Rosalind Hanson Joins Deborah Flora

In the second hour of today's show, Rosalind Hanson joins Deborah Flora

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
For my friend Ryan Schuling.

Speaker 2 (00:01):
I get to be here with him every Friday and
with Christian Toto right at two o'clock to talk about
the intersection of Hollywood and politics. And today these two
hours are going fast, but I'm sitting in the chair
from the entire show and it is going quickly. Well,
I want to get right to my next guest. She
is a wonderful woman. We got to spend really a

(00:22):
lot of last week together at the Moms for Liberty Summit.
I serve on the board, honored and privileged to do so.
Roslin Hanson works with Moms for Liberty. But even more
than that, she is a mom. She is a mom
standing up for what is right. And she was one
of the plaintiffs in the moch Mood versus Taylor case

(00:43):
at the Supreme Court decided majority six street decision that
guess what, parents actually have the constitutional right to raise
their children and guide their education according to their beliefs
and values. Shouldn't have need a Supreme Court case for that,
but there it is. Rosland, thank you so much for
joining me. I really appreciate it.

Speaker 3 (01:06):
Oh, thank you so much, Sebrah for having me. I
appreciate this opportunity.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
Yes, absolutely, Well I want to just jump right into
it because this show's going so fast. It seems like
the moth mood is this Taylor case if people are
not aware of it. This was the school district you're
in in Maryland, Montgomery County Public Schools, And from my understanding,
in twenty twenty three, they said parents are no longer

(01:30):
allowed to opt out of books that they don't agree
with that goes against their belief and their faith. And
we're talking all the way down to preschool to fifth grade.
Can you tell us a little bit more about what happened.

Speaker 3 (01:45):
Well, that's exactly right. So in November of twenty twenty two,
the district introduced a series of LGBTQ plus inclusive texts
for English Language Art. Those are the required class that
students have to take. These books, they talked about pronouns,
they talked about being able to change one's biological sex,

(02:05):
they talked about boys being able to become girls, and
parents celebrating this a variety of issues that go against
the deeply held religious beliefs. And so the district started
with allowing parents to opt out of these books. But
then in March of twenty twenty three, Literally overnight, they
rescinded that opt out, and that's when parents started to

(02:27):
band together and say, no, this isn't okay.

Speaker 1 (02:29):
This is a.

Speaker 3 (02:29):
Violation of our First Amendment right. And what's beautiful about
this case is that it brought together a diverse coalition
of religions. We had LUOKLMS, we had Ethiopian Orthodox Christians, Catholics,
the Jewish community, and we rallied for two years all
the way to the Supreme Court.

Speaker 1 (02:47):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (02:47):
I think that's such an important point because oftentimes people
try to erroneously make this fight, Oh, it's Christians against
the LGB community. That nothing could be further from the truth.
This is any parent who has the desire to raise
their child according to their deeply held faith, belief, value system.

(03:09):
And you know, I mean, we can take an even further.
I think it should be an opt in, not an
opt out, but they even took that right away. I
think it's interesting, Rosland. I was reading some of the
books preschool. We're talking about pre school, before kindergarten. They
were reading Two Children Puppy Pride, fifth grade, a book
the true story of a boy named Penelope. How did

(03:31):
you get involved in this case.

Speaker 3 (03:34):
I got involved in the case because I have a
child in Montgomery County public schools and because the chapter
of Moms for Liberty had just been founded here in
Montgomery County that November, and so when this opt out
was taken, my cousin and I actually were like, we
need to start an organization, we need to rally people.
And then we found Moms for Liberty and said, oh, look,
lo and behold, it already exists. But I'll use pride Puppy.

(03:57):
Like you just said, we had pre case student. So
we're asked to go look for the intersex flag lace
leather underwear. And what the difficult'll tell you is that
during all of this lawsuit saga, they actually were scinded
that book itself from the curriculum, so they knew what
they were doing was wrong and against the I just

(04:17):
belief they just chose to double down and keep doing it.

Speaker 1 (04:21):
Yeah, it's crazy to me.

