'Never Again Is Now': Glenn announces relief campaign for Middle East, 'Restoring Honor' anniversary event in Birmingham, and much more

Below are the prepared remarks from Glenn's radio show Monday June 8th, 2015

Get the key information from the announcement of 'Never Again Is Now' HERE

Five years ago this August 28th five hundred thousand americans boarded a plane, train or bus. They came from all over the country and indeed all over the world. They didn’t know what to expect. They just knew something big was going to happen. Those that were not there, do not understand. But those five hundred thousand people felt something that they still feel today. It was the start of something divine and we thirst for more of it.

Since we met, things in our country have gotten worse. I don't even mean politically, I mean we have gone over the cliff of madness, and indifference. Nothing makes sense anymore. Our Pentagon is told the biggest threat to our nation is global warming, we are told that we have ended the war in Afghanistan and Iraq yet our planes are still dropping bombs and our sons and daughters are still losing their lives. Those who seek high office are telling us about a war on women but it has nothing to do with the women and young girls that are raped and sold into slavery every day by people we sold guns to. The gay rights activists sue over flowers and wedding cakes and say nothing about the homosexuals that are thrown of the roofs of buildings in Syria everyday. We as Christians claim our rights are being violated while at the same time children are being crucified for their profession of Jesus Christ and we say nothing.

How many stories, and hours of network time has been lost forever on Bruce Jenner or the Duggars that drown out the voices of those beheaded cry out from the blood soaked sands of Libya?

We have become a people that are frankly absurd. We are a gross parody of the Great Americans that came before us. Our so called Civil rights leaders have become a sick joke who have turned the cries of racism, sexism, rape from cries of help to shouts of blackmail or threats.

We can no longer even teach our children that 2+2=4 because our math no longer contains absolute answers. If you feel good about 5 or 8, those can be correct as well. Our institutions of higher learning have become the modern day slave trade, enslaving our children to debt while insuring that they cannot read, reason or think for themselves.

Our churches have gone silent because they have built huge cathedrals to themselves and the God that they obey is the God of the Bank. They convince themselves that they cannot say things that might be too controversial because they would lose too many “customers” in the pew, they couldn’t service the debt. We have replaced revealed truth with light shows and rock bands.

The hatreds of old have reappeared, hatred of the jew, the banker, or the rich. We say we must be tolerant but we persecute, silence and destroy anyone who dares speak an opinion other than the newly accepted political “truth”. The murder rate in city after city has sky rocketed by 20 and 25% in the last 6 months while the citizens cry out for justice as they commit an injustice by burning their own city down. Only to have the city leaders thank the Bloods, Crips and Nation of Islam for partnering with them to keep the peace. The good cops will no longer risk their lives to keep the peace because we have condemned all police and labeled them killers. They are ALL guilty until proven innocent and even when they are declared innocent no one seems to care or to report.

In 2001 an enemy attacked us. He was unlike anything we had seen. He was vicious and had a set of principles that were too insane to rationally accept. Those days seem reasonable now. Currently our enemy marches people in orange jumpsuits and beheads them while quoting scriptures from the Koran or locks them in cages and sets them on fire. They crucify, behead and literally rip open the chests of our fallen on the battle field and eat the raw organs and our leaders call for more war or tell us the cannibals are a JV squad.

I will no longer pretend that nothing is wrong and act as though things are normal and that this is progress. This is not progress, this is madness. When America, the last bastion of Freedom, the best hope for all of mankind, becomes a place where her citizens turn their eyes from Crucifixions of children we are no longer a country or people I recognize.

We are a nation in which our citizenship is more of an indictment than an honor.

If we are to stand in the gap when real trouble comes to our shores, when our cities have been set on fire by our fellow countrymen, when ISIS comes to our malls and schools, we must begin to prepare now. Real war unlike we have seen since the 1940s is coming, like it or not. But a bigger battle is already in play. A battle for the soul of America. In this battle, we must soften our hearts. Rid ourselves of anger and hatred of each other that has been ginned up by the enemy within. We must also begin to organize ourselves in ways that the real civil rights giants have done in the past because this, in time, may just well be the last stand for the republic and we must not allow false hatreds to tear us apart.

There are no solutions on our streets in Ferguson or Baltimore because there is no unity of Principles. Where are those who stand for real justice without looting? Who are seeking the truth no matter if it means the cops are innocent or guilty? Who is preaching that God is the only one that can provide real peace and eternal justice? They are there, but there are not enough of them, and most of the ones that do preach this are not being seen.

