When women are told that the biggest issue they face is their self-esteem — not their sin — it doesn’t bring them closer to God or make them more likely to walk through the church doors on Sunday.

Instead, it leaves them feeling like they can find that kind of advice anywhere.

“Why would you go to church and sacrifice your free time if you’re going to hear the same message anywhere?” BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey asks ex-Green Beret and Virginia delegate Nick Freitas, noting that they’re simply being told what “they want to hear.”

And women aren’t the only ones being fooled.

“Do you feel like that also might be happening among the Andrew Tate acolytes of the world who say, ‘Okay, in order to attract these young men, we have to not be like Jesus was. We have to be crass, and we have to be rude, and we have to be arrogant, and we have to be materialistic, and we have to be promiscuous, and we have to talk about women like they’re objects ’cause that’s real masculinity’?” she asks.

Freitas agrees, calling the approach symbolic of the “manosphere.”

“So, I think there’s two things that we have to recognize whenever we talk about what we might call the manosphere — Andrew Tate, Justin Waller, some of these other guys, Fresh and Fit. … The first thing that we need to recognize is the reason why they resonated so much with young men was not simply because all these guys have admirable accomplishments in their own right,” he explains.

“But they tend to be strong. They tend to be wealthy, and they tend to, you know, women tend to be attracted to them, right? So, these are all things that, if you’re a young man without a spiritual basis in your life, you’re looking at these things going, ‘I want that,’” he continues.

“The most important component, though, is a lot of young men felt like those guys were sticking up for them when nobody else would,” he says, noting that “men associate loyalty with love.”

“And so, a lot of young men look at guys like Andrew Tate, and they say, ‘That guy had my back when none of you people in the church were mentioning any of this. And now the first time you want to come up and talk about the problems with masculinity, you want to bash Andrew Tate, the one guy that had my back,’” he explains.

“And so, the way I think we need to approach something like that is certainly not by excusing what I believe is disastrous, sinful, and ultimately not genuinely masculine behavior, but I think we need to recognize the source of the problem and from whence it comes,” he adds.

Freitas also explains that the “masculinity” that the manosphere pushes is “hedonistic masculinity,” which says that “you should dominate for the sake of your own pleasure.”

“Essentially, your will to power is the highest moral standard that you can appeal to. That is not in line with Christianity at all,” he says, adding that in order to be in line with Christianity it would have to be “sacrificial in nature.”

“The thing that I would tell young men is, I can appreciate that Andrew Tate is fit, right? I can appreciate that the man can fight. … But if you really want something that’s going to give you ultimate meaning and purpose, … you get that when you recognize that there is a God,” he explains.

“He has a meaning and purpose for your life,” he continues, adding, “and he requires you to be strong because it is a difficult world.”

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.

​Video, Upload, Sharing, Free, Video phone, Camera phone, Youtube.com, Relatable, Relatable with allie beth stuckey, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Andrew tate, Manosphere, Nick freitas, Christianity, Red pill movement, Jesus, Religion, Religious 

An Illinois mother has been charged with criminal sexual assault and possession of child porn after she allegedly had a baby with her daughter’s teen friend, according to multiple reports.

The Washington Police Department arrested Robyn Polston, 43, on Nov. 3. Polston is being detained without bail while her case is pending, according to the New York Post.

‘Officers were able to get search warrants for the boy’s phone and found several images, allegedly showing him and Polston engaged in sexual activity.’

Polston was charged with two counts of criminal sexual assault with a victim between the ages of 13 and 17 and two counts of possession of child pornography, according to a court filing People magazine obtained. If convicted on all charges, Polston faces up to 60 years in prison.

Local law enforcement said officers launched an investigation in February after Polston gave birth to a baby in January, WMBD-TV reported.

A probable cause affidavit stated that Polston told investigators that the father was a man in his 20s, who she claimed hadn’t seen the baby since the child was born.

However, investigators noticed that the baby’s middle and last name on the birth certificate and other records matched the name of a teen, according to court documents filed last week in Tazewell County Circuit Court.

Investigators said the 14-year-old victim attended a junior high dance with Polston’s daughter in May 2023, according to the affidavit. Polston served as a chaperone at the dance, court documents said.

The probable cause affidavit also said the boy moved out of state but returned to the Central Illinois area for a visit in April 2024 — approximately 40 weeks before Polston gave birth to the baby.

