Growing up, my music collection was always a combination of two main genres: Christian worship and pop punk rock. Putting on shuffle, I would go from songs by Chris Tomlin, Hillsong, Shane and Shane, to songs from bands like Mayday Parade, Blink-182, and Simple Plan.

One day, I discovered that one of the bands I liked had a foot in both worlds. The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus is a secular punk band, but their lead singer, Ronnie Winter, is a Christian. I developed a soft spot for them.

The song's chorus warns that fear leads to anger, which leads to hate — and implores the listener not to 'buy in' to this cycle. Except when it comes to Trump voters, apparently.

In their more than 20-year career, RJSA have tended to stay away from politics. Recently, however, that changed — and Winter came out with a stance more polarizing than anything I've seen from any punk band — even avowedly "leftist" ones.

In short: If you voted for Donald Trump, you are not welcome at his shows.

Lifetime ban

Winter communicated the new policy in a lengthy Instagram post. After a preamble about how "woke people" were right about "everything they said was going to happen," Winter laid down the law:

Hi, I’m Ronnie Winter. I sing for the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, and I actually follow what Jesus says. If you’re a Christian and you’re watching this and you voted for Donald Trump, shame on you. You are not allowed to come to my shows. I don’t want you there. Don’t come to my shows. If you voted for Donald Trump, do not come to my shows — ever, not just these four years.

Don’t come to my shows because you’re going to hear a lot of woke propaganda, and you’re going to hear the actual words of Jesus. You’re going to see a lot of acceptance from all areas of life and races, and you’re just going to see a lot of harmony. That’s not what you’re about. Don’t come. Refunds are available. Forever, don’t come. Goodbye.

In retrospect, I should've seen it coming. As was the case with many performing artists, Donald Trump seemed to hit a nerve. I first remember them going political on a song from their 2020 release "The Emergency EP."

“Don’t Buy Into It” condemns a number of conservative "sins," including transphobia, immigration restriction, and telling people what they can do with what "God has given them."

"Everyone hates everyone," goes another verse. "That's not true, because we love you, and we're not buying into it." The song's chorus warns that fear leads to anger, which leads to hate — and implores the listener not to "buy in" to this cycle.

Except when it comes to Trump voters, apparently.

Mosh pit politics

Now, punk bands identifying with the left is nothing new, of course. For example, pop-punk group Green Day has always worn their politics on their sleeves, from their anti-G.W. Bush anthem "American Idiot" to lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong leading fans in a chant calling Trump a "fat bastard" at a recent concert.

Then there's Rage Against the Machine, the quintessential "antiestablishment" punk band, with nearly every one of their songs criticizing the domestic and foreign policies of current and previous presidential administrations.

The difference is these bands implicitly welcome all fans to come and listen, as far as I know. Fans know what they’re getting into when they attend one of these shows. Those who lean conservative can either not attend or decide not to let the politics bother them. That’s how it's supposed to be.

But Ronnie Winter has decided to go a different route. And that’s his route to choose.

That’s right, I’m not going to attack Winter for deciding he doesn’t want to associate himself with conservatives or Trump supporters. Winter is fully within his right as an artist to say, “Hey, you, I don’t want you here.” And fans of the band who may also be conservative can either decide to never support the band again or live with it.

Gospel fine print?

What I find issue with is Winter’s apparent belief that this is somehow following the teachings of Jesus Christ. That "the actual words of Jesus" he mentions are somehow not meant for the ears of those who support Trump.

I have to wonder, where in the Bible does Jesus offer an exemption from his command to love one another in the case of political disagreements? Did we forget to read the fine print for 1 John 3:16 ("offer not valid for certain voters")?

Time and time again, the Bible showed Jesus loving the marginalized. And whether Ronnie Winter is willing to admit it or not, conservatives these days can find themselves pretty marginalized — whether they're banned from social media platforms, dropped by a bank or payment processor, or just harassed for wearing a MAGA hat in public.

Jesus loved the marginalized and didn’t isolate or exclude those society deemed controversial. Winter is all for this ... except when it comes to conservatives.

