Tim Wildman is president of the American Family Association

>> Ed Vitagliano: The mission of AFA is to inform,

>> Tim Wildmon: equip and activate individuals and families to strengthen the moral foundations of American culture

>> Ed Vitagliano: and give aid to the church here and abroad.

>> Tim Wildmon: In its task of fulfilling the Great

>> Tim Wildmon: Commission, AFA upholds the truth that all

>> Tim Wildmon: human beings, including the, unborn, are

>> Ed Vitagliano: created in the image of God and,

>> Tim Wildmon: are worthy of life, liberty and

>> Tim Wildmon: the pursuit of happiness.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Thank you for standing with the American Family Association. Welcome to Today's Issues, offering a Christian response to the issues of the day. Here's your host, Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association.

>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, good morning, everybody, and welcome to Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network. Thanks for listening to AFR. It's Thursday, June 11, 2026. All right, in studio, we have a surprise, guest. Brother Ray Pritchard's in town.

>> Tim Wildmon: I know.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Town in studio, in the house.

>> Tim Wildmon: Usually I'm here for the Christmas. Yeah, the Christmas party showed up six months early.

>> Tim Wildmon: Christmas in June.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's right.

>> Ed Vitagliano: As you're on your way to your very difficult assignment down in Florida, you

>> Tim Wildmon: know, you know, somebody's got to do it.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Somebody does.

>> Tim Wildmon: I'm going to take one for the team. Marlene and I are on our way to Florida. We're moving down there. And God, willing, about the first week of July, we'll be settled in, in our park model at Word of Life Palm Grove in Hudson, Florida.

>> Ed Vitagliano: There you go.

>> Tim Wildmon: that other voice is Ed Battagliano. Good morning, Ed.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Good morning. I forgot I had not been formally introduced.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right. Fred Jackson. Good morning, Fred.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, good morning. But everybody knows Ed's voice.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, Little, little Ed goes a long way.

>> Tim Wildmon: All right, so Fred's here. Ray's in studio with us instead of being in Kansas City and, and, or Florida. And, Ed's here, per. Well, you're not here on Thursdays usually.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, usually Wesley is, on, but we swapped out. I was off Monday. You know, one hand washes the other. That' in the Bible, isn't it?

>> Tim Wildmon: It's in there somewhere. That's right. So I swap, I swap with West Hezekiah, maybe Church.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Tim Wildmon: I think that's right. About Iron sharpens graphite.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Ah, yeah. Or, you know that.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right. Something like that.

>> Tim Wildmon: Burden hands worth two in the bush. Could be.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Cleanliness is next to godliness.

>> Tim Wildmon: It's in there somewhere.

>> Tim Wildmon: Sylvester Stallone or.

>> Fred Jackson: What Bible are you guys reading?

>> Tim Wildmon: All right.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Message Bible.

Keep Believing Ministries started in Tupelo, Mississippi, 20 years ago

>> Tim Wildmon: All right, well, good to have you, with us. Now you are celebrating your Keep Believing Ministries, which is, your ministry. You guys are celebrating 20 years.

>> Tim Wildmon: 20 years. We got started right here in Tupelo, Mississippi, 20 years ago, and we've been doing a couple of banquets around the country. And, we wanted to come back to Tupelo to say thanks to our friends and supporters, because, basically this was ground zero for Keep Believing ministries, which now stretches through the Internet all over the world. Yeah, but it got started right here.

>> Tim Wildmon: Now, you started that. Was that after you left the pastorate?

>> Tim Wildmon: Yes.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yes.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. Because while you were serving as. You, served as a pastor of a local church in several different cities across the U.S. you know, you get run out of one, you'd be going to another one.

>> Tim Wildmon: Always, always move at least 500 miles away.

>> Tim Wildmon: It's harder to find people. Didn't know you. No, I'm just teasing. But anyway, so you, But your. Your last church you served was in Chicago area.

>> Tim Wildmon: Was in the Chicago area for about 17 years.

>> Tim Wildmon: So when you decided to leave the pulpit and branch out, to a, you know, an independent ministry like you were forming Keep Believing, what was the thought process there?

>> Tim Wildmon: Well, number one, I wrote a little gospel book for Moody Publishers called An Anchor for the Soul. There's now 1.3 million copies of that little paper. It's a gospel book. It's how to Go to Heaven in Walmart English for the Walmart shoppers of the world. Those are my people. And we started the ministry. If Marlene were here, she would say it this way. She would say, when we started Keep Believing, we wanted a vehicle to enable us to raise money to get the anchor books out to prison ministries and so on. And she would say, the one thing that we knew was that we were never going to go full time with this ministry. But as the wise man said, you want to make God laugh? Tell him your plan. Right. So we told God our plans, and God just chuckled and said, well, we'll see about that. And we started the ministry thinking. I thought I was going to go back into the pastorate somewhere. But the ministry grew and grew and grew, and God sent us supporters, and the funds came in. And so Arlene and I have been serving full time with the ministry now for. Really. We started it 20 years ago, and I became full time with the ministry 19 years ago. And every step along the way, we will say this tonight at our get together. we never had a master plan. I always felt bad about saying that we never had a master plan until I heard Franklin Graham, who's done pretty well. Done pretty well with Samaritan's Purse. He said, we never had a master plan. We just went through whatever door God opened. And you know what? That's not a bad plan for life if you don't know what else to do. Just go through whatever door God opens and see what happens. And so here we are.

