Host: Welcome back, folks. I’m sitting in for Tim Wildmon this week. I’m joined in the studio by Fred Jackson, and in a distant and foreign land is Dr. Ray Pritchard. Ray, tell our listeners a little bit about KeepBelieving.com. You’ve finally come off the road, as it were, to get some downtime after being out teaching and preaching the Word of God. Most of our folks know you have a ministry that is online all the time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and people can access it. Tell our listeners what the website is, what’s there, and especially what you did on Monday. We have Christmas coming up, and you always have some great material there for the Christmas season.
Ray Pritchard: This Advent e-book is 25 days of devotions, from December 1 through Christmas Day. I started this in 2012, and almost every year since then we’ve put out a new e-book. We give it away, by the way, and thousands of AFR listeners have joined us over the last few years. Two years ago, we did A Great Joy Advent from the Gospel of Luke. Last year, we did Behold the Lamb Advent from the Gospel of John. Coming up in December is The King Is Near, an Advent study from the Gospel of Mark.
Ray Pritchard: I know some people ask, “Where are you getting Advent?” The whole point is that the manger is in Luke, and the wise men and the star are in Matthew. The familiar Christmas symbols we know about are in Matthew and Luke. Mark leaves us breadcrumbs, stories and sayings that point back to who Jesus is and why He came.
Ray Pritchard: We have these 25 devotions. By the way, I’m talking about something that, if you go to KeepBelieving.com and look around every corner of our big website, you won’t find anywhere because I just turned it in to our web designers earlier this week. Probably by the early part of November, it will be online, and you can download the e-book for free.
Ray Pritchard: We’ve been doing this since 2015. We add a little YouTube video at the end, with a link or QR code to Christmas music. We’re using the Skillet version of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” We also have Vince Gill, Dolly Parton singing “Mary, Did You Know?”, Phil Wickham, Chris Tomlin, and a bluegrass band from Missouri called The Petersens. The music for the last day is The Petersens doing a beautiful version of “Go, Tell It on the Mountain.”
Host: Steve, I haven’t introduced you yet.
Steve: It’s Steve in Paisley, Georgia. It’s going to be a shock to everybody. Hey, everybody.
Host: Go ahead, Steve.
Steve: I’m ready for the challenge here, Ray.
Ray Pritchard: You’re the music man here. Do you know the group Skillet?
Steve: Oh, yeah.
Ray Pritchard: How would you characterize Skillet?
Steve: Skillet is a rock-and-roll band. I started hearing about them in the ’90s. They’ve been around a while.
Ray Pritchard: They’ve been around quite a bit. I know their lead singer may have gone off and done some solo work. I’m not sure exactly what they’ve been in the news for lately. I’ve never been a huge fan, and I couldn’t tell you their top hits, but I know they’ve been a solid Christian band for quite a while. Last year, they did a terrific version of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” They did a heavy rock version, but we’re using the lighter version. I do know my people.
Host: What about “Mary, Did You Know?”
Steve: Oh, yeah.
Host: Who wrote that?
Steve: Mark Lowry, the Christian comedian.
Host: That’s right.
Host: Can we access the music now, or do we have to wait until the e-book is available?
Ray Pritchard: You can find any of the songs I’ve mentioned on YouTube right now.
Host: But I don’t want to do the legwork. You’ve already done that.
Ray Pritchard: Then you have to get the e-book.
Host: KeepBelieving.com is the website. Are the other Advent e-books available? I think we’ve got nine or ten of them.
Ray Pritchard: They’re available for free download at KeepBelieving.com.
Host: Ray, I’ve got to tell you, you’re kind of falling down. Isn’t it time you did a yearly read-through-the-Bible project? Doesn’t the time come to read through the Bible in the original Greek?
Ray Pritchard: It’s crazy that you should say that because, four years ago, in 2023, I read through the whole Bible. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I made 365 videos going through the whole thing, and that’s another story. I had hardly ever listened to any of those videos because I made them, but I hadn’t listened to them. Yesterday, I started listening to my videos from the book of Isaiah because I’m going to teach Isaiah at the Bible Institute in Hungary with my son Mark. We’ll be over there in May, and I’m using a big book.
