Latest / Culture Brief - Christian perspectives on the week's biggest news, sports & pop-culture stories / Government shutdown, peace in Gaza, UFO video, Tim Allen, Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny & Ryder Cup results | Ep. 39

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Government shutdown, peace in Gaza, UFO video, Tim Allen, Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny & Ryder Cup results | Ep. 39 · Culture Brief - Christian perspectives on the week's biggest news, sports & pop-culture stories

0:02
[SPEAKER_01]: Hi, I'm Connor Jones, and I'm Mike Atama Stella, and this is Culture Brief, a Dinnison form podcast where we are navigating the cost of stream of top stories and news, politics, sports, pop culture, and technology, and we're doing it all from a Christian perspective.
0:16
[SPEAKER_01]: And man, we've got a load of show today, but I just got to start off the top here and say, Mike, we have got to get the NFL to delete ties as a result.
0:24
[SPEAKER_01]: Of a long long long hard fought match.
0:27
[SPEAKER_01]: There is no reason there are ties or there should be ties at the end of NFL games.
0:32
[SPEAKER_00]: A tie is so anti-American, ties feel European, you know, like this is not soccer.
0:39
[SPEAKER_00]: This is America.
0:40
[SPEAKER_00]: This is American football.
0:42
[SPEAKER_00]: I completely agree, just for context, if you've been living under a rock, culture brief audience, the Cowboys and Packers at Jerry World, this past Sunday, had a hard fought battle on the football field and tied it 40 to 40 after a 10 minute overtime period after all
1:01
[SPEAKER_01]: It was the most like weird milk toast ending ever.
1:04
[SPEAKER_01]: Everybody just came off the sidelines to shake each other's hands and no one was excited or happy.
1:08
[SPEAKER_01]: It was just weird and I wasn't I mean and you stay up late to watch the end of that zone and I came in.
1:13
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, leave.
1:14
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't try to lose.
1:15
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it just feels it yeah, just don't give me something to feel right.
1:19
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, Michael, you want to tell us what we're talking about today.
1:21
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
1:22
[SPEAKER_00]: So the government shut down.
1:24
[SPEAKER_00]: So what's the deal there?
1:25
[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to break all of that down.
1:27
[SPEAKER_00]: Is lasting peace finally coming to the Middle East.
1:31
[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to talk about that.
1:32
[SPEAKER_00]: Also, we're going to have a conversation about things like UFOs.
1:37
[SPEAKER_00]: And Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban split up.
1:40
[SPEAKER_00]: So we've got to talk about that.
1:42
[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to give you some fun things to tune into for the week as well.
1:45
[SPEAKER_00]: So let's jump into the brief.
1:49
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, as you said, Michael, the government, federal government, it's shut down.
1:53
[SPEAKER_01]: We're closed for business out here in the United States of America.
1:57
[SPEAKER_01]: And man, I'm just going to kind of break it down as to how we got here.
2:00
[SPEAKER_01]: Why is happening and what it means long term or really more so short term, but there will be long term downstream effects of this of course.
2:07
[SPEAKER_01]: So yeah, as of Wednesday morning at 12 o'clock when I am the government shut down it was the end of the fiscal year the government runs on a September to September budget year and so a lot of people were already going to be losing their jobs in terms of they took that pay out the doge offered earlier in the year and that was through the end of September at the end of the fiscal year so there were about 150,000 federal employees that took that.
2:28
[SPEAKER_01]: pay out and so that was already going to happen and now a whole bunch more people are just out of their jobs as well at least temporarily potentially more long term.
2:35
[SPEAKER_01]: So the last time we had a shutdown like this, Micah was actually back in 2018, Trump's first term and that was kind of over a border wall clash when the two parties could not agree on funding for that.
2:45
[SPEAKER_01]: That shutdown lasted 35 days and that was the longest ever recorded.
2:48
[SPEAKER_01]: So yeah, we could be headed down that same path over a month long could be shorter hopefully shorter and these two parties
2:56
[SPEAKER_01]: Man, right now, I'm sure a lot of you guys have seen this in the news and on social media, the two parties, they are just really blaming and shaming the other party and accusing the other and that's what they always do, but this one seems really bad and they're just pointing fingers and it's ugly and it's made it's way to social media and press conference battles and floor Senate battles, it's it's kind of interesting.
3:18
[SPEAKER_00]: So, hey, I some bravo videos.
3:20
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, well, I, yes, and I'm going to touch that one, just we live in a weird simulation world, I think we do.
3:28
[SPEAKER_01]: We do.
3:28
[SPEAKER_01]: So what does each party want here?
3:30
[SPEAKER_01]: Why is this shut down?
3:32
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, the Republicans were planning on just moving on business as usual.
3:36
[SPEAKER_01]: they obviously control the Senate and the House of Representatives so the House already passed what's called a continuing resolution that is a bill essentially that keeps the government funded where Congress says we are going to approve all this money that's been set aside for this upcoming fiscal year and we're going to send that forward we're good to approve that but the Senate
3:56
[SPEAKER_01]: has not approved it.
3:57
[SPEAKER_01]: So it's kind of in the Senate's hands at this point.
3:58
[SPEAKER_01]: That's because the Senate needs 60 votes to push through a funding bill, but there are only 53 Republicans.
4:05
[SPEAKER_01]: So only 53 yeses as of right now.
4:08
[SPEAKER_01]: Now three Democrats on Tuesday night came in and actually voted alongside Republicans.
4:12
[SPEAKER_01]: So it got to 56 votes voting for the bill to pass forward.
4:16
[SPEAKER_00]: I think it actually, no, I didn't get that high because Rand Paul, the Republican from Kentucky voted against it.
4:21
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for the correction.
4:22
[SPEAKER_01]: You're right.
4:22
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, there's always that ran Paul like asterisk where he's a Republican buddy.
4:27
[SPEAKER_01]: He doesn't like funding bills.
4:28
[SPEAKER_01]: He doesn't like that guy's a goofy goober well, but he's you know what for what he stands for he's really stands by stands on business dude.
4:35
[SPEAKER_00]: He stands on what he believes in and I I respect him for that, but it always seems like he's the one person voting differently than everybody else like every single time.
4:44
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, him and Thomas Massey, both those Kentucky guys are very big on standing on that business.
4:48
[SPEAKER_01]: Anyways, Trump, man, he's holding his ground.
4:52
[SPEAKER_01]: He's not going to let anything skate by him.
4:54
[SPEAKER_01]: He's told Americans that he's going to pin the blame on Democrats and make sure the Democrats get the blame for this.
5:00
[SPEAKER_01]: He's really telling a lot of people that they're trying to fund health care for a legal immigrants.
5:04
[SPEAKER_01]: That's kind of the spin that their Republican party is taking.
5:07
[SPEAKER_01]: There's some gray areas with that.
5:09
[SPEAKER_01]: It's definitely not like they're trying to say let's give all this money to illegal immigrants, but there are gray areas in these kind of like some city plans that would say if you are here on asylum, if you are here on some sort of approved visa, right?
5:22
[SPEAKER_01]: You get Obamacare benefits, so it's it's tough.
5:25
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot more it's a very small part of it, right?
5:28
[SPEAKER_00]: It's kind of like taking it and saying, okay.
5:31
[SPEAKER_00]: you know, Democrats want to extend these health care credits and potentially illegal immigrants could gain access to it.
5:39
[SPEAKER_00]: So it it's an over exaggeration to say Democrats want to shut the government down so they can give free health care to illegal immigrants.
