Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 721 | Covid Jab or Death, Drag Queens or Bust | Guests: Kirk Cameron, Chrissy & Lee Hicks

Episode Date: December 8, 2022

Today we're joined by a few different guests to talk about some big news stories from this week. First, Chrissy and Lee Hicks have been in the news this week after Duke University Medical Center refused to give their daughter Yulia, who was adopted from Ukraine, a kidney transplant she desperately needs. The reason? Her parents don't want her to get the COVID vaccine. While they were previously told the vaccine was a recommendation, it appears to now be a requirement. Chrissy and Lee share their story and how we can help. Then, we're joined by our friend Kirk Cameron to talk about his new film, "Lifemark," and the importance and beauty of adoption, as well as this week's news that over 50 public libraries, many of which have hosted drag queen story hours, have refused to allow Kirk a story hour for his new family-friendly book, "As You Grow," claiming the "messaging does not align." --- Timecodes: (02:40) Interview with Chrissy and Lee Hicks (24:29) Intro to Kirk interview (26:05) Interview with Kirk Cameron / "Lifemark" (38:25) Kirk gets denied public library story hours --- Today's Sponsors: Cozy Earth — go to CozyEarth.com/ALLIE and use promo code 'ALLIE' at checkout to save 35% off your order! Naturally It's Clean — visit naturallyitsclean.com/allie and use promo code "ALLIE" to receive 15% off your order. PublicSq. — download the PublicSq app from the App Store or Google Play, create a free account, and begin your search for freedom-loving businesses! --- Relevant Episodes: Ep 618 | Kirk Cameron on Homeschooling & Raising Godly Kids https://apple.co/3BiDHOo --- Links: National File: "Duke University Refuses Kidney Transplant To Dying Girl For Refusing COVID Vaccine" https://nationalfile.com/duke-university-refuses-kidney-transplant-to-dying-girl-for-refusing-covid-vaccine/ Yulia's GiveSendGo: https://www.givesendgo.com/kidneyforyulia Fox News: "Kirk Cameron is denied story-hour slot by public libraries for his new faith-based kids book" https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/kirk-cameron-denied-story-hour-slot-public-libraries-faith-kids-book --- Christmas Merch: Use code ALLIE20 for 20% off the whole shop! Full collection: https://shop.blazemedia.com/collections/allie-stuckey?sort_by=created-descending#MainContent --- Buy Allie's book, You're Not Enough (& That's Okay): Escaping the Toxic Culture of Self-Love: https://alliebethstuckey.com/book Relatable merchandise – use promo code 'ALLIE10' for a discount: https://shop.blazemedia.com/collections/allie-stuckey

Hey, this is Steve Day. If you're listening to Allie, you already understand that the biggest issues facing our country aren't just political. They're moral, spiritual, and rooted in what we believe is true about God, humanity, and reality itself. On the Steve Day show, we take the news of the day and tested against first principles, faith, truth, and objective reality. We don't just chase narratives and we don't offer false comfort.

We ask the hard questions and follow the answers wherever they leave, even when it's unpopular. This is a show for people who want honesty over hype and clarity over chaos. If you're looking for commentary grounded in conviction and unwilling to lie to you about where we are or where we're headed, you can watch this D-Day show right here on Blaze TV or listen wherever you get podcasts. I hope you'll join us. A 14-year-old girl in North Carolina is being denied a life-saving kidney transplant at Duke Durham Medical Center because of her parents' refusal to give her the COVID vaccine. Chrissy and Lee Hicks say Dr. Dan Chang and Dr. Eileen Syed Chambers as well as a committee at the hospital. hospital are telling them that their child must get a vaccine that she does not want or need or that they will not perform a surgery to save her little life. Chrissy and Lee are Christians.

They're an army family. They adopted Yulia and her brother from Ukraine early last year. They love her as their own flesh and blood and they are begging for help for their daughter. They are with me today to tell their whole story. It is emotional. It is unbelievable. But we have the power right now to raise a respectful ruckus and to rally around them as the body of Christ and help as much as we can. Also, after talking to the Hicks family, we will talk to Kurt Cameron. He is here to discuss getting barred from at least 50 children's libraries for their story hour.