In August 2024, the teen moved back to live with the family of a “friend,” according to the affidavit.

RELATED: Shocking texts allegedly reveal sinister plan by teacher and her boyfriend to groom, sex traffic her student

Citing the affidavit, WKRC-TV reported that law enforcement officers discovered “a large number of sexually explicit images and videos depicting [the alleged victim] and Polston.”

WMBD reported, “Officers were able to get search warrants for the boy’s phone and found several images, allegedly showing him and Polston engaged in sexual activity. Some of the pictures were clearly taken by her, the affidavit stated.”

Citing prosecutors, WEEK-TV reported that Polston and the alleged victim “used burner phones under fake names to protect their identities, and she allegedly tried to get the minor to participate in a cover-up.”

A DNA test confirmed that Polston and the alleged victim are the parents of the newborn baby, according to the affidavit.

Polston is scheduled to appear in court Dec. 4.

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​Illinois, Robyn polston, Child sex crimes, Child sex abuse, Child porn, Child pornography, Child sexual assault, Crime 

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency slaughtered hundreds of ostriches at Edgewood, British Columbia’s Universal Ostrich Farms Thursday night.

Using rifles, at least two “marksmen” believed to be working at the CFIA’s Enforcement Investigation and Services Unit in its Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, branch unloaded hundreds of rounds into the birds beginning on Thursday evening and continuing into the early hours of Friday morning.

While sifting through material filled with the blood and remains of the supposedly infected ostriches, the police wore no protective gear and worked with their bare hands.

To those who raised and cared for them, each ostrich was more than a number. Among the dead were Spike, “tough and protective”; the “feisty” and “full of attitude” Anna; and Kickaroo, so named because of her penchant for kicking when excited.

‘Please stop’

Over 120 supporters stood in the rain and shouted their objections to the killers, including farm spokeswoman Katie Pasitney, who kneeled in front of the iron fence that had separated her from the ostriches since the CFIA and RCMP invaded and occupied the 58-acre spread located in the pastoral Kootenays, close to Valhalla Provincial Park and about two hours east of Kelowna. Sobbing profusely, Pasitney begged the shooters to “stop, please stop.”

— (@)

The “culling” did not appear to be humane, as many ostriches were only injured and spent the night crying in pain as their lives receded. In the morning, CFIA “inspectors” decapitated several of the birds that continued to struggle for their lives.

Many supporters took to social media to describe the ordeal. According to one such post:

They were gunned down in the dark, over hours. I watched the lives from 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. and had to log off around 9 because I couldn’t take any more — the gunshots, the agonizing sounds of the birds, the screaming. By the time I muted the sound I think the count was around 600 bullets. It was absolutely f****** sickening. The anger I feel is unreal and I will not be silenced. Those responsible — the shooters, CFIA, and the corrupt cops who look the other way — you will pay in hell.

No protective gear

A source who has been integral to the farm’s response to the ongoing presence of the CFIA and RCMP told Align that aside from identity-concealing “balaclavas,” the shooters wore absolutely no protective clothing, despite the CFIA’s continued claim that the birds posed a “pathogenic” health hazard to other animals and humans.

On Sunday, the CFIA began the task of removing the ostrich carcasses from the farm. Personnel used the RCMP as farm labor to collect all the hay from the “hot zone” or death pen, which the government bureaucrats had used to corral the ostriches.

While sifting through material filled with the blood and remains of the supposedly infected ostriches, the police wore no protective gear and worked with their bare hands. The remains were then piled into blue bins and loaded onto trucks for an undisclosed dumping location, although farm supporters have been following the vehicles to discover where the birds are going.

Many believe the carcasses were headed for the port near Surrey, BC, to be loaded onto a ship for disposal at sea.

RELATED: ‘Classic display of punishment’: Canada targets family ostrich farm for destruction

David Krayden

Refusal to test

The CFIA refused to test the ostriches for evidence of avian flu in life or in death. The farm had demonstrated for almost 300 days that the birds were healthy and had developed herd immunity with antibodies that could provide valuable lessons for the natural containment of the H5N1 disease.

In a statement, the CFIA claimed it was “moving forward” with “a disease response” at the farm and noted that it would “complete depopulation and disposal measures as authorized by the Health of Animals Act and guided by the stamping out policy for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).”

