July 31, 2024 • 13 mins
Welcome to our Best of Summer series, where we will be posting some of our favorite past episodes of the LoveX2 podcast, as we prepare for the big launch of our brand-new season in September. You don't want to miss a single episode, so be sure to subscribe to this podcast on whatever platform you're listening to.
In this episode we discuss a Brookings Institute poll indicating 1 in 5 college students in the United States believes violence is an acceptable response to free speech that you don't like. In the same poll, 51% of college students believe shouting someone down is an acceptable reaction to free speech if you don't like what's being said. 53% of the survey respondents said colleges should create a positive learning environment for all students by prohibiting certain speech or expression of viewpoints that are offensive or biased against certain groups of people. What if a university labels pro-life speech as offensive? This episode will really get you thinking!
Make A Gift To The LoveX2 Project Music Title: Children of the Son Author: Pipe Choir Souce: www.pipechoir.com Licenses: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hey, this is Mike. I hope your summer is going really well. Welcome to our Best
of Summer series, where we will be posting some of our favorite past episodes
of the Love Times 2 podcast, as we prepare for the big launch of our brand new season in September.
You don't want to miss a single episode, so be sure to subscribe to this podcast
on whatever platform you're listening to.
(00:22):
Music.
Welcome to the official podcast of the Love Times Two Project.
Change the culture and the politics will follow.
Welcome to The Journey. I'm really glad that you found us. I hope this becomes
a very meaningful podcast for you. I hope it becomes one of your favorites.
(00:46):
And if you're a regular, well, I say thanks for hanging in there.
I know this is a pretty simple podcast, and you have a lot of options as to
what you could be listening to.
So thanks for making the choice to be part of this ongoing dialogue that we've
had now on 139 and that we'll have going forward.
I hope you stick with it for the long term and glad you're part of the conversation.
(01:07):
You know, we're out to make the world a better place for moms and babies,
and we're trusting in God to do some really amazing things along the way.
It really is that simple and it's that complex.
It's what we're all about, making the world a better place for moms and babies.
Now, just as a reminder, if you are in charge of getting speakers for events
(01:29):
in your area, let me know about that.
Love Times 2 is offering some great speakers who can knock it out of the park
for your next event. And I mean that seriously.
I've done a ton of events over the years, and I know how tough it can be to
get a really good speaker who's not going to cost you an arm and a leg.
And man, it's a major pet peeve of mine to pay huge money for speakers who show
(01:53):
up and just recite site of speech they've given a hundred times before.
It doesn't happen often, but it does happen. You know who you are. I'm just saying.
Hey, Love Times 2 can line you up with a great speaker who will give you 100%
and will be very affordable as well.
You can't go wrong. So email me at podcast at lovetimes2.org.
(02:16):
If you'd like more info on speakers that are available.
To come to your city, come to your community, and speak for your event.
So let me know. Now, here we go for today's topic.
Is it just me, or does the world seem like it's just sort of going crazy these days?
I mean, it's really starting to get kind of weird out there,
(02:37):
and I don't mean that in a good kind of way.
It just seems to me that everyone is on sort of a hair trigger,
ready to lash out and just get angry at everything. It's crazy.
And I think the long-term impact of it, it remains to be seen,
but you and I know it's not going to be good.
No culture can survive such long-term boiling anger that we're seeing way too often these days.
(03:03):
How does this impact our work to make the world a better place for moms and babies?
Well, today, I want to briefly discuss a new poll that really should get our attention.
According to a Brookings Institute poll, poll.
One in five college students in the United States believes violence is an acceptable
(03:24):
response to free speech that you don't like.
Wow, are you kidding me? One in five college students believes violence is okay
in responding to free speech if you don't like what's being said in the speech. One in five.
Now, I don't know exactly what to make of this. Is this violence like punching
(03:45):
someone in the face if you don't like what they say, or destroying property or what.
The point is, we all know violence when we see it.
And one in five college students in this poll responded that if you don't like
what someone else says, it's okay to push back with violence.
Now, in the same poll, 51% of college students believe shouting someone down
(04:08):
is an acceptable reaction to free speech if you don't like what's being said.
51%. So over half believe it's okay to shout someone down, while 19% believe that violence is okay.
53% of the survey respondents said colleges should create a positive learning
environment for all students by,
(04:29):
and catch this word, prohibiting certain speech or expression of viewpoints
that are offensive or biased against certain groups of people,
as opposed to creating an open learning environment where students are exposed
to all types of speech and viewpoints, even if it means allowing speech that
is offensive or biased against certain groups of people.
