MFI & PUBLIC SCHOOLS Ft. Michael King

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Welcome to Trueology, where we study Christian theology, philosophy, and apologetics.

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We do critiques on scholars, politics. We look into events in both classical and modern -day issues.

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We do interviews, debates, and much more. Our goal is providing a Christian resource to edify the saints and to engage the community.

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But most of all, we want to glorify the Lord through our hearts, minds, souls, and strength.

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So, stay with us as we open up the Word of God and look into everything pertaining to life and godliness.

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My name is Belushi Prevalon, coming to you from the Boston area. And right now, you are listening to Trueology, the study of the truth, as it is in Jesus.

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Today's guest on our show is Michael King, the president of Massachusetts Family Institute, an organization that is defending life, parental rights, religious liberties, and traditional family values in the

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Bay State area. We'll be discussing the crisis in the public school education system and the political dynamics behind it,

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MFI's impactful responses, and how it looks for Christians to truly get engaged in the public policy arena, in a biblical way, that is.

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So, without further ado, let's get into it here. I'd like to introduce my guest,

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Michael King from MFI. Michael, as you come on, if you could just briefly introduce yourself to our audience and tell us a little bit about your personal story and how

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God has led you into this ministry. Yeah, thanks so much. It's so good to be with you tonight and share about what's going on, the exciting things going on at Massachusetts Family Institute here in the

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Bay State. I've been with MFI for about 10 years. Before that, I was a family ministries director in charge of children's ministry, youth ministry.

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I've always been involved in some kind of ministry here in the Bay State and have always felt that the church has a central role to play when it comes to our local and state and national government.

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And we cannot just be silent. And we'll talk about tonight some of the results in our

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Bay State of Christians many times being silent when it comes especially to the protection of our children, that we need to realize that our involvement in local government, our involvement in our local schools has everything to do with protecting our young people, our most treasured possession here in the

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Bay State. So, I'm excited to talk more about that. But yeah, just the focus on family for me has been something that my wife and I are blessed to have five children.

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And so, obviously, in the personal life and in the public life, knowing the family is so crucial. And that's something we want to learn to protect and help others protect here in the

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Bay State. Fantastic. Glad to hear it. I'm glad you could join me today. If you could help our listeners understand, you know, what drives you particularly with Massachusetts Family Institute?

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What is the core of that for you? Yeah. So, the mission at MFI is to strengthen and protect the family, the sanctity of life, religious liberty.

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We recently launched the Massachusetts Liberty Legal Center to protect Bay Staters when it comes to your

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First Amendment rights many times regarding to speech and religious freedom. We launched the

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Massachusetts Education Resource Center recently to help affect change at the school committee level.

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And in the next month, we're going to be launching a C4 Massachusetts Family Action to get more involved politically in state and local races.

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So, very excited about what's been going on, especially in the past 12 months of how we're really trying to affect culture here in Massachusetts.

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Fantastic. That sounds very exciting. I'm looking forward to hearing more about that. In regards to, you know, your activity in Massachusetts so far and some of the history that's now behind you, any moments or victories that have really kept you encouraged for what's ahead?

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Yeah. So, recently, I'm sure many of your viewers would have heard what's going on in Burlington, Massachusetts.

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This story has been in the news for the past six months where parents had opted their kids out of a sexually explicit survey.

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And in spite of, you know, going through the motions to opt their sixth graders and up out of this sexually explicit survey, the school went ahead and still gave this very sexually explicit survey to their sixth graders.

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So, we filed PPRA complaints, federal complaints on behalf of these parents and just found out about a week ago that the

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Department of Education has opened up a federal official investigation of the

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Burlington public schools. And we hope that that will bring some accountability to the

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Burlington public school system, which over the six months has proven not to be transparent. And really, truly, when you look at the fruit of what's come out of even the past six months before this official investigation, really not valuing parental rights, really just seeing those parents that are trying to protect their kids and whose rights were completely violated, just to see them almost as, you know, a bother or, you know, something really not to pay too much attention to.

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So, we're very pleased to be protecting these parents. And these parents represent so, so many parents in Burlington that just haven't stood up quite yet.

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But as we know, it always takes a couple, you know, to stand up first and then build momentum.

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So, we're confident that the success we'll have in Burlington will encourage more parents to stand up for their rights and to protect their children at school.

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Man, I can't tell you how encouraged I am to hear that, you know, someone like you, especially in Massachusetts, the blue corner of the universe, it seems like, where you're actually taking action.

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And you have quite the organization there and the support of many churches and conservatives alike that are really punching back in areas where we've kind of become very passive, would you say?

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Absolutely. I think that's going to be one of the themes of tonight's conversation, is to really point out that, look, we cannot be apathetic.

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We cannot be silent. The people that suffer the most when adults are silent regarding our local government is our children.

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We have to, you know, I always think of Jesus' words when he says, you know, he who causes one of these little ones to fall into sin, it's better to have a millstone tied around your neck and thrown into the bottom of the sea.

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So we see how seriously Jesus takes the protection of children.

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And I honestly can't think of a more important role than to, one, understand what's going on in our public schools, and two, get involved at that local level, get involved in your public school.

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At the very least, opt your child out of all of the nonsense that I'm sure we'll talk about tonight that's going on in our public schools.

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Yeah, and I'm certainly excited for our viewers today to hear about this.

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You know, I started this podcast a little more than a year ago, and it's just been my incentive to just really try to educate people on the many things that are going around, not just theologically, but also just in the everyday mundane political life.

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We can't just sit on the sidelines, wonder why the world is, you know, going to hell in a handbasket.

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We must do something about it. We can't just see this as polishing brass on a sinking ship, but getting involved.

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And like you said, even if it's just opting your child out of sexual education classes taught by the secular world, that's just putting forth your opinion, and that's putting forth resistance.

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That's saying something, that's doing something, that's action. We can do much more, but looking forward to hearing some of the tactics you might want to share with us tonight as we explore these topics.

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And in regards to our topics, you know, I do want to focus now into the crisis in the public schools.

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You know, with that background, let's turn to the front lines of that cultural battle, which is those public schools.

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You know, education has become one of the most powerful tools for shaping and oftentimes, you know, really distorting the next generation.

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So in regards to, you know, the crisis in the public schools and the secularism that is in the schools,

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Michael, can you help us understand, you know, how has the public schools really, especially in Massachusetts, where we live right now, how have they become a vehicle for false secular liberal ideologies?

