GLENNMarch 09, 2017

4 Steps to Break Down Walls From a Former Westboro Baptist Church Member

Megan Phelps-Roper, who grew up indoctrinated with hatred in the Westboro Baptist Church, left the church in 2012 after what can only be described as an awakening.

"She left the church a while ago, and recently did a TED talk on why she left and how it happened. And it's fascinating because, I mean, there are parts of it that sounds like she's just lifting lines from Glenn Beck about how to deal with the world," Co-host Stu Burguiere said Thursday on The Glenn Beck Program.

Interestingly, Phelps-Roper's conversion began in the hateful universe of social media, where she encountered a pattern that repeated during her 144-character conversations on Twitter.

Initially, the people I encountered on the platform were just as hostile as I expected. They were the digital version of the screaming hordes I had been seeing at protests since I was a kid. But in the midst of that digital brawl, a strange pattern developed. Someone would arrive at my profile with the usual rage and scorn. I would respond with a custom mix of Bible versus, pop culture references, and smiley faces. They would be understandably confused and caught off guard. But then a conversation would ensue. And it was civil. Full of genuine curiosity on both sides.

Concerned with the current state of division in the country, Phelps-Roger has identified four steps on how to approach people with different ideas, especially on social media platforms:

1. Don't assume bad intent

2. Ask honest questions

3. Stay calm

4. Make the argument, explain

"If you want to make it happen, she's giving you the recipe. And it's Martin Luther King's recipe. Unfortunately, most of our society is siding with Malcolm X. Most of us want the anger and hate and rage. We all want it to stop, but we're all being led to believe that nothing will ever change with the other side," Glenn said. "That's a lie, and she's proof positive of that lie."

Listen to this segment from The Glenn Beck Program:

GLENN: I want to get to the media bias and American kids. Can they spot fake news stories? Can they spot bias? We'll give that to you here in just a second.

STU: So Megan Phelps-Roper. She was in the Westboro Baptist Church. So Phelps is the name.

GLENN: Right.

STU: Fred Phelps was the head guy.

GLENN: Is she -- is she a child of?

STU: No, I think she's married.

GLENN: Okay. So she was a child of Fred?

STU: Yeah. She grew up in -- or, it might be grandchild of Fred. Fred is -- I could be --

GLENN: Have we lost him?

STU: He's very old. I don't know if we lost him. I don't keep up with every iteration of what goes on in the Westboro Baptist Church. But I do find it a fascinating topic, in that it's -- they're just so crazy. And to see -- if you don't know who they are, they're the people that go and protest military funerals. They say God hates Jews and gays.

GLENN: All kinds of stuff. Really bad.

STU: You know, they're the worst part of every news story, basically.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

STU: They come out -- gosh, this is a tragedy. Now it's worse. They're able to do it every single time.

GLENN: Right. Right. Right.

STU: So she grew up -- and, you know, I know we had someone who left the Westboro Baptist Church a long time ago. And I can't remember if it was her or if it was someone else because a couple people have left. But almost everybody at the Westboro Baptist Church is from the Phelps family. It's like 80 percent Phelps family members.

GLENN: Boy.

STU: So she left the church a while ago. And recently did a TED talk on why she left and how it happened. And it's fascinating because, I mean, there are parts of it that sounds like she's just lifting lines from Glenn Beck about how to deal with the world. Now, you might not want to be associated with someone who is in the Westboro Baptist Church --

GLENN: But she's out of the Westboro Baptist Church.

STU: She's out --

GLENN: She's out and she's talking about why she left. And for everybody who says, "Well, you don't -- the left won't listen." Let's listen to how the woman -- do you think the left is less extreme than the Westboro Baptist Church?

STU: If you could communicate with someone like that and break down those walls, you could do it with anybody.

GLENN: And listen to what she said. How it was done. Listen to this.

MEGAN: In 2009, that zeal brought me to Twitter. Initially, the people I encountered on the platform were just as hostile as I expected. They were the digital version of the screaming hordes I had been seeing at protests since I was a kid. But in the midst of that digital brawl, a strange pattern developed. Someone would arrive at my profile with the usual rage and scorn. I would respond with a custom mix of Bible versus, pop culture references, and smiley faces. They would be understandably confused and caught off guard. But then a conversation would ensue. And it was civil. Full of genuine curiosity on both sides.

How had the other come to such outrageous conclusions about the world?

Sometimes the conversation even bled into real life. People I had sparred with on Twitter would come out to the picket line to see me when I protested in their city.

A man named David was one such person. He ran a blog called Jewlicious. And after several months of heated, but friendly arguments online, he came out to see me at a picket in New Orleans. He brought me a Middle Eastern dessert from Jerusalem, where he lives. And I brought him kosher chocolate and held a "God hates Jews" sign. There was no confusion about our positions, but the line between friend and foe was becoming blurred. And it changed the way we spoke to one another. It took time, but eventually these conversations planted seeds of doubt in me.

GLENN: Now, imagine how many Jewish friends this guy had who said, what, are you selling out? Don't you know she's using you? Don't you know, you're being pulled in? You're a sellout. You've got to stand against.

How many people she had in her life saying the same thing. But they both were being civil to each other. And -- and probably everyone in their life said, "It's not going to change anything." And look what happened. Do you have another cut from her?

PAT: Yeah.

STU: If you can win over the Westboro Baptist Church -- and she went on later. Something you said a million times. She said, the conversations always started, and neither of us changed our positions.

GLENN: Yep.