Speaker 2 (04:22):
They do what they think they can get away with,
not whether or not it's right or wrong. And you know,
as I introduced the beginning, first of all, if you're
just tuning in, Deborah Floora sitting in for Ryan Shugling,
my guests. Rosalind Hanson honored to be the board chair
for Moms for Liberty Nashally. Roslind, you are doing so
much great work both with the National Office as well

(04:43):
as with the with the Maryland and the Montgomery County
Moms for Liberty. You know, Moms of Liberty has come
under fire falsely once again because people say it's an
organization that's about book banning, or they might say that
about this.

Speaker 1 (04:57):
That's not what it is at all.

Speaker 2 (04:59):
Obviously, people can still get these books in their library.
You can still opt in if you want to, people
can opt out. Talk about that and how that is
just really a false criticism.

Speaker 3 (05:11):
You're exactly right, Debra, And so through the entire lawsuit
would be tailor. We never were asking the books to
be removed. We were simply asking to be informed about
what our children were being exposed to so that we
can make decisions based on our familiar values in our faith,
and so we want to make sure we live and
here Montgomery County. Fun fact, we are the most religiously

(05:32):
diverse county in the entire country. Wow, we have five
of top fifteen wallet hub most diverse cities in the country.
So we need to make space for all here. And
that's what our coalition came together to say, is that
all voices deserve to be respected in this and Mom's
for liberty is no different right. We want parents to
drive what is being taught to their children, not the government.

Speaker 2 (05:54):
Yeah, it's about age appropriate books because even here in Colorado,
we've got a case going on with Elizabeth School District
and that was about the entire community saying not just
books about LGBTQA, but there are books that had suicide
I eighty ideation, you know how to do that, They
had drug books, they had all kinds of things. It's
just returning to transparency. And speaking of transparency, since the

(06:19):
Supreme Court upheld my business, Taylor just I believe it
was in June or July, tell me what has been
happening in Montgomery County public schools because one would like
to think that the need for vigilance is over. But
what's going on right now?

Speaker 3 (06:36):
A great question. So the board and the district responded
with something they're calling refrigerator curriculum and then theory and concept.
It is a great idea, like here is what your
fifth grader is going to learn? In first quarter for English,
and so you can print that out and put it
on your fridge, so that way you can think at home,
mom and dad could have a conversation with Johnny about

(06:59):
what book he is reading. And so well intended. The
reality is the first quarter data came out, and we
live in one hundred and sixty thousand student school districtive perspective,
it's a very very large of all of those students
after the first quarter, a insignificant small. Only forty three

(07:20):
families representing fifty eight students chose to opt out. And
the reason I think that is is because the burden
still really really lies on the parents. And I don't
know that what the county did is really in the
spirit of what was intended to respect to opt out,
because there's a little fine print on the website that says, oh,

(07:40):
here's your refrigerator curriculum, but if you click this link,
here are all the supplemental texture teacher could use. That
takes you to a list of over two thousand bookstebra
and have to comb through. So that's not really in
the spirit of protecting the opt out religious liberty.

Speaker 2 (07:57):
I don't think, Yeah, absolutely, you would think that it
be Okay, here's all the books that your child's going
to read this year or have access to, and then
you should have the right to say yes or no
to certain things. And once again, if you're just tuning in,
we're talking about the fact that we're these are pre
K students up to fifth grade. Parents were told they

(08:19):
did not even have a right to opt out. That
was a return of the Supreme Court. I also think
it's interesting you've talked about this trend that is happening
in Montgomery County, which is really happening across the country.
Part of the reason why so few families may have
opted out is because they're not actually making it very
clear what those two thousand books are. But also there's

(08:41):
been a trend towards exiting.

Speaker 1 (08:43):
Is that correct?

Speaker 3 (08:45):
You are exactly right. So in Montgomery County alone, from
twenty twenty three to twenty twenty four school year, we
saw a twenty eight percent increase in students and families
choosing to students participating in home schooling, and the district
as a whole lost a thousand students last year. So
one of the other reasons is the parents who can

(09:05):
exit public school are and they're voting with their feet
with how they're going to raise their children in forms
of education.

Speaker 2 (09:12):
Yeah, and you know you shared something the burden it
would take a parent who's working hard raising their kids,
oftentimes having to work a job as well. We know
what that's like. This is why moms are rising up.
We know what it's like to have to go to
the doctor's office, to a game, get your kids everywhere,
and work and do all of that, and to then
click on a link that is hidden search through two

(09:34):
thousand books.

Speaker 1 (09:34):
You said. One mom said it took her entire day
just to go through all of the books. Is that correct?

