Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 849 | Responding to Candace Owens & Andrew Tate | Guest: Jonathan Isaac
Episode Date: August 2, 2023Today we're starting off with a response to Candace Owens' interview with Andrew Tate, in which she asks Tate about conservatives who have criticized him (and name-drops us!). We explain how, despite ...the assumption that we don't understand the appeal of Tate, we do think he says certain things that are correct and absolutely understand why young men might gravitate toward him. We take a look at Tate's answer to Candace asking about criticism and overall response to his content. Then, NBA player Jonathan Isaac joins us to discuss his new clothing brand UNITUS. We look into our culture and see more and more companies move away from family and American values. While they're free to do that, we're also free to create alternatives. We talk the parallel economy and how people are looking for brands that don't hate them. We also talk about becoming a father, leaning into courageously standing up for his values, and navigating career and life difficulties. Shop UNITUS here: https://weareunitus.com/ --- Timecodes: (00:43) Candace's Andrew Tate interview (07:11) Candace & Tate mention Allie (14:14) Jonathan Isaac interview (18:40) UNITUS (24:25) Leaning into criticism (30:18) Injuries and navigating difficulties --- Today's Sponsors: A'Del — go to adelnaturalcosmetics.com and enter promo code "ALLIE" for 25% off your first order! Seven Weeks Coffee — get your organically farmed and pesticide-free coffee at sevenweekscoffee.com and let your coffee serve a greater purpose. Use the promo code 'ALLIE' to save 10% off your order. Patriot Mobile — go to PatriotMobile.com/ALLIE or call 878-PATRIOT and use promo code 'ALLIE' to get free activation! Brave Books — go to BraveBooks.com and get BRAVE’s newest book free when you subscribe to their Freedom Island Book Club! Use code ALLIE to get a FREE book and 20% off your subscription. --- Links: Tate clips: https://twitter.com/TheMilkBarTV/status/1680496714179051520?s=20 --- Relevant Episodes: Ep 840 | A Biblical Response to Andrew Tate https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-840-a-biblical-response-to-andrew-tate/id1359249098?i=1000621556867 Ep 838 | Andrew Tate, Margot Robbie & the Danger of the 'Red Pill' https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-838-andrew-tate-margot-robbie-the-danger-of-the-red-pill/id1359249098?i=1000621063039 Ep 499 | NBA Star on the Vaccine, BLM & Following Jesus | Guest: Jonathan Isaac https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-499-nba-star-on-the-vaccine-blm-following-jesus/id1359249098?i=1000537531613 Ep 632 | Why This NBA Player Refused to Kneel for BLM | Guest: Jonathan Isaac https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-632-why-this-nba-player-refused-to-kneel-for-blm/id1359249098?i=1000567304633 --- 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
Transcript
Discussion (0)
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.
Andrew Tate and Candice Owens sat down and my name came up.
So I'm going to respond to that little bit of their conversation.
Also, we have a friend here.
We have Jonathan Isaac.
He has a Ford for the Orlando Magic, a Christian, an author.
And he has just launched a new brand called.
unite us. It's a values-based sports and apparel company. And so we are going to talk to him about
that, also his faith journey, all that good stuff. This episode is brought to you by our friends at
Good Ranchers. Go to Good Ranchers.com. Use code Allie at check out. That's good ranchers.com
Code All right. Welcome to Relatable. Happy Wednesday. All right, two very different parts of this
episode. My interview with Jonathan Isaac, who is amazing about his new brand and just about his
faith and fatherhood journey and all of that will be coming up. But first,
I wanted to respond to something that I've been meaning to respond to for the past few days,
but as always, there's just so much to talk about.
Andrew Tate and Candace Owens, they had a sit-down conversation, and they mentioned my name,
as well as my friend Liz Wheeler's name because we were two people that were criticizing
Andrew Tate after he had the interview with Tucker Carlson.