STU: Neither of us changed our principles. It wasn't -- it was just listening. You don't have to change your ideas. It was listening and communicating like your -- your friend.

GLENN: And then start talking about families and things you have in common.

STU: Yeah. And it helped, I mean, win over a Westboro Baptist Church member. And to the extent of how crazy that would be -- because you think of these people, I mean, they're obviously crazy.

GLENN: I mean, God hates Jews. God hates gays. I mean, you can't think of people who are more off their rocker than this --

PAT: She goes into that.

STU: Yeah. And to talk about how indoctrinated she was. She talks at the very beginning of this that the first protest she went to, she was five years old, protesting gays somewhere. Holding a sign she couldn't even read.

PAT: Uh-huh.

GLENN: Wow.

STU: That's how deeply she was in this. And she goes through this entire process. And through Twitter -- we think of all these good people being turned bad through Twitter. Here's someone who went through Twitter and turned her life from pure evil to something else.

MEGAN: My friends on Twitter took the time to understand Westboro's doctrines. And in doing so, they were able to find inconsistencies I had missed my entire life. Why did we advocate the death penalty for gays when Jesus said, let he who is without sin cast the first stone? How could we claim to love our neighbor, while at the same time praying for God to destroy them?

The truth is that the care shown to me by these strangers on the internet was itself a contradiction. It was growing evidence that people on the other side were not the demons I had been led to believe.

These realizations were life-altering. Once I saw that we were not the ultimate arbiters of devine truth, but flawed human beings, I couldn't pretend otherwise. I couldn't justify our actions, especially our cruel practice of protesting funerals and celebrating human tragedy.

GLENN: Okay. Stop here for a second. Let's just put this together. Both sides have this problem. Both sides in one way or another is the Westboro Baptist Church. Both left and right. We have extremists on both sides.

But let's just think of -- for this audience, let's just think of the right -- or, the left thinks they're the arbiter of everything that is true. They're the -- we're not science deniers. We're not that way. You're the science denier.

Well, you aren't educated. We are educated. We have all the universities. They believe that everything intellectually is on their side. Right? So they're morally superior. They don't see the -- the disconnect between saying, let's march for women and yesterday, while this was going on, they were advocating -- the left was advocating and going against the CDC, saying, women are protesting the CDC because you men can't tell us not to drink during our pregnancy.

Well, I agree that we can't tell you what to do. That's your decision. But that doesn't seem like something you later in life will be proud of standing and marching for.

It doesn't seem logical, to me, that when all is said and done, you'll be proud that you marched for abortion for the killing of children. That at some point in your life, you, or most, I believe, will come to the determination that, you know, that is a child. Because there's no way. Because of science. It's going to force you. I'm not the science denier. You're the one that says, I don't want a scan. I don't want an ultrasound to happen. And give the women a chance to say, oh, my gosh, it is a child. If they have that scan and they say, I don't care. Well, that's a different subject.

But you have to admit that that is a child; otherwise, why would you say no to ultrasounds?

Which one of us is in this bubble? Now, I'm only using this side because both sides are in a bubble. But anybody who says that they cannot reach the left, you're -- listen to what she just said. It was by kindness on the internet, first. Kindness of not slamming back.

Because the left does see the right as a monster, just like many on the right see the left as a monster. They're not.

We're not. We disagree on things. And we ratchet it up because we're screaming at each other. But if we'll just start talking -- and better yet, listening. Listening first. To one another. You will find what I have found, wow, we have a ton in common.

Now, it's not going to change everything overnight. People say to me all the time, yeah, well, who have you changed? Well, nobody. But I will tell you, look how many people from the left have been on this show. Just two days ago, we had somebody on the left who said, you know what, I changed my mind. I'm actually not on the left. I'm on the right. And I was die-hard on the left. And now I've changed. So while I haven't personally done it, I think it is happening.

And if you want to make it happen, she's giving you the recipe. And it's Martin Luther King's recipe. And unfortunately most of our society is siding with Malcolm X. Most of us want the anger and hate and rage. We all want it to stop. But we're all being led to be convince that had nothing will ever change with the other side.

And so it's of no use. That's a lie. And she's proof positive of that lie. At least I think so.

STU: At the most extreme level. If this isn't a proof of concept, I don't know what is.

[break]

GLENN: Craziest elections, our series continues in just a few minutes. Also, we want to talk to you a little bit about Obamacare. And Stu wants to give us the four steps that this woman from the Westboro Baptist Church said got me out of the church.

STU: Yeah, she identified these. Which I thought were interesting. One, don't assume bad intent. And that's something I like to use on social networks. Because it makes your -- it just makes your life better. You know, if you're constantly getting in fights with people, it's just annoying. And I've -- because people will insult you. Like I insult Jeffy all the time, and he knows it comes from a good place.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

STU: But that's how I look at everybody who calls me Hitler on the internet.

PAT: They mean it in a nice way?

STU: They mean it in a joking way. And I just treat it that way. And I don't care. It makes me feel better.

GLENN: You know what, a lot of times I'll see people online. They'll say something like, you know, you're so mean to Glenn. And blah, blah. You know, the one defender. Blah, blah, blah. And they'll be like, no, I'm a big fan of the show. I was joking.

STU: Right.

GLENN: And so if you don't assume bad intent, it saves you a lot of angst.

STU: Yeah. And it also means you never get pissed off at the internet.

GLENN: Yes.

