to health. From 2001 to 2025, people who said alcohol makes no difference on health decreased from 46% to a record low of 37%; people who said alcohol is good for health decreased from 22% to a record low of 6%; and people who said alcohol is bad for health increased from 27% to a record high of 53%.

It was also found that young people ages 18-34 were more likely to view alcohol negatively, with 66% reporting it’s bad for health, compared to 50% of adults ages 35-54 and 48% of adults ages 55 and up.

The poll also found that drinkers are consuming less alcohol. The report found that the average number of drinks per week has fallen to 2.8 — the lowest rate since 1996.

Stu is encouraged by these statistics. Not only is this good news for public health, it’s also good news for the culture when it comes to things like graduation rates, unwanted pregnancies, domestic violence, and reduced DUIs and accidents.

“The fact that kids and young adults are choosing to drink less, having fewer drinks, is a real positive thing,” he says.

To hear more about the Gallup poll’s findings and more of Stu’s analysis, watch the episode above.

Want more from Stu?

To enjoy more of Stu’s lethal wit, wisdom, and mockery, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Stu does america, Stu burguiere, Blazetv, Blaze media, Gallup poll, Alcohol, Alcohol rates 

Labor Day didn’t begin as a noble tribute to American workers. It began as a negotiation with ideological terrorists.

In the late 1800s, factory and mine conditions were brutal. Workers endured 12-to-15-hour days, often seven days a week, in filthy, dangerous environments. Wages were low, injuries went uncompensated, and benefits didn’t exist. Out of desperation, Americans turned to labor unions. Basic protections had to be fought for because none were guaranteed.

Labor Day wasn’t born out of gratitude. It was a political payoff to Marxist radicals who set trains ablaze and threatened national stability.

That era marked a seismic shift — much like today. The Industrial Revolution, like our current digital and political upheaval, left millions behind. And wherever people get left behind, Marxists see an opening.

A revolutionary wedge

This was Marxism’s moment.

Economic suffering created fertile ground for revolutionary agitation. Marxists, socialists, and anarchists stepped in to stoke class resentment. Their goal was to turn the downtrodden into a revolutionary class, tear down the existing system, and redistribute wealth by force.

Among the most influential agitators was Peter J. McGuire, a devout Irish Marxist from New York. In 1874, he co-founded the Social Democratic Workingmens Party of North America, the first Marxist political party in the United States. He was also a vice president of the American Federation of Labor, which would become the most powerful union in America.

McGuire’s mission wasn’t hidden. He wanted to transform the U.S. into a socialist nation through labor unions.

That mission soon found a useful symbol.

In the 1880s, labor leaders in Toronto invited McGuire to attend their annual labor festival. Inspired, he returned to New York and launched a similar parade on Sept. 5 — chosen because it fell halfway between Independence Day and Thanksgiving.

The first parade drew over 30,000 marchers who skipped work to hear speeches about eight-hour workdays and the alleged promise of Marxism. The parade caught on across the country.

Negotiating with radicals

By 1894, Labor Day had been adopted by 30 states. But the federal government had yet to make it a national holiday. A major strike changed everything.

In Pullman, Illinois, home of the Pullman railroad car company, tensions exploded. The economy tanked. George Pullman laid off hundreds of workers and slashed wages for those who remained — yet refused to lower the rent on company-owned homes.

That injustice opened the door for Marxist agitators to mobilize.

Sympathetic railroad workers joined the strike. Riots broke out. Hundreds of railcars were torched. Mail service was disrupted. The nation’s rail system ground to a halt.

President Grover Cleveland — under pressure in a midterm election year — panicked. He sent 12,000 federal troops to Chicago. Two strikers were killed in the resulting clashes.

With the crisis spiraling and Democrats desperate to avoid political fallout, Cleveland struck a deal. Within six days of breaking the strike, Congress rushed through legislation making Labor Day a federal holiday.

It was the first of many concessions Democrats would make to organized labor in exchange for political power.

What we really celebrated

Labor Day wasn’t born out of gratitude. It was a political payoff to Marxist radicals who set trains ablaze and threatened national stability.

RELATED: Listen: Glenn explains the history of Labor Day – and why it matters for our future

Photo by Photo by Kean Collection/Getty Images

What we celebrated was a Canadian idea, brought to America by the founder of the American Socialist Party, endorsed by racially exclusionary unions, and made law by a president and Congress eager to save face.

It was the first of many bones thrown by the Democratic Party to union power brokers. And it marked the beginning of a long, costly compromise with ideologues who wanted to dismantle the American way of life — from the inside out.

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​Opinion & analysis, Opinion, Labor day, Labor day weekend, Labor day history, Labor unions, Pullman strike, Marxism, Peter j mcguire, Afl-cio, Big labor 

A stand-up comedian who worked for Ellen DeGeneres said success caused turmoil between DeGeneres and her staff.

Comedian Greg Fitzsimmons said he worked on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” in its first two years. The daytime talk show ran for 19 seasons from 2003 to 2022.

Fitzsimmons was hired as a writer and said he and other staff worked for about a month without DeGeneres before the show launched to figure out the upcoming format. Describing the feeling with the host as “good energy” with pranks and a ping-pong table, Fitzsimmons said that feeling changed when DeGeneres joined the production.

‘She’s a control freak.’

“She was rough. She was the ‘C-word,'” Fitzsimmons said on the “We Might Be Drunk” podcast.

Wave bye-bye

Fitzsimmons said he took on the role of audience “warm-up guy” because DeGeneres selected him, and he agreed because he is already a stand-up comedian and enjoyed the extra pay on top of his writer’s salary.

While Fitzsimmons told podcast hosts Mark Normand and Sam Morril he felt like a hack for doing cheesy material to warm up the crowd of “closeted Midwestern housewives,” the very first day he came out before DeGeneres, he set her off.

Fitzsimmons recalled telling the crowd, “I go, ‘All right, let’s do the wave.’ I said, ‘When I say banana, you guys just do the wave.'”

“So I say ‘banana,’ and they do the wave, and we all laugh. … Then [Ellen] comes out to do the monologue, and what I had forgotten was that the word ‘banana’ was in the monologue. And now she hasn’t seen the warm-up,” Fitzsimmons recalled.

“Oh no,” Normand reacted.

RELATED: Marc Maron, king of the ‘fascist’-fighting hacks

Victoria Sirakova/Rick Kern/Ulstein Bild Dtl./Getty Images

‘Control freak’

After DeGeneres attempted the monologue multiple times, with the crowd reacting to “banana” with the wave, Fitzsimmons said he finally went onto the stage to tell her what happened. This was the beginning of the end.

