WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.520 --> 00:00:03.720 Welcome to the nonprofits. Our third story this week. 2 00:00:03.560 --> 00:00:06.400 Takes us into the halls of Congress where Huse speaker 3 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:10.960 Mike Johnson recently quoted Thomas Jefferson during his National Prayer? 4 00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:14.000 Or did he? Chris Mallard? Can he help clarify? 5 00:00:15.279 --> 00:00:20.280 Thank you, Scott. According to Johnson, Thomas Jefferson supposedly recited 6 00:00:20.320 --> 00:00:24.480 the National Prayer of Peace every day of his presidency, 7 00:00:24.519 --> 00:00:27.600 even right up until his death. But let's take a 8 00:00:27.640 --> 00:00:30.879 moment here, that's not quite the truth. The Jefferson Foundation 9 00:00:31.199 --> 00:00:35.280 and historians have been clear that there is no historical 10 00:00:35.320 --> 00:00:40.719 evidence to support this so called prayer by Jefferson, and 11 00:00:40.759 --> 00:00:44.000 they've labeled it as frankly bogus. And Johnson isn't the 12 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:47.039 first person to trot out this nonsense. It's been making 13 00:00:47.079 --> 00:00:51.399 the rounds in certain religious circles for years. Now. Here's 14 00:00:51.439 --> 00:00:55.759 where it really gets interesting. Thomas Jefferson wasn't exactly the 15 00:00:55.759 --> 00:00:58.399 pious Christian many want him to be. He leaned heavily 16 00:00:58.520 --> 00:01:02.840 towards deism, belief system that acknowledges the Creator but rejects 17 00:01:02.960 --> 00:01:07.480 organize religion and divine intervention in human affairs. Jefferson wasn't 18 00:01:07.519 --> 00:01:11.840 skeptical or He was skeptical of many core Christian doctrines, 19 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:15.079 like the divinity of Jesus or miracles, and he even 20 00:01:15.079 --> 00:01:17.159 went so far as to create his own version of 21 00:01:17.200 --> 00:01:21.560 the Bible, removing all the supernatural elements and focusing solely 22 00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:26.319 on Jesus's teachings. So, while Jefferson may have respected the 23 00:01:26.319 --> 00:01:30.480 moral teachings of Christianity, he firmly believed that religion should 24 00:01:30.519 --> 00:01:33.799 be a personal matter. In fact, he was so passionate 25 00:01:33.799 --> 00:01:36.840 about this that he wrote the Virginia's Statute for Religious 26 00:01:36.879 --> 00:01:40.599 Freedom in seventeen seventy six, which was adopted in seventeen 27 00:01:40.719 --> 00:01:44.959 eighty six. That statute was essentially the first legal attempt 28 00:01:45.239 --> 00:01:49.200 in our young nation's history to separate church from state, 29 00:01:49.719 --> 00:01:53.680 a principle he championed throughout his career. When I hear 30 00:01:53.719 --> 00:01:56.719 Johnson's claim, I feel it it's like yet another attempt 31 00:01:56.760 --> 00:02:00.599 to rewrite history, to turn someone who is openly critical 32 00:02:00.599 --> 00:02:05.760 of institutionalized religion into some kind of Christian mascot. Jefferson's 33 00:02:05.840 --> 00:02:10.000 actual beliefs tell a very different story, one that underscores 34 00:02:10.039 --> 00:02:13.360 his commitment to personal freedom and the separation of religion 35 00:02:13.560 --> 00:02:16.719 and government. This was from an article from Newsbreak by 36 00:02:16.800 --> 00:02:19.639 Kelly Dallas on January seventh, twenty twenty four. 37 00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:23.039 All right, well, Chris, you were talking about how Speaker 38 00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:26.919 Johnson was misquoting Jefferson and was being called out for it. 39 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:29.439 But is this author burying the lead here? 40 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:31.919 I think so, don't you think so? Anybody else to 41 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:35.680 show of hands? I mean, they're like, the real thing 42 00:02:35.719 --> 00:02:39.120 here is Johnson's up there, the third, I believe, the 43 00:02:39.159 --> 00:02:42.520 third highest political power in the land, and he's up 44 00:02:42.520 --> 00:02:47.840 there spouting misinformation and doing prayers. The prayer itself is 45 00:02:47.879 --> 00:02:52.159 really what should be taken as the biggest defense, and 46 00:02:52.199 --> 00:02:54.159 that's kind of one of the things I noticed. I'm like, well, 47 00:02:54.240 --> 00:02:56.280 wait a second, this author really seems to be like, 48 00:02:56.520 --> 00:03:00.520 oh my goodness, my pearls about the fact that he's 49 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:05.879 misquoting Johnson. He's upset because he's misquoting or Jefferson, right, 50 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:10.400 not that he's praying leading a national prayer from our 51 00:03:10.439 --> 00:03:12.199 country in the name of our country. 