How to Prevent the Collapse of Western Civilization in Times of Terrorism

March 16, 2017

WRITER

Dr. Michael Youssef, whose ministry broadcasts the gospel of Jesus Christ to more than 160 million homes in the Middle East, joined Glenn on radio recently to discuss the growing threat Islamists present to the United States. In his new book, The Barbarians Are Here: Preventing the Collapse of Western Civilization in Times of Terrorism, Dr. Youssef offers practical steps to begin a New Reformation that will restore the hope of Western civilization and stop terrorists from establishing a global caliphate. It's not too late, but we haven't a moment to lose.

Listen to this segment from The Glenn Beck Program:

GLENN: Hello, America. And welcome to Dr. Michael Youssef. He is the author of the new book, The Barbarians Are Here.

And, Doctor, I want to talk to you from the perspective of somebody who says they really care, as do I, about the refugees. And getting the right refugees out of a war-torn country.

But that's --

MICHAEL: Sure, Glenn. Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate that.

GLENN: Sure.

MICHAEL: I want you to know -- and I want all your audience to know that I love everybody. And I have no hatred in my heart toward anybody.

Having said that, that is part of the gospel of Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, we as a ministry, we have a television station, 24/7 going into 160 million homes in the Middle East in the Arab world, preaching the gospel. So we're doing everything we can to reach them with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We've seen a lot of people come to Christ.

Let me first talk about, as an immigrant myself, you see, I am immigrated to this country many years ago, but I had to provide all kinds of information. I had to be examined by the embassy doctor. I had to provide tax information that I don't owe the government tax, that I have good police records.

And I came here, and I love this country. I am grateful. Every single morning, I'm thankful to God that I live in this country. So there's nothing wrong. This country has always loved immigrants.

But when you say we want to take the refugees without any vetting, without any interviews, except by blinded United Nations officials, who are really very bias. They have bias against Christians. We've seen it firsthand on the Jordanian side, on the Lebanese side. And so what we're saying is we're going to let the terrorists come in.

And here's the problem: Islamists always -- somehow got into cohort with the leftists in order to accomplish their purpose. They, in a sense, consider them to be a useful idiot.

And sadly, we've seen recently that the feminist movement that is being -- protesting as recently as yesterday and then the day after the inauguration. Who was leading it? Linda Sarsour. Linda Sarsour is a woman who wants to bring the Sharia law to America. Just think about this. I want to scream and say to these women, do you know what Sharia law says about women? You're half a man. You inherit half of what your brother would inherit. In the court of law, you are considered to be half of a man. You can be beaten by your husband or your father --

GLENN: She'll say she doesn't want any of that.

MICHAEL: Pardon?

GLENN: She'll say, that's not what Sharia law means to her. She doesn't want any of that.

MICHAEL: She can't pick and choose. That's what the Sharia is. You look at Saudi Arabia and you see the way they apply the Sharia, literally. Chopping the hands of somebody, a petty thief. Left hand first, then the right hand. You see people maimed everywhere in Saudi Arabia.

And so -- I mean, she can't really pick and choose. That's what Sharia is. That's what the Koran says. That's what -- all these teachers on the satellite channels, Muslim, Islamist satellite channels, they actually are showing the young men, the lengths of the stick by which they can beat their wives and their daughters. I mean, I have seen it. I actually screamed it to my congregation to just wake them up to the fact that we -- this is -- these people mean business. And their ultimate goal is to dominate the west and take over -- they feel that they failed twice back in the 700s, then the 1400s to take over Europe.

Now this is their final third jihad. And they're going to do it by birthrate. And they're going to do it by financial investments.

GLENN: Now, you say -- in chapter three, you talk about Germany and New Year's Eve.

JEFFY: Yep. Yep.

GLENN: And you say the barbarians are already here. You can see what the -- what the migration of undocumented or at least poorly screened immigrants are doing to Europe.

JEFFY: Right.

GLENN: And yet, still the media over in Europe still is not awake.

MICHAEL: I know. This is a blindness of biblical proportion. I mean, almost you got a blinder -- iconic picture that I saw that really told the whole story. These young bearded men from the Middle East in a German train, coming out of the station, shouting "Allahu Akbar," which means Allah greater, which is a cry of jihad, the cry of war. And these sweet German ladies holding this placards that says, "Welcome refugees." I mean, I said, "This said it all."