“She’s a control freak. So this is like the worst thing that could ever happen,” the comedian said about DeGeneres.

After he told her the reason the crowd was doing the wave, Fitzsimmons said DeGeneres “was f**king seething.”

“I thought, ‘All right, I’m getting fired for that.’ But I didn’t.”

Fitzsimmons said from that point on, “everything got weird,” and DeGeneres progressively got worse the more successful the show became.

“We started winning Emmys,” the 59-year-old said, noting that he won four of his own. However, it was those accolades that made DeGeneres “start to be mean.”

“She was back on top,” he explained.

Pitching fits

Host Morril asked for further examples of DeGeneres having an issue with her staff, and Fitzsimmons put it simply: If joke pitches were not in her wheelhouse, DeGeneres “looked at you like you had just f**king stabbed her puppy.”

RELATED: ‘You’re fired!’ Kimmel claims Trump is behind Colbert canning

Greg Fitzsimmons. Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for Comedy Central

Normand, an edgy comedian who has a rational fear of backlash, asked Fitzsimmons if he has been scared to talk about DeGeneres because of possible retaliation. Fitzsimmons said he really didn’t care.

The remarks come at a time when DeGeneres is facing years-old allegations about her treatment of staff.

The former host has not responded to the claims and is reportedly living in the United Kingdom after selling off her Santa Barbara home for a staggering $96 million.

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​Ellen, Television, Align, Woke, Tv show, Talk show, Hollywood, Entertainment 

When Baylor University returned a $1.65 million LGBTQ+ grant last month — one tied to DEI efforts and LGBTQ initiatives — it sent a ripple through the Christian world.

On the surface, it looked like a victory: a Christian institution backing down in the face of public pressure from believers. But as Allie Beth Stuckey and others rightly pointed out, this wasn’t a win born from spiritual conviction. It was a calculated retreat, one that exposed a much deeper problem than any single grant.

God’s word doesn’t change. His standards don’t evolve with the culture.

It exposed the growing danger of progressive Christianity.

This movement isn’t just a theological shift. It’s a spiritual counterfeit — one that keeps the language of Christianity but trades the authority of scripture for the approval of culture. And in my heart, I believe it’s more dangerous than atheism. At least an atheist is clear about what he believes. Progressive Christianity, on the other hand, deceives from the inside. It misleads under the banner of Jesus, offering a form of godliness but denying its power (2 Timothy 3:5).

And it’s costing people their salvation.

What is progressive Christianity, really?

Progressive Christianity isn’t just a more “open-minded” version of the faith — it’s a total redefinition of it.

At its core, progressive theology tends to:

Reject the authority and inerrancy of the Bible.Reinterpret sin through the lens of human experience.Emphasize love and inclusion over holiness and repentance.Downplay the exclusivity of Christ for salvation.

It often affirms the cultural moment over the eternal word. In this view, truth is flexible. God’s commands are negotiable. And Jesus becomes more of a moral teacher than a Savior who calls us to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him (Luke 9:23).

That’s not Christianity. That’s deception.

For anyone unfamiliar with this movement, here’s a biblical breakdown of progressive Christianity that explains how it departs from the true gospel.

Why progressive Christianity is more dangerous than atheism

It might sound extreme, but I truly believe this: Progressive Christianity is a greater threat to the gospel than atheism ever was.

Here’s why: Atheists make no pretense about their disbelief. You know where they stand. But progressive Christians use Christian language, scripture, and emotion to validate teachings that directly contradict the Bible. They redefine sin, affirm lifestyles that scripture calls us to repent from, and reduce salvation to a vague message of self-love.

In doing so, they lead others down a path that feels spiritual — but is ultimately separated from Christ.

RELATED: How JD Vance exposed the convenient theology of progressive Christians

PaoloGaetano/Getty Images Plus

Jesus warned about this kind of deception: “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves” (Matthew 7:15).

Progressive Christianity often wears that sheep’s clothing well. But it leaves people spiritually lost, thinking they’re saved while embracing a gospel that has no power to save.

Baylor is a symptom — not the disease

The Baylor grant controversy is just one example of a larger pattern. Christian institutions across America are slowly conforming to culture while keeping the appearance of faith.

Many churches and universities want the brand of Christianity without the cost of obedience.

Whether it’s “The Chosen” seemingly partnering with people that affirm sin, or seminaries quietly shifting their theological standards, the same compromise is at work: Affirming the feelings of man over the commands of God.

This isn’t about one issue. It’s about all of them. Whether it’s sexuality, gender, marriage, abortion, or even the exclusivity of the gospel, progressive Christianity molds faith to fit culture, rather than calling culture to repent and follow Christ.

A personal word on compassion and conviction

Let me say something from the heart: I have many friends who consider themselves Christians and also identify as gay. Some are even politically conservative. They love Jesus — or at least they think they do. But they’ve been taught, as I once believed, that God affirms their same-sex relationships as long as they’re “loving” and “monogamous.”

I understand the desire to reconcile faith and desire. I lived in that space for years, trying to convince myself that God was OK with what I wanted, as long as I was sincere.

But sincerity doesn’t save us. Jesus does. And He doesn’t just meet us where we are — He calls us to repentance, to holiness, to transformation. That’s not cruelty. That’s grace.

God always preserves a remnant. But it’s time to wake up.

So while I’m deeply compassionate toward those who are still working through these things, I cannot affirm a version of Christianity that leaves people where they are instead of leading them to the cross.

That’s what progressive Christianity does — and it’s why it’s so dangerous.

What the Bible really calls us to

True Christianity isn’t comfortable. It never has been.

Jesus said: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it” (Matthew 7:13).

The road of progressive Christianity is wide. It’s attractive. It’s affirming. But it does not save.

God’s word doesn’t change. His standards don’t evolve with the culture. The call to repentance, faith, and obedience is still the same today as it was 2,000 years ago. And anything less than that isn’t good news at all — it’s a lie with eternal consequences.

A call to courage

If you’re a believer who sees what’s happening in the church and feels discouraged — don’t be. God always preserves a remnant. But it’s time to wake up.

We cannot keep pretending that agreement equals love or that silence equals peace. True love tells the truth. And true peace only comes through Christ — not cultural affirmation.