>> Ed Vitagliano: That's not really. That's not really the American way.

>> Tim Wildmon: No, it's not.

>> Ed Vitagliano: That's why it's. It's odd when you say that. That's why you say, I'm guessing why you say. I feel bad saying that. Right, because all the experts, including church experts, will tell you, no, man, you got to have a five year plan, ten year plan, all that kind of thing. But biblically speaking, what you said is, is far closer to the truth. You go through the door that God opens and you bloom where you plant it, however you want to put it, because you ultimately in charge.

>> Tim Wildmon: Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Lean not unto your own understanding.

>> Tim Wildmon: In all your ways, acknowledge him in

>> Fred Jackson: what he shall direct your paths.

>> Tim Wildmon: He will direct your paths. We've been working that for 20 years. And here we are.

Fred was interim pastor for Southern Baptist Church in Scott County

>> Tim Wildmon: All right, I got one other question for you then. Fred's, going to bring up the news here. what do you miss most about the pastorate? And I'll give you two choices. Would it be a potluck suppers? Now, I don't know if they call them that around the country.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right. But I know what you're talking. Wednesday night dinner.

>> Tim Wildmon: in the south, they call them potluck suppers or deacons meetings.

>> Tim Wildmon: Let me say it to you this way. I enjoy being a pastor. But in the last 20 years, there has not been. There has never been one day where I awakened and said, man, I wish I had a budget planning meeting tonight.

>> Tim Wildmon: That just never crosses your mind? Never crossed my mind. That's funny. Oh, man. you served in Southern Baptist, churches. I know they're known for the deacons meetings and the finance committee.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, can I just tell one Baptist story?

>> Tim Wildmon: Please go.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Because I've been in the ministry and pastoring in several different types of churches, but I was an interim pastor for my wife's home church, Southern Baptist Church down in Scott County. And my first experience with a Wednesday night business meeting was. Now, I'm not exaggerating this. I can sometimes exaggerate for the point of humor, but the church needed a new vacuum cleaner. And the members of the church said, well, we need to get a committee together.

>> Tim Wildmon: No, they did.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes, they did. To get the vacuum cleaner. And his good friend of mine, my wife's cousin said, well, why don't we just send someone down to a couple of stores and find the best deal? And his mother, I was sitting right behind when he said that. His mother said, oh, son, we can't do that. And I. And I said, wow, all the things I heard about Baptist business meetings are true. And they got a committee together. yeah, they got a committee.

>> Tim Wildmon: Vacuum cleaner committee.

>> Ed Vitagliano: A vacuum cleaner committee. Now, listen, those were dear people. I love them. Friends with many of them still.

>> Tim Wildmon: Now, if you have a vacuum cleaner committee, is that under the umbrella of the deacons, or did you have to elect a president and a, treasurer and a secretary? They had the vacuum cleaner media.

>> Ed Vitagliano: They had to come back.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: With the choices.

>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, no.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And then they had to vote on it.

>> Tim Wildmon: They had to vote on.

>> Tim Wildmon: You're. Are you. Are you.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I'm not making that up. I'm tensioning mention.

Ed served as a pastor and assistant youth pastor for many years

>> Tim Wildmon: Tell one other story, because I love this story and I know longtime listeners have probably heard this before, but Ed served in. And Ray's got a thousand stories, too. Ed served as a pastor or assistant pastor, associate, whatever you want to call him, a youth pastor for many years. even you were bi. Vocational, working here, doing that. So tell the story about the guy coming over to the parsonage. Listen to this, people. Now, for those who don't know if you're new to Christianity or maybe you don't even know anything about church life, the history is. A lot of churches have had. This is not so common anymore, I don't think. But parsonages, which are houses that the church owns, and the pastor and his family live in the church.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. So wanted to set the backdrop maybe for those who don't know what that is. Go ahead.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Okay. And this was the same church.

>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, man, this would make a great sit.

>> Ed Vitagliano: So I came out on a Saturday morning. I was going to mow the grass, and there was a brother from the church unhooking the hose from the pastor, the pastorium, parsonage. And I said, hey, you know, I'm not going to say his name. What are you doing? He said, something to do with this garden. I need more, hose. And so I'm coming to get this one. And I said, why? He said, I pay tithes. The church owns the hose. And so he took the hose with him. He returned it, but that was how he felt. And my wife, after we left there, she said again, did I mention I love those people?

>> Tim Wildmon: You did, yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: my wife Said, this is the last parsonage we're ever living in.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yes.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Because they, you know, church people, they kind of believe she had to get approval to change the, you know, the color of the paint or the, you

>> Tim Wildmon: know, you don't own the house.

>> Ed Vitagliano: You don't own the house. So she said, this is the last one. I said, yes, ma'. Am.

>> Tim Wildmon: Let me tell you this story. My dad was a Methodist preacher, and the first eight years of him serving this would have been in the mid-60s, early-70s. He, We lived in a parsonage, and I just remember we didn't even own the furniture. Oh, okay.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Wow.

>> Tim Wildmon: It was, it was. So my dad decided when we moved to South Haven, which would be about in 76, he decided, you know, what, like your wife. She said, he said, I'm, we're buying our own house.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. And that was highly unusual at the time. Okay. And some churches considered that offensive. Oh, our parsonage is not good enough for you. I mean, that. Some people took that, attitude. But, but his idea was, you

>> Ed Vitagliano: will never own anything.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right.

>> Ed Vitagliano: You'll be.