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Yeah, well, first, I think what's happening in our public schools is that academia is training many of our teachers, the majority of our teachers, and we well know that a lot of these schools that are teaching the next generation of teachers, you know, are pushing the whole diversity, equity, inclusion, are pushing the social -emotional learning, are pushing the critical race theory, all of these things that have been infesting our public schools.

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And, you know, we're just saying, let's get back to reading, writing, and arithmetic.

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And we've seen a complete decline in academic results in our public schools.

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And so, you know, look, it starts in academia. But then, you know, like I said before, I really, truly believe that the number one issue, besides all of the nonsense that's being pushed, is that, you know, parents, you have to get involved.

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You have to raise your voice. You know, as you said, you know, we can opt out our kids all day long, and we can get excited about that.

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In Worcester, for example, two years ago, 4 ,000 students, almost 20 % of the

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Worcester public school system opted out of sex ed. Now, that's great. Like, that's,

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I don't know of any other state in the nation that has had that rate of opting out.

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But if we put that in perspective, although that's great, we're just talking about opting out.

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That nonsense, that sex ed that is not medically accurate, that is not age appropriate, that is not evidence -based, is still being taught.

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So let's not take a victory lap just because 4 ,000 kids opted out. Let's take a victory lap when we can actually get people that are like -minded, let's say, on school committees, that are changing the curriculum and getting back to reading, writing, and arithmetic instead of the

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SCL, instead of the CRT, instead of the DEI. That's really where we need to make a difference.

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So again, the silence, the apathy is really at the crux. And we can say, oh, parents are busy, both are working.

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Okay, fine, there's understanding for that. But at the end of the day, this is your treasured possession.

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These are your children. And we have to go to bat for their, not only their hearts and minds, but their souls as well.

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So yeah, I think apathy and silence has really been, you know, academia has been a real part of how we've gotten here.

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Yeah, it sounds like you're saying, you know, even though we can take incremental steps towards opting our children out, there is still a battle raging.

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And if I can put it through the lens of an overarching biblical perspective, we must be true children of God as David was and chop the giant's head off.

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We can't just throw the stone, but we must go forth and defeat the foe and make sure he stays down.

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You did mention something about, you know, the CRT and the liberal ideologies that are embedded in there.

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Can you tell us, Michael, you know, what are some of the most surprising things parents discover about their, that the children are being taught in the schools?

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Yeah, I mean, I think when you look at the sex education, which we've obviously been very focused on, you know, this all started for us back in 2019.

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It was February 7th, I believe, 2019, when I showed up at the

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Worcester school committee meeting. And there were about 160 people or so there at the meeting.

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And, you know, about half were on the other side, half were on our side. At the time we were fighting to keep Planned Parenthood's sex ed curriculum out of the

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Worcester public schools, of which we were successful. And I read a, I read a worksheet called

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Redefining Abstinence, Redefining Abstinence. This is a worksheet in a,

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I think, a seventh grade curriculum. And it was 35 different terms. And this is just one example of many of what parents find.

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But it was 35 terms. Now, we all know that abstinence, just two words, to abstain.

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Very simple definition. Well, here you have a whole worksheet redefining what abstinence is.

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You know, things like, I mean, I couldn't go into all of them because this is probably a rated G show, right? But I just tell parents, it's not rated

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G at school, right? One of the terms I think was like kissing behind the knees. Now, is that even,

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I mean, that's how we're defining abstinence, which is just crazy.

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Putting ideas in kids' minds that studies show, it just sexualizes kids, instead of really, you know, giving them, as we would prefer, a biblical understanding.

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And that's the other thing. It's not necessarily what is taught. It's also what is not taught. So think about that.

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You're putting your child into a government school for 40 hours a week, and they're getting zero

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Bible education. Zero. So I always tell churches and pastors, you know, parents, how you could have the best children's pastor, the best youth pastor, but how are you ever going to compare 40 hours at your local government school to one hour in youth group or to one hour at your

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Sunday church service, right? You just can't. It is an impossible battle.

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And I think as parents, we just have to understand that time factor of what is omitted. And on top of that, they're in this peer group that is, you know, probably the majority secular.

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And so, again, not just omitted, but what's the influence they're getting from their peer group as well? You know, people say all the time about homeschools, oh, they're not socialized.

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Well, okay, but think about all these kids in public school. How are they being socialized by, you know, their peer group, which

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I think most parents would not say that would be the healthiest, the most mature influence for them in their lives, let alone a liberal -minded or a teacher that, you know, does not share their biblical worldview.

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So, you know, a lot to understand here when you're a parent and you look at just the time issue and what is not being taught in that public school.

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Hey, folks, thank you so much for tuning in to Truology. My name is Belushi Prevalon, and if this has been a help to you in any way, please like, share and subscribe.

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Thank you. Yeah, understood. And, you know, you know, that three hours a night where your child after school is done versus that 40 hours a week.

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You know, I remember one pastor said, you know, we can't send our children to Caesar and not expect them to come back as Romans.

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And it's a very important question to ask. Hey, you think, you know, homeschooling is going to make our children, you know, socially awkward or not fit in, but how are the public school kids being socialized?

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That's a very good question. I think we should ask a lot more because it, you know, it piques our curiosity to get us to investigate.

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And I would like to ask you, Mike, how does this unbiblical sex education affect not only morality, but a child's entire worldview?

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Can you give us any details about that? Like, what does it really give them for perspective? Yeah, look,

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I think that one of the things that I think about is, you know, if you hear about some of these psychological tests done where, you know, let's say you have 10 kids in a room, right?

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And you ask, you know, all 10 of them, you know, what is 2 plus 2, right?

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And 9 of them, you know, say it's 5. And this is a test to kind of see how peer pressure applies to some kids, right?

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So 9 of their peers say 2 plus 2 equals 5, right? And so you come to the last minute and say,

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I know 2 plus 2 equals 4, but for some reason, 9 out of 10 are saying it's 5.

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You know, and so it is this incredible peer pressure that we're seeing in our schools, which, again, you know, think about gender identity and how, you know, 20 percent, 20 percent, 1 out of 5

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Gen Z kids are confused or questioning their gender.

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I mean, this is this psychological test I'm talking about where, you know, for years, for decades, for centuries, it was two genders, completely biological.

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And now we have 20 percent of an entire generation that's questioning their gender, which is just unbelievable.

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And so I think when you say, how does it affect your faith? Well, look, when you start confusing a child about their gender, making them question their gender, what else are they going to start questioning, right, in their life regarding faith or, you know, or again, think about, you know, you go home and you get a biblical understanding from mom and dad, but then for 40 hours a week, you're getting a completely understanding of, you know, all these key issues.