We're not really shooting ourselves in the foot, we're shooting ourselves in the head. And we're saying, hey, come on in. Destroy us. Take over. We're so blind as to who you are and what your ideology is. And it doesn't matter.

I often wonder sometimes if these folks really just hate America. I mean, I think if people like Soros and so forth, I just wonder -- you know, I don't want do accuse anybody of anything, but it just makes me wonder. Why would they not allow the government to vet people before they come into this country? Why they don't give them time in order to -- it took me two years to immigrate -- actually more than that. So what? That's fine.

I think every country has the right to determine the criterion by which they accept people to come in.

GLENN: You talk about some solutions and some things that we have to do. But about halfway through the book, you talk about the pattern of Babylon.

MICHAEL: Yes.

GLENN: And that we have been saved over and over again. But you -- if I may quote, again and again, God has defended Western civilization from an attack from barbarian slave merchants, totalitarianism, genocidal racists, segregations. But instead of thanking God for his mercy and protection, we have now taken all the credit for those victories. Instead of giving God glory, we give credit to secularism, materialism, multiculturalism, pluralism, political correctness, feminism, the welfare state, moral relativism, progressivism, environmentalism, atheism, humanism.

MICHAEL: Yeah. That is exactly what -- in fact, I would refer to these Christians who turn their back on the Christian faith or have Christian heritage and turn their back on the Christian faith, they're equally barbarians too. Because it was turning away from the Christian faith first in Europe, now it's happening here, is the very thing that has created that vacuum in society. And the vacuum has got to be filled. And it is filled by the Islamists who are coming in with pure ideology. It's very simple. Allah has spoken. And, therefore, he must be obeyed. And we have to do it. If we kill or impose jizya, which is a form of high taxation on Christians and Jews, in order to make Islam dominant.

You see, that is -- and that happens every time. And you see it in Israel, when they -- the Prophet Jeremiah, who literally pleaded with them and pleaded with them and pleaded with them, turn back to God. Turn back -- stop worshiping Baal. Stop worshiping false gods. They wouldn't do it. Finally, God said, okay. Not -- God is not capricious. He's going to say, okay, I'm going to sock it to you. No, I'm just going to take my hand of protection off and leave you to the consequences of your choices. And so the Babylonians, the terrorists of their day came over and ransacked Jerusalem and took hostages. Seventy years.

It happened again in Rome, when Rome fell. Rome fell because of similar things that are happening for our day. But what happened, the pagans blamed the Christians for it. And so some Augustan sat down, wrote a book, and that's really the book that influenced me the most, the City of God. And I began to see things from that perspective, where he literally maps out biblical history to the point when Rome fell. And I'm seeing that pattern almost repeated. And that's what I talk about in the book.

And the only answer, the only solution, the only hope is for God's people to stop being compromisers and stand up for the truth and stand for their faith and stop watering it down and preaching a false gospel.

GLENN: Give me the pattern. Give me the pattern from City of God.

MICHAEL: Well, the -- what -- what some Augustan did. And, again, I say that in the book, he influenced me greatly. So, you know, it's not all original with me.

GLENN: Right.

MICHAEL: He begins back in the garden of Eden. And he starts from there, and then he shows historically two strain, if you like, of humanities, one who are pursuing what he calls the city of man. That is secular humanism to the core. And the other who are pursuing the city of God.

For example, Abraham. The Bible said Abraham looked forward to that city, which is -- which is built by God, whose architect is God and built by God.

Even back then, he was looking forward to the city of God. So there's a Godly line from Enoch all the way to Abram. And down to even Lot. Even though he lived in such a miserable place, Peter said that he was literally torturing himself by living in that kind of central environment.

But you go all the way down through. And then God remembers his people when they were in slavery in Egypt. And he sends them a delivery. And Moses comes in and he delivers them from the horrors of the whips of the Egyptians. And he takes them out. And then in the book of Deuteronomy, toward the end of it, he says, look, I'm sending it to the Promised Land. I promised that land to your forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And I'm going to send you there. But here's the temptation: You're going to be facing it. You're going to be facing the temptation to turn against me and worship other gods. And if that happens, my judgment is going to be -- is going to follow.