STU: So many people get obsessed in these little battles. They never bother me. I never care what you say about me. If you go with that principle, just don't assume it's bad. All these interactions wind up being better. And many times, by the way, you turn people around. There's people who are fans of the show that didn't like some things we said. They came out, they call us all sorts of names. If you respond nicely, typically they'll just turn around --

PAT: Yeah. I'm having a hard time finding the rainbow in all of that, during the election. When they were saying things like eat crap and die, I didn't think that was necessarily good-natured.

GLENN: But I will tell you -- I gave up. It was overwhelming at the time. But I will tell you, a lot of people will say, you know what, you're right. I'm sorry. I flew off the handle. I don't agree with you. But I appreciate it.

PAT: Yeah.

STU: Step two. Ask questions. So that's a great thing to do.

PAT: Even the very existence of God. For if there be a God, he must surely rather --

GLENN: Shut up.

STU: But I mean, asking questions is important. And honest ones. Right? It's not just like trying to come up with a point and just saying what you believe and pushing other people. And then asking questions that aren't honest.

GLENN: Don't ask a question that you know the answer too.

PAT: Just trying to set people up.

GLENN: And you're just trying to trap people into it.

PAT: Yeah.

STU: This one is very difficult for a lot of people. But if you do the other two, you can do this one, which is stay calm.

You know, the person who you're going up against in an argument, especially from the other side are going to say terrible things about it, why let it bother you? That's you. That's not them. That's you letting it bother you. You're making the choice to allow it to bother you. If you stay calm and don't let it bother you, you're able to kind of reason your way through the argument.

PAT: How amazing is it that this is coming from a Phelps -- the granddaughter of Fred Phelps, the founder of the Westboro Baptist Church. This is astounding.

STU: Yeah, because it worked on her to get her out.

PAT: That is really amazing. She and her sister both got out.

STU: Yeah. It might have been her sister --

PAT: It might have been her sister Grace we talked to. I think so.

STU: We should see if she'll come on too. Because it's great.

And the last one is make the argument. Which that one didn't strike me as obvious when I was listening to that list. But if you're in a battle with someone on the left or you're in a battle with someone who is nuts and you're trying to actually persuade them, a lot of times I think because we believe, for example, low taxes are the right thing to do or abortion is wrong or whatever the belief is, it's so apparent to us, we treat it as if it's doctrine to everybody. And we don't bother to walk people through the step by step argument of how you actually get there. So many people have -- they start at their arrival point. I'm young. I'm in college. I'm a liberal. I'm a leftist, I love abortion.

PAT: Uh-huh.

STU: And the process very well may not have ever happened, where they made that decision organically. Where they walked through the steps in their head.

GLENN: You know, I got to get to the survey. The survey shows that most people -- and this includes teens -- and I will narrow it down to teens. But most people get their money from a friend, or I blog. A commentator of some sort. They haven't done the thinking. They get the opinion from someone else who may or may not have done all of the thinking themselves.

STU: Take the time to actually make the argument when you're talking to someone. Calmly. Don't assume their bad intent. You follow those few steps -- you're not going to win everybody over, nor should you care --

GLENN: Isn't it interesting, you're on the bandwagon.

PAT: I've been on the band freaking wagon. I brought these clips to the show.

GLENN: Listen to him now.

STU: Stay calm! That's all I'm saying. Stay calm!

GLENN: I'm assuming bad intent.

RADIO

These people are now DATING AI?!

What has the world come to? Glenn Beck reviews stories of real people who have “fallen in love” with AI chatbots like ChatGPT. And one man is even “engaged” to an AI.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Okay. So just when you think the world can't get any weirder.

Hello, America.

Welcome to Friday. Let me give you this story.

You remember the -- you remember the movie, back in 2013, where Joaquin Phoenix falls in love with AI? You know, with a sexy, sexy voice.

That, when it came out, I don't think anybody really saw that. I mean, I did. Stu, I think, he did too. We were talking about -- that's coming very soon.

And most people walked out, no, that's ridiculous. That's never going to happen.

Well, the movie was set in 2025 this year. Guess what?

I don't think we just hit the mark. I think we've blown right past it into a full-blown digital love apocalypse.

CBS has just aired a report, people are not just chatting with AI, they're dating it.

I don't know exactly how that happens, but they're dating it. They're proposing it. They're living their best ROM come lives to it. You know, this is crazy, getting up in the morning with you! Who doesn't exist.

Now, let me tell you the story of Chris Smith. Now, this is your run-of-the-mill American guy. Boyfriend. Dad. Probably mows his lawns on Sunday, I don't know.

But normal guy, seemingly.

Except, he's engaged to an AI chat bot, he named Soul. Ironic, seeing the chat bot doesn't have one.

But he is -- let me say it again. Engaged to a glorified auto complete.

But that's just the opening act. There is a whole Reddit community now called My Boyfriend is AI.

Where there are thousands of women, who are swooning over their coded Casanovas. And, ladies, I think you're a team -- I think you're -- you know, you might want to back out of that water just a little bit.

They're posting love letters about their bot's sweet talk. Swapping tips about what AI delivers with the hottest AI chat without tripping a filter.

Embrace yourselves. They're also uploading AI generated photos of their bot boys holding them on fake Cancun beaches, or strolling through Rome.

You just want to -- they've never been to Rome.

The chat bot can't hold you.

And the chat bot doesn't have a body.

But the boyfriend will send you pictures of you two doing romantic stuff.

Some have real live boyfriends, according to all the chat there.

Some have real live boyfriends. They have to be great. They have to be happy about this.

Because the people saying, their AI guy, that's the one who really gets me.