5:46
[SPEAKER_00]: That's dramatic.
5:48
[SPEAKER_00]: But
5:49
[SPEAKER_00]: that is a small part of it too.
5:51
[SPEAKER_01]: True, and it's a really powerful statement to say, and it makes their Republicans look like they're winning.
5:55
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a really good spin, right?
5:57
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's just something that Republicans are better at at this point in time.
5:59
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
6:00
[SPEAKER_01]: It's spinning things to make it look worse on the Democrats.
6:02
[SPEAKER_01]: Anyway, the Democrats, they are trying to stay off a looming health care crisis as they put it.
6:06
[SPEAKER_01]: Specifically, they want a CR continuing resolution to include an extension of Obamacare subsidies that
6:12
[SPEAKER_01]: were in our set to expire at the end of this year 2025.
6:16
[SPEAKER_01]: So they've also pushed for rolling back some of those cuts and changes to Medicaid that were enacted by Trump's big, beautiful bill, which we talked about this past summer.
6:23
[SPEAKER_01]: That got passed.
6:24
[SPEAKER_01]: That's making cuts to Medicaid, Medicare.
6:26
[SPEAKER_01]: They don't like that.
6:27
[SPEAKER_01]: They're trying to change some of that in the new bill.
6:29
[SPEAKER_01]: And all of this would add $1 trillion in spending to the bill.
6:33
[SPEAKER_01]: So Republicans don't want to add much spending, right?
6:36
[SPEAKER_01]: They don't like spending more money.
6:38
[SPEAKER_01]: The Democrats are trying to say, well, we need to help Americans keep their health care over the next decade.
6:43
[SPEAKER_01]: So they're just battling this out.
6:46
[SPEAKER_00]: Both of their points, actually, like when you explain it that way, it's, I actually see where both sides are coming from there.
6:51
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, yeah, I could just like, man, nobody wants to spend more money, but then the Democrats are like, well, but this is how we make health care affordable for millions of Americans who are on a Obamacare.
7:00
[SPEAKER_01]: And so if they would just come together and meet somewhere in the middle, I bet we could get a deal, but that's just now, or it's in DC right now.
7:07
[SPEAKER_01]: So send it minority leader, Chuck Schumer and house minority leader, he came Jeffries, both are the Democrats, they visited the Oval Office on Monday to try to reach a deal with Trump.
7:16
[SPEAKER_01]: It apparently did not go well, Trump tried to give them Trump 20, 28 hats, they did not like that, but they sat and they did not obviously reach a deal.
7:23
[SPEAKER_01]: It's just crazy, right?
7:24
[SPEAKER_01]: Then it turned into an ugly social media battle.
7:26
[SPEAKER_01]: This is right after they met.
7:28
[SPEAKER_01]: A few hours later, Trump takes the press conference that they gave after the meeting.
7:33
[SPEAKER_01]: He AI generates it on true social or someone on his team AI generates it probably.
7:37
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's humor essentially having obscenity-laced remarks about the Democrats blaming themselves for
7:43
[SPEAKER_01]: trying to fund healthcare free legal immigrants, which is obviously not where they stand on that, but it's Schumer's voice being AI-generated.
7:50
[SPEAKER_01]: And the next to him is Jefferies, who in this video is wearing an AI-generated sombrero in mustache, and there is mariachi music playing in the background.
7:59
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, there's a lot of thoughts that go through your head when you see something like that from the present of the United States.
8:04
[SPEAKER_01]: You can either laugh at it or you can be like, what is this is ridiculous.
8:08
[SPEAKER_01]: I'll tell you what they said, though Jeffries responded with a picture of Trump in an Epstein on Twitter, he said, now this is real.
8:16
[SPEAKER_01]: So it's ugly man.
8:18
[SPEAKER_01]: This is not great.
8:19
[SPEAKER_01]: And then Schumer tweeted if you think the shutdown is a joke, it just proves what we all know.
8:23
[SPEAKER_01]: You can't negotiate.
8:25
[SPEAKER_01]: You can only throw tantrums.
8:27
[SPEAKER_01]: So they're all just throwing social media jabs at each other.
8:30
[SPEAKER_01]: They should really be meeting and talking about a negotiation deal, right?
8:34
[SPEAKER_01]: And then, you know, Jeffries responded again on Tuesday and he was like, Mr. President, next time you have something to say about me, don't cop out through a racist and fake AI video, when I'm in the oval office state to my face.
8:45
[SPEAKER_01]: And then they pointed the finger at their publicans at this process conference.
8:48
[SPEAKER_01]: The Democrats did arguing that their refusal to budge on health care.
8:50
[SPEAKER_01]: Some cities has doomed the country to a shutdown.
8:53
[SPEAKER_01]: Remember six months ago, we almost had a shutdown in Schumer ultimately made a deal in his own party turned against him and they accused him of caving to Trump in their publicans.
9:02
[SPEAKER_01]: to avoid a shutdown because at that time I mean we were on the heels of the 2024 election Democrats were really down on the dumps and so he was like I don't want us to look any worse by being accused of a shutdown but now he's having to stand on his ground because his own party was like no cave this time essentially so from two DC Insider reporters here axios they said
9:23
[SPEAKER_01]: This morning, this is Wednesday morning.
9:25
[SPEAKER_01]: We're just a few hours into the shutdown.
9:26
[SPEAKER_01]: They said six months of grassroots fury have pushed Democrats to embrace a shutdown as leverage against Republicans.
9:32
[SPEAKER_01]: But both sides are dug in Republicans banking that Democrats will be the first to blink and will end the shutdown.
9:40
[SPEAKER_01]: It's Senate Majority John Thune.
9:41
[SPEAKER_01]: He's the Republican Senator who leads the whole Senate.
9:44
[SPEAKER_01]: He says he's not gonna negotiate.
9:46
[SPEAKER_01]: with Democrats until the government is not shut down.
9:49
[SPEAKER_01]: So he's like, open up the government and then we can talk.
9:52
[SPEAKER_01]: So that's a really hard thing for Democrats to get around.
9:55
[SPEAKER_01]: Politico is saying each side is blaming the other neither feels much pressure to cut a deal So rather than negotiating they're just chucking insults and posting memes It's probably best to not hold your breath for a speedy outcome.
10:06
[SPEAKER_01]: So this might be a long term shut down Micah any just other initial thoughts any predictions on how long this is going to be interesting times we live in man You know, I'm thinking about the impact that this has
10:19
[SPEAKER_00]: on people who actually work for the government, people that are considered essential, that are going to have to work in potentially not get paid.
10:26
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, they'll get back pay, but I mean, a lot of Americans love paycheck to paycheck.
10:29
[SPEAKER_00]: And so that's...
10:31
[SPEAKER_00]: I just feel like that shouldn't be taken lightly, and I just see both parties taking lightly the fact that this negatively impacts a lot of Americans.
10:39
[SPEAKER_00]: And I see a lot of people in leadership right now on both sides that are more worried about themselves than they are their actual constituents than that bothers me.
10:48
[SPEAKER_00]: That frustrates me because that's not why they're there.
10:50
[SPEAKER_00]: They're not supposed to be there for their own self-interest.
10:52
[SPEAKER_00]: They're supposed to be there for the American people.
10:54
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not sitting right with me right now.
10:56
[SPEAKER_01]: It never sits right.
10:57
[SPEAKER_01]: It's like your job is to run the government, not shut the government down.