And a lot of videos were circulating from several years ago where he has talked.
talking about convincing women to fall in love with him, have sex with him, so that they will do
webcam work for them, and also talked about lying to them about how much they were actually
going to get paid, about tax forms and things like that. And so we talked about that at length
a couple weeks ago. We did two episodes. One episode was a very thorough explanation. And I worked
really hard to make sure that the clips that I had that I knew as much context as possible,
there were several incriminating clips that I could have played of Andrew Tate that I didn't
because I didn't know all of the context of them. So I won't rehash all of those. I have my
criticisms of Andrew Tate based on what he has said. Ten years ago, five years ago, he has
not ever come forward and say, I regret doing that that was wrong to do. In fact, at the beginning
of this Candice Owen's interview. He says, I don't apologize for things. I did what I did. I had a hard
upbringing and, you know, whatever. Obviously, I take issue with that. And I take issue with the things
that he said, with the things that he's done. I'm not weighing in on whether or not he is guilty of the
Romanian charges that are before him. I am weighing in on whether or not he is a moral exemplar and a man for
young men to follow. And if you go back and listen or watch on YouTube, I was extremely fair.
I laid out the case for why he is so appealing to young men. The things that he has said that are
very true, that are very uniquely true, that are interesting, that are compelling. I'm not
someone who has just said, I just don't get this. I don't see where he's coming from at all.
no, he has said true things. He has said right things, and I see his appeal to young men and why some young men may be flocking to Andrew Tate and his message. However, you know, moral issues. So I laid out my case there and I think that I was as fair as possible, certainly as honest as possible. And Liz Wheeler, I haven't seen all of her critiques of Andrew Tate, but she has done a very similar thing, has been very strong. She was blocked by Andrew Tate because of,
her strong stance against him, which of course I agree with Liz on the things that she's saying.
And, you know, then Andrew Tate has to sit down with Candace Owens, which as much as I don't like
the kind of like morality that and the so-called virtues that he has pushed over the years and the
things that he's done over the years, I don't at all fault Candice Owens for sitting down with him.
I get a lot of messages saying, oh, this is so bad. Like, how dare she give him a
platform. What do you think about her talking to him? Like, I don't really buy that. As someone who is also
in the interviewer seat very often, like, you talk to the people who are interesting. You talk to
the people who other people want to hear from. You talk to big names, whether or not you agree with
them. Now, maybe you don't platform the little guy who no one knows about and is just, like,
evil and terrible and shouldn't be given a larger platform. But he already has a huge platform.
form. If Andrew Tate agreed to sit down and talk with me, yes, I would talk with him. So I don't blame
Candace at all for having this interview and for talking with him, talking with him. Or Tucker,
for that matter. Like, yes, you take the Andrew Tate interview because, wow, there's so much
to talk about. And they had a three hour long conversation. I didn't listen to the whole thing.
There were definitely things that I disagreed on. Like, really within the first few minutes,
I really disagreed with the things.
I like, oh my gosh, I had to like pause and really think about it. But it was an incredibly interesting and wide ranging conversation, even though, gosh, I just disagree with him so adamantly on so many different things and his moral reasoning. Oh, my goodness. But someone told me, because I didn't get to this part myself yet. Someone was like, oh, did you see the part of the interview where your name and Liz Wheeler's name is mentioned? And so I wanted to watch it and then I wanted to respond to it a little.
bit. I think, but I will, actually, I want to get to what your belief in is in terms of when you
start talking about the Matrix, because I will say, I, some of the people that have been going
after you, Liz Wheeler obviously has been one of them. Ali, Stucky has talked a lot about it.
I know these young women, they're not a part of the Matrix, okay? I have a lot of disagreements
with them. Stylistically, we have disagreements. Allie is a, means what she says. Even if I disagree
with her point, I know she means she said, it's not an act for her. She's not trying to do anything.
She says it because she believes it.
I don't say this to insult Liz or anyone else.
I don't know them enough or respect them enough to give a shit what they made or what they say.