52 00:03:12.680 --> 00:03:16.719 So it's how he's praying, right, Yeah. 53 00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:18.520 Yeah, wait a second, Well, yeah, it's it's one of 54 00:03:18.560 --> 00:03:22.960 those How can you be so oblivious to the obvious fact. 55 00:03:23.000 --> 00:03:25.400 I was surprised as I kept waiting reading the article. 56 00:03:25.719 --> 00:03:27.639 I was going on, right, man, here he goes, he's 57 00:03:27.639 --> 00:03:29.159 going to say it, He's going to say it. But 58 00:03:29.280 --> 00:03:31.280 in the very beginning they just kind of skipped over it. 59 00:03:31.520 --> 00:03:33.159 You know, it's kind of weird that they're doing a 60 00:03:33.159 --> 00:03:37.280 prayer at all. But right, okay, what evs can you 61 00:03:37.319 --> 00:03:38.400 believe they misquoted? 62 00:03:39.080 --> 00:03:43.639 Like okay, how dare they how when when when they're 63 00:03:43.719 --> 00:03:47.120 giving a prayer and you know, government function, how dare 64 00:03:47.159 --> 00:03:49.599 they miss you know, use the wrong person or say 65 00:03:49.639 --> 00:03:50.240 the wrong thing. 66 00:03:50.759 --> 00:03:52.319 And it would have been even more It would have 67 00:03:52.319 --> 00:03:57.759 been appropriate had they leaned into why misquoting Jefferson was 68 00:03:57.800 --> 00:04:01.520 important or or mister tribute this to Jefferson. But they didn't. 69 00:04:01.560 --> 00:04:03.479 They didn't. They just kind of up Jefferson and they 70 00:04:03.560 --> 00:04:05.400 kind of barely went, you know, he's kind of against 71 00:04:05.400 --> 00:04:08.120 this sort of thing. They didn't really talk about the statute, 72 00:04:08.199 --> 00:04:11.800 the Virginia Statute of separation, you know what I mean. 73 00:04:11.800 --> 00:04:14.080 They didn't talk about any of those things. So you're 74 00:04:14.199 --> 00:04:17.920 left wondering, well, why did you write this article at all? Right, 75 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:20.160 But yeah, it does seem like they really stepped over 76 00:04:20.920 --> 00:04:26.000 the biggest point to just elucidate this tiny little thing. Again, 77 00:04:26.040 --> 00:04:29.079 they could have, especially had they been really detailed about 78 00:04:29.160 --> 00:04:32.360 what Jefferson was about, that would have made more sense 79 00:04:32.759 --> 00:04:34.720 as to why they're doing this. But really, I think 80 00:04:34.759 --> 00:04:38.199 the focus, the main light should have been shined on 81 00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:41.079 the fact that the guy's leading a national prayer. 82 00:04:40.680 --> 00:04:44.800 Right, Yeah, exactly, exactly, Eli, I want to jump over 83 00:04:44.879 --> 00:04:47.839 to you. I'm gonna I don't think I'm going too 84 00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:50.000 far out on a limb if I say that I 85 00:04:50.040 --> 00:04:53.399 don't think you support public prayers led by government officials. 86 00:04:54.519 --> 00:04:56.240 And you know, I think we're on the same boat 87 00:04:56.920 --> 00:04:59.759 on this panel, But why is that a particular issue 88 00:04:59.800 --> 00:05:02.519 as especially when we're talking about government officials? 89 00:05:02.839 --> 00:05:05.639 So kind of exactly, like Chris said at the very 90 00:05:05.639 --> 00:05:07.759 beginning of this artlist, is the problem, at least according 91 00:05:07.759 --> 00:05:10.720 to some scholars, wasn't that he prayed in the US Capitol? 92 00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:13.600 And and I second guessed myself, I'm like, isn't that 93 00:05:13.680 --> 00:05:15.279 like exactly the problem? 94 00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:15.839 Right? 