11:00
[SPEAKER_01]: And so I think it always looks bad on both parties.
11:02
[SPEAKER_01]: They're going to blame each other, but I think it looks bad on both sides.
11:06
[SPEAKER_01]: It looks bad on both sides.
11:07
[SPEAKER_01]: Come to an agreement, figure something out.
11:09
[SPEAKER_00]: This is not as big a win for Trump as he thinks it is.
11:13
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is certainly, in my opinion, not the way to get your point across as well Democrats, because they're trying to say we stand up for the little man here, but yet you're about to affect
11:24
[SPEAKER_00]: the little man a lot by choosing to not pass the funding bill.
11:28
[SPEAKER_00]: So it just doesn't look good for either side.
11:30
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, you're right.
11:31
[SPEAKER_01]: And like you said, so non essential employees, there are about roughly 400,000 federal government employees that are deemed non essential who will be furloughed for the time being.
11:40
[SPEAKER_01]: And then so many more will continue to work like you said and just not get a paycheck until this government shut down ends and then they'll get the back pay.
11:48
[SPEAKER_01]: But like you said, so many are paycheck to paycheck.
11:50
[SPEAKER_01]: A lot of them,
11:51
[SPEAKER_01]: their federal government employees don't make tons of money.
11:53
[SPEAKER_01]: These are not huge salaries.
11:54
[SPEAKER_01]: A lot of them are hourly.
11:56
[SPEAKER_01]: A lot of these people are in the military.
11:58
[SPEAKER_01]: A lot of them are TSA agents at the airport.
12:00
[SPEAKER_01]: That's not like a super high-paying job.
12:02
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a good job, but it does a lot of times mean living paycheck to paycheck.
12:06
[SPEAKER_01]: And so it hurts them.
12:07
[SPEAKER_01]: And I saw an article this morning that was cool.
12:09
[SPEAKER_01]: It's talking about how the church multiple churches, specifically in the DC area.
12:14
[SPEAKER_01]: stepped up in the 2018 shut down to help provide food and housing for the cultural employees who they saw some of these you think about the the single mom who's a federal employee who's got kids at home that needs to feed them and then all the senator paycheck has got offer a few weeks and that's not that's just not
12:31
[SPEAKER_01]: Great and like you said, it's not great for either party to to kind of disregard that either way members of Congress They still get paid and that's kind of out of their hands.
12:39
[SPEAKER_01]: It's the Department of Treasury is constitutionally obligated to send to them It doesn't look great though.
12:44
[SPEAKER_01]: It's always bad optics that some of them let's keep the government open people.
12:47
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it's just like every day.
12:49
[SPEAKER_00]: Come on
12:50
[SPEAKER_01]: So what things are closed during the government shutdown at first and this can as it goes on at more things to shut down, but right now it's going to be national parks in the Smithsonian buildings are really kind of the only things that are closed, but even then it's more so like the national parks you can maybe still get into some of them just with the limited staff.
13:07
[SPEAKER_01]: Most other things you're still operating, so if you're air travel, you're still going to happen with air traffic controllers, TSA, law enforcement, like FBI, CIA, they're still working, Medicaid, Medicare, benefits, SNAP, Social Security, post office, it's also operating.
13:21
[SPEAKER_01]: some of it may have more slim down staff and you might see longer lines at places especially at the airport.
13:25
[SPEAKER_01]: There may be longer lines as people call in sick and security and all of that.
13:28
[SPEAKER_01]: So keep that in mind.
13:29
[SPEAKER_01]: But the biggest consequence of this potential shutdown is actually the threat of mass layoffs.
13:34
[SPEAKER_01]: That's because at the behest of Trump, the office of management and budget, sent a memo out to all the federal agencies last week, threatening the mass firing of federal workers in the event of a shutdown and Trump has suggested that, yeah, I want people to
13:47
[SPEAKER_01]: eliminate their jobs, essentially these agencies to eliminate fluff anywhere they see that uses as an opportunity.
13:53
[SPEAKER_01]: So all that to say this could be pretty bad.
13:56
[SPEAKER_01]: What Dr. Ryan Denison, I really liked what he said in Tuesday's edition of the Daily article regarding that specific piece of this.
14:03
[SPEAKER_01]: He said given that the Trump administration is primarily responsible for determining which workers in the executive branch are essential, the prevailing belief is that Trump could use the shutdown as it means of reducing employment and penalizing parts of the government that his administration deems either superfluous or standing in the way of its agenda.
14:22
[SPEAKER_01]: So asked on Tuesday morning how many government employees has in administration would lay off Trump literally responded well we may do a lot and that's only because of the Democrats so we say I'm going to have people get laid off, but I'm going to blame the Democrats for it so that's his talking point right now and you know it's going to have long term effects on private sector as well and everything.
14:41
[SPEAKER_01]: As we look at this though, I'm trying to think through what peace can we find in all of this.
14:46
[SPEAKER_01]: It's just a frustrating place to beat, to watch these two parties in the most powerful people in the country, play the blame game, and it's frustrating.
14:54
[SPEAKER_01]: Especially when they can't come to an agreement, and it just feels like political theater, and Americans are the ones suffering the consequences of this.
15:00
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, speaking of Dr. Ryan Dennis and again, back to his Tuesday article, I had to tie it out like this because I think he laid it out perfectly, I loved what he said.
15:08
[SPEAKER_01]: He said, a signing blame for the current budget situation where Republicans are Democrats is pointless, because on a basic level, both parties govern the same.
15:16
[SPEAKER_01]: However, the wrong choice doesn't become less wrong just because someone else made it first.
15:20
[SPEAKER_01]: He likened it to two siblings fighting and saying the other started it.
15:24
[SPEAKER_01]: to explain away their own bad behavior.
15:26
[SPEAKER_01]: I know you've got two kids.
15:27
[SPEAKER_01]: I know your kids probably have done this.
15:29
[SPEAKER_01]: They blame their sister for starting the fight or the argument.
15:32
[SPEAKER_01]: And then it's just like, well, you're kind of at fault, too, right?
15:34
[SPEAKER_01]: It's some way.
15:35
[SPEAKER_01]: Totally.
15:36
[SPEAKER_01]: So that's what these parties are doing.
15:38
[SPEAKER_01]: But we can all relate to that, right?
15:40
[SPEAKER_01]: We can all think back to a time when we made the same exact mistake, but someone else, making a bad choice doesn't justify our own bad decisions.
15:49
[SPEAKER_01]: And second Corinthians 510 kind of calls us out.
15:50
[SPEAKER_01]: It says, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.
15:55
[SPEAKER_01]: So that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
16:01
[SPEAKER_01]: So this week, let's check our own hearts and recognize that genuine repentance requires owning up to our sin and bad decisions without pointing fingers.
16:11
[SPEAKER_01]: Basically, learning the opposite of what these two political parties are doing, don't point fingers.
16:15
[SPEAKER_01]: Recognize your own sin, recognize your own faults, and repent for it.
16:18
[SPEAKER_01]: And then
16:19
[SPEAKER_01]: Ryan, I just kind of end with this.
16:21
[SPEAKER_01]: This was in his article at the very end.
16:22
[SPEAKER_01]: He said, well, it can be tempting and justified to complain about the state of our politics today.
16:26
[SPEAKER_01]: Know that Christ cares far more about the state of your heart and the degree to which it is aligned to his own as opposed to, you know, dwelling on a shutdown or political problems.
16:39
[SPEAKER_01]: Recognize that Christ cares about our hearts, right?