>> Tim Wildmon: You'll be 70 years old living in a, tent.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Tim Wildmon: Because you never would have. You never would have owned your own.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And in the way of explanation, churches did that because it helped them, if they were smaller, it helped them to pay a pastor and not have to pay them enough for them to make a house payment. Okay. Because they would own the house, the parsonage. And so they, they provided housing but didn't have to pay more salary.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right. When did you switch over to your own home?

>> Tim Wildmon: First church was a parsonage in California, Evangelical Covenant Church out there. We were there for about five years and worked out okay. Because the people had a good. They had a good spirit about things. And if we needed work done, we didn't have to appoint a vacuum cleaner. You know, we could keep the hoses.

>> Fred Jackson: Right.

>> Tim Wildmon: But, but, but, but the deal is you're not building up any equity that way.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Tim Wildmon: And so once we left the church in Los Angeles, moved to a church in Dallas, we scraped the money together and bought a house. And so we've. We've lived in our own homes ever, ever since. Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And by the way, I, I. There's several of those people I'm still friends with that listen to, AFR and listen to this show because they communicate.

>> Tim Wildmon: One of them.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Oh, no, no, no. I just want to let you know I love y'. All. Nothing.

>> Tim Wildmon: Names were not mentioned.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Names were not mentioned.

>> Tim Wildmon: Protect the innocent and, and the guilty.

>> Ed Vitagliano: It's just, it's just some of the funny stuff that happens in church. I'm sure that police officers and nurses, ah, they all have stories like this.

>> Tim Wildmon: Oh yeah.

Fred Whitaker: It generally provides better if you own your own home

>> Ed Vitagliano: And let me ask you this.

>> Tim Wildmon: is that in Southern Baptist circles, is it, is it common today, pastors on their own homes? Is that much standard?

>> Tim Wildmon: Much more, don't you think?

>> Ed Vitagliano: I think so.

>> Tim Wildmon: So it was early part. It was cross denominational.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yes.

>> Tim Wildmon: In terms of that, that move to have. Own your own home, get away from the parsonages. Right, right.

>> Ed Vitagliano: For the very reasons you guys are saying.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: is that you wind up being at retirement age with nothing.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And everyone says, well, God will provide. Well, you know what, God does provide. But you will be living in a tent.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Okay. You'll have shelter.

>> Tim Wildmon: It generally provides better if you own your own home.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right, right, right, right, right, right. All right. You're listening to today's issues on the American Family Radio Network. You know what would be a hit if we, we had a book on church stories. Maybe it's probably already been done but Dennis Swanberg used to tell somebody hilarious, hilarious church. because I think he, he was a pastor. I mean, you know. Oh yeah, yeah, the comedian from Louisiana. All right. and Jerry Clower had some, he

>> Ed Vitagliano: was a master storyteller.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yes. Jerry Clower. Oh, it's pretty good for a guy from Boston. Yeah, yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I've lived in Mississippi since 85.

>> Tim Wildmon: Alright, go Fred.

Storms in Midwest knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of people

>> Fred Jackson: All right, well we need to be praying for our friends in the Midwest, Chicago, area, damaging storms in the last 24 hours, knocking on power to hundreds of thousands of people, causing delays in Ray's old area there in Chicago, o' Hare was shut down, Midway was shut down. It was that bad. we're talking buildings knocked down, the whole shebang as they say. So be praying for those folks. As of early this morning, according to the story we posted, on our website, afn.net, around 390,000 customers still had no electricity, earlier this morning in the Midwest. So pretty serious storms. We're kind of used to those storms to a certain extent earlier on in the spring. But as you, the spring moves along and that hot weather, cold weather collision occurs. Ah, you get those storms.

>> Tim Wildmon: Just look at the radar. Looks like another wave of red, weather coming into you know, Iowa, Missouri, Indiana, Illinois.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, all those folks. And as we reported yesterday, Montana, western M. Montana had snow just a few days ago.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, that's not right.

>> Tim Wildmon: You don't go wrong with global warming.

>> Tim Wildmon: No, I won't have to move if it's snowing in June.

>> Tim Wildmon: It's just wrong, right?

>> Tim Wildmon: Yes. It's not supposed to be that way. All right, what's your next story?

President Trump gave a news conference yesterday on Iran and inflation

>> Fred Jackson: Next story. Tim, I know you want an update from President Trump on what's going on in Iran.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, do Fred, tell me today.

>> Fred Jackson: He said enthusiastically.

>> Tim Wildmon: All right, go ahead, go ahead.

>> Fred Jackson: Well, as he usually does, he was at a signing ceremony for something else yesterday and of course he opens it up to reporters. To his credit, he's not afraid to take reporter questions. But he talked about what's been going on, you know, back and forth, including last night there were some missile exchanges between Iran and the United States. but President Trump yesterday did have a bit of news at his news conference. He talked about, ah, and he said he was breaking news that over the last number of weeks they have been sneaking out through the straight of homose tankers full of oil. And he said that's why kind of gas prices have been going down. Here's a little bit of what he had to say. Cut number 18, sir.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Mr. President, about the latest inflation number

>> Tim Wildmon: which came out this morning.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Could that be it?

>> Tim Wildmon: No, I love it.

>> Fred Jackson: The numbers were great.

>> Ed Vitagliano: You know what I really love? I love deflation. You know why?

>> Tim Wildmon: Because as soon as this war is over.

>> Ed Vitagliano: You know, I can say it now. Something you didn't know. Do you know we've been taking out millions of barrels of oil. Nobody knows it. You know who doesn't know about it?