Ray Pritchard: I told Marlene this morning, “You know, that guy knows a lot of stuff about Isaiah. I have forgotten nearly all of it.” I couldn’t believe the things this guy was saying because I have completely forgotten them. Maybe it’s a sign of my advanced age.
Ray Pritchard: I’ve sometimes thought about going back and doing something like J. Vernon McGee. He went through the whole Bible in five years, and he did it two or three times. I’ve thought about going back and making new videos, but I’m not sure I could do any better.
Host: Steve Paisley, Georgia, has joined us, as have Fred and I. Fred, you had a story that we wanted to start off with?
Fred: We ended the last hour talking about a theologian in Kansas who is running for the Senate as a Democrat. There’s another theologian, this one in Texas, running as a Democrat for the Senate there. James Talarico is a graduate of the Presbyterian Church USA, a liberal denomination.
Host: He has emerged from his 12-day recovery from the flu.
Fred: I think that’s a Guinness World Record for how long it takes to recover from the flu.
Host: He might have been doing a deep theological dive trying to figure out how to do this.
Fred: Maybe so. There’s some deep stuff going on.
Host: Last night, CNN sponsored a town hall with James Talarico. This may be a first, but I’m going to congratulate CNN. I liked the format they used. They had a moderator, but they also allowed people in the audience to come up and sit at a table with James Talarico and ask their questions face-to-face across a little table.
Fred: James Talarico was challenged about some of the things he has said and about what he believes the Bible says regarding God, gender, and abortion. I’m going to play a montage of those questions and how he responded.
James Talarico: I want an economy that creates fewer trillionaires and more millionaires. Some of my spiritual heroes, like Pope Francis and Pope Leo, are pro-life. We treat it as a philosophical debate or a theological debate when, actually, it’s a public-policy problem. If there’s something that’s going to endanger a child or a minor, certainly something that could cause permanent damage, then I’m always going to try to err on the side of protecting those kids.
James Talarico: The first comment about God not being defined by gender, when I said that I was being provocative. I want to admit that and come clean about that. But I think what I was saying is actually not controversial theologically: the idea that we can’t define God using human categories.
James Talarico: I will tell you that the clot you were looking for is not one of those.
Fred: I may have gotten the wrong first cut of the abortion discussion. We can describe it.
Host: He’s one of those people who believes he can interpret the Bible any way he wants to. Of course, he has walked some of this back in order to make his campaign more palatable to perhaps some conservatives who may not understand that he is what we call in hockey stickhandling.
Fred: Deeking.
Host: Making some moves on the ice.
Fred: It’s clear that Christians and the American voter have some work to do. We’ve talked about people who appear to be in sheep’s clothing, and whether or not they are wolves in sheep’s clothing is something Christians have to do a little work to figure out.
Host: You can take a shortcut. Go to the American Family Association, American Family Radio, American Family News at AFN.net. You can go to The Stand magazine and iVoterGuide. We’ve done much of that legwork for you so that you can figure out what these candidates actually believe, what they stand for, how they’ve voted, who gives them money, and to whom they give money.
Host: This appears to be an election where a little more hard work is required. There are a lot of candidates trying to fuzz up the edges of where they stand, whether they’re democratic socialists or leftist pastors. They’re muddying the waters to try to skate into becoming representatives or senators for their constituents. The constituents had better put them under a microscope.
Host: All right, next story.
Steve: There’s bad news in the Senate race in North Carolina, where Michael Whatley is running against former Governor Roy Cooper. The Whatley campaign has gone dark. They have withdrawn all of their television advertising for the foreseeable future. They say it’s temporary, but that’s when you say, “We’re putting our campaign on pause.” It looks like they’re giving up.
Steve: It’s important, folks, that you go vote. Polling had Cooper up by as much as 14 points in some polls, so it was going to be a long haul. It’s disappointing to hear that they have gone dark.
Fred: Cooper is well known in the state. When you’ve already been elected to statewide office, as Cooper has, you have a lot of name recognition. You’re almost like an incumbent for the new position you’re running for, so that’s difficult.
Host: I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of a candidate who is behind dropping out simply because it looks difficult to win. I’ve heard of candidates dropping out because of a major scandal or some terrible misstep, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here with Whatley.
Steve: I think it’s probably a money problem. The Whatley campaign has decided they don’t have enough money to fight the battle until Election Day. That would be my guess, but this is breaking news, and we’ll dig into it.
