Ep. 46: Evangelical Christianity & Zionism with Dr. Kimberly Rose Pendleton Pt. 1
Subscribe
Show Notes :
In this podcast episode, Dr. Kimberly Rose Pendleton and I discuss the rise of evangelical Christianity and its influence on politics, particularly in relation to Zionism. We explore the defining characteristics of evangelicalism, such as the belief in the literal interpretation of the Bible and the mission to control public policy.
We discuss the connection between evangelicalism and Zionism, highlighting the belief that the end times will involve a battle in Israel and the annihilation of the Jewish population.
The conversation sheds light on the power and organization of evangelical Christians in shaping political agendas and the need for greater awareness of their influence.
Tune in to hear all about:
Evangelical Christianity is characterized by a belief in the literal interpretation of the Bible and a mission to control public policy.
Evangelicals have been influential in shaping political agendas, particularly in relation to issues like abortion and Israel.
There is a strong connection between evangelical Christianity and Zionism, with many evangelicals believing that the end times will involve a battle in Israel and the annihilation of the Jewish population.
The power and organization of evangelical Christians in politics is often underestimated, and there is a need for greater awareness of their influence.
About the Guest:
Dr. Kimberly Rose Pendleton is a Speaker, Writer, Teacher & Founder of UNCOVER., a 7 figure Intimacy Brand.
With a M.A. from Yale, a PhD, in-depth coaching training and years of experience, it is her deep honor and pleasure to weave the intellectual side of empowerment, healing, and intimacy work in with the embodied, playful practices of pleasure.
UNCOVER is a global lifestyle brand focused on intimacy, pleasure, and women’s empowerment.
Resources:
www.kimberlyrosependleton.com/book
Connect & Support :
-
Evangelical Christianity & Zionism w Kimberly Pendleton Part 1
Weeze (00:00)
All right, hello, welcome back to another episode of According To Weeze the podcast. Today, I was almost going to say like for the first time, but I think I've realized that I like always have my friends on as as guests now that I think about it. So today we're joined by another one of my dear, dear friends.
Kim Pendleton (00:17)
Why not?
We're chatty, we're a chatty bunch.
Weeze (00:24)
We are we like to we like to have all these really big conversations behind the scenes and then we say We should have these We should have these publicly but I'm super excited because I've wanted Kim to come on for quite some time and we're finally making it happen Y 'all this is the one and only Kimberly Pendleton grip y 'all may know
Kim Pendleton (00:29)
Yes, that should be a podcast.
Weeze (00:51)
through her work as an intimacy coach, as a trauma -informed, I like to call you a trauma -informed guide because I don't necessarily like the word coach. I don't know how that feels for you.
Kim Pendleton (01:08)
Fair, fair enough. No, it's repeated along with a few other words we're going to be talking about today. We gotta have our own vocab. It's too messy.
Weeze (01:15)
Right. Right. But you really, you work with folk socialized female to guide them back to themselves, their healing, healing their relationships with their body, know, pleasure, romance, their business, money, like all of that, all of intimacy really leads, right? All paths are through intimacy. Let's put it that way.
But I wanted to preface that, because I think a lot of people know you as that version of Kim. People don't know that you also have a master's in divinity. Like, no big deal, right? Obviously they know you have your PhD, but I think the master's in divinity part kind of gets skipped over. And I think what they probably also don't know
Kim Pendleton (01:49)
Right? Right?
Yeah, 100%.
Weeze (02:12)
unless they really kind of pay attention to some of your posts, especially maybe in like the last couple of months and some of your bigger like podcasts or, you know, maybe in your actual communities once they're already working with you. People might not know, which is the reason that you're here, is that you actually grew up in the evangelical church.
Kim Pendleton (02:33)
Lots to say about it, yep.
Weeze (02:35)
and you will say all the things. You left the church. are a reformed, is it fair to call you a reformed evangelical? Now you're just like a Christian.
Kim Pendleton (02:44)
think that is fair. I've never used that term, but yeah, totally fair. Yeah, right. I'm in that space where I'm like, I would call myself a Christian. Most of them would probably be like, no thanks to claiming me, but yeah, it is a funny, funny space.