I don't care.
However, I don't believe it was well-intentioned.
I think that there is certainly a degree of jealousy that came with my massive influence
in the number of views I got in the Tucker Carlson show.
I think that the fact that 10-year-old videos, which have been debunked 30 times and now coming up again, is not well-intentioned at all.
But I can't be entirely not really sure of that.
So I can't comment specifically on their attacks because I haven't watched their attacks.
Oh, no.
Andrew Tate doesn't respect me.
Oh, no.
The Pimp and Hose degree guy.
He doesn't give me his respect.
I'm so sad.
Look, the reason why I talked about Andrew Tate is because I see some people flocking to him and thinking that he is a good example for young men.
and my point is that he's not.
I mean, I'm a Christian.
This is a Christian show.
He doesn't claim to be a Christian.
So I never said he's a bad Christian or he doesn't live up to, you know, what I think
he should be as a Christian man because I don't think he's a Christian.
I know he's not a Christian.
He's a Muslim.
And so I'm not expecting him to be Christ-like.
But I'm saying to my Christian audience, just because someone says something that is true,
does it mean they should be looked to?
doesn't mean they should be worshipped, of course.
Doesn't mean they should be admired.
You take everything that anyone says, but especially someone like that, who has admitted to
manipulating girls for money using sex and using fraud with a grain of salt.
Now, again, if he had repented of these things, if he had apologized for these things and
said, that is so not me anymore, that is, I would never pimp girls out on webcam.
like I would never, I would never do that again. Wow, that was so dumb. I did what I thought I had to do and I should have. Okay, that's one thing. But as far as I can see, even in this interview, there is no regret, no remorse, no repentance, whatsoever in that. So yes, I stand by everything that I said. I'm not going to rehash everything, but go back and listen or listen to our watch last week's episode. We'll include the links of the videos. People have responded to his videos, his self-snitching videos at length with full,
context. And like, you would have to tell me what context helps some of the things that he has said.
There, again, there are some things that I did not play because I was like, nope, I don't know the full
context. He could have been kidding there. I'm not really sure. So there were plenty of things that
I did not play because I was like, I'm not completely sure if I know what he's saying. The only
things I played was like, okay, there's no amount of greater context that could help what he said,
what he said about women, what he said about
fraud, what he said about making money,
what he said about essentially grooming
and essentially what would be trafficking
these women. Again, not speaking
to the Romanian charges, I hope
that justice comes down on his side
if he is not proven
beyond a reasonable doubt
guilty. Like, I hope that justice
truly prevails on the side of truth.
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.
and wherever you get podcasts, I hope you'll join us.
Yeah, he's going to incriminate my motives because he thinks that everyone who criticizes
him as a part of the Matrix.
The Matrix is basically made up of a bunch of different bad actors who were trying to keep
people silent and slovenly and weak and all of that.
But look, not everyone who criticizes you is a part of this grand scheme.
Not everyone who criticizes you as badly intentioned.
That's true for me.
That's true for everyone.
A lot of people are, but not everyone.
Like, have some humility to realize, and we all do.
not just Andrew Tate, that some people have legitimate critiques of the things that you have said. And especially
when it comes to him, like he's made it really easy. And yeah, those were the first time we saw those clips.
If I had seen those clips 10 years ago and I had been in this business 10 years ago rather than
being like a sophomore in college, then maybe I would have said something about it. But I didn't know.
I didn't even know who Andrew Tate was until a year or so ago. And as for the jealousy piece,
do you think that we don't know, do you think that I don't know that he has,
a huge platform, a way bigger platform than I do.
There's nothing there.
There's nothing.
Trust me.
Trust me, looking at Andrew Tate's life, there is nothing that he has that I desire.
I am very content and thankful for the life that God has given me.
And so, again, not everyone who criticizes you is badly in tensioned.
Not everyone who criticizes you is just jealous.
Some people, yeah, sure.