I am happy to live in these days because we are now FORCED to grapple with the problems that have faced others throughout history, and our very survival demands that we solve them – now.

We must stick together and unify. Not around a common cause or a common outcome but instead unchanging universal principles, regardless of the outcome.

Whenever Pharaoh wanted to prolong the period of slavery in Egypt, he kept the slaves fighting among themselves. But whenever the slaves get together, it causes trouble in Pharaoh's court, and he cannot hold the slaves in slavery. We must disregard the things that are being taught by the Pharaohs all around us.

These Pharaohs are working on all sides and in almost every camp and they have successfully redefined hate. It is being packaged and sold as diversity, political correctness and progress. It is Godless and it seeks a victory over reconciliation and in the end will only produce generations of war, despair and hopelessness.

The silencing and destruction of others because of their viewpoint in the name of progress has become the new norm and revenge and vengeance is the new law of the streets.

We must stand united and declare: Just because one might disagree does not mean that we hate one another. We as Christians are commanded to Love one another and to abide by His higher laws. If we abandon these two principles our faith is dead. But as Christians we cannot pick and choose which laws we obey.

We ourselves have become unrighteous, covetous, full of envy, deceit and proud. We are boastful covenant breakers. By professing ourselves wise we have become fools. Our practice of our faith in word only too many times gives people the opportunity, rightly in many cases, to confuse with disagreement with Judgment and hatred.

Let each of us be subject unto the higher powers for there is no power but of God. Love works no ill to his neighbor. Love is the fulfilling of the law. It is high time we awake from our sleep for trouble is nearer than we believe. We must again find away to live with one another in peace and understanding.

Rev Dr Martin Luther King had the right idea. He saw a vision built on God’s truth, with Unity and love as key principles, and the concept of boycott and non-violent were his tactics, driven by principles, and based on truth. This non-violent resistance also worked with Gandhi, but Gandhi, a Hindu, said he learned it from Jesus - the revolutionary. Gandhi even chided the modern followers of Jesus for not following Jesus’ example, telling them, “You Christians have in your keeping a document with enough dynamite in it to blow the whole of civilization to bits; to turn society upside down; to bring peace to this war torn world. But you read it as if it were just good literature, and nothing else.”

He was right. The Gospel of Jesus Christ will start a revolution. It has before and it will again – if its teachings are applied and lived out in each of us.

This is not about politics. Politics has failed us because we have failed to stand for justice and righteousness. We have failed to stand for first principles and too many hearts have grown cold. This is about who we are and our culture. We must jump start the American heart. We must prepare to be stronger and more disciplined than we ever thought possible. We must dedicate ourselves to the principles of America and the principles of God.

In talking about the Gospel based non-violent resistance, Martin Luther King, said:

"As we begin to struggle with this evil we must always be sure that we struggle with Christian methods and Christian weapons. As we press on for Justice, we must be sure to move with dignity and discipline, using only the weapon of love. Let no man pull you so low as to hate him. Always avoid violence. If we succumb to the temptation of using violence in this struggle, unborn generations will be the recipients of a long and desolate night of bitterness and our chief legacy to the future will be an endless reign of meaningless chaos."

It is not the 1960s anymore. The dark days full of hate and rage have come and gone. We are no longer those people or those so-called and self-appointed civil rights community organizers who wish to drag us back; we dismiss them.

Those who seek retribution over reconciliation, those who blackmail or incite --- We do not need you anymore. There is a new generation of men and women, young and old, Christian, Jew, agnostic, liberal and conservative, black and white, straight and not, that have a better idea.

We do not need catchy slogans nor political parties, we believe less in the power of the check book and more in the power of the back bone.

To heal our country, we must stand in line with the everlasting truth of the Almighty, accept His will and His grace and then put our faith into action. We then that are strong ought to bear the troubles and infirmities of the weak and not to please ourselves.

Currently the weakest among us are those of all faiths and walks of life being killed by ISIS in Syria, Lybia, Iraq and all across the middle east but also by those in Iran, Afghanistan, and even those in Saudi Arabia.

After the second world war we as a people promised "Never Again".

May I suggest that Never again is NOW.