Weeze (03:03)
Yeah, so with all of that being said, I'm gonna give the people a little bit of the background of to why we're here. Like why are y 'all listening to this quote unquote fly on the wall conversation, right? These are conversations that Kim and I have regularly. And I felt like for all of the reasons that we just mentioned, that you were uniquely positioned to have this conversation with me on the podcast. This conversation being, I have...
in the last couple months realized that a lot of people don't actually understand how we have gotten here. Here being, you know, it's August 2024. we've got project 2025 very much around the corner. And we
a rising awareness around Zionism and just how deeply rooted Zionism is not only in the United States, but also within our political system. And so with those two things really being kind of like our current event topics, I have recently come to realize that people, one, don't actually understand the evangelical church, right? It's very much the like righteous gemstones, kind of like,
People make a mockery of it about it being a cult or brainwashing or like, and they also don't realize how large of a population, right? The evangelical churches, how much power they have, the influence they have, how deeply rooted they are in our political system, the financial power, right? Like, so through various conversations, I was like, people
Kim Pendleton (04:33)
Yes, the influence. Right.
Weeze (04:48)
people don't really understand, right? Or even that the largest, the population of self -proclaimed Zionists in this country, the largest population is made up of evangelical Christians. People are just not aware at all. And so I said, this is a conversation that we need to have. Even if it just opens the doors for people to get curious, even if it's just, you know, like an aha.
moment for people to start to understand and then they can go do a lot of their own research. But yeah, so I wanted to contextualize the conversation so that people knew what and why.
kick off the conversation to you now so that you can kind of start to help us understand. So let's start at the very beginning. When we talk about evangelical Christianity, right? Because there's Christianity, there's all different versions of Christianity, there's so many branches, but evangelicalism is a very specific belief system. So what sets it apart?
Kim Pendleton (05:43)
Nobody branches, hopefully.
Weeze (05:53)
from the other branches of Christianity.
Kim Pendleton (05:55)
Yeah, it's such a good question and I just like, I mean, as you know from our conversations, but like, I'll just say again, like, I'm so glad we're talking about this because I've seen the same thing on the left, especially and within like, you know, I'm in these like feminist circles and intimacy circles and I would say like, for the most part, more new agey and secular and it's so easy to...
Yeah, like you said not understand this dynamic and then more dangerously dismiss it out hand as like not being like all that serious and unfortunate. I wish like unfortunately that is not the case. And one very big piece of that comes to the definition of like how you know, like who is this group and like how are we defining it? And you know, in my
in my other academic work, in addition to just like having been like hands up like in the room in the megachurch with the fog machine and all the things like later when I was studying it and studying religion and especially religion in America, the definitions definitely vary, you know, it's something that's like not necessarily agreed upon by everyone, but one thread that is like the most important I think for us today is
Whereas a lot of other Christian sects have kind of like a be in the world but not of the world belief like politics wouldn't necessarily be their purview. We're concerned with the spirit, the soul. I mean that can obviously have other issues but they're like for the most part staying out of some of the like dirty day -to -day realities of politics. A huge departure in definition of evangelical is
not feeling that way. like, especially around the 70s in the US, scholars really trace like Jerry Falwell and the rise of the moral majority to this like shift into the public sphere and into like really desiring to mandate Christian, which are like for evangelicals very fundamentalist beliefs, into like public
policy and that that step in particular kind of like defines an evangelical, like that the mission field becomes like the world we live in and so if we believe abortion shouldn't be like, if we believe abortion's wrong, we're not just gonna like say it's wrong, we're gonna try to make it illegal and like that, there are other things people will say, you know, believing that the Bible is literal and believing that
So there's only one path to salvation and whatever, but like that move into the like, it's actually our job to control like public policy. That is the part that I think we are seeing, you know, 50 years of organizing led us to this moment. And evangelicals uniquely think like, we were called, they were called to this. We are supposed to do this.
and the more power we can like shore up the better.
Weeze (09:17)
you kind of cite the 70s. Was there something happening specifically in that time? Was it something within the church? Was it something that was happening socially, politically that caused that shift? Because evangelicalism predates the 1970s.
Kim Pendleton (09:34)
Totally, right, right. It's like people were riding around h orseback and like 100 years before that doing like big time revivals. But no, it's such a good question. Again, like people disagree, like of course, but I think there is a super clear like before, I think it's abortion. So like when it started to be like, you know, this kind of public discourse around.
Weeze (09:40)
Right.
Kim Pendleton (10:02)
Like less so Birth Control, but a little bit there too, but then definitely with Roe v. Wade, this sense of like, like there's rhetoric. One of the most like chilling research projects I ever did was at the Billy Graham Library, which is like in Wheaton outside of Chicago. But it
Weeze (10:20)
For people who don't know who Billy Graham is, he is like granddaddy evangelical pastor. Like if you look up like evangelical pastor, like Billy Graham, I'm not joking. It is Billy Graham's face is what will come up. Obviously then you'll see other things, he, William Graham Jr. is like granddaddy evangelical pastor. So just for clarity.
