Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 226 | Wisdom, Not Worry

Episode Date: March 18, 2020

Are we living in an alternate universe? Coronavirus has sent the world into a tailspin. Let's take a deep breath and talk facts, feelings, and biblical wisdom.

Hey guys, welcome to Relatable. Happy Wednesday. I hope everyone is having a great week. So if you are watching this on YouTube, you can tell that it looks different. And if you are just listening to this, you can tell that it sounds different. That's because I am recording this episode of Relatable from the comfort of my own home. We are taking every precaution to make sure that everyone stays healthy. and by we, I mean Blaze TV, but also my family and I, we are trying to, you know, be as prudent as possible to make sure that we can stay as healthy as we possibly can. So I can keep on giving you this podcast every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. We are going to talk about the coronavirus today. I know that a lot of you are like, I'm just over this. Like, I don't want to hear about it anymore. I'm tired of all the analysis. I'm tired of all the updates in the news and the commentary.

And look, I get it. And if you really don't want to hear anything about it, it, then you might just want to kind of bow out right now. Like you might not want to listen to this episode. And that's understandable. But my goal is to never just bog you down with information just so you're filled with a bunch of stats and figures and fearmongering. That's certainly not what I want. I want you by the end of this to feel informed. I want you to feel equipped. And I want you to feel even refreshed and encouraged. But I do want you to have the information that I think is pertinent to you so that we can make the wisest decisions possible, not out of fear, but out of compassion for those around us, out of care and wisdom.

And that is why the title of this podcast episode is Wisdom Not Worry. Did a podcast episode a week ago called Prepared, Not Panicked. I think that's what it was. And I still stand by the things that I said in that episode, although the coronavirus, of course, has developed since then and the news has developed and the recommendations, and all of that have changed. The principle that I talked about of being prepared for this, not underestimating it,

not having some kind of glib attitude to where we pretend like we just don't care because it affects people that are in different groups than we do, that that's not loving, but that we also shouldn't be panicking and we shouldn't be running around like chickens with their head cut off, pretending like we don't know who the god of the universe is. So the same thing applies today. We need to apply wisdom, but we don't need to be worried.

and I'm going to give you an update on what is happening with this virus. I'm going to give you an update on the numbers while I am when I am recording this, which is Monday. So it might be a little bit different by the time you listen to this, which will be Wednesday. I will update you on the latest state and federal efforts to curb the virus as well as the latest CDC recommendations. I'll tell you what I think about these things. I'll tell you what my family is doing, my own humble suggestions to you based on recommendations from these experts. We'll talk to, we'll talk about the erroneous responses to all of this on both the right and the left. The conspiracies that are abounding during this whole chaotic situation, which will take us into how we as Christians right now should be thinking through, praying through and reacting through all of this madness.

So it's going to be a jam-packed episode. I have a lot of things to say because I've been hearing about all of it and thinking through all of it for the past few days. while I haven't had any episodes to record. And there's just a lot going on. Like if you feel exhausted by this, understand that I get that. And I hope that this episode doesn't exhaust you further, but energizes you or at least encourages you

as you can take this information to just make the most discerning steps possible for you and your family. So first, let us start with some basic facts about what is going on. So as of Monday, according to the New York Times, there are 3,600 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States, or in 49 states in the United States. West Virginia, as of now, only state without any confirmed cases. That could be that they don't actually have any cases at all, or it could just be that they haven't tested

people who actually have the cases. And that is the thing to remember about this 3,600 number, the 3,600 confirmed cases of coronavirus. There could be, and probably is. There probably are a lot. of people who have it a lot more people than 3,600. However, because tests right now currently are limited, that's how many confirmed cases that we have, but it doesn't actually represent probably the number of people who actually have it. At least 65 people have died. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who has been a leader of this effort to curtail the virus for the Trump administration, says that we have not yet reached our peak that more people will die until we start to see a drop off the way that

China has reported having and South Korea now has. Just a reminder about the nature of the coronavirus, this has been a point of contention online. I posted about the importance of social distancing on Instagram and I got a lot of pushback from people saying that, oh, well, I'm just going to live my life. I don't even want to heed that advice because I'm not living in fear and oh, by the way, this is not even as bad as the flu. Well, I just want to remind you of what experts who are much smarter than you and I are saying about the coronavirus and how it is different than the flu. So it's not like the seasonal flu. It's not like H1N1, which is the swine flu that came to America in 2009. According to the numbers that we have, the coronavirus is actually much deadlier than

the flu, according to the CDC, the flu kills less than 1% fewer than less than 1% of people over 65 every year. For anyone younger than 65 who catches the flu, you have about a 0.01 to a 0.06 chance of dying. So 0.01 to 0.06 chance of dying. The coronavirus kills 15% of people over the age of 80, over 70. You've got an 8% of. a coronavirus death rate, so that's like between 70 and 79, between 60 and 69, you've got a 3.6 percent death rate over 50, so between 50 and 59, you've got about a 1.3 percent death rate younger than that. The death rate is about 0.2 to 0.4 percent. So really good chance that if you catch it and you are younger than 50 years old, you've got a really good chance of surviving.