A genocide is going on now and we all know it. The pictures are on the web, yet we turn our eyes. We must be brave enough to look, and Christian enough to act. God specifically tells us: “When you happen on someone who’s in trouble or needs help . . . don’t look the other way pretending you don’t see him – don’t keep a tight grip on your purse. No. Look at him; open your purse; lend whatever and as much as he needs. . . . Give freely and spontaneously. Don’t have a stingy heart. The way you handle matters like this triggers God’s blessing in everything you do – all your work and ventures. . . .”

First they came for the Coptic Christians but I didn't speak out because I wasn't Coptic.

Then they came for the Homosexual and stoned them to death, but I didn't speak out because I wasn't homosexual.

Then they sold the Kurdish women and children in to slavery but I wasn't a 9 year old kurd so I didn't say anything.

Then they came for the muslim who wasn't muslim enough and the Christian that wouldn't convert but I didn't say anything because I didn't think it involved me and I didn't think I could do anything anyway.

Eventually they will come for you, and there will be no one left to speak out for you.

Not to speak is to speak, not to stand is to stand. God will not hold us blameless.

Evil exists. But so does God. As the sky grows darker, it is only then that we can see the stars that begin to shine. We must be those pinholes of light and as others begin to join us, the sky will grow bright and it will be those very stars that are in fixed positions of stability that will guide all those lost in the darkness to safety.

The world may tell you that it is foolish to stand for things that are right and just, that you are too weak but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise: and He has chosen the weak to confound those things that are mighty.

Let us develop a dangerous unselfishness.

Let us be the new righteous among the nations, those who declare themselves free of all men, yet make themselves servants unto all, that they might gain the more. Let us be the next Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Fredrick Douglas, Booker T. Washington, Hilda Solis, Nelson Mandela, Oskar Schindler. All giants that had nothing more than you. Just a willingness to stand against injustice and bend the arc of History.

We are those that have been called for this time. This could have happened in any other generation, but it didn’t; it happened in ours. It happened now, and We can be the civil rights leaders of this generation.

It will take dedication, hard work, and perseverance on our part – it will require actually living by the teachings of faith that so many of us so casually profess. But we will not give up and we will not give in to hopelessness or hate.

The Christian who speaks out for the homosexual being stoned in Iran, the homosexual who stands for the Christian Baker in Oregon, The Jew that sees the dark echoes of the past and wakes his people to the plight of the Coptic Christians and the Christian who stands in defense of the Jew in France or on an American college campus. These will be the people that begin to change the world.

We will not go over the cliff with the rest of humanity. But where there is true hatred, murder, corruption, power and evil, it will not be tossed aside easily. We fight not against flesh and bone, but principalities. Nevertheless, we will stand against them.

Whenever you take a stand for truth and justice, you are liable to scorn. Often you will be called an impractical idealist or a dangerous radical. It might even mean physical death. But if physical death is the price that some must pay to free their children from a permanent life of spiritual death, than nothing could be more Christian. We should not worry about persecution. We should expect it because we know that is what happens when any individual stands for a great principle, for a great principle – a great truth – is often unpopular.

We will be troubled at every side but not distressed, we will be perplexed but not in despair, persecuted but not forsaken; cast down but not destroyed.

I will not silently sit by as others redefine bravery as Caitlyn Jenner while a Father in Erbil watches his children slaughtered in front of him because his children would not deny Christ.

I will not pretend that free on demand abortions constitute a war on women while women are murdered in cold blood by there own families in so called honor killings here in our own country.

There are many things to fix in America and racism, sexism and injustice does exist here, but we must recognize how grotesque we have become in our cry of ‘injustice’.

We are a country who has lost not only its way, but history will show we have lost our mind. When finger guns constitute a class three look a like weapon in schools, while children are being slaughtered in schools by isis, when teachers can take their students to porn stores for a field trip and parents are told that they need to embrace this, when people claim there are 82 genders when God created two and some now are arguing for TransAblism - the person who feels they were born handicapped but were born in a fully able body and so they want the medical system to remove a limb, our society has gone over the edge of no return.

I am announcing today that I am a community organizer of sorts and I would like you to join me.

We are going to start with the clearest injustice on the planet today. One that will bring us together and something we can all unite on. This is something that our houses of worship should be leading on, but far too many are silent. It is time we turn the tables over and chase the money changers out of the churches and hold the arms up of those brave enough to say the things that need to be said.