>> Fred Jackson: Iran.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Until right now.

>> Fred Jackson: We took out the other night, 22

>> Tim Wildmon: ships late at night with no lights

>> Ed Vitagliano: because they don't have any radar. We took out. That's why oil is $85 a barrel.

>> Fred Jackson: Oh, when the war is over, it's coming down.

President Trump threatens to assume total control of Iran's oil and gas industries

All right. And then President Trump, he was on Fox and Friends this morning, called in and did most of the talking. He said, they're planning to hit again, very hard tonight. Is the quotation threatening in a social media post also to assume total control of Iran's oil and gas industries, including the key CARC island in the not too distant future, end quote. So, there is some aggressiveness, going on. The ceasefire officially is still on.

>> Tim Wildmon: Why do you tell the enemy what you're doing?

>> Fred Jackson: well, he said the Raines didn't find out about the sneaking the oil tankers out until yesterday afternoon.

>> Tim Wildmon: Who told them he did?

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, and Carg island is, they pro that Those facilities process 90% of Iranian oil, crude exports. So that, that would be huge. If we take it.

>> Tim Wildmon: How do you know we're going to take it?

>> Ed Vitagliano: Because that's what he said. He said we're going to take it. Although he did say he said we're keep. He's keeping his options open. I agree. I don't, I hate to say this because I don't, I don't want our folks thinking that all we're going to do is criticize President Trump. Probably sound like it. You to your point, Tim, I don't think it's wise to tell your enemy what you're doing.

>> Tim Wildmon: If a Democrat did this, we'd be all over it.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah. I mean, if, if we're sneaking, tank oil tankers out, you don't tell them when I listen, when I get up at night and sneak cookies, I don't tell my wife the next day. That's what I did. Because she'll move the cookie jar and I don't, I don't want oil tankers being anyway. And the first thing saying, Brian, I'm going to let you talk.

>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, this is good. the tips on how to get cookies late at night. That's what I need some ideas here.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Actually, you don't even have cookies. But, but the comment about inflation, that clip. I understand what President Trump was saying. He doesn't technically love inflation. He was talking about the inflation's going in the right direction. It's going to come down further oil when we win and oil prices sink. He think he said it'll sink like a rock. But that clip is going to come back to, to hurt him because they Democrats in the media will clip that out. I love. Which, I love inflation.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, he said that.

>> Ed Vitagliano: He said, I love inflation.

>> Tim Wildmon: So, so what do you mean by that?

>> Ed Vitagliano: I think he, I think he meant I love the news about inflation. It's going to come down, but he was speaking quickly and that little is going to get clipped out.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. My question is, is on or not? What are we doing now?

>> Tim Wildmon: Fred knows

>> Fred Jackson: somebody said this ceasefire is the Middle east version of what a ceasefire is.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.

>> Fred Jackson: So you have little bits of fire, but apparently the ceasefire is still in place.

>> Ed Vitagliano: You know, I did see an interview, I forget who. Or a podcast or whatever here recently. No, I know. it was Marco, Rubio was, being interviewed. He was, testifying for Congress and he was, he was talking about. Now this was helpful. That's why I really like Marco Rubio. He said part of the problem part of, because he was asked why all these statements about, well, this has happened, we're going to big news coming. He says it takes three to five days for the leadership within Iran. And he talked about the different factions. Okay. He said it takes three to five days for them to pass messages on to each other because they're using courier, because every time someone pops their head up, they get a missile. Okay. And this was, this was, Secretary, ah, of State Rubio's explanation of why sometimes it takes a long time. So you know, this group, you know, the IRGC or you know, the other parts of the military or the, you know, the mullahs, they all have to communicate with one another. But it sometimes takes three to five days because it's so slow communicating. And so that was helpful to understand that that's what's going on in Iran because so much of their technology has been destroyed and leadership. Yeah.

All right, let's take our break right here. We'll be back in a few minutes with more issues

>> Tim Wildmon: All right, let's take our break right here. And we'll be back, with more of today's issues on the American Family Radio Network. A lot of more stories.

>> Ed Vitagliano: A lot of more.

>> Tim Wildmon: A lot of more. A lot of more stories. Was that correct or incorrect English? A lot. A lot more. Well, I did, I did blur them. I did. I did blend them. A lot of more stories.

>> Ed Vitagliano: A lot of mo. That's what Clubber Lang said to, Rocky in Rocky 3.

>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, is that right?

>> Ed Vitagliano: You can get a lot of mo pain.

>> Tim Wildmon: We'll be back in a few minutes with more of today's issues on the American Family Radio Network.

American Family Association is celebrating America's 250th birthday with two tours

>> Ed Vitagliano: We would like to take a moment to thank our sponsor, PreBorn. When a mother meets her baby on ultrasound and hears their heartbeat, it's a divine connection. And the majority of the time she will choose life. But they can't do it without our help. Preborn needs us, the pro life community, to come alongside them. One ultrasound is just $28. To donate, dial 250 and say the keyword baby or visit preborn.com afr America's 250th birthday. It's a great excuse to have some extra cake and ice cream, but we can help your celebration go well beyond that. Show your patriotism with America 250 apparel that will become a memento of this special year. We also have special episodes on AFA Stream to help underscore that America is a Christian nation and help you find God in the Constitution. Find all of this and more in one place. Afa.net topics250 hello everyone.