They all denied his request to read his new book at a story hour, which is about the fruit of the spirit. it. And of course, this must be because Kurt Cameron made the mistake of wearing men's clothing while reading rather than putting on makeup and fish nets. We will also discuss his new movie about adoption. So two conversations to do with adoption today. And both conversations in their own different ways remind us that this world is not our home, that the hope that we have does not rest here and that we have a lot of work to do to shine light in the darkness while we are still on earth. If you love this podcast, please leave us a five-star review wherever you listen. Subscribe on YouTube, like this video. If you haven't done that already, just a reminder,

we've got lots of Christmas and non-Christmas merchandise that is available in our shop. We've got it up right there if you're watching on YouTube. That's our Christmas stuff. and it's linked in the description of this podcast, and you can click there 20% off using code Alley 20. As always, this episode is brought to you by our very good friends at Good Ranchers. It's American meat delivered right to your front door. Go to Good Ranchers.com. Use promo code alley at checkout. That's good ranchers.com code Alley. Chrissy Lee, thank you so much for joining us. If one of you could tell us a little bit, before we even get into the story about your daughter,

if you could just tell us a little bit about who you are, Chrissy, you can answer that. Well, my husband's retired military. We've been a military family driving, you know, living all over the country in the world. We have 11 children. Three of them are adopted for eight of them are biological children. We're a homeschooling family. We're into swimming and football. Yeah.

And you have found yourself now embroiled in a new story, a controversy with a hospital, Durham Duke Hospital Medical Center. And it is about your 14-year-old daughter, Yulia. Is that how you pronounce her name? Yes. And she has a genetic kidney disorder. She needs surgery. And the hospital is saying she cannot get this surgery.

without getting the COVID vaccine. Is that correct, Lee? That is correct. And in fact, the hospital actually plays semantics with us. We probe them on the requirement to have the vaccine shot. They said it's not a requirement. It's actually a recommendation. But if you don't follow their recommendation, then we won't get the kidney transplant. So that's, that makes it a requirement. But they keep playing semantics with us on that on that topic. So tell us about what this. process has been like, when did you guys find out that she needed a kidney transplant for this disorder? So we got Yulia and her brother, Banya, in January of 2021. They had been through two other

families in America. We had three-hour notice to pick them up from the airport, and we brought them to our house because we knew of them. We knew Yulia had a kidney disorder, but they kind of fell off our radar. We adopted another girl from the Ukraine. That's how we knew who they were. So we took them to Duke immediately because I didn't know how long it had been since she'd been seen. And then we started being seen by Duke in January of 2021. And how quickly did they tell you, all right, she's going to have to have this kidney transplant? We already knew she needed one. What the issue was is dialysis. So she needed to go on dialysis basically immediately. Her kidneys, we're at like 13% function or something when we got her.

So, but they would not do the dialysis port until she had a stable social environment. And so we had kind of felt that God was tugging us anyways to adopt these two children. And so we were able to get the adoption through in 90 days, which is miraculous in and in of itself. All right. And so this was beginning towards the middle of 2021, correct? Correct. So her port was actually put in July of 2021.

We adopted her in April. She had the surgery to place the port in July of 2021 and then started dialysis at home in August of 2021. So the majority of her care is done at home. I do her treatment at night every night. And at that point in 2021, when you brought them to Durham Duke Hospital, did they say anything about her or you guys needing a COVID vaccine? At that time, it was not, I don't think they even had it for children yet until maybe March or April of 2021. So as soon as it became available, I was at an appointment and the nurse practitioner said, okay, it's available now.

Let's give her the shot. And I said, no, we're not going to take it right now. We don't feel comfortable. And so she said, okay, but you just remember, no vaccine, no transplant. And I said, well, we'll cross that verge when we get to it. Wow. And so through the next 16 months, occasionally they would bring it up to us like, you know, you need to get the vaccine. And I said, well, we'll talk about it when we get to transplant.