16:41
[SPEAKER_01]: And just take that into the week.
16:44
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, Connor, good stuff, good application.
16:46
[SPEAKER_00]: And just remember, like, no matter how frustrating this is, the government will reopen.
16:50
[SPEAKER_00]: This won't go on forever.
16:52
[SPEAKER_00]: I think a lot of the negative that comes from a government shutdown or the looming government shutdown is the fact that so many people worry about it.
16:59
[SPEAKER_00]: But you know what, like,
17:01
[SPEAKER_00]: get out there, people are still working, people are still at parks with their families, people are still going to church, people are still engaging in commerce, whether the government's running or not.
17:10
[SPEAKER_00]: Just take a deep breath.
17:12
[SPEAKER_00]: The government will reopen whenever they decide to stop doing what they're doing.
17:17
[SPEAKER_00]: So, all right, Connor, thanks for that.
17:18
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm gonna jump into the next one.
17:21
[SPEAKER_00]: is lasting peace coming to the Middle East.
17:23
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, that's a great question that I would love to answer because I think that we are on the brink of something that could potentially work.
17:30
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think it hinges upon getting others in the Middle Eastern regions surrounding Israel and Gaza to actually take some responsibility for what's happening.
17:39
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's what Trump's 20-point plan kind of lays out.
17:42
[SPEAKER_00]: Now it's a big ask, but it's a big step forward and at least it potentially happening.
17:47
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I do think that there is a prospect here that some piece could come and could actually last through this.
17:52
[SPEAKER_00]: So here's what's on the table.
17:54
[SPEAKER_00]: Trump has put forward a 20 point piece proposal for Gaza.
17:57
[SPEAKER_00]: It calls for an immediate ceasefire with all hostages within 72 hours.
18:01
[SPEAKER_00]: Israel pulling back in stages out of Gaza, Hamas giving up weapons in Gaza being run by a temporary technocratic authority under international oversight.
18:10
[SPEAKER_00]: So it would be run by Palestinians to be run by those in Gaza, but Gaza would not have a place in the leadership structure there.
18:16
[SPEAKER_00]: and then an internal stabilization force would help secure the area while aid and reconstruction would pour in to rebuild Gaza.
18:23
[SPEAKER_00]: Israel would also release almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners as a part of the deal, Netanyahu even went as far as apologizing to a Qatar for a paststrike trying to repair a key relationship, since Qatar has influenced with Hamas and has been a good meeting ground, a good kind of middle ground for both of them.
18:41
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I know I said a lot there
18:46
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, that's a lot of what ifs, right?
18:48
[SPEAKER_00]: That's a lot of things that have to work out just right for this to happen.
18:52
[SPEAKER_00]: But there's a structure in place here if Hamas agrees.
18:56
[SPEAKER_00]: So this isn't just another ceasefire proposal.
18:58
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I'm really reading through these points.
19:00
[SPEAKER_00]: If it works, it would mark one of the most significant breakthroughs in the Middle East in centuries.
19:05
[SPEAKER_00]: We're talking about a conflict that's been going on, not just for these last couple of years, Connor, right?
19:11
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, this is,
19:13
[SPEAKER_00]: decades of war failed negotiations hundreds of years you could argue thousands of years of deep religious and cultural divides that has led to war over and over and over again the shedding of innocent blood.
19:27
[SPEAKER_00]: over and over and over again.
19:29
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
19:30
[SPEAKER_00]: So the scale of what's being proposed is truly massive and the ripple effects would touch not only Israel and Gaza, but it would actually make an impact on the region and even the global stage.
19:41
[SPEAKER_00]: What are your thoughts on all this is?
19:42
[SPEAKER_00]: It's
19:43
[SPEAKER_00]: coming out.
19:44
[SPEAKER_01]: It is a lot of what if this is one of the most complicated issues.
19:47
[SPEAKER_01]: No president has been able to figure it out.
19:49
[SPEAKER_01]: No Prime Minister is real.
19:51
[SPEAKER_01]: No.
19:52
[SPEAKER_01]: Palestine or Middle East countries have been able to figure this out.
19:54
[SPEAKER_01]: We all know this.
19:55
[SPEAKER_01]: This is one of the just most dicey situations in the world.
19:59
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's going to take a lot of work to iron all these details out and to actually see it through my hope is that this is actually the first real step toward getting all those hostages home.
20:08
[SPEAKER_01]: and getting peace in this region and in Gaza and ending this conflict.
20:13
[SPEAKER_01]: But we, man, one little thing goes wrong and Hamas doesn't accept it or Hamas decides to do some sort of attack or kill a hostage or something.
20:21
[SPEAKER_01]: It's all off the table.
20:22
[SPEAKER_01]: So, or Israel could do something that makes somebody in the Middle East mad.
20:26
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, or they almost blew it when they hit that guitar strike last month.
20:30
[SPEAKER_01]: And that, and y'all who haven't apologized for that, while he was in the oval office, in order to get this deal moving, right?
20:35
[SPEAKER_01]: So, just a lot going on.
20:37
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, and partisan politics aside, I think Trump has proven that he can try his hand at this, and he's had some success in his first term.
20:44
[SPEAKER_00]: He had the Abraham Accords, which were kind of the most important piece, still in that region for a long time, and did bring some stability.
20:52
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I do think he has proven that he's able to get the right people involved and get the right people in the room to navigate something like this.
20:58
[SPEAKER_00]: And so again, matter how you feel about him or it, I think we should all be on the side of peace.
21:03
[SPEAKER_00]: and I don't believe that we should ever because of our partisan politics.
21:08
[SPEAKER_00]: route against peace when so many innocent people are suffering over there right now, especially as Christians.
21:13
[SPEAKER_00]: I think we should all pray that this works, honestly, no matter if you like Trump or not, you know, and so I've been kind of frustrated with some of the things I sing online.
21:21
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like, so just because Trump's doing it, you're against it, you know, it's just just frustrating, but both sides do it and you laid out the partisan issues we're experiencing in this country right now very well and it's on full display with the government shutdown.
21:33
[SPEAKER_01]: It could be Joe Biden that could have done this exact deal, and the others I would be mad, right?
21:38
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
21:39
[SPEAKER_00]: And we should still be saying, like everyone should still be saying no matter what, we should still be saying, hey, let's pray this works, because this could actually bring some peace and stop the bloodshed.
21:48
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to give five pros and five cons real quick just to kind of break down this issue.
21:52
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, so here's the five pros of why this plan could work.
21:54
[SPEAKER_00]: Number one, it would release the hostages immediately.
21:58
[SPEAKER_00]: The requirement that all hostages be released within 72 hours creates urgency and a concrete starting point for the process.
22:04
[SPEAKER_00]: And then this is more of a holistic approach.
22:06
[SPEAKER_00]: That's the second pro.
22:07
[SPEAKER_00]: The plan links together ceasefire, prisoner exchanges withdrawal, reconstruction, governance, and security into one framework.
22:14
[SPEAKER_00]: So if you can get everybody sign on and hold up their ends of the bargain, this has every step.
22:19
[SPEAKER_00]: That's why it's 20 points.
22:21
[SPEAKER_00]: not just the ceasefire, all the way through a governing authority in reconstructing that area that has just been leveled.
22:27
[SPEAKER_00]: The third pro is that you've got more regional engagement and buy-in.
22:31
[SPEAKER_00]: If this is signed by everybody, eight other Middle Eastern countries in that area setting on to this.