And sure enough, they go into the Promised Land. And what happens? They start worshiping Ashtor and Baal and Ashtoreth and so forth. And God says, okay. I'm going to take my hand.

GLENN: Okay. So I just saw a study from Barna who does research --

MICHAEL: Yes. I know George very well.

GLENN: So you know, if you saw his latest, that we say that America now has a 49 percent biblical worldview. Meaning that 49 percent of the people view truth and right and wrong and how they just view the world through the truths in the Bible. That's only 49 percent. However, he did something new, and he attached morals and principles to it.

MICHAEL: Yes.

GLENN: So he asked, do you believe in Noah. Do you believe in Moses? Do you believe in the Ten Commandments? Instead of just that, the other half was, hey, do you think it's okay to steal.

And he found that actually that number is 15 percent biblical worldview. So how do you save it, if that's true?

MICHAEL: Well, his here's the core of the problem: So many evangelical pastors who started well because and for the sake of popularity, they started kind of watering down the message. One pastor said, well, I believe in the virgin birth, but you don't have to. I believe in Noah, but you don't have to. I believe in Jonah, but you don't have to.

Okay. What you've done, you've just basically disintegrated or you've destroyed the integrity of Jesus. If you believe that he is a triune God, lived -- was there before the foundation of the world and together with the father and the son created the world; and so, therefore, he was there, and then in his earthly life, he talked about Jonah, and he talked about Noah. And, of course, we know about his virgin birth. And has to be, in order for him to be divine. Otherwise, if he was born of the seed of a man, just like all of us, then he cannot be the sin bearer. He cannot take away our sin. So all of that and my appeal to these preachers who have sold out and -- their birthright for a pot of soup, return to God. Return to God now because you are misleading a lot of people. And in misleading them, you have created this -- this 15 percent. And that is one of the saddest things I think that I've seen.

In fact, Barna also said 64 percent of those who call themselves born again evangelicals, that they believe there are many ways to God. Give me a break. The word evangelical comes from the Greek word Evangélio (foreign language), which means the gospel. Namely that Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father, but by me. That is the very core of what they call themselves. And yet they are denying by their very practice what they claim to be entitled.

GLENN: Dr. Michael Youssef, thank you so much for being on the program. The name of the book is The Barbarians Are Here: Preventing the Collapse of Western Civilization in Times of Terrorism.

D-Day, the Bedford Boys, and earning it

Wikipedia

Today is the 75th anniversary of D-Day, the largest amphibious invasion in history.

The Allied invasion force included 5,000 ships and landing craft, 11,000 planes, and almost three million allied soldiers, airmen and sailors. Despite such numbers, the location and timing of the invasion was still an enormous gamble. The Nazis fully expected such an invasion, they just didn't know precisely when or where it would be.

Despite the enormous logistics involved, the gamble worked and by the end of June 6, 1944, 156,000 Allied troops were ashore in Normandy. The human cost was also enormous – over 4,900 American troops died on D-Day. That number doubled over the next month as they fought to establish a foothold in northern France.

There were five beach landing zones on the coast of northwestern France, divided among the Allies. They gave each landing zone a name. Canada was responsible for "Juno." Britain was responsible for "Gold" and "Sword." And the U.S. had "Utah" and "Omaha."

The Nazis were dug in with bunkers, machine guns, artillery, mines, barbed wire, and other obstacles to tangle any attempt to come ashore. Of the five beaches, Omaha was by far the most heavily defended. Over 2,500 U.S. soldiers were killed at Omaha – the beach so famously depicted in the opening battle sequence of the 1998 movie, Saving Private Ryan. The real-life assault on Omaha Beach included 34 men in that first wave of attack who came from the same small town of Bedford, Virginia. The first Americans to die on Omaha Beach were the men from Bedford.

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America has a national D-Day Memorial, but many people don't know about it.

America has a national D-Day Memorial, but many people don't know about it. Maybe that's because it wasn't a government project and it's not in Washington DC. It was initiated and financed by veterans and private citizens. It's tucked away in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, in the small town of Bedford, Virginia. Why is the memorial for one of the most famous days in modern world history in such a tiny town? Because, as a proportion of its population of just 3,200 at the time, no community in the U.S. sacrificed more men on D-Day than Bedford.