Speaker 3 (09:41):
So yes, she said she used AI to help her
to comb through, which I admired that, But she said
she took a whole day off of work. She had
to spend that time researching atatility to land on because
she has two children in the school system. Right, So
thanks about having to do that for every child. And
so the burden is and why would you do that
when you could just turn yourself to homeschool them or

(10:01):
send them to a private institution where you can have trust.

Speaker 2 (10:04):
You know, I think it's time for every American that
is listening, Whether you agree or don't agree. Whether you
want to go out and buy a set of LGBTQI
books for your child to read, that's your right, that's
your freedom. So but I think it's time for everybody
like we spoke to Kate Triles earlier, who's got a
case before the Supreme Court. Her question was, anytime you're
told you're not allowed to say something by the government,

(10:25):
you should wonder same thing here. Anytime your school district
makes it incredibly hard to find out what your children
are being taught, even after the Supreme Court found them
in the wrong, you should really be asking even more,
you know. When when we were at the Mom's or
Liberty Summit this past weekend, and I had a privilege
to lead a really great panel that supports good teachers

(10:48):
and talk about the Teachers' Union doesn't actually support them
but pushes this ideology. One of their twenty twenty five
new business i'ms for the NEA, the largest national teachers organization,
was actually about the case that you were a plaintiff
on Momhood versus Taylor, trying to guide teachers how to

(11:10):
hide what they're doing and circumvent the Supreme Court ruling
and still hide things from parents. Of what they're teaching
our kids and what books they're showing. Tell me your
thoughts about that.

Speaker 3 (11:21):
I think it's really concerning that we have educators who
are positioning themselves as anti parent or how to exclude
a parent from their child's education. And so all of
our listeners right now should be really concerned about what
involvement a teachers' union has in their local public school.
How are they helping to get school board members elected,

(11:41):
and how are they controlling the narrative, because they're making
it clear that they're not interested in partnering with parents.
They want to sideline and stiff farm them so that
they can control the minds and behaviors and the outcomes
of the students.

Speaker 2 (11:53):
Yeah, I mean the Golden Triangle of education, when we
were actually the best education system in the world was
parents and teachers working together for the good of students.
The teachers came in and exploded that a couple of
statistics for listeners. There was no federal funding of education
until nineteen sixty five. There was no Department of Education
until nineteen seventy nine. Is a backroom deal between Jimmy

(12:15):
Carter and the teachers unions, And I'd asked a simple question,
are academics better or worse?

Speaker 1 (12:23):
And by the way, it's worse for teachers.

Speaker 2 (12:24):
Also, the unions are not of their are all of
their new business items the NEA had in twenty twenty five,
none of it was about raising academics and none of
it was about improving the classroom environment or making more
money go to the classroom. Because I think it's administrators
have got up ninety five percent in the last almost
decade and a half, where teachers and student levels have

(12:47):
stagnated and in some cases gone down.

Speaker 1 (12:50):
You know, Razund, you've stood up. You know at.

Speaker 2 (12:53):
School boards, you've stood up. At the Supreme Court with
this case, you've stood up. We've been together from the
Supreme Court steps for a press conference for the Hunter's
Dinniversey for the Peers decision. What would you say to
anyone that is searching for the courage to stand up
and just make their voices heard and stand up for
what's right.

Speaker 3 (13:14):
I think go to Moms for Liberty dot org. You're
going to find an army of moms who will help
empower you, whether if you're not ready to speak at
a school board meeting yet or a city council meeting
at you'll find somebody who can give you courage, or
give you advice from behind the scenes, or help you
to get educated. So find your voice that way by
finding your tribe and really dig into what your homework

(13:36):
is that your kids are bringing home. Those would be
my two advices. If the schoolwork is happening on the screen,
you've got to get behind that screen with the kid.
And you've got to make sure that you are understanding
what books they're reading, if they're reading whole whole textbook.
So go to Momsliberty dot org and get behind the
screen where your kid is learning.

Speaker 1 (13:53):
Yeah, that is great input.

Speaker 2 (13:55):
And we've got to be twenty four to seven citizens
just like we're twenty four to seven parents. And and
many think that the fight is over because oh, you know,
the COVID shutdown.

Speaker 1 (14:06):
Ended, our kids are back in school.