95 00:05:15.920 --> 00:05:19.720 And it's because, as you said, Chris, he is second 96 00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:23.399 in line, so the third like that, there's the president, 97 00:05:23.800 --> 00:05:26.000 vice president, and then the Speaker of the House is 98 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:29.000 Mike Johnson. He's a third person in line for the presidency, 99 00:05:29.480 --> 00:05:33.839 and he's basically declaring, here the prayer reads in part, 100 00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:35.240 or it goes. 101 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:36.279 In part, I should. 102 00:05:36.040 --> 00:05:39.600 Say, in time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness 103 00:05:39.759 --> 00:05:43.319 and the day, Yeah, Jesus Christ our lord. A men. Right, 104 00:05:43.399 --> 00:05:47.879 So he's he's he's declaring Jesus Christ as our collective lord, 105 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:50.360 at least for like Congress, at least for the House 106 00:05:50.360 --> 00:05:56.720 of Representatives, in like in the office on official time, 107 00:05:56.800 --> 00:05:58.720 like like the official Like that is a thing you 108 00:05:58.800 --> 00:06:01.519 can't do. Like I'm nogal expert here, but like that's 109 00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:04.519 that sounds a lot to me, like establishing, you know. 110 00:06:04.759 --> 00:06:07.279 A preferred religious doctrine. 111 00:06:07.480 --> 00:06:10.160 So the fact that this is happening at all absolutely 112 00:06:10.160 --> 00:06:12.480 blows my mind. And and that he's doing it. That's 113 00:06:12.519 --> 00:06:14.079 when I think the problem is that he is so 114 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:17.920 high in that chain and that he's basically declaring, like, yep, 115 00:06:18.079 --> 00:06:21.120 this is the guy he's ours for all of us. 116 00:06:21.680 --> 00:06:24.319 Well, I guess we could latch onto that the author's 117 00:06:24.360 --> 00:06:27.319 point now as briefly as he made it, as weekly 118 00:06:27.399 --> 00:06:30.600 as he made it, and for Johnson in that position 119 00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:35.560 to use that prayer and then try to rewrite John Jefferson, 120 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:38.560 who is actually a proponent of the separation of church 121 00:06:38.600 --> 00:06:41.079 and state. So it's like a double whammy here. Not 122 00:06:41.160 --> 00:06:44.519 only did he do the prayer, but he also tried 123 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:48.079 to make it sound like the person who put originally 124 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:51.079 put that wedge between church and state didn't really do that. 125 00:06:51.360 --> 00:06:53.600 And every day was walking around saying this prayer. 126 00:06:53.759 --> 00:06:59.000 Right, it's almost like he's injury and adding insult to injury. Right, 127 00:06:59.079 --> 00:07:02.639 you're using the prayer, but then you are misquoting it 128 00:07:02.680 --> 00:07:06.600 to make somebody, you know, seem like they were against 129 00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:08.879 what they you know, what was one of the most 130 00:07:09.160 --> 00:07:11.759 important philosophies in their in their life. 131 00:07:11.959 --> 00:07:16.600 Yeah, Christian conservative politician would mislead people in this fashion 132 00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:18.879 is on brand for them, to be honest. 133 00:07:22.720 --> 00:07:25.360 Yeah, that was in my notes too, that like the 134 00:07:26.360 --> 00:07:31.240 exactly that same thing. It's just that Jefferson absolutely would 135 00:07:31.279 --> 00:07:33.120 not have agreed with the use of a prayer in 136 00:07:33.160 --> 00:07:35.920 this context. Even if he did use that prayer privately, 137 00:07:36.040 --> 00:07:38.720 and like let's say it worked true that privately every 138 00:07:38.800 --> 00:07:40.519 day he would wake up or go before you go 139 00:07:40.560 --> 00:07:42.879 to bed, he would pray this particularly that great, he 140 00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:45.480 wouldn't have done it in public office for sure. He 141 00:07:45.480 --> 00:07:47.639 wouldn't have like encouraged others to do it or like 142 00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:50.480 force others to because he didn't like that that that 143 00:07:50.600 --> 00:07:53.399 wasn't how he viewed the relationship and the interplay between 144 00:07:53.439 --> 00:07:57.120 