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Welcome to Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network

>> Ed Vitagliano: 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: All right, good morning, everybody, and welcome to Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network. Thanks for listening to AFR. Today's Wednesday, February 18, 2026. And I have three slightly better than average co host today. But they are better than average.

>> Fred Jackson: Ed.

>> Tim Wildmon: Ah, Battagliano. Good morning, Brother Ed.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Good morning. And I like to think of myself as better than nothing.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Better than nothing.

>> Tim Wildmon: Better. All right, Wesley. w. Good morning, Wesley.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Good morning. I'm not yawning already?

>> Tim Wildmon: No, you're not. Don't yawn on this show. You'll miss it. This thing. Huh?

>> Wesley Wildmon: Just.

>> Tim Wildmon: All right. Fred Jackson. Good morning.

>> Fred Jackson: Good morning to you.

>> Tim Wildmon: all right. That's what my wife says to me at church.

>> Ed Vitagliano: What's that?

>> Tim Wildmon: Don't yawn, don't yaw. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: But that makes you think about yawning.

>> Tim Wildmon: Why is that?

>> Ed Vitagliano: I don't know.

>> Tim Wildmon: When you see somebody else yawn. Yeah, that's. That's a real thing.

>> Ed Vitagliano: It is. It's contagious. Sure is.

>> Tim Wildmon: I don't know the psychology behind that. Would you research that?

>> Ed Vitagliano: I'll get on it. I'm gonna have to do it at my desk, though.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.

The US team plays Sweden in men's hockey tomorrow

>> Ed Vitagliano: So. Right. Because, there's some Olympic hockey going on while.

>> Tim Wildmon: While I'm researching right now at this.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Moment, Canada is playing, check. Chechnya. How do you. How do you pronounce a check.

>> Fred Jackson: Chechnya.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Chechnya.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right now.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right now they're playing.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, so when is it. When is one of the US when is the USA team and the Canadian team have their blood match?

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, the US this afternoon plays Sweden. And that's not a grant.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's not. Take it for granted.

>> Ed Vitagliano: That is not. Sweden's loaded with NHL players. That's going to be a tough match. that's. That could be the U.S. team's downfall. They may not even get to play Canada. So.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: big game tomorrow.

>> Ed Vitagliano: The women. USA and Canada. Women.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's a big people. Wesley and I are just going to step back here and let Ed and Fred go at it on, what we can look forward to for the.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Hockey in the hockey rivalry that is the US And Canada.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: My expectation is that the US Women will win handily. And if the US Plays Canada in men's hockey, Canada will win handily.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. I have a question. Women's hockey, which I've never watched.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: I think I've maybe seen a few clips of. Do they fight?

>> Ed Vitagliano: No. well, in the Olympics, they're not.

>> Tim Wildmon: Allowed fights going on there or not.

>> Ed Vitagliano: They hit each other.

>> Tim Wildmon: But do they.

>> Ed Vitagliano: But they. It's kind of. It's not like the men, where you see men just get flattened against.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Know that they're. They. That was a real sport. I didn't know that women played hockey.

>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, they. Hockey.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And I'll say this. The women's hockey is more fun to watch than like the WNBA in basketball.

>> Wesley Wildmon: What do they. The college.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Real skill there.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes, they do.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Colleges get women hockey.

>> Fred Jackson: It's. It's good.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, it is.

>> Fred Jackson: It's good hockey.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Wow.

>> Ed Vitagliano: All right, let me. Let me withdraw that. I did not mean to insult the wnba. That. That's unfair. They. Listeners and ah, they have a lot. They have a lot of skill. I guess I was comparing, how fun it is to watch women's hockey.

>> Tim Wildmon: As opposed to layups.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah. I guess I should say softball.

>> Wesley Wildmon: I'm a baseball guy. And softball is a lot of fun to watch, too.

>> Tim Wildmon: and fast pitch softball.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah. Fast pit softball.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's very fun to watch.

>> Ed Vitagliano: That's. That's a real sport, actually.

>> Tim Wildmon: Girls basketball. There's a lot of skill there. They don't dunk.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.

It was a sexist comment. And it was unnecessary. I withdraw my yes, please comment

They don't dunk and they don't go flying around, but they can, pass and they could shoot.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes. And I withdraw my yes, please. Wise comments.

>> Tim Wildmon: We will get flooded with emails and text and so forth. That about your. Your offense.

>> Ed Vitagliano: It was a sexist comment.

>> Tim Wildmon: Sexist.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And it was unnecessary. And from someone who can't jump a foot off the ground. I shouldn't have been. I shouldn't have been saying anything.

>> Tim Wildmon: I'm not going to disagree with that.

There is something called America Reads the Bible. It's April 18th to the 25th

All right, you're listening to today's issues. A lot of things coming up on this program. Listen, there is something called America Reads the Bible. And it's going on in Washington, D.C. at the museum of the Bible. And we're going to have a guest on at the bottom of the hour to talk about this. This is a. How. Wesley, you're participating in this, right? I am so this is going to be a, what is this going to be exactly here to mine.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Now there's a lot, a lot, a lot of people from different ministries, involved in this. So everyone's going to have a slightly different role. But for us at afa, we've got five staff members that are going and that the idea or what they're going to do is read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation out loud. And, and they have schedule slots that it's continuous. I'm sure there's a break at night. I haven't seen the schedule and I'm not sure. I know it's going to last about, about a week. So it's a long.