Host: All right, next.
Fred: One of my favorite folk singers has become an American.
Host: Who is this?
Fred: Joni Mitchell.
Host: If you want to know who Joni Mitchell is, this is the singer in cut 16.
Joni Mitchell: [Song audio]
Fred: That is Joni Mitchell. She came to the United States in the ’60s and moved to Laurel Canyon along with groups like Crosby, Stills and Nash. She has had a long career and is 81. After more than 60 years in the United States, she has become an American.
Host: I was going to say, from one expat to another, Fred.
Fred: She has a house in Maui right now, but she’s maintaining a house on Vancouver Island as well. She picked a couple of beautiful spots. She’s not a Trump fan, not at all. Some of her friends are apparently saying, “What are you doing?” She said, “Well, I can vote now.” She’s a citizen.
Host: She’s a liberal, but a lot of Canadians have come down through the years. Hollywood has a lot of Canadians who have come down through the years and done extremely well. If you want to make it big in music, look at the young Celine Dion.
Fred: Celine Dion lives in Las Vegas, I believe. I’m one of the few people who has seen Celine Dion in curlers.
Host: Wait a minute, Fred. You don’t just toss that out there. There’s a tease for you.
Fred: Long ago, when I worked for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, she was just getting started in the music business and was doing a variety show at the network headquarters in Toronto. I happened to be there, and she was coming downstairs for a rehearsal. She was in curlers. That’s where I saw her in curlers, folks.
Host: I figured it had to be something like that.
Fred: Canada and the United States share a border, so there are all kinds of Canadians here. Michael J. Fox, for example.
Host: Rush.
Fred: Rush is Canadian.
Host: The band?
Fred: The band.
Host: I thought you were talking about Rush Limbaugh.
Fred: No, the band Rush.
Host: I didn’t know they were Canadian.
Fred: There are many Canadians here. Listen, this spat that’s going on right now between President Trump and Carney up in Canada, Canadians love Americans and Americans love Canadians. We have so much to share back and forth.
Host: The same thing with Mexicans. I hope people in Mexico love Americans.
Fred: There are at least a million Canadians living in this country right now, so I’m a small part of a small number.
Host: Part of a very small number.
Fred: We go for quality, not quantity.
Host: We share a culture.
Fred: We share a culture, that sort of thing. President Trump is an interesting man. He knows how to get under people’s skin, and he’s trying to make his points. Mark Carney is a globalist. He would like to hook up with the European Union. Canadians don’t want that, but Carney wants to do that kind of thing.
Fred: By the way, we’ll be talking about this next week. There is a vote in Alberta on Monday. The vote will determine whether Albertans want to have a formal vote on separating from the rest of Canada. We’re going to be watching that.
Fred: Canadians love Americans, Americans love Canadians, and they’re not going to let politicians and political battles stop that.
Host: Congratulations to Joni Mitchell. She’s 81, I think.
Steve: Yes.
Host: Steve, what’s your favorite Joni Mitchell song?
Steve: It might have been that one. The other one she’s known for is “Both Sides Now.”
Host: Yes.
Steve: I have that on my phone. It’s kind of cool, and I like that one.
Host: All right.
Steve: Congratulations go out to the Camas, Washington, high school girls’ cross-country team. They found out they had to run against a transgender boy over the weekend, on October 13, and they decided to walk off the line for about 50 yards. They then stopped and protested.
Host: Ray, we want you to say something besides Joni Mitchell this segment.
Ray Pritchard: These are brave girls. I like the fact that girls are becoming more courageous. Not that they weren’t courageous, but I think for a while in this transgender debate their speech was being chilled. I think they were being threatened. They were told, “You’ll lose this opportunity, so you’d better keep your mouth shut.”
Ray Pritchard: Because of some of the female athletes who have spoken out, the girls seem to be finding their stride, if I may use that expression with this story. This is a good thing for young people, to speak up.
Host: Riley Gaines and Sophie Cunningham have led the way. I noticed President Trump praised Sophie Cunningham yesterday.
Ray Pritchard: He should, because besides being a great basketball player with the Indiana Fever, she has been outspoken about this issue. It has given these younger girls great courage.
Host: Here’s the thing, guys. If the polls are to be believed, and in this case I think they are, an overwhelming number of Americans agree that girls’ sports are for biological girls. They are not for males pretending to be girls.
