Transcript

Some Christians wonder if boycotting businesses is really biblical

>> Jeff Chamblee: Some Christians wonder if boycotting businesses is really biblical, and that's a fair question. Ed Vitagliano and MD Perkins address that subject in depth in the AFA Cultural Institute video Stewardship in the Power of the Boycott. They share the purpose of boycotts and show how they can impact the culture. We're giving that DVD to you free as our thanks for supporting AFA this month. Go to afa.net today for more details.

Afa. net welcomes Christian response to the issues of the day

Afa.net welcome to today's issues. Join us for the next hour as we offer a Christian response to the issues of the day. Here's your host, Ed Vitagliano.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And welcome, to today's issues. It is Tuesday, October 14th. I am joined in studio by Fred Jackson. Good morning, Fred.

>> Fred Jackson: Good day, sir.

>> Ed Vitagliano: G'.

>> Fred Jackson: Day.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Chris Woodward joins us.

>> Chris Woodward: morning. I would say hello in like a Dick Van Dyke British accent, but I don't want to offend A, the British or B, our listeners. So. Hello. Good morning.

>> Ed Vitagliano: That was kind of a long explanation of why you weren't doing something.

>> Chris Woodward: we are lucky the Brits didn't invade us again after Dick Van Dyke tried to be a British person in Mary Poppins.

>> Ed Vitagliano: You know, you didn't like his performance.

>> Chris Woodward: I did not.

>> Ed Vitagliano: The original.

>> Chris Woodward: I did not.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I, always like that movie.

>> Chris Woodward: The movie is better than the book. I can say that rarely do you find the movie better than the book, but in my opinion that nobody asked for this morning, the movie is better than the book.

Tim Wildman is out of town this week reporting on Boston weather

>> Ed Vitagliano: Tim Wildmon is out of town this week. That's why I'm in the captain's chair. he's actually, taking a tour group to Boston.

>> Fred Jackson: Boston.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Boston. Ah. And, I'm wondering what the weather, any what's the weather updates there. They getting hit by a big storm.

>> Fred Jackson: Oh, yeah. The last couple of days it has not been nice in Boston.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah. But that storm, I think system has moved off now, so it should be pretty nice.

>> Ed Vitagliano: All right.

>> Chris Woodward: 52 currently.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Oh, that's good weather. I just saw someone in the hallway, by the way, and Jeff Wagner, who works, here with us. And as I was coming down the stairs from my office to come here the studio, I heard Jeff in the, the where we have a couple ladies who answer phones and greet people when they come in to the kind of entrance to the building. But Jeff was talking about, cannolis and fresh Italian bread. And I got my hopes up. I thought someone had opened that a bakery or something here in the Tupel area. So, folks, if you're listening that's where our flagship station, our headquarters is located, even though we're in 36 states with our radio network. And so I, I stopped coming here to the studio and I said, please tell me. And he said, no, I was in Pittsburgh.

>> Fred Jackson: Oh yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And he was. And of course the bigger cities you're going to get not just for Italian food, probably all kinds of ethnic foods. You get, the real deal, as it were.

>> Chris Woodward: So start you a little small business. Eddie's or something.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Eddie's. Listen, I have actually thought about doing that. I. But I'm not a businessman so, it would very soon go out of business.

>> Chris Woodward: A lot of business owners are not businessmen either. But yes.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Anyway, I was disappointed. He, you, you've lived in big cities.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, Toronto I loved. There's a couple of main streets in Toronto, Young and Bloor and a long blower. anybody who's been to Toronto probably have been on Bloor. But you walk along and you have the Italian bakeries. Oh my goodness, I used to walk just for that. That smell, just the smell, the fresh bread. And there's Greek sections, Asian sections down further, further south in the city. I just love the cultural mix. It's fantastic. Same thing with Vancouver. Yeah, the cultural mix is just absolutely wonderful.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And you don't realize that people sometime because I married a Mississippi girl and my kids, you know, born and raised and I lived in Mississippi since 1985, you know, long period of time. And people will ask, what do you miss? What do you miss about Boston and New England? And I always say it is these family owned restaurants. Yes. And then real bakeries and real delis. And I just, I just, I miss all that. And there are people listening who are in big cities and they, they know what, what we're talking about. So anyway, got food now. now I'm just really discouraged and disappointed.

Chris: I know there's going to be some good news from Israel

So. All right, Chris, let's. I'll tell you what. I know there's going to be some good news here.