Right. And so that was the only response. But at that point, I'm sure that you guys were troubled by this, knowing the prospect that, I mean, she would be getting a transplant or needing a transplant sometime soon. And so what were the kind of behind the scenes conversations like Lee? Did you talk about, okay, or are you going to have to move? Or what were you thinking? of the process would be. No, so at that point, we were in, and up until about a few weeks ago, we were hopeful that the doctors would not,

we would go ahead and do a transplant without it. We understood that there were other patients that had received a kidney without the vaccine, the COVID-19 vaccine. So we were hopeful that the doctors would allow, I'm sorry, would allow us to go ahead and go through the surgery without the vaccine. And it wasn't a time.

So just a few weeks ago that when we had our final workup for a unit to get her surgery, that the doctors then at that point in time said, hey, you're going to have to have the vaccine or to get the kidney. And that was the doctor lead. That was the director of the program. And so we talked to her. We also talked to infectious disease doctor. And he said it was not a requirement.

It was just a recommendation and that he wished he could make a requirement, but it could And so we were hopeful at that point in time that we would still be able to get the kidney without the vaccine. And what did they say when they're telling you this? And obviously you're saying, no, we're not going to do this. What did they say to try to persuade you? What did they say their reasoning is why this child needs a vaccine in order to get a life-saving surgery? So the other thing I want to just add real quick before I answer that question is that Yulia already. had COVID and she recovered from it in, I believe it was January of 2022. It was a 24-hour. She had

a little bit of a cough, sniffles, and a fever. She did test positive for COVID, but she got over it in 24 hours. She was completely 100% over it. As a lot of kids do, right. Right. And so when they were telling us that we needed to get the vaccine, I said, well, can we test her tiders to even see what her natural antibody level is? But of course, we were shut down that they're not going to do that. Dr. Chang said, I don't know if you've heard the call that national file recorded and put out, said that it's better to have natural immunity with the vaccine immunity, which has been proven false also. But they're trying to tell us that they want to boost her immunity as high as possible before she gets the transplant. But what we've been saying is like, well, before kids could get the vaccine and they got transplants, what did you do if they got COVID?

And they said, well, we had treatments. And I'm thinking, why can't we just do the same thing? Like, we're choosing to not take this vaccine. If she gets COVID, why can't we still use those same treatments? Hey, this is Steve Day. If you're listening to Allie, you already understand that the biggest issues facing our country aren't just political. They're moral, spiritual, and rooted in what we believe is true about God, humanity, and

reality itself. On the Steve Day show, we take the news of the day and tested against first principles, faith, truth, and objective reality. We don't just chase narratives and we don't offer false comfort. we ask the hard questions and follow the answers wherever they leave, even when it's unpopular. This is a show for people who want honesty over hype and clarity over chaos. If you're looking for commentary grounded in conviction and unwilling to lie to you about where we are or where we're headed, you can watch this D-Day show right here on Blaze TV or listen wherever you get podcasts. I hope you'll join us.

And so when they are met with a question like that, what is their response just kind of to shut you down? You have to have the vaccine. So they just repeat the same line. They're not even really trying to reason with you. Did you feel like these doctors, Dr. Dan Chang, he's a pediatric infectious disease specialist, and then Dr. Chambers. Did you feel like they were being kind and understanding to your concerns? Or did you feel like they were just dismissive? Very dismissive. Very almost a draconian about the whole thing. And that's basically what they said. If you're not going to follow our recommendation, then you're not going to get a kidney. In fact, in the appointment with Dr. Chang, I broke down in tears because I said, what you're doing is horrible. You've put us in a terrible position. Yeah.

And so the other baffling thing to us is that we have been totally compliant with what they've asked us to do all the way through this point. So she's been the model patient. She's not had any issues at all. In fact, they always tell us that she is a great patient. She has been doing everything they've asked us to do. And she looks great. She looks healthy. She looks, except for her kidneys are failing.

And now we're at the point where we need a transplant because their kidneys are failing. And now they're denying the kidney. And Chrissy, I know that it's emotional. I can see you holding back tears. And I just want you to know that it's, I mean, it's okay. It's okay to cry. we've got thousands and thousands of moms listening right now who can at least imagine what you are feeling as parents. And can you, I know it might be difficult.