The Supreme Court of Canada on Thursday dismissed an appeal from Universal Ostrich Farms to stop the Canadian Food Inspection Agency from slaughtering hundreds of ostriches of the farm because of an apparent outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza in December 2024.

‘The people have to fight back’

Pasitney said, “Our hearts are empty,” about herself and farm co-owners Karen Espersen and Dave Bilinski. She said, “It doesn’t matter if it’s a chicken or a 35-year-old ostrich; no animal should have to die inhumanely, neglected, tortured.”

The CFIA claimed that shooting the birds over several hours was the “most appropriate and humane option” for them.

But a CFIA manual on culling practice indicates that shooting should only be utilized as a “last resort.”

Pasitney has indicated that she intends to fight for other farms that have been targeted by the CFIA over a “stamping out” policy that is out of step even with the guidelines of the World Health Organization and World Organization for Animal Health.

After months of constant legal wrangling and nonstop media attention, Pasitney told Align Sunday that she needs to “get strong” as she moves ahead. “There has to be change in Canada. This cannot be allowed to continue to happen. The people have to fight back.”

​Universal ostrich farms, Canada, Culling, Avian flu, Government overreach, Lifestyle, Letter from canada 

Graham Platner, the oyster farmer running for the U.S. Senate in Maine, was exposed last month for making a number of damning comments on social media — including posts where he apparently identified as a communist, branded rural white Americans as racists, suggested that service members worried about being raped should buy “Kevlar underwear,” and smeared all police officers as “bastards.”

Although he has since covered it up, Platner was also outed for having a tattoo of a skull image similar to that popularized by Adolf Hitler’s SS elite Nazi guard.

It appears that Platner, who enjoys the continued support from lawmakers including Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), is far from the most radical candidate seeking election as a Democrat in 2026.

The homosexual socialist running as a Democrat to represent Michigan’s 7th district in Congress has engaged in bloodthirsty and inflammatory rhetoric that makes Platner’s remarks seem tame by comparison.

‘Radical far-left lunatics like Samuel Smeltzer expose the liberal brain rot that is now the current state of the Democrat Party.’

Samuel Smeltzer, a 36-year-old IT contractor who calls himself Elyon Badger and dresses up in an anthropomorphic “furry” costume, has not only stated that “America deserved 9/11,” called Jesus “a communist,” recommended killing billionaires, labeled Israel as “an enemy of the United States,” advocated the imprisonment of all U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, and repeatedly celebrated Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk’s assassination, calling him a “massive loser.”

Within an hour of Kirk’s passing, Smeltzer wrote on the liberal X knockoff Bluesky, “Good things can happen.” Days later, he shared an image of the murdered father of two with the caption, “How can we defeat evil, if evil is mourned when it’s defeated?”

RELATED: The left isn’t collapsing — it’s consolidating power

Photo by Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images

To ensure there was no mistaking his antipathy for the murder victim, the Democratic candidate smeared Kirk as a “white supremacist who preached stochastic terrorism” in an official campaign statement, blaming the shooting on “gun loving Conservative Christians.”

The National Republican Congressional Committee called Smeltzer’s remarks about Kirk both “dangerous and disgusting” but noted they were unsurprising when only 38% of Democrats think it’s always unacceptable to feel joy about the death of a public figure they oppose.

Despite his website promising “compassionate leadership for a just future,” Smeltzer vowed in a recent post to “round up EVER [sic] SINGLE red hat wearing MAGA and put them in hard labor camps for the rest of their lives.”

While locking up those with whom he disagrees appears to be one of his key objectives, Smeltzer told the Washington Free Beacon that he is running a “health care and tax-the-rich campaign” and would use a role in Congress to advocate for his fellow “furry” fetishists.

“The furry community is the ultimate form of freedom in America, and that’s why conservatives hate it and the queer community so much,” he told the Beacon.

Smeltzer recently told the LGBT magazine Between the Lines, “The reason I’m leaning into the furry side of things is the Heritage Foundation has targeted the furry community.”

“They’re going after the queer spaces and organizations where we are allowed to express creative freedom,” the self-identified Democratic socialist added.

Smeltzer claimed that other candidates in the Democratic primary like former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink “can only trudge along and drag this broken cart through the mud; they can’t fix it.”

Brink reportedly did not respond to the Beacon’s request for comment.

NRCC spokesman Zach Bannon noted earlier this year, “Radical far-left lunatics like Samuel Smeltzer expose the liberal brain rot that is now the current state of the Democrat Party.”