Host: This has been the theme for the whole show today: getting involved, standing your ground, and speaking up. Even with the overwhelming percentage of Americans, we’re talking about people in the 70 percent range, who do not want males in female dressing rooms and do not want these things happening, the ideologues and the people championing transgender madness will not quit.
Host: The lesson here is, don’t expect them to get the hint. You’re going to have to stand up for what you believe and vote these people down. You’re going to have to identify this when it’s being taught to your kids in school or in colleges and universities. Even when states say you can’t do it, they go ahead and do it anyway. You have to get involved, or these whack-a-doodles, as Tim calls them, will take their opportunities to brainwash young people and take opportunities away from female athletes.
Host: Steve, do you have anything for about 30 seconds?
Steve: I had something to play, but it’s a little too long. I’ll just tell you that I’m perusing the best of my best news stories from The Babylon Bee. Trump tells liberals uncomfortable with public education, “Just try to imagine it’s him.”
Host: The Babylon Bee. When did they start?
Steve: I don’t know exactly when they started. It was before COVID, wasn’t it?
Host: It was years and years ago.
Steve: They may have the longest streak of picture-perfect stories and headlines. They’re as funny as you can get and usually pretty biting satire. Tip of the hat to The Babylon Bee.
Host: All right, folks, guess what? We’re done for Today’s Issues today. Tomorrow is Trivia Friday. We’re going to have some fun and enjoy ourselves a little bit, kind of breaking up the week before the weekend.
Host: Ray, thank you, sir.
Ray Pritchard: Thank you.
Host: Folks, check out KeepBelieving.com. All right, more great programming directly ahead. You’re listening to American Family Radio. We’ll see you tomorrow.
Host: Welcome back, folks. I’m sitting in for Tim Wildmon this week. I’m joined in the studio by Fred Jackson, and in a distant and foreign land is Dr. Ray Pritchard. Ray, tell our listeners a little bit about KeepBelieving.com. You’ve finally come off the road, as it were, to get some downtime after being out teaching and preaching the Word of God. Most of our folks know you have a ministry that is online all the time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and people can access it. Tell our listeners what the website is, what’s there, and especially what you did on Monday. We have Christmas coming up, and you always have some great material there for the Christmas season.
Ray Pritchard: This Advent e-book is 25 days of devotions, from December 1 through Christmas Day. I started this in 2012, and almost every year since then we’ve put out a new e-book. We give it away, by the way, and thousands of AFR listeners have joined us over the last few years. Two years ago, we did A Great Joy Advent from the Gospel of Luke. Last year, we did Behold the Lamb Advent from the Gospel of John. Coming up in December is The King Is Near, an Advent study from the Gospel of Mark.
Ray Pritchard: I know some people ask, “Where are you getting Advent?” The whole point is that the manger is in Luke, and the wise men and the star are in Matthew. The familiar Christmas symbols we know about are in Matthew and Luke. Mark leaves us breadcrumbs, stories and sayings that point back to who Jesus is and why He came.
Ray Pritchard: We have these 25 devotions. By the way, I’m talking about something that, if you go to KeepBelieving.com and look around every corner of our big website, you won’t find anywhere because I just turned it in to our web designers earlier this week. Probably by the early part of November, it will be online, and you can download the e-book for free.
Ray Pritchard: We’ve been doing this since 2015. We add a little YouTube video at the end, with a link or QR code to Christmas music. We’re using the Skillet version of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” We also have Vince Gill, Dolly Parton singing “Mary, Did You Know?”, Phil Wickham, Chris Tomlin, and a bluegrass band from Missouri called The Petersens. The music for the last day is The Petersens doing a beautiful version of “Go, Tell It on the Mountain.”
Host: Steve, I haven’t introduced you yet.
Steve: It’s Steve in Paisley, Georgia. It’s going to be a shock to everybody. Hey, everybody.
Host: Go ahead, Steve.
Steve: I’m ready for the challenge here, Ray.
Ray Pritchard: You’re the music man here. Do you know the group Skillet?
Steve: Oh, yeah.
Ray Pritchard: How would you characterize Skillet?
Steve: Skillet is a rock-and-roll band. I started hearing about them in the ’90s. They’ve been around a while.