Kim Pendleton (10:25)
Nice.
Yes. Yes.
Yes. Yes.
No, I'm so glad you pulled that out for a second because that's also some of the first, he was called up by presidents of the US to lead national prayer. So this is the beginning of, at least in my opinion, really seeing these forceful, I'm going to combine the pulpit and the podium or whatever as much as I can. And there's stuff in his...
Weeze (10:54)
Mm -hmm.
Kim Pendleton (11:13)
His archive and like just in the the swirl of like conversation at that time that is like we're at war, you know, like this abortion debate felt like it galvanized like a sleeper cell like in the society where it was like, you know, maybe we were like content just like doing our own thing in churches before that. But right now we're being like called to fight for like these like vulnerable like
like fetuses, but of course babies in their language. like, I think that's really the pinnacle. A lot of other, so like that, there's like a huge group that thinks that. A lot of people also think Israel was a huge motivator and galvanizing force. And I would say my read is that abortion started it and Israel like exploded the evangelical interest in politics. And that at this point they're tied. That it's
Similarly though, a sense of God is asking us to take political control to enact what the Bible says and the read on it that leads to evangelical Zionism is like, okay, this is God's chosen people, we have to align, everything needs to be about this. And I think that's another area.
Weeze (12:40)
So let's pause because I don't think people have no concept of the narrative around Armageddon or the way in which, like I didn't know, like the same way that the occupying territory will do birthright trips, how like that was pushed on y 'all as kids.
Kim Pendleton (12:47)
Great.
Right. Right.
Right, and that Christian tourism.
Weeze (13:03)
Not birthright, not a birthright trip in the same way, but like Armageddon trips, which I didn't even, had in all of my learning and studying and sociology of religion and all of that, I actually did not know that until you told me that.
Kim Pendleton (13:13)
dear.
Yeah. my God. I remember being at church in Santa Barbara, California, like liberal, you know, but having the pastor, Britt, I still remember the surfer, like talking about how we could go on this trip to Israel with him and we could see the exact place where we'd be having the Battle of Armageddon. And he was so
psyched up about it. He was like, you're all gonna have a sword and Jesus is gonna be on the biggest horse and you'll be on a little horse. Like, like not just like, like because I've also been to liberal churches who are like interested in going to the Holy Land and like, like lovely mentor of mine who like wanted to like see the River Jordan and like that could still be woven into like a somewhat problematic narrative I think, but like it was a little different. But these, these were like Armageddon tourism.
like prep for the end times trips and you know we can get more into this later if it's like not quite the moment but I wanted to speak quickly too to like I've had some conversations with Jewish friends who've pushed back on like us talking about stuff like this being like you know well maybe they're just trying to support us and I'm like no no no no no the story doesn't go well for the Jews like I just want to be
Weeze (14:39)
Yeah, I was going to say I actually want you right now is the time like because I don't think people understand that this isn't evangelical Zionism in order to support the quote unquote nation state of Israel. It is because the nation state of Israel has to exist in order for the I'm going let you tell the story. Go ahead.
Kim Pendleton (14:42)
Yes.
Exactly.
No, that is a perfect setup, perfect setup. I'm so glad because otherwise it can seem like, they're just like their friends, the Christians, like supporting the Jews for once. And it's like, no, it is, it's so much worse than like it could even seem because in the, this like eschatology, which is like end times theology.
Basically, the belief is that this battle, which I think a lot of people have heard battle of Armageddon, but maybe not necessarily know what it is, or rapture, a term that we love to make jokes about because it has a double entendre, of course. But it's like the whole idea is that the world will end in this huge fiery battle and that the saved ones, the Christians, not Jews,
Weeze (15:34)
mm -hmm.
Kim Pendleton (15:57)
will be basically raptured up to heaven and about half the people believe what happens before that is a big battle and about half the people believe the battle comes after. It doesn't really matter, but the point is that in all of the interpretations when people really think this is what's happening, the whole population of Israel is killed, is sacrificed. It's all just
punished for not having converted to Christianity. Like, it is not positive. And the thing that I think is really dangerous, I mean this is all dangerous obviously, but if you're not only believing this, thinking a big battle in Israel is necessary to bring about the end of the world and the end of the world is what you want, and you happen to be the constituents with the largest control of whether or not we are
Weeze (16:29)
Take a share of me.