religion and government, and that I think that makes it, 145 00:07:57.160 --> 00:07:58.759 like you guys have said, even more. 146 00:07:58.839 --> 00:08:02.600 So, Eli, then do you think that I mean, you know, we're. 147 00:08:02.439 --> 00:08:04.839 All surprised that the article focused too much on the 148 00:08:04.879 --> 00:08:07.360 content of the prayer rather than the fact that there 149 00:08:07.439 --> 00:08:10.399 was a prayer in the first place. So do you 150 00:08:10.480 --> 00:08:14.399 think that might have been an intentional move on the 151 00:08:14.439 --> 00:08:17.839 part of the author? Is he trying to downplay the 152 00:08:17.839 --> 00:08:20.240 prayer itself and kind of make a bigger deal out 153 00:08:20.319 --> 00:08:22.600 of the It's kind of like a like a an 154 00:08:22.600 --> 00:08:25.560 illusionist doing a distraction, right, Look at this hand over here, 155 00:08:25.839 --> 00:08:28.240 and then you won't notice what you know, me, you know, 156 00:08:28.279 --> 00:08:30.879 stacking the deck with my left hand or whatever. Does 157 00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:34.399 this mean that there's a shift in public interest? Do 158 00:08:34.879 --> 00:08:38.919 you think that prayer is being official, prayer is being normalized? 159 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:39.799 Absolutely? 160 00:08:39.960 --> 00:08:40.200 Yeah. 161 00:08:40.240 --> 00:08:43.440 And I think the author, Kelsey Dallas, kind of shows 162 00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:45.559 their hand by saying at the beating, like I mentioned already, 163 00:08:45.600 --> 00:08:48.519 the problem wasn't that he prayed in the US capital. 164 00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:50.639 They don't see that as a problem. It's one of 165 00:08:50.679 --> 00:08:52.679 those things that it's like, well, yeah, you can pray 166 00:08:52.679 --> 00:08:54.320 in the capital, only it's a pretty entry. You know, 167 00:08:54.360 --> 00:08:57.399 there's a Christian Christian nation front that on Christian principles, 168 00:08:57.399 --> 00:09:02.039 so of course you're going to pray. And it's sort 169 00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:05.399 of coming to this point where I think conservative voters, 170 00:09:05.399 --> 00:09:07.360 at least for the most part, have said before this 171 00:09:07.480 --> 00:09:08.919 week a couple episodes. 172 00:09:08.919 --> 00:09:10.759 Now, no, no group. 173 00:09:10.519 --> 00:09:13.799 Is a monolith, but there is a vast section of 174 00:09:13.919 --> 00:09:18.399 conservative voter that have interwoven their their religious faith and 175 00:09:18.480 --> 00:09:22.919 their political views so tightly that they they don't there 176 00:09:23.320 --> 00:09:26.879 is no distinguishing between the two, all of their political stances, 177 00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:30.440 everything that they vote on, everything that they go to 178 00:09:30.480 --> 00:09:33.960 the polls for has it's some like the their reason 179 00:09:34.039 --> 00:09:37.720 for doing so is religious and when they see things 180 00:09:37.799 --> 00:09:39.919 like this they don't see it as problematic. They think 181 00:09:39.960 --> 00:09:43.600 they think, not only would a good leader, you know, 182 00:09:43.799 --> 00:09:49.600 use their their publicly elected office to declare one deity 183 00:09:49.799 --> 00:09:51.600 as the lord of all. 184 00:09:51.519 --> 00:09:55.519 People in the building, but they should do that. 185 00:09:56.120 --> 00:09:58.840 That's what there's a there's a a vast chunk of 186 00:09:58.919 --> 00:10:01.519 voters who think that that's the way things off be done. 187 00:10:01.679 --> 00:10:03.240 And that's for the problem. 188 00:10:03.279 --> 00:10:06.200 So we were familiar with the idea of a single 189 00:10:06.320 --> 00:10:08.639 issue voter, right, somebody who's going to vote based off 190 00:10:08.639 --> 00:10:11.200 a single issue. But in a way, what we're looking 191 00:10:11.240 --> 00:10:14.559 at here is single issue livers. You know, people with 192 00:10:14.639 --> 00:10:18.120 single issue lives. They want to direct everything towards the 193 00:10:18.679 --> 00:10:22.120 praise of this of this deity, and and I don't know, 194 00:10:22.159 --> 00:10:24.039 that just seems a little misguided to me. 195 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:25.919 I don't know, if Chris, what do you think about that? 196 