>> Chris Woodward: Yes. As a matter of fact, I'll begin with positive news, from Israel, where a lot of news outlets pretty much since last night, certainly early this morning when I came in to do the Rusty Pew shift. A lot of news outlets have done stories on the reunions between, people that were being held hostage by Hamas, Israelis. I'm talking about, now back, with their loved ones in the, nation of Israel, Trey Yingst, for the first 30 minutes or so of, Fox News, channel's Fox and Friends program this morning. They spent about 30 minutes talking with Trey Yingst, about all kinds of things involving Israel and this, peace deal phase two. I'll get to some of that in a second.

Twenty hostages were released from Hamas captivity on Monday; bodies returned to Israel

But let's begin with some positive news. here is Trey Yings talking about hostages being released and the reunions. Clip 1.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: A joyous day as 20 living hostages were released from Hamas captivity. Also, the bodies of four others returned to Israel for a proper burial. We have gotten the names from the Israeli military of two of those hostages who were returned in coffins. Bipin Joshi from Nepal, he was working near the border during the October 7th massacre. And Guy Eluz, who is a sound technician attending the Nova Music Festival. Overnight, President Trump wrapped up his trip to the Middle east with a summit in Egypt, where he signed the Gaza ceasefire deal that allowed the release of these hostages. It was a day of celebration on Monday with so many reunions, former hostages meeting their families again after more than two years. We do expect to get more updates on their health conditions today from local hospitals.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, now I do want to point out, and this is good news, getting these hostages back. I do want to point out, yesterday I think we mentioned that, there were no women hostages released. That was, those were the news reports that everyone was given. So I, so there was one woman released, I think. Yes, with, with the hostages. But this is for, this is good news. This is. I know we're get, we're going to hear some more sound with regards to President Trump's role in it, but I was just looking at a story here on American Family News, that you go to afn.net folks for great news from a Christian perspective. But the Egyptian president was saying that, Trump's Middle east proposal is the, quote, last chance for peace in the region. it is a, a, first step that has been taken in the 20 step peace plan. There's a lot of pessimism out there. I know we're going to talk about some of the things that Hamas is continuing to do, but this is a good first step. We mentioned this yesterday and President Trump deserves a lot of credit for it.

>> Fred Jackson: Oh, absolutely. And, and you know, to underline that, able to watch, they had a lot of videos as the families were being reunited with their sons and husbands in some cases, all that sort of thing. Pardon me. There was, one particular reunion, and this involved, a guy who was a hostage. And you may remember back a few months ago, Hamas took a picture of him. He was digging his own grave. Yeah. Remember that picture? Well, he was one of the hostages released, and the video showed him reuniting with his mom. And you can't help. Martha McCollum, one of the Fox hosts yesterday, had tears in her eyes. You can't help this.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: When you see and you realize what these families have been through for two years, not knowing, number one, whether their kids have survived.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: Or husbands. but also the. The day by day, getting your hopes up because some of the hostages were released over the last two years.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes.

>> Fred Jackson: And you can imagine, you know, maybe it's my son today, and it's not. And then, you know, this particular mom saw the picture of her son digging his own grave, supposedly, there by Hamas. But I want to draw attention to this particular moment when she was weeping, and heartfelt depth, felt gut, felt, weeping. But also I looked at her face and the deep ding, rings under her eyes. This is a mom who probably hasn't slept very much for two years.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: so it was absolutely an incredible moment. So, there's not too many people. M. Maybe we'll talk about one reporter in particular, but, there's not too many people that are disagreeing. This is an incredible moment. yesterday. Now, moving on.

Just hours afterwards, when President Trump flew to Egypt for talks on Middle East peace

Just hours afterwards, when President Trump flew to Egypt for this summit to talk about the next parts of this peace deal, I don't think anybody is under any illusions that, everything's going to be okay. it's not. this story that you just referenced on afn.net, afn.net, it speaks of the, Turkish, President Erdogan. and he said he wasn't going to be part of that Egyptian summit yesterday if Prime Minister Netanyahu was there. In fact, while these discussions were going on, Erdogan's plane was circling over this Red Sea resort because he really said, I'm not going to land this airplane until I'm sure that Netanyahu isn't there.

>> Ed Vitagliano: That much hatred.

>> Fred Jackson: That much hatred. Because Turkey was one of those countries, along with Qatar, that was playing host to Hamas terrorist leaders.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes.