>> Tim Wildmon: I'm Tim Wildmon, president of American Family association and American Family Radio. Hey, we are announcing two tours coming up in 2027, March of 2027. We're going to Greece and we're going to Italy. The Greece tour we call the Footsteps of Paul. And you're going to follow the footsteps of St. Paul in the, country of Greece. And then the Italian, tour, the Tour of Italy. Venice, Florence, Pisa, Rome. We're calling the Make Lasagna Great Again tour. And these are coming up in March of 2027. And if you want to read all about them, the itinerary, the cost, everything you need to know about these tours coming up in March of Greece and Italy, go to tours.afa.net that's t o u r s.afa.net we're going to have a lot of fun, a lot of good fellowship and see some of the most historic and iconic sites in the world.

>> Fred Jackson: But you, Lord, are a compassionate and

>> Tim Wildmon: gracious God, slow to anger and abounding

>> Ed Vitagliano: in love and faithfulness.

>> Tim Wildmon: Psalm 86:15. This is today's issues.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Email your comments to commentsfr.net Past broadcasts of today's Issues are available for listening and viewing in the [email protected] now back to more of today's issues.

American Family Radio is launching a tour of Greece and Italy in 2027

>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, welcome back everybody to Today's Issues on the American Family radio network. Thursday, June 11th is today. By the way, we're having really good response to our tours, that you just heard the spot for coming up in March of 2027 to Greece and Italy. So if you want to, read more about those, go to tours.afa.net t o u r s.afa.net and read all about them, the itinerary, the, you know, everything where we're going, what we're going to see, also how much it costs because it costs money, cost money to go. so check it out.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Tours.afa.net by the way, I like the, music bed underneath that ad. I want the soundtrack.

>> Tim Wildmon: Just make you want to get up and do an Italian dance.

>> Ed Vitagliano: That's what Ray was doing over here. Yeah, he was half Italian, half Greek.

>> Tim Wildmon: It's happy music.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's right. Makes you want to get up.

>> Tim Wildmon: Hm.

>> Tim Wildmon: Get up and dance.

>> Tim Wildmon: Eat a Greek salad and some lasagna.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Staying alive. Staying alive.

>> Tim Wildmon: Man, I don't think that was quite Bee Gees. You know, the interesting thing is you're half Greek, half Italian.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, that's right.

>> Tim Wildmon: So maybe you, you can go. Maybe not this time, but next time you're going to Boston.

>> Ed Vitagliano: We're going to Boston.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And then, hey, next year, Italy, Greece.

>> Tim Wildmon: You want to do that?

>> Ed Vitagliano: sure. Who's going to host the show while, Oh, that's just, Wesley and Walker going. You.

>> Tim Wildmon: You. Well, Allison and I are going to Italy.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, we're.

>> Tim Wildmon: We're doing the Italy part.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Let's make sure Fred and, and, and, and we have enough people to the show to do the show.

>> Tim Wildmon: Fred and I will do the dance.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yes.

>> Tim Wildmon: We'll do the Greek. Italian dances.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Wow, that would be awesome. I'd love to go. I've never been to Greece or Italy.

>> Tim Wildmon: Well, if you want more information on that, tours.afa.net you've been to either one of those, right?

>> Tim Wildmon: Been to both, yeah. Okay, fantastic. Okay, first of all, fantastic. For a vacation and to get back to the land of the Bible. You get the streets where Paul walked and preached in prison where he was held in Rome.

>> Tim Wildmon: We're going to the catacombs too, outside of Rome when we go. So it's going to be looking for. I've been there twice, been to Italy twice. went in 83, I think it was with my dad. That a tour. It was a 16 day Western Europe swing.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Oh, that'd been amazing.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: We started in Belgium, went to Holland, went to Germany, Saw the, Passion Play. M Oberamagao. Right. then we went to, did the Reformation.

>> Tim Wildmon: Protestant Reformation. Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: Drove through Austria, Innsbruck, didn't stop there. Went to Milan, then to Venice, Florence, Pisa, Rome, then back to, went to Paris. all the way from Rome to Paris on a bus.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I've been to Little Italy in NewSong York and the north end of Boston.

>> Tim Wildmon: It's pretty close.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, it's very similar. It's pretty much the same thing.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, pretty much.

>> Tim Wildmon: There's a few cultural differences.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Few differences.

>> Tim Wildmon: Went to Paris.

>> Ed Vitagliano: What are you looking at?

>> Tim Wildmon: You couldn't understand that.

>> Ed Vitagliano: you look at me.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's a little bit different in Italian and France.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's another tour. A different tour.

>> Ed Vitagliano: That's a whole nother thing.

>> Tim Wildmon: Anyway. All right, Fred, what do you got, my friend? Bring your next story here, all right?

Congress held a hearing yesterday on parental rights regarding school bathroom policies

>> Fred Jackson: You know, there's so much going on in the world sometimes that important items do get missed. And there wasn't a lot of reporting yesterday, but there was a hearing, congressional hearing on parental rights. That's something we talk about a whole lot around here, and in particular, what a lot of parents are facing in various jurisdictions across the country, most of them Democrat controlled about their kids and what their kids are being exposed to in our schools. In particular, the whole transsexual, issues going on. And yesterday, the Republicans had called in representatives of school districts like Loudoun county in Virginia. And if you've listened to this program and our news, you know what goes on in Loudoun County, Virginia. One of the worst as far as liberalism goes. They had representatives, also from Chicago's school district, and I think it was Los Angeles. And, they were challenged by one of the Republicans on the committee about this whole issue of bathroom policies in their schools. So I want you to have a little listen to how that went. Cut number one.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Is it the policy of Chicago Public Schools to forbid biological men, boys, to go into locker rooms with biologic girls?