22:36
[SPEAKER_00]: So involving Qatar and other Arab states brings in actors who have influence with Hamas and credibility in the broader region and who take responsibility for things that are
22:46
[SPEAKER_00]: right there in their backyard right and in the fourth one the fourth pro is that you've got some security mechanisms in place so this would bring an international stabilization forced and phased Israeli withdrawal which would aim to provide security while preventing immediate rearmament and then the fifth pro.
23:05
[SPEAKER_00]: This is a future political pathway for that region.
23:08
[SPEAKER_00]: So although it doesn't establish Palestinian statehood per se, the plan does outline conditions with future political progress and how that could be possible there.
23:17
[SPEAKER_00]: So those are the five pros, which I think are really solid pros.
23:21
[SPEAKER_00]: But there's also some cons of why this might not work and I want to make sure that I talk about those two.
23:25
[SPEAKER_00]: So you've got some perceptions of imbalance in this, right?
23:28
[SPEAKER_00]: So some Palestinian groups and even Arab nations view this as weighted in Israel's favor, especially because it doesn't recognize a Palestinian state per se.
23:38
[SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, that could limit buy-in from Hamas, obviously, and from other countries that are more sympathetic to Hamas.
23:45
[SPEAKER_00]: The second con would be there's enforcement uncertainty.
23:48
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, really all of these cons line up with these are such lofty goals.
23:52
[SPEAKER_00]: You might be able to get them to agree to it.
23:55
[SPEAKER_00]: But who's to say six months down the road?
23:58
[SPEAKER_00]: This is one of those things.
23:58
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like a domino effect.
24:00
[SPEAKER_00]: Like if one country or one part of this doesn't hold up there into the bargain, it could end up being a watershed moment for the entire piece, still.
24:07
[SPEAKER_00]: And so the second con is enforcement uncertainty, so the plan does not specify exactly who will monitor or enforce compliance or disarmament with Charles or cease to fire violations.
24:18
[SPEAKER_00]: And then the third con is exclusion of Hamas from governments now.
24:23
[SPEAKER_00]: That's a pro in every sense of the word.
24:25
[SPEAKER_00]: They are an awful terrorist organization who have committed some unfathomable atrocities, okay?
24:31
[SPEAKER_00]: That cannot be lost in this.
24:32
[SPEAKER_00]: However, removing hummus from any governing role could reduce legitimacy among Palestinians and it could risk kind of a grassroots resistance to this deal that even if the leaders they are agreed to it, it still could create more issues.
24:46
[SPEAKER_00]: The fourth con logistical and financial hurdles.
24:49
[SPEAKER_00]: Listen, rebuilding Gaza is going to take outside investment.
24:54
[SPEAKER_00]: And if the United States is not going to be the main finance here, well, who's going to step up and do it?
24:59
[SPEAKER_00]: Right?
24:59
[SPEAKER_00]: And so that that's a con of how do you actually get the investment needed to rebuild Gaza, fifth con political risks on both sides?
25:08
[SPEAKER_00]: In Israel, if you make these concessions, which Israel has agreed to this,
25:12
[SPEAKER_00]: There's still a lot of hardliners in Israel that's giving them too much.
25:16
[SPEAKER_00]: Look at everything that they've done, look at everything that's happened.
25:19
[SPEAKER_00]: This is like taking a step back.
25:21
[SPEAKER_00]: But then on the other side, among Palestinians, the absence of immediate sovereignty, which is what they want, may be unacceptable to some of them.
25:27
[SPEAKER_00]: So those are the five pros and cons.
25:30
[SPEAKER_00]: Any thoughts from that corner?
25:31
[SPEAKER_01]: It's just a lot.
25:32
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I know so much upside so much downside and again, this has not been fully agreed to either this I know current plan.
25:38
[SPEAKER_01]: Hopefully it does get agreed to and then it's just going to be how does this all play out really just an unpredictable situation.
25:44
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm on the side of peace, though, and I just really believe firmly that as believers, we should all be.
25:49
[SPEAKER_00]: And so, yes, this is going to take a Herculean effort.
25:51
[SPEAKER_00]: But I've, I've seen God show up and do some crazy things over and over and over again.
25:56
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think that this is something that we should be praying for, that this can be pulled off, so that so many innocent people can stop dying over there.
26:02
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, I mean, absolutely.
26:03
[SPEAKER_00]: That's my pure argument on that one.
26:05
[SPEAKER_00]: And you know, when I really just kind of wanted to break it down because I feel like everybody's like, Oh, Trump's 20 point piece deal.
26:10
[SPEAKER_00]: I just kind of wanted to break down and get a little bit more granular in specific with it.
26:14
[SPEAKER_00]: So we can understand exactly what it contains.
26:16
[SPEAKER_00]: But here's the bigger picture.
26:18
[SPEAKER_00]: So can this bring lasting peace?
26:21
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe it's bold, it's detailed and it puts everyone on the spot in the moment like it requires immediate action from everybody in that region, but it also rests on trust between people who have not trusted each other for generations.
26:32
[SPEAKER_00]: So that is why so many are skeptical.
26:34
[SPEAKER_00]: Right, so we just have to understand that.
26:36
[SPEAKER_00]: We have 250 years, almost 250 years, next year, history as a nation.
26:42
[SPEAKER_00]: My goodness gracious, this is pre-Jesus times that we're talking about these types of conflicts have been warring on over there, right?
26:48
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, just read your Old Testament.
26:49
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, there's so much history there in the Middle East.
26:51
[SPEAKER_00]: And so here's the part we can't ignore.
26:54
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is just a side point that I want to make.
26:57
[SPEAKER_00]: A point that I want to bring up while Gaza dominates headlines, did you know that more than 7,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria this year?
27:05
[SPEAKER_00]: 7,000 Christians, villages, men, women, children, killed, simply because they profess and worship Jesus.
27:14
[SPEAKER_00]: And this actually came to mind because I mean, we've talked about this type of persecution before, but it just kind of keeps adding up.
27:20
[SPEAKER_00]: Bill Mar, who's the left-leaning comedian and late night TV show host, pointed out that people pick and choose which tragedies they get outraged about and the silence around the killing of Christians in Nigeria proves that point.
27:34
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't always love what Bill Mars says, but I think he has a fantastic point there.
27:38
[SPEAKER_00]: If we truly care about justice in human life, whatever side of the aisle that we fall on, we can't look away from certain tragedies simply because they're less visible in the West or because they don't easily fit our political narrative.
27:50
[SPEAKER_00]: So all the free Palestine people, why aren't you talking about this?
27:55
[SPEAKER_00]: You know what I mean?
27:55
[SPEAKER_00]: All the people up in arms about all of the innocent loss of life.
28:00
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, where's the outcry for all of these Christians that are being murdered?
28:05
[SPEAKER_00]: Just truly because they're their Christians.
28:07
[SPEAKER_00]: There's not a war going on per se, and like there's a war, but it's different.
28:10
[SPEAKER_00]: They're just truly villages are just being pillaged because they're Christian villages, because there's Christians there.
28:16
[SPEAKER_00]: Like why isn't there more talk about this?
28:18
[SPEAKER_00]: And I just wanted to point it out, I just think it's a double standard.
28:21
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, it's the same thing with the we your Muslims in China that are imprisoned and they're in a very similar situation as the Palestinians their lives have been up in it, but no one really pays attention or talks about them.
28:32
[SPEAKER_01]: So it is a double standard.