(04:53):
So did you catch that? 53% say that colleges should create a learning environment
that prohibits speech or expression on viewpoints that are are offensive to
certain groups of people. Do you get what's going on here?
Does that bother you? It should. It should really bother us.
Who determines what speech is acceptable?
(05:16):
Okay, who's the judge here? Who determines what speech is acceptable?
I'm guessing that whenever we have discussions like this, we all tend to think
that this is about the most hateful type of speech we're talking about.
You know, the guy that 99.9% of us would agree is obnoxious.
You probably have an image of that guy in your head right now.
(05:37):
But hold on just a minute.
Who determines, back to the question, who determines what speech is acceptable
and what is not, especially in a day when absolutes are dissolving all around us.
Who becomes the enforcer of what you can or cannot say?
Now, we're not going to get into a constitutional issue in today's discussion,
(05:59):
but that's a big discussion, obviously, that needs to happen.
But I'm just talking basic nuts and bolts here.
Who becomes the enforcer of what can or cannot be said? Now,
you and I may think of hate speech according to our set of filters.
And, you know, your filter, my filter may be sort of the same.
(06:19):
But someone else, at the same time, has a completely different set of filters.
And they will tell you that something like, oh, I don't know,
speaking against abortion is hate speech. Okay, so who determines whose view is correct?
And regardless of how you answer that question, who says whether it's right
or wrong to engage in violence if you don't like what someone else says?
(06:42):
Now, this discussion really is critical to you and me because part of changing
the culture is vitally dependent on retaining the ability to communicate to the culture.
That task becomes a bit more difficult when your right to speak is shut down,
whether by unjust or unconstitutional laws, whether by intimidation or flat-out violence.
(07:05):
Now, unless you live in a more radicalized area of the country,
you may not think this is a big issue.
Well, you may want to think again. It's a much bigger issue than you might be
thinking, than we all might be thinking.
History shows us that free speech erodes pretty quickly when speakers are intimidated into silence.
(07:26):
And by the way, just a side note, if you have never seen the classic film Meet
John Doe starring Gary Cooper, do yourself a favor and watch it.
In fact, you're going to see a unique spin near the film's ending on what happens
when free speech is controlled, manipulated, and shut down.
I'm just throwing that in for free. Meet John Doe, Gary Cooper.
(07:48):
Check the film out. Now, I have no idea whether the college students who said
violence is okay would really resort to the violence if it comes right down to it.
And, you know, I also don't know if this is a unique response or,
you know, if this is a significant trend. in.
In other words, what did college students say if they were asked the same question
(08:09):
on this topic 10 years ago?
Did anyone even ask 10 years ago? I don't know.
I mean, I really don't. And we've had the discussion before on the validity of polls.
But just from what I see in the world around us today, I've got to be honest
with you. I'm kind of thinking one in five is lower than I thought it would
(08:29):
be because it just seems like there's so much anger and just an inclination.
Towards violent reaction and shutting down speech that somebody just doesn't like.
But, you know, even if the one in five is close to being true,
it wouldn't surprise me at all.
Not in a culture that's becoming more and more abrasive and more and more close-minded.
(08:52):
Have you thought about that? I mean, really, there seems to be a lot of people
that are so caught up in thinking, you know, we're so broad-minded,
we're so diverse, we're so this and that. But when you really study it,
it's really becoming more closed-minded out there.
Because when it comes down to, you think my way or you are wrong and we must
(09:13):
silence you, that's pretty closed-minded.
And that's where we're heading with a lot of different stuff. So what do we do?
Well, we can start by looking at the example of Christ.
You know, I've yet to read the verse where Jesus smacks down someone who attacked him.
Oh yeah, he could have done that in a really big way. But what did he do? he taught.
He spoke truth. He confronted wrong thinking.
(09:35):
And then he said we are to love our enemies.
And he even said, blessed are the peacemakers. In fact, he did more than just
say it. He lived that way.
He died that way. So what does that mean for us?
Well, for starters, it means we have to be the difference makers in a positive way.
(09:55):
We're not going to change an angry world by showing it that we can get just as angry.
And, you know, I've got to share this with you. Years ago, I was at this outdoor
presidential campaign rally, and I was there to silently protest the candidate
who was speaking because of his abortion views.
I was there to exercise my free speech. Now, there were abortion supporters there, too.
