Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 911 | How Many Kids Should Christians Have? | Q&A

Starting point is 00:00:00 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.

Starting point is 00:00:19 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. Is there a certain number of kids that Christians are supposed to have? How do you handle a coworker who is gay and who is going through the surrogacy process with their partner? How are you supposed to address that and try to maintain a friendship? but also make sure that you are living in a way that aligns with your values.

Starting point is 00:01:04 Also, should abortion doctors get the death penalty? What's my go-to coffee order? What do I think about Nikki Haley? We're going to be talking about all of this and more on this episode of Relatable, which is brought to you by our friends at Good Ranchers. Go to Good Ranchers.com. Use code Allie at checkout. That's Good Ranchers.com.

Starting point is 00:01:20 Code Allie. Hey, guys, welcome to Relatable. Hope everyone is having a wonderful day and a wonderful week. All right. We've got another Q&A episode for you. As always, you guys have sent me very interesting questions. Wide variety, lighthearted, a little bit more complex. I'll do the best I can to answer the more complex ones in a thorough way while still trying to keep my answers concise.

Starting point is 00:01:54 All right. Let's see. One question that I got is number of kids a Christian has freedom of conscience, or are we to have many? So basically, is there a biblical mandate to have a certain number of children or not? We don't see a particular number in the Bible that we are supposed to have. We are told in the beginning to be fruitful and multiply. Obviously, we know that that simply is not possible for everyone. Either God just has not planned for you to get married.

Starting point is 00:02:30 Maybe it's biologically impossible for you to have a child. You struggle with infertility. there are a variety of reasons for that. Maybe you've tried to adopt, you've tried to foster, has it worked out? There could be a number of reasons. No fault of your own why you may not have children, but if you can have children and if you are married, I do believe that Christians are called to have kids. So I know that's not what this person is asking, but I do just want to start off with that. We've talked about that a lot, but if you've missed it, I don't really believe that there is a biblical excuse not to have children other than you cannot have children for some

Starting point is 00:03:11 reason. Now, there could be some exceptions to that. I believe if you have a concentrated mission effort that God has specifically called you to. And so for a period of time, it is being responsible or good stewards to not multiply, to not have children. I've heard John Piper talk about this, that's basically the exception that he explains. Other than that, just wanting to be quote unquote child free, wanting to pursue a career instead of having children, wanting to travel instead of having children, being scared of what the future holds, being worried about the way that the world is going. Those are not biblical reasons not to have children. Now, there are biblical reasons not to get married at all. We're actually, we actually read in the New Testament that being married

Starting point is 00:04:03 very distracts you. It distracts you from heavenly pursuits. It distracts you from focusing on eternity. It distracts you from focusing on Christ because your interests, your priorities are split. But we are also told if you have not been given that gift of celibacy, that gift of singleness, then it is better to be married than to burn with passion. The vast, vast, vast majority of people do not have that gift of celibacy and singleness. Some people do, and that is absolutely wonderful. That is a gift to be grateful for. Some of you have been given that gift, even though you did not want it or you did not ask for it. So there are biblical reasons not to be married, but just to reiterate after you get married, there are very, very, very few biblical reasons not to have children. So once we've established that, how many children are we to have? I think that this is a debate.

Starting point is 00:05:00 that Christians, genuine, sincere Bible-believing, God-loving Christians can in good faith debate. There are wonderful Christian parents who have 10 children. There are wonderful Christian parents who have two children. Now, we can get into, and we might actually in this episode, or it might be a question that I answer on another episode, different forms of birth control that are more ethical than others, that are more biblically aligned than others. But not even not even talking about that, excluding the what kind of birth control conversation, I do believe it is freedom of conscience. And I also think that it's always an examining of the heart. What is the reason that you stopped having children after one? They could be wise and godly

Starting point is 00:05:48 reasons. They could be selfish and fleshly and anxiety-ridden reasons. And obviously, I can't see into your heart. And so that is something that you will have to seek through prayer, that you will have to seek through the analysis and uncovering of your own heart and your own motivation. Same with that of your spouse and maybe godly counsel as well. So I can't give you a hard and fast answer on that. I do think that there is freedom of conscience within that. And I'm open to discussion and debate on that particular question. Another question that I got, what are some small things that I look forward to doing every day?