Blaze News has reached out to the Michigan Democratic Party as well as Rep. Tom Barrett, the Republican who presently represents Michigan’s 7th congressional district and is running for a second term, for comment.

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​Lgbt, Furry, Fetishist, Leftism, Socialist, Michigan, 7th district, Tom barrett, Samuel smeltzer, Republican, Democrat, Charlie kirk, Politics 

A motorist was seriously injured after someone threw a frozen water balloon through his windshield, hitting him in the face Thursday night while he was traveling down a highway in Northern California.

The incident occurred on Highway 20 near Hallwood Boulevard in Marysville in Yuba County, KCRA-TV reported. Marysville is about an hour north of Sacramento.

‘Somebody went through all of that for just a random act of violence.’

“It came through the window and hit me in the face,” the victim, Alex Plant, told the station. “Forced a lot of this glass into my face, in my eyes.”

Plant told KCRA he was driving home from work around 9:30 p.m. and traveling about 45 miles per hour when he said something from a car traveling in the opposite direction was thrown out its window.

“I barely saw it for a quarter of a second before it just came straight through,” Plant told KCRA.

The victim added to the station that while he was able to pull off the two-lane highway, he had to ask Siri to call 911, as he had no idea what hit him after it crashed through his windshield.

“My eyes were already starting to close up, so I couldn’t even look at the phone if I wanted to,” Plant noted to KCRA.

Turns out that a piece of white balloon was stuck in the shattered glass as first responders arrived, the station said.

Plant told KCRA he was taken to a hospital where medical staff spent hours removing shards of glass from his face and eyes.

RELATED: Husband of Woman Severely Injured by Rock Thrown From Highway Overpass Commits Suicide

“I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to see my family, to be honest with you,” he added to the station. “It was really stressful.”

Plant’s eyes were open as he spoke to KCRA, but small cuts were visible on his face — and he told the station his vision has been compromised.

“Out of this right eye, if I were to close the left one right now, you know, everything’s a little bit blurry. It’s hard to focus a little bit. And like I said, just the sensitivity to light,” Plant explained to the station.

In the end, the victim has been left wondering why someone would do such a dangerous and destructive thing to anyone.

“I was a random victim, but somebody didn’t randomly do this act, right?” Plant noted to KCRA. “Somebody went through all that trouble to, like, freeze it, tie it off, you know what I mean? And then throw it through the windshield before it defrosted. That’s just crazy. Somebody went through all of that for just a random act of violence.”

The station said California Highway Patrol is investigating the incident, but officials have limited information and no witnesses. Officers are working to identify the suspect and the suspect vehicle, KCRA reported.

In addition, Plant and his family are asking anyone with information that could assist in the investigation to contact the California Highway Patrol, the station said.

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​California, Motorist, Frozen water balloon, Thrown through windshield, Driver injured, Hospitalization, Eyesight compromised, Yuba county, California highway patrol, Investigation, Highway 20, Marysville, Crime 

The International Olympic Committee is set to make some significant changes to its rules about men participating in women’s sports categories.

According to the Times, the IOC will likely announce a ban on so-called “transgender women” competing in female sports.

‘We have to do that to ensure fairness. And we have to do it with scientific approach.’

This policy change comes after a “science-based” study led by Dr. Jane Thornton showed that men have significant physical advantages over biological women.

“It was a very scientific, factual, and unemotional presentation which quite clearly laid out the evidence,” one source told the Times.

RELATED: Medical exam reveals Algerian Olympic boxer Imane Khelif has testicles, a penis, and XY chromosomes

Photo by Li Jing/Xinhua via Getty Images

Last year, the committee faced heated controversy after Algerian trans-identifying boxer Imane Khelif beat a woman to tears in the ring. A report later revealed a medical document showing that Khelif, who took home the gold medal after dominating the 66 kg women’s competition, has XY chromosomes.

The IOC’s shift in opinion on the issue of trans-identifying athletes follows a change in leadership in June of this year. The new president of the IOC, Kirsty Coventry, indicated that there was “overwhelming support” for changing the rules to “protect the female category.”

“We have to do that to ensure fairness. And we have to do it with scientific approach and with the inclusion of the international federations who have done a lot of work in that area. So we have to bring in the experts — that will take a little bit of time — and the international federations so that we have full buy-in and cohesion on this specific topic,” Coventry said at a press conference shortly after becoming president.