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And then and then you come back to dad and mom who seem to be the only ones that have this, you know, this viewpoint.

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And you end up saying to mom and dad, you know, mom and dad, it's you that are out of touch.

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So this is the danger, I think, that we that we are sending our kids into and seeing so many kids really,

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I mean, getting confused and also, you know, probably worst case, losing their faith. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

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You know, what you seem to be saying there is that this, these ideologies that are so embedded in the school seem to turn the children against their parents.

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I can remember when I was in the sixth grade and social studies and learning that, you know, my teacher was a secular woman and she taught that, you know, the pilgrims, for example, came from, you know,

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England to the Americas because they were they were just religious people who believed in God and they thought that God was bringing them over here.

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But she was saying it sarcastically, like, oh, you know, they back then, they used to think that the reason why lightning happened was because of God.

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But today we know that there's science. And, you know, the reason they really came here was to perpetuate slavery, et cetera.

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And, you know, that would get all of that. And I was like and, you know, as a 12 year old,

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I believed it. And I would go home and, you know, my parents were religious peoples and I thought they were out of touch.

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I'm like, wait, you don't know about science. You haven't heard about, you know, the real reason why

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America even exists in the first place. And it used to turn me against them. And lo and behold,

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I was the child that I was. And fell away from just the core beliefs of my household.

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And, you know, by God's grace, I am who I am today. But you're right. Back then I wasn't dealing with the

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LGBTQ nonsense. Maybe it was subtle. The sex education was definitely there back then.

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But we weren't dealing with it back then as we are now. And it is so discouraging and disheartening to know that this battle is taking place where the minds are, you know, malleable.

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And it seems like it's being injected a lot quicker and higher dosages these days, you know, than when probably me, you know,

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I'm 30 now. Or even when you were in middle school or high school.

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It's a new world, isn't it? Well, yeah, and I think to what you're talking about, you know, even back when you were in middle school, high school, and this whole idea of, you know, hating on America, let's say, you know, as you were talking about, you know, you didn't hear that America was the only nation in history that's actually fought a war to end slavery.

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Right. Civil War. Right. I mean, no other nation has gone to that extent to shed blood to end slavery.

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Right. So, I mean, look, I mean, you could list all the different things about, you know, George Washington was a slave owner and thus he's a horrible person.

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And, you know, you don't get just that he was an incredible man of prayer and a believer.

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And, you know, the amazing, miraculous story of how he led men in the Revolutionary War.

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And, you know, just amazing, amazing men that built this country.

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You don't get that. You know, you feel guilty of being an American when you come out of our public schools.

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So, yeah, I mean, like I said, and again, on top of that, like I said before, it's not just the lies that you're getting, the propaganda that you're getting at school.

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It's also what is omitted, which is just, again, that's just as an important piece of this. You're not getting the biblical worldview that you should be getting a great amount of as a young kid.

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Right. I mean, look, I think studies show once you turn 18 and, you know, you don't choose to be a believer by then,

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I think the chances of you becoming a believer are minuscule. So to miss those years is tragedy.

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Yeah, it seems like it's also part of the, you know, great Marxist omnicause to, you know, create disdain for your country and your people.

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And that begins with your children. You know, if we do not put in good things, then people, you know, our children, as malleable as they are, they walk around as empty voids and they're, you know, easily influenced to believe in the bad things.

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I do want to ask you my next question here in regards to, you know, the LGBTQ indoctrination stuff that's in our schools.

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You know, we typically hear terms like inclusion, tolerance, and Christians are often called bigots for not adhering to those things.

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But, you know, those terms, when they use them, are obviously, you know, LGBTQ indoctrination at their core.

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You know, how has, you know, is the problem of, you know, inclusion and tolerance being taught in our schools, is it really as widespread in Massachusetts as we might think that it is?

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Is it really everywhere or is it just like, or is it not that big of a deal, really?

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What do you think? No, it's a huge deal. And parents need to understand it's probably worse than you think it is.

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Every public school in Massachusetts teaches comprehensive sex education that is not medically accurate, not evidence -based, and not age appropriate.

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Many times starting as low as preschool. So this isn't just a middle school, high school problem. This is a preschool through high school problem.

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Look, when we talk about inclusion, you know, it's nice to say, hey, we're DEI, we're diversity, equity, inclusion. But really what it is, is we're only inclusionary of the speech that we want to promote here at the school.

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Right. So you don't have to look any further than the story of Liam Morrison. You know, that 12 -year -old kid in Middleborough, Massachusetts that wore a shirt to school that said there's only two genders.

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Was he included? Were his friends that agreed with him included? Of course not. The principal sent him home and said, you either got to take that shirt off or I'm going to send you home.

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Your shirt is physically harming other children. He goes back, wears a similar shirt the next day.

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Again, no inclusion, no tolerance for something that's a very biological statement.

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He gets sent home a second time. And then, you know, to see his case go, we represented him in the

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First Circuit. And, you know, to see the First Circuit side with the school and say, well, this is the school's right to speak this way.

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If they want to send him home, they have every right to do that. I mean, it's just so nonsensical.

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But that's where our First Circuit is. And, you know, we were hopeful that the Supreme Court would take it up. They decided not to.

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But we encouraged more students to stand up at school. And, you know, we need a lot of Liam Morrisons to stand up at school for something as so simple, so biological as there's only two genders.

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Yeah, you know, a preacher has said before, you know, it's not whether we should have God in the public square, but it's which

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God. And it seems like, you know, when you send a kid home for wearing a shirt that, you know, especially in an economy where we're supposed to be tolerant and inclusive of everyone's differing beliefs.

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You know, these are subtle blasphemy laws. How can parents, you know, tell when their children are being subtly shaped by these ideologies?

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Is the shift, you know, obvious? Like, what do you think about that? Yeah, I absolutely think the shift is obvious.

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And I think parents need to be completely aware of what's going on. You know, and it can be like that frog in the boiling pot many times, you know, and the change can be subtle.

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I mean, it can be anywhere from your kid comes home and says, Mom and Dad, I think I'm a different gender to really just subtle things like, you know, nobody really thinks the way or not many people think the way

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I do at school. And, you know, so they become less passionate about their faith and they become, you know, maybe very much a cultural

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Christian as opposed to someone that's really, truly on fire. And I think that that's really what we want to be growing.