>> Ed Vitagliano: It's April 18th to the 25th.

>> Tim Wildmon: Who's going to, who's representing us? Cuz I didn't get an invitation.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I didn't either.

>> Tim Wildmon: Did you?

>> Fred Jackson: No. Huh?

>> Tim Wildmon: No spot.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Because I'm only doing it.

>> Tim Wildmon: We don't want to take it.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, we don't want to complain about it.

>> Tim Wildmon: We want you to read. We want you to read the Bible out loud to the world.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, we'll.

>> Wesley Wildmon: It's.

>> Tim Wildmon: Buddy, you don't have an accent.

>> Wesley Wildmon: No, I, well, you're, you're very. Once I leave, once I leave Mississippi I do.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right.

>> Wesley Wildmon: But right now I don't.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right, right now you don't. But. So what are you going to. What, what's your role? what are, what, what part of the Bible you going to be reading?

>> Wesley Wildmon: Z Zechariah 2:6.

>> Tim Wildmon: What does that say?

>> Wesley Wildmon: What's that say? I actually had to read it the other day, which is. So they asked us, everyone that's participating in it, they asked us to read it and have it videoed by your team just in case something comes up and you get the clue or the plane gets somebody fill in for you. But so they, so they'll play.

>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, I got you.

>> Wesley Wildmon: They'll play you.

>> Tim Wildmon: I got you.

>> Wesley Wildmon: so I've already did. I did that the other day and they asked us very specifically to read from the King James easy read version. And so we print. I don't have that Bible in my office. So we printed that off and I read it and there was nothing easy about it and that was the irony in it. And I got through reading it and I asked afs, our team who videoed me.

>> Ed Vitagliano: American Family Studios.

>> Wesley Wildmon: American Family Studios. They videoed me reading my portion that I'm going to read up there just in case something happens. And I got through and I was the last one of our team. At AFA that read and I got through, they could just see it all over my face that, like, there was nothing easy about that. They said, well, actually everyone in here that's read before you said there was nothing easy about that. Anyways, that translation I, do not recommend. If you want to get easy read.

>> Tim Wildmon: I tell you what not, and I won't put you on the spot right now, but next week you're up with us on Tuesday. If you could be prepared to read from which book of the Bible?

>> Wesley Wildmon: Zachariah. Now you're going to be read. 15 minute read.

>> Tim Wildmon: What now?

>> Wesley Wildmon: It's about a 15 minute read.

>> Tim Wildmon: I don't know.

>> Ed Vitagliano: You just get the audio from what they.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah, I've already got to record it.

>> Tim Wildmon: By the way, I want you to do it live.

>> Wesley Wildmon: I could do a synopsis if you're serious, but I don't think you want me reading.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Laughs who else besides you?

>> Wesley Wildmon: Buddy Smith, Walker Wildmon, Jenna Ellis, myself. And I believe there's one more. All right, who's the other one?

>> Fred Jackson: Debbie Wuth.

>> Tim Wildmon: Now, there we go.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, I voter God.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah, there we go.

>> Tim Wildmon: So this is. It's called America Reads the Bible. It's at the Bible Museum from April 18th to the 25th and Washington, D.C. and it's going to be people from ministries from the US maybe around the world, and they're going to read through the Bible out loud.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And at the bottom of the hour, we have a representative, Bunny Pounds, who's the president of Christians Engaged. She's kind of the visionary behind this idea, to do this right.

Search underway for nine missing backcountry skiers after avalanche in California

>> Tim Wildmon: All right, Fred, what's your first news story there?

>> Fred Jackson: First news story comes from California. And right now there is an urgent search underway for nine, what's called backcountry skiers. They've had a huge snowstorm that has hit that area of the country. And these skiers, they started out two, three days ago. they were on a track through some very rough country. Snowstorm hits, there is an avalanche, an avalanche. And, six of the skiers have been rescued, but nine are still missing. So a very kind of serious situation out there for people to get involved with this kind of expedition. I'll call it. You got to be pretty tough to want to get into this rough backcountry. there are little huts along the way of this backcountry trek. And they managed to be fine the first two days, but this avalanche hit and, the rescue of the first six came in. They were in contact with these six. They were able to get to them. But this is still very, very dangerous.

>> Tim Wildmon: This is the Lake Taho area, Lake Tahoe area.

>> Fred Jackson: So very dangerous. But they have crews that have expertise in that kind of search and rescue. And we're supposed to get an update this morning sometime on how things are going, but nine still missing.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, this. So this wasn't a ski resort?

>> Fred Jackson: No, no.

>> Tim Wildmon: For recreational. This is sort of cross country backpack skiing. I m mean this is tough stuff.

>> Fred Jackson: It is.

>> Tim Wildmon: And, and so, and but an avalanche hit.

>> Tim Wildmon: And nine people missing.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

>> Tim Wildmon: and as of this hour.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And, and it's such tough country. It's not easy to rescue people either. You can't just drive your, you know, four, four wheel drive along a road. These I guess they have to use choppers and, and people going on skis to try to find them with equipment.

>> Fred Jackson: It's described as rugged mountainous terrain of up to four miles. So this, this is you have to be in really good shape to start out on these things.

>> Tim Wildmon: Have you ever been near or seen an avalanche? I mean you've lived in the mountain.