Speaker 2 (14:08):
You've got cases like Mahmod versus Taylor, that one at
the Supreme Court. But what it has shown in your
school district is there is still a resistance to adhere
not only to what is constitutionally correct, which is parents
of every faith having the right to guide the upbringing
of their children, but also just doing what is right

(14:29):
for you know, for for students and parents. So I
really appreciate that. Thank you, Roslin. Great to talk with
you again. I'm gonad to just call you next week
because I'm getting used to getting to talk to you
every week, so this is phenomenal.

Speaker 1 (14:42):
You too, Thank you, Rosalind. I appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (14:45):
Well. That was my guest, Roslin Hanson, one of the
plaintiffs of the math Mood versus Taylor case.

Speaker 1 (14:51):
And I think what was.

Speaker 2 (14:52):
So interesting about what she's sharing is, you know, I
think that we have to get back to the understanding
that those who want to make these fights about things
they are not we need to look at and examine it.
I'm honored to be the board chair for Moms for Liberty.
They've come under a lot of heat and the main
people say is, oh, they're book banners.

Speaker 1 (15:14):
That is absolutely not the case.

Speaker 2 (15:17):
No one, by the way, is saying a book should
not be available in the public library. Yeah, maybe one
about extreme graphic sexual imagery that's also in some cases,
like an Elizabeth violent sexual imagery imagery is not appropriate
for elementary school.

Speaker 1 (15:37):
Maybe maybe how to books on.

Speaker 2 (15:39):
Suicide are not appropriate for high school. And maybe we
should just let kids be kids. But I got to
tell you you can still go get those books in
the library if you want. You know who is actually
working to change the books. How about we use all
of that feurer against people who are rewriting some books

(15:59):
that come out. Ralstein has talked about this, or they
ban books like To Kill a mocking Bird because they
use a term starting with the N that we don't
use now, but it was a term used in the period,
and it's one of the most anti racist books around.

Speaker 1 (16:15):
So we got to look at that really clearly.

Speaker 2 (16:17):
I think there's another interesting statistic because what's happening as
teachers' unions are doubling down on trying to circumvent parents
not focusing on education.

Speaker 1 (16:29):
By the way, we are solow.

Speaker 2 (16:31):
In academic achievement right now around the nation. I don't
have the numbers right in front of me, but it's
approximately less than thirty percent are proficient in math and reading.
Approximately could be give or take a few not proficient
in math and reading. If you are for education, which

(16:53):
we all should be, then we need to do everything
we can to encourage people to get back to education.
And by the way, you know who wants that a
lot are teachers. Here's an interesting statistic. If it continues
going this way, and schools continue to try to shut
out parents and teachers' unions still try to push ideology

(17:16):
that really is not needed in pre k for preschoolers
to read about the proud puppy or puppy pride or
whatever it was, Well, this is what happens. There is
a poll by the Learning Council, neither a left nor
right organization, just a research group that says, by twenty thirty,
if we continue on this trajectory, by twenty thirty, just

(17:39):
five years from now, only fifty percent of students will
still be in public schools. Think about that fifty percent,
thirty percent will be homeschooling. I don't know about you,
but it doesn't really surprise me. But I'll tell you
where I see great excitement and encouragement. There are amazing teachers.
I've had the privilege of travel around the country in

(18:00):
the last year working on.

Speaker 1 (18:02):
School board and school choice policy.

Speaker 2 (18:04):
There are amazing teachers all over this country who are
tired of being dictated to are tired of unsafe classrooms,
are tired of being told by the teachers' unions. They've
got to push ideological and political agendas instead of getting
back to reading, writing, and arithmetic.

Speaker 1 (18:20):
And they are the new entrepreneurs.

Speaker 2 (18:22):
They're out there forming all kinds of micro schools, driving
a revolution in education, and our children will be the
beneficiaries because it's going to focus on academics. That is
what school's about. And by the way, parents won't be
shut out. Don't go anywhere, Devor Flora sitting in for
Ryan Shuling, looking in for Ryan Shuling, and my goodness, gracious,

(18:50):
these two hours have gone so very very quickly, so
much in the world to talk about, but really appreciate
the guests that we have had. If you missed any
of the show, do go and take a look at
the podcast when you're done. You can find it also
a link to it on my Twitter feed my x
feed which is at Deborah Flora one. If you ever

(19:12):
forget how to say my name, I grew up in
Aurora at Lowery Air Force Base and I'm married right
into this, so here it goes. I'm Signora Debora Flora
from Aurora.

