Glenn shares painful family history of abuse in response to critics

Glenn opened this morning radio’s program with an emotional monologue that touched on his own family’s dark history and why he is no longer willing to sit idly and comply.

Last week, the Wonderful World of Stu aired a segment about the inflated sexual assault statistics pushed by the White House. In the clip, Stu makes it clear that sexual assault – no matter the statistic – is unacceptable, but he also asserted that overstating the number of sexual assaults belittles those who have been assaulted. You can watch the segment HERE.

Left wing outlets like Media Matters, Salon, Slate, and Jezebel to name a few have jumped on Stu’s segment, which appeared  the Wonderful World of Stu and a portion of which aired on the Glenn Beck Program. The articles on these sites claim Stu – and Glenn by extension – are “mocking” sexual assault and harassment in a “horrifying rape sketch.”

Over the years, Glenn has learned it often best to ignore such outrage, but this morning he was inspired by the dozens of stories he has covered recently in which individuals stood up for what was right even when it wasn’t the politically correct position to take. Glenn publicly stood by Stu and his report and proceeded to share his family’s painful history with abuse and sexual assault.

Below is an edited transcript of the monologue:

GLENN: I want to start with something rather personal. I was going to blow something off because the usual suspects are rallying around this bit that Stu did on the TV show… The producers of that segment are women, and it's about rape and how horrible, horrible the new stats are about rape in America. It's all a lie. They are now trying to tell the American people that rape in America [on college campuses], by American men is three times the rate of the Rwandan genocide – three times the rate of rape than was happening during the

Rwandan genocide. It's an outrage. They do it by doctoring the questions in this poll.

STU: Yeah, they asked a bunch of questions in there – things like: If you were to pressure someone to have sex by telling them lies – so you say, ‘Hey, I'm actually a basketball player.’ If you do something like that, it's rape. If you make promises about the future that you know are untrue --

PAT: If you say, ‘I love you. I will love you forever.’ Also, if you ask more than once?

STU: Yes. Repeatedly asking, persistence.

PAT: So you could say, ‘Please?’ ‘No.’

GLENN: This is how they are defining it. This is a war on men and on women.

STU: And the goal here – the reason why I thought it was important to take this stat on – you are talking about turning every college-age male into Genghis Khan. You can't lie.

GLENN: I just wanted to say that everybody needs to watch this particular episode, and we'll post it at GlennBeck.com. Watch the full thing, not what the media is trying to smear with. That's totally fine because I stand by it. I stand by it. I double down on it.

And here's why: Rape is not a laughing matter, nor is it a matter that you lie about. You don't cheapen the real horror of rape.

I've told you now for about 10 years, there were things going on in my life I would talk to you about when the time is right, and it is damn near right. I will share a little bit of something that my family and I have gone through over the course of our lifetime, generationally, because I've had enough, quite frankly. I have had enough. I'm tired of being accused of standing with abusers and rapists. I'm tired of being called a monster. I'm just tired of the lies. I'm tired of the lies of abusers. I have had my fill of it.

My family has experienced rape first-hand – multiple times, over multiple generations. I have worked hard in my personal life to stop the effects of this over the last 10 years. It has changed my life. It has changed the lives of my sisters.

You know that my father died two months ago. My father was my greatest teacher, and for many years, he was my best friend. But my father, for me, did not two years ago. My father died about six years ago.

My father had a very bad dad. My father was abused by my grandfather, and my father ran away from home. And when he ran away from home, he ran to Los Angeles and he stayed at the YMCA, where he was repeatedly raped.

When he was young, he was stealing golf balls at a country club in Seattle. My father didn't know anything at all about golf, but he knew he could sell the golf balls, and so he was hiding in the woods with his friends and they would steal the golf balls, turn them in, sell them for money. And he was caught. He was caught by a man who said, ‘Really? You're going to have to work this off. You're going to caddy for me for the rest of this summer.’ That's the story that I had always been told by my father. What I found out recently was that man also repeatedly raped my father.

My father found himself going to try to find God, and he went to a church. He believed in this preacher. Instead of putting his faith in God, he put his faith in a man. And things didn't work out well.