(10:17):
So there's this whole thing going on of different signs competing for the crowd's attention.
And all in all, it's pretty tame. You know, you've got both sides.
You've got signs. And it's a presidential rally. Then these folks show up out
of nowhere, pull out a bullhorn, position themselves directly behind the stage
(10:38):
where the candidate was speaking.
And then using the bullhorn, they start shouting down the candidate,
even as the candidate was going through his speech.
I was there and the candidate was being shut down.
I looked across the crowd of thousands who had gathered, and I'm telling you,
they were all looking at the people with the bullhorn like, are you nuts?
(10:59):
What is your problem? I mean, I can guarantee you that if any hearts or minds
were changed that day, they were changed in a hardened direction,
not in a softened direction.
And if that was the goal, the bullhorn people nailed it. I mean,
they did a great job of that.
Well, you know, the traveling circus moved on from my community,
and we were left picking up the pieces of the division that that silliness caused
(11:23):
for years to come. So I ask you, what was the value of that?
Look, we shouldn't be surprised at an angry culture.
It needs Christ. And without Christ, there is no hope. Just a whole lot of despair.
And when there's no hope, anger and frustration will take charge.
So what about you? And what about me? If we're going to make the world a better
(11:44):
place for moms and babies, And if we're going to point the way to something
better than taking a child's life, shouldn't we do it Jesus' way instead of the world's way?
I don't know where the students in the Brookings Institute poll get their values,
but I know where we should get our values.
Let's not react to speech we don't like with violence.
Let's not shout other people down. Let's react with patience and love.
(12:09):
Even when it means gritting our teeth, when it sure would be a lot easier to
lash out. And that includes social media as well.
Ouch, I just had to throw that one in. Well, who knows?
Were it not for Christ, you and I might be among the worst of those that we find so troubling.
Hey, it's something to think about until we meet again. As always,
(12:32):
I would just like to encourage you to send me a note.
Let me know if you have a topic or a question or maybe even a thought that you'd
like to have addressed on this podcast.
I'd love to hear from you. You can email me at podcast at lovetimes2.org and
never forget, change the culture and the politics will follow.
(12:54):
Thanks for listening to the official podcast of the Love Times 2 Project.
Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode.
And never forget, change the culture and the politics will follow.
Music.
Are you looking for the perfect speaker for your next event or conference?
(13:14):
Look no further than the new Love Times 2 Speakers Bureau, your go-to source
for great pro-life speakers.
We have a roster of renowned experts who can inspire, educate,
and entertain your audience.
Our speakers are ready to unleash their expertise and make your event a resounding
success. Scheduling a pro-life speaker has never been easier.
(13:35):
Visit lovetimes2.org slash speakers and schedule a pro-life.
Music.
Hey, this is Mike. I hope your summer is going really well. Welcome to our Best
of Summer series, where we will be posting some of our favorite past episodes
of the Love Times 2 podcast, as we prepare for the big launch of our brand new season in September.
You don't want to miss a single episode, so be sure to subscribe to this podcast
on whatever platform you're listening to.
(00:22):
Music.
Welcome to the official podcast of the Love Times Two Project.
Change the culture and the politics will follow.
Welcome to The Journey. I'm really glad that you found us. I hope this becomes
a very meaningful podcast for you. I hope it becomes one of your favorites.
(00:46):
And if you're a regular, well, I say thanks for hanging in there.
I know this is a pretty simple podcast, and you have a lot of options as to
what you could be listening to.
So thanks for making the choice to be part of this ongoing dialogue that we've
had now on 139 and that we'll have going forward.
I hope you stick with it for the long term and glad you're part of the conversation.
(01:07):
You know, we're out to make the world a better place for moms and babies,
and we're trusting in God to do some really amazing things along the way.
It really is that simple and it's that complex.
It's what we're all about, making the world a better place for moms and babies.
Now, just as a reminder, if you are in charge of getting speakers for events
(01:29):
in your area, let me know about that.
Love Times 2 is offering some great speakers who can knock it out of the park
for your next event. And I mean that seriously.
I've done a ton of events over the years, and I know how tough it can be to
get a really good speaker who's not going to cost you an arm and a leg.
And man, it's a major pet peeve of mine to pay huge money for speakers who show
(01:53):
up and just recite site of speech they've given a hundred times before.
It doesn't happen often, but it does happen. You know who you are. I'm just saying.
Hey, Love Times 2 can line you up with a great speaker who will give you 100%
and will be very affordable as well.