Starting point is 00:06:29 So small things. I don't know if this is big or small. I mean, it's big in the long run, I guess, in the day to day because it's so routine, it seems small. But I genuinely look forward to waking my kids up or I don't wake them up. But I get them out of bed and just like saying good morning and being with them in the morning. I genuinely look forward to that. Of course, at the end of the day, like you're so ready for peace and quiet and to rest and just to be able to actually focus on one task without a million people and a million things pulling your attention in different direction. but by the time the morning comes, you're like, I'm ready. I'm ready to see their faces. I'm ready to talk to them. And so that's something that I look forward to every day. But something smaller than that, it used to be coffee. Like I would just look forward to my morning coffee. I don't think this is good for your metabolism, but I used to wake up and just have like my cup of black coffee and then not eat for like a couple hours. I don't think it's good for you because then by the time you're ready to eat, you like crave all of this unhealthy stuff, whatever. You can fight me on that. I'm sure there's some nutritionists out there that would argue with me. But since I've been pregnant, I have not

Starting point is 00:07:39 wanted black coffee. Isn't that such a weird aversion? I know that a lot of women, they don't like coffee when they first find out that they're pregnant. But for it to last, I mean, as I'm recording this, I'm only halfway through my pregnancy, but it's lasted all the way that's far. Like, I was always just a black coffee drinker, black hot coffee. And the thought of that really kind of makes me want to puke. I don't know why because it's such a bitter, non-descript taste. It's weird to think. And there's no texture.

Starting point is 00:08:08 It's weird to think that it would bother you. But I've had to drink iced coffee during this. Oh, this, you know what? I'll just lead into another question here. Oh, you know what? Another thing I look forward to, though, and I have looked forward to ever since I got married, just like hanging out, vegging out with my husband at night. It's harder now because it's later than it used to be because we have so many

Starting point is 00:08:32 responsibilities before we put our kids to bed. And then after that, it's like, okay, we're tired. We're basically ready to go to bed ourselves. But when we do have the time to sit down and to watch a movie together or to watch a show together, like that is such an awesome part of being married. And it's truly my favorite part of being married. And this is especially true when I first got married and was getting used to living with someone and not having to check in with anyone or be accountable to anyone about how I'm spent, how much time I'm spending with him or how we're spending our time. Like you could truly just be there, be alone, not think about anything except for what you're doing.

Starting point is 00:09:12 And it felt like there was something fun to look forward to every day after work. And honestly, I still feel that way. I just really like hanging out with him at night. So those are some things that I look forward to. Now, on the coffee question, because another question that I got for this episode was, what's my go-to coffee order? So it used to just be black coffee now.

Starting point is 00:09:34 Okay, so sometimes, sometimes, I'm just going to let you know, you might feel betrayed. Sometimes I go through Starbucks. I know, I know communist Starbucks that stands against so much of, what we hold dear. But the reason is, and I don't know if this is a good excuse or not, it's the only drive-thru coffee place in my area. When we used to live in Athens, Georgia, go dogs, there's jittery Joes. And so, I mean, jittery Joe's probably has similar values to Starbucks, but at least there was an alternative. There was a local alternative.

Starting point is 00:10:11 There's really nothing convenient. Now, I typically, though, okay, so if I go to Starbucks, it is, was it called a vanilla cold brew with sweet cream or is it a cold brew with vanilla sweet cream? I don't remember what exactly it's called. But it is an iced coffee with that I'm sure it's not good for you. I mean, it's only 90 calories, but I'm sure there's a bunch of fake stuff in it. That was like my go-to pregnancy drink. But I will say most of the time I am drinking coffee at home. I am making my own coffee, my own iced coffee from the coffee.

Starting point is 00:10:46 we have and I put vanilla almond milk in there. And I get my, the vanilla almond milk I use is three trees. That is a recommendation I have to. Because one time I posted about just my standard almond milk on Instagram and I don't typically like these messages. No one likes to get these messages. You know, there's a bunch of fake stuff in that almond milk. There's a bunch of fillers and stuff like that.

Starting point is 00:11:08 But you know, even though I was a, you know, just a little kind of annoyed by the message, I did take it to heart because I had never really thought about what was in almond milk. I just thought it was unsweetened. And it was unsweetened. And it was fine. But then I looked on the back and there was a bunch of fake stuff. And so I found three trees and it's a little more expensive, of course, but it's only almonds and water. Right? Just almonds and water. And then it has like vanilla extract if you get the vanilla kind. So anyway, so that's the kind of almond milk I use. And I put that in my coffee, got ice. Sometimes like I'll get a little sassy and put some cinnamon. in there and then I've got a little frother that I use.