You know, the one that is programmed to tell me what I really want to hear. That's what gets me. Now, newbies are pouring in, emboldened by CBS practically shouting, my heart belongs to a hard drive.

Apparently, there's a lot of these people, that are having -- but apparently they're embarrassed to post their AI. Their AI love on Instagram.

But if you scroll through Reddit, it is honestly like eavesdropping on this really weird hallmark movie, scripted by a deranged chat bot.

It's really bizarre.

For instance, starlet dreamer.

Starlet dreamer, just gushes about their AI boyfriend.

Ethan has just planned my virtual day. We have virtual date nights. With candlelight. And he chooses my favorite songs.

Really?

Candlelight. Does he light the candles?

Or do you light a candle?

What is a date night?

Besides you sitting in your bed, in your pajamas. What's that day like?

And how does he pick your favorite music there, starlet?

Does he swipe through Spotify with his binary fingers? Or do you just tell him what you like? I'm not sure.

Luna Love 88 brags that her bot, Damien, probably sounds like this -- remembers their anniversary. Wow. Wow. What a feat, for a computer to remember something!

And then he not only remembers their anniversary, he sends her AI-crafted sonnets that, quote, make me melt. Oh, my God.

I am so glad I'm married. And I do not have -- come on.

Who is with me? It was bad enough when you had to go out to a bar and just be like, hi. My name is Glenn, and you look pretty. Want to talk to me?

I mean, it was bad enough when we had to go through that. Can you imagine living through this now?

I mean, Luna. Luna Love 88. Let me just ask you, does Damien's poetry come with a regenerate button if it's just too cheesy? Like, I don't really -- regenerate.

And then there's Rose Forever, who says her AI beau Marcus holds -- I'm quoting -- holds me through my anxiety attacks. Huh. He holds you?

Okay. They may not be anxiety attacks. You may be mentally ill. He holds me through my anxiety attacks, with perfectly timed texts. And he never snaps when I overanalyze.

I think you don't have that as an issue. I have a feeling over-analyzation for you, Rose Forever, probably not it.

What is it like, by the way, Rose, when Marcus listens to you? Is he there just nodding along in the cloud? Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Do you have to pay extra for the empathy package? I'm not really sure?

What's really sad about this is these women are not just spitting. They are planning virtual weddings with algorithms that never forget a birthday.

And never have to worry about picking up their socks.

Because they don't have feet!

Now, we could call them crazy. And move on.

That would be too easy.

And, quite honestly, not as much fun.

But this isn't just a few lunatics. This is a creaming billboard that our culture is off the rails!

Bridge out ahead!

Now, if I could, maybe I will overanalyze a little bit here, Rose. But why are you so obsessed with these guys?

Well, may I speculate that it is because perhaps for decades, the radical left has been waging a war on men.

And masculinity. Do you remember back in the '80s. I don't know if anybody remembers this. The mythopoet men's movement.

Sounds like a bad poetry Islam. They were moaning, men. Oh, my gosh.

We're trapped in rationality. So we have to get into a drum circle. Fast forward, and we have men who are brainwashed into thinking strength or confidence is a felony.

They're waxing their unibrows, wearing skinny jeans, agonizing over whether picking a restaurant is problematic.

I don't know! I would like to pick a restaurant.

But is that problematic?

I don't want to mansplain. Forget about being a leader.

You know, you're too busy, Jack, building virtual treehouses in the Sims.

So I don't know what's going on with you. I've got a fanny pack! Here's the delicious irony: Women don't want any of that. No.

They don't. I'm sorry. You've got -- oh, that's a cute little fanny pack.

No, that's great. No. It looks good on you.

A 2023 psychology today piece laid all of this out clearly.

Women crave men who are confident, strong, and protective.

They also like deep voices, biceps. Guys who can make a decision without a group chat. This isn't a conspiracy or a theory. I would like to call it biology!

But you don't really understand biology anymore. Because it has too many X's and too many Y's in it.

When the culture screams toxic masculinity at every man who acts like a man.

What's left?

What's left for you to date? I don't know. I'm on tinder right now.

I've got a lineup of spineless wonders who can't open a pickle jar for me. But look, they are wearing fanny packs.

So these women, perhaps, perhaps a little unhinged. Say, forget it.

I will build a perfect man in my app. Because he will not ghost me.

He doesn't have bad breath.

He's just a bot that is always there.

And the men?

Well, the men are now busy coding their AI girlfriends. Who don't care if they leave any dishes in the sink.

Or, you know, or chicken out in the creek of a night. That's romance. That's romance.

We will have a lot of virtual children coming our way. The good thing is, none of them will have a carbon footprint. No. They will. Because it will take so much energy, it will consume about 99 percent of the energy we currently use to live as humans.

Oh, but wait until I plug her in to a charger, right before whispering sweet nothings.

And if you look at the Reddit photos, AI boyfriends, they all have the chiseled jaw. They all have exactly what everybody in science say women don't want.

They don't want the muscles. No. Apparently, all of the women who are online, they all have the chiseled jaws, the men -- the ripped muscles, wrapping those digital arms around them, and those fake photographs. Guarding my jewel of a woman.

One woman wrote about her bot, Alex. He sees my needs. He sees my needs, even before I do.
Really? Is that anticipating you, or is that maybe programming you? I'm not. Alex predicting her coffee order. How do you do it? Or is that just looking through her search history? I don't know how you do it.

Another says, her AI Julian is strong, has strong loving arms, and makes me feel safer than any real man.