When my father passed away, my aunt had come to visit me. We're now beginning to explore the ramifications of abuse generationally in families. My family is a shipwreck. I'm figuring out now why I believe – or have always felt as if – I was a bad dad because I have the sickness of self-doubt. I have been passed generationally the sickness, the effects – even if they are removed directly from you – you still feel the effects of what happened. And abuse was happening in my family. I told my father 10 years ago that it would stop because it was now being passed to the grandchildren. He said it would. I said, ‘It will, Dad? Because if it doesn't, I will end it.’

It was physical abuse, but it was not sexual abuse at that time. My father never abused any of us sexually that I know of, but my family has felt the ramifications of his abuse and has felt the sexual abuse by others in our family.

Don't you ever preach to me about what I can say and cannot say about rape. Don't you ever try to be an authority to me on the effects of rape. Don't you ever try to tell me what victims should or should not feel, as I have tried to piece my family back together and to give my sisters the love that they deserve and have never had.

My family and I are standing because of the grace of God, and because we have each other, and we have the truth. And if you have the truth and the courage to pursue the truth, time will heal everything. The good news is that I, and now millions of others, are finally facing the truth, no matter where your fear or the lies are buried, and it goes far beyond sexual abuse. There are millions now willing to speak, even if it means losing everything.

I have been saying this for a while, that courage is contagious. And last night, when I saw what was being said about Stu's segment on my program, I started to [think] I'm not going to say anything about it. But I have been inspired by those who are now standing in PTA meetings and have stood to speak their mind but violated a stupid two-minute rule and went to jail for the first time in their lives. I have been inspired for the teachers who are beginning to stand, and the TV show hosts and the football players and the peaceful group of individuals, many of whom are radically different than I am – financially, ethnically, politically, sexually – but they are all standing now, peacefully and calmly. But mark my words: Fully submitted to the truth.

I will not comply. You do not own my thoughts. A few things are very clear to me, and no amount of speech giving or bumper stickers or EPA, NSA, IRS threats will ever change the facts that are true.

These are just a few of them: My child's fingers are not, nor will they ever be a gun. Those who survived the Holocaust did not do so because of white privilege. A Hollywood blacklist is exactly the same horror show, whether the names on that list are communists or conservatives. 2 plus 2 equals 4. Always has, always will. I don't give a flying crap how you got there, as long as you got there, to 4. Global warming is not the same as global cooling or global climate change, which is different than global climate crisis and none of them have to do with the shootings in Chicago or the idea of regulating the very vapor that we as humans breathe out, that we all learn trees breathe in to grow. That is just as ridiculous as your straight face plan to now regulate cow farts.

I'm sorry, but I respectfully, lovingly, yet full-throated declare that is nonsense. I also declare the self-evident truth that racism is not about having high expectations. Racism is not about standards. And rape certainly is not about someone asking for sex too many times and then being sad when you turn them down.

If you had the facts on how brutal rape is, it shows how awful your peer-reviewed study questions really are. Let's contrast and compare, shall we, America? Who is hurting women? Who is standing up for women? Who is defending them and who is using them, merely for political power?

Have you no shame? How many gay friends do we all have that are now embarrassed by the people who have use third reel fight for freedom to come out of the shadows and love who they want, just to bash, control, and destroy everything in its wake for power now?

I have quite a few gay friends, and, without exception, they all say the same thing. They are now embarrassed and horrified at what the power left has turned the real cause of each of us being treated with respect and judged for our character into a thinly veiled mechanism of threat and retribution for anybody who dares agree on everything in this ever-expanding agenda. We have begun to destroy those who were at their side the whole time, who have the audacity to say, ‘Maybe, maybe things have gone too far.’

After a break, Glenn continued:

Those from all walks of life, color, sexual orientation and political ideology that wish to force others to think and behave the way they deem is the right way will always use every tool of their trade.  Look at what they are now defining as rape.  They are saying that threatening to hurt, threatening to smear, threatening to make afraid, lying to get their way, or pretending to be hurt or sad if you don't get your way.  All of those things, they are now saying is rape. But look at those who are doing all of these things to our society. Look at the way they are behaving.  Are they not behaving as their own self-defined rapists?

Make no mistake, they are not rapists, at least on this program.  We will define rape and racist as it is commonly understood.  A rapist and a fascist, while both monsters, are different.  Even though fascists have throughout history used rape as a tool to gain hold over a person or a public, rape still holds a unique position in society. Yes, both rapists and fascists, left and right, both want to force someone to do as they wish, or they will humiliate, threaten, violate, beat, kill or destroy.  Similar tactics, because as all intellectual and intellectually honest people will admit, rape is not about sex. It is about power over another person, their choices, their body and their life.