There were 34 men in Company A from Bedford. Of those thirty-four, 23 died in the first wave of attacks. Six weeks after D-Day, the town's young telegraph operator was overwhelmed when news of many of the first deaths clattered across the Western Union line on the same day. Name after name of men and families that she knew well. There were so many at once that she had to enlist the help of customers in the pharmacy's soda shop to help deliver them all.

Among those killed in action were brothers Bedford and Raymond Hoback. Bedford was the rambunctious older brother with a fiancée back home that he couldn't wait to return to. Raymond was the quieter, more disciplined younger brother who could often be found reading his Bible. He fell in love with a British woman during his two years in England training for D-Day. Like in that opening sequence of Saving Private Ryan, Bedford and Raymond barely made it down the ramp of their Higgins Boat in the swarm of bullets and hot steel before they were cut down in the wet sand.

Bedford and Raymond Hoback's mother, Macie, learned of both their deaths from two separate telegrams, the first on a Sunday morning, the second the following day. Their younger sister, Lucille, remembered her mother's devastation, and her father walking out to the barn to cry.

The day after D-Day, the killing field of Omaha Beach was already transforming into the massive supply port that would help fuel the American drive all the way to Berlin over the next year. A soldier from West Virginia was walking along the beach when he saw something jutting out of the sand. He reached down and pulled it out. He was surprised to find it was a Bible. The inside cover was inscribed with: "Raymond S. Hoback, from mother, Christmas, 1938." The soldier wrote a letter and mailed it with the Bible to Raymond's mother. That Bible, which likely tumbled from Raymond's pack when he fell on D-Day, became Macie Hoback's most cherished possession – the only personal belonging of her son that was ever returned.

Of the 23 Bedford men who died on Omaha Beach, eleven were laid to rest in the American cemetery in Normandy.

These men, many of them barely out of their teens, didn't sign up to march to the slaughter of course. They had hopes and dreams just like you and I. Many of them signed up for adventure, or because of peer pressure, and yes, a sense of honor and duty. Many of the Bedford Boys first signed up for the National Guard just to make a few extra bucks per month, get to hang out with their buddies, and enjoy target practice. But someone had to be first at Omaha Beach and that responsibility fell to the men from Bedford.

Over the last several years, the D-Day anniversary gets increasingly sad. Because each year, there are fewer and fewer men alive who were actually in Normandy on June 6, 1944. The last of the surviving Bedford Boys died in 2009. Most of the remaining D-Day veterans who are still with us are too frail to make the pilgrimage to France for the anniversary ceremonies like they used to.

It's difficult to think about losing these World War II veterans, because once they're all gone, we'll lose that tether to a time when the nation figured out how to be a better version of itself.

Not that they were saints and did everything right. They were as human as we are, with all the fallibility that entails. But in some respects, they were better. Because they went, and they toughed it out, and they accomplished an incredibly daunting mission, with sickening hardship, heartbreak, and terror along the way.

So, what does the anniversary of D-Day mean in 2019?

In one sense, this anniversary is a reprimand that we've failed to tell our own story well enough.

In one sense, this anniversary is a reprimand that we've failed to tell our own story well enough. You can't learn about the logistics of the operation and above all, the human cost, and not be humbled. But as a society, we have not emphasized well enough the story of D-Day and all that it represents. How can I say that? Because of an example just last weekend, when common sense got booed by Democratic Socialists at the California Democrats' State Convention. When Democratic presidential candidate John Hickenlooper said during his speech that "socialism is not the answer," the crowd booed loudly. When did telling the truth about socialism become controversial?

Sure, socialists, and communists and other anti-American factions have always been around. America certainly had socialists in 1944. But the current socialists trying to take over the Democratic Party like a virus don't believe in the D-Day sacrifices to preserve America, because they don't believe America is worth preserving. They are agitating to reform America using the authoritarian playbook that has only ended in death and destruction everywhere it is followed.

Ask a Venezuelan citizen, or an Iraqi Christian, or a North Korean peasant why D-Day still matters in 2019.

The further we move away from caring about pivotal events like June 6, 1944, the less chance of survival we have as a nation.