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We want to be growing kids that are on fire. We don't want more cultural Christians that just stay silent and apathetic.

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We want kids, you know, we want young adults that really, truly believe strongly in what they believe and are willing to take a stand for it in our culture.

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And too many times, that's really the thing that happens the most is just the passion is completely annihilated by the peer pressure and the propaganda that's being taught at school.

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Yeah. And, you know, what practical steps can they, you know, Christian parents really take to protect their kids from in the midst of this system?

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Is it just going to church more? Is it just opting for Christian schools? Like, what's the, you know, how do we begin?

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You know, little Johnny comes home and, you know, he's being taught what he's not supposed to, as it pertains to your own faith and practice in your home.

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Like, what can parents begin to do at that point? Look, I think, and my wife and I have said this,

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I think if you take the government school out of your life, I really do think that 75 % of the issues that you're dealing with with your kids, and I'm not saying everything's negative,

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I'm just saying just think about all the negative things that you might be dealing with with your children. I think if you look at those things and you look at causation,

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I think you could probably draw a straight line from a lot of the problems back to the government school.

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And so just by, you know, finding a way to get as many kids out of our government schools, like I always tell parents and churches, we never should have outsourced the education of our children to a government school that not only not teaches a biblical worldview, but in many times attacks that biblical worldview.

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So we at Massachusetts Family Institute over the past four years have been encouraging churches to start what we call church -based learning centers.

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Every church has two things. It has available, affordable space during the week that never gets used, and it has these networks of volunteers in our churches that would love to minister to young people, many of whom are probably, you know, trained teachers, don't have to necessarily be a trained teacher to be a part of a church -based learning center.

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But now there's 24 church -based learning centers in Massachusetts serving about 700 students.

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And some of these church -based learning centers are able to do K -12 education five days a week for as low as $100 a month because so much of it is volunteer -based.

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This is really just making homeschooling more accessible to more people because it's taking that traditional one -day -a -week homeschool co -op, and it's meeting now three, four, five times a week, making this accessible for more parents and their students to attend.

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So we're very excited about this movement. And look, this is a very unique time, very exciting time to be alive when it comes to education, because now 35 states have education freedom, and 18 of those 35 have universal school choice.

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Here in New England, the closest state to Massachusetts that has school choice is New Hampshire. If you choose not to send your kid to the public school in New Hampshire, for example, you get $4 ,000 per kid to educate them in the way that you choose, whether it be homeschooling.

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There's so much freedom. It's actually called the Education Freedom Account. And you can educate your children now however you want.

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Instead of all that property tax money going to your public school, you're getting now some of that back to educate your children.

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So exciting time. I mean, look, move to Florida tomorrow. I think it's upwards of $10 ,000 per kid.

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So that's when now you're talking, you can send your kid to a nice private

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Christian school. I mean, there's so much going on across the country, and Massachusetts is so behind on education freedom.

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We just had our first federal school choice bill passed in the big, beautiful bill called the Educational Choice for Children Act, which now requires that the governor opt in if you could have school choice in your state.

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We know that Maura Healey most likely is probably not going to opt in. She does not value children above things like the teachers' union opinion or things like that.

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We hope she would, but here we have the chance to have school choice in Massachusetts through the

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Educational Choice for Children Act, and it relies on the governor to opt in. So Massachusetts, difficult.

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What we're doing with Church -Based Learning Center, super exciting. But if you look at 35 states across the country, very exciting what's going on with school choice.

31:40

Wow. And I feel like I'm hearing this for the first time. You probably are. How long has that been out there?

31:48

You know, you speak of New Hampshire, and of course Massachusetts is behind, but how long has that been around?

31:55

It's been around for some time. There's been school choice. I think Wisconsin was the first state back in 2011 or 12, if I'm not mistaken.

32:06

But yeah, I mean, New Hampshire is one of the best run education freedom accounts in the country.

32:13

I think that's why so many families are choosing to move one state north. I mean, you not only get the Educational Choice for Children Act, you get no income tax.

32:22

I mean, just those two things alone can save tens of thousands of dollars for families to move across the border.

32:29

So, yeah, for sure, in terms of what we have locally for school choice. But then also, like I said, the

32:37

Church -Based Learning Center is super exciting, and we want to see more and more churches do this. And if your listeners are interested in this idea, again, this is not a school.

32:47

This is really just an expanded version of a homeschool co -op. You know, you can start these things in less than a month.

32:52

They're not expensive to start. This is homeschooling. So if any one of your listeners is interested in learning more about this, where these learning centers are located, you can text the word school option.

33:03

It's all one word, school option, to our short code 87891.

33:09

So text school option to 87891. If you want to learn about the federal school choice program called the

33:16

ECCA, the Educational Choice for Children Act, you can text the acronym ECCA, E -C -C -A, to our short code 87891.

33:28

Thank you for that, Michael. And I will certainly, if you can send me that later so I can leave that in the description of our video today,

33:35

I would greatly appreciate it. I do, and thank you for really sharing that.

33:41

That's, like I said, I do feel like I'm hearing this for the first time. Like, wow, there are options out there, folks, and appreciate the work you're doing to make sure we're aware of them.

33:52

I want to just shift gears here a little bit and just talk about, you know, politics in Massachusetts and really

33:57

MFI's response and how the battle is really going with you guys now. You know, none of this happens in a vacuum.

34:05

These trends are the result of political decisions and activist movements, ultimately. And so let's talk about, you know, you know, the forces actually shaping

34:14

Massachusetts and how MFI is really giving, you know, resistance and political roots here.

34:21

How did Massachusetts really get to the place that it currently is politically? And I'd like to also connect another question to that.

34:28

And, you know, what is really the role of activists? You know, like what activist groups specifically have, like, brought us here?

34:36

Yeah, over the past 10 years, I've had the absolute privilege of speaking for, you know, upwards of an hour from behind the pulpit at over 200 different churches and then on radio and community groups.

34:51

So over the past 10 years, we've really built, I think, one of the most robust church networks, activist networks in the state.

35:01

And so to see where we've gotten today, where we can really make a difference, if you go to Massachusetts Informed Parents, for example, on Facebook, it's

35:10

Massachusetts Informed Parents. There's now 15 ,000 members of MIP that are sharing what's going on.

35:19

Many times moms, they're sharing what's going on at their school, what strategies are being taken to make a difference at their school and informing

35:28

MFI, who, again, has the Massachusetts Liberty Legal Center. We have the Massachusetts Education Resource Center.