The danger of progressive Christianity is that it speaks peace where there is no peace. It offers comfort without conviction and affirmation without transformation. That is not the gospel.

And it’s time we say so — with boldness, clarity, and compassion.

This article is adapted from an essay originally published at Arch Kennedy’s blog.

​Christianity, Christians, Jesus, Bible, Jesus christ, God, Progressivism, Progressive christianity, Faith 

Testicle tanning.

If you remember anything from Tucker Carlson’s 2022 documentary “The End of Men” — apart from my captivating monologue about the evils of “soy globalism” and why weak men make hard times — it must be the scene where an anonymous right-wing bodybuilder stands atop a rock in the desert, his arms and legs spread in the famous “Vitruvian Man” pose, a red-light machine both illuminating and obscuring his modesty.

If broscience is about anything, it’s experimenting for yourself and trusting what your body tells you.

It was a striking image, for sure, and the producers of the documentary wanted it to stand as the weirdest and most wonderful of all the weird and wonderful things we “broscientists” are doing to reclaim our masculinity and enhance our health. They also wanted to trigger libs.

And trigger libs they did.

Big D energy

The usual suspects — Joy Behar, Stephen Colbert, VICE magazine, George Takei, Cenk Uygur of “The Young Turks” — all lined up to bash Tucker and everyone else in the documentary for believing that shining red light on your testicles can make them produce more testosterone. How absurd, they cried. What nonsense!

But their hate only made us stronger. The infamous pose went mainstream: Even this year’s hit reboot of “The Naked Gun” got in a few pointed sight gags at its — and our — expense.

Yes, it all probably does seem absurd and nonsensical. But the truth is that it’s anything but.

First of all, we know light stimulates and governs important processes in the body. This is an established fact. Indubitable. The formation of vitamin D, for example, depends on the interaction of sunlight and cholesterol in the skin. People who don’t go out in the sun and don’t eat enough vitamin D in their diets get rickets, or, in less extreme cases, experience depressive symptoms and hormonal imbalances, including reduced testosterone.

Blue states

Exposure to light and darkness governs the body’s circadian rhythms — aka the body clock — which are responsible for regulating, among other things, the secretion of hormones and processes of growth and recovery. We evolved as diurnal beings, following the natural cycles of the day and night, for 200,000 years before electric lighting and screens came along.

This is why constant exposure to blue light, which tricks the body into thinking it’s experiencing perpetual day, is so incredibly bad for you. Rat studies suggest chronic blue-light exposure could even cause early puberty, which is another reason for parents out there to limit their children’s phone, computer, and TV use.

RELATED: All-natural tallow: Everything your skin needs — without the hormone disruptors

North Idaho Tallow Company

Boost below

A key study for the benefits of testicular exposure to light dates from 1939, when researchers found that exposure of the testes to UV light could increase urinary concentrations of a testosterone metabolite by “nearly 200%.” That’s no small boost.

Sadly, the early promise of this study was not seized upon. The science of testicular light exposure was stillborn, strangled in the crib — choose your metaphor.

Chick magnet

In the intervening decades, it was left to industrial farmers to pick up the torch. Industrial farmers are always looking for diabolical new ways to increase the growth of the animals they’re torturing. At some point, they decided to start experimenting with exposure to different frequencies of light, and they found some very interesting results. Chickens reared under constant blue light had higher testosterone levels, and birds reared under constant green light were significantly heavier with more muscle.

Of course, these are chicken and not human studies. Nevertheless, they illustrate an important principle: Different kinds of light can have different physiological effects.

In the red

Red light is now being treated as a serious object of study for its potential health benefits, although there aren’t any studies, as yet, of its effects on testosterone production, at least that I know of.

It’s being used to promote skin rejuvenation and anti-aging, for example. One study showed significantly improved skin complexion and texture, and reduced wrinkles, after 30-60 treatments. Red light appears to increase the body’s production of important skin proteins, including collagen, elastin, and hyaluronic acid. Red-light therapy also markedly reduces acne symptoms and accelerates wound-healing.

Red light also stimulates the growth of hair follicles and increases hair thickness and growth. Red-light combs and hats have already been approved for use by the FDA.

There’s even clinical evidence that red light shined on the brain improves cognitive function for dementia sufferers and people who have suffered mild traumatic brain injuries.

Don’t knock it

So consider this one a bit of a punt. I think there’s every reason to believe red-light therapy increases testosterone, especially when the light is directed at the testes.

I’ve got a red-light machine. I point it at my testes. It makes me feel good. I’m inclined to trust that feeling. If broscience is about anything, it’s experimenting for yourself and trusting what your body tells you.

There are a variety of red-light machines on the market, ranging from the reasonable to the very expensive. Top of the line are the JOOVV models, which cost up to thousands of dollars. (There are plenty of Chinese alternatives on Amazon at much lower prices, but I can’t vouch for their quality.)

One thing you can do, if you want to experiment, is pick up a red 250-watt chicken brooder bulb for less than $20 and put it in a lamp. Et voilà: You have a red-light machine. It won’t necessarily be set to the precise wavelengths being used in red-light therapy (630-660 nm for red light and 810-850 nm for near-infrared light), but there’s plenty of anecdotal evidence for the effectiveness of doing this.

Just don’t get the lamp too close. Trust me: There’s a fine line between tanning and toasting.

​Provisisions, Red light therapy, Testosterone, Hormones, Maha, Health, Men’s health, Make american healthy again 

The statistics are as sobering as they are predictable.

According to Family Research Council, between 2018 and 2024, there have been 1,384 documented hostile acts against churches in America, including vandalism, arson, fire bombings, bomb threats, and shootings. This represents an eight-fold increase from just five years prior.

The dragon is making war against those who refuse to bow to the spirit of the age.

But for those with eyes to see, this surge was never a matter of if but when.

When a culture systematically abandons the God who gave it birth, when it tears down every sacred institution and mocks every holy thing, the inevitable result is not peaceful co-existence with God’s family but war. And that war has now come, quite literally, to our church doors.

The most recent and egregious example comes from Seattle, where 28-year-old Lebron Givaun — a newlywed who had recently surrendered his life to Christ — was gunned down in broad daylight as he arrived for a young adult service at Pursuit Church. Two masked assailants fired over 30 rounds from illegally modified automatic weapons into a crowd of families gathering for a church barbecue.