At the same time, the D-Day anniversary is a reminder that we're not done yet. It's an opportunity for us to remember and let that inform how we live.

Near the end of Saving Private Ryan, the fictional Captain Miller lays dying, and he gives one last instruction to Private Ryan, the young man that he and his unit have sacrificed their lives to rescue in Normandy. He says, "Earn it."

In other words, don't waste the sacrifices that were made so that your life could be saved. Live it well. The message to "earn it" extends to the viewer and the nation as well – can we say we're earning the sacrifices that were made by Americans on D-Day? I cringe to think how our few remaining World War II veterans might answer that.

Honor. Duty. Sacrifice. Gratitude. Personal responsibility. These used to mean a lot more.

Honor. Duty. Sacrifice. Gratitude. Personal responsibility. These used to mean a lot more. I don't want to believe it's too late for us to rediscover those traits as a nation. I want to believe we can still earn it.

The challenge to "earn it" is a lot of pressure. Frankly, it's impossible. We can't fully earn the liberty that we inherited. But we can certainly try to earn it. Not trying is arrogant and immoral. And to tout socialism as the catch-all solution is naïve, and insulting to the men like those from Bedford who volunteered to go defend freedom. In truly striving to earn it, we help keep the flame of liberty aglow for future generations. It is necessary, honorable work if freedom is to survive.

The end of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address is remarkably relevant for every anniversary of June 6, 1944. This is what D-Day still means in 2019:

"It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us – that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion – that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Letter from Corporal H.W. Crayton to Mr. and Mrs. Hoback – parents of Bedford and Raymond Hoback who were both killed in action on June 6, 1944

Álvaro Serrano/Unsplash

July 9, 1944 Somewhere in France

Dear Mr. & Mrs. Hoback:

I really don't know how to start this letter to you folks, but will attempt to do something in words of writing. I will try to explain in the letter what this is all about.

While walking along the Beach D-day Plus One, I came upon this Bible and as most any person would do I picked it up from the sand to keep it from being destroyed. I knew that most all Bibles have names & addresses within the cover so I made it my business to thumb through the pages until I came upon the name above. Knowing that you no doubt would want the Book returned I am sending it knowing that most Bibles are a book to be cherished. I would have sent it sooner but have been quite busy and thought it best if a short period of time elapsed before returning it.

You have by now received a letter from your son saying he is well. I sincerely hope so.

I imagine what has happened is that your son dropped the Book without any notice. Most everybody who landed on the Beach D-Day lost something. I for one as others did lost most of my personal belongings, so you see how easy it was to have dropped the book and not know about it.

Everything was in such a turmoil that we didn't have a chance until a day or so later to try and locate our belongings.

Since I have arrived here in France I have had occasion to see a little of the country and find it quite like parts of the U.S.A. It is a very beautiful country, more so in peace time. War does change everything as it has this country. One would hardly think there was a war going on today. Everything is peaceful & quiet. The birds have begun their daily practice, all the flowers and trees are in bloom, especially the poppies & tulips which are very beautiful at this time of the year.

Time goes by so quickly as it has today. I must close hoping to hear that you receive the Bible in good shape.

Yours very truly,

Cpl. H.W. Crayton

After boycotting Georgia over 'heartbeat' bill, Disney finds new production home

Travis Gergen/Unsplash

It's not as easy as it used to be for billion-dollar entertainment empires like The Walt Disney Company. It would be more streamlined for Disney to produce its major motion pictures in its own backyard. After all, abortion in California is readily available, as well as a protected, cherished right. And since abortion access is critical for movie production, right up there with lighting equipment and craft services, you would think California would be the common-sense choice for location shooting. Alas, even billion-dollar studios must pinch pennies these days. So, in recent years, Disney, among other major Hollywood studios, has been farming out production to backwater Southern lands like Georgia, and even Louisiana. Those states offer more generous tax breaks than Disney's native California. As a result, Georgia for example, played host to much of the shooting for the recent worldwide box office smash Avengers: Endgame.