>> Speaker E: Any student, Gender Identity Inc.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I take that as a yes.

>> Fred Jackson: Transgender women should be allowed in women's spaces.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Ah, that's a yes.

>> Tim Wildmon: San Francisco.

>> Ed Vitagliano: We follow state and federal law. I take that as a yes as well.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah. So there you have it. That's how it went. One, the gentleman, who was representing, I think, Loudoun county, said, well, it's federal law. We don't have a choice in this. Well, that's not true. that's not true. The Supreme Court has ruled on these, and jurisdictions do have the right to these kinds of restrictions about biological boys going into girls, bathrooms, et cetera, et cetera. Abby Platt, was interviewed this morning on Fox and Friends. She is the parent of a young boy in Loudoun county schools, and she gave testimony this morning about what her son has faced there, her young son at, a school there in Loudoun County. Cut number two.

>> Speaker E: When my little boy was in the fifth grade, he had two little girls in his class that, as he would describe, were pretending to be boys. He was standing at a urinal one day, and a little girl in his class walked right in and stared. My son came home devastated and in tears, distraught that a girl in his class would come and look at him while he was using the bathroom.

>> Fred Jackson: And, if that's not bad enough, when students complain, and we've seen this before in Loudoun county about these policies, the student who complains about them, who complains about girls being allowed to go into boys bathrooms, et cetera, and boys being allowed to go in, that sort of thing, it is the student who complains that is often punished. And Abby Platt talked about that this morning as well. Cut number three.

>> Speaker E: When people do speak out, the superintendent, the district, they do retaliate and you see that, we saw that a year ago with those Loudoun boys who were filmed in their own locker room. And then what happened? They were suspended and the school came after them so viciously. We're seeing the exact same thing happen right now at Freedom High School. You've got one kid with a camera who for years has been taking pictures of other children's genitals when they use the bathroom for years. One brave kid came forward and what did they do to him? They suspended him and they're not letting him walk with his graduating class.

>> Fred Jackson: So being punished, for speaking out against allowing girls in boys bathrooms and vice versa.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, these are people who want to subvert normalcy. They, they, they hate God. I'm talking about those who are the, this pro gender ideology. They hate God. They hate the world and the nature that God has created. So in rebellion to God, they rebel against that nature. And they are so full of anger and hatred. They will punish kids who act in a normal fashion in order to protect. they're revolutionaries. They're using kids to push their little revolution. Do you think that's an over exaggeration?

>> Tim Wildmon: If anything, it understates the evil that's being done.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I'll try to state it even more.

>> Tim Wildmon: Please do. Until five minutes ago, Ed, everybody with a brain agreed. Boys go to the boys bathrooms, girls go to the girls bathroom. The situation that the mom described, completely intolerable. It's a girl coming into a boy's bathroom and. Well, we can't really even say on the.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, we had to edit.

>> Tim Wildmon: But everybody understands. Watching and gawking while the little boy is trying to go to the bathroom. that's criminal. Yes, that's the people who, not just who protect us, but defend it and promote it and consider it normal. Woe to them who call good evil and evil good. We have literally turned truth and error upside down in our society.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And in Romans 1, you go past the passage on homosexuality at the end of the chapter. Paul says not only do these people actually know that, and there's a long list of sins, not just homosexuality. He says not only do people know that these are wrong, they encourage people

>> Tim Wildmon: to do it right and they cheer and rejoice over this kind of evil. So Fred, this is an awful, an awful thing that is happening in our society. And you would think that there's good people in Loudoun County. Has to be. You'd think the good people would come together and throw these evildoers out.

>> Ed Vitagliano: But you know what's Scary. There's apparently not enough of them, unless there's just apathy. I don't know how you'd be apathetic about these kind of things happening, but maybe there's just not enough of them to throw them out or.

>> Tim Wildmon: It is a liberal part of Virginia, right? That northern part, the suburbs of Washington, D.C. but. But, you know, these people can be very intimidating. The ones who. The pro trans groups. I mean, they'll dox you and things

>> Ed Vitagliano: of that nature and punish your kids. That's the testimony here.

All these private schools are filling up, and parents have nowhere to go

>> Tim Wildmon: All right, next, just, one more

>> Fred Jackson: thing with Abby Platt. She said one of the problems is now there are not enough private schools. Parents are trying to get their kids, rescue their kids from the public schools there, but they have nowhere to go. All these private schools are filling up.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: What was her name? Abby Platt.

>> Fred Jackson: Abby Platt.

>> Ed Vitagliano: kudos to her. Shame on the head of the Loudoun county schools. Abby Normal.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: So that's. We had two abbeys at work here, and Abby Normal had to resort to

>> Tim Wildmon: Young Frankenstein, you know, saying, didn't you? Didn't you?

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.

Maine Democrat Graham Platner is running against Republican Susan Collins in November

>> Tim Wildmon: All right, All right.

>> Fred Jackson: I think most, people in the nation now are very familiar with Graham Platner, the guy from Maine.

>> Tim Wildmon: It's a good flavor. If you go to Baskin Robbins. you can just go for your strawberry, vanilla or chocolate, or you can go over there and get you some grain platinum.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Go ahead.