00:10:26.120 --> 00:10:31.679 I agree, it's a really it feels like Mike Johnson 197 00:10:31.840 --> 00:10:34.799 is trying to smooth over the fact right that he's 198 00:10:34.879 --> 00:10:39.279 praying officially in the country's name. He's trying to smooth 199 00:10:39.320 --> 00:10:43.360 that over by referencing Thomas Jefferson, who was a proponent 200 00:10:43.480 --> 00:10:45.519 of the separation of church and state, and trying to 201 00:10:45.519 --> 00:10:49.559 make it sound like he was on or Jefferson essentially 202 00:10:49.559 --> 00:10:52.919 did the same thing. It's clear miss misinterpretation of what 203 00:10:53.000 --> 00:10:55.600 Jefferson done. I believe it's quite intentional, and I think 204 00:10:55.639 --> 00:10:57.720 it's he wanted to say the prayer. He wanted to 205 00:10:57.720 --> 00:10:59.759 get up there and do it for our nation, and 206 00:10:59.799 --> 00:11:02.679 this this is his way of kind of mitigating the backwash. 207 00:11:02.840 --> 00:11:06.120 He just kind of screwed up our backlash. He screwed 208 00:11:06.200 --> 00:11:09.200 up in his well, he didn't. He did exactly what 209 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:11.000 he wanted to do. And then, of course the author 210 00:11:11.039 --> 00:11:15.519 of the article elucidated that the fact that he pointed 211 00:11:15.519 --> 00:11:18.759 out the little, tiny, little the little piece of information 212 00:11:18.840 --> 00:11:20.919 that oh yeah, this isn't really the way Johnson would 213 00:11:20.919 --> 00:11:22.840 have done it, and then moved on talked about something else, 214 00:11:22.879 --> 00:11:23.080 you know. 215 00:11:23.159 --> 00:11:25.399 But yeah, right, so you're you're thinking it was an 216 00:11:25.480 --> 00:11:31.039 intentional yahs. Interesting, Elian. I want to get your opinion 217 00:11:31.080 --> 00:11:33.799 on that. I want to couch it slightly differently, though, 218 00:11:34.559 --> 00:11:36.960 I want us to look at the context of the 219 00:11:37.000 --> 00:11:39.559 New Testament. Okay, I want you got to take it 220 00:11:39.600 --> 00:11:43.519 in context, right, But we often hear about the four 221 00:11:43.559 --> 00:11:46.480 Gospels that they're all different, and one of the explanations 222 00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:50.879 is that the and we hear this from Bible scholars, 223 00:11:51.240 --> 00:11:54.840 is that the four different authors were kind of telling 224 00:11:54.879 --> 00:11:58.159 a similar story, but they were adding things to the 225 00:11:58.240 --> 00:12:03.080 story to support their their particular perspectives or the particular 226 00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:04.360 point that they're trying to make. 227 00:12:04.360 --> 00:12:05.519 And so in a. 228 00:12:05.559 --> 00:12:09.399 Way we can see examples of that as like you 229 00:12:09.879 --> 00:12:14.120 might call it a literary style. I think that Bible 230 00:12:14.159 --> 00:12:17.919 believers would would probably you know, rail against that. I mean, 231 00:12:18.080 --> 00:12:19.559 I think that they would take offense if we call 232 00:12:19.600 --> 00:12:21.960 that just merely a literary style. 233 00:12:22.320 --> 00:12:25.320 But do you think that what's that the emphasis? 234 00:12:25.879 --> 00:12:26.240 Right? Yeah? 235 00:12:27.080 --> 00:12:27.279 Right? 236 00:12:27.320 --> 00:12:30.360 But yeah, so they're they're they're focusing the emphasis depending 237 00:12:30.399 --> 00:12:35.120 on their personal political agendas here. So let's compare that 238 00:12:35.159 --> 00:12:38.279 to what with what Johnson is doing here. Chris was 239 00:12:38.320 --> 00:12:43.240 saying that he thought that Johnson was intentionally misrepresenting what 240 00:12:43.360 --> 00:12:46.120 Jefferson says, but we could also argue that maybe he 241 00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:49.639 was just telling the story with a slight enhancement or 242 00:12:49.679 --> 00:12:53.360 little tweaks for for for for for to support his 243 00:12:53.399 --> 00:12:55.759 perspective is do you think that's maybe happening or do 244 00:12:55.799 --> 00:12:58.360 you think he's just flat out lying? I mean, either 245 00:12:58.399 --> 00:13:01.639 way we're gonna there's problems. It's problematic. But do you 246 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:03.320 do you agree that it was intentional or do you 247 00:13:03.320 --> 00:13:05.279 think it's or do you think he's just trying to 248 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:08.320 be literary and flowery with his language? 