You can't go wrong. So email me at podcast at lovetimes2.org.
(02:16):
If you'd like more info on speakers that are available.
To come to your city, come to your community, and speak for your event.
So let me know. Now, here we go for today's topic.
Is it just me, or does the world seem like it's just sort of going crazy these days?
I mean, it's really starting to get kind of weird out there,
(02:37):
and I don't mean that in a good kind of way.
It just seems to me that everyone is on sort of a hair trigger,
ready to lash out and just get angry at everything. It's crazy.
And I think the long-term impact of it, it remains to be seen,
but you and I know it's not going to be good.
No culture can survive such long-term boiling anger that we're seeing way too often these days.
(03:03):
How does this impact our work to make the world a better place for moms and babies?
Well, today, I want to briefly discuss a new poll that really should get our attention.
According to a Brookings Institute poll, poll.
One in five college students in the United States believes violence is an acceptable
(03:24):
response to free speech that you don't like.
Wow, are you kidding me? One in five college students believes violence is okay
in responding to free speech if you don't like what's being said in the speech. One in five.
Now, I don't know exactly what to make of this. Is this violence like punching
(03:45):
someone in the face if you don't like what they say, or destroying property or what.
The point is, we all know violence when we see it.
And one in five college students in this poll responded that if you don't like
what someone else says, it's okay to push back with violence.
Now, in the same poll, 51% of college students believe shouting someone down
(04:08):
is an acceptable reaction to free speech if you don't like what's being said.
51%. So over half believe it's okay to shout someone down, while 19% believe that violence is okay.
53% of the survey respondents said colleges should create a positive learning
environment for all students by,
(04:29):
and catch this word, prohibiting certain speech or expression of viewpoints
that are offensive or biased against certain groups of people,
as opposed to creating an open learning environment where students are exposed
to all types of speech and viewpoints, even if it means allowing speech that
is offensive or biased against certain groups of people.
(04:53):
So did you catch that? 53% say that colleges should create a learning environment
that prohibits speech or expression on viewpoints that are are offensive to
certain groups of people. Do you get what's going on here?
Does that bother you? It should. It should really bother us.
Who determines what speech is acceptable?
(05:16):
Okay, who's the judge here? Who determines what speech is acceptable?
I'm guessing that whenever we have discussions like this, we all tend to think
that this is about the most hateful type of speech we're talking about.
You know, the guy that 99.9% of us would agree is obnoxious.
You probably have an image of that guy in your head right now.
(05:37):
But hold on just a minute.
Who determines, back to the question, who determines what speech is acceptable
and what is not, especially in a day when absolutes are dissolving all around us.
Who becomes the enforcer of what you can or cannot say?
Now, we're not going to get into a constitutional issue in today's discussion,
(05:59):
but that's a big discussion, obviously, that needs to happen.
But I'm just talking basic nuts and bolts here.
Who becomes the enforcer of what can or cannot be said? Now,
you and I may think of hate speech according to our set of filters.
And, you know, your filter, my filter may be sort of the same.
(06:19):
But someone else, at the same time, has a completely different set of filters.
And they will tell you that something like, oh, I don't know,
speaking against abortion is hate speech. Okay, so who determines whose view is correct?
And regardless of how you answer that question, who says whether it's right
or wrong to engage in violence if you don't like what someone else says?
(06:42):
Now, this discussion really is critical to you and me because part of changing
the culture is vitally dependent on retaining the ability to communicate to the culture.
That task becomes a bit more difficult when your right to speak is shut down,
whether by unjust or unconstitutional laws, whether by intimidation or flat-out violence.
(07:05):
Now, unless you live in a more radicalized area of the country,
you may not think this is a big issue.
Well, you may want to think again. It's a much bigger issue than you might be
thinking, than we all might be thinking.
History shows us that free speech erodes pretty quickly when speakers are intimidated into silence.
(07:26):
And by the way, just a side note, if you have never seen the classic film Meet
John Doe starring Gary Cooper, do yourself a favor and watch it.
In fact, you're going to see a unique spin near the film's ending on what happens
when free speech is controlled, manipulated, and shut down.
I'm just throwing that in for free. Meet John Doe, Gary Cooper.
(07:48):
Check the film out. Now, I have no idea whether the college students who said
violence is okay would really resort to the violence if it comes right down to it.
And, you know, I also don't know if this is a unique response or,
you know, if this is a significant trend. in.
In other words, what did college students say if they were asked the same question
(08:09):
on this topic 10 years ago?