>> Tim Wildmon: I mean, Ray, you may not like what's in it.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right, right. Don't ask what's in it. Just taste it. What I'm saying.

>> Ed Vitagliano: All right, Fred, go ahead and actually give the story.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes, Graham Plattner. Well, you know, some of the controversy leading up to the primary, which he won on Tuesday night this week.

>> Tim Wildmon: For those who don't know who you're talking about, tell him.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, he is the Democrat that has been chosen in Maine to take on Republican Senator, Susan Collins. Lots of controversy around him. Even some Democrats are kind of embarrassed about this guy. He's got the Nazi tattoo. he's got women who he has in his background that say they were abused by him. so, all of that has been out there. And he has said, you know, from time to time, well, that's part of my past, and I'm by all of that. But here's what's really interesting. Jodi Kantor, she is the. What's being described as the MeToo reporter for the NewSong York Times. Now, the NewSong York Times did carry a story earlier, with testimony from some of the former girlfriends of Graham County.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Just remind our listeners what me too means.

>> Fred Jackson: Me too basically says we should listen to the accusations made by women against men.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: it became fairly popular during. When Kavanaugh was up for the Supreme Court.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: And there were women who testified against him. And the Democrats said, we have to believe these women.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: All right, so Jodi Cantor, she was interviewed in the last couple of days about the accusations against, Graham Platner. I think it's going to shock you as to how she responded about those complaints. Cut number 14.

>> Tim Wildmon: The accusations against Graham Platner are not classic MeToo accusations.

>> Ed Vitagliano: They're not about a boss and a young female employee being subjected to sexual advances. They're, They were mostly made in the context of consensual relationships.

>> Tim Wildmon: There are these, like, very sensational, texts about sex. There are allegations from former girlfriends that

>> Ed Vitagliano: are not the way my colleagues reported them were not like classic abuse allegations.

>> Fred Jackson: Classic. It didn't meet the standard.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Look, now I understand her point. It is a different context between a boss and an employee. That doesn't mean it's an excuse that it took place, that the abuse took place in the context of a relationship. She's making it sound as if this excuses Platner. Graham, which I agree with Tim, would be. Would be great. You add Graham to any flavor. Okay. But it does not excuse what he did. And that's the way she's playing it.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. this fellow, Graham Platner is the Democrat, nominee in. And it's close race from what I understand at this point. Is this for November?

>> Tim Wildmon: Yes.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. Well, we got a long way to go. I just, It'll. It takes a lot to take a candidate out nowadays when it. Regarding their personal lives. because people, you. You pick a team nowadays, and who. Whoever your team is, then you gotta. You gotta vote for them. Cause the character issue doesn't matter anymore much. Right. That's just. That's just the way it is. So I don't think this hurts. I don't think anything you could say about this fella. he was a, He's a veteran too, isn't he?

>> Tim Wildmon: Yep.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yep.

>> Tim Wildmon: And he said he had suffered from PTSD and lost confidence in the reason he was there. You know, serving, I guess, in Iraq or Afghanistan. Anyway, but it looks like it's a tight race right now in, the state of Maine. Unusual to have a. Isn't it? To have a Republican win a statewide race now, as liberal as Maine has become. But Susan Collins has Held on for a long time.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, she's been described as a rhino. she's voted against Trump initiatives.

>> Ed Vitagliano: That's how she's survived.

>> Tim Wildmon: She's a Republican in a liberal state. So you can't be Ted Cruz and win and reign. Okay. That's just the way it is.

New Mexico is the only state in the country with universal taxpayer funded childcare

Next story.

>> Fred Jackson: All right. There is a court hearing today in NewSong Mexico. I did not realize NewSong Mexico now is the only state in the country that has universal taxpayer funded childcare. All right? So, and you know, it's a large part of the socialist agenda. That's what Mamdani wants in NewSong York, et cetera, et cetera, big government programs. Here's the issue in NewSong Mexico that NewSong Mexico that's kind of interesting is that the issue is not about the particular bill that's been passed, but the Democrat governor out there, after the bill was passed, according to the stories, removed any wage cap. In other words, you can be a millionaire in NewSong Mexico and you can get the government to pay fully for your child care. And that's the issue here, is that the governor did this beyond what the bill talked about. So, yeah, the governor thinks it doesn't matter how wealthy you are, you should be entitled to, free, government funded, taxpayer funded child care.

>> Tim Wildmon: Let me ask you this. Should you discriminate against people being allowed to access government programs just because of their income or lack thereof?

>> Ed Vitagliano: I think so. here's why. I do not believe in the government providing the necessities of life for all its citizens. first of all, I think it's impossible to do that. It's too expensive. It gives the government too much control over people's lives. If you feel like the government should be a conduit, for providing a safety net for people that should be for people based on their need for it.

>> Tim Wildmon: I don't believe that.

>> Ed Vitagliano: You don't?

>> Tim Wildmon: No. I believe it ought to be fair across the board. when you quote, and there's disagreement in here, this said, maybe in the Bible we as Christians should be charitable to everybody and help the needy and the orphans and the widows, all that. The generosity of Christians should not be questioned in terms of helping the poor. But I'm talking about government programs.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: I think it ought to be completely fair and neutral and shouldn't look at how much money somebody makes or not. Let me one other thing about that and you can jump in here, Ray. For example, I don't think we should have a progressive income, tax scale. I'm gonna get flat tax, 10% for everybody. You make a million dollars, you pay 10%, you make 100,000, you make 10%, you make 25,000, you pay 10%.