Of course. There are going to be people like that. Not everyone is going to. And I'm glad that, you know, Candace brought up. We're not, Liz and I are not a part of the matrix. It's possible to have legitimate criticisms, especially from a Christian moral perspective of a guy who had a course called the PhD course, which stood for the Pimp and Ho's degree course. It's possible to have legitimate negative opinions about that kind of person, believe it or not, without de contextualizing anything. And so, yeah,
I guess that's, I guess that's all I have to say about, say about that, say about Andrew Tate.
I had no thought that Andrew Tate would like be watching any of my videos. And so the fact, and I,
he didn't, I'm sure, but the fact that he would say, oh, you know, they just want to like get at me.
They just like want my attention or whatever, um, whatever he said. I was not for you. I never,
intended for you to see my tweets or to watch my videos or to hear what I have to say and care.
I'm talking to an audience of Christians and to Christian parents and specifically Christian moms
and Christian men too and just reminding us of the example that we follow and why it's really
important to care about the morals and the character of the people that we follow.
And I don't think Andrew Tate, even in the very true things that he says, is someone that Christian,
should follow. And I don't expect him to care about that. So there you go. That's my response, Andrew
Tate. But you know what? Very interesting interview. Very interesting interview and a long-ranging
interview. And that's not an easy thing to do. I will say that. All right. That's all I got to say
about that. Let's get into our much more edifying portion of this episode with our friend Jonathan
Isaac is entering his seventh season as a four and for the Orlando magic. He's from the Bronx. We've had him on before. We talked to him a couple years ago when he was, he stood for the national anthem, when everyone was kneeling in the summer of 2020. Also, when he defied COVID mandates, vaccine mandates, he came on the show. And so he also came on the show to talk about his book last year. And so he's just, I mean, he's just, I mean, he.
He's pretty amazing person, and now he's launching this brand of values-based sports and
apparel company on August 1st.
And so that was yesterday.
It's launched now, which is super exciting.
So he's going to talk about all of that and more in our forthcoming conversation.
Before we get into it, let me just pause and tell you about a sponsor.
Jonathan Isaac, thanks so much for joining us again.
Okay, before we get into your brand and everything you have going on, let's talk about the
biggest thing you have going on, which I'm guessing is a chronic lack of sleep. Is that correct?
Yes and no. My wife, a trooper. She has been fantastic. And we have somebody that comes in at like
6 a.m. So she gets to get in the bed and sleep. Wow, that's amazing. So you became a dad three
months ago to a baby girl, right? Yes, baby girl Naomi. Oh, that's so sweet. Tell me a little bit
about fatherhood. Like what have you, what surprised you? What has exceeded your expectations?
Well, I would say maybe not surprise me, but I remember talking to my, my coach, and he was telling
me about what you're going to find yourself just leaning over the crib. Like, is she breathing?
Like, like, just standing there watching her just be. And I was like, okay, you know, I'm sure you've
done it before. So, okay, it'll happen. But then I went back to him. I was.
like, that's absolutely the truth.
And I do it to this.
And whether she's sleeping, and I'm just like, why is she sleeping?
Like, can you wake her up?
I'm just like, do not wake her up.
And so it's been fantastic, though.
You don't know that you can love something like that.
Exactly.
It's right there in front of you.
And it does really reflect the love of God because it's just like, you know,
they can do no wrong in your eyes until they get a little older.
But it really is sweet.
Yeah, gosh, your heart expands so.
much and you just realize like in that second that you would do absolutely anything for this little
child that you just met like you would die a thousand deaths for them. I mean the moment that you meet them,
really the moment that you know that you're pregnant or that in your case your wife is pregnant,
but especially like that moment that they lay that little baby on your chest, you're like,
I would take anyone in anything out for this child. It's really incredible. And contact when they look at you
and like now she's like starting to like when I walk into a room and she locks eyes with me,
she gets that like she knows who I am.
So it's like it's so sweet.
So sweet.
Okay, you've got a lot of other stuff going on too.