Ray Pritchard: They’ve been around quite a bit. I know their lead singer may have gone off and done some solo work. I’m not sure exactly what they’ve been in the news for lately. I’ve never been a huge fan, and I couldn’t tell you their top hits, but I know they’ve been a solid Christian band for quite a while. Last year, they did a terrific version of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” They did a heavy rock version, but we’re using the lighter version. I do know my people.
Host: What about “Mary, Did You Know?”
Steve: Oh, yeah.
Host: Who wrote that?
Steve: Mark Lowry, the Christian comedian.
Host: That’s right.
Host: Can we access the music now, or do we have to wait until the e-book is available?
Ray Pritchard: You can find any of the songs I’ve mentioned on YouTube right now.
Host: But I don’t want to do the legwork. You’ve already done that.
Ray Pritchard: Then you have to get the e-book.
Host: KeepBelieving.com is the website. Are the other Advent e-books available? I think we’ve got nine or ten of them.
Ray Pritchard: They’re available for free download at KeepBelieving.com.
Host: Ray, I’ve got to tell you, you’re kind of falling down. Isn’t it time you did a yearly read-through-the-Bible project? Doesn’t the time come to read through the Bible in the original Greek?
Ray Pritchard: It’s crazy that you should say that because, four years ago, in 2023, I read through the whole Bible. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I made 365 videos going through the whole thing, and that’s another story. I had hardly ever listened to any of those videos because I made them, but I hadn’t listened to them. Yesterday, I started listening to my videos from the book of Isaiah because I’m going to teach Isaiah at the Bible Institute in Hungary with my son Mark. We’ll be over there in May, and I’m using a big book.
Ray Pritchard: I told Marlene this morning, “You know, that guy knows a lot of stuff about Isaiah. I have forgotten nearly all of it.” I couldn’t believe the things this guy was saying because I have completely forgotten them. Maybe it’s a sign of my advanced age.
Ray Pritchard: I’ve sometimes thought about going back and doing something like J. Vernon McGee. He went through the whole Bible in five years, and he did it two or three times. I’ve thought about going back and making new videos, but I’m not sure I could do any better.
Host: Steve Paisley, Georgia, has joined us, as have Fred and I. Fred, you had a story that we wanted to start off with?
Fred: We ended the last hour talking about a theologian in Kansas who is running for the Senate as a Democrat. There’s another theologian, this one in Texas, running as a Democrat for the Senate there. James Talarico is a graduate of the Presbyterian Church USA, a liberal denomination.
Host: He has emerged from his 12-day recovery from the flu.
Fred: I think that’s a Guinness World Record for how long it takes to recover from the flu.
Host: He might have been doing a deep theological dive trying to figure out how to do this.
Fred: Maybe so. There’s some deep stuff going on.
Host: Last night, CNN sponsored a town hall with James Talarico. This may be a first, but I’m going to congratulate CNN. I liked the format they used. They had a moderator, but they also allowed people in the audience to come up and sit at a table with James Talarico and ask their questions face-to-face across a little table.
Fred: James Talarico was challenged about some of the things he has said and about what he believes the Bible says regarding God, gender, and abortion. I’m going to play a montage of those questions and how he responded.
James Talarico: I want an economy that creates fewer trillionaires and more millionaires. Some of my spiritual heroes, like Pope Francis and Pope Leo, are pro-life. We treat it as a philosophical debate or a theological debate when, actually, it’s a public-policy problem. If there’s something that’s going to endanger a child or a minor, certainly something that could cause permanent damage, then I’m always going to try to err on the side of protecting those kids.
James Talarico: The first comment about God not being defined by gender, when I said that I was being provocative. I want to admit that and come clean about that. But I think what I was saying is actually not controversial theologically: the idea that we can’t define God using human categories.
James Talarico: I will tell you that the clot you were looking for is not one of those.
Fred: I may have gotten the wrong first cut of the abortion discussion. We can describe it.
Host: He’s one of those people who believes he can interpret the Bible any way he wants to. Of course, he has walked some of this back in order to make his campaign more palatable to perhaps some conservatives who may not understand that he is what we call in hockey stickhandling.
Fred: Deeking.
Host: Making some moves on the ice.