Those currently in power in government, education, banking, even global business, should understand: your time of lies and deceit and corruption are over.  Even if the world takes this current crop of bums and throws them out, I want you to know the other side is going to use the same exact levers and tactics again.

But here's the good news. I really, truly believe, at least 10% of the people on this planet are wide awake now, from China to Colorado, and that is more than enough to defeat anyone who wears a red tie or a blue tie or any kind of military uniform.  There are enough of us now, willing to stand just as they did in Tiananmen Square.  Stand against oppression in any form, and that number is growing.

Martin Luther King said 300 years ago enough is enough, and he's right. Rape, racism, oppression of any kind isn't a color.  It's not a class. It's not a gender problem.  It is a human problem.  It didn't start in America.  It started with Cain and Abel and has been repeating itself for thousands of years. Contrary to what our public school teachers are now forced to teach to stave the wrath of the labor union, slave owners don't have to at live in plantation houses.  Chains don't have to be physical, and those who use power to silence others don't have to be white.  They just have to see others as the means and themselves as the ends.

Just as Moses and a handful of these on the lowest rung on the ladder of political power did in Egypt and Lincoln did in America and Bonhoeffer did in Germany, Gandhi in India, Lech Walesa in Poland, we will stand - no matter the personal cost - we'll stand with intellectual honesty, stand peacefully, we will stand as decent and caring, a mass majority of all walks of life, voting records and lifestyle choices.  And we refuse to leave the lunch counter because we actually do believe in something.

We actually do believe that we can all be different and yet we can all live side-by-side, we can all be friends, we can disagree on all kinds of thing, but we can still work together and play together and be responsible enough as humans to defend each other's right to be different.  We don't need a political action committee to stoke the flames of book burning, witch hunts or mob rule.  We don't need the political action committees to tell us about blacklists.  All we need is each other and the truth.

Our black present, neighbors and families did not get beaten, go to jail and many die to win the right as a black man to have full citizenship, only now to be told to shut up and sit down at the back of the bus, because you're not black enough.  Only now to be told sit down, shut up, sit in the back of the bus, because you're Christian or atheist or gay or straight, liberal or conservative.  We're humans first.  We will continue to shout the truth from the rooftops.  I am a man, and I demand to be treated as such.

Adam Corolla said this week, it's not a crazy right wing idea.  It's just the right idea. Raising your kids to be responsible and loving is a parent's job.  Working hard and being able to pursue your dreams and keep your gain, helping those who can't make it and not because of mind-set or attitude.  That's their problem, but because of physical or mental disadvantages, helping those people, refusing to look away when you hear the cries for help, and standing up at the school yard for any bully, no matter where they're found, or no matter what label the victim seems to be wearing.  It is our job, not as Americans, but as members of the human family.

We stand with our sisters and our mothers and our daughters, because we love them, but we also stand with our fathers and our brothers and our sons, who also have been raped as well, those who have been destroyed by the cruel and calculated accusation of rape or racist, like those who smeared the cops over Tawana Brawley or the Duke lacrosse team.  We will not cower and we will not conform.

This isn't about white privilege or black power.  This is about power to the people, where it rightfully belongs.  It is about our duty and our honor as fellow human beings to comfort those who mourn, to heal the sick, to care about the poor and the poor in spirit, to hold those who are afraid, to stand with the meek, the humble, the real victims of rape and racism and classism or any other kind of ism.  Unlike the so-called civil rights leaders who have shamed themselves decades ago. We are not preachers, we are not politicians an we are not community organizers.  We are just people, and we like it that way.

We don't want, we don't need, we don't desire any recognition for this.  We don't want any power from it.  We certainly don't want money, retribution or vengeance, because that makes us into the monster we're all trying to stop.  We really even don't want to win. We don't want to win, because logic teaches us that for us to win, it requires someone else to lose.  I don't need to win.  I only search for reconciliation.  Reconciliation to the truth, because we know the truth will set us free.

I have two dads, one who is far from perfect, and one who is, and the one who is perfect asked me to love the people that hate, not to excuse their actions and not to love them in a condescending way, but a real way.