That is a low death rate, of course. But, It is still much deadlier than the flu, about 10 to 15 times deadlier than the flu. Now, this word deadlier I've realized is very confusing to a lot of people. When most people hear this word deadlier, they are apparently thinking, I've realized as I've watched these conversations online and have been a part of some of these conversations online, that people are thinking about a number. But deadlier doesn't actually point to the number of deaths. It points to the percentages, so the proportion, not the actual number.

So for a simple way to think about that, if a thousand people get the flu every year and only 100 people get the coronavirus, you are obviously more likely to get the flu than the coronavirus, but coronavirus is still deadlier. So I just wanted to explain that. And at the rate, the coronavirus is spreading in the United States and knowing what we know about the disease that is so highly communicable that death toll we know will rise, especially for those in older populations, especially for those who are immunocompromised. But young people are also not immune to this.

Babies are not immune to this. Pregnant women are not immune to this. They might not be as vulnerable as other groups, but it's not something we want to mess around with. They're still susceptible. We all are. And by the way, we should also stop doing this thing where we act like something's not a big deal if it doesn't affect younger populations. if it doesn't affect strong, healthy people, as if the lives of those who are immunocompromised

or who are older don't matter as much as ours do. Of course they do. We have to remember, especially as Christians, that all of us being made in the image of God means that we have the same dignity, we have the same innate worth, and for us to not care about something because it doesn't affect or the possibility of it affecting, our specific demographic is low. For us to toss that to the side as something that we don't really have to focus on is unloving. It lacks compassion. It's certainly not the kind of attitude that you and I are called to. The swine flu of 09 had a 0.02% death rate. So again, about 10 times less deadly than

the coronavirus. With coronavirus, you can be asymptomatic, an asymptomatic carrier for up to 14 days that is another danger to this thing that you can be walking around feeling totally fine and passing it along to other people who are either vulnerable themselves or who are around people who are. So if you are at some bar and you don't know that you have coronavirus, you are unknowingly exposed, you pass it to the people next to you who then go home to their dad who's going through chemo, their grandmother, their immunocompromised sister, then these people will get it and there is a good chance that either they won't make it or they will at least be in the ICU. And this is why you guys, Trump's top medical experts, the CDC health officials around

the world are telling us to stay inside as much as possible. I'm not talking about not going on a walk. I'm talking about canceling vacation plans, canceling work travel if you can, work from home, if you can. That's not possible for everyone or even most people. And I understand that to avoid any kind of unnecessary travel. The CDC has actually recommended that we avoid gatherings of 50 people or more for the next eight weeks. I mean, that's crazy. I'm not saying that's crazy. Like, we shouldn't be doing that, but it's crazy to think about, like that that's the situation that we are apparently in. I don't know how that's going to be enforceable. I don't know if people are going to abide by that. My guess is not judging by the behavior of people that I saw on social media for,

over the past weekend. I don't think that that's probably going to be happening. I think people are probably going to defy that. More than 30 states have announced school closures. State governments are forcing restaurants and bars to close and to offer takeout or delivery only. Washington, California, New York have banned large gatherings, curfews are being enacted. Again, I just don't know how they are going, how state governments are going to enforce that. That's just a little bit troubling for me. Everyone is being encouraged to stay home as much as you can. Yes, like I said, a lot of people still have to go to work.

And of course, you have to do what you have to do to provide for your family. Of course, the advice is that as much as you can keep your distance from people. And of course, be smart. Of course, wash your hands. Of course, if you feel bad, please stay home. Please, if you have a sore throat, if you have a cough, if you have a fever, if you just feel like, okay, I feel like something is coming on. please take every precaution that you can try if there is any possible way for you to not leave

your house to not go among crowds to not go to the grocery store if you've got anyone in your life who can do that for you please stay home and even if you feel good for the next couple weeks at least i think we all need to be careful we all need to socially distance um as much as is possibly reasonable um i don't think that there would be such a state government crackdown if people had taken these recommendations seriously first, but unfortunately, like I said, it seemed like over the weekend that just wasn't happening. Bars and restaurants and the most infected cities in the country were packed. I think these actions are regrettable. It's too much government involvement for my liking, but I mean, what do you do? Well, what do you do?