Fred: It’s clear that Christians and the American voter have some work to do. We’ve talked about people who appear to be in sheep’s clothing, and whether or not they are wolves in sheep’s clothing is something Christians have to do a little work to figure out.
Host: You can take a shortcut. Go to the American Family Association, American Family Radio, American Family News at AFN.net. You can go to The Stand magazine and iVoterGuide. We’ve done much of that legwork for you so that you can figure out what these candidates actually believe, what they stand for, how they’ve voted, who gives them money, and to whom they give money.
Host: This appears to be an election where a little more hard work is required. There are a lot of candidates trying to fuzz up the edges of where they stand, whether they’re democratic socialists or leftist pastors. They’re muddying the waters to try to skate into becoming representatives or senators for their constituents. The constituents had better put them under a microscope.
Host: All right, next story.
Steve: There’s bad news in the Senate race in North Carolina, where Michael Whatley is running against former Governor Roy Cooper. The Whatley campaign has gone dark. They have withdrawn all of their television advertising for the foreseeable future. They say it’s temporary, but that’s when you say, “We’re putting our campaign on pause.” It looks like they’re giving up.
Steve: It’s important, folks, that you go vote. Polling had Cooper up by as much as 14 points in some polls, so it was going to be a long haul. It’s disappointing to hear that they have gone dark.
Fred: Cooper is well known in the state. When you’ve already been elected to statewide office, as Cooper has, you have a lot of name recognition. You’re almost like an incumbent for the new position you’re running for, so that’s difficult.
Host: I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of a candidate who is behind dropping out simply because it looks difficult to win. I’ve heard of candidates dropping out because of a major scandal or some terrible misstep, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here with Whatley.
Steve: I think it’s probably a money problem. The Whatley campaign has decided they don’t have enough money to fight the battle until Election Day. That would be my guess, but this is breaking news, and we’ll dig into it.
Host: All right, next.
Fred: One of my favorite folk singers has become an American.
Host: Who is this?
Fred: Joni Mitchell.
Host: If you want to know who Joni Mitchell is, this is the singer in cut 16.
Joni Mitchell: [Song audio]
Fred: That is Joni Mitchell. She came to the United States in the ’60s and moved to Laurel Canyon along with groups like Crosby, Stills and Nash. She has had a long career and is 81. After more than 60 years in the United States, she has become an American.
Host: I was going to say, from one expat to another, Fred.
Fred: She has a house in Maui right now, but she’s maintaining a house on Vancouver Island as well. She picked a couple of beautiful spots. She’s not a Trump fan, not at all. Some of her friends are apparently saying, “What are you doing?” She said, “Well, I can vote now.” She’s a citizen.
Host: She’s a liberal, but a lot of Canadians have come down through the years. Hollywood has a lot of Canadians who have come down through the years and done extremely well. If you want to make it big in music, look at the young Celine Dion.
Fred: Celine Dion lives in Las Vegas, I believe. I’m one of the few people who has seen Celine Dion in curlers.
Host: Wait a minute, Fred. You don’t just toss that out there. There’s a tease for you.
Fred: Long ago, when I worked for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, she was just getting started in the music business and was doing a variety show at the network headquarters in Toronto. I happened to be there, and she was coming downstairs for a rehearsal. She was in curlers. That’s where I saw her in curlers, folks.
Host: I figured it had to be something like that.
Fred: Canada and the United States share a border, so there are all kinds of Canadians here. Michael J. Fox, for example.
Host: Rush.
Fred: Rush is Canadian.
Host: The band?
Fred: The band.
Host: I thought you were talking about Rush Limbaugh.
Fred: No, the band Rush.
Host: I didn’t know they were Canadian.
Fred: There are many Canadians here. Listen, this spat that’s going on right now between President Trump and Carney up in Canada, Canadians love Americans and Americans love Canadians. We have so much to share back and forth.
Host: The same thing with Mexicans. I hope people in Mexico love Americans.
Fred: There are at least a million Canadians living in this country right now, so I’m a small part of a small number.
Host: Part of a very small number.
Fred: We go for quality, not quantity.
Host: We share a culture.
Fred: We share a culture, that sort of thing. President Trump is an interesting man. He knows how to get under people’s skin, and he’s trying to make his points. Mark Carney is a globalist. He would like to hook up with the European Union. Canadians don’t want that, but Carney wants to do that kind of thing.