35:35

And now, I mentioned this September, we're launching the Massachusetts Family Action to get more involved at that school board level to find, identify, train up candidates that are like -minded, that we can actually take our school committees back and get back to reading, writing, and arithmetic.

35:53

When so many kids across the Bay State aren't even reading, I think the numbers

35:58

I saw in Boston, 20 % of third graders in the Black community,

36:03

I think 20 % in the Hispanic community, by the time they're in the third grade, still cannot read.

36:13

20%. Sorry, 80 % cannot read. 80 % cannot read, okay?

36:21

That is a disaster. And that's not at the fault of the child. That's not at the fault of the parent.

36:28

That's at the fault of the school system that is valuing things like DEI above academic excellence.

36:35

So we're very excited to be launching these different initiatives to affect change, especially at the local level.

36:44

I'll share this with you. About a year ago in Sutton, Massachusetts, a drag queen showed up, unannounced, unwelcome at the

36:52

Sutton High School for the Connections Conference. Parents got outraged. Well, long story short, parents got outraged.

37:00

They got active in Sutton, again, a Massachusetts town. In one year, they flipped their school board.

37:08

Because they flipped their school board, they got rid of their superintendent. They got rid of their principal.

37:15

They got a new town manager. They got even a new police chief. Their select board is now five -nothing conservative.

37:23

They flipped the entire local government in a Massachusetts town in one year, okay?

37:32

So I always tell people, look, that was a Massachusetts town, okay? So this can be done in Massachusetts.

37:39

This is not, you know, this impossible blue state where we can't do anything. So we're excited to have the opportunity now to, with the

37:48

C4, to affect political change at the local level. Man, that's so encouraging to hear.

37:55

Please send me that story of Sutton, Massachusetts. I want to read up on that.

38:02

Truly encouraging. How has MFI really engaged, you know, lawmakers specifically, you know, in confronting those who are in charge of passing legislation, our local officials?

38:16

How has that fight been for you? Yeah, we've had a lot of success at the local level.

38:23

I'll give you one example. So one of many. Dighton, Rehoboth, down on the

38:29

South Shore near Rhode Island. About a year ago, there was a story in the news, all over the news, about a young lady that got her teeth knocked out in a field hockey match where there was a boy on the other team, took a shot on goal, hit her right in the mouth.

38:44

That night she had to have emergency surgery to put her mouth back together. That caused absolute outrage in the town.

38:53

And so since then, the local school committee, again, affecting change at the local school committee, because it was a majority of like -minded individuals, they were able to pass the first -of -its -kind safety in women's sports policy.

39:07

They also passed an opt -in to sex ed. And they also passed a no political bias at the school committee level.

39:15

Now, I'll just explain about the no political bias. They saw the LGBTQ flags, for example, as political flags.

39:24

So, again, you have a school system in Massachusetts that said, you know what, we're getting back to reading, writing, and arithmetic.

39:30

If you want to discuss sexuality, you can discuss that at home, but we're not going to discuss it at school.

39:36

So all the flags have been removed, and it's truly getting back to a more balanced reading, writing, and arithmetic approach and really removing the politics from the school.

39:47

So just one example of many of how we're affecting change at that local level. I mean, Sutton, obviously, is a wonderful example.

39:53

People that want to find out more about that can actually go to our blog. It's right on our website. You go to mafamily .org

40:01

and go to our blog. Thank you for that. And a quick question in follow -up to that, especially in regards to the whole

40:09

LGBTQ flag thing. We can clearly see that it's –

40:14

I think it's demonic, and I think it's overwhelmingly political and only serves political purposes to, you know, push down our throats.

40:23

But what about, you know, the people who will push back and say, hey, this is not political.

40:29

This is just bringing awareness to who I am. How would you respond to that? Yeah, look,

40:35

I mean, I can't think of a more political debate, political subject than LGBTQ that is, you know, all over the place.

40:45

And look, the comments you'll get from the schools is that we're just trying to keep this community safe and, you know, it's under attack.

40:53

And, you know, but look, I mean, if you listen to one of the fathers in Burlington, you know, they're making a really good case that it's not

41:00

LGBTQ that's under attack in our schools. It's, you know, many times these Christian students that are standing up for what they believe – it's, you know,

41:09

Liam Morrison, for example, is standing up and getting sent home twice by his principal. I mean, that's, you know, these are the people that are not being tolerated at school.

41:18

So, you know, I think what Diane Rehoboth did to say this is political and let's get rid of politics that doesn't belong in our public schools,

41:26

I think it's the right thing to do. And, you know, as more and more kids get out of our government schools, which

41:31

I think is ultimately the right thing to do, you know, it's good also to think, well, we also got to take back the leverage of power on a local level to affect change at our school committee level.

41:39

So doing those two things simultaneously really is, I think, wise. And, you know,

41:45

I'm excited about the future here in Massachusetts. I always tell people Massachusetts is not as blue as you think. It really is not.

41:51

I've been all over the state, met so many people. There are so many like -minded people, and it's really just empowering them.

42:00

You know, look at this Burlington story. I mean, it's all over the news. Now we have a federal government that actually supports what we're trying to do.

42:07

So I think you're going to see, especially over the next year, you're going to see parental rights empowered.

42:12

I mean, look, you just had an incredible Supreme Court decision, Mahmoud v. Taylor, which now even more protects parental rights, especially when it comes to opting out.

42:22

So now you can opt out of anything that is religiously objective, anything that is religiously objective.

42:29

So that LGBTQ book in English class, let's say, that you as a parent do not agree, that goes directly against your faith, that goes directly against Genesis 127 that says

42:40

God made them male and female, not 56 different genders. There were two. And so now that parents can say,

42:48

OK, anything religiously objectionable, we're opting out of. Well, the school is so ideological and says, oh, well, we're not going to let you opt out of that.

42:57

Well, now you have a great case to make because you have a Supreme Court case that will support you in that.

43:04

And you have an organization like MFI with our Massachusetts Liberty Legal Center that will support your parental rights for free.

43:10

And if we have to bring legal action against that school to make sure that your parental rights are protected.

43:17

Hey, folks, thank you so much for tuning in to Trueology. My name is Belushi Prevalon. And if this has been a help to you in any way, please like, share and subscribe.

43:25

And if you haven't already done so right now on Spotify, you can vote for the next episode. Now, I already have a bunch of things lined up, but I want to give you the audience the opportunity to participate on what

43:35

Trueology will be covering next. So go to Spotify, type in Trueology, vote for the next episode, and I will see you next time as we study the truth.