I don't know. I can't pretend to know the answer of what the right thing is and all of the There is this very unfortunate attitude among people, I would say mostly older conservatives and just some ignorant young people that is saying, well, I'm not going to live in fear. Well, I'm not going to worry about this. It's probably not going to affect me. I'm healthy. I probably won't get it. And like I was saying just a few minutes ago, this is not just about you. Like it's not just about me either. This is about the entire network of people that you might be infecting. What we're trying to accomplish. by social distancing is slowing the spread of the virus. So fewer people get infected. So fewer compromise people get infected to make sure that our hospitals are not overrun by a large spike. We're trying to spread the infection out over a longer period of time. So the hospitals can handle the number of people that actually need their help. Following the recommendations of officials to socially distance is compassionate.

it is caring, it is cautious, it is thinking of your neighbor, it is loving your neighbor as yourself. A high number of deaths in a short period of time is not only bad, obviously, for the country, but it overruns our hospital system so that they are completely overwhelmed and unable to give the care that people really need. And in some cases, it will be a matter of life and death for people, but if the hospital, hospital doesn't have any beds, they don't have any beds. So the more we can slow this down by social distancing, the more that we can lengthen this. So it's not this high spike of deaths in a short period of time, the better it's going to be not just for the American public, but also for our hospital

system. And I will show you this little graph that shows the difference between not taking any precaution. So you see the high spike versus taking precautions and how different that curve is. So you'll hear a lot of news anchors say flattening the curve or health officials. They'll talk about flattening the curve. That is what we are trying to do by socially distancing as much as we can. Now, I got a lot of complaints about this over the weekend from people saying, no, I'm just going to live my life. No one can tell me what to do. I understand that. I really do. Let me give some caveats to what I'm saying as I recommend this social distancing and by social distancing just so I'm clear. I mean staying in your home with your family as much as possible. Yes, like I said,

going on walks and things like that. But if you can work from home, work from home. If you could avoid going into crowds, do that. If you could avoid travel, do that. Try to stay six feet away from people, not the people living in your house if you're not sick, but just other people that you see. That is how we flattened this so-called curve. Now, there are caveats to all of this that I want to make clear that I understand. Number one, I understand that people have to work. If you have to go to work and take whatever precautions that you can. My husband and all his coworkers are working from home. I obviously work from home, but this isn't viable for everyone. And I totally get that. everyone is in this situation. Do what you have to do. Just wash your hands, try to keep her distance

from people, and especially to the doctors and the nurses and the first responders who obviously don't have the option of working from home and are maybe busier than they've ever been. And in the coming weeks, thank you so much. Thank you for what you do. Thank you for going to school for this. Thank you for working hard. I am thinking about you. I am praying for you. And you do, it might seem like a thankless job so much, but know that there are so many of us who are so incredibly thankful for what you do. Number two, I'm not saying, like I've said a few times now, I'm not saying to not go outside. I got a few people saying, are you saying that we shouldn't be in the sun at all? No, I am certainly not saying that. We go outside every day. I try to go

on a walk every day. Number three, I know that there's an argument for still supporting local and small businesses, totally. If there's a way that you can do that online, if there's a way that you can do that without actually going into the restaurants. If there's a way that you can support them without getting into crowds, do it. But it's not a good enough excuse to possibly infect people who could very well die from this virus, in my opinion. Number four, yes, Christians are called to serve at risk to ourselves, as I mentioned at the top of this. If there's an opportunity for us to serve people who need our help, to go buy groceries for an elderly couple, send food to someone who's sick, then yes, we should take it.

But if you're reasoning for not following these recommendations of social distancing is because you don't want to be inconvenienced or you don't want to, quote, live in fear, I need to humbly suggest to you. And of course, you can take my advice or leave it that you are not thinking of others as you should. We are all tempted to selfishness. I certainly am on a second by second basis. but consideration and compassion right now means being temporarily inconvenienced for long-term well-being, not just of yourself, but also of other people. We will be okay. We'll be okay with

being inconvenience for a little bit. Like if you're a young single person and you're like, oh, I've just got to go out and got to hit the bars every weekend and you're like, I'm sorry, I'm just not going to stop going out with my friends. You need to take a step back and realize that kind of behavior right now is selfish. It just is. If you're the, kind of person who was like, I'm not going to stop anything that I'm doing. I'm not going to change any of my behavior whatsoever because I just want to live my life and not worry about other people. I encourage you to expand your outlook beyond your well-being and your life and into the lives and the well-being of other people, many of whom you don't know and will never know.