Unsurprisingly, you've got an apparel company that you announced recently Unitas.
Tell us a little bit about that.
Yeah, Unitas is a values based sports and apparel company, really an alternative to honestly a lot of the things that are going on.
in the marketplace and culture just where we are as a society and a country. Back in 2020,
I was a Nike signed athlete. I was getting paid by Nike. I got injured at the time and I didn't
resign with them. And from then, I started to kind of play with what would it look like to start a
full-blown sports and apparel company that could give people the freedom to buy with their values.
And at the time, I was talking about it with my pastor. And he was like, you should make your own
sneaker. And I'm like, I don't know what that even means. Like, how do you do that? And I started to go
down the road. And, you know, he came up with the name. And it was just, we just kind of ran with
the Unitas. And now we're ready to launch. And I'm not sure if this is going to come out when it's
already launched. But if so, I'm just super excited about everything that's going on. Yeah, it launches
8-1. And we're recording this in late July. So we're going to try to get it out right around when it
launches. But tell us a little bit more about the name, Unitas. You see it as you've set a promotion
of free speech to promulgate the nation's founding principles in a time of rampant, progressive
ideology. So talk a little bit more about that. Yeah, there are values that are important to me
that I try my best to live out each and every day. And Unitas is founded on three of them that
are extremely important. And the first one is faith. The second one is family. And
And the third one is freedom. And as I look out into our culture, especially in the sportswear and
apparel space, a lot of these companies are moving farther and farther away from these values
and ideologies, foundational family values, constitutional values that I think are important
and have value to a prosperous society. And so we live in America and they're free to do so.
And but at the same time, we're free to create an alternative. So that's what United States was about
for me from the beginning. Can I, can I create something that's high quality that people can
truly love, but at the end of the day, give people encouragement and confidence that their values
are valid. And if they're not going to be celebrated by other people in the marketplace and
culture, then we can celebrate them ourselves. This seems to be something that a lot of the
entrepreneurial and industrious people are doing right now. They're kind of creating this parallel
economy because, I mean, people like me, I'm sure people like you too. I mean, you do feel hated by a lot of
the places that you spend your money. You feel hated by a lot of the artists that you like,
by a lot of the athletes that you cheer for, a lot of the companies that you faithfully spit money
at for the past, you know, 10 years. One of my favorite places that I used to shop that I don't
anymore was anthropology. They made great women's clothing. And then they used a man to model one of
their dresses. And I'm like, okay, obviously the faithfulness of a lot of their customer base
just doesn't matter. So people really are looking to be representing.
to buy brands and spend their money at companies that don't force them to compromise their values.
I think that's really important.
And it means something like, from the beginning, it was like, you know, there used to be a time
where what people at a company or what a company believed about society, about religion,
about politics, it didn't matter.
Yeah.
They just wanted to deliver a great product.
But the times have changed.
And it does matter because a lot of these companies and corporations are using those funds to undermine the fabric of our society and to progress things that I believe are harmful to us.
And so being able to create something that people can have the freedom to buy with their values and say, I want to stand with a company that I know is going to support my values, that is going to be transparent about what it is that they believe.
That's what I'm trying to accomplish with Unitas.
And I also feel like we are going to get to a place in society where it's like, if you don't believe these set of things, you can't shop here.
You can't do this.
You can't go here.
And if there aren't alternatives for people to turn to like you're talking about that parallel economy, then the only answer is going to be to conform.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You're so right about that.
So you really have kind of leaned into a lot of the good and bad responses that you got from
not kneeling for the anthem a couple of years ago.
Of course, we had you on the show.
We talked about that at the time, at the height of kind of like the BLM virtue signaling and
then also resistance to the vaccine mandates.
You know, a lot of people would just say, all right, I gained, your goal wasn't to gain media
attention, but I gained media attention from that.
Now I'm just kind of going to go quietly into the night, make sure that no one's paying
attention to what I'm doing.
but I've really seen you use the platform that God has given you to lean into that courage
and to try to make that courage contagious for other people.