>> Fred Jackson: All right. So that hatred is still there. And if anybody thinks what happened yesterday, that hatred's going away, it's not. So this. This is. It gets real complicated from m. This point on in this, you know, is Hamas going to give up its arms? As of this morning, we had reports of gunfire between Israeli, soldiers and Hamas. We have reports this morning of Hamas, Israeli soldiers, Israel. Yes, we have reports this Morning of Hamas executing in the streets of Gaza opposition tribes.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: That are still there in Gaza. So, less than 24 hours, the unrest is back. And, and so, you know, we pray that the next steps will happen.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: because nobody wants, the horrors of what's been going on in the Middle east for so long. But at the same time, we have to be realistic. This, these, these tensions, the. It's been going on for thousands of years. You know, President Trump at one point yesterday was talking about almost like this ends the bitter disputes over the last thousands of years. No, it doesn't. It's not going to go away. And, you know, Israel is very clear. Prime Minister Netanyahu is very clear. At the end of the day, he says Israel will make sure its border is secure. Despite all of the diplomacy and the various country leaders talking about this and that, it's Israel. At the end of the day, Netanyahu is saying, we are responsible for securing our border.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, I will say this. Westerners, operate under their own worldview, and this includes President Trump. President Trump is one of these kind of individuals who thinks that people will act based on what's in their best interest, because that is his experience as a builder, you know, entrepreneur, you know, wealthy and successful businessman. President. He believes, and most Westerners do, that, that what would be best for the Palestinian people in Gaza is peaceful. And let's rebuild Gaza City and let's, let's make that, as President Trump has said, let's just make that a wonderful place, you know, where people will, where tourism will thrive. But ever since 9, 11 in this country, many people in the west and again here in the United States don't want to admit the facts on the ground, which is that this radical Islamic ideology, and I don't think it has to be all that radical. This is Islamic, the Islamic worldview cannot, cannot allow Israel to remain.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes, that.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And that is why Hamas, they changed the wording of their charter. But their original charter said we exist to eliminate Israel and we all hope for a break. I think that, to me, is the best we can hope for, is a break. Maybe you can rebuild. Maybe the people, of Gaza will say, enough with the Hamas. We want leaders that are, like in Jordan, that understand Israel's not going anywhere. Israel's armed to the teeth. Their technological superiority, is going to help them in a lot of conflict, military conflicts. They have nuclear weapons. Sane people will realize, even if you believe that Islam is going to triumph, which, spoiler alert, folks, it's not.

>> Fred Jackson: No.

>> Ed Vitagliano: even if you, but even if you believe it will, you know, you're not going to push Israel into the sea without losing your own capital. That goes for every country that surrounds Israel. But people in the west don't seem to want to admit that the problem is Islam. It's what that religion teaches. And ultimately, you're not going to be able to have a permanent peace in the Middle East. But, hey, I'll take a half dozen years. Yeah, I'll take 10 years of it if we can get it.

>> Chris Woodward: One thing that seemingly works in President Trump's favor here is the fact that he got as many Arab countries to, on paper say, hey, Hamas, you got to agree to these terms. This is the best deal you're going to get. and I say that based on the audio I'm going to play here. here again is a clip that begins with Trey Yings in Egypt asking President Trump about phase two and, whether Hamas may stay true to its word here in this deal.

Some Arab countries are putting pressure on Hamas to disarm, Fred Kaplan says

>> Ed Vitagliano: Clip four.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: I'd like to talk about phase two of the deal. Already Hamas has said they're not willing to disarm. What leverage do you have over Hamas at this point?

>> Donald Trump: We have a lot of leverage over them. And the, countries that would back them or had backed them in the past are not going to be doing it any further. And I think they want peace also. You know, there have been 70,000 killed of them, and they rebuild and they regrow, but it's not easy. And I think they probably say, we don't want this anymore. Look, they agreed to this. They agreed to the terms. So they'd be going against the terms of the agreement. So I, I think it's going to work out fine. Maybe you're going to have to be a little bit strong about it, or maybe not. But, they've agreed to disarm and they've agreed to other things also.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, Fred, I think that on the part of some of these more stable Muslim countries, I'm thinking of, like, mentioned Jordan, Saudi Arabia, some of these other countries in the area. they don't want Hamas stirring up trouble on their streets either. And that, that is, I think, why some of this pressure has been applied to Hamas by Arab countries. This is why the Muslim Brotherhood was kicked out of Egypt because they didn't want stable governments. They didn't want any, Muslim governments adopting any Western ideas. They, they didn't like the fact that Egypt and Jordan and Saudi Arabia have a kind of, a tentative kind of feel to their relationship with Israel, but it's fairly stable. They know Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Hezbollah. They don't want that. And so some of these countries, I think, want. They want. Want peace, because peace is the way you prosper.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

>> Ed Vitagliano: But if you are governed by this radical ideology, you don't want them in your streets stirring up trouble and overthrowing your government in Jordan or Saudi Arabia.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah. And I, I think Trump has used his expertise, his experience as a business guy. he has even said, you know, tariffs work wonderful.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: You know, and. And he has used business deals with the Qataris, I'm sure with Turkey, you know, with Qatar, within 48 hours after the peace deal was initially announced last week, you had the Qataris making a deal with, our Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: for a facility. They call it a Qatari facility. It's in Idaho, I believe it is. It's an air force base there. And the Qataris are going to bring their F15s, and they're pilots, and they're going to do exercises there. Well, you have to remember, the Qataris have, as I mentioned, have been playing host to Hamas terrorist leaders. So businesses make strange bedfellows. Yeah, it really does. But I think Trump is making deals with these countries, like Turkey. He said, yesterday in his, I believe it was the Knesset speech, he'd like to do a deal with Iran.