Our great-grandparents survived a great depression. They fought on the beaches of Normandy and we are being asked, you've probably seen this go around social media, we are being asked to stay inside and to sit on our couch for a little bit more, we can do it, guys. I promise, we can do it. And I know it's not that easy for a lot of people. Like maybe you got five kids at home and you have turned into a homeschool mom real fast and you were trying to figure out how to balance all of this. There are a lot of people, unfortunately, out there who are, might be rolling their eyes at you and saying, oh, you should know how to do this already. It's not that hard. Maybe you should be homeschooling anyway. You know what? That's not everyone's position. And if you are finding this to be

a difficult transition going from having all your kids at school to having all your kids home all day long, I understand that it's not because you don't love your kids. You're just trying to figure out how to best educate them, how to best love them and serve them during this really crazy time. And if you feel exhausted by that, like that's, that's okay. I get that. But there are a lot of moms out there who are willing to encourage you, who are willing to equip you. One of my friends, Bethany Mandel, she homeschools her kids. She's an awesome mom and she has so many good tips. She's written quite a few blog posts, I think, that are giving tips to moms who now have found themselves in the position of being homeschool teachers for the first time. She has a lot of tips for you guys.

So I would follow her on Instagram and maybe check out some of the articles that she's written. But we can do this. Like I know that there are tons of sacrifices that people are making, but I do think as is reasonable it is worth it for us to make these sacrifices now to the reactions sorry i know that there's like sounds happening on my computer i'm not really sure how to fix that when i'm using my computer to um to record this so sorry it's just one of the blessings of recording this from my house on my own computer so now to the reactions which i just touched on a little bit it seems that a lot of people who are refusing to believe that this is serious at all and refusing to change anything about their lives are conservatives. They see this as a media weapon to take down Donald Trump.

They see this as a conspiracy to take down capitalism. They see this as an attempt at government control. And so to make a point, some of you are refusing to comply. Maybe you know some people like this, that some of them are saying, well, I just don't want to, you know, I just don't want to feed into the media frenzy and I'm not going to be a puppet and I'm not going to be a sheep, but I'm going to think for myself that I'm not going to follow these recommendations. So here's where I can sympathize with that. Number one, I do think that the media is using this to hurt Donald Trump. I do think that they are instilling panic to make Trump look incompetent.

So totally agree with you there. Number two, I have seen socialists on Twitter tweet things to get hundreds of thousands of likes and retweets, trying to point out that this is why capitalism is bad because all our supplies are running out. They're taking pictures of empty shelves at Kroger and things like that. These people are idiots. I'm sorry, there's no nicer way to say that. I can't be gentler than that. Like, these people are idiots in a socialist country. Things run out because the supply is low in capitalist countries. Things run out because demand is high. In capitalist countries, supply will eventually meet demands. Like those shelves that are empty now are going to be restocked by tomorrow or next week.

In a socialist country, when supply runs out, you're just out of luck. So there's the difference. So I understand. I sympathize with that position that people are saying people are trying to use this whole thing to show why capitalism is bad, why the government just needs to take over and give people money. You're right. People are probably using it for that purpose. So number one and two, I do believe people are using this against Donald Trump. I do believe people are trying to to use this strangely against capitalism. Number three, I do see how this lays the groundwork for more government control. Government's shutting down businesses, not exciting.

A little troubling. People are concerned about forced vaccinations. I'm not exciting. I wouldn't put that past state officials, like I said, don't like that we are in this position to where governments are taking these actions. But I can't tell you what the better answer is. if this is a virus that is infecting people and killing people and people are not heeding recommendations. Oh, I don't know exactly the proper balance.

I think for the most part, private companies are doing the right thing on their own. I think a lot of individuals are doing the right thing on their own. I think canceling things like South by Southwest, March Madness and things like that, while it was really sad, well, it's certainly not good for morale. I do think that these were good moves. But when you've got bars and restaurants still packed on the weekends, and we know for a fact that we've seen other countries like Italy, that this will, we know for a fact that in countries like that, that behavior like this actually worsens the spread of the virus, I think state governments have a really tough decision to make. Of course, when you have people like Bill de Blasio shutting down bars and restaurants and then telling everyone to stay inside while he was caught going into the YMCA Monday morning, I mean, that's a pretty good reason for people to maybe be a little bit skeptical and see something.