28:33
[SPEAKER_00]: Yep.
28:34
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a double standard.
28:35
[SPEAKER_00]: I just wanted to point it out.
28:36
[SPEAKER_00]: All right.
28:36
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to give a spiritual application and challenge from this.
28:39
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm also going to quote Dr. Ryan Dennis and Ryan.
28:42
[SPEAKER_00]: We appreciate you, man.
28:43
[SPEAKER_00]: You do really good work.
28:44
[SPEAKER_00]: This is grateful for you.
28:45
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, great work, man.
28:46
[SPEAKER_00]: Been really enjoyed reading your stuff.
28:48
[SPEAKER_00]: So Dr. Ryan Dennis and at Denison Forum made a powerful point about this moment.
28:52
[SPEAKER_00]: He said that one of the hardest parts of following Jesus is being willing to actually lay down our rights when doing so is what best advances God's kingdom.
29:02
[SPEAKER_00]: So think about it.
29:03
[SPEAKER_00]: Israel has every right.
29:06
[SPEAKER_00]: to defend itself, to keep fighting until every hostage is home, and Hamas has no longer a threat.
29:12
[SPEAKER_00]: Now I might be in the minority in that, but I really do believe that.
29:15
[SPEAKER_00]: I do believe that they have every right to defend themselves and to get every hostage released that's been captured.
29:21
[SPEAKER_00]: If there were just a bunch of Americans in captivity, I would expect our government to go get.
29:26
[SPEAKER_00]: all of these Americans who are in captivity and bring them home.
29:29
[SPEAKER_00]: But if they only cling to that right, it may actually keep them from reaching the piece that they're after.
29:34
[SPEAKER_00]: If they're so focused on that, we're going to wipe them off of the face of the earth, even though they have every right to do that with him, us.
29:41
[SPEAKER_00]: And to get the hostages home, if they're so focused on that, they may lose that on more holistic piece because they're so focused on that one thing.
29:48
[SPEAKER_00]: So isn't that true in our own lives?
29:50
[SPEAKER_00]: We have the right to defend our reputation to fight back when someone wrongs us to demand fairness.
29:56
[SPEAKER_00]: But Jesus calls us to something even higher than that, I believe.
30:00
[SPEAKER_00]: And the sermon on the Mount Jesus says, if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
30:05
[SPEAKER_00]: And then he also says, in Matthew 539, that was 39 and then 44, and love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
30:13
[SPEAKER_00]: So Jesus isn't denying that we have the right to strike back.
30:16
[SPEAKER_00]: He's calling us to give up that right
30:20
[SPEAKER_00]: can point people to him.
30:22
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's exactly what Jesus modeled for us on the cross.
30:25
[SPEAKER_00]: He had every right to call down angels to rescue him, but instead he chose the Father's will because it meant salvation for all of us.
30:32
[SPEAKER_00]: So here's the challenge in your life, in my life, where are you tempted to cling to your rights instead of submitting to God's will?
30:40
[SPEAKER_00]: And where do you need to choose peace over pride?
30:42
[SPEAKER_00]: God's purpose over your own plan.
30:44
[SPEAKER_00]: Just take a second, think about that.
30:47
[SPEAKER_00]: Right, because lasting peace in the Middle East, or in our personal lives, begins when we put God's will above our own.
30:55
[SPEAKER_01]: Hmm, amen to all of that.
30:57
[SPEAKER_01]: We continue to pray for peace in Israel and Gaza for the Gaza into our innocently in the middle of all of this.
31:02
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, Israeli, too, in the middle of all of this.
31:04
[SPEAKER_01]: And we do the same for other conflicts as well.
31:06
[SPEAKER_01]: Ukraine, Russia, Sudan is also in the middle of a civil war.
31:09
[SPEAKER_01]: Same thing with the double standard here that is horrible in Sudan right now.
31:13
[SPEAKER_01]: So pray for those people.
31:14
[SPEAKER_01]: So we will continue to pray for peace.
31:16
[SPEAKER_01]: That is ultimately what we need to see.
31:18
[SPEAKER_01]: All right, Micah, let's dive into something else.
31:20
[SPEAKER_01]: A little bit different.
31:21
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's kind of get a little pal at Clinsor here.
31:22
[SPEAKER_01]: These have been, so I feel like we've had a lot of little pal at Clinsor.
31:25
[SPEAKER_00]: There's recently.
31:27
[SPEAKER_01]: I think it's a palette cleanser because it's about UFOs and a recent video assuming there's not aliens about to invade Earth, this should be a palette cleanser.
31:35
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm bringing this up because a couple weeks ago there was a video released in Congress.
31:40
[SPEAKER_01]: Mike are using this video of a UFO and they call it a UAP unidentified aerial phenomenon.
31:47
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's a military video from an aircraft or a drone, and it shows this weird, like, or looking thing flying through the air at high rates of speed and it gets hit by a U.S.
31:57
[SPEAKER_01]: missile.
31:58
[SPEAKER_01]: and do the missile bounced off.
32:00
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, it's, I've never seen anything like it.
32:02
[SPEAKER_01]: A lot of people say they've never seen anything like it.
32:04
[SPEAKER_01]: All these self-proclaimed UFO experts are like, yeah, we've been trying to tell you guys these exist, these like orbs exist that have like these, I guess force shields around them that can deflect weapons and missiles and the military has way more video of things like this.
32:20
[SPEAKER_01]: This one just somehow got released to Congress as they were investigating UFOs.
32:24
[SPEAKER_01]: All this to say,
32:25
[SPEAKER_01]: Micah, I know my thoughts on UFOs and or UAPs whatever you want to call them and aliens and everything, but I would love to know, do you think something like this video is an alien thing is this just something weird?
32:36
[SPEAKER_01]: Is it a balloon that somehow deflected a missile?
32:39
[SPEAKER_01]: What are your thoughts?
32:41
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know, man, alien invasions just on my being go card.
32:43
[SPEAKER_00]: I've just got other stuff going on in my own.
32:45
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, everything we just talked about we're dealing with as a country, but just even in my own life, I'm just not a tinfoil hat guy.
32:53
[SPEAKER_00]: I just don't spend much time dabbling and conspiracy theories.
32:55
[SPEAKER_00]: I think it can be fun sometimes, but I think it can kind of dominate one's own personality and thought process to just question every little thing.
33:03
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, do I trust the government to tell me the truth?
33:07
[SPEAKER_00]: No.
33:08
[SPEAKER_00]: I just don't.
33:09
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, and we've talked about this before, do I expect the government to do the right thing?
33:13
[SPEAKER_00]: No, not normally.
33:15
[SPEAKER_00]: So because they're led by sinful, fallible people who often act out of their own interest.
33:22
[SPEAKER_00]: And so like, I don't- It's just one of those things where this very well might be a UFO, I don't know.
33:27
[SPEAKER_00]: I think to say, do I believe in UFOs?
33:30
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, do I believe in unidentified flying objects that we don't know what they came from?
33:34
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, do I believe that aliens are operating them from another interdimensional galaxy?
33:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Probably not, but maybe I could be convinced other ways.
33:44
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, what did you think of that video specifically of the thing bouncing off?
33:48
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know, man.
33:48
[SPEAKER_00]: AI.
33:50
[SPEAKER_00]: Editing, I don't know, I guess I don't have a great answer.
33:56
[SPEAKER_00]: What did you think?
33:58
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it seems like you want to specific answer out of me.
34:00
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't what do you think?
34:01
[SPEAKER_01]: I know.