>> Dr. Walter Wendler: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: You know, he feels Iran will come around because they're kind of isolated right now in the wake of the bombings, and he feels there's an opportunity. In fact, he. He kind of put out, come talk to us yesterday. So that's just the way Trump is. But I agree with you, you're not going to change the way that radical Islam thinks, because of this deal, I think the word to use, I think. And Israel's way ahead on this is vigilance. Yeah, vigilance. trust. Trust but verify. Yeah. Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Somebody said Ronald Reagan.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes. Trust but verify. And that has to be the case.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, and I do think that some of these countries do have some leverage on groups like Hezbollah and Hamas because they've funded these radical groups. If you cut off the funds.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And you say, we're not giving you weapons, we're not giving you money to buy weapons, then you can't apply some pressure and you can weaken a group like Hamas. So we'll have to wait and see how this is going to. Gonna work out.

Hillary Clinton says she commends President Trump on Middle East peace deal

All right, Chris, So the President's been.

>> Chris Woodward: Getting some applause yes, from even Democrats. And I can verify. Trust me, I'm a journalist.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Trust and verify.

>> Chris Woodward: I verified this. It's not AI pretending to be Hillary Clinton. And here is Hillary Clinton saying something positive about the man that defeated her almost 10 years ago in the, election.

>> Dr. Walter Wendler: Clip 5 It's a, really significant.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: First step, and I really commend, President Trump and his administration, as well as Arab, leaders in the region.

>> Chris Woodward: I woke up this morning and I came into work and I never imagined I would run a soundbite of Hillary Clinton saying, I commend President Trump, but I did.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Fred, Kudos.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: To Hillary Clinton. How many people thought they'd wake up to hear me say kudos to Hillary Clinton? I will say this. I wouldn't mind seeing a little bit more of this. I'm talking about from both political parties. It's not always a zero sum M game. Yeah, there's nothing wrong with saying, hey, the president, whatever the political parties, the opposition saying, you know what, this is good. This is good for America. This is good for the Middle East. So I got to give a tip of the hat to Hillary Clinton for, for setting aside partisanship and saying what everybody knows to be true and that however this winds up turning out in terms of how long a peace deal can stay in place, this is a good step. And she said so.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah. And Bill Clinton, I'm not sure who did it first. Bill Clinton, I think, issued a statement yesterday congratulating Trump. However, on the opposite side of this, former President Biden and his Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken. Yeah, we have some audio of that.

>> Chris Woodward: We don't have the audio, but, the reason being they put out things on social media, which is how the kids do it now.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.

>> Chris Woodward: but I can read to you what they say. And I posted these, I took screenshots of their, their posts on X. let's begin with, President Joe.

>> Ed Vitagliano: You put them on our Facebook page.

>> Chris Woodward: I did, yes. let's begin with, President Joe Biden. He said, the road to this deal was not easy. My administration worked relentlessly to bring hostages home, get relief to Palestinian civilians. And in the war Secretary, of Secretary of State Blinken, under President Biden, said things like, President, Trump adopted and built on the plan the Biden administration developed.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Okay, so let me, let me, let me, take my own advice here. If that's true, if they did lay some groundwork, then they should be commended for doing so. however, I think President Trump has basically Been this goes with, with the Abraham Accords in his first administration, and in this administration, he has put a lot of pressure on, the, on Hamas and on the Middle east and has worked to try to get deals with some of these Arab countries. And it's. To me, it's a little bit tacky to point at your own administration when nothing came of it.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And claim that President Trump is standing on your shoulders. Maybe it's true, I don't know. But I've never heard any of the Biden administration officials talking about the kind of things that President Trump has pulled off.

>> Fred Jackson: Well, Biden was vice president under Barack Obama. Somebody mentioned in the last day or so. So, you know, Barack Obama, delivered, billions of dollars on pallets to the Iranians sneaking it in the night. Trump delivered bombs.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And which, which one worked better?

>> Fred Jackson: Which worked? Yes.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Those billions of dollars, I don't know what the percentage would be. Maybe nobody will know. But some of those billions of dollars that came from the United States went to Iran, supposedly releasing their cash that was frozen from the 1979, takeover by radicals in Iran. But some of that money wound up in Hamas's pockets.