43:44

Thank you. Man, that sounds so awesome. So blessed to have the work you're doing.

43:50

Can you just go really quickly, I guess, like step by step on for our listeners, if they want to make a difference, they're tired of sitting on the sidelines.

43:57

They hear you talking about MFI and how you're able to come alongside them and the things that they believe and hold to.

44:04

You know what? How do we get signed up and really begin working with your organization?

44:10

And what are some of the things that come of that once we are on board? Yeah, I think one of the easiest ways to get involved is just to if you have kids in the public school, whether they're in kindergarten through 12th grade, just opt them out of sex ed.

44:26

OK, and if the school pushes back, please let us be your first call. We will represent you for free and it'll be a powerful,

44:34

I believe, win for your parental rights and it'll create incredible momentum.

44:42

I mean, think about the fact that Massachusetts could be the leader in the nation when it comes to protecting parental rights.

44:50

So to find out more about this whole Mamoud v. Taylor decision and how it protects your parental rights and how you can opt out,

44:59

I encourage you to text the word SAFE, like keep our kids safe, to our shortcode 87891.

45:08

So text SAFE to 87891. You'll get a return text with all kinds of information that'll help you better understand this.

45:15

And then, like I said, ultimately, we've got to get our kids out of our government schools.

45:21

We just do. I mean, it's like I said, 40 hours a week. It's not only what's attacking your kids' faith.

45:27

It's also what's omitted. It's 40 hours a week of not getting the biblical understanding that they need.

45:35

And so if you're at all interested in starting a church -based learning center or joining a church -based learning center near you, again, text the word school option, all one word, school option, to 87891.

45:50

And if you want to find out again about the federal school choice program known as the ECCA, we need more and more parents to get educated on that.

45:58

We need more and more parents to advocate to the governor and say, look, we need you to opt into this.

46:04

We want to have school choice. I want to be able to send my kid to the school of his or her choice.

46:12

That can happen in Massachusetts, and it's up to the governor. Now that federal school choice is a thing.

46:19

That program starts January 1st, 2027. If you want more information on that, text the word or the acronym

46:26

ECCA, ECCA to 87891.

46:33

Fantastic. And like I said, I will put all the information for all the information, everything that he's been sharing with me so far for your benefit so that you can get on board if you are truly wanting to do something.

46:47

Instead of passively sitting on the sidelines, it's time to stand up and really engage the political sphere.

46:54

And, you know, we've been talking about politics mainly there in Massachusetts and in public schools, and I'd like to kind of shift a little more here towards our

47:03

Christianity, you know, and politics. You know, the bigger question for many Christians is this, you know, what does faithful engagement in politics look like?

47:13

You know, if Christ is truly Lord of all, then truly his word must give us guidance in the public square.

47:20

So, Mike, if you can, you know, as a devout Christian, you know, you talked about politics, but now bring in some of the theological framework we should be approaching this entire mission with, you know, in regards to Christ's lordship.

47:35

How should Christians really think about politics in light of that in life? Yeah, I mean, look,

47:41

I think Solomon says, you know, when the righteous rule, the people rejoice, and when the wicked rule, the people mourn.

47:49

I mean, I don't think it gets more simple than that. But, look, you can also look to James' words in James 1, 27, where he describes what true religion is.

47:59

True religion, he says, is to look after the orphan, to look after the widow, and to keep yourself from being polluted by the world.

48:07

I mean, if you look at those three things, look at the widow first, you know, many times, I mean, protecting the widow, many times the widow in our culture are elderly, right?

48:17

And we have legislation that's currently being decided on at the state house regarding physician -assisted suicide.

48:26

That bill would have absolute harm on the elderly population and the handicap population here in our state.

48:33

You know, statistics show that people where assisted suicide is legal, people that take their lives don't take it because of pain.

48:42

It's actually a very low amount of people. The highest amount I've seen statistics as high as 25%, they will choose to take their life because they feel like they are a burden on their family.

48:54

And that is not a slippery slope that we want to encourage here in the Bay State. You know, so that's one example

49:00

I give in taking care of the widow. You know, taking care of the orphan. You know, look, many times in our, if you look back to 2003, 2004,

49:08

Massachusetts was the first state in the nation to legalize gay marriage.

49:14

And many people don't realize that, well, that had consequences beyond what people understand. That soon after that,

49:20

Catholic Charities, a foster care program, shut their doors because they didn't want to be sued if they chose to not put a child into a home, say a homosexual home, where they had a disagreement in placing that child.

49:34

And so instead of, you know, fighting that battle, and because of that legislation that was passed, and again, too many

49:39

Christians sitting on their hands not getting involved, Catholic Charities closed their doors.

49:45

And when Catholic Charities closes their doors, who doesn't get served? The orphan, right?

49:52

So we can see, we can draw a straight line between public policy and how it affects the orphan, how it affects the widow.

49:59

And then if you look at the last term, you know, keeping ourselves from being polluted by this world, you know, we're talking about sex ed tonight.

50:07

We're talking about the 40 hours a week that our kids are at our government schools, learning about things that are not age -appropriate, not medically accurate, not evidence -based, where kids are in these schools 40 hours a week being influenced by their peer group and by teachers that are many times administrators that are attacking, or not supporting that very faith, and kids, you know, at the very least losing passion, at the most, confused about their gender.

50:38

So if we are told in James 1 .27, what is true religion, to keep ourselves from being polluted by the earth, if we think about it by the culture, think about what

50:47

Jesus said, let one of these little ones fall into sin, better have a millstone tied around your neck and thrown in the bottom of the sea. I mean, these are your responsibility.

50:56

And if we let them fall into sin too many, too many times, our kids, we grow our kids up, we send them to these schools, and they walk away from the faith.

51:04

We've invested so much time and treasure into these children, and we're not seeing that it's the school system, many times, that is leading them astray.

51:16

We need to take those words of Jesus seriously and protect our kids. Yeah, well said, man.

51:23

And if you think about it, in Isaiah chapter 1, the Lord brings judgment upon the covenant people because they refuse to take care of the widow.

51:34

Their religion is vain. They refuse to take care of the orphan. They are not doing righteously.

51:40

They're drunkards. It's external behaviors without the internal transformation, and they become apathetic, and their nation has run amok.

51:54

Do you think America is under judgment currently? If the people of God, the light and salt of the earth are not keeping the savor, what do you think?

52:06

Yeah, look, I mean, you could say we're under judgment. I'm sure to some extent we are, but I think there's just a cause and effect going on here.