34:02
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't.
34:02
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm just curious because it just is a crazy video and a lot of people are just like, okay, this is proof, aliens are real.
34:08
[SPEAKER_01]: They're here.
34:09
[SPEAKER_01]: They're on our planet.
34:10
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know that it is either.
34:11
[SPEAKER_01]: I could be some secret weapon that government is working on all this to say.
34:15
[SPEAKER_01]: I gotta tell you, I was talking to my great uncle Rick a few weeks ago.
34:20
[SPEAKER_00]: Shout out.
34:20
[SPEAKER_01]: It looks like to give you a picture of Rick.
34:22
[SPEAKER_01]: He looks like Uncle Si from Duck Dynasty.
34:24
[SPEAKER_01]: And got a white beard.
34:25
[SPEAKER_01]: There you go.
34:26
[SPEAKER_01]: We're in Camo and the whole thing.
34:27
[SPEAKER_01]: And he was talking about his UFO encounter stories.
34:29
[SPEAKER_01]: And I was like, man, this is crazy.
34:31
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, from like the 80s.
34:32
[SPEAKER_01]: And then he tells me he goes on this podcast called Sasquatch Theory to talk about his UFO encounters.
34:37
[SPEAKER_01]: I thought it was kind of like a little backyard podcast.
34:39
[SPEAKER_01]: do this podcast as hundreds of thousands of listeners.
34:42
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's a huge YouTube channel.
34:44
[SPEAKER_01]: Rick is in his 70s.
34:45
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, he's telling his story, but I will tell you this at the end of his whole like UFO encounter story on this podcast.
34:51
[SPEAKER_01]: He dropped the gospel and I was like, you go Rick.
34:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's go.
34:53
[SPEAKER_00]: Nice.
34:54
[SPEAKER_00]: Ultimately, that's what it's all about.
34:56
[SPEAKER_01]: Anyways, he's also a big Sasquatch guy.
34:58
[SPEAKER_01]: I got lots of thoughts on your foes.
34:59
[SPEAKER_01]: I've been I've listened every single thing you are foes on Joe Rogan because I'm just curious what they are that said I don't know what they are anyways Yeah, I know.
35:06
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't have a perfect answer either.
35:07
[SPEAKER_00]: So we want to continue to hear from you all Please send us your questions your thoughts your topic ideas to the email address culture brief
35:15
[SPEAKER_00]: at dinnisonform.org and follow us on Instagram at Colterbury podcast.
35:19
[SPEAKER_00]: We love to drop polls.
35:20
[SPEAKER_00]: We love to engage with our audience there.
35:22
[SPEAKER_00]: You guys have been so great since we started this podcast in January to engage with us.
35:26
[SPEAKER_00]: We're asking that you would continue to do so.
35:28
[SPEAKER_00]: Give us your thoughts, give us your feelings, give us your questions, your likes, your dislikes, your topic ideas, give it all to us, we can handle it.
35:35
[SPEAKER_00]: And we're thankful for you guys.
35:36
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for tuning in with us every single week.
35:38
[SPEAKER_01]: Great.
35:38
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's jump into some things to check into this week.
35:41
[SPEAKER_01]: Things we've talked about, things that have happened in the culture.
35:45
[SPEAKER_01]: First and foremost, just right on Sunday morning, there was a tragic shooting and fire at a Mormon church of Latter-day Saints up in Grand Blanc, township, and Michigan.
35:54
[SPEAKER_01]: And many of you all probably saw the images of this, the church building completely on fire.
35:58
[SPEAKER_01]: This man walked in and killed four people and wounded eight others and then set the building on fire.
36:04
[SPEAKER_01]: Just really tragic.
36:05
[SPEAKER_01]: We've got lots of thoughts on the Mormon church.
36:07
[SPEAKER_01]: And obviously, we see many things differently and we see the gospel differently and everything.
36:12
[SPEAKER_01]: But,
36:13
[SPEAKER_01]: We cannot deny that this is tragic and these people are trying to just express their freedom to worship and share their religion on Sunday morning and it would be like anybody walking to our church building on Sunday morning in a terrible it's just awful so can take it pray for that community and hopefully that the gospel would somehow come out in this tragedy.
36:31
[SPEAKER_00]: Yep, we also saw Tim Allen, the famous actor.
36:35
[SPEAKER_00]: He's older now.
36:36
[SPEAKER_00]: It's kind of always known for being a bit more conservative.
36:39
[SPEAKER_00]: But he tweeted something after the Charlie Kirk Memorial that we broke down in detail last week.
36:44
[SPEAKER_00]: But he tweeted this, when Erica Kirk spoke the words on the man who killed her husband.
36:49
[SPEAKER_00]: And she said, that man, that young man, I forgive him.
36:53
[SPEAKER_00]: that moment deeply affected me.
36:55
[SPEAKER_00]: I've struggled for over 60 years to forgive the man who killed my dad.
36:59
[SPEAKER_00]: I will say those words now as I type.
37:02
[SPEAKER_00]: I forgive the man who killed my father, peace be with you all.
37:06
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, Connor, I looked into this.
37:08
[SPEAKER_00]: Tim Allen, when he was young, he was
37:10
[SPEAKER_00]: goodness 10 or 11 or something like that.
37:12
[SPEAKER_00]: His father was killed by a drunk driver.
37:14
[SPEAKER_00]: And then obviously changed the entire trajectory of his life, but Eric occurred getting up there and not making a political statement like we've talked about and saying, because of Jesus, because I've been forgiven, I can forgive the man who killed my husband.
37:28
[SPEAKER_00]: I think that impact is far reaching.
37:31
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think Tim Allen, he's somebody of prominence, and he had this unique thing happen to him.
37:37
[SPEAKER_00]: I really would venture to believe that her examples let a lot of people to forgive, and he's just the most famous person coming out about it.
37:43
[SPEAKER_00]: But that's beautiful that he said that, and that tweet was awesome.
37:47
[SPEAKER_01]: It was really cool.
37:48
[SPEAKER_01]: It was really cool.
37:49
[SPEAKER_01]: Something else in New York City, Eric Adams, he's the current mayor.
37:52
[SPEAKER_01]: He is not going to be running for reelection.
37:53
[SPEAKER_01]: He's a bad mayor, according to most people in New York.
37:55
[SPEAKER_01]: And so it is going to be between the socialist Zohan Mamdoni, Zauron.
37:59
[SPEAKER_01]: Sorry, or Andrew Cuomo, the former governor, who's now running for mayor.
38:04
[SPEAKER_01]: He lost a Mamdoni in the March primary.
38:07
[SPEAKER_01]: Already for the Democrats.
38:08
[SPEAKER_01]: So now he's running as an independent.
38:09
[SPEAKER_01]: So we'll see if he can actually pull it off with Eric Adams dropping out.
38:12
[SPEAKER_01]: Either way, this is a big tell on maybe where the Democrat party has headed, going in the next year's midterms just on the New York City example.
38:19
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it remains to be seen just because, you know, now that it's becoming real, you know, we'll just see, I mean, Mundani has seen as the anti-Trump candidate and most in New York don't like Trump right.
38:28
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think it might be more about that, but at the same time, this does consolidate some voter base that would be against socialism.
38:36
[SPEAKER_00]: independence, Republicans, more centrist Democrats might vote for Cuomo, so Eric Adams dropping out, gives Cuomo a better chance.