>> Fred Jackson: Just video.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: What about you?

>> Ed Vitagliano: This video.

>> Fred Jackson: Okay.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. Just watching the video, it's terrifying.

>> Ed Vitagliano: It's, it's like when you see video of a tsunami or something, you just go you forget how powerful nature is. And these avalanches, I mean they're, some of these people, they're going to look for them because you, you can't survive with a pocket of air for a while. But the power of it, you could be buried within you know, underneath 10ft of snow or something.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right, so that's a big story out of California, Lake Tahoe, nine people missing.

>> Ed Vitagliano: That story by the way, does appear on our American Family News afn.net our website.

>> Tim Wildmon: We encourage people to go there.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yep, absolutely.

>> Tim Wildmon: AFN net, that's our news service. Take advantage of it. AFN. It's free net. Yes it is.

Shooting at Rhode Island hockey rink leaves two dead and three injured

Next story.

>> Fred Jackson: All right, we told you yesterday about this shooting at a rink in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. And there's an update to this. We do know from the reporting now that the shooter who is dead, he killed himself after the incident there at this hockey rink. he went by Robert Dorgan but also went by Roberta Dorgan. Now since this story broke a couple of days ago, you may have seen pictures of this guy. but apparently what we're learning is that his family was very upset with his decision to carry out these transition on his, on his body. And this resulted in a Lot of family tension. But we are learning now more about the victims and folks, the victims include the ones, two people that he shot were his ex wife and killed Rhonda Dorgan and their adult son Aiden Dorgan. And this happened at this hockey rink. There were a bunch of high school, middle school kids playing hockey. There's video out there, you can see it. the kids are playing hockey. They hear this pop, pop, pop. They're not sure what it is, but then you, somebody says this is gunfire, they scramble away from this. What we do know from the sheriff there in Pawtucket, Rhode island is that other people who were watching the game kind of came to the rescue and were able to keep this guy from shooting, and killing other people. Now there were three other victims, and of those three others, two of those victims who are in critical condition were the mom and dad of this guy's ex wife. All right. Of ah, Rhonda Dorgan who is killed. So a horrible situation.

>> Wesley Wildmon: More family members in.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes, all the way around. A very horrible situation. But as we've been talking about, this follows a shooting just, ten days ago in Canada at Tumblr Ridge in British Columbia, where close, to 10 people were killed there. This was a school shooting. Again, a transgender involved. And in the last couple of years we've had a transgender who's been the shooter at a school in Nashville and fairly recently in Minneapolis and other schools.

>> Wesley Wildmon: So what about Orlando?

>> Fred Jackson: Four incidents in recent months and years involving transgenders. And it's absolutely remarkable, man, that the mainstream media tries to cover up the transgender aspect of this.

>> Tim Wildmon: Why? Why do they try to cover it up?

>> Fred Jackson: Well, because it doesn't suit the narrative that there is something very wrong psychologically with these people and also because public policy in many cases has supported these people. And of course we've had, in recent days, we've had the stories about the, medical groups, including the American Medical association, that is now backing away from endorsing surgeries on these people, saying these young people are not settled enough in their mind to make these kinds of decisions. And we had the court case recently where a young woman who bought into counseling from various groups and went ahead with it, what I call mutilation surgery. She won a court case of $2 million in that case. And so that's why these medical groups, I think, have backed off from endorsing. so there's a lot going on on that front right now.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Also, the person that assassinated Charlie Kirk was dating or a boyfriend to a girlfriend To.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

>> Wesley Wildmon: It's, of a person that was transitioning, was from a boy to a girl.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

>> Tim Wildmon: So.

Robert Dorgan, who is identified as the shooter, committed suicide

So what are y' all suggesting?

>> Wesley Wildmon: That there's mental illness to those that are transition, that are transgender?

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, I, I. Let me, Let me just say, too, we are not saying that all people who are transgender transitioning, pose a danger in terms of, shooting. Okay. However, what. What we are saying and what conservatives are saying and people who come from a more traditional viewpoint worldview, is that the desire to, quote, unquote, transition should be regarded as a mental illness like it used to be. Okay. And that, that a lot more study needs to be done on the psychological impact of the drugs that people take, to quote, unquote, transition. Because this guy now, he was no young person, right? He's 56 years old. Robert Dorgan, who is the, man identified as the shooter, he killed himself. He's no spring chicken. He's an old dude, and he was undergoing bodily changes. I, I don't want to say any more than that because it just gets grotesque as the result of taking drugs. And I, I don't think enough. You got the mental illness part, same as you would for someone who has an eating disorder. Okay.

>> Wesley Wildmon: And then the medication.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And then the medication on top of that. And then you throw into it the volatility of these people who demand that everyone around them support what they're doing and the anger that builds. And apparently it sounds as if this Robert Dorgan got quite a bit of pushback from his family members. So those three things, the mental illness, the effect of drugs, and the anger and volatility of people who are going through this when they don't get the support they demand, is a recipe, increasingly a recipe for potential disaster. Let me put it that way.

>> Tim Wildmon: Why is it that the burden, by the progressives, the liberal, media, the burden is always on those of us who reject this. In other words, for example, I don't know the whole dynamics of his family situation, but evidently it was so intense that he decided to kill him.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay? Now, he. Who is transitioning now, you can get your mind messed up with all kind of drugs, including these kinds of drugs, which I don't know what all they are, but the burden is always immediately on, oh, you didn't accept him, therefore you let.