Did anyone even ask 10 years ago? I don't know.
I mean, I really don't. And we've had the discussion before on the validity of polls.
But just from what I see in the world around us today, I've got to be honest
with you. I'm kind of thinking one in five is lower than I thought it would
(08:29):
be because it just seems like there's so much anger and just an inclination.
Towards violent reaction and shutting down speech that somebody just doesn't like.
But, you know, even if the one in five is close to being true,
it wouldn't surprise me at all.
Not in a culture that's becoming more and more abrasive and more and more close-minded.
(08:52):
Have you thought about that? I mean, really, there seems to be a lot of people
that are so caught up in thinking, you know, we're so broad-minded,
we're so diverse, we're so this and that. But when you really study it,
it's really becoming more closed-minded out there.
Because when it comes down to, you think my way or you are wrong and we must
(09:13):
silence you, that's pretty closed-minded.
And that's where we're heading with a lot of different stuff. So what do we do?
Well, we can start by looking at the example of Christ.
You know, I've yet to read the verse where Jesus smacks down someone who attacked him.
Oh yeah, he could have done that in a really big way. But what did he do? he taught.
He spoke truth. He confronted wrong thinking.
(09:35):
And then he said we are to love our enemies.
And he even said, blessed are the peacemakers. In fact, he did more than just
say it. He lived that way.
He died that way. So what does that mean for us?
Well, for starters, it means we have to be the difference makers in a positive way.
(09:55):
We're not going to change an angry world by showing it that we can get just as angry.
And, you know, I've got to share this with you. Years ago, I was at this outdoor
presidential campaign rally, and I was there to silently protest the candidate
who was speaking because of his abortion views.
I was there to exercise my free speech. Now, there were abortion supporters there, too.
(10:17):
So there's this whole thing going on of different signs competing for the crowd's attention.
And all in all, it's pretty tame. You know, you've got both sides.
You've got signs. And it's a presidential rally. Then these folks show up out
of nowhere, pull out a bullhorn, position themselves directly behind the stage
(10:38):
where the candidate was speaking.
And then using the bullhorn, they start shouting down the candidate,
even as the candidate was going through his speech.
I was there and the candidate was being shut down.
I looked across the crowd of thousands who had gathered, and I'm telling you,
they were all looking at the people with the bullhorn like, are you nuts?
(10:59):
What is your problem? I mean, I can guarantee you that if any hearts or minds
were changed that day, they were changed in a hardened direction,
not in a softened direction.
And if that was the goal, the bullhorn people nailed it. I mean,
they did a great job of that.
Well, you know, the traveling circus moved on from my community,
and we were left picking up the pieces of the division that that silliness caused
(11:23):
for years to come. So I ask you, what was the value of that?
Look, we shouldn't be surprised at an angry culture.
It needs Christ. And without Christ, there is no hope. Just a whole lot of despair.
And when there's no hope, anger and frustration will take charge.
So what about you? And what about me? If we're going to make the world a better
(11:44):
place for moms and babies, And if we're going to point the way to something
better than taking a child's life, shouldn't we do it Jesus' way instead of the world's way?
I don't know where the students in the Brookings Institute poll get their values,
but I know where we should get our values.
Let's not react to speech we don't like with violence.
Let's not shout other people down. Let's react with patience and love.
(12:09):
Even when it means gritting our teeth, when it sure would be a lot easier to
lash out. And that includes social media as well.
Ouch, I just had to throw that one in. Well, who knows?
Were it not for Christ, you and I might be among the worst of those that we find so troubling.
Hey, it's something to think about until we meet again. As always,
(12:32):
I would just like to encourage you to send me a note.
Let me know if you have a topic or a question or maybe even a thought that you'd
like to have addressed on this podcast.
I'd love to hear from you. You can email me at podcast at lovetimes2.org and
never forget, change the culture and the politics will follow.
(12:54):
Thanks for listening to the official podcast of the Love Times 2 Project.
Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode.
And never forget, change the culture and the politics will follow.
Music.
Are you looking for the perfect speaker for your next event or conference?
(13:14):
Look no further than the new Love Times 2 Speakers Bureau, your go-to source
for great pro-life speakers.
We have a roster of renowned experts who can inspire, educate,
and entertain your audience.
Our speakers are ready to unleash their expertise and make your event a resounding
success. Scheduling a pro-life speaker has never been easier.
(13:35):
Visit lovetimes2.org slash speakers and schedule a pro-life.
Music.
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