Let that sink in: Criminals with a “code of honor” that Pastor Russell Johnson rightly noted wouldn’t “shoot a man in broad daylight while he is at a house of worship, while he is with his wife and kid,” have been replaced by something far more sinister. This was not random gang violence spilling over into a sacred space — this was a targeted assault on the very concept of sanctuary itself.

The symbolism could not be clearer. After the shooting, the attackers abandoned and torched their vehicle at another church’s parking lot to destroy the evidence. The scene sent its own grim message: No church is beyond our reach.

The pattern emerges

This Seattle shooting did not occur in a vacuum. Pursuit Church had already been marked for hostility after hosting a prayer rally defending biblical sexuality and the family. When Christians gathered lawfully to proclaim God’s design for marriage and gender, Seattle’s political establishment and radical activists united in opposition, with Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell (D) characterizing the prayer gathering as “far-right” extremism.

Here, we see the progression with crystal clarity.

First, biblical Christianity is redefined as political extremism. Then, those who hold to historic Christian faith are demonized as threats to public safety. And finally, violence against such “threats” becomes not only acceptable but morally justified.

The pattern repeats itself across blue America. In Washington state, Natasha O’Dell traveled from Texas to burn down the Seattle Laestadian Lutheran Church, causing over $3.2 million in damage. She had openly expressed her rage against churches and specifically planned to “burn a nearby church.” The same spirit that drove her to destruction drives the masked gunmen who spray bullets into church gatherings.

RELATED: Our churches are sitting ducks. Here’s how to fight back.

Blaze Media Illustration

This is not new but is part of a growing pattern. In the fall of 2022, a pro-abortion terrorist group, Jane’s Revenge, threatened to carry out a mass shooting at two churches in Nebraska, explicitly naming the use of “AR-14 rifles” if a local abortion ban passed.

These threats were a part of a wave of over 100 violent attacks on churches and pregnancy centers that have occurred since May 2022, when the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Dobbs case overturning Roe v. Wade was leaked.

And since May 2020, there have been at least 518 violent attacks on Catholic churches across 43 states, including arson, smashed statues, satanic graffiti, vandalism, and assault — often with explicitly anti-Catholic and pro-abortion messages.

The spiritual reality behind the statistics

Make no mistake: This is spiritual warfare manifesting in physical violence.

When the apostle Paul warned that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12), he was describing precisely what we witness today.

The enemy’s strategy is both ancient and obvious: If you cannot corrupt the church from within through compromise and false teaching, destroy it from without through intimidation and violence. John’s vision in Revelation 12:17 captures this perfectly: “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

This scenario is precisely what we see unfolding in Washington state and across America. The dragon is making war against those who refuse to bow to the spirit of the age, who insist on keeping God’s commandments regarding marriage, sexuality, and the sanctity of life and who maintain their testimony of Jesus Christ as the only way to salvation.

These attacks are not random acts of violence. They are manifestations of an ancient hatred directed specifically at those who bear the image of the One who crushed the serpent’s head.

A call to courage

This moment is not a time for the church to retreat into a defensive crouch, hoping that if we just keep our heads down and our convictions quiet, perhaps the storm will pass us by. That storm is not passing — it is intensifying. And our Lord Jesus never called His people to cower in the face of persecution; He called us to count it all joy (James 1:2).

To the pastors reading this: Your congregations need to hear the truth about what is happening, and they need to be prepared — spiritually, mentally, and yes, practically — for what may come. This is not fearmongering; this is biblical wisdom. “A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished” (Proverbs 22:3).

To the men in our churches: You have been called to be protectors and defenders, not just of your families but of your congregations. The times demand masculine courage rooted in biblical conviction. Study your scripture, strengthen your bodies, and prepare your minds. The sheep are under attack, and shepherds must be ready to confront the wolves.

These attacks confirm that the light of Christ still shines brightly enough to provoke the rage of those who love darkness rather than light.

To every believer: Understand that in a post-Christian culture, simply being Christian is increasingly viewed as an act of aggression. Your commitment to biblical truth — on marriage, sexuality, the sanctity of life, and the exclusivity of Christ — marks you as an enemy of the prevailing order.

This is not a cause for compromise; it is a call to clarity.

The government’s abdication

What makes this crisis particularly acute is the systematic abdication of civil government from its God-ordained role.

When Seattle’s mayor effectively takes sides with violent protesters against Christians exercising their First Amendment rights, when 75% of homicides in Seattle go unsolved, and when churches must hire private security because public officials will not protect houses of worship, the social contract has been shattered.

Scripture is clear that civil government exists “for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good” (1 Peter 2:14). When government instead punishes good and praises evil, it has forfeited its divine mandate and revealed itself as an instrument of the very chaos it was ordained to prevent.

This is why the principled Christian must simultaneously pray for governing authorities (1 Timothy 2:1-2) while refusing to grant them the ultimate allegiance that belongs to God alone. We submit to legitimate authority while recognizing that no earthly power can command us to deny our Lord or abandon His truth (Daniel 3:16-28).

Victory through faithfulness

The rise in anti-Christian violence is both a sign of our culture’s spiritual darkness and, paradoxically, evidence of the gospel’s power. The enemy does not waste ammunition on territory he already controls. These attacks confirm that the light of Christ still shines brightly enough to provoke the rage of those who love darkness rather than light.

Our response must be thoroughly biblical: We fear God and fear nothing else. We love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, even as we prepare to defend the innocent and vulnerable. We proclaim the truth in love, knowing that the same gospel, which is “the power of God unto salvation,” is also our only hope for cultural transformation.

As Jesus told us in John 16:33:

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.

The church has survived Roman persecution, Islamic conquest, and communist oppression. It will most certainly survive the tantrums of a dying secular culture that has mistaken temporary political power for ultimate authority.

Our King reigns, our victory is certain, and our duty is clear: to stand firm, speak truth, and trust the sovereignty of God, who works all things according to the counsel of His will.

The dragon may rage, but the Lamb has conquered. And in His strength, so shall we.

This article is adapted from an essay originally published at Liberty University’s Standing for Freedom Center.

​Church attacks, Christianity, Christians, Violence, God, Jesus christ, Jesus, Bible, American church, Faith 

In these wild political and cultural times, maybe we can allow ourselves a moment to “have some fun just for the fun of it.” Let’s take an off-beat look at Donald Trump’s 2024 comeback through the lens of Rube Goldberg, the cartoonist who turned everyday tasks into ridiculous, roundabout contraptions.

Goldberg, born July 4, 1883, became famous for illustrating convoluted chain reactions: a ball drops, a lever tilts, a cat jumps, and eventually, the napkin wipes your chin. His crazy spirit seems to have animated the past four years of American politics.