Fred: By the way, we’ll be talking about this next week. There is a vote in Alberta on Monday. The vote will determine whether Albertans want to have a formal vote on separating from the rest of Canada. We’re going to be watching that.
Fred: Canadians love Americans, Americans love Canadians, and they’re not going to let politicians and political battles stop that.
Host: Congratulations to Joni Mitchell. She’s 81, I think.
Steve: Yes.
Host: Steve, what’s your favorite Joni Mitchell song?
Steve: It might have been that one. The other one she’s known for is “Both Sides Now.”
Host: Yes.
Steve: I have that on my phone. It’s kind of cool, and I like that one.
Host: All right.
Steve: Congratulations go out to the Camas, Washington, high school girls’ cross-country team. They found out they had to run against a transgender boy over the weekend, on October 13, and they decided to walk off the line for about 50 yards. They then stopped and protested.
Host: Ray, we want you to say something besides Joni Mitchell this segment.
Ray Pritchard: These are brave girls. I like the fact that girls are becoming more courageous. Not that they weren’t courageous, but I think for a while in this transgender debate their speech was being chilled. I think they were being threatened. They were told, “You’ll lose this opportunity, so you’d better keep your mouth shut.”
Ray Pritchard: Because of some of the female athletes who have spoken out, the girls seem to be finding their stride, if I may use that expression with this story. This is a good thing for young people, to speak up.
Host: Riley Gaines and Sophie Cunningham have led the way. I noticed President Trump praised Sophie Cunningham yesterday.
Ray Pritchard: He should, because besides being a great basketball player with the Indiana Fever, she has been outspoken about this issue. It has given these younger girls great courage.
Host: Here’s the thing, guys. If the polls are to be believed, and in this case I think they are, an overwhelming number of Americans agree that girls’ sports are for biological girls. They are not for males pretending to be girls.
Host: This has been the theme for the whole show today: getting involved, standing your ground, and speaking up. Even with the overwhelming percentage of Americans, we’re talking about people in the 70 percent range, who do not want males in female dressing rooms and do not want these things happening, the ideologues and the people championing transgender madness will not quit.
Host: The lesson here is, don’t expect them to get the hint. You’re going to have to stand up for what you believe and vote these people down. You’re going to have to identify this when it’s being taught to your kids in school or in colleges and universities. Even when states say you can’t do it, they go ahead and do it anyway. You have to get involved, or these whack-a-doodles, as Tim calls them, will take their opportunities to brainwash young people and take opportunities away from female athletes.
Host: Steve, do you have anything for about 30 seconds?
Steve: I had something to play, but it’s a little too long. I’ll just tell you that I’m perusing the best of my best news stories from The Babylon Bee. Trump tells liberals uncomfortable with public education, “Just try to imagine it’s him.”
Host: The Babylon Bee. When did they start?
Steve: I don’t know exactly when they started. It was before COVID, wasn’t it?
Host: It was years and years ago.
Steve: They may have the longest streak of picture-perfect stories and headlines. They’re as funny as you can get and usually pretty biting satire. Tip of the hat to The Babylon Bee.
Host: All right, folks, guess what? We’re done for Today’s Issues today. Tomorrow is Trivia Friday. We’re going to have some fun and enjoy ourselves a little bit, kind of breaking up the week before the weekend.
Host: Ray, thank you, sir.
Ray Pritchard: Thank you.
Host: Folks, check out KeepBelieving.com. All right, more great programming directly ahead. You’re listening to American Family Radio. We’ll see you tomorrow.
The hosts examine a CNN town hall featuring James Tallarico, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Texas. They discuss his responses about biblical interpretation, abortion, and whether God can be described using human categories, while urging Christians and voters to examine candidates' records and beliefs carefully.
The program also covers the North Carolina Senate race between Michael Whatley and former Governor Roy Cooper after the Whatley campaign reportedly suspended television advertising. Additional topics include Joni Mitchell becoming a U.S. citizen, tensions between the United States and Canada, and an Alberta independence vote.
The hosts praise a Washington high school girls' cross-country team for protesting participation by a transgender athlete and discuss the importance of speaking up for fairness in women's sports. Ray Pritchard also previews a free Advent devotional from Keep Believing based on the Gospel of Mark.
Live
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