Coventry said the rules will not have a retroactive effect, indicating an unwillingness to revisit the Khelif controversy: “We are not going to be doing anything retrospectively. We are going to be looking forward. And again, from the members that were here, it was: What are we learning from the past, and how are we going to leverage that and move that forward to the future, and how are we going to strengthen the movement as we move into the future?”

The policy change will likely be announced in early February before the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy, according to Fox News.

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The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal that was thought to be the only case that had standing to challenge the landmark 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges that legalized so-called same-sex marriage.

On Monday, Supreme Court justices denied a petition for a writ of certiorari for the case Kim Davis v. David Ermold, et al., according to court documents.

‘If ever a case deserved review, the first individual who was thrown in jail post-Obergefell for seeking accommodation for her religious beliefs should be it.’

There were no notable dissents in the order, and no justices recused themselves.

RELATED: ‘Like the abortion decision’? Supreme Court will hear arguments in challenge to same-sex marriage ruling

Photo by Ty Wright/Getty Images

The appeal was brought by Kim Davis, a former Kentucky county clerk who was briefly jailed after refusing to issue marriage licenses for a homosexual couple who are party to the suit.

Davis was also ordered to pay $100,000 in damages plus another $260,000 in legal fees, according to her attorneys.

Her refusal to issue the marriage license was on religious grounds, raising serious First Amendment questions.

Davis’ appeal opens: “If ever a case deserved review, the first individual who was thrown in jail post-Obergefell for seeking accommodation for her religious beliefs should be it.”

Of the three questions presented in the petition, the last reads: “Whether Obergefell v. Hodges … and the legal fiction of substantive due process, should be overturned.”

Although Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas have previously indicated a willingness to reconsider Obergefell, Davis’ case was always considered to be an uphill battle since four justices would need to assent to hearing it.

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Last Tuesday, Zohran Mamdani — a Muslim Democrat socialist — won the New York City mayoral election in a landslide victory over disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Like all socialists, he seduced the city’s financially crushed population, which is nearly everyone in tax-choked NYC, with a mountain of “free” promises: free buses, free childcare, rent freezes, and city-run grocery stores.

Of course, anyone with half a brain knows socialism bleeds cities dry every time. It’s death by a thousand tax hikes, crime waves, and empty storefronts.

The fiscal meltdown has dominated headlines since Mamdani’s win — but is economic suicide really the Big Apple’s most pressing threat?

Lomez, in the debut episode of BlazeTV’s “Rufo and Lomez,” says no. It’s what the radical symbolizes that should really scare us.

While Lomez “[doesn’t] like him at all,” he doesn’t think Mamdani’s economic reform or his other progressive policies will be as revolutionary as people are saying.

“If I’m looking for the sort of policy daylight between what he might do in New York City versus [former mayor] de Blasio, I think it’s pretty thin,” he says.

“Do I think Zohran Mamdani is going to impose a kind of communist authoritarianism on New York City? No, I don’t. I think things will just kind of get incrementally worse in ways that aren’t good,” he predicts.

The “key thing” that makes Mamdani scary, he says, is what the radical symbolizes.

“Mamdani represents above all else a kind of post-Americanness, a post-white Americanness in particular. I think that’s really important,” he says.

Lomez points to a clip of Mamdani’s victory speech on election night as evidence of this. In this segment that’s gone viral, he repeatedly thanked not Americans but immigrants for powering his campaign.

— (@)

“Thank you to those so often forgotten by the politics of our city, who made this movement their own. I speak of Yemeni bodega owners and Mexican abuelas! Senegalese taxi drivers and Uzbek nurses! Trinidadian line cooks and Ethiopian aunties!” he boomed from the podium.

“He’s praising the Mexican abuelas and the Senegalese Door Dash drivers … not Mexican-American, not Senegalese-American, just those things without the hyphen at all,” says Lomez, reminding listeners that “Zohran Mamdani made explicitly anti-white statements during his campaign,” like pitching taxes for white people specifically.

“I think that kind of normalization, which is something we’ve seen from the Democratic Party sort of escalating over the last decade, is the most important part of this, and it’s the thing that gives me the most concern.”

To hear more, watch the full episode above.

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​Rufo and lomez, Chris rufo, Blazetv, Blaze media, Zohran mamdani, New york city, Socialism, New york city mayoral race, Rufo & lomez