Kim Pendleton (16:56)
and sending ammunition abroad, it's like, what would ever stop it? Like, they not only are getting whatever, like dividends from Raytheon or whatever, but they're like, I'm doing my job to like bring about the biblical prophecy. Like, why would they ever want the war to end?
Weeze (17:02)
Mm
And I think that...
And I recognize that what I'm about to say is a whole other podcast episode, but it just needs to be said now.
Kim Pendleton (17:24)
Yeah, we'll be here for five hours, so I hope you're all ready for that.
Weeze (17:28)
I think that's the piece for me that most American voters right now are missing. That the United States support of the colonizing regime that is known as Israel is 1000 % in, like it is 100 % in lockstep with, I mean,
Kim Pendleton (17:34)
Yes, I agree.
Weeze (17:57)
Now I want to say, is it like 75 % of elected officials? Based solely on religious reasons, regardless of what party affiliation. It is something absurd. So it doesn't actually matter.
Kim Pendleton (18:02)
Yes.
That part... It's
Weeze (18:14)
I'm going to do a whole podcast episode on this because people are going to come from my throat on this one. It doesn't matter who you vote for for president. You can vote for third party if you want. And frankly, I'm not here to tell you who to vote for. That has always been my thing. I will educate all day long, but your vote is your fundamental choice as a citizen of this nation. You make that decision for yourself. But we need to stop fooling ourselves that when it comes to supporting
Imperialism abroad, well, imperialism by definition now is abroad because we've done a great job of colonizing this continent. Right? But it doesn't matter who you vote for because at the end of the day, us funding the apartheid regime is 1000 % in political line with the government.
Kim Pendleton (18:51)
You're so efficient.
Right. Right.
Weeze (19:11)
as a whole because of who actually runs the government. It doesn't matter who our president is. It doesn't. Jill Stein could be our president tomorrow. And this this notion that we've like fooled ourselves that somehow even if Jill Stein was president that you know that would stop the bombing, that would stop us funding the apartheid regime like this is a much bigger issue which
Kim Pendleton (19:14)
Right. Yeah.
Mm -hmm.
Weeze (19:37)
why I have said and will continue to say like, yeah, vote for the president, but y 'all need to be voting for every other elected office. That is actually far more important.
Kim Pendleton (19:43)
Yes, huge.
Right, yeah, I mean, I think you're so getting at the crux of it. It's like, the call is coming from inside the house. Like, it's like 70 % of the fucking house. Like, yeah, I think that you're so nailing it. And the piece that I, you know, really find scary is that it's like, again, just to reiterate, like, the
Weeze (19:57)
and
Kim Pendleton (20:16)
co -opting of Jewish identity and the idea of the Holy Land is to be annihilated. None of that is in support for real. is, or they think it's in support, but only so that it can all be destroyed. This is like a, you know, it's almost like a suicide mission for evangelicals because
point isn't to save the planet. It's like a net. This is another podcast, but it's like another reason that they're not like that enthused to help with climate change. It's like they want to be out of here, like rapture me up. Like I used to hear people say, why would I polish the brass on a sinking ship? Like I'm leaving. And it's like, well, okay, that's fucking one thing if you weren't in charge.
Weeze (21:02)
Yeah.
Kim Pendleton (21:07)
of our policy. Like I think that that's really where I felt activated around this conversation because I mean I love, I've studied a lot of cults, I work with a lot of people who've left cults. It's one thing if it's like a fringe belief system it can still cause obviously a lot of damage but it's not quite the same as running our government. Like this is not just like a little group having a little weird conversation like about their
really interesting beliefs. It's like they're controlling what we fund, whether we prioritize climate action, whether we continue to fund war. Like, I mean, it's like, and what we use and I talk about a lot is like we've watched them strategize. And that too, I think has been missed by the left, you know, in part because we didn't know to look for it. But I saw some of that firsthand in DC when I was going to church.
Weeze (21:52)
Mm -hmm.