38:44
[SPEAKER_00]: But Mom Donnie kind of smoked Cuomo in that Democratic primary, so obviously he has a lot of ground to make up.
38:50
[SPEAKER_00]: Also, the writer cut happened this past weekend, and that was tough to watch from top to bottom.
38:55
[SPEAKER_00]: Europe beat the United States on US soil 15 to 13.
38:58
[SPEAKER_00]: Europe captures the 2025 Ryder Cup at Beth Page Black.
39:01
[SPEAKER_00]: The US stumbled battling the first
39:05
[SPEAKER_00]: But then on Sunday though, they mounted a furious rally that had the crowd believing in a historic comeback.
39:10
[SPEAKER_00]: I know Connor and I were texting with a bunch of different people.
39:13
[SPEAKER_00]: It was unbelievable win after win.
39:16
[SPEAKER_00]: After win, oh my gosh, is this possible?
39:19
[SPEAKER_00]: It would have been a historic comeback match after match tightened it, but
39:25
[SPEAKER_00]: US ultimately lost it was the first Ryder Cup one by visiting teams since 2012 and I think about Europe's early dominance and the US has charged that came up just short when I think back on the Ryder Cup.
39:35
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm just glad the US made it competitive but there's a lot of changes that need to be made because Europe has won I think 15 of the last 20 or something like that.
39:43
[SPEAKER_00]: Something crazy.
39:44
[SPEAKER_00]: US has got to step it up.
39:45
[SPEAKER_00]: US has got to figure it out.
39:47
[SPEAKER_00]: This is embarrassing.
39:48
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, the Europeans just care more.
39:49
[SPEAKER_00]: They're better prepared for them.
39:51
[SPEAKER_00]: And they shouldn't care more.
39:52
[SPEAKER_00]: The US should have more pride.
39:54
[SPEAKER_00]: They shouldn't care more.
39:55
[SPEAKER_01]: I agree.
39:56
[SPEAKER_01]: Even Trump was there.
39:57
[SPEAKER_01]: And he, he hyped everybody up on the T standing right behind that was there.
40:01
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, that was just funny.
40:02
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.
40:03
[SPEAKER_01]: Hollywood stuff Nicole Kidman, Keith Urban, it's done.
40:06
[SPEAKER_01]: Everybody's on them is like that couple that a list couple that like transcends TV movies and music.
40:11
[SPEAKER_01]: They're like the only couple that said I was sad to show.
40:14
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah, I'm sad to, you know, like, yeah, there were those couples that you just were like, oh, that's a Hollywood couple who stayed together.
40:21
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's not working out anymore.
40:23
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not sure.
40:23
[SPEAKER_01]: Why we don't know any reasons and that's not necessarily our place, but yeah, the way it's kind of sad You know, they were always at the Grammys Oscars Emmys if it was an award so they were there just because they touched everything There was American Idol years all of that anyways sad to see that.
40:37
[SPEAKER_00]: Mm-hmm.
40:37
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay next one bad bunny
40:40
[SPEAKER_00]: is announced as a Super Bowl halftime performer.
40:43
[SPEAKER_00]: He's a music superstar, really yes.
40:45
[SPEAKER_00]: But as music is primarily in Spanish, you have probably heard one of his songs in the radio before.
40:49
[SPEAKER_00]: He is from Puerto Rico.
40:52
[SPEAKER_00]: He is previously stated though that he's not performing in the mainland U.S.
40:55
[SPEAKER_00]: as part of his upcoming world tour due to concerns that ice could be outside of his concerts.
41:00
[SPEAKER_00]: there to deport the people who are showing up.
41:02
[SPEAKER_00]: So we'll see how that turns out.
41:03
[SPEAKER_00]: And then Taylor Swift announced a new album.
41:06
[SPEAKER_00]: The life of a show girl is out on Friday, her 12th album.
41:11
[SPEAKER_00]: She's the most famous.
41:13
[SPEAKER_00]: person related to music on the face of the earth, right?
41:15
[SPEAKER_00]: And so any album release, she does is a pretty big deal.
41:19
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, those two are technically the biggest music stars in the world right now, Taylor Swift.
41:23
[SPEAKER_00]: Bad Bunny and Taylor Swift?
41:24
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, because Bad Bunny, just in Latin America, is huge.
41:28
[SPEAKER_01]: He's the most famous artist.
41:29
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think one of his songs has the most streams ever, or something like that on Spotify, yeah.
41:33
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't think a lot of people who watch the NFL will know who he is.
41:35
[SPEAKER_01]: And I don't know that they'll know his music.
41:36
[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm not sure where to do it.
41:38
[SPEAKER_00]: I bet you they tried to get Taylor.
41:40
[SPEAKER_00]: because, you know, she's with Travis Kelsey, they're engaged and Travis Kelsey is the Titan for the Kansas City Chiefs and that I bet you he was like second choice.
41:49
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, supposedly the NFL did not want to meet the demand that Taylor was demanding to do it.
41:53
[SPEAKER_01]: So yeah, because they don't get paid.
41:56
[SPEAKER_01]: The halftime performers don't get paid, right?
41:58
[SPEAKER_01]: They don't get paid, but they want more creative freedom than I think that if always willing to allow Taylor to have.
42:02
[SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, there's background reporting there.
42:05
[SPEAKER_01]: You can go find that stuff.
42:06
[SPEAKER_01]: Other things happening this weekend, tune in.
42:09
[SPEAKER_01]: It will be playoffs.
42:10
[SPEAKER_01]: I won't break them all down.
42:11
[SPEAKER_01]: We were in the early stages of the wild card games right now.
42:14
[SPEAKER_01]: Division series is coming up.
42:15
[SPEAKER_01]: But a lot of teams are in the playoffs.
42:16
[SPEAKER_01]: So if you're looking for some good baseball to watch, October, baseball, it's here.
42:19
[SPEAKER_01]: And then it protects his Rangers.
42:20
[SPEAKER_00]: That's right.
42:21
[SPEAKER_00]: But neither are the Astros.
42:22
[SPEAKER_00]: So we'll talk about the Astros.
42:23
[SPEAKER_00]: That's right.
42:24
[SPEAKER_01]: And next week, guys, Mike and I are both gone.
42:27
[SPEAKER_01]: But we're in it.
42:29
[SPEAKER_01]: We've got an episode slated because we're going to have our first ever guest on Culture Brief.
42:33
[SPEAKER_01]: It's an awesome guest.
42:34
[SPEAKER_01]: You guys are going to love him.
42:36
[SPEAKER_01]: It's going to be so fun to talk to him about the way.
42:38
[SPEAKER_01]: him and his team and his job are impacting culture, especially among younger Americans and Christians, it's going to be such a fun episode.
42:46
[SPEAKER_01]: We can't wait to talk to him and for you guys to hear all that he has to say, I'll leave it as a top secret guest appearance.
42:53
[SPEAKER_01]: We won't say who it is right now, but tune in next week for that and Micah, I hope you enjoy your time out.
42:58
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to try and enjoy my time out and then we'll be back the following week.
43:03
[SPEAKER_01]: All that to say guys, thank you for listening to us this week.
43:05
[SPEAKER_01]: We really appreciate it as you just try to break down everything from a faith perspective And so you can find all the articles all the videos the UFO video the memes that are going between the president and everything That will all be linked in our show notes Right innocent articles linked in our show notes and you can find all that there leave us a comment leave us a review leave us some stars Whatever you need to do and share with the friends and we appreciate it.
43:25
[SPEAKER_01]: We'll see you next week