You wrote a book, I stand, and that's what you encourage people to do, to stand up for these
values that you believe in, even when you get backlash for it.
Do you see this brand as kind of a part of that journey that God has put you on since then?
Absolutely.
From the beginning of standing in the bubble, it was something that I was terribly,
afraid to do. And honestly, everything that I have, you know, had to walk through, that God has
graced me to walk through, even though they were extremely challenging. And they were, I was,
I was terrified. But as I've, as I've grown up and as I've, again, also pointed to the people
that I have around me, the pastor that I talked about is somebody that I'm always talking to.
He's always giving me feedback and just how to become better, my family, my wife, people that
keep me encouraged and moving forward. But the more that I've walked through these,
storms and also gotten the feedback from people who say, you know what, because of what you did,
I now have the courage and want to figure out how I can stand in my everyday life. It has
emboldened me and encouraged me to continue to do so. And when I talk about, I want people,
because I know what it feels like to stand alone. I know what it feels like to be in a situation
where you're the only one who believe something. But the more people that were able to congregate
in a community and say, my beliefs are valid. And I should take.
pride in them. And if somebody else isn't going to, then I can do so myself. And there is the fear of
backlash. There is the fear of what people will have to say. But when it's just one person is one thing,
but when there's a community of people who believe the same thing, no matter what you look like,
white, black, and different, when you understand the necessity and value of these values
and come together, you know, we can create real, real change and just stand up for what we want to
move in. And that's why a brand like this is important, because maybe you are in a place here
on a college campus or with your family and your friends where you are the only person who
believes what you do. While having a brand like this is just a reminder, if nothing else,
of course it's going to be high quality clothing and it's going to look good and we'll put up
pictures as we're talking. But it's also a reminder every time you look at that brand that I'm not
alone, that I'm not standing by myself. It might feel like I'm standing by myself, but there are
other people that share my values. And that's a big deal. When people ask me, what's your advice for
like an incoming freshman in college or someone moving to a new city, I'm like immediately
find people who are like-minded because it's a reminder to you that you're not crazy, that it's
okay to swim upstream. We talk a lot on this show about being like human salmon and standing
out from the crowd. It's okay, but it's easier to do that when you have someone else that
is linking arms with you. I think this brand and clothing brands like this, it's just a way to link
arms with people across the country and remember that you're not really alone.
That is the biggest thing about Unitas.
Like you said, it's one thing about clothes.
It's one thing about, you know, launching something.
But for me, it is about creating that community across all these different lanes in our society.
There's the sports.
There is the college campus.
There's the high school.
There's the parents that want to buy things for their kids that they know support their
values.
There's the kids that love sports and just or just want super cool leisure wear to wear around
the house or wear to the airport or things like.
that. And so for me, it is about that community piece. I want people to know that there are
people out there that agree with them, that believe like them, and also to show the diversity
of thought, that there are people who come from a million different backgrounds. I remember I was,
I was recently in Nashville, and my Uber driver, he was like, you were the guy that stood,
you know, for the national anthem. And I agree with, I suppose I agree with who you are.
And he said he came over here from Iran. Wow. And like, I love this country.
and I've grinded and I've I've worked and I've been able to build a life from myself and my family
here. And so there are people from all different backgrounds that look completely different,
but who understand the necessity of these values and want to see them celebrated in the marketplace
and culture. And that is a, that's why I want to do this.
So you've suffered over the past few years from a few injuries, which I'm sure have felt like
setbacks. I'm sure have been really difficult for you as someone who has worked so hard to get
to the point.
that you have in your athletic career.
Talk about how you've navigated that through your faith and maybe how, I don't know if
creating this brand has also been made possible by some of those difficulties that you've
experienced with injuries and things like that.
But just talk about how that's been a part of your testimony and even a part of this new
stage of developing a new brand.
Yeah, it's been, it's been hard.