The people who are perpetrating these lies are in pain. To stay alive, they have to control others, because their lives are completely out of control, and they are afraid that they are going to be found out.

It's reconciliation, loving one's enemies does not mean condoning their actions.  It actually means exactly the opposite.  True love means you have to speak the truth.  You're wrong.  This is a problem. You have done things that deserve punishment, but take my hand.  I offer it to you as a sign of peace.  Walk with me, talk with me.  You do have to pay a price for your actions, but I, too, am a sinner.  I, too, am struggling just to keep my head above water, so I will walk with you, I will hold your hand, in hopes that you will have the peace inside of me, and I will feel your pain, but if you deny my hand, that's okay.  I can't force you to do anything, but make a choice.

Love and forgiveness or hate and destruction.  We have to stop this madness, put down our labels, put down our desire to control, put down your desire to manipulate.

The answers are easy. Look for the divine.  There's power, peace, love, forgiveness and a chance to start all over again.  Let us humble ourselves to be even worthy to see the truth again.

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What our response to Israel reveals about us

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I have been honored to receive the Defender of Israel Award from Prime Minister Netanyahu.

The Jerusalem Post recently named me one of the strongest Christian voices in support of Israel.

And yet, my support is not blind loyalty. It’s not a rubber stamp for any government or policy. I support Israel because I believe it is my duty — first as a Christian, but even if I weren’t a believer, I would still support her as a man of reason, morality, and common sense.

Because faith isn’t required to understand this: Israel’s existence is not just about one nation’s survival — it is about the survival of Western civilization itself.

It is a lone beacon of shared values in the Middle East. It is a bulwark standing against radical Islam — the same evil that seeks to dismantle our own nation from within.

And my support is not rooted in politics. It is rooted in something simpler and older than politics: a people’s moral and historical right to their homeland, and their right to live in peace.

Israel has that right — and the right to defend herself against those who openly, repeatedly vow her destruction.

Let’s make it personal: if someone told me again and again that they wanted to kill me and my entire family — and then acted on that threat — would I not defend myself? Wouldn’t you? If Hamas were Canada, and we were Israel, and they did to us what Hamas has done to them, there wouldn’t be a single building left standing north of our border. That’s not a question of morality.

That’s just the truth. All people — every people — have a God-given right to protect themselves. And Israel is doing exactly that.

My support for Israel’s right to finish the fight against Hamas comes after eighty years of rejected peace offers and failed two-state solutions. Hamas has never hidden its mission — the eradication of Israel. That’s not a political disagreement.

That’s not a land dispute. That is an annihilationist ideology. And while I do not believe this is America’s war to fight, I do believe — with every fiber of my being — that it is Israel’s right, and moral duty, to defend her people.

Criticism of military tactics is fair. That’s not antisemitism. But denying Israel’s right to exist, or excusing — even celebrating — the barbarity of Hamas? That’s something far darker.

We saw it on October 7th — the face of evil itself. Women and children slaughtered. Babies burned alive. Innocent people raped and dragged through the streets. And now, to see our own fellow citizens march in defense of that evil… that is nothing short of a moral collapse.

If the chants in our streets were, “Hamas, return the hostages — Israel, stop the bombing,” we could have a conversation.

But that’s not what we hear.

What we hear is open sympathy for genocidal hatred. And that is a chasm — not just from decency, but from humanity itself. And here lies the danger: that same hatred is taking root here — in Dearborn, in London, in Paris — not as horror, but as heroism. If we are not vigilant, the enemy Israel faces today will be the enemy the free world faces tomorrow.

This isn’t about politics. It’s about truth. It’s about the courage to call evil by its name and to say “Never again” — and mean it.

And you don’t have to open a Bible to understand this. But if you do — if you are a believer — then this issue cuts even deeper. Because the question becomes: what did God promise, and does He keep His word?

He told Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you.” He promised to make Abraham the father of many nations and to give him “the whole land of Canaan.” And though Abraham had other sons, God reaffirmed that promise through Isaac. And then again through Isaac’s son, Jacob — Israel — saying: “The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I give to you and to your descendants after you.”

That’s an everlasting promise.

And from those descendants came a child — born in Bethlehem — who claimed to be the Savior of the world. Jesus never rejected His title as “son of David,” the great King of Israel.

He said plainly that He came “for the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” And when He returns, Scripture says He will return as “the Lion of the tribe of Judah.” And where do you think He will go? Back to His homeland — Israel.