Speaker 1 (19:23):
There you go. That'll help you remember where to find me.
On Eggs.

Speaker 2 (19:26):
Deborah Flora one and I will listen a link to
the podcast so you can hear these great interviews. You know,
I started the whole show by talking about a shift
that is occurring, and it is exciting.

Speaker 1 (19:39):
It's troubling for those who are.

Speaker 2 (19:41):
On more the humanistic, woke side of things, that are
on the left policy side of things, because people are
rejecting it. We talked about how the Democrat Party has
the lowest approval rating in three decades, and I'll tell
you who's not helping it. Some of the voices that
are the most extreme within the party now, Mom, Donnie

(20:01):
zoron Mondani, I really don't know if I can call
him a Democrat. He's a self proclaimed socialist, but he's
running as the Democrat nominee. In addition to next year
being the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of our nation,
our nation which is more than a land mass. It's
the revolutionary idea that is America that was codified and

(20:22):
our declaration and in our constitution. It is unique, it
is phenomenal. We can have a longer conversation about that,
but is based on the idea that every person has
intrinsic value there for individual liberty and government has one
job to protect the rights and the safety of its citizens.
What does government not have the right to do. Take
the majority of your money and spend it wherever it

(20:43):
wants to. But that is zor on Mom Donnie's promise
as a socialist, and it is tough. I know, free
stuff is appealing people like Santa Claus. They want stuff,
they want to feel like they've won the lottery, but
it's at the expense of others. And really, at the
end of the day, it's expensive freedom because the government
gets to say where they spend that money.

Speaker 1 (21:03):
You don't have a say over it anymore.

Speaker 2 (21:05):
But in addition to that, coming to the twenty fifth
anniversary of nine to eleven next September, right now, leading
the pack to be the mayor of the city where
one of the largest atrocities and definitely the largest terror
attack in our country ever happened is someone who this

(21:25):
past week was campaigning with an im.

Speaker 1 (21:28):
Mom.

Speaker 2 (21:29):
That's fine, no big deal there, But this imm was
an unindicted co conspirator in the nineteen ninety three World
Trade Center bombing, linked to other terrorist activity in the
United States, including by the way, urging jihad on the
Big Apple. This is who Mom Donnie is going around
and campaigning with and not just campaigning tepidly. Not one

(21:52):
of those photos you see where someone kind of wishes
maybe they weren't there. No, Mom Donnie actually referred to
Saraj Wahaj. Not sure if I'm saying that correctly, but
Mom don referred to him as quote, one of the
nation's foremost Muslim leaders and a pillar, a pillar of
the community where they were. This is a kind of extremism.

(22:15):
I got to tell you, if you're a Democrat, you
got some soul searching to do for your party because
it is being now like the dog being wagged by
the tail the most extreme elements of the party.

Speaker 1 (22:27):
And if we think this can never happen here, we need.

Speaker 2 (22:31):
To be really careful because anti Semitism is unfortunately does
not know any boundaries. There is a cautionary tale from
across the pond larger than the pond the ocean, and
that is in the UK. You may have seen this.
A Jewish lawyer in the United Kingdom was arrested for what. Yes,

(22:53):
he was at a protest, but guess what he was
there to observe a protest that was against Israel and
why was he arrested because Heaven forbid, he dared to
wear a star of David, a star of David. He
was arrested by the police because they said his pendant
antagonized the protesters. There is footage of a detective accusing

(23:18):
him of openly wearing a Star of David that might
cause offense to someone else.

Speaker 1 (23:23):
Let's just call that what it is.

Speaker 2 (23:25):
It is criminalizing someone's expression of their faith and their
ethnic identity.

Speaker 1 (23:31):
If you were on the left, if you were a.

Speaker 2 (23:33):
Classic liberal, you should be shell shocked at that, unless
we think that's not happening here. You know, we had
obviously up in Boulder, we had the horrific attack of
a gentleman I believe I apologize Egypt or Turkey. He

(23:53):
was from one of the two, and he threw a
Molotov cocktail on a group of Jewish people who were
simply walking to remember the hostages.

Speaker 1 (24:04):
That was it.