>> Fred Jackson: That's right.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And Hezbollah.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And Houthis and everything else, because Iran is, a state sponsor of terrorism. So I preferred the bombs dropping. I think that got the message across a lot more than cash. M In the middle of the night.

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>> Jeff Chamblee: This is today's issues. 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.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And welcome back to Today's Issues. Ed Vitagliano sitting in for Tim Wildmon. This week I am joined in studio by Fred Jackson and Chris Woodward. And, periodically, usually about once a quarter, we have a guest on Dr. Walter Wendler, who's president of West Texas A and M University. And it is our privilege to have Dr. Wendler on the show with us again today.

>> Dr. Walter Wendler: Dr.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Wendler, welcome back to Today's Issues.

>> Dr. Walter Wendler: Thank you, Ed. And it's always a pleasure to visit with you gentlemen. I appreciate the opportunity.

Walter Windle talks to Ed about faith and reason on college campuses

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, Walter, we wanted to, talk to you about faith and reason on campus. A lot of, Americans have had their attention focused on college campuses because of what happened to Charlie Kirk about a month or so ago and a lot of things going on in terms of antisemitism on campus, but just the regular run of the mill struggle that people, young people of faith have on many of our college and university campuses. So, let us know what you think is going on on college campuses and why it is important to tell Christian young people that both faith and reason can exist on our, college and university campuses.

>> Dr. Walter Wendler: Yeah, pleased to do that, Ed. And in fact, there does seem to be almost a mandate, and I think universities do it sometimes intentionally and sometimes unintentionally, ask students to check their faith at the campus gate. And you know, I've told people I always reveal my, Christian faith and what it means to me, to others so that they may, calibrate, the things that I say and if they so desire, test it against God's word. But I believe I should be honest about who I am because who I am in my heart and my soul, affects how I think and the things that I say and do. Even as an academic, these things are connected. And I think universities go to great extent to convince students that they could be disconnected. C.S. lewis, ah, said one time that, if you follow that line of reasoning, a student may have a full head, and this is a rough quote, may have a full head but an empty chest, talking about their heart and their soul. And Lewis is right as usual. we can't expect people to separate their, faith. And I think being honest about what your faith life is, whatever it is, it's important to your development as a human being that's created in the image of God. and if you don't have any faith, if you've got faith in government, like so many of the people you all talk about that seem to demonstrate faith in government rather than faith in Christ, and don't get me wrong, you all talk about that plenty too. But, but you know, there are people that just think that the government's going to solve all their problems, or some other belief system science is going to solve all their problems. My wife and I watched something on, on the news this morning about a teacher in a public school and that this intention is good, but teaching students to have in a sense faith in themselves. You know, they can do whatever they want to do and so on and so forth. And sometimes that stuff is misguided. now when it's in Christ in my mind, because the Bible tells me this, it's never misguided. And I think universities do a disservice to students to act like these two spheres of life, the mind, and I'll say the soul, cannot, coexist and do not inform each other. And I think that's, you know, I think it's very important. Isaac Newton himself, who is probably one of the greatest scientists that ever lived, said, and I quote, there are more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history. And Horace Greeley said it's impossible to enslave mentally or socially a Bible reading people. The principles of the Bible are the groundwork of human freedom. And you know these, these gentlemen are pretty, pretty thoughtful people and they recognize this connection between faith and reason. And no matter what contemporary higher education does, to try to separate these things. It's a disservice to students. and I fear even sometimes that at Christian universities this sort of isolation exists, this sort of, you know, two ways of seeing things. And I believe there's only one. And we have to recognize that and work at integrating how we think from a faith perspective and how we think from a rational perspective. How these two things work together.

>> Fred Jackson: Dr. Windle, I think you see it. Yep. Yeah, Fred here, we've often done stories through the years here about you know, we talk to people like George Barna and others who talk about. It seems a lot of young people who grow up in churches, when they get to that university environment where there are a lot of challenges to what they've been taught, they're not prepared to make the argument, or I think you're noting, they're afraid. can churches. Can mom and dads do a better job of preparing their kids for the environment that they're going to, be exposed to when they go to university? Is that the responsibility of churches and moms and dads?