>> Ed Vitagliano: You.

>> Tim Wildmon: You caused him to react in a violent way. You see how this narrative goes? It's never that, you shouldn't murder somebody. Yeah, well, obviously, you know, you're. You are you shouldn't murder anybody. You should commit violence against somebody that there's no excuse for, that you're personally accountable for your actions. But what about the family members in this case and family members all over who have to, who have to deal with this situation? This. I can't imagine. You're. He's got, he had sons, right?

>> Wesley Wildmon: Children.

>> Tim Wildmon: He had children. And hey, who goes in and tells the kids, hey, your daddy's becoming a girl. Oh really? Oh, well, I'm good with that. Yeah, I want to. How can I support that? I mean, can you imagine? Well, to finish this. So I don't. I'm tired of hearing the burden being put on the children or the wife of, or are the parents of who disagree that somebody should try to change their sex. Go ahead.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, I don't think I'm oversimplifying this by saying the starting point is when you reject the created order. You reject God, you reject the world that he made. You reject the fact that he made mankind male and female. You start off with all that, then what are you left with? You are left with what we see in this country, which is a hyper individualism. Every individual gets to decide what his or her life is going to be like, even if he wants to become a she. And everybody else has to support that because that's what makes them happy. To me, that's where this comes from.

>> Tim Wildmon: And it's yes, and it's the rejection. M notice almost all the people who say that the burden should be on the family or the parents to accept the transitioning of their family member. they don't believe in God, or certainly they don't believe in the God of the Bible that has a order and creates people the way they're supposed to be. God doesn't make a man, God doesn't make a male and then say, well, I'm going to make him feel like a girl.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Tim Wildmon: I'm over simple. I'm being elementary with my language there. But you understand what I'm saying, God doesn't make mistakes, on giving you your sex. And so. But I think most of these people, they either don't believe in God or they don't, they don't believe in moral values in any way that would impact a, situation like well, I'll.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Just say this one thing and then, toss it to Wesley. I heard it explained this way. This makes a lot of sense to me. we used to say to people who felt like they weren't in their right body, you Know, a young man who thinks he's a woman. We used to treat the thoughts and say, well, you are male, young man, so let's help you change the way you think, right. and feel inside, because that is a sign of something gone wrong in your mind. Now what we do is we say, we accept what you think, think in your mind. Now we're going to help you change your body. And that requires surgery and drugs. And that is only exacerbating the confusion in the mind.

>> Wesley Wildmon: And if you think about it, they only limit that way of thinking to a few areas, because they wouldn't do that if I felt like I, identify as a millionaire.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right.

>> Wesley Wildmon: I'll get a million dollars.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Wesley Wildmon: You know, so they do limit it to, to these types of.

You are seeing culture shifting since the election back toward a more conservative worldview

You know, another thing, too, I was thinking about the other day, the. A lot of American society now things are.

>> Tim Wildmon: I do.

>> Wesley Wildmon: You are seeing culture shifting since the election pretty, pretty rapidly back toward a more conservative, traditional worldview. I mean, and we talked about that before with companies and campuses getting rid of dei, getting, the pushback on wokeness and all that. However you are seeing it the last. The far, far left have been in control of every possible institution across the country for the last 20 years. And this is what we're getting. I mean, think about that for a second. They've been in control of the entertainment, they've been control of education. They've been largely in control of politics and legislation. and here. And, and. And now we, and we have. My point is they have had. They have supported themselves all they. All the way up to the point of holding you at gunpoint. Ah, air quotes, gunpoint, everything up to that point, they've got their way and everything. And this is what, this is what. This is what it's come to in a lot of ways.

>> Tim Wildmon: All right, we're going to take a time out, right here. Very, very sad, tragic situation. But there has been. This is, yet another mass murder situation by a person that's transitioning. And to Ed's point, I'm wondering how much of this citizen is directly related to the drugs these people are taking.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And let me just add this, too. There is, a lot of talk about outside the transgender issue, the antidepressants that young people have been given for decades now with other mass shootings, beginning with Columbine. You know, are these drugs playing a role in making these people flip out?

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. All right, we'll be back in just a minute. We got a lot more to talk about.

You can listen to American Family Radio Network content through the AFR app

You're listening to today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network.

>> Ed Vitagliano: The AFR app is a powerful tool, but it does have limitations. You can't use it to change the oil in your vehicle or get rid of carpet stains. It won't walk the dog, won't pick up the dry cleaning or take the kids to practice. But while you're doing those things, you can listen to your favorite AFR content through the app on your phone, smart device or Roku. Just go to your app store or visit afr.net Listen to AFR wherever you go with the AFR app, we would.

>> Fred Jackson: 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 pound 250 and say the keyword baby or visit preborn.com afr.

>> Tim Wildmon: This is today's issues.

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

Tim: Today's Issues is hosted by Ed, Wesley and Fred

>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, welcome back, everybody, to Today's Issues. That's the name of the show on the American Family Radio Network. We're here for Monday through Friday. Friday we have trivia time. Have a lot of fun. So if you want to join us for that, that's. That would be like in two days from now. Trivia Friday. We'll be here. I'm Tim with Ed, Wesley and Fred. And we want to, thank, Timothy and Denise, or Tim. they. They're here from South Louisiana. They came by to see us here. Yeah, they didn't bring any crawfish, which was very disappointing. And I told them that.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Do you like crawfish?