hypocrisy in this. So yes, to the people on the right who see this as a tool of the media, of people who don't like Donald Trump, who don't like the West, who don't like capitalism, I understand that. There are certainly consequences as well as shutting down a whole portion of the country, but the fact is no company or state government wants to be responsible in any way for the spread of the deadly virus. And so they're taking every precaution. There is a different in having these concerns that this virus is being weaponized by our political opponents to, to, in an effort towards goals that we disagree with and thinking that this virus is made up to do those things. Does that make sense? So that's where I don't agree. I agree that this virus is being

weaponized by political opponents in really stupid ways. And we should resist that kind of rhetoric and resist that kind of hysteria. But I don't think it was contrived to do that. Like, I don't think it was just a conspiracy to do that. I don't, I think there are people on the right who think that Democrats and some, like, I don't know, globalists somewhere in the world on the left decided to leak this virus in order to defeat Donald Trump. And that is a conspiracy that I don't think people should be pursuing. And there's a difference in our reaction depending on which side of the that we are on. So if we think that the media just happens to be weaponizing this and ginning up hysteria in order to hurt Donald Trump and that some people in the laughter doing that as well,

then we can say, okay, we're not going to be a part of the panic, but we're still going to be prepared because this is a real virus. But if you're on the other side to where you think that this virus is completely made up in order to do those things, well, you're not going to take precautions. You're going to say, well, I'm just not going to be a part of that at all because it's not even real. Well, it is real. It is real. So if you're on that side, that this virus is just entirely made up, then you need to hop off that. You can still be on the other side

to where you think the panic is too much, to where people are politicizing this too much, but you still need to take precautions because you're not the only one that's at risk. Like I've said, there are people probably a lot more vulnerable than you that are around you or at least around other people who are around you that you need to be thinking about

in the steps that you take. Trump himself is making a lot of the recommendations that the CDC is also making. So if you think that this is a conspiracy against Donald Trump, that apparently Donald Trump is on the side of conspiracy. So you're going to have to square that circle for me. I don't think that that logic follows. I do think that one reason that there are many people on the right who are reacting this way is because Trump himself did downplay it at first. Just last week, he tweeted that this is not as bad as the flu.

He's been saying since the beginning that things aren't going to get that bad here. and I think his intentions are good, but it gave people the sense that this isn't something to take seriously. And now you have people who still have that attitude. No one is telling you guys to live in fear. No one is telling you to be paranoid. No one is telling you that you can't go outside. No one is telling you that you can't serve those who need help. I'm just suggesting that you don't defy recommendations for social distancing because you're trying to prove a point. You have no idea the people you might a fact. Don't be self-centered. Don't be defiant because it thinks you, you think it makes you some a valiant rebel. Just consider other people. And then there is the reaction on the other side of the

spectrum, particularly on the left side of the aisle, which is sheer and absolute panic and politicization, that this is all Trump's fault. We're all going to die. The world is over. This is why we need socialism. This is why we need Medicare for all. This is why we need a Democrat in office. Ocasio Cortez, Bernie Sanders, Ilhan Omar, the America hating tribes. FECTA have all tried to make the case that this is why we need single payer health care. Why? So we can have fewer hospitals. So our hospitals can be overrun more than they already will be. So the quality of care can go down. So we can have no medical innovation whatsoever. Of course, that's not their reasoning, but that's exactly what would happen in a Medicare for all system.

Every advancement as far as both testing and vaccines go have been thanks to the free market. stepping up and leading the way for innovation. As I've said many times, there are problems with our current health care system. There are problems with how Americans and American doctors view holistic health. American healthcare in general has the tendency to overmedicate, to be overly invasive, to completely ignore or even laugh at the idea of preventative care and natural options. They almost always, it seems like, opt for synthetic pills that manage systems rather than actually get to the root cause and cure your problem. This is one reason why life expectancy is not as high in the United States as it should be and why the maternal mortality rate is way too high

for this wealthy of a country. And people get ripped off by hospitals. They get ripped off by insurance providers. All of that does, of course, happen in the United States. But we also are the world's almost exclusive source of medical advancement research and innovation. The world's depends on us for advancements and care. Other countries may do a better job of helping patients with everyday illnesses and kudos to them. We can learn something from some of these countries, but there is no better place and the world have surgery or get treated for cancer or any other kind of life-threatening illness. We have more doctors and nurses and health centers per capita than any other country. If you are rich in the UK, you come here for your heart surgery.