Take the self-operating napkin:

Wikipedia/Public domain

From the waning days of 2020 through November 2024, Democrats and their allies in the media and deep state plotted a simple game. They thought they could topple Trump like dominoes. Line up the indictments, knock over the first tile, and watch the rest fall neatly into place: Trump would give up, his supporters would grow weary, and one or more cases would stick, leaving him ineligible for office and likely even in prison.

Democrats trusted in dominoes. Reality looked more like a Goldberg machine — and divine providence.

The Democrats’ gambit did not pay off.

Instead of dominoes falling in precise order — A into B into C into D — events spun out in unpredictable ways. As I wrote in my 2023 book, “Obvious”:

Instead of things falling domino-style in precise order — A into B into C into D, and so on — life is more like A hitting G falling into C popping up H accelerating M … all the way to Z. We take an action, start the ball rolling, and through many unseen and sometimes quirky circumstances, incredible results materialize.

That’s what happened. Democrats didn’t set off dominoes. They set loose a Rube Goldberg machine.

Trump’s Goldberg moment

One of the strangest, and most powerful, moments came in Butler, Pennsylvania, in the summer of 2024. An assassin’s bullet nearly took Trump’s life. Instead, Trump sprang up and shouted, “Fight, fight, fight!” That image electrified the nation.

Add to that miraculous scene a wave through a McDonald’s drive-through window, a campaign dump truck plastered with Trump signs, even headlines about people “eating cats and dogs,” and you begin to see the Rube Goldberg contraption click along — until it delivered not chaos but victory.

Courtroom dramas fizzled. Character assassination failed. Even physical assassination attempts backfired. What Democrats had hoped would be Trump’s undoing became the very chain of events that returned him to power.

Rube Goldberg is spinning in his grave (perhaps literally).

The hand behind the chain reaction

Through another lens, the lesson is simpler: “All things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). What looks chaotic to us is under His direction. He arranges the pieces, sets events in motion, and brings about His will.

Democrats trusted in dominoes. Reality looked more like a Goldberg machine — and divine providence.

The game is not over. More events lie ahead, more unexpected turns in the chain reaction. The real question is not whether the machinery keeps moving but whether we will find ourselves on the winning side when the final result arrives.

Editor’s note: A version of this article appeared originally at American Thinker.

​Opinion & analysis, Donald trump, Butler pennsylvania, Assassination attempt, 2024 presidential election, Rube goldberg, Machines, Divine providence, Democrats, Fake news, Media bias 

Whether it’s enforcing discipline or training our children up in the gospel, being a godly parent is incredibly difficult.

But there’s one commandment that most moms and dads would agree is harder than them all: keeping God above our children.

We love our kids so much that we desperately want to have strong relationships with them. And this is a good thing. But it quickly becomes sinful when our desire to be close with our children becomes more important than obeying God.

“The ideal, of course, is to maintain forever a loving and a close relationship with your kids and obey the Lord. … That’s every Christian parent’s hope,” says Allie Beth Stuckey.

But “if one has to give — either it’s obey the Lord or get my child to like me … then you’ve got to go with obeying the Lord. That’s the call for the Christian. That’s part of the dying to self.”

Allie admits that one of the most challenging verses in scripture is Jesus’ words in Luke 14:26, where he says, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”

Jesus isn’t mincing words here: True discipleship requires prioritizing devotion to Him above even the closest family relationships — not literally hating our family but elevating our commitment to following Him above all.

“I do believe in trying to maintain those relationships [with our children] as much as possible, but if something has to give … it has to be obeying the Lord, who is kinder and better and wiser than we are,” Allie reiterates.

She criticizes Georgia Pastor Andy Stanley and other progressive-leaning church leaders for encouraging parents to be LGBTQ+-affirming when it comes to their children. She condemns his decision to invite a gay married couple to speak at his church on several occasions, misleading his congregation to disagree with God on what is sinful.

This is equivalent to telling parents to “reject God’s authority when it comes to sex, marriage, [and] gender,” Allie explains.

She points to the powerful testimony of Laura Perry, whom God redeemed from transgenderism, as an example of how godly parents should behave when their children stray. Laura’s parents “never compromised,” she says.

“And because of that, because they continued to tell her God’s word … while also being kind to her … she was brought back to a place of repentance.”

She brings up Rosaria Butterfield as another powerful example. “She’s the former queer theory professor, former lesbian, who tried every way she could 20-plus years ago to unite her homosexuality with her Christianity. But the Holy Spirit, because this is what he does, he wouldn’t let her do it,” she says.

Parents need to be reminded that Jesus, once he enters a person’s heart, “kills sin,” which He alone gets to define.

“He is a king taking dominion over your heart and your mind and your soul and, yes, your sexuality,” says Allie, “and this is just as true in all of us as it is true with people who wrestle with same-sex attraction or gender confusion” — even if those people are your own children.

To hear more of Allie’s commentary, watch the episode above.

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Relatable with allie beth stuckey, Relatable, Allie beth stuckey, Blazetv, Blaze media, Christianity, Progressive christians, Progressive christianity, Andy stanley 

A whistleblower has reportedly come forward to confirm claims that the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., has been manipulating crime data, a scandal that has led the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to launch its own investigation.

In August, President Donald Trump initiated a federal surge on D.C. streets, citing high crime rates despite the MPD reporting a decline.

‘The Committee has obtained credible, alarming information that MPD leadership falsified crime data to deceptively show a decline in violent crime in the District.’

While Trump faces backlash from critics for taking matters into his own hands, a scandal is unfolding regarding whether the police department manipulated the data to make it appear as though crime rates have been declining.

The D.C. Police Union has long accused the MPD of manipulating crime data. Following the union’s allegations, the department placed Police Commander Michael Pulliam on paid administrative leave in May. The department is investigating the claims.

“When our members respond to the scene of a felony offense where there is a victim reporting that a felony occurred, inevitably there will be a lieutenant or a captain that will show up on that scene and direct those members to take a report for a lesser offense,” Gregg Pemberton, the chairman of the D.C. Police Union, previously explained to WRC-TV.

“So instead of taking a report for a shooting or a stabbing or a carjacking, they will order that officer to take a report for a theft or an injured person to the hospital or a felony assault, which is not the same type of classification,” Pemberton added.