I know it's so difficult to talk when you're feeling this much understandable emotion. But can you just tell us both of you? Like, what have the feelings been as you have tried to navigate this? And as you are facing a choice between giving her a vaccine that she does not need, and this surgery, which is necessary to save her life. It's been stressful. It's kind of always been looming. So every time we would go to another appointment,

you know, I would really have to steady myself like, okay, it's coming. Just be prepared for them to ask for it again. But after our big meeting where they told us like it was mandatory, I just stopped going to appointments. And they sent my husband because the stress level was just too much. Because they would tend to bully Chrissy. to get the vaccine to continue to press and press and press and press.

But when I go, they don't really impress me at all about it. I just tell them, hey, no, we're not going to do it. And they don't say anything else to me. So it's just stressful situation all the way around. Because here we are, this child has been, has been her and her brother been. There's so much lately in the last few years. I mean, we got a family adopted them in 2018, and that didn't work that after about a year. They sent a boy back to Ukraine.

Wow. to just go away. And then it sent her to Arizona to another family to kind of go away. And then that family kept her for about four months and sent her back after they got her brother back. And after about a month. And so then we got like so Chris said earlier, we got a phone call. Because I had from someone else from the dog stage that I met in Ukraine. New River close to Raleigh and said, hey, can you go pick these two up? Because they're going to be arriving about three hours and no one's going to come together. them except for the police. So sure, I said, absolutely, we'll go get them. And so we did, and we were

just going to keep it for the weekend and try to figure out what's going to happen. So we rearranged our life a little bit to kind of help rectify the situation that they were under. And now, when we, of course, we adopted them without hesitation, really, because we said, hey, this is what God wants us to do, so we're going to do it. And now we're at this point of getting a kidney where she needs And it's doctors saying, no, because you won't get this vaccine, which has been known to hurt children. In fact, I've had some people reach out to either myself or friends that have said, well, my child is being seen at Duke and they haven't told me I need a COVID vaccine.

And I said, well, have you been through the committee yet? And they said, no. And I said, well, that's where they'll get you. You have to sit before, not us, but her packet will sit before a committee. And then they'll decide from the criteria whether or not she can be activated or the child can be activated onto the kidney transplant list. And that's when we were rejected solely for the COVID vaccine. Okay.

So let's see. I have a little bit of this. So October 7th, you had an eight-hour appointment at Duke to talk to these doctors. Dr. Eileen Side Chambers, the pediatric kidney specialist, was the one pushing the vaccine. Dr. Dan Chang, pediatric infectious disease specialist, said he highly recommended it, but that it was not mandatory, correct, and that families had gotten transplants without it. But when it, so then, but on November 9th, so you were hopeful, but on November 9th, you got an email from Catherine Thomas, a wellness coordinator stating that what vaccines Julia needed. The first email was what they recommended.

Then in a second email, the verbiage changed to what she must have or what was required. Then November 10th, as you were just saying, Chrissy, Julia was presented to the committee. Her packet was presented to the committee and then denied because of the lack of the lack of. the vaccine. So are they essentially saying that it's better for her to die from kidney failure? I mean, I don't want to put words in their mouth, but they're denying us a kidney because we won't get the vaccine. That is supposedly not a requirement, just a recommendation. And HPV. Yeah, they also want her to have the HPV, which we haven't really talked about that one much, but that's completely unnecessary. Totally unnecessary and also has potential side effects. So for the people

who say, well, gosh, why don't you just get it? Obviously, it's a matter of life and death for your daughter. Why not just get the vaccine and just comply? What do you say to those people? I can't. I can't in good conscience. No. It's just, it's unconscionable.

Actually, the whole thing is just if we don't have the right to choose what we decide is injected into our body, that I think we've lost all of our rights. We're no longer in charge of our own body. Now it's up to the government to decide what order. or the medical community, what's going to be injected in our body? We have no choices anymore. And said that this, I don't understand. And this is what frustrates me the most, and I don't understand. We looked at it.

We said, this is a risk that we're willing to accept. And I even told that to the doctor Chamber. I said, this is a risk we're willing to accept. Why can we not have the kidney? And she basically said, because we're putting her staff at risk. But I'm not sure how that's possible if they've got the vaccine. And boosted seven. Yeah, exactly.