Five years ago on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial we introduced you to the Black Robe Regiment. There were just over three hundred that joined us that day. Spiritual leaders from all denominations. Today we have in our data banks over 70 thousand pastors, priests and rabbis. I am told that if this were Germany 1939 over ten thousand of these holy men would have walked to the gas chambers themselves as they would not have complied. But the real secret is, Bonhoeffer had less then 10 pastors with him, had he had 10,000 maybe the Holocaust would not have happened at all.

I am not a preacher, but I am going to be starting a tour of churches this summer. We are going to begin to shake ourselves awake and we will begin with the pulpits. God is not dead, but many of his pulpits are. I will be speaking at churches where the pastors can be trusted to say the difficult things. Places were pastors know what time it is and will sleep no more. NEVER AGAIN IS NOW. .

Our faith requires us to put our Christian belief into action.

Together we will wake the most powerful force on earth --- the people of God, together we can be an army of good.

I am beginning where Martin Luther King began --- in Birmingham, Alabama. Guiding Light Church in Birmingham, Alabama is just down the street from the building where MLK began his historic stand against Bull Connor. Bishop James Lowe is a brave and outspoken man. We may not agree on everything, but He and his congregation are unafraid and have welcomed us for the anniversary of Restoring Honor and Martin Luther King's 'I have a dream' speech. Friday August 28th.

There are no tickets to buy and space will be limited. I will speak at as many churches that we can afford. If it is three churches or 300 in the end, I do not know but it is time the flocks demand from the shepherds a return to first principles. We must not lose our uniqueness as different denominations, I am not suggesting we mix our theology, I am however suggesting that the hour grows late and God is the only answer. If we turn our faces back toward Him, He will heal our land. But we must humble ourselves, do the uncomfortable things and come together. The body is made up of many parts and all of those parts are needed now.

What could bring us all together? We needed to find the most glaring injustice on earth. Something that black, white, straight or gay, Glenn Beck or even Bill Maher could agree on:

ALL LIFE MATTERS. The genocide perpetrated by the psychotic killers named ISIS must stop. So the first thing we are doing is raising money to help those innocents in the middle east. I hope to be traveling to the middle east in the next two or three months with a plane load of aid and my cameras to bring home the story of the children who are standing up against the evil of isis.

I may ask you to join me as we bring aid and comfort to those most in need. I would ask for your donation to help us in this goal of raising $2 million dollars in relief. We will also ask some of your churches around the country to take this money and actually fill the boxes and the planes. We will be asking your children to write letters to children in refugee camps so they know that America has not forgotten them. Please go to mercuryone.org right now and donate and join our cause.

There is much more to this campaign as it will be an on going movement and we will begin discussing it on tonights TV show on TheBlaze TV. We are going to begin to gather like minded people and train for non violent resistance and civil disobedience. We must understand that we are now David and Goliath has all the power.

I am asking you to be a man or woman of merit. Of honor, courage, love and discipline. It is an honor to have been born at this time. It is by the grace of God that he has allowed such a flawed man as me to have this platform and get to know you everyday.

I don't know how this all works, nor do I know where it all ends, but I do know it is a journey I must take and if we refuse to ask if God is on our side, but instead ask if we are on His side, Americans will again change the world with Malice toward none and charity for all.

The truth behind ‘defense’: How America was rebranded for war

PAUL J. RICHARDS / Staff | Getty Images

Donald Trump emphasizes peace through strength, reminding the world that the United States is willing to fight to win. That’s beyond ‘defense.’

President Donald Trump made headlines this week by signaling a rebrand of the Defense Department — restoring its original name, the Department of War.

At first, I was skeptical. “Defense” suggests restraint, a principle I consider vital to U.S. foreign policy. “War” suggests aggression. But for the first 158 years of the republic, that was the honest name: the Department of War.

A Department of War recognizes the truth: The military exists to fight and, if necessary, to win decisively.

The founders never intended a permanent standing army. When conflict came — the Revolution, the War of 1812, the trenches of France, the beaches of Normandy — the nation called men to arms, fought, and then sent them home. Each campaign was temporary, targeted, and necessary.

From ‘war’ to ‘military-industrial complex’

Everything changed in 1947. President Harry Truman — facing the new reality of nuclear weapons, global tension, and two world wars within 20 years — established a full-time military and rebranded the Department of War as the Department of Defense. Americans resisted; we had never wanted a permanent army. But Truman convinced the country it was necessary.

Was the name change an early form of political correctness? A way to soften America’s image as a global aggressor? Or was it simply practical? Regardless, the move created a permanent, professional military. But it also set the stage for something Truman’s successor, President Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower, famously warned about: the military-industrial complex.