If you are rich in Canada, you come here for your hip replacement. Otherwise, you are going to be put on a waiting list and you could wait months or even years to get the care that you need, even for something like cancer treatment. In the U.S., you need it. You got insurance to cover it. You will get it either that week or the next week you are going to get the care that you need very quickly. The AOCs of the world would like you to believe that where there is socialized medicine, there is both equality and quality of care. and that is just not true. If you are extremely wealthy in a place where there are socialized care,

there are places that you can go to pay out of pocket and get much better care than the average folk who have to go to the government-run healthcare centers. There are American-run health centers in the UK where rich people go. Why? Because the quality of care is so much better. It's so much better when it is a privately run health care center. There are Americans in the media. There are Americans on Twitter saying that Italy,

has better hospitals than we do, a better and a more advanced healthcare system. And so our outlook is going to be a lot more grand than theirs. That's just not true. In general, that is just not true. Talk to the people in Italy. The north in Italy has really good hospitals. The South doesn't overall. Italy's health care is not the same.

It's not on the same playing field at all is America's health care. Have you seen the pictures of what's happening over there in Italy? I mean, God bless them. I mean, thank God for the doctors and nurses. over there. It's not their fault. They're doing everything they can. I believe that they are trying to do their very best to save as many people as possible, but they are gymnasiums lined with cots with sick people on them. That's how they're having to treat people right now. There are people on the left who would say absolutely anything. Take any opportunity to make America look bad.

Take any opportunity to criticize America and say why every other country is better than we are. and President Trump is more incompetent and more evil than any other leader on the world stage, and they are taking this opportunity, a pandemic, to do that as well. Let's remember, the virus started a few months ago in China. China, being the communist country that it is, would not let world health officials, including officials from the United States, into the country to help. They denied and downplayed the problem for weeks, maybe months, until stories from Chinese doctors and citizens became public, and the virus started spreading,

because like all communist regimes, the Chinese Communist Party has to seem like it is in control. The main Chinese doctor who tried to warn the world about the coronavirus and how deadly it was and how terribly China was handling it, he was put in jail and he was forced to recant his statement. Citizens who took videos and photos of the bodybags upon body bags being heaped into vans and lay in the street were thrown into jail. Who knows what happened to these people? people were forced into their homes and left to die because the hospitals were totally overwhelmed and were receiving no help whatsoever from the Chinese government. This is communism.

Communism always unconditionally without fail is evil. Everywhere communism goes, suffering and death ensues. And as Vladimir Lennon himself said, communism is the end or the goal of socialism. Communism also peddles propaganda. So the Communist Party propaganda machines in China are now attempting to blame the very, virus on the United States saying it started here, saying that it was contrived by the FBI. This is typical anti-American propaganda that the rest of the world, rest of the totalitarian world has peddled in for centuries. They hate us. They hate our freedom. They hate our

prosperity. They hate our opportunity. They hate our way of life. They hate our democracy. And unfortunately, very unfortunately, we have in the United States, including some of the media who share in many of these sympathies, who are so hungry for any opportunity to criticize the United States and declare why another country, even a communist regime that literally has thousands of Christians and Muslims in concentration camps right now as we speak is better than us. Anyone who tells you that China has done a better job at this than the United States is lying to you. Who at all tries to tell you that China is better than America has literally bought in to Chinese communist propaganda that unfortunately has been repurposed and

reused by those who hate Donald Trump in this country and who have been brainwashed by postmodern professors into believing that America is a bad actor on the world stage and that every other country is a victim of our imperialism and oppression. The view of the world that these people hold is not only inaccurate, it's going to place you time and again on the side of countries and regimes that actually oppress their people. Read a freaking book. Read a freaking book. Think about it.

Don't let your brain be turned to mush by postmodernism. Now, all of that said, America has not handled this perfectly, not even close. And I do believe that truthful criticism of this administration during this crisis is absolutely justified. It's always justified to criticize our leaders when criticism is due. everything rises and falls on leadership and their problems with how things have been handled. There are some good things, some very good things, but there are also some bad things that we shouldn't be afraid to call out. There has been confusion about where the tests are and how available they are. Why are so many people having to jump through so many hoops in their district to get tested

when they have symptoms and have been knowingly exposed while NBA basketball players, NBA basketball players, that's a little redundant NBA players, are giving them easily. apparently there were thousands of people traveling from Europe to the U.S. over the weekend whose temperatures were not checked, who went through no kind of screening process before being able to go home. President Trump has now banned travel from Europe except for U.S. citizens, by the way. He originally said that this applied to trade, and then he went back and said, no, that doesn't apply to trade. The wait times at Chicago O'Hareem, DFW, L.A. acts over the weekend for these travelers coming in from Europe were insane. People huddled together.

in these airports exactly what you're not supposed to be doing in a social distancing situation huddled together in these airports for hours because there weren't enough CBP or CBC agents to do the screenings. But the team that Trump has put together, this is the good part. The team that Trump has put together led by Pence, I do believe, has made every effort to communicate as clearly and as regularly to the American people as possible. Millions of test kits are apparently on their way. They have partnered with Google and others in the private sector to create a website that will make getting tested easier. They have rolled out recommendations. It seems like every other day to us as individuals, to businesses.