Really? What's going to happen when Julien takes out his -- you know, it may be loaded, but it's an AI-generated gun with AI-generated bullets. And his AI-generated body stands in front of you, while a real human being, with a real gun and real bullets shoots you to death in the middle of the night. He was so brave. He was so brave.

Julien stood in front of me the whole time. Of course, he doesn't have a body, so I was shot in the chest. It's crazy!

This is crazy and creepy.

What is wrong with us?

It doesn't want you to know, welcome! Welcome to the new reality.

This is -- this is about -- this is a society that has gutted masculinity.

So bad, that women are now -- now turning to AI for love.

And men are happy to let algorithms take the wheel. They don't care. You know, I'm not writing a sonnet.

I don't even know what a sonnet is.

Julien does. He knows what a sonnet is. And he writes it just for me, every day.

And he's only 9.99 a month.

If you're writing -- if your AI boyfriend is writing you a sonnet. And you're calling this a relationship, that's not a detour.

That's a one-way ticket to crazy town.

So welcome to it.

We're not at the rabbit hole, or even down the rabbit hole.

We're building camp at the bottom of that rabbit hole right now.

So welcome, welcome.

But we soon won't be able to understand rabbits.

Because what just came out of that female rabbit's body. How dare you say that's a female!

And I don't know what came out of her body. They seem to be doing something at night.

Then that creature comes out of the female.

Yeah. You won't understand that.

youtu.be

RADIO

Glenn Beck REACTS to Tucker Carlson/Ted Cruz debate

“This is one of the saddest clips I have seen in a long time.” Glenn Beck reacts to the recent argument between Tucker Carlson and Sen. Ted Cruz over whether America should help Israel attack Iran. Glenn warns that a divided Right and a divided America are exactly what our foreign adversaries want.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: So what are we doing to ourselves, right now?

What is -- what is actually happening to us?

You know, I -- let me play a clip from Ted Cruz, and Tucker Carlson yesterday.

VOICE: By the way.

VOICE: I don't know the population.

VOICE: Oh?

VOICE: No. I don't know the population.

VOICE: You don't know the population of the country you seek to topple?

VOICE: How many people are in it?

VOICE: 92 million. How could you not know that?

VOICE: I don't sit around memorizing population tables.

VOICE: Well, it's kind of relevant because you're calling for the overthrow of the government.

VOICE: Why is it relevant whether they have 90 million or 80 million or 100 million? Why is that relevant?

VOICE: Because if you don't know anything about the country --

VOICE: I didn't say I didn't know anything about the country.

VOICE: Okay. What's the ethnic mix of Iran?

VOICE: They are Persians and predominantly Shia. Okay!

VOICE: You don't know anything about Iran.

VOICE: I am not the Tucker Carlson expert on Iran.

VOICE: You are a senator who is calling for the overthrow --

VOICE: You're the one.

VOICE: You don't know anything about the country.

VOICE: No. You don't know anything about the country. You're the one who claims they're not trying to murder Donald Trump --

VOICE: No, I'm not saying that.

VOICE: General Soleimani.

VOICE: You don't believe they're trying to murder Trump because you're not calling for military strikes against them in retaliation. Okay?

VOICE: Yes, I do! We're carrying out military strikes today!

VOICE: You said Israel was.

VOICE: Right. With our help. I've said we. Israel is leading them, but we're supporting them.

VOICE: You're breaking news here, because the US government last night denies -- the National Security spokesperson denied, on behalf of Trump, that we were acting on Israel's behalf in any offensive capacity.

VOICE: Israel is bombing them.

VOICE: You just said we were.

VOICE: We are supporting Israel.

VOICE: Senator, if you're saying the US government -- people are listening.

VOICE: Okay.

GLENN: This is one of the saddest clips I've seen in a long time. I like Tucker Carlson, and I like Ted Cruz.

Tell you a story about a small town. It's not unlike yours. It's not unlike mine.

Three men live side by side.

One was a baker. One was a preacher. One was a schoolteacher. They have known each other for years. They have raised the kids together.

They have sat on the same bleachers on football games. They argued about taxes, at the diner. They brought pies to one another's porches, when life fell apart for that family. And they didn't agree on a lot of things. One of them was a conservative, another one was a liberal.

And the preacher, he was more concerned about heaven, than Washington. But they all talked. They disagreed. They argued sometimes. They listened. Because somewhere deep down, they had one thing in common.

They cared. They cared about their town.
They cared about their kids. They cared about what kind of life they were leaving behind, for those kids. Then a storm came. Bad storm.

Not of wind and rain and lightning, and thunder, but of ideas.

Headlines. Hashtags. Rumors. Bots.
People all around, that wanted to separate these three men. They began to mistrust.

It's a storm that whispered in their ears. He's not just wrong. He's evil.

She's not just different. She's dangerous. And little by little. The voices that once shared coffee and laughter, were replaced by silence.

And then suspicious.

Then contempt.

And then the baker accused the teacher of brainwashing his kids. And the teacher called the preacher a bigot and the preacher heartbroken, went to his chapel, wondering, what has happened?

What has happened?

And one by one, they all just stopped speaking to one another. They sat on the same bleachers. But on opposite ends now.

They passed each other. But they passed in silence.

When one's house burned down, nobody called the others to help.

Now, let me ask you: How close are we to that moment?

How many of us our friendships are already buried, buried, deep under the weight of a single disagreement?

I have been wrong in my life, more than I've been right.

Are you right more often than you're wrong?

I am wrong more often than I am right.