RELATED: DC police commander under investigation for allegedly manipulating crime stats

Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

The allegations of underreported crime trace back to 2020 when MPD Sergeant Charlotte Djossou shared internal documents from two cases with WUSA.

The first case involved an alleged assault in which a man was accused of slashing a woman’s face and neck with an unknown object. While the alleged attack could have been classified as an “assault with a dangerous weapon,” it was instead recorded as a “simple assault.” The first offense is a felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, while the second offense is a misdemeanor, carrying a maximum sentence of six months in jail.

The second case involved an incident where a man was accused of putting a knife to the neck of his partner. This also could have been classified as a felony assault; instead, it was reported as a misdemeanor “simple assault.”

The cases were not prosecuted, according to WUSA.

“It’s not OK to lie to the community about what’s going on around them,” Djossou told the news outlet during her 2020 interview. “That’s what I saw happening.”

“The commanders and the captains get promoted, and they get awards, when the crime stats are low,” she remarked.

Djossou filed a lawsuit against the MPD, claiming that she had faced retaliation for disclosing the alleged underreporting to her supervisors. The lawsuit was settled in June.

Djossou stated that reporters have contacted her since, but she “can’t talk to them until I retire” because she is “still a sergeant with the Metropolitan Police Department.”

RELATED: Fact-check: Legacy media’s bogus defense of DC’s safe-streets narrative crumbles under scrutiny

Photo by Andrew Leyden/Getty Images

The Oversight Committee announced on August 25 that it launched an investigation into allegations of manipulated crime stats, revealing that a whistleblower had come forward.

According to the whistleblower, the manipulation was “widespread,” directed by “senior MPD officials,” and potentially impacts all seven patrol districts.

The Oversight Committee sent a letter to the MPD the same day, requesting information to aid its investigation, including the unredacted settlement agreement between the MPD and Djossou.

The committee has requested transcribed interviews with Pulliam and the current MPD commanders for all seven districts.

“Building on President Trump’s successful efforts to restore law and order in the District of Columbia, the House Oversight Committee is carrying out its constitutional duty to oversee D.C. affairs and ensure our nation’s capital is safe for all Americans,” Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) told Blaze News.

“The Committee has obtained credible, alarming information that MPD leadership falsified crime data to deceptively show a decline in violent crime in the District. MPD has a duty under federal law to accurately report crime to the public, and the Committee is now taking action to investigate these allegations and ensure the safety of D.C. residents and visitors is never compromised,” Comer stated.

The MPD did not respond to a request for comment from WUSA.

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​News, Washington d.c., Washington dc, D.c., Dc, House committee on oversight and government reform, House oversight committee, Oversight committee, James comer, Donald trump, Trump, Trump administration, Trump admin, Metropolitan police department, Mpd, D.c. police union, Dc police union, Crime stats, Crime data, Politics 

President Donald Trump announced earlier this month that he was federalizing the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., and deploying the National Guard there in order to “re-establish law, order, and public safety.”

While Democrats and other liberal pundits reflexively denounced Trump’s intervention, their critiques were premature. Since Trump took action, violent crime in D.C. reportedly is down 45%, and carjackings are down 87%.

‘He is CRAZY!’

Having demonstrated just how quickly order can be restored with will and determination, Trump now is looking to help other crime-ridden cities across the country.

But during a press conference last week, Democrat Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker criticized the president’s efforts to make cities safer, claiming what Trump is doing “is illegal, it is unconstitutional, it is un-American.”

“Mr. President, do not come to Chicago,” added Pritzker. “You are neither wanted here nor needed here.”

But Trump noted in a Saturday evening Truth Social post, “Six people were killed, and 24 people were shot, in Chicago last weekend, and JB Pritzker, the weak and pathetic Governor of Illinois, just said that he doesn’t need help in preventing CRIME.”

The president added, “He is CRAZY!!! He better straighten it out, FAST, or we’re coming!”

RELATED: DC Dems are furious at Mayor Bowser for admitting Trump’s troops are lowering crime

Photographer: Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Underscoring Trump’s concerns, Chicago kicked off the Labor Day weekend with — you guessed it — another spate of shootings.

Police indicated that as of Sunday morning, at least 32 people had been shot in the city — three fatally — WLS-TV reported. Among the victims was a 43-year-old woman who was approached then reportedly riddled with bullets at the hands of five male suspects.

The Windy City is no stranger to bloody weekends — or weekdays, for that matter.

Chicago Police Department statistics indicate that so far this year there have been at least 266 murders, 1,141 reported sexual assaults, 4,003 robberies, 10,774 motor vehicle thefts, 11,488 felony thefts, and 3,971 burglaries.

Chicago — which has secured the top spot on Orkin’s list of America’s rattiest cities for the last 10 years — has a 5-rating on Neighborhood Scout’s crime index in which 100 is safest.

Yet while Pritzker has criticized the idea of Trump deploying the National Guard to assist Chicago, the city’s Mayor Brandon Johnson — who has an approval rating of 26% according to a recent poll by the Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation and the National Opinion Research Center, both at the University of Chicago — is especially opposed.

RELATED: ‘Stop talking and get to work’: Trump blasts Democrat Gov. Wes Moore over Maryland crime

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

Johnson signed an executive order Saturday “denouncing any attempts to deploy the United States Armed Forces and/or the National Guard and/or militarized civil immigration enforcement in Chicago.”

In the order, the unpopular mayor demanded that Trump and agents under his authority “stand down from any attempts” to deploy troops in the city and vowed to ensure the Chicago Police Department remains a locally controlled law enforcement agency under mayoral authority.

‘Cracking down on crime should not be a partisan issue.’

Additionally, Johnson said federal agents and troops cannot wear masks while performing their duties.

“We have received credible reports that we have days, not weeks before our city sees some type of militarized activity by the federal government,” said Johnson. “We must take immediate, drastic action to protect our people from federal overreach.”

The White House reportedly has written off Johnson’s executive order signing as a “publicity stunt.”

— (@)

“If these Democrats focused on fixing crime in their own cities instead of doing publicity stunts to criticize the President, their communities would be much safer,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement to the Independent. “Cracking down on crime should not be a partisan issue, but Democrats suffering from [Trump Derangement Syndrome] are trying to make it one.”

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​Crime, Chicago, Illinois, Pritzker, Brandon johnson, Donald trump, Dc, Winning, Law, Order, Violence, Politics, National guard, Federalizing local police, Shootings 

Christopher Wolfe’s thoughtful essay at the American Mind on Booker T. Washington, leisure, and work stirred some fond memories from years ago of making a friend by reading a book.