It's been difficult.
But I've also, I feel like I've learned so much about.
God, I've learned so much about the necessity for community, the necessity for people around you to be
strong for you when you can't be strong for yourself. Again, talking about like my pastor and my wife
and my church family here that have stood with me during everything and have helped me to walk
through these storms. And then again, just learning about God, it's like you don't know God to be
faithful until you need him to be. It's like, you know, God talks about all these different
attributes that he is, he's faithful, he's just, he's loving, he cares. He's not just a God of the
hills, but a God of the valleys, but you don't know that until you go through something. And so to
be able to experience the side of God that says, I am with you, even though you're going through
something you don't understand, even though you don't know why it happened or why I allowed it,
I am with you, and I love you and you're chosen and all these different things, but I had to go
through these different things to learn. And another aspect of it is you're able to identify
with people. It's like if you never go through any struggle, if you never go through any pain,
how can you identify with a world that's full of it? And so being, having gone through these,
you know, these tough times of injuries and things that have happened to me, I've been able to
identify with other guys around the league who have gotten injured. And just, and just what is for somebody
to look at me and saying, like, what is happening to you? You're a millionaire, you're a basketball
player. What do you know about struggle? What do you know about trusting God in these moments? And I can
reflect and look at my life and say, you know what?
I've had several instances where I was upset and angry and mad at God about what happened,
but I kept my faith and I trusted in him and he's seen me through.
And to your point, a lot of the downtime that I have had through these different things
has allowed me to do the things that I've done, write the book, Why I Stand, create,
you know, Unitas.
And now I'm fully healed.
I'm ready to come back this upcoming season.
Yes, and amen.
Well, it's amazing how God uses those difficulties to accomplish
the things that he wants to accomplish.
Always think about the story of Joseph and Genesis.
Obviously, terrible things happened to him.
He was thrown into a pit, sold into slavery,
and then God used that evil to then protect Israel,
obviously lead Joseph to a place of leadership
and then provide for Israel during a time of famine.
And something that I read that was pointed out in a book to me several years ago
was that that caravan from Egypt that eventually Joseph was sold into
to go to a place of slavery was our.
on its way to Egypt before Joseph was thrown into the pit. So God's providence, God's plan,
a long-term plan, the conclusion of which we can't even see most days, is already in motion
before we even understand it. And so I think having that big picture allows us to have faith
and have strength in times of mystery and times of confusion and times of injury. And it's amazing
to see the tangible conclusions that have already come through your difficulty and your trials in
this brand. So how can people, oh, go ahead, go ahead. That even speaks to where we are as a whole
when it comes to, you know, our country and just the things that are happening. And it looks like
everything is going left. It looks like we're, where we're losing ground. But God said he will build his
church. And so trusting in the Word of God. And even that to add is like how important it is to rely and rest in
the word of God. And God said he puts his word above his own name, like trusting that, that
what he said will come to pass. And so creating something like this, I think is on brand with that
message and where we're going as a country that there are still people standing up. There are
still people who believe like you and with you and bringing them together across something like
this is how we get it done. Yes, absolutely. And so the brand, it launches August 1st or
launched, depending on when this comes out. But how can, is it?
Unitas. What's the website?
The website is we areunitus.com.
We are unidus.com.
Yeah, we are Unitas and the same for Instagram and Twitter.
Okay, got it.
Awesome.
So everyone should go ahead and follow on social media.
Unitas, Unitus.
We'll put it in the description of this episode to people can just link it.
Thanks so much, Jonathan, for taking the time and for always sharing your faith.
It's really encouraging to me.
I really appreciate it.
And congrats again on the baby girl.
Thank you so much, Allie.
Thank you for having me.
Hey, this is Steve Day.
If you're listening to Alley, you already understand that the biggest issues facing our country aren't just political.
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We ask the hard questions and follow the answers wherever they leave, even when it's unpopular.
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If you're looking for commentary grounded in conviction
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