>> Tim Wildmon: I like crawfish. Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I don't. First of all, it's too much work.

>> Tim Wildmon: Well, no, no, I don't know. I don't do that. I'm talking about, you go to the restaurant.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Oh.

>> Tim Wildmon: And you put crawfish on top of salmon or pasta or something like that.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Now that I do like.

>> Tim Wildmon: No, I don't clean. I don't. Yeah, I don't go get them. You go get your own crawfish.

>> Fred Jackson: Listen, I prefer a, crawfish is a little lobster.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yes.

>> Fred Jackson: If I'm going to take apart shell, it's going to be Lobster.

>> Ed Vitagliano: It's going to be something more.

>> Tim Wildmon: When it comes to lobsters and crawfish, Fred goes, go big or go home.

>> Fred Jackson: That's about it.

>> Tim Wildmon: You like crawfish, Wesley?

>> Wesley Wildmon: Oh, yeah, I love crawfish, that crop.

>> Tim Wildmon: But I don't know. I don't work for them. But they do in South Louisiana. That's where they harvest them, you know.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Oh, yeah.

>> Wesley Wildmon: But anyway, hey, the. Our guests that just came by and visited, if you're listening, you want to come by and visit, you can go to afa.net visits with an S. Yeah, visits with an S. And you can register there and let us know what day you want to come. And we'd show you around and get to visit. Just like, Tim and Elise.

>> Ed Vitagliano: They do need to sign up Denise.

>> Tim Wildmon: Denise. Yeah. They're from South Louisiana and they were. I told him I was going to be in Lafayette, this summer and I wanted to give me some restaurant recommendations.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Oh, yeah, good idea.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. So Wesley's got. Wesley's baseball team. He got a 10U baseball team and they. They're going to be going down for a big, tournament.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: A national baseball youth baseball tournament.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Well, yes. So over. Over the summer, this. Over the past winter, break, I was asked to coach a team to represent Mississippi, in, ah, in Louisiana. So there'll be. So every team, I'm sorry, every state will have an opportunity to put a team together for their age group to represent their state. And we're all going to meet up in Lafayette, Louisiana.

>> Ed Vitagliano: You're doing that for the state of Mississippi.

>> Wesley Wildmon: So I'll be coaching the state of Mississippi.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I'm proud of you, man.

>> Tim Wildmon: I'm his daddy.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, I'm still proud of you, Wesley.

>> Wesley Wildmon: There's a little nomination process and then.

>> Tim Wildmon: That was hurt.

>> Ed Vitagliano: You know I love you, but you, to be honest, you deserved it because you were trying to shoehorn yourself into Wesley's moment.

>> Wesley Wildmon: And it worked.

>> Ed Vitagliano: We're talking about Tim right at the.

>> Wesley Wildmon: End of the summer.

>> Tim Wildmon: It's pretty cool.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: Because they're going to be going and playing against teams every. Like Wesley said, every. I guess Texas is probably going to have more than one team.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Texas. Texas.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's not fair.

>> Wesley Wildmon: That's right. Usually Texas has two or three teams.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, yeah, that's probably still not.

>> Wesley Wildmon: That's right. Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: The state.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. We want fairness.

Bunny Pounds is the president of Christians Engaged

but we'll.

>> Ed Vitagliano: You love baseball, so this will, this will be a fun outing to cheer on your grand. Just one grandson.

>> Wesley Wildmon: That's right.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. But I got five playing the travel baseball this spring playing.

>> Wesley Wildmon: But one's going to this.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Good luck.

>> Tim Wildmon: Wear out some, some car tires. I'll tell you that right now, from now till June.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: All right, so we have, we talked earlier in the hour about there's going to be this big deal at the, Bible museum in Washington, D.C. and it's going to, we're going to talk to the person who came up with the idea of missionary. What now?

>> Ed Vitagliano: The visionary.

>> Tim Wildmon: The visionary? I thought you said a missionary, and I didn't know that. No, you said a visionary. Okay. America reads the Bible. And, the president of Christians Engaged is with us now. Bunny Pounds. Bunny. welcome to Today's Issues.

>> Amber Brown: Awesome, guys. Well, it's great to be with you, Tim and the gang.

>> Tim Wildmon: Thank you very much. tell us about yourself and your ministry.

>> Amber Brown: Yeah, I spent 16 years in political consulting and campaign management working for members of Congress. many that are in the administration today, like Sean Duffy and Lee Zeldin. but yeah, I kind of started. I started a ministry December 2019 with the kind, of a frustration I had was that we were continuing to talk about Christians not voting, but we weren't actually mobilizing them like a campaign. So, I started a ministry called Christians Engaged with a pledge or a commitment from Christians to pray, vote, and engage regularly. we went from 79,000 Christians in Texas to now six years later, we are serving a million people in our voter mobilization system from a nonpartisan Christian perspective. And, we have a lot of things going on. A young adult program, curriculum, teach Christians how to get involved in campaign school and church outreach program and everything. We love partnering with, AFA and with ivoterguide and all our friends there, you guys.

>> Tim Wildmon: Amen. The more Christians, we can get involved in government politics, the better. We. I don't know where, where we got this crazy idea that Christians need to stay away from politics because it's dirty. I want to go. Yep. You know what? The world's dirty.