He was an old black man, and I was an old white man. We were both native Angelenos and had been just about old enough to drive when the Watts riots broke out in 1965. But that was half a century and a lifetime ago, and we hadn’t known each another.

If you read ‘Up from Slavery,’ you will be reading an American classic and will be getting to know a man who ranks among the greatest Americans of all time.

Los Angeles is a big place, a home to many worlds. Now we were white-haired professors, reading a book together, and we became friends. His name was Kimasi, and he has since gone to a better world.

We were spending a week with a dozen other academics reading Booker T. Washington’s autobiography, “Up from Slavery.” Washington was born a slave in Franklin County, Virginia, just a few years before the Civil War began. He gained his freedom through Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and the Union victory in the war. With heroic determination, he got himself an education and went on to found the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama, where he remained principal for the rest of his life.

After Frederick Douglass died in 1895, Washington became, without comparison, the most well-known and influential black American living. By the beginning of the 20th century, as John Hope Franklin would write, he was “one of the most powerful men in the United States.” “Up from Slavery,” published in 1901, sold 100,000 copies before Washington died in 1915.

It is a great American book. Modern Library ranks it third on its list of the best nonfiction books in the English language of the 20th century. But there was a reason why Kimasi and I were reading this great book when we were old men rather than when we were young men back in the riotous 1960s.

Even before Washington died, and while he was still the most famous and influential black man in America, other black leaders began to discredit him and question his way of dealing with the plight and aspirations of black Americans. These critics, whom Washington sometimes called “the intellectuals,” were led by W.E.B. Du Bois, the first black American to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard and one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

So successful was this criticism that by the time Kimasi and I were in high school or heading off to college, the most fashionable opinion among intellectuals — black or white — was that Booker T. Washington was the worst of things for a black man. He was an “Uncle Tom.” (How “Uncle Tom” became a term of derision rather than the name of a heroic character is a story for another time.) And so, if Washington’s great book was mentioned at all to young Kimasi or me, it was mentioned in this negative light.

But fashions change, and, as Washington himself taught, merit is hard to resist. Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and his Second Inaugural Address were dismissed and scoffed at by some “intellectuals” in his day; they are now generally recognized by informed and intelligent people around the world as the great speeches they are.

“Huckleberry Finn” scandalized polite opinion when it came out, because it was about an illiterate vagrant and other lowlifes and contained a lot of ungrammatical talk and bad spelling. A couple of generations later, Ernest Hemingway himself declared that “all modern American literature comes from one book” — Huckleberry Finn.

A couple of generations later still, in our own times, skittish librarians started removing the book from their shelves because it used language too dangerous for children.

The study of the past should shed light on what deserves praise, what deserves blame, and the grounds on which such judgments should be made. Americans being as fallible as the rest of mankind, as long as we are free to air opinions, there will be different opinions among us. Some of them may actually be true. And they will change from time to time, sometimes for good reasons, sometimes for no reason at all.

RELATED: Why can’t Americans talk honestly about race? Blame the ‘Civil Rights Baby Boomers’

Photo by Graphic House/Getty Images

In recent years, several scholars have helped bring back to light the greatness and goodness of Booker T. Washington. Even fashionable opinion is capable of justice, and no one wants to be deceived about what is truly good and great, so I hazard to predict that it will sometime become fashionable again to recognize Booker T. Washington as one of the greatest Americans ever.

Washington never held political office. But his life and work demonstrated that you don’t have to hold political office to be a statesman and that the noblest work of the statesman is to teach. The soul of what Washington sought to teach was that we, too, can rise up from slavery. It is an eternal possibility.

This was the central purpose of Booker T. Washington’s life and work: to liberate souls from enslavement to ignorance, prejudice, and degrading passions, the kind of slavery that makes us tyrants to those around us in the world we live in.

Washington saw that this freedom of the soul cannot be given to us by others. Good teachers and good parents and friends, through precept and example, can help us see this freedom and understand it, but we have to achieve it for ourselves. When we do, our souls are liberated to rule themselves by reflection and choice, with malice toward none, with charity for all.

If you read “Up from Slavery,” you will be reading an American classic. You will be getting to know a man who, in the quality of his mind and character, and in the significance of what he did in and with his life, ranks among the greatest Americans of all time — even with the man whose name he chose for himself. When we read this great book together in the ripeness of our years, Kimasi, who always winningly wore his heart on his sleeve, wept frequently and repeated, shaking his head, “I lived a life not knowing this man.”

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published at the American Mind.

​Opinion & analysis, Race, Racism, Booker t. washington, Up from slavery, Literature, Memoir, Race relations, Slavery, Autobiography, W.e.b. du bois, Naacp, Equality, Uncle tom, Frederick douglass, Mark twain, Huckleberry finn, Library, History, Truth 

For decades, numerous people declared clinically dead have miraculously awakened with vivid descriptions of the heavenly realm. Stories of being enveloped by brilliant, warm light, strolling through indescribably beautiful landscapes, and reuniting with deceased loved ones (and even Jesus) are the subjects of many books written by people who have had near-death experiences. Many Christians view these heavenly visions as either true or at least plausible, believing that scripture corroborates such experiences.

But what about the opposite? What about visits to hell?

On this episode of “Strange Encounters,” a podcast that explores spiritual warfare from a biblical perspective, Rick dives into a wild story that’s gone viral: A woman named Queen Okeoma who claims to have seen the pits of hell — and the most iconic, influential rapper in history, Biggie Smalls, consumed by flames in a cell guarded by giant demons.

Okeoma is an author who has gained significant attention for her book, “Testimony: Life Changing Encounters in the Supernatural,” in which she claims to have experienced multiple out-of-body visits to heaven and hell.

On a recent podcast that’s gone viral, Okeoma shared one of her out-of-body experiences in which, she said, Jesus took her into hell and told her several things — that “the darkness is alive and it is its own separate evil entity,” that the flames of hell are “20,000 times hotter than the fire on the earth” and “are fed with brimstone night and day,” so “they will never go out,” and finally, that if she did not follow Him, He would “use [her]” to save others but that she would “die and go to hell.”

“I was physically out of my body in hell, standing beside Jesus Christ himself. It was pitch-black, and these demons had to be 13, 14, 15 feet tall, and they were standing in front of a jail cell. … And Biggie was holding the bars, but he was on fire from the inside,” she said, adding that Jesus told her that the rapper had rejected Him and instead “went to a fetish priest and got charms he carried around in his pocket to become famous.”