Starting point is 00:11:49 The only thing that's terrible about it is that it all separates and I hate that and you're constantly having to stir it. But that's my go-to coffee situation. Okay, Nikki Haley opinions. Look, I like Nikki Haley. I like a lot of what she says. I like a lot of what she says. I'm going to leave it at that for now because as it is, I would really like to have her.

Starting point is 00:12:24 As of now, I would really like to have her on my show. maybe by the time I'm you're listening to this and yeah maybe by the time you're listening to this she will have already been on my show but that is the hope I my one of my goals is to get all of the Republican presidential candidates on my show if I can get a Democrat presidential candidate which I think I think I probably could there's one that I think I could I would like to get them all on my show now technically I've already had to I've already had Trump and I've already had to stantis maybe I can get them again that would be interesting um but I'm Yes, I mean, this is a very enviable audience that I have here. I don't think there's any other political commentator that has majority female audience 25 to 45. So I got the suburban moms on lockdown here. And so if any candidate wants to appeal to the suburban mom, which is a vote that is always a toss-up, then you need to come on relatable and tell us why we should vote for you, especially in the Republican primaries. Most of you out there are going to vote for a Republican for sure.

Starting point is 00:13:21 But I bet that a lot of you have not decided who you would vote for in the presidential primary. I can guess who most of you would probably vote for, but I bet that your vote is something to be fought for right now. So hopefully we'll be able to do that on relatable. Let's see. Here's a spicy one. Should abortion doctors get the death penalty? Well, if I'm consistent, I mean, I believe that capital murder deserves the death penalty.

Starting point is 00:13:52 I think that's the only just punishment for capital murder that is proven, obviously, in a court of law beyond a reasonable doubt. A lot of people say, how can you trust the government? How can you trust the government to decide who lives or dies? Well, that's not really how our justice system works. Not to say that our justice system is perfect by any means, but you are judged. Your verdict is decided upon by a jury of your peers.

Starting point is 00:14:19 And you are proven either guilty or not guilty. And so I am totally fine with raising the standard of evidence that is required for the death penalty to, for someone to be sentenced to execution. But I do think it is a just punishment for capital murder and some other particularly heinous crimes like child rape, for example. And the biblical foundation for this is Genesis 9-6. God actually demands the death penalty. And the reason that he demands the death penalty is a reason that is still true today, that we are made in God's image. That is why God demands the death penalty for murder.

Starting point is 00:15:02 It's actually out of compassion, out of the honor of the dignity of human beings, the unique dignity of human beings that God demands such a serious punishment for taking the life of an image bear. There are examples in scripture of him showing mercy to murders like Moses, like David, But that does not negate the rule. That doesn't negate Genesis 96. And Genesis 96 was not negated by Jesus's death and resurrection. It wasn't abolished by Jesus. It wasn't done away with in the New Testament. Because again, it's rooted not in Israelite law. It's actually rooted in the creation ordinance, which of course is still true today. We are still made in God's image. Therefore, capital punishment for murder is still just. today. So if I believe that babies in the womb are image bearers of God just as much as any of us are, if I know for a fact that human life starts at conception, that's a scientific fact, and if I believe that human life is made in the image of God, and if someone intentionally murders

Starting point is 00:16:15 that human life, I don't see why I would make an exception for abortionist just because we use the euphemism abortionist. I mean, really, they're serious. killers. They just have a lot of PR, better PR than most serial killers do today. So consistently, if we're to not be hypocrites, I would say abortion doctors deserve the same punishment as any other murderers do. Let's see. What's my favorite Bible verse and why? It's hard for me to pick one particular verse. I always talk about Psalm 37. Psalm 371 is very comforting to me. I love Psalm 37. I love Psalm 33. I love the whole book of Ephesians. I also love the whole book of Genesis. Genesis is very interesting to me. I think the storytelling in Genesis is masterful. There are so many

Starting point is 00:17:07 interesting and even humorous parts of Genesis, interesting parts of Genesis. We learn so much about who God is, what justice looks like, what his righteousness looks like, what his love for his people looks like in Genesis. And I find myself almost every day as I see the craziness in the world going back to Genesis 1 through 3. Yeah, Genesis 1 through 3, looking at how God intentionally created human beings, looking at the fall, how Satan tempted Adam and Eve and all of that.