>> Dr. Walter Wendler: I couldn't agree more. And I put it in this order. First moms and dads and then churches. But. But I mean, they're neck and neck. It's a photo finish on that. But the fact of the matter is they can. And I think, encouraging students to be, would be college students to hold onto their faith. And we have many Christian, ministries on our campus from many different denominations. And I always encourage students to get involved with those. But I also say don't rely just on those. Find a local church. Local churches, to me are the foundation of the New Testament and could argue the temples are the foundation of the Old Testament. But local churches are incredibly important. And if a student moves far away from home where they can't attend church, where they, where they were raised, if they were raised in a Christian home, find a local congregation. Don't just rely on student ministries. And by the way, that is not in any way to disparage the ministerial works that occur, you know, within, Baptist student ministries or Wesley foundation or the Catholic groups or, the Church of Christ groups. We've got. I'm just thinking of some down the street from me, you know, that pay attention to these things. We've got Pentecostal groups, you know, there's all kinds of groups. And I encourage them, but I also encourage local worship. If a student really wants to, engage a faith community, ultimately that should be the greatest satisfaction in the life of a believing parent. That when the student, matures and is out on their own as an adult, they maintain their relationship, through Christ or with Christ, through God's word. They maintain that relationship and they do that on their own. And I think what happens is. I mentioned this to somebody once in a conversation about this. Many Christian students who are very faithful in their church, one of the things they're taught is a respect for authority. They go into a classroom with a faculty member who feels like their greatest responsibility is to rattle the cage, and they do that. And the student doesn't know how to respond except to be respectful. And you know, we just all witnessed and, watched the passing of, Charlie Kirk. You can be respectful and be rigorously, intellectual and reasonable and make very cogent arguments. But you have to, you know, you have to have a grip on what your faith life is. And I think many students do. And then not be afraid to, Put it out there for people to, hear, and study and think about with you. and, you know, in this little piece I wrote, I think I sent to you guys, Henry Fosdick, said man cannot live without faith. Because the primary requisite in life's adventure is courage. And the sustenance of courage is faith. And if faith and reason are connected, I would argue that faith and courage are also connected. I think we have to be courageous. And if, Charlie Kirk taught us anything, he would have taught us if we watched and listened to be courageous with our faith. And I don't mean to beat somebody over the head with it, but I mean to be courageous and thoughtful about it and be willing to entertain discussions about it. I think that's very, very important.

Dr. Walter Wendler is president of West Texas A and M University

>> Ed Vitagliano: Our guest has been Dr. Walter Wendler. He's president of West Texas A and M University. Dr. Wendler, you make great points here. If some of our listeners want to access some more of your writing, or anything like that, where could they find it? Is any of that available?

>> Dr. Walter Wendler: Oh, yes, sir. As a matter of fact, I write op EDS every week, in local newspapers. And some not local, some national newspapers, and they are all posted on Walter Wendler. W A l t e r w e N-L-E r.com and if you go there, you'll find 800, opinion pieces that I've written about higher education. And I've been doing that for almost, two decades now. and another place to go to find out about west, Texas A and M University. Because it is not a typical university. we've established on campus the Hill Institute. And we have on our board, our advisory board. Dr. Ben Carson, is on that advisory, board. Larry Arn from Hillsdale College. I know you know him. He is on that advisory, advisory board. And I could go through and name all six. And they're very, influential people who are steadfast about what's important about higher education. And by the way, I would just announce or let you know that Ben Carson will be, speaking on our campus on October 27th. we're not going to live stream it, but in all likelihood we will post it to our website, which is West Texas. Somebody could access our website by, entering, wtamu Edu and you can get to our website, and when you get there, you can search for Hill Institute and find out what we're doing with that. But I think it is, powerful. And, obviously we're a public university, but we are not taking any public funds, for the Hill Institute. And I, told the Lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, when he was here, you know, he said, is there any way I can help them? I said, well, I don't want any money, because if we get money from you, that means then the discussion about what we do becomes larger, and we want to make sure it's focused on the things that we believe are essential, and have been neglected in higher education for probably since the 60s and maybe before.

Dr. Wendler Weber: West Texas A and M University promotes conservative values

>> Ed Vitagliano: All right, so, Dr. Weber, let me give you an opportunity. If there are parents listening, right now whose kids are on the verge of having to choose a college or university, I want you to make a pitch to those Christian parents and make the case that if their kids are young people with a faith in Jesus Christ, they will not be harmed by going to a public university, West Texas A and M University. In fact, they will find plenty to do that will strengthen their faith. Go ahead and make your pitch, sir.