“When [the demons] put him back in his cell and closed the door, [Biggie] exploded on fire. And when my feet was an inch, maybe two inches, from that fire, I was back in my body,” she concluded, sobbing in gratitude that Jesus “let [her] live.”

Okeoma’s testimony has spurred much controversy. Some write her off as a kook, while others are driven to their knees in prayer.

Rick, who admits he doesn’t know anything about Okeoma or her faith, evaluates her harrowing testimony with biblical truth. “I don’t hear anything in what she’s saying that is now giving us some new revelation,” like “there are many ways to heaven,” which would automatically disqualify her story as false, he says.

“What she takes away from [her alleged divine encounter] is that Jesus is real, Jesus is the only way we can be redeemed, and hell is a very real place” — all truths confirmed by scripture. Further, Okeoma was driven to repentance following her experience — another factor that adds credibility to her account.

On top of that, her testimony has sparked significant online discussion and engagement, with many viewers sharing that either they or their friends and family have repented and professed faith in Jesus Christ after hearing her story.

“When I look at that, I’m not sure I’m ready to be so critical as some people have been,” says Rick.

To hear Okeoma’s first-person account and join Rick as he explores several other topics in the realm of spiritual warfare, watch the episode above.

Want more from Rick Burgess?

To enjoy more bold talk and big laughs, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Strange encounters, Rick burgess, Heaven hell, Biggie, Biggie smalls, The notorious b.i.g., Queen okeoma, Christianity, Spiritual warfare, Angels and demons 

Is the idea of a Christian nation the definition of “absolute absurdity”? According to one Christian magazine, the answer is yes.

Earlier this month, the supposedly thoughtful Plough magazine published a breathtaking exercise in intellectual cowardice, dismissing the very foundation of Western civilization as “absolute absurdity.” The essay in question tackles the subject of Christian nationhood, but it reads like a surrender document, abandoning two millennia of proven governance for faddish defeatism.

To deny the role of Christian truth in Western greatness is like denying oxygen’s role in breathing.

What lunacy drives this thinking?

The greatest civilizations in human history — medieval England’s common law, America’s founding principles, Wilberforce’s abolition movement — all emerged from Christian bedrock. These weren’t theocratic nightmares but flourishing societies that elevated human dignity precisely because they recognized divine authority above earthly empires.

History is a series of patterns, and one of them keeps repeating in America.

Forged in faith

In the 1700s, the colonies rose against the monarchy not for the sake of godless liberty, but because they believed their rights were God-given, written into creation itself. Sermons rang from meeting-houses declaring that no king could overrule the King of kings.

In the 1800s, churches formed the backbone of abolition and reform. Preachers thundered that slavery was a sin before heaven. Abolitionists carried Bibles alongside petitions. And hymns like “Amazing Grace” became anthems of emancipation.

Their message was simple: Every man was equal because every soul bore the image of God.

In the 1900s, Martin Luther King Jr. stood in that same tradition, speaking from pulpits with scripture as his shield. His call for justice was never detached from his faith. He quoted Amos and Isaiah as readily as the founders, grounding civil rights in the authority of the Almighty.

Every advance in American freedom came wrapped in Christian conviction.

Wings, not shackles

But today we’re told these foundations are obsolete, that “Christian nation” is a dirty phrase, and that the values that guided our forefathers must be disavowed like toxic waste. The elites sneer that faith in the public square is “exclusionary,” as if the alternative — soulless secularism — has produced anything but despair, drugs, gender-bending, and fractured families.

But the truth couldn’t be any clearer.

Christian ideals were never shackles; they’re wings. Justice tempered by mercy. Individual worth regardless of station. Care for the vulnerable, not because it wins votes, but because it reflects the imago Dei. Moral accountability to a higher law that no king, no president, and no bureaucrat can erase.

RELATED: The left’s new anti-Christian smear backfires — exposing its deepest fear

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These principles are humanity’s highest aspirations. They built cathedrals that still tower when kingdoms fall. They gave birth to parliaments instead of pogroms, hospitals instead of hangings, and constitutions instead of cults. The entire Western canon — from Augustine’s “City of God” to Aquinas’ natural law, from Magna Carta to the Bill of Rights — rests on this sacred scaffolding.

Every liberty we prize today was planted in soil first tilled by faith.

Secularism’s harvest

This is what the Plough party misses. If America forsakes its Christian roots, it doesn’t drift into neutrality. It falls into the hands of new lawgivers, those who craft commandments for commerce — not for conscience.

Already we see this counterfeit creed: Banks cancel customers for thought crimes, corporations peddle ESG as ersatz salvation, Silicon Valley preaches virtue while addicting children and dismantling families, algorithms determine who can speak, credit scores determine who can buy, bureaucrats determine whose children are taught what is right and what is wrong.

From there, the descent is undeniable. When a boy is told he can become a girl by fiat, when schools scrub scripture but sanctify drag shows, when fentanyl fells more Americans than any war ever fought — this is the harvest of secular rule. A culture that once exalted discipline and faith now exalts indulgence and self-invention, producing generations unmoored, medicated, and utterly miserable.

Of course, critics will raise straw men.

“Do you want to stone adulterers?”Is this an attempt to ban other religions?””Are you trying to enforce Levitical law?”

No serious Christian makes such claims. The point isn’t theocracy. It’s renewal.

The true absurdity

A society shaped by Christian morality has always been freer than one governed by the cold calculus of power. The founders knew it. John Adams said it plainly, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

Remove the moral compass, and the machinery of liberty grinds into tyranny. Without Christian restraint, power consolidates, rights vanish, and man becomes a cog in someone else’s machine.

Plough may shrug and call that “absolute absurdity.” But the absurdity is Plough’s.

To deny the role of Christian truth in Western greatness is like denying oxygen’s role in breathing. We can’t cut out the heart and expect the body to live. Every triumph of the West was animated by Christian conviction. To sneer at that inheritance is to sneer at the very civilization that grants these critics the freedom to sneer in the first place.

The blood of martyrs and the ink of reformers didn’t flow so we could trade a living faith for lifeless ideologies that serve only the state and the market.

America’s survival depends not on importing ideologies from Davos or Silicon Valley, but on returning to the well that never runs dry.

​Plough magazine, Christian nationhood, Christianity, Jesus, God, Bible, Jesus christ, Christian, Christian nation, Faith