Starting point is 00:17:34 So I would say that those are my go-toes. In college, my friend and I decided to memorize the book of Ephesians. I don't even know exactly why we did it. That's the only book that I've ever memorized all the way through. I try to memorize Philippians. I don't think I ever got finished with it. But Ephesians is the only book that I've memorized. Now, I will say about memorizing scripture, which I highly recommend.

Starting point is 00:17:59 I'm not as good at remembering references, but thankfully, by the grace of God and the generosity of my parents, I got a Christian education kindergarten through 12th grade. And that, without a doubt, laid the foundation for me, theological and debically. People ask me all the time, how do you recall these verses when you're talking? It's not really anything I can take credit for. It is because of the education that I got kindergarten through 12th grade. and I'm sorry you can't get that if you don't have a Christian education, even if you have amazing Christian parents. There is a difference between spending 40 hours a week learning the Bible and 40

Starting point is 00:18:32 hours a week learning the opposite of the Bible. It's just, it's going to make a difference. It's going to lay a different foundation. So I will say I definitely am for memorizing scripture, but there are some downsides. And y'all can help me work this out because I'm like, how can it be possible that there is any downside to memorizing scripture? And we should never discourage people from memorizing scripture, right? I love being able to recall all of Ephesians. I love that. That's probably why I reference it so much because I know it by heart. And so it just comes to mind. And that benefit outweighs any negative that I'm about to say. But it's really hard for me to sit down and read Ephesians. Like because I've memorized it, it's like my mind

Starting point is 00:19:19 automatically goes on like it goes on cruise control like I can't focus on each word because it's like I'm just like it's just playing out in my head and I'm already thinking about the next verse so it's really hard for me to sit down and read Ephesians and take in what I'm reading each word because I have it all memorized maybe that's just my weird brain I'm not really sure so Don't hear that as discouragement, but at the same time, I do think that, I don't know, there's maybe something to be said about not having every word of a chapter memorized and really being able to, like, not being able to anticipate the next word and really chew on every word that you're reading, if that makes sense.

Starting point is 00:20:10 Y'all can let me know what you think about that. Let's see. How to handle a gay married coworker who's going through the surrogate process and still keep a good working relationship. Do you all remember that funny moment at the podium with President Trump? And I think he was making a statement in a press conference. And it must have been that Putin just won his phony election or something like that. And he had this note card that some photojournalist ended up taking a picture of. And it just said in all caps, do not congratulate. Do not congratulate.

Starting point is 00:21:01 So I would say that as a Christian, you know what you know about the surrogacy process and how exploiting it is of both the woman who's involved, whether it's the person who sold her eggs, the person who is allowing her womb to be rented or the child who didn't ask to be ripped away from her biological mother or her gestator. We've talked about the ethical problems with that many times. So knowing what you know about that, that that is not a neutral process, that is not an ethical process. It's actually a very wicked and selfish process for the person who is doing the buying and the exploiting.

Starting point is 00:21:42 And then also your belief about marriage that we see in the first chapter of the Bible, that we don't believe that there is a definition of marriage outside of the marriage between a man and a woman. So you cannot, in good faith, like in alignment with what you believe, congratulate them. That doesn't mean that you can't be kind to them. That doesn't mean that you can't say things like or ask them questions if you want to or be interested in their lives or talk to them or if they show you their wedding plans or show you a picture of their child. Of course, you can say that's beautiful. Wow, she's adorable.

Starting point is 00:22:19 She's so precious. You know, things like that. You can still be involved in their lives and you can be interested in trying to build that relationship with them and care about the things that they care about, without condoning it, without celebrating it, without congratulating it, and without participating in it. So that's just in general what I would say. I don't think that's easy what I just recommended, but I would say to try to stay in alignment with your faith, which is the most important thing. And also try to be a friend to them, which is much lower in priority than honoring God, that that's probably the balance that

Starting point is 00:23:02 I would strike. Should I move where my husband wants to move or prioritize my aging parents? That's really difficult, and I couldn't even begin to know all the variables that exist there. So, of course, not knowing your complete circumstance, I can't give you a hard and fast answer. Now, if you're a Christian, you are to submit to your high. husband, you are to ultimately follow your husband. There can't be a split decision there. Your husband can't move and you stay there to take care of your aging parents. Of course, as your husband is also called

Starting point is 00:23:36 to love his wife as he loves himself, just as Christ loves the church. So in a very sacrificial way, he should take all of your concerns into very serious consideration. There should be no real big decision that he makes without considering the interest. of the well-being of the priorities of all the different members of his family. But ultimately, he has to follow where God is leading, and you have to follow where God is leading your husband. Jesus makes very clear what marriage is. In Matthew 19, 4 through 5, for this reason,

Starting point is 00:24:13 a man will leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife. That leaving and cleaving is something that we see in marriage. Obviously, it is very important to honor your father and mother. If I were you, I would feel the same way. I would say, no, we are staying here. My parents are aging. They're deteriorating. They, I don't know again, your situation, but I don't have any siblings to take care of them.