249 00:13:08.480 --> 00:13:12.799 I think so he definitely As far as whether he 250 00:13:12.840 --> 00:13:14.879 knows it's true or not, who can you know it's 251 00:13:14.919 --> 00:13:16.879 anybody's Yes, Apparently other people. 252 00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:18.080 Have gotten that wrong before too. 253 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:20.039 I had never heard of the prayer or anything, but 254 00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:22.559 like other people have attributed to him before as well, 255 00:13:22.639 --> 00:13:25.159 so he could have have gotten it from some. 256 00:13:25.039 --> 00:13:26.679 Source and not realized it was wrong. 257 00:13:26.879 --> 00:13:30.279 But if it were to be, you know, even if 258 00:13:30.320 --> 00:13:32.159 it were just like, oh, I'm just tweaking it to 259 00:13:32.279 --> 00:13:35.879 kind of, you know, enhance my platform, Like that's still lying, right, 260 00:13:36.879 --> 00:13:39.919 it's still But what I think more what I think 261 00:13:39.960 --> 00:13:42.879 more likely is the case is that by using somebody 262 00:13:42.919 --> 00:13:46.759 like Thomas Jefferson, and he even in his speech he 263 00:13:46.799 --> 00:13:50.240 frames him as you know, a reminders a reminder of 264 00:13:50.240 --> 00:13:52.360 what our third president and the primary author of the 265 00:13:52.360 --> 00:13:55.840 Declaration of Independence thought was so important. So he made 266 00:13:55.879 --> 00:13:59.159 sure to emphasize like, you know, independence, you know, founding 267 00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:03.759 father sort of because of how because of the tendency 268 00:14:03.759 --> 00:14:06.519 that conservative voters have to lean on nostalgia and that 269 00:14:06.639 --> 00:14:09.519 idea of independence and freedom and liberty and yeah yah, 270 00:14:09.559 --> 00:14:11.799 and not realizing that like, we don't have it the 271 00:14:11.840 --> 00:14:13.919 way that they say that they think that we do, 272 00:14:14.159 --> 00:14:18.039 but that they he leans into that a little bit harder, 273 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:21.240 just to sort of amplify his message a little bit more, 274 00:14:21.480 --> 00:14:25.759 because that that same group of voters are there's a 275 00:14:25.759 --> 00:14:27.960 are there there's a lot of overlap between that group 276 00:14:27.960 --> 00:14:29.960 of voters and the group of voters that make all 277 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:32.679 of their choices based on their religion. So he's just 278 00:14:32.799 --> 00:14:36.320 sort of increasing the slice of pie that he's connecting 279 00:14:36.360 --> 00:14:38.120 with by tossing that in there. 280 00:14:38.360 --> 00:14:42.159 That's right, interesting, Chris. Do you agree with what Eli 281 00:14:42.279 --> 00:14:44.080 was saying? And I want to add a little spin 282 00:14:44.159 --> 00:14:47.480 to this. Do you think that he is and I 283 00:14:47.519 --> 00:14:50.600 know this is puer speculation. We're trying to peer into 284 00:14:50.639 --> 00:14:53.120 the mind of the Speaker of the House here, but 285 00:14:53.240 --> 00:14:55.879 do you think the lie is the goal? 286 00:14:56.200 --> 00:14:58.399 Or do you think he views. 287 00:14:58.080 --> 00:15:02.279 The lie as necessary means to an end. 288 00:15:02.559 --> 00:15:05.679 Maybe he feels justified. He maybe he feels it's wrong, 289 00:15:06.080 --> 00:15:08.919 but he feels justified in saying that we've heard that before. 290 00:15:09.320 --> 00:15:10.879 Well, you know, one of the things that it could be, 291 00:15:10.919 --> 00:15:13.440 and to give, if we will, the benefit of the doubt. 292 00:15:13.480 --> 00:15:17.879 It could be that Mike Johnson dips into where it 293 00:15:17.919 --> 00:15:20.840 could be just a reflection of where he gets his information. 