>> Ed Vitagliano: That's not a government handout program, though. You're talking about taxing everyone the same. Same. Which I happen to agree with.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, you agree with that? Yeah, but what I'm saying. Here's what I'm saying is that, Okay, you're saying the safety net, but I'm saying that, somebody who pays in taxes, should they. Just because they make a certain amount of money shouldn't disqualify them from accessing the same public schools, for example, that everybody else does.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, yeah, they can,

>> Tim Wildmon: Or if they want to go to the Health Department, they can go to the Health Department. I just. I just don't believe in discriminating against people based on their income.

>> Ed Vitagliano: So you're in favor of socialized medicine? like, everybody could go to the. To the. Have Medicaid.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. No, I'm just saying. I just don't believe. In other words, Social Security. Okay. Yeah, there's talk of. Okay, we need to. Don't. Don't allow people who have a certain income to get Social Security.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, I agree with you on that.

>> Tim Wildmon: I say. No, wait a minute. They. I don't care how much they make.

>> Tim Wildmon: Don't get it, man.

>> Tim Wildmon: Well, because they paid into it their whole lives. Why are you gonna just say they can't have it?

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right. No, I agree.

>> Tim Wildmon: A certain amount of money.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I agree with that.

>> Tim Wildmon: Maybe we're just ships in the night. We're ships in the night passing through the Strait of Hormuz, and we got old, and we were doing fine. Trump told everybody what we were doing. Go ahead, Ray. Go ahead, Ray.

>> Tim Wildmon: Trips in the night trying not to get blown out of the water.

>> Tim Wildmon: Maybe that didn't. Maybe that was a little confusing, and we can flesh this out later. But, I think I see your point, and I think you see mine. Go ahead, Rick.

>> Tim Wildmon: You're on the. You're on the side of saying if Elon Musk has all these kids, he ought to be able to get. He ought to be able to get

>> Tim Wildmon: the same child care as everybody else.

>> Tim Wildmon: Even though he's the richest man in the world.

>> Tim Wildmon: why punish him for that? I'm just saying he probably wouldn't take access to it. But once you start getting into that, that is a form of socialism. That's. That's the government deciding what's fair and what isn't fair. And I just think that you ought to treat all people the same, no matter how much money they do or don't make.

>> Ed Vitagliano: So you. You believe in, each to each according to his ability and. And each according to his need. That's what you believe?

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

Tim Ferriss: Everybody should pay the same tithing, right

Well, here we go. No, no, no, no, no, wait.

>> Tim Wildmon: Here we go.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. All right. I'll just use. I'll just use, I'll go the Bible for an example.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Okay.

>> Tim Wildmon: When the Bible says we're to tithe, what does that mean?

>> Ed Vitagliano: You get 10%.

>> Tim Wildmon: Does it have a. Does it say except for people? And then it gives you a progressive tithing scale?

>> Ed Vitagliano: No, you're right about that. So everybody should tithe the same amount. And if it winds up being 20 bucks, it's. That's just. That's just what you pay.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's God's principle.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, so that's what I'm talking about. All right, well, we're not gonna. We're not. We can.

>> Ed Vitagliano: We can still have fellowship after, you know.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: You owe me a lunch, by the way, for something you promised, and something happened, and you. You owe me.

>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, and you remember it.

>> Fred Jackson: I just got an image in my mind. Elon Musk on food stamps for his 10,000 kids.

>> Tim Wildmon: He may need it one day.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's right.

>> Tim Wildmon: Say Starlink goes down the tubes.

>> Tim Wildmon: Tesla's don't. Yeah, they're not working anymore.

>> Ed Vitagliano: He can go live on his base on the. On Mars.

>> Tim Wildmon: all right. Anyway, listen, I haven't thought that through. What I just communicated. Last five minutes or whatever, however long it went on.

>> Ed Vitagliano: That's an impulsive answer.

>> Tim Wildmon: I haven't thought that completely.

>> Tim Wildmon: It's not the stated position of afr.

>> Tim Wildmon: No, no.

>> Tim Wildmon: It's a thought from the air.

>> Tim Wildmon: Is Tim. Freewheeling? If you can. Freewheeling.

>> Tim Wildmon: But I do believe you raised good points.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, the class warfare thing just gets on my nerves. And when Democrats start deciding who's eligible for what, who's not eligible for what, when it comes to, government, I get a little suspicious of where they're going with that.

We need a five minute break for everybody, Fred says

All right, go ahead, Fred. Next story.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, 15 seconds.

>> Tim Wildmon: We don't have time.

>> Fred Jackson: We don't have time. Sorry.

>> Tim Wildmon: I don't think.

>> Fred Jackson: There's the music right there.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Oh, that's it. Oh, Fred, I'm sorry.

>> Tim Wildmon: Listen, I think we need a five minute break for everybody.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Time out. Okay.

>> Tim Wildmon: I don't care how much money you make or don't make, we're gonna take

>> Tim Wildmon: a five minute break.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right. This applies to everyone equally.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's right.

>> Tim Wildmon: all right, we'll be back, and Steve Paisley Jordan will be with us. Fred, we want to thank you.

>> Fred Jackson: Okay.

>> Tim Wildmon: For your contributions.

>> Fred Jackson: Absolutely.

>> Tim Wildmon: All right. we'll see you in a few minutes, everybody. M the views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.

Tim, Ed and Ray talk with Fred on top news headlines of the day including a discussion on the latest with President Trump's strikes on Iran.