Speaker 2 (24:05):
By the way, we marched the next weekend to beat
shows solidarity for the Run for Their Lives, and we
were marching with people who had marched the No Kings
rally back you know, back then. This is what we've
got to be careful, does not come in our direction,
does not metastasize here in the United States of America.

(24:25):
I've been talking a lot about the Supreme Court cases.
I've been honored that I have helped lead the rallies
in front of the Supreme Court steps during a few
of the cases. Ironically, you know, one of them was
three oh three Creative right here from Colorado. Is asked
to lead the one for childs versus Salazar right here
in Colorado, that was canceled because of security reasons. But

(24:47):
you know what happened at the three h three Creative case.
It was one of the most violent events that I've
been at. There were transgender activists that's what they call themselves,
who were heading people with their bullhorns, screaming in their ear.
And when a Jewish Orthodox rabbi left the circle that

(25:08):
people around were trying to protect and keep them from
rushing the stage here was surrounded by these transgender activists
with their bullhorns circling him and calling him a Nazi.
I don't care if you're left or right, I don't
care what side you are on of the issue of transgenderism,
of all of these different things that is, that is fine,

(25:32):
But if we cannot come together and contemn that whole cell,
then we have a problem. They We're going to end
this segment early because I want to make sure to
come back with the good news, because I think the
problem we're starting to see being solved by gen Z.
I'm gonna share some encouraging things when we come back,

(25:53):
because I do believe that there is the right kind
of wakening, not awokening, but awakening of people who are
realizing this kind of division, this kind of hatred, this
kind of calling others' names, invoking some of the worst
names from history. You can't use that word like Hitler
or Nazi lightly without first of all, demeaning the victims

(26:15):
of the actual Holocaust, and also weakening the word until
it has no power whatsoever. There is a movement going on,
I hope you feel it, the movement of people of
goodwill coming together to stand for one another's right to live,
think and speak freely without fear. And I want you

(26:37):
to think about this. Examine where you get your news.
First of all, I hope it's from multiple sources. Don't
get it from one source. That's why we can't even
sometimes agree on the very facts. I get it from
the left and the right, from Washington Post and Washington Examiner,
from CNN and Fox News, and then things in between
like Epic Times, etc.

Speaker 1 (26:58):
I encourage you to do that.

Speaker 2 (26:59):
The Free Press, by Arry Wise is a really good one,
calls that things on both sides. And then if you
happen to be flirting with a group or you're in
a Facebook group on either side of the spectrum where
they repeatedly dehumanize others and call them names. I'm not
saying that. You know, we're not thin skinned, but if

(27:21):
you're dehumanizing anyone who disagrees with you, you've lost the
very grounding and what this country is about. And we
all can be the ones to reach out because you
know what happened also twenty five years ago. Does anyone
remember nine to twelve. We we all came together and
realized that our enemies are not within our borders.

Speaker 1 (27:43):
They are without.

Speaker 2 (27:44):
They are those who want to divide us to the
point where we do not speak to one another, and
so we just judge one another and assume one another's motives.
Where we realize that there are those who actually want
to tear down the very foundations of Western civilization, we
can be the wants to make sure that doesn't happen.
And guess what, so mom of a couple of gen zers,
I'm pretty proud of that generation. I think they may

(28:06):
lead the way when we come back. I'm gonna close
the show with some really good news.

Speaker 1 (28:10):
Good news.

Speaker 2 (28:11):
I think we could all use that on a Tuesday.
I think I'm gonna use it every day, So don't
go anywhere. We'll share some good news when we come back.
I'm Deborah Flora sitting in for Ryan Shuling.

Speaker 1 (28:24):
Shooling Show.

Speaker 2 (28:25):
This is Deborah Flora city in for Ryan Shuling. Hard
to believe we're at the very end here. It goes
so quickly, but I promised you some good news, So
I'm gonna share some good news. And before I share
this first statistic, I just want to paint the picture
of why I think this is very good news wherever
you are on the transgender issue. Even a whistleblower in

(28:47):
Saint Louis, who happens to be lesbian by the way,
married to a transgender individual, was a whistleblower because she
decried the fact of what she saw as a push,
particularly amongst young women, to a transition when they're fourteen
or so in groups. So something socially was happening, and

(29:12):
that has been borne out by certain statistics showing a
four thousand percent increase of young women transitioning. Well, there's
a new study coming out showing that gen Z is
walking away from this to a certain extent. And by
the way, there are those who truly do have gender dysphoria.