294 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:22.639 He said, down the computer one day, He's like, I'm 295 00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:24.559 going to deliver a national prayer, looked up at his 296 00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:28.080 little Google. Google is all you know how Google or 297 00:15:28.120 --> 00:15:32.200 whatever tones its search to you. So he searched for 298 00:15:32.559 --> 00:15:37.159 national prayer and he found the misinformation that you know, 299 00:15:37.480 --> 00:15:39.960 and because it's probably on his kind of stuff, right, 300 00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:42.399 that's this is exactly the calls coming from within the 301 00:15:42.399 --> 00:15:46.200 house thing, right. Remember, So I'm just saying that it's 302 00:15:46.320 --> 00:15:49.159 possible that he didn't do it on purpose. He actually 303 00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:53.320 believed that this was something that Thomas Jefferson did because 304 00:15:53.360 --> 00:15:55.399 when he did his and I'm going to use the 305 00:15:55.440 --> 00:16:02.279 word forgive me, forgive me research, he fell into his 306 00:16:02.440 --> 00:16:07.399 own levels of misinformation, you know, right, yeah, and didn't 307 00:16:07.440 --> 00:16:08.279 go beyond any of that. 308 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:12.080 Really, you know, your your description there just brought this 309 00:16:12.159 --> 00:16:16.000 amazing image to mine. I pictured Johnson like the night 310 00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:19.320 before the speech, sitting down and thinking, shoot, I have 311 00:16:19.360 --> 00:16:22.080 to give a national prayer, and he Google's National prayer 312 00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:23.879 and then this comes up. 313 00:16:25.440 --> 00:16:25.639 Yeah. 314 00:16:25.720 --> 00:16:32.600 Yeah, people are lazy. Yes, yes, they're definitely lazy. Excellent, excellent. 315 00:16:32.960 --> 00:16:35.639 One of my favorite things about this article is that 316 00:16:35.759 --> 00:16:38.080 it's and we don't run across this all that often, 317 00:16:38.120 --> 00:16:40.159 but when when we do find this, I like to 318 00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:43.399 I like to dive into this just headfirst. 319 00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:46.279 They left commenting open on the. 320 00:16:46.360 --> 00:16:48.679 Article, okay, and so I like to skim through then 321 00:16:49.039 --> 00:16:52.240 and see what people actual human beings. I'm assuming. I 322 00:16:52.279 --> 00:16:55.080 suppose maybe that's not a safe bet these days. But 323 00:16:55.639 --> 00:16:57.120 so this is what some of the people say. And 324 00:16:57.159 --> 00:17:00.600 I wrote down three particular comments that I thought interesting, 325 00:17:00.639 --> 00:17:02.919 and so I'll read them to you, and then in 326 00:17:02.960 --> 00:17:05.440 between each one, I'll just get some quick feedback from 327 00:17:05.599 --> 00:17:08.119 from each of you what you think. This first one 328 00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:10.079 was from a user by the name of Barbara Thompson, 329 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:15.839 and Barbara said, quote, if you can't remember, like Harris, 330 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:19.000 it may be time to read the Pledge of Alliance, 331 00:17:19.279 --> 00:17:22.880 One Nation under God. We are not forced to believe anything, 332 00:17:22.960 --> 00:17:25.480 but I choose to believe in God, and I lean 333 00:17:25.559 --> 00:17:26.240 on my faith. 334 00:17:26.319 --> 00:17:27.359 I'm so grateful to. 335 00:17:27.400 --> 00:17:32.400 Know I'm saved and I'm and saved through Jesus Christ. 336 00:17:32.680 --> 00:17:36.880 And so Barbara was saying that, you know the Pledge 337 00:17:36.880 --> 00:17:40.559 of Allegiance or she said Pledge of Alliance obviously miss 338 00:17:41.480 --> 00:17:45.440 labeling that, but it says one Nation under God right there, Eli, 339 00:17:45.480 --> 00:17:45.680 What do. 340 00:17:45.680 --> 00:17:47.680 You what do you think about this particular commenter? 341 00:17:48.279 --> 00:17:50.160 Well, I like that, somebody replied, because I'm looking at 342 00:17:50.200 --> 00:17:51.960 it right now to you. Somebody replied to me and said, 343 00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:53.359 what is the Pledge of Alliance? 344 00:17:53.400 --> 00:17:55.720 Which I think is hilarious. 345 00:17:56.839 --> 00:18:02.519 But yeah, Barbara, under gone wasn't added until nineteen fifty four. 346 00:18:02.759 --> 00:18:07.640 We know this, right, So just I mean read read 347 00:18:07.640 --> 00:18:08.640 the Pledge of Alliance? 348 00:18:08.839 --> 00:18:11.200 When when should we read the Pledge of Alliance? 349 00:18:11.599 --> 00:18:11.880 Right? 