Right. So they're vaccinated. Their staff is vaccinated and boosted. But apparently that is not enough because your daughter, who has already had COVID, might potentially maybe be infected with COVID at the exact same time that she is having her transplant and then maybe give it to the staff there who not only have been vaccinated and boosted, but are wearing the masks, which we've been told a million times are so protective. They're completely foolproof. So none of that is enough. We have to put. your daughter at risk, who is already at risk in a lot of ways because of her low kidney function. We have to give her this risky vaccine because all of the adults in the room apparently aren't willing to take the risk of potentially getting a cold. That's what's going on. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. And I just, in good conscience, I'm sorry, I broke down earlier. We can't, we can't give her this vaccine. I know that God will make a way for us. There will be someplace else in this country that says, come here. We will give your daughter a vaccine. I mean, give your daughter the transplant. And it will be harder on our family. It will be logistically a lot

harder, but we're willing to take that, take it on to not be forced to give her a vaccine. Yes. Well, I just have to believe that it is the providence of God that she, that Yulia was passed around, unfortunately, just breaks my heart that she was given to one family, sent back, given to another family, sent back. She's given to you all. You all didn't. even planned this. God planned it. And he knew that you were the exact parents that were going to protect her, that we're going to show her what the gospel is. I mean, we are adopted by God when we did nothing to deserve that. And God keeps us, even when it is difficult. He protects us and leads us besides still waters, even when we want to go astray. And in a similar way, you are with your daughter

through difficult times to when people are trying to pull her in different directions and give her and you are trying to give her that which is good. So this is a picture of the gospel and I have to believe that God is using something so evil for his glory and to show people what the love of Christ looks like through adoption. Amen. Can you tell us? And if you, I hope one day somebody that you all get to meet, Julia, she's the happiest child. If you would never guess, that she's been through, what she's been through, because she just keeps going with a smile on her face. She doesn't just keep going.

She's happy and joyful all the time. Right. Amen. She's an amazing child. I'm so thankful for that. And I do believe that she is going to have an incredible testimony and that possibly God can use this story to make a change across the country because I'm sure Yulia is not the only one who is facing this kind of ultimatum.

So I know people can obviously put. for you. They can try to follow your story. But if you're looking at other hospitals to get this surgery, it's probably going to be expensive. And as you said, it's going to be logistically harder. You guys have 11 children. So tell people how they can support you. I know people are just looking for ways to kind of buoy you during this time. So we had a friend set up a Givesendgo for us. It's givsengo.com backslash kidney for Yulia. It's with the Y, Y, Y, ULAA. And we were advised to, you know, increase the amount that we're looking for because we do have, we are, we have retained a lawyer. So we're going to have legal expenses on top of all the travel. And we have vowed that whatever money is left over, we will help another family in our same situation. Yes. Well, thank you so much for being willing to tell this story. As you know, it's hard. It's difficult to do. very emotional. You're talking about your daughter facing death. And I can't imagine. It's a parent's worst nightmare. And I hope that this wakes people up, but I know that there are going

to be millions of people praying for you. Thank you so much. We can feel the prayers already. I feel like we just know that there's a way. Like it's hard, but we just know that there's a way forward. Yes. And I believe that too. And I'm going to be praying so hard for you all. And I hope that we can stay in touch and I can stay updated on this. Thank you guys for taking the time. Thank you so much. Guys, evil is among us. I mean, if we didn't already know that, the medical, industrial complex and the power that it has, I mean, it would only get worse, by the way, with government-run health care. You think this is bad? It would only get worse with that man. Systemic changes need to be made. But right now we just need to focus on this family. So please try to help them as much as you can.

I know that we're going to try to help them as much as we can in my family too. We're talking about a life here. And just the emotions that were behind their words, how much they truly love their daughter. It's such, again, just a beautiful picture of how much God loves us. And he has adopted us Gentiles. And so it is the perfect depiction of our redemption as Christians as well. here to talk to us about the beauty of adoption, the importance of adoption and the redemption that is inherent in that is our friend Kurt Cameron. We're also going to talk about this story that has blown up over the past couple of days that he was a denied entrance into the story hour. I mean, I guess not entrance, but his request was denied by 50 libraries across the

country when he said, hey, I would like to read my book about love, joy, peace. and patience, you know, things like that. And they said, of course, not. You're not a drag queen. So he's going to talk to all of us about that. He's going to talk about all of that to us today. And so without further ado, here is our friend, Kurt Cameron. Kirk, thanks so much for joining us again.