>> Dr. Walter Wendler: Okay, I'll do it. You pretty much just did it. There are plenty of things to do. And by the way, I will tell you that we're not 100%. I mean, there. You know, there are people, we're like a church. We've even got disagreements here, you know, about what we're doing and why we're doing it. But this is a very thoughtful university. We are in one of the reddest congressional districts in the United States of America. And I. Actually, we are the most, conservative district that's home to a university in the state of Texas. There are 38. And our values here, Ronny Jackson is our, U.S. congressman. and, these conservative values. And I tell people, even people that disagree with me, and there are plenty, I tell them, look, we need to serve the folks that call West Texas home. And I have great confidence in the value systems of these people. They produce a lot of energy. They produce 30% of the beef that's consumed in America. This is a very important region in our state. And, the people that do this work have conservative values. And if you went to my website, WalterWermer.com and typed in conservative, you'll see a lot of Writings about this. I don't apologize for holding values that are similar to those folks who live in West Texas. And I'll tell you, I'm not from West Texas. You guys have already figured that out. I'm from, 35 miles out of New York City on the north shore of Long Island. but I somehow escaped that and ended up at Texas A and M. And when I got off the bus in College Station, Texas, I said, lord, what have I done? I looked around, this was 1970, and I thought, holy smokes, what have I done? But anyway, it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened. And I've, been back to New York. Mary and I both from New York. We both been back to visit after we got married, but that's all. we've been in Texas, most of our adult lives. And, these values, especially these panhandle values, are very important, and I think there's a lot of sympathy for those values on our campus. It's not monolithic. It's not monolithic, but, there are a lot of places where students can find a connection to their faith life that they were raised with. And by the way, if they weren't raised in the faith or if they've, wandered away from it, I think there's a lot of opportunities through the various ministries on our campus to reconnect, and find out how vital that can be, not just from a spiritual sense, but also from an intellectual and rational sense that you can learn and be. Be it. Be, thoughtful and intelligent about what you do without having to apologize for being a Christian. One of the things that, you know, just bugs me about some of the Christian universities where they're all. They almost apologize for.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Dr. Walter Wendler: Christian universities, you know, Anyway.

>> Ed Vitagliano: All right, sorry.

>> Dr. Walter Wendler: I'm wondering.

>> Ed Vitagliano: No, hey, listen, it sounds like you got some preach in your brother. there's nothing, nothing wrong with that.

>> Dr. Walter Wendler: Dr.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Wendler, thank you so much for. For being on with us again. And thank you for the work that you guys are doing there in West Texas. Again, folks, West Texas A and M University. And, check out Dr. Wendler's writings. 800 opinion pieces. That's a lot of opinion, Dr. Wendler. Thank you. Thanks for being on with us.

>> Dr. Walter Wendler: Okay. Thank you for having me.

>> Fred Jackson: I think the bottom line is Amarillo ain't Austin.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes, no, that's. That's right. I love listening to Dr. Wendler. Yes, that. By the way, folks, that was the voice of Dr. Walter Wendler, President of West Texas A and M. University sounds great. What they're doing there. Ah, at that university. I did not know. I detected some accent. I didn't know he was from, New York.

>> Fred Jackson: What a contrast.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: Wow.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yep.

>> Chris Woodward: I like to joke with people that I meet from New York. That we have a Brooklyn, Mississippi, which is an actual place to visit some.

>> Ed Vitagliano: We have Philadelphia.

>> Chris Woodward: Oh, yeah. We've got an Atlanta.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Chris Woodward: We've got all kinds of places.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yep.

New York Attorney General Leticia James is facing fraud charges

All right, let's continue on. Chris.

>> Chris Woodward: man, I mean, it's like, it's a. It's. It's tough to pick, but I'm going to say this. New York Attorney General Leticia James made her first public appearance last night at a political rally for Democratic Socialist Zoran Mamdani. He's the guy running for mayor, and by most polls appears to be leading, that race for mayor. and Letitia James, appeared at a, political rally last night where she endorsed, Mamdani, saying that, she described him as her little brother. but she went on to basically say that Donald Trump and other critics aren't going to take me from, my position and stuff like that. Don't take my word for it. Clip 7.

>> Letitia James: You see, I know what it feels like to be attacked for just doing your job, but I also know what it feels like to overcome adversity. And so I stand on solid rock.

>> Letitia James: And I will not bow. I will not break. I will not bend. I will not capitulate. I will not give in. I will not give up. You come for me. You gotta come to all of us. All of us. Every single one of us. We're all in this together.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Okay. So that. That. That kind of had the cadence of a black preacher, and I think that's what she was kind of drawing on.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And, listen, Letitia James hopes all those people are gonna stand in front of her. the charges that she faces, are. The charge she's facing is. Is a very serious one. And for someone who came into her political kind, of her heyday here, promising, to get Donald Trump before she was even in office.

>> Fred Jackson: That's right.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And could look at all the evidence. Yeah, she's got some nerve.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I think.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah. The needle is pegged on hypocrisy in that speech because, as you say, when she was running for office to be Attorney General of New York, she made speeches. I'm gonna get them. Speaking of Donald Trump, which is what she did with a very bogus charge, by the way. I think everybody remembers that as far as, you know, it's something about overvaluing Trump's properties, and even the banks didn't have a problem with that.