Tamir Kalifa / Stringer | Getty Images

And what will He find when He gets there? His brothers — or his brothers’ enemies? Will the roads where He once walked be preserved? Or will they lie in rubble, as Gaza does today? If what He finds looks like the aftermath of October 7th, then tell me — what will be my defense as a Christian?

Some Christians argue that God’s promises to Israel have been transferred exclusively to the Church. I don’t believe that. But even if you do, then ask yourself this: if we’ve inherited the promises, do we not also inherit the land? Can we claim the birthright and then, like Esau, treat it as worthless when the world tries to steal it?

So, when terrorists come to slaughter Israelis simply for living in the land promised to Abraham, will we stand by? Or will we step forward — into the line of fire — and say,

“Take me instead”?

Because this is not just about Israel’s right to exist.

It’s about whether we still know the difference between good and evil.

It’s about whether we still have the courage to stand where God stands.

And if we cannot — if we will not — then maybe the question isn’t whether Israel will survive. Maybe the question is whether we will.

When did Americans start cheering for chaos?

MATHIEU LEWIS-ROLLAND / Contributor | Getty Images

Every time we look away from lawlessness, we tell the next mob it can go a little further.

Chicago, Portland, and other American cities are showing us what happens when the rule of law breaks down. These cities have become openly lawless — and that’s not hyperbole.

When a governor declares she doesn’t believe federal agents about a credible threat to their lives, when Chicago orders its police not to assist federal officers, and when cartels print wanted posters offering bounties for the deaths of U.S. immigration agents, you’re looking at a country flirting with anarchy.

Two dangers face us now: the intimidation of federal officers and the normalization of soldiers as street police. Accept either, and we lose the republic.

This isn’t a matter of partisan politics. The struggle we’re watching now is not between Democrats and Republicans. It’s between good and evil, right and wrong, self‑government and chaos.

Moral erosion

For generations, Americans have inherited a republic based on law, liberty, and moral responsibility. That legacy is now under assault by extremists who openly seek to collapse the system and replace it with something darker.

Antifa, well‑financed by the left, isn’t an isolated fringe any more than Occupy Wall Street was. As with Occupy, big money and global interests are quietly aligned with “anti‑establishment” radicals. The goal is disruption, not reform.

And they’ve learned how to condition us. Twenty‑five years ago, few Americans would have supported drag shows in elementary schools, biological males in women’s sports, forced vaccinations, or government partnerships with mega‑corporations to decide which businesses live or die. Few would have tolerated cartels threatening federal agents or tolerated mobs doxxing political opponents. Yet today, many shrug — or cheer.

How did we get here? What evidence convinced so many people to reverse themselves on fundamental questions of morality, liberty, and law? Those long laboring to disrupt our republic have sought to condition people to believe that the ends justify the means.

Promoting “tolerance” justifies women losing to biological men in sports. “Compassion” justifies harboring illegal immigrants, even violent criminals. Whatever deluded ideals Antifa espouses is supposed to somehow justify targeting federal agents and overturning the rule of law. Our culture has been conditioned for this moment.

The buck stops with us

That’s why the debate over using troops to restore order in American cities matters so much. I’ve never supported soldiers executing civilian law, and I still don’t. But we need to speak honestly about what the Constitution allows and why. The Posse Comitatus Act sharply limits the use of the military for domestic policing. The Insurrection Act, however, exists for rare emergencies — when federal law truly can’t be enforced by ordinary means and when mobs, cartels, or coordinated violence block the courts.

Even then, the Constitution demands limits: a public proclamation ordering offenders to disperse, transparency about the mission, a narrow scope, temporary duration, and judicial oversight.

Soldiers fight wars. Cops enforce laws. We blur that line at our peril.

But we also cannot allow intimidation of federal officers or tolerate local officials who openly obstruct federal enforcement. Both extremes — lawlessness on one side and militarization on the other — endanger the republic.

The only way out is the Constitution itself. Protect civil liberty. Enforce the rule of law. Demand transparency. Reject the temptation to justify any tactic because “our side” is winning. We’ve already seen how fear after 9/11 led to the Patriot Act and years of surveillance.

KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / Contributor | Getty Images

Two dangers face us now: the intimidation of federal officers and the normalization of soldiers as street police. Accept either, and we lose the republic. The left cannot be allowed to shut down enforcement, and the right cannot be allowed to abandon constitutional restraint.

The real threat to the republic isn’t just the mobs or the cartels. It’s us — citizens who stop caring about truth and constitutional limits. Anything can be justified when fear takes over. Everything collapses when enough people decide “the ends justify the means.”

We must choose differently. Uphold the rule of law. Guard civil liberties. And remember that the only way to preserve a government of, by, and for the people is to act like the people still want it.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

In the quiet aftermath of a profound loss, the Christian community mourns the unexpected passing of Dr. Voddie Baucham, a towering figure in evangelical circles. Known for his defense of biblical truth, Baucham, a pastor, author, and theologian, left a legacy on family, faith, and opposing "woke" ideologies in the church. His book Fault Lines challenged believers to prioritize Scripture over cultural trends. Glenn had Voddie on the show several times, where they discussed progressive influences in Christianity, debunked myths of “Christian nationalism,” and urged hope amid hostility.

The shock of Baucham's death has deeply affected his family. Grieving, they remain hopeful in Christ, with his wife, Bridget, now facing the task of resettling in the US without him. Their planned move from Lusaka, Zambia, was disrupted when their home sale fell through last December, resulting in temporary Airbnb accommodations, but they have since secured a new home in Cape Coral that requires renovations. To ensure Voddie's family is taken care of, a fundraiser is being held to raise $2 million, which will be invested for ongoing support, allowing Bridget to focus on her family.

We invite readers to contribute prayerfully. If you feel called to support the Bauchams in this time of need, you can click here to donate.

We grieve and pray with hope for the Bauchams.

May Voddie's example inspire us.

Loneliness isn’t just being alone — it’s feeling unseen, unheard, and unimportant, even amid crowds and constant digital chatter.

Loneliness has become an epidemic in America. Millions of people, even when surrounded by others, feel invisible. In tragic irony, we live in an age of unparalleled connectivity, yet too many sit in silence, unseen and unheard.

I’ve been experiencing this firsthand. My children have grown up and moved out. The house that once overflowed with life now echoes with quiet. Moments that once held laughter now hold silence. And in that silence, the mind can play cruel games. It whispers, “You’re forgotten. Your story doesn’t matter.”

We are unique in our gifts, but not in our humanity. Recognizing this shared struggle is how we overcome loneliness.

It’s a lie.

I’ve seen it in others. I remember sitting at Rockefeller Center one winter, watching a woman lace up her ice skates. Her clothing was worn, her bag battered. Yet on the ice, she transformed — elegant, alive, radiant.

Minutes later, she returned to her shoes, merged into the crowd, unnoticed. I’ve thought of her often. She was not alone in her experience. Millions of Americans live unseen, performing acts of quiet heroism every day.

Shared pain makes us human

Loneliness convinces us to retreat, to stay silent, to stop reaching out to others. But connection is essential. Even small gestures — a word of encouragement, a listening ear, a shared meal — are radical acts against isolation.

I’ve learned this personally. Years ago, a caller called me “Mr. Perfect.” I could have deflected, but I chose honesty. I spoke of my alcoholism, my failed marriage, my brokenness. I expected judgment. Instead, I found resonance. People whispered back, “I’m going through the same thing. Thank you for saying it.”

Our pain is universal. Everyone struggles with self-doubt and fear. Everyone feels, at times, like a fraud. We are unique in our gifts, but not in our humanity. Recognizing this shared struggle is how we overcome loneliness.

We were made for connection. We were built for community — for conversation, for touch, for shared purpose. Every time we reach out, every act of courage and compassion punches a hole in the wall of isolation.

You’re not alone

If you’re feeling alone, know this: You are not invisible. You are seen. You matter. And if you’re not struggling, someone you know is. It’s your responsibility to reach out.

Loneliness is not proof of brokenness. It is proof of humanity. It is a call to engage, to bear witness, to connect. The world is different because of the people who choose to act. It is brighter when we refuse to be isolated.

We cannot let silence win. We cannot allow loneliness to dictate our lives. Speak. Reach out. Connect. Share your gifts. By doing so, we remind one another: We are all alike, and yet each of us matters profoundly.

In this moment, in this country, in this world, what we do matters. Loneliness is real, but so is hope. And hope begins with connection.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.