A new command

Romans 5:8 puts it clearly, “But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” And in the exact words of Jesus, John 13:34-35 says, “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

I’m currently going through my own struggles with Christianity and my faith, but I still find within me the urge to defend it. And while I agree with Winter that using Christianity to cause hate and division is wrong, I disagree with how he chooses to respond.

You can’t fight fire with fire. I cannot sit idly by and watch a person claiming to follow Christ while simultaneously putting this much effort into division and hate. It goes without saying that if any other band said to any other faction of society that they are not welcome at their shows, it would be met with criticism, if not outrage.

No stranger to the struggle

So my question for Ronnie Winter is: Do you actually believe this is the right course to take? Do you really believe that Trump voters aren't worthy of attending your shows — and presumably benefiting from the example of Christian faith you claim they embody?

I’m not here to question if Winters' faith is genuine or not. That's God’s job. I’m also not here to delve into Winter’s deeper theological views. There are people way more qualified to do that than I. I’m just a struggling Christian who still understands the core of Christianity and that this type of divisiveness should never be a part of the equation.

I’m also not going to judge. I’m no stranger to the struggle to follow the perfect example of Jesus Christ — especially over the last six years. For we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

But I can offer this charitable advice, both to Winter and anyone who takes satisfaction from the lines he's drawn: Don’t buy into it.

Conservative women have decided they're better looking than liberals

Many young women have had enough of being told men can be in their locker rooms, that being alone is better, and that Republicans want to take their rights away.

In fact, hundreds of thousands of conservatives — particularly in big cities — have been searching for alternatives to transactional dating experiences that push liberal indoctrination, which has included banning guns and forced gender ideology, as part of matchmaking.

'It's OK to take up space, have fun, look good, and still stand firm in your values.'

The counterculture has even swung in the online dating marketplace with the popularity of an app called Date Right Stuff. Launched in 2022, the app for conservative singles has around 400,000 downloads, according to co-founder Dan Huff.

Huff told the New York Post that after President Trump's re-election, the app saw a download boom of "tens of thousands," which has only helped his team focus on getting conservatives out and meeting each other.

"There’s a spark in New York now, a reawakening," Huff added, noting that he has helped organize events for conservatives in blue cities with "hundreds of attendees."

With the stated goal of letting conservatives know they are not alone in Democratic strongholds, the app spawned another not-so-liberal venture: a female entrepreneur's attempt at popularizing traditional dating by hosting events that openly boast conservatives are better looking than liberals.

Raquel Debono puts these gatherings together and unabashedly calls them "Make America Hot Again."

Debono stresses that she is focused on "what actually works: meeting in person."

"It's the most traditional, genuinely human way to connect," Debono told Blaze News.

The 29-year-old is actually the former chief marketing officer of Date Right Stuff but says her vision expanded into its own movement, away from dating apps.

"Dating apps, for all their promises, have made dating transactional, isolating, and shallow. They're what's ruined dating, not meeting face to face. My events flip that script and remind people that real chemistry doesn't happen behind a screen."

Debono hosted a NYC party in May and had no problem drawing out notable attendees. The host was pictured alongside popular female influencers like Paula Scanlan, a former NCAA swimmer turned women's sports activist, and Christine Clark, a conservative commentator and podcast host.

Sporting a "Make America Hot Again" hat, Debono says she has found success in helping people build "real connections."

"If that means being 'hot' and confident while doing it? Even better. I'm showing that you can be young, right-leaning, and still be the life of the party — that's what scares [liberals] most."

Debono expressed her desire to enforce the same, basic idea through her events and commentary: "It's OK to take up space, have fun, look good, and still stand firm in your values."

Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Blaze News asked Justine Brooke Murray, a conservative host and former Miss Central Jersey 2024, if right-wing-themed dating apps and meet-ups represent a moral contradiction for conservative women.

"Of course, people shouldn't be calling themselves 'hot,' but looking good is not a crime," Murray retorted. "How else are people going to meet and truly get to know each other, without opportunities for it? Mixers like these are considered old-fashioned, and frankly, kosher in an online age that bred my generation to think hooking up with random people they 'meet' on an app is normal."