>> Wesley Wildmon: I, minister some church meetings.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, and, and the fact is, when Christians got out of it, got away from it, it only got worse.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right, Right.

>> Ed Vitagliano: So that'll. That'll tell you.

>> Tim Wildmon: So the idea that you can escape politics and government and hold yourself, you know, more pious or more holy is ridiculous because. Because laws are made that we all have to live by. Well, who do we want making the laws? Do we sign me up for the pagans?

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right. Or the atheists? Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: We want more Christians involved in, lawmaking from The City council to the White House, because not that we want to impose our religion on people, is that we want to stand up for our moral values and our constitutional rights. Bunny knows this. And our constitutional rights, that are at, risk here, and our liberty and our freedom and our way of life, all those things are impacted by politics. Again, I say from the city council all the way to Washington, D.C. all right, so you got something, Bunny, coming up that you, America reads the Bible.

Bunny: We're calling the American people back to daily Bible reading

Tell us about that.

>> Amber Brown: Yeah, I was in the Museum of the Bible 2 1/2 years ago with a whole group of young people that we take into Washington and had an encounter with the Lord about Ezra. it hit me. I just finished a draft on the. The Book of Nehemiah, of a new book that's coming out, that I wrote May 19, called Stepping up to Lead, Rebuilding a Nation in the Footsteps of Nehemiah. But it hits me that we need to have an Ezra moment in our nation before we can see a generation of Nehemiah's arise. you know, it's really hard for me and our team, and I know for you guys, too, to get Christians activated in these spaces as leaders. And I think a lot of it is that we don't have, you know, a daily devotion with the Lord. We're not actually going to the word. Ah, to give us strength and to give us identity. And so I had this crazy idea two and a half years ago. Wouldn't it be awesome if our national leaders from all spheres of influence, all demographics and denominations would humble themselves and say, you know, we need the Bible every day just to make it as leaders and all these spheres of influence. And we're calling the American people back to daily Bible reading and discipleship. And what if we did that in the backdrop of the 250th birthday of America?

>> Tim Wildmon: Amen.

>> Amber Brown: So, we stepped out in faith, and this is happening. 475 of our national leaders, 6 cabinet members, 20 members of Congress, 6 governors, Hollywood stars, producers Dallas Jenkins, Andy Irwin, Colton Dixon, worship leaders. we're going to read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation in front of the American people over seven days.

>> Tim Wildmon: Well, Bunny, we have five people from our, staff here are coming to watch.

>> Amber Brown: Yes, you guys are. You're one of our ministry partners and we're so thrilled.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. But I'm just curious. I didn't get an invitation myself personally, and I just wonder how that was it on oversight on your staff's part.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Don't fall for this, Bunny, or Was.

>> Tim Wildmon: That, like, intentionally left. Left off, but yeah.

>> Amber Brown: You're gonna have to talk to that internal team on why you didn't get invited to read.

>> Tim Wildmon: This is called the run around. This is what we.

>> Ed Vitagliano: No, I think, I think, I think you're gonna have to talk to Wesley and Walker, I think is what she's saying.

>> Tim Wildmon: No, I probably didn't get invited because I said, dad probably doesn't want to.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Fly again because he flies a lot. No, no, now I'm. Now because I'm in the room, I'm gonna hand it off to Buddy.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's.

>> Wesley Wildmon: That's a legit run around three people.

>> Tim Wildmon: As to why I didn't get an invitation.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. Hey, go ahead. I do have one more serious note. Yeah.

Bunny Pounds says Gen Z wants simplicity of Christianity and family

>> Ed Vitagliano: I do have one quick question, Bunny, before, we let you go, you had mentioned just a few minutes ago about young people getting young people engaged. Do you see an interest among. I know this is just an in general question. Do you see a growing interest among young people in the Constitution, our founding principles and the governing, process?

>> Amber Brown: You know, Gen Z wants to go on mission and they want to strip it all away. They're, you know, yes, they're addicted to their phones and social media, but they're not happy about it. And what we're finding, is that they want to get back to the simplicity of prayer, worship, and the word of God. we're having a Gen Z summit while America Reads the Bible is happening. We're gathering 180, 18 to 30 year olds to come to Washington to go on a Capitol tour with the Bartons. We're going to have members of Congress speak to them. It's called 1630 Gen Z summit. The return. people can find that information at America Reads the Bible. But we are seeing a hunger in Gen Z. and we've got Gen Z influencers that are going to be reading the Bible in this event. we see a hunger there. They want it all to strip away. They want to get back to the simplicity of Christianity and family.

>> Tim Wildmon: Gen Z influencer, you know, Ed and I, you know what we need to become?

>> Ed Vitagliano: What?

>> Tim Wildmon: Baby boomer influencers.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Baby boomer influencers. No. You know why that's a bad idea?

>> Tim Wildmon: Why is that?

>> Ed Vitagliano: Because you first have to know how to use, use your phone in order to be influenced. To be an influencer and to be influenced.

>> Tim Wildmon: All right, Bunny, Bunny Pounds has been with us, President of Christians Engaged. And there is a. Ah, we'll talk more about this as when we get closer to the event, but there's a America Reads the Bible and they, and they're going to be reading the Bible out loud at the Bible museum in Washington D.C. sort of representative of reading the Bible for our country April 18th through the 25th. And AFA and AFR we're participating. It's really a, event to glorify the word of God, the Holy Bible, to our, you know, as it is the foundation of our, of our country really if you think about it.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And Bunny, give your website for your ministry, Christians Engaged, so people can check that out.