They've met with governors. I do believe this team is doing the very best job that they possibly can at this point. If you think things would be going better under Biden or Hillary or Bernie, you are crazy. There's no evidence to that whatsoever. I mean, there's not. There's just none. Bernie would be the worst. There's actually good evidence that it would be much worse under these people. Bernie would be the worst though because he has no leadership ability whatsoever. He's never proven that. He has no leadership bone in his body. Everything just needs to be

free. That's his only solution to anything. He never answers how things are going to be accomplished. Trump, as always, though, he needs to stop tweeting. He needs to stop tweeting. Stop making this about the media. Stop making this about himself. Stop making this about electability. Stop making this about what past leaders have done, we'll do that. Like, there are people in the media, not me, but there are people in the media who will carry Trump's water. Like they will defend President Trump. He doesn't need to be doing that on his own.

He needs to concern himself with leading and assuring and not with picking fights. That is going to be the most important thing for him in the election. And I don't think, I don't know if the people around him don't understand that or they feel powerless to make sure that that happens. But this is not the time. It's not the time. And what we learn from this, something that the left just doesn't seem to understand, is that the government, no matter who is in charge, cannot save you. The federal government cannot save you. It would not matter if the Democrat was in charge. It would not

matter if it was a socialist government. It would be far worse if we were in a socialist government, but it wouldn't matter if you had the exact president that you wanted. The government can't save you. The federal government is in general ineffective and efficient compared to the efforts to the private sector and individuals. The government is not trustworthy. We need to take our own responsibility. We cannot put our trust in bureaucracy ever. The federal government has a role.

They can do things well-ish, and they can do things really badly, but we can't put all our trust in them. As a refresher, what we see from this pandemic is the importance of advanced medical care, of strong border security, of small federal government, and a free enterprise. Not all the lessons that socialists, think that we're supposed to be drawing from this, that we need totalitarianism. I mean,

that's just insane. We've seen how totalitarianism has made this worse. Just look at China. So another thing that I want to talk about is that this entire chaotic mess has given opportunity to conspiracists, to maybe it's conspiracy theorists. Maybe that's the better way to say that to drum up a lot of anxiety. drum up a lot of imaginative narratives about what's really going on in all of this. This gives, of course, people who come up with conspiracy theories on the internet and try to gain a following doing that, they have the perfect recipe for that in this coronavirus because it's this foreign virus. We're not really sure where it came from. We're not really sure how

it spread the way that it has. We're not really sure how it's getting solved. And so you really have so many ingredients from a conspiracy theorist perspective to write this wild tale that people will latch on to because we inherently want to look for answers. People like knowledge. People especially like secret knowledge. That's why there are so many Gnostics in the world. There are so many people right now, especially in the rise of the new age that are always looking for secret knowledge. Like they want to believe that they finally found the secret path that has been covered up by years of, I don't know, whether it's corruption or arbitrary societal standards or insecurities or whatever it is. And they finally found this gen, this wealth of knowledge.

and if they just hold on to this secret knowledge, then all of the answers of the universe and all the answers of their own life will be unlocked and they'll finally be satisfied. So this happens a lot in, like I said, the kind of new age yoga-e worlds that so many young women are caught up in. It is definitely a part of the whole self-love movement,

but there is also a part of that in conspiracy theories that I think a lot of, especially conservatives, like to latch on to because conservatives are anti-establishment. We are anti-big government. We are inherently very skeptical. We ask a lot of questions. And I do think that make sometimes people that are on the right side of the aisle a little bit more susceptible to conspiracy theories. And when it comes to this coronavirus, you've got people saying, you know, this is conspiracy against Trump. This is actually not a conspiracy against Trump. It is Trump's efforts to, uh, drain the swamp. There's something, there's a conspiracy out there about like a that I don't even know.