Murray agreed that making America "hot again," and what it represents, is the right way to combat "vapid" Marxists who want to center society around the concept of "oppression" and posting "edited, scantily clad pictures on Tinder."

As well, the influencer vehemently rejected the idea that the conservative gatherings were just another way for women to get attention.

"Attention-seeking would be women posting those pictures for quick affirmation. And on social media, you never know who the dirty old guy (or woman) on the other end of the screen actually is."

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Red-state AG crushes woke 'welcome' signs, upholds ban on political propaganda in schools

The Republican attorney general of Idaho has taken aim at supposedly inclusive "welcome" signs in public school classrooms, saying they violate a new law banning political displays.

"All are welcome."

"Everyone is welcome."

'All Are Welcome Here' signs were printed in multiple languages and, in the words of the outlet, for 'all gender identities.'

Signs and banners promoting these left-coded messages became commonplace across America shortly after President Donald Trump's first election victory in 2016. In fact, a handful of liberal women in Twin Cities, Minnesota, claimed in 2017 to have started the "All Are Welcome Here" movement after someone tagged a local high school with racist graffiti following Trump's election.

Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

The comments the women gave to KARE 11 are filled with woke, inane buzzwords:

"We are helping people remind themselves of that call to positivity and that call to inclusivity every time they drive out of their driveway or they wear the button."
"The message of inclusivity was big for me, having a child of my own. It is such a small thing, but it's impactful, because children see it, gets people thinking or talking and having conversations they might not otherwise have."
"It’s easy to say that, but to be able to pull apart what that means, and that might mean things about me have to change in order for you to feel welcome — that is the important piece, to ask ourselves how to seek to understand difference instead of being afraid. This is the surface, and it doesn’t mean anything unless we are living it every single day, so we can really figure out what equity means."

One woman, identified as a school principal, claimed she made sure "All Are Welcome Here" signs were printed in multiple languages and, in the words of the outlet, for "all gender identities."

A student was later identified as the culprit behind the racist graffiti and disciplined by the school, but his or her identity and possible motives were not reported.

Aware of their origins, Attorney General Raul Labrador (R) nixed those signs in all public schools in Idaho, determining that they run afoul of HB 41, which prohibits politically charged banners and flags, especially those related to "a political party, race, sexual orientation, gender, or a political ideology."

Julia Nikhinson/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Labrador's ruling, issued in late May, as well as guidance about the law from the Idaho Department of Education, issued last week, came largely in response to Sarah Inama, a sixth-grade teacher in West Ada who had displayed in her classroom an "everyone is welcome here" sign featuring kids' hands of various skin tones.

Inama initially took down the sign in February, but soon afterward restored it.

"I was told that 'everyone is welcome here' is not something that everybody believes. So that's what makes it a personal opinion," she said back in March after backlash prompted the West Ada School District to clarify what would and would not be permitted.

'Let’s keep political agendas out of the classroom and return to teaching reading, writing, and math — and leave parenting to the parents.'

In his opinion, Labrador cited the West Ada case specifically, claiming Inama's signs "are part of an ideological/social movement which started in Twin Cities, Minnesota, following the 2016 election of Donald Trump."

He also noted that the Idaho Democratic Party has embraced the "everyone is welcome here" sign "as a political statement" and has since begun selling merchandise with the same words and graphic on it.

Communications director Avery Roberts shot back that the party isn't selling the merchandise to raise money but to stand in solidarity with Inama against "discrimination."

"We’re not doing this to make money. The signs and stickers barely cover costs. What matters is the message. Taking a stand against discrimination shouldn’t be a partisan issue, and we hope leaders in every party see it that way," Roberts said in a statement to the New York Post.

Inama seems to take a similar view, insisting to Idaho Education News that "this message is not political." However, she went on to say that the Minnesota women "made these signs to combat racism," perhaps accidentally letting the truth slip that "welcome" signs are often related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

In fact, Idaho Education News indicated that Inama embraces "messages of inclusion." While the outlet suggested that "inclusive sayings" and messages are apolitical, in this day and age, they always point toward DEI, a decidedly left-leaning ethos.