>> Amber Brown: Yeah, go to America reads the Bible.com to come to D.C. and join the live stream. and then ChristiansEngage.org take the pledge to private engage and help us change the country.

>> Tim Wildmon: Thank you, Bonnie. Take care. Appreciate it.

>> Amber Brown: Thank you, guys.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, that's Bunny beginning I, mean Bunny pet, you know, spell spelled that way. It's a unique.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

A California woman is suing Facebook claiming social media addiction and depression

>> Tim Wildmon: All right. You're listening to today's issues on the American Family Radio Network. Tim, Ed and Wesley and Fred are here. We're all here. And we thank you for listening to American, family radio. What's your next story, Fred?

>> Fred Jackson: Big court case is underway in California. social media is on trial. The plaintiff in the case is a 20 year old woman who's identified by the initials KGM. She claims her early use of social media addicted her to the technology and exasperated depression and suicidal thoughts. Now, a lot of attention being paid to this trial, particularly today because the CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, is being called to the stand to testify. Now, Greg Jarrett, who is the legal expert that Fox uses quite.

>> Tim Wildmon: A bit, met us. Facebook. Right. And other things.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes. Yeah. So Zuckerberg is going to be on the stand today, but Greg Jarrett says the plaintiffs challenging social media are going to have a very difficult task in front of them. Cut number 10. The plaintiff in this case has two major M problems. First, she was treated for years by.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Two therapists, a psychiatrist, none of whom.

>> Fred Jackson: Ever diagnosed her with m social media addiction.

>> Ed Vitagliano: So that a huge causation problem.

>> Fred Jackson: She may not in fact suffer from, addiction caused by social media, but depression caused by abuse at home, there's evidence of that.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Second of all, her, lawyers have.

>> Fred Jackson: To prove that the company's designed a defective product.

>> Ed Vitagliano: That's a very high burden because the.

>> Fred Jackson: Defense says, wait a minute, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, they're not defective at all.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And instead the plaintiff misused the product.

>> Fred Jackson: With her own chronic engagement.

>> Ed Vitagliano: It's called Personal responsibility.

>> Fred Jackson: And where's parental control in this?

>> Ed Vitagliano: Was mom oblivious?

>> Fred Jackson: So there you have it.

>> Tim Wildmon: You know what? So this. Okay. All right. Again, this is a person who is suing Meta.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

>> Tim Wildmon: Which is Mark Zuckerberg's company. Used to be called something else. But Facebook is their big product. Right. All right. And she's claiming she was forced to.

>> Ed Vitagliano: She's addicted to social media.

>> Tim Wildmon: I'm shocked that she was able to get him on the stand in a court case like that, because that sounds to me like. Listen, I know people get addicted to these social media sites, but it's not the fault of the owner of the company. I mean, we go say people are addicted to newspapers 25 years ago.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I think personally, I think we not. This is not a legal statement. It's my personal opinion. I think we throw the word addiction around too lightly. Okay? Now I know people can get addicted to substances, okay. Because there is a, A physical, response to drugs. But we say people are addicted to pornography. We say they're addicted to a particular television show. They're addicted to food. Now they're addicted to social media. I'm sorry, I'm just not buying that. These are behavior driven, habits that are chosen. Okay. And, I guarantee, I guarantee you, John Piper, once, the pastor, pretty well known, in reform circles anyway, he once said, that if you claim that you're addicted to pornography and someone put a gun to your head and said, you die if you click through to this website, that person's not going to click through. So when, when people talk about addiction, true addiction, I think means you're swept away by biological realities and chemical reactions, and there is less responsibility for what you're doing. But this girl may have other m. Mental issues. You don't get addicted in the same way as you do to tobacco. Well, especially to social media.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah. Especially to file a lawsuit and sue a company over.

>> Ed Vitagliano: You could just get rid of your phone.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Right. If you thought it was.

>> Tim Wildmon: Like I said, I'm shocked that,

>> Wesley Wildmon: Far be it from us to defend Facebook. Okay.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right. That's a good point. Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: You know, I mean, Facebook, I don't. I've never used Facebook personally, but I know a lot of people who haven't. It. It was created with a wonderful, purpose, I think. Small opinion that is having people connect with one another. Yeah. And people, if used for the right reasons, it can be a great, you know, benefit to your life.

I think this long as it doesn't influence elections. I'm just kidding

>> Wesley Wildmon: I think this long as it doesn't influence elections. I'M just kidding.

>> Tim Wildmon: What now?

>> Wesley Wildmon: I said as long as it doesn't influence elections. I was given that the, the opposite side of it because you're right, it does have. Great.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. A lot of people, you know, aren't addicted, but they use it for the right purposes.

Meta CEO is expected to answer tough questions on Wednesday from attorneys representing young woman

Talking about, the social media. And again, I'm, I don't use social media personally. except that, you know, people send me something on Instagram or Facebook and I'll click on it, look at it, but I don't engage right in it on a daily basis myself and stuff up and things like that. But, for this. So it says this lawsuit, Meta CEO is expected to answer tough questions on Wednesday from attorneys representing a 20 year old woman identified by the initials of J. kjm who claim her early use of social media addicted her to the technology and exacerbated depression and suicidal thoughts. Meta platforms and Google's YouTube are the two remaining defendants in the case, which Tick Tock and Snap have settled. Again, it just sounds like to me it's a money grab.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Let me, let me just say. I'm sorry.