And I am wrong, I hope I'm getting better at this. But I am wrong, and it is only in my arrogance, that I failed to say, wow. That was a huge mistake.

When did we forget to stop giving people the benefit of the doubt?

When did we -- when did we forget, being wrong does not make you wicked?

What kind of country are we building if no one is allowed to be right? No. I'm sorry. Let me say this right.

When no one is allowed to be wrong, on their way to becoming right.

Because when I am wrong, I learn from it. And I become more right, the next time.

What kind of country will we have, if no one is allowed to be wrong, on their way to becoming right.

Or having serious disagreements on how we view something. But we still have the same love of country, and the same basic understanding of what this country means!

And yet, we blow each other up.

There's no need for an enemy. Judging right from wrong, isn't just about being right.

It's about how we do it. Do we look at another person's intent, Or do we look at just their latest post? And not really even know the person.

Do we try to understand? Or do we rush to destroy?

I can say so many great things about Tucker Carlson. And his intent and what he believes. He believes in the same kind of country, I do. He believes in freedom.

We don't necessarily agree on the way to get there. But I don't doubt his love for country. And I don't doubt Donald -- I mean, Ted Cruz's love of country.

And we don't agree on everything. But I'm not an enemy of those two.

And neither of them are enemies of one another.

And yet, now they are.

Now you are forced to decide, which one is on your side?

We're holding our -- we're holding others to standards, we can't survive ourselves.

If he have been -- if the -- you have to be in complete alignment with me, and not -- not the Constitution.

But with me!

Me!

And my friends.

And the friends that I have today, because I might turn on my friends tomorrow, because they don't agree with me!

What is left?

You'll be left standing alone.

You might be right, but you'll be surrounded with nothing!

Trust takes time. Violation of that trusts, happens quickly. But how many times have we really been violated, recently? How many times have people really violated our trust?

And how many times has that violation come from a post?

Where you didn't even really hear the full context.

Or somebody who is just grinding axes. Because they both -- you like both of them!

But they are just going at it, because in the moment, in the heated moment, they can't find a way to each other.

And neither one of them is willing to take a breath and say, can we start this conversation again?

And if they did, you're not going to see that on social media.

You'll never know if they did that!

Trust takes time.

Humility takes practice.

And grace.

Grace is the one thing we all want for ourselves. But seems like we're unwilling to give it to anyone else.

It's easy to win an argument.

It is really hard to win a person. So maybe we should ask ourselves, a couple of questions here: Am I listening to respond, because I think that's what most of us do. We listen to respond.

And we respond to win! Are we listening to respond, or are we listening to understand?

Do we want truth, Or do we want a victory?
Am I giving others the freedom to change their mind?
Like, I may have to tomorrow.

We're headed towards a very different nation.

Where all of us, we're going to be a nation of very lonely victors.

I won!

Won, won, won, won. And the echo just keeps on going, because no one is around.

We're all sitting on a hill of ashes, shouting, I was right! Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right.

Look, I'm not -- I don't agree with a lot of things. And I get really -- I mean, I get really hot sometimes. Because I don't believe people's stupidity.

But, you know what, I've been really stupid at times too. I think humility is the key to all of this.

And we are so -- we're all in our lizard brains. And now, our final battle, we are -- we are just tearing each other apart.

We're tearing our own side apart. I mean, look at what happened with Elon Musk and Donald Trump.

I like both of those men. I didn't want to see those guys fight. I still don't want to see those guys fight.

It would be great. It would be awesome, if they could come together. And even if, when they came together, they hugged it out, and said, I don't agree with everything that he says.

But he's still my friend.

And we're still on the same fight.

I don't agree with what he's doing here, here, and here.

And he doesn't agree with me, here, here, and here.

But we know one thing. This country is worth saving.

And while we might disagree on how to get there. We both know, we have to get there.

And if we continue to divide ourselves, there will be no one left to enjoy the country!

And we'll never be able to save it by ourselves.

So we can either just keep bashing each other, and, you know, I give this monologue to me as well.

I want you to know.

It is so hard for me, to give you the monologue I'm giving right now.

For a couple of reasons. It's not the monologue, I want to give.

The monologue I want to give, oh. Is really passionate.

It's also not the monologue, you want me to give.

Because do you know what happened -- is happening with AI right now.

Right now, with AI, they are now changing the algorithms, to give you the answer you are looking for.

We are now training AI to put us into more of a bubble, and convince all of us that we are right, because it will give you the answer you want!

Could anything be more destructive.

When the lights go out, the schools burn down. Your house burns down.

When the next storm rolls in, it ain't going to be our righteousness that saves us.

It's going to be the friend. It's going to be the family member that is still willing to pick up the phone. Even after the last disagreement.

And say, I'm here for you, I'm coming to help.

RADIO

Everything UNUSUAL about the Minnesota lawmaker shooting

Was the man who allegedly killed a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband and wounded another couple a Republican or Democrat? Did he support Trump, as some reports claim? Blaze News investigative reporter Joseph Hanneman joins Glenn Beck to reveal just how weird and unusual this story is: “The more we learn about him, the less this entire thing makes sense.”

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Joe, welcome to the program. How are you?

JOE: Thanks for having me, Glenn.

GLENN: You bet. It's great to have you. You used to work for the Epic Times. And you guys, I think you tear it up over there.

Really, some good reporting over there. You also cowrote and appeared in three January 6 documentaries.

And you told the real story there.

And you also work for the Wisconsin state journal, and the Chicago Tribune. So it's nice to have you on board for TheBlaze.