Ike, the five-star general who commanded Allied forces in World War II and stormed Normandy, delivered a harrowing warning during his farewell address: The military-industrial complex would grow powerful. Left unchecked, it could influence policy and push the nation toward unnecessary wars.

And that’s exactly what happened. The Department of Defense, with its full-time and permanent army, began spending like there was no tomorrow. Weapons were developed, deployed, and sometimes used simply to justify their existence.

Peace through strength

When Donald Trump said this week, “I don’t want to be defense only. We want defense, but we want offense too,” some people freaked out. They called him a warmonger. He isn’t. Trump is channeling a principle older than him: peace through strength. Ronald Reagan preached it; Trump is taking it a step further.

Just this week, Trump also suggested limiting nuclear missiles — hardly the considerations of a warmonger — echoing Reagan, who wanted to remove missiles from silos while keeping them deployable on planes.

The seemingly contradictory move of Trump calling for a Department of War sends a clear message: He wants Americans to recognize that our military exists not just for defense, but to project power when necessary.

Trump has pointed to something critically important: The best way to prevent war is to have a leader who knows exactly who he is and what he will do. Trump signals strength, deterrence, and resolve. You want to negotiate? Great. You don’t? Then we’ll finish the fight decisively.

That’s why the world listens to us. That’s why nations come to the table — not because Trump is reckless, but because he means what he says and says what he means. Peace under weakness invites aggression. Peace under strength commands respect.

Trump is the most anti-war president we’ve had since Jimmy Carter. But unlike Carter, Trump isn’t weak. Carter’s indecision emboldened enemies and made the world less safe. Trump’s strength makes the country stronger. He believes in peace as much as any president. But he knows peace requires readiness for war.

Names matter

When we think of “defense,” we imagine cybersecurity, spy programs, and missile shields. But when we think of “war,” we recall its harsh reality: death, destruction, and national survival. Trump is reminding us what the Department of Defense is really for: war. Not nation-building, not diplomacy disguised as military action, not endless training missions. War — full stop.

Chip Somodevilla / Staff | Getty Images

Names matter. Words matter. They shape identity and character. A Department of Defense implies passivity, a posture of reaction. A Department of War recognizes the truth: The military exists to fight and, if necessary, to win decisively.

So yes, I’ve changed my mind. I’m for the rebranding to the Department of War. It shows strength to the world. It reminds Americans, internally and externally, of the reality we face. The Department of Defense can no longer be a euphemism. Our military exists for war — not without deterrence, but not without strength either. And we need to stop deluding ourselves.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Censorship, spying, lies—The Deep State’s web finally unmasked

Chip Somodevilla / Staff | Getty Images

From surveillance abuse to censorship, the deep state used state power and private institutions to suppress dissent and influence two US elections.

The term “deep state” has long been dismissed as the province of cranks and conspiracists. But the recent declassification of two critical documents — the Durham annex, released by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and a report publicized by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard — has rendered further denial untenable.

These documents lay bare the structure and function of a bureaucratic, semi-autonomous network of agencies, contractors, nonprofits, and media entities that together constitute a parallel government operating alongside — and at times in opposition to — the duly elected one.

The ‘deep state’ is a self-reinforcing institutional machine — a decentralized, global bureaucracy whose members share ideological alignment.

The disclosures do not merely recount past abuses; they offer a schematic of how modern influence operations are conceived, coordinated, and deployed across domestic and international domains.

What they reveal is not a rogue element operating in secret, but a systematized apparatus capable of shaping elections, suppressing dissent, and laundering narratives through a transnational network of intelligence, academia, media, and philanthropic institutions.

Narrative engineering from the top

According to Gabbard’s report, a pivotal moment occurred on December 9, 2016, when the Obama White House convened its national security leadership in the Situation Room. Attendees included CIA Director John Brennan, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, National Security Agency Director Michael Rogers, FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Secretary of State John Kerry, and others.

During this meeting, the consensus view up to that point — that Russia had not manipulated the election outcome — was subordinated to new instructions.

The record states plainly: The intelligence community was directed to prepare an assessment “per the President’s request” that would frame Russia as the aggressor and then-presidential candidate Donald Trump as its preferred candidate. Notably absent was any claim that new intelligence had emerged. The motivation was political, not evidentiary.

This maneuver became the foundation for the now-discredited 2017 intelligence community assessment on Russian election interference. From that point on, U.S. intelligence agencies became not neutral evaluators of fact but active participants in constructing a public narrative designed to delegitimize the incoming administration.