But now it looks like it's Georgia's endgame. The state recently passed what is known as a "heartbeat" bill – a vicious, anti-woman law that would try to make pregnant women allow their babies to be born and actually live. It's a bridge too far for a major studio like Disney, which was largely built on creating family entertainment. How can Disney possibly go about making quality movies, often aimed at children, without access to unfettered abortion? It's unconscionable. Lack of abortion access makes it nearly impossible to shoot movies. So, what's a major studio to do? Disney might have considered migrating its business to Louisiana, but that state too has now signed a heartbeat bill into law. It's utter madness.

These monstrous anti-abortion bills, coupled with having to live under President Trump, has led Disney to seek a new home for its legendary movie magic. Last week, Disney's CEO, Bob Iger, announced that all future Disney movies will now be filmed on location in the Sub-Saharan African nation of Wakanda.

"Disney and Wakanda are a match made in heaven," Iger told reporters. "Wakanda was, until recently, a secret kingdom, much like our own Magic Kingdom. With this new partnership, we'll not only get to continue our legacy of making movies that parents and children everywhere enjoy together, but we'll get to do so in a safe space that reveres abortion as much as we do."

Wakanda is one of only four African countries (out of 55) that allow unrestricted abortion.

As home to the most advanced technology in the world – and with the planet's highest per-capita concentration of wokeness – Wakanda offers women painless, hassle-free abortion on demand. As the Wakandan health ministry website explains, the complete absence of any white-patriarchal-Judeo-Christian influence allows women in Wakanda to have complete control of their own bodies (with the exception of females who are still fetuses). As winner of the U.N.'s 2018 Golden Forceps award (the U.N.'s highest abortion honor) Wakanda continues its glowing record on abortion. That makes it an ideal location for Disney's next round of live-action remakes of its own animated movies in which the company plans to remove all male characters.

Iger says he hopes to convince Wakandan leadership to share their top-secret vibranium-based abortion procedure technology so that American women can enjoy the same convenient, spa-like abortion treatment that Wakandan women have enjoyed for years.

Wakanda is one of only four African countries (out of 55) that allow unrestricted abortion. Disney plans to boycott and/or retaliate against the other 51 African nations, as well as any U.S. states, that restrict abortion. Specific plans are being kept under wraps, but sources say Disney's potential retaliation may include beaming Beverly Hills Chihuahua into the offending territories on a continuous, indefinite loop.

When asked how Wakanda's futuristic capital city and distinctly African landscape would be able to double for American movie locations, Iger said, "I guess America will just have to look more like Wakanda from now on."

One potential wrinkle for the Left-leaning studio is the fact that Wakanda has an impenetrable border wall-shield-thing designed to keep out foreign invaders as well as illegal immigrants. Iger said he understands Wakanda's policy of exclusivity, adding, "After all, not everyone gets into Disneyland. You have to have a ticket to get in. Anyone is welcome, but you have to go through the process of getting a ticket." When one reporter pointed out that Iger's answer sounded like the conservative argument for legal immigration under the rule of law, Iger insisted that the reporter was "a moronic fascist."

What if the unthinkable happens and Florida also enacts its own "heartbeat" law? That would be problematic since Walt Disney World is located in Florida. Iger responded that Disney would "cross that bridge if we get to it" but that the most likely scenario would entail "dismantling Disney World piece-by-piece and relocating it to the actual happiest place on earth – Wakanda." As for whether Disney would ever open character-themed abortion clinics inside its theme parks, Iger remained coy, but said, "Well, it is the place where dreams come true."

With the Wakanda solution, Disney may have found a place where Minnie Mouse can finally follow her heart and have true freedom of choice.

When pressed about the cost of ramping up production in a secretive African kingdom that has no existing moviemaking infrastructure (which could easily end up being much more expensive than simply shooting in California) Iger said, "You can't put a price tag on abortion freedom. Wakanda Forever and Abortion Forever!"

With the Wakanda solution, Disney may have found a place where Minnie Mouse can finally follow her heart and have true freedom of choice. And that will be welcome relief to traditional families all over the world who keep the Walt Disney Company in business.

*Disclaimer: The preceding story is a parody. Bob Iger did not actually say any of the quotes in the story. Neither is Wakanda an actual nation on planet Earth.

Understanding the cry for mercy: I share my 'Journey of Faith' with Paula Faris

"Journeys of Faith with Paula Faris," is a podcast featuring conversations about how faith has guided newsmakers and celebrities through their best and worst times. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is a much maligned religion so Glenn joined the podcast and took the time to explain what it means to him and how it changed his life.