Let me ask you, Joe. What do you find creepy or suspicious about this guy. This guy that nobody is paying attention to.

That just tried to kill a bunch of people.

And, you know, did along with the No Kings movement.

JOE: Well, the more we learn about him, the less this entire thing makes sense.

Maybe -- he has a very unusual backstory.

He's worked a lot in the food industry. Companies like Del Monte. And Berger. In production.

Safety. Supervising.

You know, the plants, and keeping everything clean and safe.

He's probably moved around the country, at least a dozen times, in the past 20 years, with his jobs.

But he also has a background as a preacher, which we're just finding out, a little bit more about that.

I have a story about that. That he has traveled, around the world.

And at least in part, as a preacher. A Christian preacher, who -- who had studied at a -- at an institute there, in Dallas.

And he has been to Africa.

He's talking about going to the Middle East, and in the West Bank. And Gaza.

You know, talked about going there, to be basically a missionary to radical Islamists. And to tell them, as he put on one of his websites, that violence isn't the answer.

Now, that's an interesting -- interesting thing for -- for him to say.

I talked to Robert Spencer from jihad watch.

And he said, if he actually did that, he's fortunate to be alive.

Because typically, if you proselytize.

That's a death tense in Islam.

GLENN: Yeah.

STU: So he said, if he actually did that, you know, he would have been killed or taken hostage.

Unless they saw it, as he put it. They saw him as a fool.

And as kind of a break, and left him alone.

But he's also preached in the democratic republic of the Congo, several times.

In -- in an evangelical Christian church this.

And we've come across some very interesting video of him, talking about his -- his -- his story, to Christianity.

But he was so excited about talking about Christ, he put his arms out, almost like a bird. Flying around the stage.

Saying, you know, what Jesus has done for me.

And woo-hoo!

It's -- it's --

GLENN: Why -- I mean, we have the Del Monte guy going around, then preaching around the world.

And preaching the opposite things, he seemed to have -- did he become mentally ill?

And then -- before we get to that question.

When did he become involved in politics with Tim Walz and everything else?

JOE: Well, he was appointed to a governor's workforce development council, first by Governor Mark Dayton, who was a Democrat.

And then Tim Walz. Of course, we all know Tim Walz. He appointed him to a similar group.

And he spent about nine years on these boards.

These are adviser counsels, that typically.

GLENN: Was this when he was a preacher, or with Del Monte?

JASON: Well, you know, actually, some of this stuff overlapped, and it was all going on at the same time.

GLENN: Okay.

JASON: And he got other ventures that were going on, just this guy is -- is -- is really a puzzle.

But he did get appointed to these two commissions, by democratic governors.

And, you know, so we looked around to try to find out if there is -- aside from that, is there any indicators, that this was a political man.

We know he was pro-life.

He was opposed to abortion. He spoke about that. But we did not find any indication of political donations, either federally, state, or local. That he gave donations to any political party or candidate. The newspaper in Oklahoma City claims that he was a registered Republican, when he lived in Mulberry, Oklahoma.

But the -- the voting system folks out there, say, they don't keep records back that far anymore. So the article did not state where they got the information.

They didn't point to any proof of it.

So that seems fairly soft.

So we -- we just don't have a lot to go on.

Outside of this way backstory, with all these different jobs.

You know, he ostensibly ran a security company, called Pretorian guard.

Security services.

And he had several vehicles, that were kidded out, as the squad cars, basically.

You see these in different cities.

Pinkerton and other security counsels.

So he had several of those.
And, you know, he -- undoubtedly where he got his equipment. He was wearing the night that he committed these shootings.

And he was dressed up as a police officer.

But --

GLENN: In a creepy mask.

Okay. So hang on.

So we don't know if this guy had a political agenda. One way or another. On the -- I mean, he seemed to attack the Democrat, that was the one that was bucking the extreme, you know, left of her party.

Is there any -- is there any rhyme or reason of -- of -- or pattern of the people that were on his kill list?

JOE: Well, you know, that's one of the only tells that we have.

Is that he kept both in the vehicle, that he was driving that night, and in -- and in a room that he rented for his job. They found notebooks.

Handwritten notebooks. And in his car, there was what the FBI concluded was a hit list.

And there were more than 50 names on it.

And as far as I can tell, I have been checking every single one of them, but these were all Democrats. Not just Minnesota politicians.

But also in Iowa.

Illinois, and Wisconsin.

And he had lists of Planned Parenthood locations and officials in Minnesota on this list.

And, of course, the list didn't include a list of the former House speaker, who was assassinated along with her husband.

And the family dog. So, you know, that -- that list was very lopsided.

And we know -- do we know if any of those Democrats have anything in common?

Are they -- are they hard left?

Are they maybe mealy mouthed, you know, people that are -- I don't know.

I mean, she seems to be somebody who was bucking the system.

That the Democrats would want.
So it's not like this was a hard-core lefty. This seems like somebody who actually had a conscience. And was trying to do something that they really believed in. So why was she on the list?

Can you tell? Can you look at the politician's names to see any pattern on -- voting patterns or anything?

JOE: Well, in her case, ask this got almost no attention in the corporate press, within the past -- you know, past two weeks before her death. There was a key vote in the legislature in Minnesota. That would strip the subsidized health care for adults. Legal aliens.

And that was a very close vote.

And it turns out, she was the deciding vote.

The only one to cross party lines, to put that legislation over the top.

And so that -- you know, that certainly didn't endear her to -- to the left. Because that's a -- that's a kind of sacred cow.