>> Wesley Wildmon: What if it works to. Are you gonna.

>> Ed Vitagliano: If it works. This is increasing very dangerous free speech.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: but let me say for those who are listening, I am not saying that people don't develop habits, bad habits. We all have to wrestle with habits once ingrained to break it. But to me, addiction involves a loss of choice that requires outside intervention. Okay. You need some help to break free from something that is increasingly controlling your life. Like a, like an addiction to crystal meth or something. What? You might have made the first choice to take it, but now your will has been captured. I think that's a biblical, principle. Okay. You need outside intervention. The social media use is habitual and you have the power to say, I'm not going to do it. If you see something else, it's not.

>> Tim Wildmon: A physical or chemical dependency. Yeah, and I will say this too. okay, I retract my statement about it's a money grab. I don't know. I don't, I don't know. This young lady, she's 20 years old. I'm just saying, when I look at this, I go, you, can't to me hold the CEO of a company like Facebook responsible because you can't stop using it.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Tim Wildmon: And it affects your mental state. Listen, if that's true, sign me up for her lawsuit. And I want to be one of the class action, defendants because I'd like a little, money from Mark Zuckerberg myself. I'm being facetious.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Let me just toss this one other thing in. I joke around about pizza. I actually don't eat that much pizza. Okay. Wesley does. Okay. I joke around about being addicted to pizza. I'm not. I try to make healthy choices. But if you. If you allow this lawsuit to succeed, then what about people who say, I'm addicted to the buffet down the street? Their food is so good, I can't help myself. And Now I'm, £400, so I'm suing Bonanza if they're still even in business. Okay. That opens the door to all kinds of abuse, of the legal system.

The word disease has been used to describe alcoholism

>> Tim Wildmon: Let me ask you one other question.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Okay.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Okay.

>> Tim Wildmon: So the word disease has been used to describe alcoholism.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: I once heard a pastor say, alcoholism is the only disease you can get by pouring a drink down your throat.

>> Wesley Wildmon: I'm following you.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. In other words, to use the word disease is, a way to escape personal responsibility for your actions. Do you want to get into that at all, or you want to take a pass on that one?

>> Ed Vitagliano: I would just give you a simple, answer to this. I think the use of the word disease, was adopted at the same time that our culture decided we don't want to shame people who are struggling with an addiction like alcoholism. We call it a disease because what we're saying is they're not at fault. Once the alcohol has taken control of their lives, they're not at fault. They should not be shamed. I understand that impulse. I don't think we should shame people for their. When they have, failed or fallen and gotten in the grip of something. But I think disease. Let me just put it this way. I think that is an unfortunate choice of words, because it's not the same as.

>> Wesley Wildmon: I agree with you.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Cancer. I mean, that's a disease. That's a disease that you didn't ask for. And I guess technically, some people may say, well, you smoked. I get that there are some exceptions, but a brain tumor, let's use that. That's a disease. That's an infirmity.

>> Tim Wildmon: You just say, only God knows why.

>> Ed Vitagliano: That happened, why that. Yes, but.

>> Tim Wildmon: But for.

>> Fred Jackson: For.

>> Tim Wildmon: For some, I do agree. For some. For some things in our society, we've. We've given excuses for people's behavior when they could control it if they wanted to try a little harder.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And you can. You can. People can get free. Or from these addictions, you can't get free from a. A brain tumor if the surgery doesn't work.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah. And then also too. Of course it. They can be. If people around them would hold them more accountable versus being more of a past.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. But that's not to say because I've known people. We. About. Probably everybody listening has known people that, there is a physical addiction to alcohol.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Tim Wildmon: And it's compulsive.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's why they call it alcoholism. And they can't help them. They can help themselves, but they can't help themselves.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Tim Wildmon: Left alone, they can't help themselves. Okay. Because they're gonna go find that, alcohol that drink that beer, that wine, that whatever to give them that sensation that. That, Their bodies.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Their body's demanding.

>> Tim Wildmon: Their body's demanding. And their body overrides their mental capacity. Are There. Are Their ability to say no.

>> Wesley Wildmon: And that's why in a lot of cases when they're in recovery, they have a, What do they call it? Like a, Detox.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah. You have to go through detox before you can usually go to.

>> Tim Wildmon: The bottom line is still. Is somebody pouring that drink down your throat?

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: No, they're not. You are doing that, and that's part of the, you know, the recovery process and the aa.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Take responsibility.

>> Tim Wildmon: Is first step is take responsibility for your own actions, which is the road to recovery.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

Fred Whitaker: You brought some positive energy to our show today

>> Tim Wildmon: All right, Fred. Thank you.

>> Fred Jackson: You are welcome.

>> Tim Wildmon: Just brought some. Just some positive. Fred, you brought some positive energy to our show today.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, do my best.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. Well, we will be, Chris Woodward coming next. No, Steve Jordal.

>> Fred Jackson: Steve.

>> Tim Wildmon: Steve Paisley Jordal coming next. We'll be back in five minutes.

>> Amber Brown: 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 Wesley talk with Fred on top news headlines of the day including an update on the Rhode Island shooting. Also, Bunni Pounds joins the program to discuss the event "America Reads The Bible".