Institutional and media coordination

The ODNI report and the Durham annex jointly describe a feedback loop in which intelligence is laundered through think tanks and nongovernmental organizations, then cited by media outlets as “independent verification.” At the center of this loop are agencies like the CIA, FBI, and ODNI; law firms such as Perkins Coie; and NGOs such as the Open Society Foundations.

According to the Durham annex, think tanks including the Atlantic Council, the Carnegie Endowment, and the Center for a New American Security were allegedly informed of Clinton’s 2016 plan to link Trump to Russia. These institutions, operating under the veneer of academic independence, helped diffuse the narrative into public discourse.

Media coordination was not incidental. On the very day of the aforementioned White House meeting, the Washington Post published a front-page article headlined “Obama Orders Review of Russian Hacking During Presidential Campaign” — a story that mirrored the internal shift in official narrative. The article marked the beginning of a coordinated media campaign that would amplify the Trump-Russia collusion narrative throughout the transition period.

Surveillance and suppression

Surveillance, once limited to foreign intelligence operations, was turned inward through the abuse of FISA warrants. The Steele dossier — funded by the Clinton campaign via Perkins Coie and Fusion GPS — served as the basis for wiretaps on Trump affiliates, despite being unverified and partially discredited. The FBI even altered emails to facilitate the warrants.

ROBYN BECK / Contributor | Getty Images

This capacity for internal subversion reappeared in 2020, when 51 former intelligence officials signed a letter labeling the Hunter Biden laptop story as “Russian disinformation.” According to polling, 79% of Americans believed truthful coverage of the laptop could have altered the election. The suppression of that story — now confirmed as authentic — was election interference, pure and simple.

A machine, not a ‘conspiracy theory’

The deep state is a self-reinforcing institutional machine — a decentralized, global bureaucracy whose members share ideological alignment and strategic goals.

Each node — law firms, think tanks, newsrooms, federal agencies — operates with plausible deniability. But taken together, they form a matrix of influence capable of undermining electoral legitimacy and redirecting national policy without democratic input.

The ODNI report and the Durham annex mark the first crack in the firewall shielding this machine. They expose more than a political scandal buried in the past. They lay bare a living system of elite coordination — one that demands exposure, confrontation, and ultimately dismantling.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Trump's proposal explained: Ukraine's path to peace without NATO expansion

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / Contributor | Getty Images

Strategic compromise, not absolute victory, often ensures lasting stability.

When has any country been asked to give up land it won in a war? Even if a nation is at fault, the punishment must be measured.

After World War I, Germany, the main aggressor, faced harsh penalties under the Treaty of Versailles. Germans resented the restrictions, and that resentment fueled the rise of Adolf Hitler, ultimately leading to World War II. History teaches that justice for transgressions must avoid creating conditions for future conflict.

Ukraine and Russia must choose to either continue the cycle of bloodshed or make difficult compromises in pursuit of survival and stability.

Russia and Ukraine now stand at a similar crossroads. They can cling to disputed land and prolong a devastating war, or they can make concessions that might secure a lasting peace. The stakes could not be higher: Tens of thousands die each month, and the choice between endless bloodshed and negotiated stability hinges on each side’s willingness to yield.

History offers a guide. In 1967, Israel faced annihilation. Surrounded by hostile armies, the nation fought back and seized large swaths of territory from Jordan, Egypt, and Syria. Yet Israel did not seek an empire. It held only the buffer zones needed for survival and returned most of the land. Security and peace, not conquest, drove its decisions.

Peace requires concessions

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says both Russia and Ukraine will need to “get something” from a peace deal. He’s right. Israel proved that survival outweighs pride. By giving up land in exchange for recognition and an end to hostilities, it stopped the cycle of war. Egypt and Israel have not fought in more than 50 years.

Russia and Ukraine now press opposing security demands. Moscow wants a buffer to block NATO. Kyiv, scarred by invasion, seeks NATO membership — a pledge that any attack would trigger collective defense by the United States and Europe.