Kim Pendleton (22:04)
Capitol Hill Baptist, you know, like sitting next to people who were like funded by, you know, young people, like college grads coming to grad school, here to intern on the Hill and like paid for and supported by like scholarships from the Heritage Foundation because the aim was fill these seats, fill the halls of power with people who believe what we believe and
I would say like what we're seeing now is the product of like one side of the aisle really, really being organized for decades. And it's like coming to fruition. And I would say the Supreme Court all the way to Project 2025 is just, it's the outcome of deliberate organized action to take over. And it sounds so dramatic when I say that, but I watched it. I watched
Weeze (23:02)
But it's true. So I was just looking this up just to confirm my numbers while we were talking. so Axios, I know, right? Axios published numbers. 90 % of federal, because I just looked up federally elected officials, 90 % are Christian. And then it said, it very specifically said evangelical Christians, elected evangelical Christians, try to intentionally be vague in their identification.
Kim Pendleton (23:07)
great, we love a fact check.
Weeze (23:33)
And so, which makes sense, but their best guesstimation was anywhere from 76 to 88 % of those 90%. Their best guesstimation was that 76 to 88 % of the 90 are actually evangelical Christians. So 90 % of our elected officials are Christian. Basically,
Kim Pendleton (23:44)
Right.
Weeze (23:59)
with a slim margin of error, they are all evangelical.
And so if we have evangelical Christians who are elected, federally elected officials whose entire belief system is, right, circle back to the beginning of the podcast, is that their role to be considered a good Christian and to be following their kind of religious calling is to ensure that their Christian beliefs are enshrined via policy.
and can be legally upheld. That's what God has told them to do. And 90 % of them, 90 % of our elected officials, right? And so what that tells you also is, yes, this is why, right? This is why the red is so well organized is because they're all in lockstep. And this is why we keep looking up and we're like, I don't understand why Democrats
Kim Pendleton (24:38)
Like that's their mandate.
What could go wrong, Nies?
Weeze (25:03)
are making some of these decisions because they are democratic, or I'm sorry, they are Democrats, sure, but they're evangelicals. So they're still not actually pushing for whatever it is that their constituents want or believe because their mandate from God is to make sure that their religious beliefs are enshrined in policy.
Kim Pendleton (25:08)
Yeah.
Right, right.
100%. Yeah, I mean, and it's also why I feel like, you know, if progressives and like leftists are looking at being like, how did this happen? It's like, this is how. Like it was right, right. It's so funny because, know, of course I think of like the organizers and the activists as being like, hooking on our side. And it's
Weeze (25:41)
We got out -organized.
Kim Pendleton (25:54)
Well, you want to see organization in action, like an evangelical potluck is like going to be the place. Like there is something about that sense of like, we have like a higher calling. There's also, and I know we've talked about this a lot too, the allure of hierarchy and of power and of rules. And I think, you know, and this is really where
Weeze (26:15)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.
Kim Pendleton (26:20)
So like, I'm sure people could kind of guess this, but just to connect the dots, like my intimacy and trauma work came heavily from like, okay, religious trauma coming out of like, intimacy wounding and really people being like so shut down in that world. But when I think about like, well, what was the draw? Like, what was appealing? Why did I actually start?
getting more involved in a more conservative church at that time in my life, like college age, 20s, like what, like that doesn't totally make sense unless you start thinking about like that human longing for structure, for rules, for guidance. Like I sometimes joke, yes, community, some safety and belonging,
Weeze (27:03)
community.
Mm -hmm.
Kim Pendleton (27:08)
And you know, not to make this too much about me, but my own story is was like post -sexual assault, that was so appealing. And so of course, going to a place with such strictness, especially around sex, especially around gender, rhetoric that obviously we now know is such bullshit but was so alluring around protecting women and standing up for women in this attenuated way.
I was hooked, you know, and like drinking the fucking Kool -Aid and I think a lot of people maybe not to that same exact degree but a version of that where it's like, life is chaos, like the world is scary, nothing is feeling easy, and you are giving me a paradigm and a structure and scaffolding for like how this could all make sense. And I think that
that's potentially irresistible as late -stage capitalism makes life even more unwieldy. Evangelicalism is one of the only religious groups that's growing. Mainline Christianity is dying, churches are empty if they're more liberal, but conservative megachurches are expanding, taking over warehouses, buying out all the fog machines in sight. They're growing and growing.
And I think it's because of this. I think people want direction. And I mean, and I think we're seeing it even when people around the globe are like being drawn in by these like, not strong, but like strong man figures. It's like that allure of even authoritarianism, even fascism, it's I think that same part of us that's like, my God, please tell me what to do. Tell me what to think. This is hard to just be messy and human.
Weeze (29:05)
Yeah, I mean, I think there's also something to be said for the fact that when you already have, you have people either who, you know, maybe have complicated relationships with religion and or they were just quote unquote, you know, mainline, like you said, mainline Christianity, right? And you feel lost. You feel you're scared.