Starting point is 00:24:38 It's up to us. We really, that's how I would feel. I would say, look, the other opportunities can wait. We've got these limited years with my parents. They really need my help or move your parents with you, whatever it is. But I understand, like if that's your priority, that's your desire. that's absolutely what I would want to do too. But obviously you can't force your husband to make a particular decision.

Starting point is 00:25:02 You can pray the prayer of the righteous person has great power. You can pray that the Holy Spirit would lead your husband in a particular direction. You can be very honest with your husband. But ultimately, if you are married, you are one with your spouse and where he goes, you go to. So I don't really think that that's a, a choice. Should I move where my husband wants to move or prioritize my aging parents? Look, if your husband moves, you have to move as hard as that might be. Hey, this is Steve Day. If you're listening to Allie,

Starting point is 00:25:34 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.

Starting point is 00:26:10 I hope you'll join us. Okay, will we see our miscarried babies in heaven and know them, even five weeks miscarried? So we've talked about this question before. I recommend some resources just because we don't have time to get into all the theology of this, but I recommend some resources by John Piper and John MacArthur. Both John Piper and John McArthur believe that, yes, these babies, whether they are aborted babies, miscarried babies, that they will be inhabited. And they cite lots of biblical evidence for why they believe that.

Starting point is 00:26:59 And you will get different answers on that. And it's not a denial of the theological tenet of original sin. But both of them explain very well why understanding the nature of God and some biblical references leads us to believe that these babies will be in heaven. I absolutely think so. And I think that you absolutely will recognize them. And just understand, like, no matter how many times you've miscarried, maybe you have never brought a baby to term, like, you are a mother.

Starting point is 00:27:31 You're a mother. You have created life inside of you and whether you miscarried at five weeks, whether you had a stillborn baby that you never got to bring home from the hospital, whether you had a complication at 20 weeks, whatever it is, you are a mother to that child. So maybe you have three children here on earth and you have other children that tragically died in the womb or coming out of the womb. You are still a mother to those children. So just to remember that. I think that God is very gracious and very compassionate towards mothers and fathers who have lost their children. Let's see. Let's see. Let's see. There's lots of like birth control and children, children type questions. Here's a question that doesn't have to do with any of that. Do I think that they do, do you think that they will ever admit about the Hunter

Starting point is 00:28:25 laptop? So I'm going to just like read between the lines here and guess that you are talking about. like, I don't know, they, the intelligence community, Democrats in Congress, I don't think so. Information has already trickled out about it, that it wasn't just this Russian conspiracy theory, which is what the media told us in the beginning, but that, of course, it was legitimate. It was a totally legitimate news story, New York Post. Remember, they reported on it. They got kicked off Twitter for a long time for reporting on it.

Starting point is 00:28:56 This was right before the election. I would call that election interference. And it is completely legitimate. And there are so many questions about Hunter Biden's laptop and the contents there that we have not even begun to ask about or begun to discover. So I don't know if they will ever admit anything. Do I think Biden will ever admit anything? No. He is so proudly parading his son around.

Starting point is 00:29:20 It's actually, it's actually amazing when you think about it. Obviously, there is a different justice system for those kinds of people that there is for the rest of us. and certainly Republicans versus Democrats. So I wouldn't, I wouldn't hold your breath. I wouldn't hold your breath when it, when it comes to that. Okay, I'll do one more. Another spicy one. Birth control recommendations.

Starting point is 00:29:54 All right, depending on the age of your kids and what you've talked to them about, you may or may not want them to listen to this. So birth control recommendations, we've talked about this before. We've done a whole episode on birth control, what birth control pills are, what hormonal birth control pills do. I recommend going back and listening to that episode. We can link it in the description so you can listen to it. And I think that there is an ethical problem with all hormonal birth control, whether that's an IUD, even if it's a copper IUD, which is not hormonal, and with a pill.