First, let's just talk about your movie. Came out in August, Life Mark. What is this movie about? Why did you make it? Well, thank you again for having me on the program. I'm glad I passed a test the first time. And I got another invite. Yeah, just barely.

Well, thank you. And thanks for highlighting Lifemark. This is a true story. It actually is based on a story of a young 18-year-old girl who changed her mind on the abortion table. She was experiencing that moment of panic, not knowing what to do with this unplanned pregnancy. And so she and her boyfriend did the only thing they thought they could do. They hid the pregnancy. They went to the clinic.

she changed her mind, and then she actually gave birth to this baby boy, placed him for adoption, thinking she'd never see him again. 19 years later, she has a chance to reconnect with him. She thinks he probably hates her for abandoning him, but the opposite is true. He gives her this big hug and says, thank you for the loving choice that you made. I love my family. I've got this great life, and the story just takes off from there. I play the adoptive father in the movie, which is really cool for me being an adoptive dad. And it was in theaters this summer right after the Supreme Court ruling came down, which essentially overturned Roe v. Wade. Wade.

So what are the chances? First that Roe v. Wade gets overturned, but then that a movie comes into the theaters championing the value of life in the womb and the beauty of adoption. That is really incredible timing that after the Dobbs decision and a lot of people were talking about who were angry about that, well, Christians aren't doing enough. Why aren't all Christians adopting when really there are millions of Christians not just to adopt, but who are waiting to adopt, who would love to adopt.

Yes. Yes. And that's something that I really am excited about Lifemark doing is it's recapturing the beauty and the magic of adoption. Many people don't even think of the adoption option. And birth mothers often sadly would rather, statistically speaking, abort their child then place their child for adoption. They think that adoption is the morally worst choice. It makes them feel like a bad mom like I abandoned my baby. But what Lifemark does is it shows the beautiful side of what happens if you choose life. There are literally lines of adoptive parents who are praying for an opportunity to raise a little boy or a little boy. girl. And adoption is this loving choice that not only helps a birth mother in a difficult situation,

it saves the life of a human being like my four adopted children and my adopted wife, and it answers the prayers of these couples who are longing for children and are not able to have them. So I just am thrilled that Lifemark is now coming out on DVD. It's streaming on Pure Flicks, And just in time for Christmas, it's a great movie for everybody to watch. And it's such a beautiful depiction of the gospel, too. Obviously, there are so many physical and tangible benefits to adoption. And then when we think about, well, we have also been adopted, we have also been taken in. We didn't do anything to earn our adoption.

There was nothing that we could do. But God, because of his love for us, decided to redeem us and adopt us. I mean, I don't know if there's a better earthly picture, maybe besides marriage for what the gospel is. I love it. It's so great to hear you say that. Wow. What more beautiful thing than to be unconditionally loved and chosen by the creator of the universe. Yes. I mean, this speaks of forgiveness. This speaks of reconciliation. This speaks of new beginnings. Yes. And that's what LifeMark is modeling as well. You know, Ali, when I think about adoption, it's crazy. You know, sometimes like once something's on your mind, you start to see it everywhere, like, you know, I'm looking for a red pickup truck, and all of a sudden you see hundreds of red pickup trucks on this. I think of the scriptures and adoption, as you pointed out, is so central. It's even central to the Christmas story. Think about a young girl who woke up one morning and found herself with an unplanned pregnancy

from Mary's human perspective. And then Joseph, full of faith, love for God and for the mother and the child, adopts that baby and raises him as his own son. And as a result, salvation, reconciliation, and a new beginning comes to the entire world. Adoption is huge. And I'm really hoping that people grasp these themes when they watch the film. Yes. You know, a lot of people, a lot of Christians, pro-life Christians, after the Dobbs decision came out, were very discouraged by the anger that they saw. and some of the misinformation that they saw about pro-life laws and the media coverage and just felt like, oh, my, oh, my goodness, the darkness is much louder than we thought. And people who are now just even more outright than ever saying that they are pro-abortion, even that they are against adoption. Can you just give Christians some encouragement who just feel kind of the weight of the world maybe more than ever now that there is even more vitriol against pro-lifers?