Kim Pendleton (29:28)
It's not off. Yeah.
Weeze (29:34)
Right? Like it is very fair, again, especially right now in our current sociopolitical financial climate to feel uncertain and to feel scared. And so if any of your beliefs even align at all with any population, right? Right now we're talking about evangelicalism, but it could be anything. And that population that is organized, is structured, has community, seems like they can provide safety. Right?
Kim Pendleton (30:03)
Yeah.
Weeze (30:04)
You're, we see this all the time. You start negotiating with yourself, right? It's like, well, you know, mean, abortion is like not great. So like I could, yeah, okay. Right. Right. Like I can let that slide and we negotiate with ourselves in order to make ourselves feel better about participating or joining.
Kim Pendleton (30:09)
Totally.
Here's where I can switch to the common ground. We all care about this.
trying to reply.
Weeze (30:33)
But the reality is that the same group that makes us, as a society socially, exactly feel safer, the same ones that are causing, yeah, right? Like run, please run to anything else.
Kim Pendleton (30:41)
You're not safe. She's like, spoiler alert, you're in danger, girl. Yeah, right, right. Like, I don't know what they've promised you, but this is how I feel about all women in the Republican Party. I'm like, they're not going to give it to you, whatever you think the bargain is here. Yeah, yeah, 100 % agree and found that true, that it's like, the safety is an illusion. And
is true writ large in our politics too. We cannot bomb our way to safety. We cannot continue to fight. These anti -abortion policies are not protecting life. None of this ethos of control and violence is actually bringing about the safety that people want. It's just, it's
Weeze (31:13)
Yeah, we're not safe.
Kim Pendleton (31:34)
True grassroots community organizing would be too nuanced and messy and it feels too unpredictable. But it's like this stuff is not keeping you safe.
Weeze (31:42)
Well.
Yeah, but the thing is, that the reason it's, the church is effective. I mean, when Dr. King was organizing for the civil rights movement, they, for months and months prior, were organizing in church basements, right? Because the church does at least, at the very least, what do you know, or what do you feel like you know?
Kim Pendleton (32:00)
True, yes.
Yeah.
Weeze (32:07)
We're aligned morally, we're aligned in terms of our values. This is my home, this is my community. And as human beings, that is what we want. We want belonging, we want safety, that builds no trust like, right? So you're more likely to listen, doubt your own voice. And now
Kim Pendleton (32:15)
Yeah.
Totally.
Yeah. And you've got a group of people who feel like the collective matters more than their own individual. I mean, you wouldn't know that you have politicians, but like, yeah, that is built in that sense of like for the greater good. It's not about me.
Weeze (32:31)
Exactly.
Yeah. And sometimes it's used for positive things like the civil rights movement and other times it's used for evil like Project 2025. Right. So even Project 2025, don't... One of the things that has struck me is that people are... don't seem to be making the connections between biblical...
Kim Pendleton (32:42)
Right. Right.
Right. Right. Right.
guys.
Weeze (33:06)
extreme fundamentalist biblical religious beliefs and policies that are have been set forth in as the proposed project. Project 2025 to me is the evangelical manifesto
Kim Pendleton (33:21)
100 % agree. Yeah.
Weeze (33:23)
Like that is all it is.
Kim Pendleton (33:26)
It's a religious extremist document that would be implementing at least a certain interpretation of biblical norms into our federally funded and available programming and policy.
Yeah. Yeah.
Weeze (33:45)
I'm like, this actually has nothing to do with the Republicans. I mean, it does in the sense that all of them are evangelical. Well, let me not say all of them. Let's leave a margin of error, 4%, maybe.
Kim Pendleton (33:54)
You
It's interesting to watch them sweat a little. I mean, I was listening to something, I think this was about evangelicals for the first time at, I think it was a Southern Baptist Convention. I wish I'd looked this up before they come, but I'm pretty sure it was the National Southern Baptist Convention. And Southern Baptist is a huge block of the evangelical group voted against IVF.
And that has never happened before. That is new. This is like a new frontier of the like right to life and fetal personhood conversation, kicked off by this marriage between the Republican Party and the Evangelical group. And I was like listening to interviews with, you know, like Republican pundits afterward who are like sweating because this is not popular.
This is like a huge departure from what most people want. It is going to cost them votes. And I was like, yeah, you fucking made your bed. You made this Faustian bargain with these people and now you're going to have consequences. it'