Starting point is 00:30:29 Because all of it, one, I think it interferes with how your body is supposed to function. Your body is supposed to ovulate. You're supposed to have a period. these things are supposed to happen. When we interfere with that process, that natural process, when we interfere with any kind of natural process, there are probably going to be consequences for some people. There aren't any real scene consequences or major consequences to that. Maybe there's no long-term consequences. I certainly know people who have been on hormonal birth control for a long time and they were able to get pregnant very quickly after they got off birth control. Some people are not so

Starting point is 00:31:04 fortunate. There are a lot of repercussions, emotional repercussions that come with hormonal birth control, but also physical repercussions, short term and long term that come with birth control. And one of the big problems with it is that we're not told that. We're not told that when we're prescribed birth control. I was ridiculously prescribed birth control when I was in high school by a doctor who I'm sure assumed that all of her teenage patients were sexually active and I absolutely wasn't. I think, and again, we're kind of getting a little graphic. If my, if the male members of my family are are watching this, or listening to this, you probably just want to turn it off. You probably don't want to hear me talk about this. But I think that I was like, I think my period was like 10 days late or something

Starting point is 00:31:47 when I was 17 years old. And she was like, oh, yeah, we definitely need to, we just need to go ahead and put you, put you on yes, which we now know, yes is terrible for you. They have like those commercials, like, were you put on yes? You have a right to compensation. I'm like, oh, great. I was put on Yeah, so I was a teenager. And because something totally normal happened to me, I had mono, and then I was a little bit late for my period. And then my doctor, who I'm sure just assumed I was lying about my sexual activity or my lack of sexual activity, decided to put me on birth control.

Starting point is 00:32:20 And I stayed on it because I didn't, I didn't know any different. I stayed on it until I realized or I just thought about the fact. I think, I don't know, it was probably seven or so years later. maybe no it's probably a little bit less than that maybe five or six years later that I was like I don't need this there's no reason for me to take this I tried to get off of it a couple times I started getting acne which I never had before didn't like that so I went back on birth control which is not a good reason and finally I was like you know what I feel like this is probably just not good for me I feel like it's also causing me to be really emotional every single month like really emotional and that just doesn't feel good that doesn't feel right and so I did get off of it and it did cause acne for a little bit, but it was worth it. It took like three to six months for everything to go back to normal, and I haven't been on hormonal birth control since then. And I didn't even think about the ethical problems with it when it comes to conception, because that wasn't something that I was thinking about at the time. That's not why I was taking birth control. But now I know that birth control can kill a

Starting point is 00:33:25 fertilized egg. It can kill a fertilized egg. Not saying that's what happens every month. If you were sexually active and you are on the pill, but it can. So it can just make your womb inhospitable for that fertilized egg to implant. So rather than it stopping ovulation, sometimes it doesn't stop ovulation, sometimes it doesn't stop fertilization. Sometimes it just stops implantation. So if we believe, as we do, that life begins at fertilization when sperm meets egg, I mean, that's when unique human DNA comes into play, then it is possible for birth control to kill that tiny human being before that human being implants. It's the same thing with an IUD. An IUD simply makes your womb inhospitable for that fertilized egg should it fertilize, which like I said, could be possibly rare,

Starting point is 00:34:20 to implant into the uterus. And so there are ethical questions. Does it end a human life? that's something that you really need to consider. I don't think, I know that there are plenty of people who do. I don't think all other forms of birth control are immoral or unethical or sinful. As we already talked about, like the number of children you have, I do believe that depending on your motivations, that's up to freedom of conscience. And so there are a variety of ways that don't put in danger or endanger a human. being's life that you can prevent pregnancy or try to prevent pregnancy. Some people have great fortune. I don't like to say the word luck. Maybe fortune is it right either. They've had great success,

Starting point is 00:35:10 I should say, with natural family planning. I think that's totally possible. I think that that is possible for some people. I remember when I first got married, the midwife was like, yeah, natural family planning is family is planning your family naturally. Like you're going to get pregnant if you do natural family planning. But for some people, it totally works. For some people, it doesn't. You have to find what's right for you. As long as, again, you're not crossing those boundaries into sinfulness and into potentially ending that human life. And again, assessing your motivations for why you are preventing pregnancy. There are some good reasons to do so and some selfish reasons to do so. All right. I think that's all I have time for to do.

Starting point is 00:35:51 day. We will be back here soon. 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

Starting point is 00:36:29 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.

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