After he retook office in January, Trump almost immediately banned all federal DEI initiatives, characterizing them in his executive order as forms of "illegal and immoral discrimination."

Labrador certainly considers the supposedly benign "welcome" messages as political, claiming they are "no different than a 'Make America Great Again' sign." For that reason, he says they have no business in public school classrooms.

"Idaho welcomes every child and always should. But parents and the public know the difference between education and political indoctrination," he posted to X on Tuesday.

"Let’s keep political agendas out of the classroom and return to teaching reading, writing, and math — and leave parenting to the parents."

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ROOKE: GOP Given Perfect Opportunity To Gain Control Over Powerful Elites

'There has to be a checks and balances system'

'Sorry about that': WNBA announcer apologizes for sounding too pro-Trump

The WNBA continued its efforts to push away conservative fans last week, rejecting a simple statement over the idea that it could be misconstrued as conservative.

Between the constant dragging of star Caitlin Clark and the relentless woke activism that included a George Floyd tribute this May, the league not only basks in liberalism, but it outright rejects patriotism at the same time.

This trend continued when WNBA commentator Rebecca Lobo uttered a phrase last weekend that could be considered supportive of the president or even too conservative for the league.

Lobo was doing play-by-play alongside Pam Ward for a game between the Las Vegas Aces and the Indiana Fever on Sunday, a huge game for women's basketball fans. As is often the case with the WNBA, the final score was not the most talked about aspect of the game, but rather it was antics on the part of the announcers.

While discussing a foul call, Lobo was at odds with the referees' decision as Ward jokingly pointed out the disagreement.

'Differences of opinion are perfectly fine.'

Fans posted a recording of the exchange in which Ward asked Lobo, "So they disagree with you?"

Lobo responded, "They do, and I disagree with them, and that’s fine. That’s what makes America great, right, Pam Ward?"

Lobo's seemingly harmless statement sucked the gravity away from the broadcast table, resulting in dead silence over the microphones for about eight seconds.

"I should rephrase that," Lobo eventually said, breaking the silence. Her apology would come soon after.

Lobo's suggestion of correcting herself was met with a whispered "yes" from Ward, who then offered a different version of the remark.

"Differences of opinion are perfectly fine," Ward asserted.

Lobo of course gave in and apologized.

"Yes, that's a better way to say it. Sorry about that," she conceded.

Fans responded to the footage with confusion, with many saying Lobo should have stood her ground.

"No reason to take back. [She] said the fact we disagree makes America great!" a Caitlin Clark fan wrote on X.

A Florida fan replied to the X post, saying, "So they hate America? Or like America? They literally live in the land of conundrum."

1996: Rebecca Lobo and teammates celebrate their Olympic victory over Ukraine, 98-65. BOB DAEMMRICH/AFP via Getty Images)

Governing bodies in sports all exert control over their athletes, former gymnast Jennifer Sey told Blaze News.

The athlete explained that in her sport, "for decades you couldn't talk about abusive coaches. And I guess in the WNBA you can't say anything that might be construed as conservative."

Sey added, "There's no way all the players agree and have the same views, but the WNBA makes it clear what the organization's politics are, and they must send a clear message to the players to fall in line or else."

The national champion called it "patently ridiculous" to interpret Lobo's comments as political simply because Donald Trump is the president.

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Trump’s punitive strike was precision, not permission for war

President Donald Trump made clear from the start: A nuclear-armed Iran is unacceptable. But until just recently, few paid attention. In March, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard testified that while Iran had enriched a suspicious amount of uranium, it lacked a viable weapons program — let alone a bomb.

At the same time, left-wing agitators tried to spread immigration riots from Los Angeles to the rest of the country. Trump stayed focused on the domestic agenda his voters demanded. Israel’s sudden strike on Iran threatened to drag the United States into another foreign war — and derail Trump’s progress at home.

Trump knows his voters support a strong defense — but they’re tired of wasting American blood and treasure to fight foreign wars while their country falls apart at home.

Now that the U.S. has carried out a precision strike and set back Iran’s nuclear program, it’s time for Trump to return his full attention to rescuing America from Joe Biden’s open-border catastrophe.