Speaker 1 (29:30):
That is different than we're talking about.

Speaker 2 (29:32):
Than a push that's been put upon individuals, a social push,
a media push, a social media push, all of the
combinations of that. And a poll showed that in twenty
twenty five, over sixty thousand students were interviewed in gen Z,
just three point six percent of respondents identified as some

(29:56):
kind of gender other than there than male or female.
That is down from five point two percent in twenty
twenty four and six point eight percent in other words,
in half. Here's some other interesting statistics of what's going on.
There has been, as we've talked about, not only a
shift towards conservative ideas amongst gen Z. I'm not saying

(30:17):
it's some majority yet, but it is breaking that decades
long trend of the younger generation being more liberal or
left than the generation older than them. They are bucking
that trend. They're also bucking the trend when it comes
to faith.

Speaker 1 (30:33):
And I am a Christian. I'm going to say that upfront.

Speaker 2 (30:36):
I do believe that that being the center of my
life has brought me great peace in so many times.

Speaker 1 (30:42):
It has made my life richer.

Speaker 2 (30:44):
It has allowed me to live in a certain order
and structure of putting God first, then my marriage, than
our kids, than our country, and that has led to
great blessings and fruit in my life. So I say
all of that, but no matter where you are, whether
you person of faith or not a person of faith,
the fact that this generation that has been one of

(31:07):
the most depressed on record had.

Speaker 1 (31:09):
Some of the most mental and emotional issues on record.

Speaker 2 (31:13):
Who has had to live through a COVID shutdown, being
told every other day of some apocalyptic event of when
the world is going to end. By the way that
date keeps getting moved back and moved back and moved back,
this generation has had to endure social experiments in a
way that no previous generation has had to do. It
is no wonder they're turning to faith. And there are

(31:38):
studies showing right now that even while they still have
thirty eight percent currently of gen Zers, who are part
of what they call the nuns. They don't have a
religious affiliation. A huge shift is happening towards faith. We've
seen it on college campuses if you haven't seen some
of the videos at Ohio State, by the way, my

(32:00):
bean's a buck guy. Go Buckeyes Ohio State, or Texas
am or my good friend Mandy Connell her alma mater, or.

Speaker 1 (32:07):
Florida State, which is a party school.

Speaker 2 (32:10):
All across these schools, there are baptisms that are happening
in the public area, in the commons area, led oftentimes
by football players who've been told by this culture to
worship humanism. That is religion humanism, worship yourself first, what
you want above everything else. If it feels good, do it,

(32:31):
et cetera. They're rejecting that, and not only gen Zers.
But here's another interesting statistic. Now this oftentimes we see
a bump in Bible cells when there are traumatic things
happening in our countries. So to that extent, it's not
surprising that after the assassination of Charlie Kirk there was

(32:52):
a bump, but there was a huge bomp Bible cells
in September went up thirty six percent compared to September
twenty twenty. Now, lets you think this is an aberration,
it's going to go back down again. This is a trend.
In twenty nineteen, there were nine point seven million Bibles
that were sold in twenty nineteen. In twenty twenty four,
thirteen point seven million, and we just had a thirty

(33:15):
six percent bump. You know, I want to encourage you
if you want to hear some encouraging words by someone
named Jesus who walked this earth, whether you believe or
you don't believe, I encourage you to pick it up.
That book has been a source of inspiration and hope
and a time where we are increasingly seeing darkness, and

(33:35):
that is an encouraging thing for us to know that
I would.

Speaker 1 (33:39):
Encourage you pick it up. Read it. It's a good book.
It's a really, really good book.

Speaker 2 (33:45):
And what that does mean is I believe a lot
of people are rejecting the darkness. They are starting to
go towards things of meaning, going towards hope, and we
can do that together.

Speaker 1 (33:57):
I encourage you to.

Speaker 2 (33:58):
And by the way, my favorite of my favorite scriptures
that speak the truth and love, Do not self censor.
Speak what you know in truth, don't scream it in hatred.
Don't be quite in conflict aversion. Speak the truth and love.
Our country will be better for it. Thanks so much
for listening. I'm Deborah Flora, sitting in for Ryan Schuling