>> Ed Vitagliano: There was no actual victim.

>> Fred Jackson: No here. No victim in that. However, what she's being charged with is, a house that she purchased. And when she filled out a loan for purchasing a house in Virginia, she said it was going to be her personal dwelling.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: And it wasn't. and. And there's tax advantages to all of that.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: So there's the irs, and fraud is in her future.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah. And. And of course, these. She's, allegedly committed these crimes. We do want to say that, but that's why I mentioned this is serious. This is a serious crime that she's being charged with, and she could wind up in prison.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

>> Ed Vitagliano: but, you know, I just. Listen, I. I get a kick out of politicians of any stripe who stand up there and say, we're all in this together. If they want to get me, they've got to go through you. And if I'm in the crowd, I'm going, no, they don't know. You're on your own on this. Chris, did you. Do you have an opinion on this?

>> Chris Woodward: Oh, I concur.

>> Ed Vitagliano: You concur.

Charlie Kirk is being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom today

>> Chris Woodward: All right, I want to mention this real quick. Charlie Kirk, is being awarded the Medal of Freedom today. Today would have been his 32nd birthday, and everybody knows the story. Charlie Kirk was assassinated, while at a Turning Point USA event in, Utah Valley University, back September 10th in, Utah. And he's, being given the Medal of Freedom, which is something President Trump announced weeks ago. And, somebody that's been filling in for Charlie at Turning Point USA events is Michael Knowles of the Daily Wire. Michael Knowles was a guest on Fox and Friends first this morning, and he thought, it was very fitting that Charlie Kirk would be getting the Medal of freedom.

>> Michael Knowles: Clip 6 I think it's totally fitting. You know, the Presidential Medal of Freedom is the nation's highest civilian honor, and Charlie really embodied that true type of freedom. In fact, he was famously wearing the Freedom T shirt a lot of times today. We think freedom is just the ability to do whatever we want. That's not really what it is. Lord Acton tells us, freedom is not the ability to do what we wish, but the right to do what we ought to do. In other words, it's not just losing our inhibitions. It is discipline grounded in the truth. I don't think anybody embodied that more, perfectly than Charlie Kirk in our whole generation. And I think it's totally fitting that he is given, this great honor.

>> Ed Vitagliano: You know, Fred, this is. That's a good. I like Michael Knowles. He's, very articulate, very smart, very rational, reasonable. in debates, conducts himself well. that's an excellent tie in to the, to the medal that, Charlie Kirk is. Will be getting posthumously. but it is a great point that Michael Knowles is making. Ah. And too many people in the west, not just the United States, but the west, think freedom is just the ability to, to do whatever you want without any sense of responsibility, without any sense of what is good for the community.

>> Dr. Walter Wendler: Good.

>> Ed Vitagliano: points that he's, that he's making.

>> Fred Jackson: Well, Charlie Kirk, fought for that freedom. Fought for the freedom to tell the truth, because we know on university campuses, not only are you discouraged, from going against the, stream of thinking that's so secular. Stream of thinking that's so prevalent, but he fought against the effort to shut down any opposition to the thinking that's on our university campuses, and particularly to Christian students, much like our guest that we just had on, Dr. Walter Wentler. do not be afraid. one of the things Dr. Walter was saying is you don't check your freedom at the door. And yes, Christians are taught to be respectful of people in authority, but that doesn't mean that they get up there and they can say whatever they want. And you're not allowed to disagree. Right, I'm sorry. You are allowed to disagree respectfully. And, that's what Charlie Kirk stood for. Do not be afraid. I mean, I hope there are many Charlie Kirk's that are in the pipeline, right?

>> Ed Vitagliano: I think so.

>> Fred Jackson: Coming along.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Meanwhile, President, Joe Biden.

>> Chris Woodward: Right.

>> Ed Vitagliano: who did he give the Presidential Medal of Freedom to?

>> Chris Woodward: This is another reason why people say elections matter. Before he left office, Joe Biden gave Joe. George Soros, of all people, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

>> Chris Woodward: You go from George Soros to Charlie Kirk.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, that speaks volumes. The kind of people you give the Presidential Medal, Presidential Medal of Freedom to. There I can say it, indicates what your worldview is. George Soros, I can't think of a worst individual, to give, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, too. But I'll tell you this. Elections, do have consequences, and we are free in this country. Amen. If Joe Biden wants to. To give, that medal to George Soros, he has the freedom to do it, and we have the freedom to disagree. All right, we're gonna take a short five minute break for news. And when we come back, Steve Paisley. George will be in the house. The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of.

>> Fred Jackson: The American Family association or American Family Radio.