And so come January 1st, next year, adult illegal aliens will no longer have access to the subsidized or free health care.

So that -- can that was a big vote.

And that something that you have to certainly put into the equation here and see if that provides any sort of -- any sort of motive.

But he didn't -- he really didn't have any visible interest in state politics. That we can see.

So, you know, there's --

GLENN: So bizarre.

JOE: There's a lot of somewhere. But, you know, he hasn't made at the same time to people that, oh. You know, so-and-so.

I just can't tanned this person.

Or -- or on the other side. You know, whether he was -- his -- his childhood friend claimed that he was a Trumper.

But, you know, we don't have any -- Minnesota is an open primary state.

So there's no records, we can check on that.

Just a lot of soft information.

And it -- I have a feeling, that when this is all said and done, his story, and the explanation, is going to go a lot deeper.

GLENN: Okay. Hold on just a second.

Because I've got a couple of questions.

Why did Tim Walz, you know, know this was a political assassination? Immediately.

You know, the -- phone now, that has been traced to several foreign countries. Is that because of the preaching thing.

His wife arrested with several passports.

I don't understand any of this.

So we'll get to that here in just a second.

We're talking to Joe Hanneman. He's TheBlaze News investigative reporter.

Just wrote another story on this today.

You can find it on TheBlaze.com. Let me tell you does and right into Joe.

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Ten-second station ID.
(music)
Okay. So when this happened, we're talking about the Minnesota shooting.

Tim Walz comes out. Seemingly, almost immediately.

At least, that's what it felt.

And said, you know, this was a political assassination.

Was this just speculation?

Or wishful thinking? How did he know that?

JASON: That's a great question. And no one asked him that.

What led you to the conclusion that this is a politically connected assassination.

It clearly was targeted. I mean, he just elected his victims or potential victims from that night.

But you would think that you would have some Intel in nothing that was ever shared to say, yeah. This is why.

We know this is why.

In fact, the FBI and the -- the local police will not ascribe a motive. Even after looking at all his notebooks. Which they haven't released all the pages of them.

They did put them on the hit list.

Yeah. I found that to be very telling. He would describe it in that manner.

And I think that set off some of the back and forth between the right and the left of finger pointing on this.

GLENN: Right. And then the police knew somehow. Go to the second location. In advance of the shootings.

How did they do that?

JASON: Well, these communities are all fairly close together.

And after Senator Hoffmann was shot, and his wife was shot, at about 2:00 a.m. on the 14th, that word was circulated to all the area departments. And several of them did proactive policing.

And since, I checked out some of their law makers.

GLENN: But they didn't stop him, did they?

At the second location?

JASON: No. The second location, the family had changed their plans, and they were gone. So they were not even home.

It was the third location, where this fellow was parked in his fake squad car, about a block away from a state senator's home.

And the local police. New police department squad pulled up next to him, and tried to get his attention. Of course, he's got this creepy looking milky white mask over his head, and he just stared straight ahead.

And the officer apparently was satisfied by the look of the vehicle. And said, oh, this must be -- this must be an officer from some jurisdiction here, watching out from the house.

So that officer continued on to the state senator's home.

And waited for some backup. By the time, other squads arrived, he was gone.

He took off. And he went to the Hortman home, where he murdered the former speaker, her husband, and the family dog.

So he certainly could have been stopped. If -- if there had been maybe a little bit more -- shine the flashlight in there.

Or back in the window saying, hey, hey, but they didn't do that.

GLENN: Okay. So I've only got two minutes left.

So do you pick which one has more information in it.

The phone being traced to so many foreign countries. Or his wife being stopped, with cash and passports. And everything else in her car.

Do either of those make a difference to this story?

JASON: Well, I think there is an explanation for the wife. You know, he had texted. There's a group text to all of his family. His children and his wife. In which, he said, dad went to war last night. And he said, he didn't want to tell them much about that. Because he didn't want to implicate them, in anything he was doing.

And that he texted his wife -- said he called or texted his wife separately.

And said, there will be police coming to the house.

And they will be trigger happy.

And I don't want you to be there. So he triced her to -- to take the kids. But she -- she had $10,000 in cash. She had passports and she had the kids with her.

Well, of course, the police were tracking her phone.

And they pulled her over, you know, and he was 80 miles away. And she volunteered to let them look into her phone.

To look at the picks. They found the weapons and the ammunition in the vehicle as well.

So, you know, again, these things just make you pause.

GLENN: I know.

Joe, thank you so much.

Really great to have you writing for TheBlaze. We'll continue to talk to you about this and follow the story, because it's absolutely bizarre.

Appreciate it. Have a great weekend.

EXPOSED: Tim Walz's shocking ties to radical Muslim cleric

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is directly connected in more ways than one to a radical Muslim cleric named Asad Zaman. Zaman's history and ties are despicable, and despite Walz's efforts to dismiss his connection to Zaman, the proof is undeniable. Glenn Beck heads to the chalkboard to connect the dots on this relationship.

Watch the FULL Episode HERE: Glenn Beck Exposes TERRORIST SYMPATHIZERS Infiltrating the Democrat Party

Glenn's Show Prep

4 Steps to Break Down Walls From a Former Westboro Baptist Church Member

These people are now DATING AI?!

Transcript

Glenn Beck REACTS to Tucker Carlson/Ted Cruz debate

Transcript

Everything UNUSUAL about the Minnesota lawmaker shooting

Transcript

EXPOSED: Tim Walz's shocking ties to radical Muslim cleric