52:15

I mean, the Bible is full of cause and effect. Obey your parents and the Lord, and what will happen?

52:20

It will go well with you, right? Keep your kids from being polluted by the world, and what will happen?

52:26

Probably, you know, train up a child in the way they should go, and what? They will not depart from it, right?

52:32

So besides this question about judgment, sure. I mean, I think that's but really these are just fundamental commands that we're given.

52:41

This isn't some, you know, thing that we throw up by chance, and we're like, Oh, well, if I do these things, you know, maybe my kid, it's not chance at all.

52:51

It's basically, hey, do this, and this will happen. Don't do this, and this will happen.

52:58

So I think God's very clear on how he's just kind of set up the created world to work as it has.

53:07

And look, just train up the child in the way he should go, and he will not depart from it. Couldn't agree more, especially in regards to the cause and effect.

53:18

I mean, that is what the entire book of Proverbs is about, right? If you live wisely, adhere to God's laws, the way he's created the world to function, it should reward your diligence.

53:30

But if you're lazy, lazy to the point where you can't even bring your hand to your mouth, then you'll suffer poverty.

53:39

And applying that to the political sphere, well, you know, if we really love righteousness, well, seeking righteousness for the widow and the orphan and our neighbor, very applicable.

53:53

I do want to ask you, you know, I can hear the pietists now. They're saying, hey, politics is really dirty.

54:00

You know, the apostle Paul wasn't in politics. He didn't run for governor. He wasn't trying to get the local municipalities on board with helping children or whatever.

54:12

I think you're twisting scripture there. You know, how can you answer the Christians who think that we are, you know, not to get involved really in the dirty field of politics?

54:23

Yeah, look, there's many examples in scripture where people get involved in politics. You know,

54:29

I think you look at Esther. I mean, she went before the king and pleaded her case. You look at Daniel who, you know, intentionally defied the king by praying.

54:40

You look at the disciples in Acts, you know, who said it is better to obey God than men.

54:46

And countless examples of, you know, like I said in Proverbs where, you know, if the wicked rule, the people mourn.

54:55

And if the righteous rule, the people rejoice. You know, so this whole idea, and it's almost, you know, to classify these things like the sanctity of life, like, you know, your free will to decide how you want to worship and exercise your religion.

55:18

That free will that God gave us. Those inalienable rights that are not given to us by man, but by our creator.

55:26

You know, these are not political things. These are moral issues.

55:32

Life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. I mean, the protection of our kids and their minds and their souls.

55:38

These are not political issues. These are moral issues that are decided in a political environment.

55:46

And I think if we see it that way, I think it becomes more clear that, you know, someone's going to decide the laws in our nation, our local governments.

55:57

And every law has a morality behind it. So it's really just whose morality is going to develop the local law.

56:07

Yeah, too often I think Christians really misunderstand what politics is. You know, they turn on CNN and they're like, oh, that's politics.

56:15

Really, you know, I put it this way. You know, politics is really getting together in the community and saying, how should we live?

56:22

Question the Christians. Does the Bible have anything to say about how we should live? It's all morality.

56:29

And the way we should live extends not just to your personal life and your home, but also beyond the church and in the public square.

56:40

And it is a well -needed area we need to grow in, lest we should wither away and be judged for our apathy.

56:50

I did want to ask you this, though, in regards to just shaping Christians. You know, you've worked closely with pastors.

56:57

Why is pastoral leadership so essential to this fight? Well, it's very essential.

57:05

And I would say that one of the main reasons that MFI has been able to be so effective, truly, over the past, especially five years, is because we've been able to get access to the pulpit and speak on a

57:18

Sunday morning when all the people are showing up. Sometimes we get invited to a church and it'd be on a weekday night or something like that and not as many people show up.

57:28

But to be able to come on a Sunday morning and speak for— I mean, I was just in New Bedford speaking at a church for— it has about 1 ,600 people that attend on a

57:37

Sunday morning and spoke at three services for 45 minutes. I think 300 people that morning, just that morning, signed up for our text alert and e -alert.

57:49

And we've been helping people since then. I know there's one situation there down in New Bedford where the school committee was keeping a child from starting a

57:58

Bible club. So you can draw a straight line from the ability to start that Bible club to us speaking at that church on a

58:04

Sunday morning. So I can't overemphasize how important it is to get in front of people on a

58:14

Sunday morning for us. But yeah, for the pastor to be talking about these issues, pastors many times don't understand the kind of influence that they have.

58:23

That if they start to really talk about these things and make this a normal conversation and help people understand— so many parents have no idea what's going on in the public school.

58:36

How can we do that? That is a dereliction of duty to our kids.

58:45

And dare I say what Jesus said, we let one of these little ones fall into sin, better have a millstone tied around our necks and thrown in the bottom of the sea.

58:51

I mean, Jesus takes parenting seriously, and so should we.

58:57

So should our pastors. So when we're talking about, again, protecting our kids, it has everything to do with getting involved, if you want to call it politically, but just getting involved in your schools, your local government, and using that biblical worldview to create laws, policies that protect our kids.

59:20

I like that. One of the things you just said there in regards to pastors and their role for the congregation is that, you know, making political discussions seem like normal conversations, really making them understand.

59:34

So that way it's not this French thing on the side, you know, we're scared to touch with a 10 -foot pole, but rather it's a normal part of our church life and experience that we know that our worldview is not just, you know, closed within the four walls of the building with the high steeple on the top, but rather it's beyond the doors.

59:57

You know, Christians, we should let, you know, our scriptures, our Lord, our faith, our church community, you know, get used to these things.

01:00:08

So that way we can teach ourselves how to really apply them in the public arena rather than let

01:00:14

CNN and the television teach us what politics really is and how marginalized we should see ourselves and how outnumbered we truly are in the mass scope of things.

01:00:27

So I do appreciate that. I'd like to ask you, though, you know, what would, you know, the church working like a well -oiled machine look like to you if we just got together and did this thing?

01:00:39

Yeah, look, I think the church looks like a well -oiled machine. I mean, there's an example.

01:00:45

This wonderful example down in Florida. Wonderful group of pastors called

01:00:50

Liberty Pastors, a great network that every pastor should get involved with nationally. But they encourage pastors to, you know, get involved in the local government.

01:01:00

And so a pastor took them seriously down in Florida, a small city down there. I forget the name of it.

01:01:05

But he became the mayor of the city. And he could appoint, you know,

01:01:12

I think 13 directors to oversee the city. And I think if memory serves, 10 out of those 13 were from the church, right?