Because of the changes in laws and because of the Dobbs decision, like, what kind of encouragement and maybe advice for these pro-life Christians do you have? The encouragement is these are exciting times. We don't have the misfortune of living in boring times. That is for sure. This is the very wake-up call that the family of faith needs that people who love God and love their family and love this country need. We've been asleep for decades, culturally speaking. Sometimes our mind gathers off to this land of heaven where everything is going to be okay and there's no more problems forgetting that we're here to be conduits that bring heaven

to earth and culturally we need to reengage. So I see this as the very pressure needed to awaken the heroes of our generation. We speak of them in the past. We tell stories about them. we write songs about them. And we need them in our generation. So much is at stake. We have so much on the line.

We have children. We have grandbabies. And just like coal requires tremendous amounts of pressure before the diamond is formed, I believe that people who love God and their family and biblical values and this country are now experiencing the pressure that we can thank God for, because it's waking us up and it could be the shining moment that we need. Yes. So I'm hoping that this is culturally transforming stuff, not just for public schools and, you know,

government halls, but for the hearts and minds of people to say, we have a rare and precious gift in this nation and we will lose it if we don't engage. So I think God's waking us up. And the light shines most brightly in the darkness. And if we look at the history of the church, the history of the church is not smooth sailing. It's not ease. It's not enjoying special privileges and special favor typically from government. It's very often hostility. It's very often being on the margins, going against the grain, pushing back against the powers that be in the cultural zeitgeist of the time. And we are simply today as Christians, the torch that Christians have been carrying for thousands of years. Yes, in the advocacy of the most vulnerable, which Christians have always done, but also in standing against the immorality and the darkness of the day and just saying no and looking at the ways that we can put a stop to it. So I know it's easy to think like, oh my gosh, things are worse than they have ever been.

I just kind of want to sit on my hands until Jesus comes back or just to pretend like all this darkness isn't there because, you know, we're going to heaven one day. And we forget that one of our roles as Christians is to advance God's kingdom here on earth. And God has placed us here not accidentally or just, you know, arbitrarily, but because he's going to equip us to face the exact obstacles that we are facing today. And he can do that just as much as he has done for the past 2,000 years. Oh, so well said, beautifully said. I agree with you.

And the truth is for those who say, oh, you know, the end. The end is near, the end is near, it's getting so bad. It's just getting worse and worse. Well, you know, the truth is, if you were to go back a thousand years, you wouldn't have wanted to live as a Christian back there in Europe. You wouldn't have wanted to go back 1,500 years. You know what they were doing to the people of faith back then? They were burning them at stakes.

They were sawing them in half. They were feeding them to lions. They were hiding in caves. They were being drowned. All of these things are horrifying to us, but it was normal back then. are actually much better now than they were 1,5,500 years ago for people of Christian faith. And that's because the gospel has flourished because God is faithful. Covenant keepers win, covenant breakers lose.

Every time you just have to stick around long enough to see the end of the story. And you can see that with St. Patrick and how he transformed pagan Ireland. You can see that with John Knox in Scotland, Luther and Germany. You can see that with Calvin. You can see that with the Puritans and the pilgrims and the formation of the greatest, freest nation the world is ever known built on biblical principles here.

So if those people could do that in far darker times than what we're experiencing in America today, why can't we see a great revival, a great awakening with all the resources we have, with all the churches that we have, with all the great teaching, we can. We just have to stop sitting on our hands and get involved.

And Allie, that's why I appreciate you so much because you speak to cultural issues and you are involved. And this is the wake-up call that I think we need. Well, thank you so much. And I appreciate you as well. And that pushback that, you know, Christians are engaging in is not going to be, it doesn't go over easily

when you're talking about some of the entities and institutions that absolutely don't want to see these kinds of values that we're talking about flourish. And there was a Fox News story that I saw. And you said that she just heard about it. I woke up to this point. And I didn't even have my first cup of coffee yet. I was not ready for this.