President Donald Trump and his allies have floated a middle path: an Article 5-style guarantee without full NATO membership. Article 5, the core of NATO’s charter, declares that an attack on one is an attack on all. For Ukraine, such a pledge would act as a powerful deterrent. For Russia, it might be more palatable than NATO expansion to its border

Andrew Harnik / Staff | Getty Images

Peace requires concessions. The human cost is staggering: U.S. estimates indicate 20,000 Russian soldiers died in a single month — nearly half the total U.S. casualties in Vietnam — and the toll on Ukrainians is also severe. To stop this bloodshed, both sides need to recognize reality on the ground, make difficult choices, and anchor negotiations in security and peace rather than pride.

Peace or bloodshed?

Both Russia and Ukraine claim deep historical grievances. Ukraine arguably has a stronger claim of injustice. But the question is not whose parchment is older or whose deed is more valid. The question is whether either side is willing to trade some land for the lives of thousands of innocent people. True security, not historical vindication, must guide the path forward.

History shows that punitive measures or rigid insistence on territorial claims can perpetuate cycles of war. Germany’s punishment after World War I contributed directly to World War II. By contrast, Israel’s willingness to cede land for security and recognition created enduring peace. Ukraine and Russia now face the same choice: Continue the cycle of bloodshed or make difficult compromises in pursuit of survival and stability.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

The loneliness epidemic: Are machines replacing human connection?

NurPhoto / Contributor | Getty Images

Seniors, children, and the isolated increasingly rely on machines for conversation, risking real relationships and the emotional depth that only humans provide.

Jill Smola is 75 years old. She’s a retiree from Orlando, Florida, and she spent her life caring for the elderly. She played games, assembled puzzles, and offered company to those who otherwise would have sat alone.

Now, she sits alone herself. Her husband has died. She has a lung condition. She can’t drive. She can’t leave her home. Weeks can pass without human interaction.

Loneliness is an epidemic. And AI will not fix it. It will only dull the edges and make a diminished life tolerable.

But CBS News reports that she has a new companion. And she likes this companion more than her own daughter.

The companion? Artificial intelligence.

She spends five hours a day talking to her AI friend. They play games, do trivia, and just talk. She says she even prefers it to real people.

My first thought was simple: Stop this. We are losing our humanity.

But as I sat with the story, I realized something uncomfortable. Maybe we’ve already lost some of our humanity — not to AI, but to ourselves.

Outsourcing presence

How often do we know the right thing to do yet fail to act? We know we should visit the lonely. We know we should sit with someone in pain. We know what Jesus would do: Notice the forgotten, touch the untouchable, offer time and attention without outsourcing compassion.

Yet how often do we just … talk about it? On the radio, online, in lectures, in posts. We pontificate, and then we retreat.

I asked myself: What am I actually doing to close the distance between knowing and doing?

Human connection is messy. It’s inconvenient. It takes patience, humility, and endurance. AI doesn’t challenge you. It doesn’t interrupt your day. It doesn’t ask anything of you. Real people do. Real people make us confront our pride, our discomfort, our loneliness.

We’ve built an economy of convenience. We can have groceries delivered, movies streamed, answers instantly. But friendships — real relationships — are slow, inefficient, unpredictable. They happen in the blank spaces of life that we’ve been trained to ignore.

And now we’re replacing that inefficiency with machines.

AI provides comfort without challenge. It eliminates the risk of real intimacy. It’s an elegant coping mechanism for loneliness, but a poor substitute for life. If we’re not careful, the lonely won’t just be alone — they’ll be alone with an anesthetic, a shadow that never asks for anything, never interrupts, never makes them grow.

Reclaiming our humanity

We need to reclaim our humanity. Presence matters. Not theory. Not outrage. Action.

It starts small. Pull up a chair for someone who eats alone. Call a neighbor you haven’t spoken to in months. Visit a nursing home once a month — then once a week. Ask their names, hear their stories. Teach your children how to be present, to sit with someone in grief, without rushing to fix it.

Turn phones off at dinner. Make Sunday afternoons human time. Listen. Ask questions. Don’t post about it afterward. Make the act itself sacred.

Humility is central. We prefer machines because we can control them. Real people are inconvenient. They interrupt our narratives. They demand patience, forgiveness, and endurance. They make us confront ourselves.

A friend will challenge your self-image. A chatbot won’t.

Our homes are quieter. Our streets are emptier. Loneliness is an epidemic. And AI will not fix it. It will only dull the edges and make a diminished life tolerable.

Before we worry about how AI will reshape humanity, we must first practice humanity. It can start with 15 minutes a day of undivided attention, presence, and listening.

Change usually comes when pain finally wins. Let’s not wait for that. Let’s start now. Because real connection restores faster than any machine ever will.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.