01:01:21

So here you have a small city in America that is now most of their, you know, highest level positions locally are now controlled by a church.

01:01:33

And wouldn't you rather have a church directing traffic in terms of making policy with a biblical worldview of, you know, where Jesus, you know, he's not pushing

01:01:47

DEI and CRT and SEL. He's pushing love your neighbor as yourself. And the greatest amongst you must be the servant of all, you know, and love and joy and peace and patience and kindness.

01:01:59

I mean, these are all wonderful things to be affecting local policy. So to see a church now taking over the local control of a small city,

01:02:11

I can't imagine anything better than that. And what a blessing, getting back to Proverbs, when the righteous rule, the people rejoice.

01:02:24

Right. And, you know, whenever Christians take a bold stand for truth, there's always a cost and there's also great hope.

01:02:31

So let's kind of talk about both. You know, you talked a little bit about, you know, some of the things that seem to be the turning tides.

01:02:39

But if you could, I'd like to, you know, help us in here. What is your final word of encouragement?

01:02:47

And what do you see really beyond the horizon that's soon to come if we just get off our butts and take action?

01:02:55

Yeah, I mean, a couple of things. One, like I said before, Massachusetts is not this blue state that so many people think it is.

01:03:06

I mean, if you look at our state government, of course, it's a uniparty currently. You got, what, 40 state senators?

01:03:14

Five are, you know, perhaps like -minded. You got 160 House representatives.

01:03:21

Maybe 25 are like -minded. So it is a uniparty right now at the statehouse.

01:03:27

But when you get down to that local level and you start to look at towns like Sutton, like Dighton, Rehoboth, and many others that I did not mention, even

01:03:36

Worcester, right, you start to see that there are so many like -minded people.

01:03:42

And when you look at, you know, books, one book I love called The Tipping Point, you know, where the author says you only need 5%.

01:03:49

You only need 5 % to get to a tipping point, to start affecting change in a culture.

01:03:56

That is not a lot of people. And it's always the 5 % in our local towns and cities that are in control of those towns and cities.

01:04:05

So this is very doable. That's why I'm so excited that this September we're launching the

01:04:11

Massachusetts Family Action to affect change at that local level with candidates that are like -minded.

01:04:17

And then, as I mentioned before, I mean, there has never been a time in America's history where we have had this much movement when it comes to school choice.

01:04:27

Ultimately, we believe that parents and churches should be the ones that are educating our children.

01:04:33

Having said that, you know what, 70 % of the kids in our churches are still attending public schools, so they're not going to go away tomorrow.

01:04:42

So while they're still here, get on that school committee and start making a difference.

01:04:47

But also, with all the school choice, I mean, 35 states with school choice now, 18 with universal school choice.

01:04:56

I mentioned New Hampshire is the only state in New England, universal school choice. That means you can make a billion dollars, but if you choose to send your kid to some school or home school or micro school other than the public school, $4 ,000 per kid to choose however you want to educate that child.

01:05:14

Go to Florida, $10 ,000 per kid. Arizona, and the list goes on, 35 of them.

01:05:20

So there is a wonderful movement. ECCA, Educational Choice for Children Act, first federal school choice program we've ever had in America.

01:05:28

Everyone should be on the phone to Governor Healey saying, I want school choice. Opt in to ECCA as of January 1, 2027.

01:05:38

So there is so much happening in America right now. What we're trying to do in Massachusetts, parental rights are being empowered.

01:05:47

I think we're just going to see incredible changes in K -12. We're going to continue to see our religious liberties protected, parental rights protected.

01:05:55

This isn't a time to say, hey, you know, a lot of people are like, oh, we have like -minded people at the White House, and so we can just let them do our job and, you know, put our hands under our bottoms.

01:06:05

No, no. This is the time we need to get up and say we have all this support now.

01:06:11

We have all this momentum now. Let's go out there, protect our kids, protect parental rights, protect

01:06:16

First Amendment rights, get on our school committees, get involved in local government, state government, and make a difference, and I know we can.

01:06:26

Thank you so much, Michael. And, you know, how can people really reach you? Do you have any other outlets like YouTube?

01:06:32

Do you have your own podcast or anything like that? Yeah, we're going to be starting a podcast soon, actually, but people can find us on YouTube, all social media.

01:06:41

You can find us on our website, MAFamily .org. Like I said, there's 15 ,000 members on the

01:06:46

Massachusetts Informed Parents website. Facebook page, I mean, Massachusetts Informed Parents.

01:06:52

There's also Massachusetts Informed Parents Substack. So there's many ways that you can interact with us.

01:06:58

I encourage everyone to go to our blog at MAFamily .org. You can go to our blog and read up on a lot of the stories we've been talking about tonight.

01:07:07

Fantastic. Mike, I really appreciate you coming on today. And for our audience, you know, we've seen today that the battle for our children's hearts is really real.

01:07:17

You know, politics exists in Massachusetts. We can't just sit inside the church. This is a battle for the next generation.

01:07:23

And organizations like MFI are really making real impact in that the church needs to come alongside them, support them.

01:07:33

They're being a courageous bulwark right now. It would be a shame if we did not stand up and fuel the fire.

01:07:40

So to our listeners, you know, now is really the time to stand. You know, organizations like MFI help disciple your children, engage political leaders, and help us remember that Christ is king.

01:07:52

So with that in mind, I want you to leave here today just knowing that you can make a difference.

01:07:58

You can make a difference for God's glory. We are the children of light. We are the salt of the earth, and God has called us to a higher purpose.

01:08:07

And let's take action today. Let's honor him for the gifts he has given us. He's promised to bless his people.

01:08:14

And as Mike said, there's great cause and effect to this world. If we act diligently, we can expect

01:08:19

God, who is good, to bless his people. So thank you so much for tuning in to Truology today. Until next time, keep studying the truth.

01:08:28

Have a good night. Truology is a podcast that seeks to equip, effect, and engage the world through Christ and his wonderful gospel of the kingdom, against which he has promised that the gates of hell shall never prevail but increase by his government, his law, and grace, till it be presented a glorious church without spot or wrinkle.

01:08:50

If there's any fear, threat, or worry, remember that the one that has called you according to his purpose and grace has also promised that all enemies will soon be placed under his feet.

01:09:02

Now, I want you to believe that, not because I said it or because it sounds really nice and spiritual, but primarily and wholeheartedly and only and biblically, because it's the truth.