From his suicidal days and his battle with drugs and alcohol, it was his wife Tania and his faith that saved him. All his ups and downs have given him the gift of empathy and he says he now understands the "cry for mercy" — something he wishes he'd given out more of over the years.

You can catch the whole podcast on any of the platforms listed below.

- Apple Podcasts
- Google Podcasts
- TuneIn
- Spotify
- Stitcher
- ABC News app

Mending fences: Yes, being good neighbors requires building a wall

Patrick Baum/Unsplash

One of these times I'm going to go on vacation, and I'm just not going to come back. I learn so much on a farm.

You want to know how things work, go spend a summer on a farm. You're having problems with your son or daughter, go spend a summer on a farm.

My son changed. Over two weeks.

Getting him out of bed, getting him to do anything, is like insane. He's a 15-year-old kid. Going all through the normal 15-year-old boy stuff. Getting him on the farm, where he was getting up and actually accomplishing stuff, having to build or mend fences, was amazing. And it changed him.

Our society does not allow our kids to grow up, ever. I am convinced that our 15-year-olds could be fixing all kinds of stuff. Could be actually really making an impact in a positive way in our society. And what's wrong with our society is, we have gotten away from how things actually work. We're living in this theoretical world. When you're out on a farm, there's no theory here. If it rains, the crops will grow. If it rains too much, the crops won't grow.

If there's no sun, they won't grow. If there's too much sun, they'll shrivel up and die. There's no theory. We were out mending fences. Now, when I say the phrase to you, mending fences, what does that mean? When you think of mending fences, you think of, what?

Coming together. Bringing people together. Repairing arguments.

I've never mended a fence before until I started stringing a fence and I was like, "I ain't doing this anymore! Where is it broken? Can't we just tie a piece of barbed wire together?"

Let's stop talking about building a wall. Because that has all kinds of negative imagery. Mending fences is what we need to do.

That's called mending fences.

And why do you mend fences? So your animals don't get out and start to graze on somebody else's land. When your fence goes down, your cow is now on somebody else's land. And your cow is now eating their food.

We look at the phrase, mending fences as saying, hey. You know, we were both wrong. Mending fences has nothing to do with that.

Mending fences means build a wall. My neighbors and I, we're going to get along fine, as long as my cows don't go and steal their food, or their cows don't come over and steal my cow's food.

We're perfectly neighborly with each other, until one of us needs to mend a fence, because, dude, you got to mend that, because your cows keep coming over and eating my food.

You know what we need to do with Mexico? Mend fences.

Now, that's a phrase. You hear build a wall. That's horrible.

No, no, no. We need to mend fences.

In a farming community, that means putting up an electric fence. That means putting up barbed wire.

So the cows — because the cows will — they'll stick their head through barbed wire. And they'll eat the grass close to the road. Or eat the grass close to the other side of the fence. And they'll get their heads in between those fences. And they can't get out sometimes. Because the grass is always greener on the other side. You look at these damn cows and say turn around, cow — there's plenty of stuff over here.

No. They want the grass on the other side of the fence.

So you mend it.

And if it's really bad, you do what we do. We had to put an electric fence up. Now, imagine putting an electric fence up. That seems pretty radical and expensive.

Does it really work? Does it shock them? What does that feel like to a cow?

The cows hit it once, and then they don't hit it again. They can actually hear the buzz of the electric fence. There's a warning. Don't do it. Don't do it. They hear the current and they hit it once and they're like, "I'm not going to do that again."

So you mend fences, which means, keep your stuff on your side. I like you. We're good neighbors. You keep your stuff on your side and I'll keep my stuff on my side and we'll get together at the town hall and we'll see each other at the grocery store. Because we're good neighbors. But what stops us from fighting is knowing that there is a fence there.

This is my stuff. That's your stuff. But we can still trade and we'll help each other. But let's stop talking about building a wall. Because that has all kinds of negative imagery. Mending fences is what we need to do.

You can have a tough fence. It could be a giant wall. It could be an electric fence. But you need one. And that's how you come together.

The side that's having the problem, mends the fence.

Glenn's Show Prep