Every presidency races against time, political capital, and public attention. Trump understood from the outset how easily foreign entanglements — especially in the Middle East — can swallow an administration.

That’s one reason the MAGA base remains loyal: Trump prioritizes domestic issues most presidents ignore while playing global policeman. Even while negotiating with Iran, Trump kept his focus on immigration. He battled leftist protesters and rogue judges at home, while keeping one eye on foreign threats.

But nearly two years after the terrorist attacks on October 7, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saw the window for war with Iran closing. Israel launched initial strikes on June 13 without American approval. Supporters insisted Israel could finish the job alone.

That was welcome news to Trump’s base, which feared any new conflict in the Middle East would derail his domestic policy blitz. But then the neoconservatives started moving the goalposts. Suddenly, it wasn’t just about airstrikes — it was about regime change.

Trump approved the use of U.S. bunker-buster bombs, believing them essential to destroy uranium enrichment sites buried deep in Iran’s mountains. U.S. forces entered and exited Iranian airspace without incident, delivering their payloads. Both sides issued conflicting reports about the strike’s effectiveness. But Trump clearly saw the operation as a means to reduce foreign policy pressure and pivot back to domestic priorities.

That pivot didn’t go as quickly as planned.

Israel and its allies quickly shifted from nuclear disarmament to full-blown regime change. Iran fired retaliatory missiles at a U.S. base in Qatar. While those strikes appeared calibrated to avoid casualties, tensions escalated.

Trump announced a ceasefire he had brokered between Iran and Israel. Both nations violated it within hours.

Netanyahu even defied Trump directly, ordering another strike while the president live-tweeted his demand for Israeli jets to turn back. They dropped their payloads anyway.

Frustrated, Trump told reporters Tuesday morning he was fed up with both countries. Israel, a close ally, had no interest in honoring its commitments. “Truth is, they have been fighting so long and so hard they don’t know what the f**k they’re doing. Do you understand that?” he said.

Blaze Media Illustration

American and Israeli interests were never fully aligned. Israel wants regime change. It lacks the capability to do it alone. Americans don’t want a nuclear Iran, either, but they have no appetite for another long war.

Trump’s airstrike may have succeeded, but that won’t satisfy Netanyahu. He clearly hopes to drag Trump into a broader conflict.

Israel’s refusal to respect a ceasefire negotiated by its primary benefactor makes the next step obvious: walk away.

On Tuesday, Trump issued a flurry of social media posts calling for mass deportations. He got what he wanted in Iran. Now, he’s ready to exit.

Would Israel continue its push for regime change without U.S. support? Maybe. It’s time to find out. The U.S. shouldn’t fight another unpopular Middle East war for an ally that won’t keep its word.

In his farewell address after his first term, Trump listed avoiding war as one of his proudest achievements. He knows his voters support a strong defense — but they’re tired of wasting American blood and treasure to fight foreign wars while their country falls apart at home.

Republicans always promise domestic wins. They spend their political capital overseas. Trump’s first hundred days this term have been different. He’s delivered rapid-fire domestic victories. That’s where the focus belongs.

Americans don’t want more war in the Middle East — especially one waged on behalf of an ally that does not respect their president. Biden’s open-border nightmare still haunts the nation. Crime, poverty, trafficking, and collapsing infrastructure all stem from the ongoing invasion of illegal immigrants.

Whatever nuclear threat existed in Iran has been neutralized.

Now Trump must do the job he was elected to do — the job he wants to do.

Deport illegal aliens, finish the wall, and put America first.

Exclusive: JD Vance tells BlazeTV's Steve Deace how Trump dodged the 'bad decision' his predecessors made in the Middle East

Friends and foes alike have expressed skepticism in recent days regarding President Donald Trump's approach to the Israeli-Iranian conflict. Trump appears to have once again earned their trust by neutralizing the Iranian nuclear program, striking a tenuous peace between Tehran and Jerusalem, and securing a U.S. exit out of what easily could have become another bloody Middle Eastern quagmire.