350 00:18:11.960 --> 00:18:15.960 Yeah, it over because she starts with the comment by 351 00:18:15.960 --> 00:18:18.480 criticizing Kamala. 352 00:18:18.519 --> 00:18:21.640 Harris's right, Barbara, if. 353 00:18:21.559 --> 00:18:24.960 You can't remember, yeah, pretty much. Yeah, Chris, what are 354 00:18:24.960 --> 00:18:26.039 your thoughts on that? 355 00:18:26.039 --> 00:18:28.960 That is some Christian projection like at his fondest is 356 00:18:29.000 --> 00:18:33.160 it not? You know, one of the things whenever you 357 00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:35.599 see it's they do that often. They'll come in, like 358 00:18:35.680 --> 00:18:37.519 my comments, I'll place the video and they'll come in 359 00:18:37.559 --> 00:18:40.480 and they'll call me stupid, or they'll attack me personally 360 00:18:40.519 --> 00:18:44.319 with an ad hominem and then misrepresent something or misquote something. 361 00:18:44.319 --> 00:18:46.720 It's it's quite hilarious. I'm glad you found that on that. 362 00:18:47.799 --> 00:18:50.559 You know, it seems like I maybe I just noticed 363 00:18:50.559 --> 00:18:53.240 this more often, but it seems like whenever somebody is 364 00:18:53.720 --> 00:18:57.920 ranting and criticizing the intelligence of somebody else, it seems 365 00:18:57.960 --> 00:19:01.480 to me that they always have a spelling error or 366 00:19:01.519 --> 00:19:03.960 a grammar error, or in this case, they have totally 367 00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:04.720 the wrong word. 368 00:19:05.440 --> 00:19:07.279 I mean, let's let's cut them a little bit of 369 00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:07.759 slack here. 370 00:19:07.839 --> 00:19:10.599 It might have been something like an autocorrect or something 371 00:19:10.680 --> 00:19:13.039 like that, but come on, double check it before you 372 00:19:13.119 --> 00:19:16.720 hit that return key. All right, So let's go on 373 00:19:16.759 --> 00:19:19.160 to this next comment. This is from a user by 374 00:19:19.160 --> 00:19:23.440 the name of c. Name is s I Conacento, Espanol, 375 00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:29.079 and so SE's comment was, the Bible states its hypocrisy 376 00:19:29.119 --> 00:19:32.200 to pray in public. Prayer is a private matter between 377 00:19:32.279 --> 00:19:34.240 one's own self and their God. 378 00:19:34.559 --> 00:19:36.079 Chris, what are your thoughts with that? 379 00:19:37.079 --> 00:19:38.960 I would really appreciate if that. I'll just keep it 380 00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:40.200 to themselves. 381 00:19:41.960 --> 00:19:46.599 Right, Ye'll do what Jesus says, not what Jesus does. 382 00:19:46.759 --> 00:19:49.400 Right is that? 383 00:19:49.480 --> 00:19:51.839 Well, you know, you see that exactly, That's exactly right. 384 00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:56.039 Oftentimes they will they will claim to be people of 385 00:19:56.119 --> 00:19:59.519 peace while swinging a weapon, you know, they they they 386 00:20:00.119 --> 00:20:03.799 talk about being people of love while oppressing other people. 387 00:20:04.519 --> 00:20:07.599 I'm such a glorious I raised my voice up to Christ. 388 00:20:07.680 --> 00:20:10.160 And then they get home and they mistreat their trans 389 00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:13.000 child because they don't like it, or they don't talk, 390 00:20:13.079 --> 00:20:15.920 or they ostracize their their gay child. So there's a 391 00:20:15.920 --> 00:20:20.960 lot of contradiction. It's projection, lies contradiction, it's it seems 392 00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:23.799 to be like a signature move of Christianity. I never 393 00:20:23.880 --> 00:20:26.480 really saw it when I was young, When I was when, 394 00:20:26.720 --> 00:20:28.720 you know, it just now that I'm older and I'm 395 00:20:28.759 --> 00:20:32.119 engaging more with them, you know, from my I see 396 00:20:32.119 --> 00:20:33.400 it all the time. I'm like, oh my god, I 397 00:20:33.400 --> 00:20:35.559 can't believe you're really trying to push that off on us. 398 00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:36.799 It's a bunch of young right. 399 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:38.720 Well, do you think maybe we're just now we're starting 400 00:20:38.720 --> 00:20:40.519 to push back. I mean, maybe you think they've been 401 00:20:40.519 --> 00:20:42.920