I'm not even going to give voice to all the conspiracies out there because so many of you have sent me examples of these conspiracies that this was actually prophesied a while ago. I'm not saying, I don't know. I don't know the answer. And I don't know the answer to all of these theories. Some of them may be having more credibility than others. I have no idea. Here's the point is that you don't either. Like, you don't know. You don't know. I promise you. You have not found secret knowledge that the universe has been hiding from you that if everyone just believed this, then they would unlock some kind of treasure trove of wisdom that would make the world work in better order. I know that there are a lot of people out there who believe that about whatever conspiracy theory that they have

found, not just when it comes to something like this, but even when it comes to something about whether the earth is flat or rounds. Like people are just looking for secret knowledge. They're looking for communities attached to that secret knowledge because we all want to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. But as Christians, we need to avoid thinking about these conspiracies. I know it's exhausted a lot of you, all the conspiracies that you're seeing because you don't know who to trust, you don't know who to follow,

you don't know who to believe. Anyone who is trying to get you to believe in these theories that have no basis, as far as you can tell in reality, you got to unfollow. Like, you got to get out of that trap. You got to get out of that mess that is only going to cause more chaos in your mind, more confusion, more anxiety. God is not the author of anxiety. He is not the author of chaos.

He is the author of peace. And if you're reading conspiracy theory on top of conspiracy theory, and you are working yourself into a tizzy, I can tell you right now, that is not God's will. I promise you. Isaiah 812, do not call conspiracy all that this people, calls conspiracy and do not fear what they fear nor be in dread but the lord of hosts him you shall honor as holy let him be your fear and let him be your dread oh yes let's fear the lord let's not fear

conspiracies let's fear the lord let us have that healthy dread of the god of the universe the great i am who raises up mountains and can destroy them at any time that he wants to who can into all of this at any second that he desires, let's fear him. Let's not fear these crazy conspiracies. First Timothy 6 3 through 5. This is talking about false teachers. If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy. Hello. And for quarrels without words which produce envy, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived

of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. Shoot, y'all. Shoot. Y'all might need to go back and read that again. First Timothy 6.3 through 5, Isaiah 812. Now let's contrast that with the spirit that we are supposed to take on as Christians is people who believe in the mighty fortress that is our God. If you haven't listened to Monday's episode, I highly encourage you to do that. We will be reminded of the truth of who God is in that episode. And you will, because of who God is, because of God being our strong defense, our strong tower, our God of refuge and strength, you will have peace, knowing that that is the God who takes care of you. Let's read parts of Psalm 27. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life of whom shall I be afraid. One thing.

I asked of the Lord that I will seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble. He will conceal me under the cover of his tent. He will lift me high upon a rock. I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord and the land of the living. Wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage. Wait for the Lord. So let this be our posture instead of anxiety. Let this be our attitude instead of worry, instead of paranoia, instead of panic, but also instead of carelessness. Like instead of just pretending that prudence doesn't matter and wisdom doesn't matter and thinking of other people doesn't matter. Let us find the balance in God's word of trusting God

being as cautious as we can but not letting fear, not letting fear paralyze us and not letting ourselves go down these rabbit trails of anxiety that are lined with conspiracy theories that have no grounding in reality. And even if they do have grounding in reality, we're never going to know whether they are factual or not. And so trying to decipher and discern whether they are not is just going to put us in a tizzy that, like I said, I don't think it's God's will and ultimately doesn't matter. Like if you want to know truth, if you're really looking for the secret answers that you long for, if you really want to know the key to satisfaction, the key to wisdom, fear the Lord and read his word and get your strength and your wisdom and your knowledge

and your insight and your perception from him you won't go wrong you won't go wrong log out of those blogs like stop stop following that girl on Instagram who claims to have secret prophecies and secret revelations from the Lord if it doesn't align with God's word you got nothing to do with her okay um so just a reminder that we are supposed to be wise in all of this but we're not supposed to be worried. We know who is in control of all of it. Like we know how the world is going to end. The Bible tells us this.

It's not through coronavirus. It's not through climate change. Like God tells us how it's all going to go down and what we can take comfort in as Christians is that God is one day going to rule an absolute perfect peace. And we're not going to have sickness. We're not going to have coronavirus. We're not going to have the media.

We're not going to have partisanship. We're not going to have panic. We're not going to have worry. We're not going to have any of these things to think about. We are going to be filled with peace and joy and absolute serenity, worshiping our God, our Savior, the God who has been in charge of all of it since the very beginning. Okay. So be wise.

Don't be worried. Take care of your families. Take care of the people that are around you. Check in on the people that you know who might be lonely. And just do the best you can. Do the best you can. I think that's all we can do. We'll be talking more about this.

as the days and the weeks go on. If you've got suggestions for other things that you would like me to talk about, just let me know. Thanks for bearing with me as I know there were like sounds in the background and this doesn't look and sound like you're used to. Thank you for being gracious. Love you guys. I will see you on Friday.