Vice President JD Vance provided BlazeTV host Steve Deace with critical insights on Tuesday both into the thinking that guided the president's successful actions in the Middle East and into how Trump avoided the damning misstep that tripped up his predecessors.

Vance, who deployed as a Marine to Iraq in 2005, indicated that he "always wondered kind of what went wrong" with past military interventions in the Middle East. This recent episode in the region buttressed his understanding that the answer is "that we allowed mission creep. In other words, we started with one mission, and then it turned into another mission, and it turned into another mission."

This phenomenon would account, in part, for why the U.S. military was formally involved in Afghanistan for two decades and in Iraq from 2003 until 2011 — protracted conflicts that claimed the lives of thousands of American service members and cost trillions of dollars.

Vance suggested that previous presidents lacked the clarity of focus and the restraint that Trump exercised in recent days.

Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

"You didn't have the kind of presidential leadership to say, 'We are going to do what we came to do, and then once we've accomplished that successfully, we're going to get out,'" Vance told Deace. "And what did the president say we needed to do? We needed to destroy the Iranian nuclear program. We did that, of course, with incredibly competent troops and, really, an amazing military operation."

"The president just never let that mission creep settle in to the way the generals were thinking about it, the [way] diplomats were thinking about it," continued the vice president. "I really have to give the president all of the credit here, because I think, look — American history has told us that given the situation that [Trump] was in, every American president of pretty much my lifetime has made a bad decision in the Middle East. He was able to get in there, do what he said he was going to do, and then put the region back on the path to peace."

— (@)

Vance indicated further that Trump has changed the nature of the game, particularly where international expectations go, noting that foreign powers have come to expect the U.S. to "permanently entrench ourselves in that region of the world; to try to build democracies; to build separate nations, sometimes even separate cultures within a country where you didn't have any democratic culture."

The reason why the U.S. defied expectations this time around is because the man in charge "has made it very clear that the only thing the United States is going to be on the hook for is accomplishing our national objectives and our national mission."

'We don't want to have to serve as the policemen of the world.'

While emphasizing a willingness from the Trump administration to engage in diplomacy, Vance emphasized that America's interests remain the top priority — that "America first" is Trump's guiding principle in such matters.

Deace suggested that many in the MAGA coalition have been torn between a love for Israel and a desire to limit American engagements in the Middle East, particularly those that might draw American troops abroad.

Vance indicated that Trump "has been able to thread the needle very well" by simultaneously recognizing Israel as a "very important ally" with which there are multiple opportunities for cooperation, and the need, both for the U.S. and Jerusalem, for the U.S. to give up the role of "policemen of the Middle East" and leave that responsibility to the Israelis and the "rational" Gulf Arab states.

"We want Israel and the Gulf Arab countries to police their own back yard," said Vance. "We don't want to have to serve as the policemen of the world."

— (@)

In addition to seeking further disentanglement from Middle Eastern affairs, the vice president suggested there is also room for criticism of the action taken on the part of friends in the region.

'I think so long as we have political leaders in America who are laser-focused on the United States, yes, we can be pro-Israel.'

Vance noted that while Israel "is a great friend of ours, and we are in agreement on the deep cultural value question," that "doesn't mean that on every question of foreign policy we're always going to be aligned."

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Vance cited as an example Trump's stern call Tuesday morning with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which the president made clear that the ceasefire needed to be respected.

"I think so long as we have political leaders in America who are laser-focused on the United States, yes, we can be pro-Israel. Yes, we can say that our Israeli friends have a lot of, you know — there are a lot of ways in which we can work together," Vance told Deace. "Allies often do work together, but sometimes allies have disagreement, and I think we just have to be honest about that."

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The MAGA divide over Israel is a test of maturity

The recent clash between Tucker Carlson and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) over the Israel-Iran conflict isn’t just a Twitter skirmish. It’s a proxy battle highlighting a deeper divide within the MAGA movement. That divide cuts to the heart of competing worldviews, and I’ve spent much of this week on my show trying to make sense of it through a biblical lens.