Yes. Kurt Cameron gets denied story hour slot for new kids book. Kurt Cameron has called out this is Fox or, uh, oh wait, hang on. Um, all right. I guess I don't have the article. So I don't know. As you grow your book, You were passed up because of the, you were passed up for the story hour because this is a Christian book, I guess.

Oh, I see, I see the article. I see the article now. So it is a San Diego library system. They host like Drag Queen Story Hour and things like that, but they didn't want you to read your book. Interesting. So if you read the whole article, you'll find that there's over 50 public libraries that, denied us the ability to read my children's book about biblical wisdom and the fruit of the spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness. And yet these are the same public libraries

that claim to be inclusive and want to be about diversity. They have drag queen story hours at these same libraries along with name change clinics for children who want to change their gender. But at Christmas time, we can't talk about love and joy and kindness. In fact, they, so, you know, I believe that public libraries ought to be safe spaces for free speech and should allow the communities to hear ideas from all different points of view, including the ones that made this country so unique and special. So in fact, we're getting so many emails from not only parents within those communities, but librarians in those communities who want to host their own story hours with my book and other books from the publisher that are championing these values

that are pro-God and pro-America in their public library. So we're sending them free books, and they're hosting their own public story hours. So we're hoping this starts a whole movement of people to say, look, this is the stuff we want. Stop silencing. part of the public in the public square. Right. There are millions, millions of parents. I guarantee there are far more parents who want their kids to learn about God and love and peace, the fruit of the spirit than they do to watch a man dressed up as a scantily clad woman reading to them about things that they don't even need to know about.

And yet, one is censored in what is not. So that just shows the spirit of the age and what we are up against. But thankfully, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today. and forever, as Hebrews 138 says. And that is the God that we serve. So we have to continue to be joyful warriors for what is good and right and true. And you are a wonderful representation of that. I'm so thankful. I'm so thankful for how you do engage in the culture and you create things that are God glorifying rather than only complaining about the things as many of us do that are not God glorifying. So thank you. Thank you for that. I really appreciate it.

Well, that's a great encouragement to me because I don't want to be that guy. I think that's one of the things that's made me lead into my faith and the transforming biblical truths in the scriptures even more now than ever before because I'm finally seeing that as good as conservative politics are, they're advancing ideas. the truth is those ideas, if they are not connected to the root of eternal truth and the authority of the word of God, it ultimately is not going to get enough traction to transform society. So I want to lean into the very root that our founders and our forefathers and mothers said was indispensable if we want to continue to be a free republic. And that is faith in God and true morality, which we find. in the ancient mosaic code.

That's worked for 4,000 years and produced human flourishing. Not this woke garbage that some are trying to replace good values with. Yep, absolutely. Well, thank you so much. And tell everyone where they can find Lifemark. Oh, LifeMark.

All right. So Lifemark, it looks like this. It's now available on DVD and Blu-ray, and you can go to Lifemarkmovie. dot com. It's on social media as well at Lifemarkmovie.com, and you can pick it up pretty much anywhere starting December 13th, Amazon, and everything else.

And your book that is being refused by these libraries, and what's that called? That's called As You Grow by Brave Books, the great publisher. Yeah, as you grow by Brave Books. And you can just go to BraveBooks.com and you can find my book and a whole bunch of other books that are about courage and leadership and all the kinds of values and fruits of the spirit that we talked about. I love it.

Well, thank you so much. I really appreciate you taking the time to come on. Appreciate you as well. God bless you. Keep up the great work. Thank you. You too. Hey, this is Steve Deast.

If you're listening to Allie, you already understand that the biggest issues facing our country aren't just political. They're moral, spiritual, and rooted in what we believe is true about God, humanity and reality itself. On the Steve Day show, we take the news of the day and tested against first principles, faith, truth, and objective reality. We don't just chase narratives and we don't offer false comfort. We ask the hard questions and follow the answers wherever they leave, even when it's unpopular. This is a show for people who want honesty over hype and clarity over chaos. If you're looking for commentary grounded in conviction and unwilling to lie to you about where we are

or where we're headed, you can watch this Steve Day show right here on Blaze TV or listen wherever you get podcasts. I hope you'll join us.