This internal debate isn’t a problem. In fact, it’s a strength. You’ll see it across Blaze Media on a wide variety of questions. Glenn Beck champions critical thinking and challenging assumptions. We don’t all walk in lockstep — nor should we. On this issue alone, you’ll hear wildly different takes across the network. That diversity makes us better.

We live in a time that punishes discernment. Critical thinking doesn’t just get ignored — it gets attacked. And yet I’ve never seen so many people hungry for truth.

We’re also better off when we allow that debate to happen within ourselves.

When I first became a Christian, I devoured everything I could find about church history and theology. I loved Augustine. Then I read Calvin and agreed with him — even where he contradicted Augustine. Then I read Luther, who opposed both of them — and I agreed with him, too. What now?

That tension never goes away. Pick up a Tim Keller book, and the same thing happens. If he wrote it before 2005, it’s probably excellent. If he wrote it after, it probably isn’t. So is Keller good or bad? Right or wrong?

I care about truth more than just about anyone I know. But early in my journey, I learned a hard lesson — delivered, oddly enough, by one of my favorite childhood films “WarGames”: “The only winning move is not to play.”

So do I have to pick Tucker or Cruz? Do I have to vote someone off the island?

Nope. If someone’s right in the moment, I’m with them. If they’re wrong — even if they were right 10 times before — I’m not. It’s not personal. It’s principled. That’s the only way I’ve found to avoid losing my mind, becoming a tribalist, or slipping into flat-out idolatry.

We live in a time that punishes discernment. Critical thinking doesn’t just get ignored — it gets attacked. And yet, I’ve never seen so many people hungry for truth.

That hunger forces us to work with unlikely allies.

Take Naomi Wolf. For three decades, she belonged to a political world I deeply opposed. She worked for the Clintons and trafficked in feminist nonsense. But during COVID, when the lies were thickest, she told the truth. She fought the right fight, at the right time, on the right side. That mattered more than her résumé. That’s what discernment looks like. Personality cults don’t interest me.

KvitaJan via iStock/Getty Images

Same with Donald Trump. In 2015, his campaign tried everything to hire me. I almost said yes. But then I did everything I could to stop him from winning. Yet the morning after his victory, I said something on my show that might be the most important thing I’ve ever said on-air: “The country has spoken. NeverTrump is dead and never coming back.”

I wanted what was best for the country. And at that moment, that meant helping Trump succeed. How could I help?

You won’t think that way if you’re obsessed with defending your narrative at all costs — especially if that narrative floats untethered from the Word of God.

You won’t love your neighbor. You’ll straw-man your opponents. You’ll never consider the possibility you’re wrong.

Look around. Just days ago, Israel versus Iran wasn’t on our radar. Now, people have already retreated to their corners and locked in their positions — on a conflict that could reshape the lives of millions.

Maybe we should stop. Breathe. Listen.

Maybe, before we harden into another round of generational mistakes, we should consult God — and one another.

Let’s reason together. It’s not weakness. It’s wisdom. And we need more of it.

One of my favorite punk bands just banned Trump supporters ... in the name of Jesus?!

Lifetime ban

Mosh pit politics

Gospel fine print?

A new command

No stranger to the struggle

Conservative women have decided they're better looking than liberals

Red-state AG crushes woke 'welcome' signs, upholds ban on political propaganda in schools

'Sorry about that': WNBA announcer apologizes for sounding too pro-Trump

Trump’s punitive strike was precision, not permission for war

Exclusive: JD Vance tells BlazeTV's Steve Deace how Trump dodged the 'bad decision' his predecessors made in the Middle East

What 'Split'? 9 in 10 MAGA Voters Back Trump Strikes on Iran, Poll Shows

We Don’t Need A Trite And Predictable MAGA Satire

The MAGA divide over Israel is a test of maturity

Gang of foreign nationals gets away with jewelry store heist; a month later they try again — but this time cops are ready

It's time to end the WHO's secret grip on American health care

Go woke, go MEGA broke — this luxury company’s sales just plummeted 97%

Horror and heroism in Texas as search for flood survivors continues

The BLT that broke my brain (and exposed a bigger problem)

Lifetime ban

Mosh pit politics

Gospel fine print?

A new command

No stranger to the struggle

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