WEBVTT - Easter In Isolation 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:04.040 For the first time in probably seventeen hundred years, Christians 0:00:04.120 --> 0:00:08.119 around the world will not be permitted to celebrate Easter 0:00:08.520 --> 0:00:12.040 in public. What is a country founded on religious liberty 0:00:12.119 --> 0:00:16.040 supposed to do when the government locks the churches? This 0:00:16.120 --> 0:00:25.520 is Verdict with Ted Cruz. Welcome back to Verdict with 0:00:25.560 --> 0:00:29.480 Ted Cruz and Happy Easter. I'm Michael Knowles, Senator. Sorry, 0:00:29.520 --> 0:00:32.199 we can't be a celebrating today together or at a 0:00:32.240 --> 0:00:37.360 safe social distance. I think I am not exaggerating here 0:00:37.400 --> 0:00:40.600 when I say this might be the first time since 0:00:40.640 --> 0:00:44.479 the Diocletian Persecution that Christians have not been able to 0:00:44.520 --> 0:00:48.159 go to their churches on Easter. Is that an exaggeration? Well, 0:00:48.240 --> 0:00:50.559 you know, I gotta say it is so commonplace to 0:00:50.600 --> 0:00:54.520 have podcasts talking about the Diocletian Persecution. I mean, I 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:56.640 mean it really I'm worried that we're going to run 0:00:56.640 --> 0:01:01.800 into the traffic online. That's true, stright through the roof, right. 0:01:02.280 --> 0:01:04.400 We you and I have never seen anything like this 0:01:04.440 --> 0:01:08.280 in our lifetimes. And it's you know, all of us 0:01:08.319 --> 0:01:12.120 were doing everything from home. Yeah, and whether that's church, 0:01:12.200 --> 0:01:16.000 whether that's work, whether that's time with the family, it 0:01:16.080 --> 0:01:19.960 has good aspects to it, and it also makes people 0:01:20.000 --> 0:01:22.679 pretty stir crazy. This, I think is the big issue 0:01:22.720 --> 0:01:25.160 for people. I think for a while, people like taking 0:01:25.160 --> 0:01:27.720 a few days off work. Obviously that got real old, 0:01:27.760 --> 0:01:30.520 real fast when people lost their jobs. I think people 0:01:30.560 --> 0:01:33.240 actually for the first few days of this shutdown, we're 0:01:33.319 --> 0:01:35.959 kind of excited. It was something new, it was dangerous. 0:01:36.120 --> 0:01:38.319 Maybe we were all going to band together again. That 0:01:38.440 --> 0:01:41.039 kind of got real old, real fast. The one thing 0:01:41.080 --> 0:01:43.959 that I think was always a sticking point was the churches. 0:01:44.240 --> 0:01:48.280 The government closing down the churches. To my mind, that's 0:01:48.400 --> 0:01:52.320 unprecedented in the United States. Is that what you're hearing 0:01:52.360 --> 0:01:54.080 and seeing as well? I mean, is that just a 0:01:54.080 --> 0:01:58.360 different category. Look, it's a hard challenge because if you have, 0:01:58.560 --> 0:02:02.520 as we do, a pandemic, a public health outbreak, there 0:02:02.640 --> 0:02:08.680 is precedent for quarantining laws, there's precedent for preventing large gatherings. 0:02:09.120 --> 0:02:13.200 You know, I will say it, in this time of crisis, 0:02:13.960 --> 0:02:16.239 you know, people's real character comes out, who they are 0:02:16.360 --> 0:02:19.760 comes out. And I got to say, some of these 0:02:19.840 --> 0:02:25.639 democratic politicians are just jackbooted thugs. I mean, they're authoritarians 0:02:26.120 --> 0:02:28.960 that they believe in the power of the state. So 0:02:29.080 --> 0:02:31.960 you know, bild de Blasio, mayor of New York. Now, 0:02:31.960 --> 0:02:33.800 listen to New York has got it worse than than 0:02:33.840 --> 0:02:36.959 anywhere else in the country. It is horrific, the deaths 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:39.080 that have happened there, the infections, people are scared. I 0:02:39.120 --> 0:02:42.280 get all of that. But de Blasio said, listen, if 0:02:42.280 --> 0:02:45.520 any church or synagogue meets, we're going to come after 0:02:45.600 --> 0:02:49.800 you and we will permanently shut you down. Now, who 0:02:49.800 --> 0:02:52.359 the hell are you to permanently shut a church or 0:02:52.440 --> 0:02:55.240 synagogue then? And I actually understand saying okay, you can't 0:02:55.280 --> 0:02:57.440 have a public gathering. You know what my church is doing. 0:02:57.440 --> 0:03:01.400 We're meeting virtually. Yeah, I think that actually makes good sense. 0:03:02.120 --> 0:03:09.320 But you see some of these political leaders just eager 0:03:09.360 --> 0:03:12.880 to strip away liberty and they seem to have a real, 0:03:13.080 --> 0:03:15.679 real animosity to faith. That's right if you if you 0:03:15.800 --> 0:03:18.240 look at New York. I mean, that's exactly the right 0:03:18.280 --> 0:03:20.679 example where it's not de Blasio saying we're going to 0:03:20.760 --> 0:03:24.080 shut you down for the whole of this pandemic. You 0:03:24.120 --> 0:03:26.200 are not going to be allowed back into your building, 0:03:26.240 --> 0:03:28.880 pastor until afterwards. But that's not where they stopped it. 0:03:28.880 --> 0:03:31.280 They actually said we will permanently shut you down. And 0:03:31.440 --> 0:03:34.960 he actually singled out churches and synagogues. He didn't go 0:03:35.000 --> 0:03:37.480 after any other faith groups. He just went after churches 0:03:37.680 --> 0:03:40.960 and synagogues. How convenient. You know. It's not just de 0:03:41.040 --> 0:03:44.400 Blasio though. It's going on around the country and even 0:03:44.440 --> 0:03:46.560 for the people. I know a lot of conservatives where 0:03:46.600 --> 0:03:49.800 we want to keep our rights, but we're obviously willing 0:03:49.840 --> 0:03:53.600 to entertain some quarantine. Pennsylvania, they arrested a woman for 0:03:53.680 --> 0:03:57.000 driving her car. Oh my god, you know, driving your car. 0:03:57.080 --> 0:04:00.320 You're not violating social distancing. You're sitting in your own 0:04:00.440 --> 0:04:03.160 damn car, like like, this is not a police state, right, 0:04:03.680 --> 0:04:07.880 And and you're seeing, you know, North Carolina that they 0:04:07.920 --> 0:04:12.080 invest arrested David Benham. David David Jason Benham. The Bennam 0:04:12.120 --> 0:04:15.880 brothers are friends of mine. They're great guys. Um. So 0:04:15.960 --> 0:04:20.360 the North Carolina governor, a Democrat, determined that that elective 0:04:20.400 --> 0:04:23.440 abortions are essential, and so that abortion clinics could gather, 0:04:23.480 --> 0:04:27.000 they could all get together. And so the Bennam brothers 0:04:27.080 --> 0:04:30.160 went outside and and and wanted to provide pregnancy counseling, 0:04:30.240 --> 0:04:34.120 wanted to peacefully h tell moms that we're coming in 0:04:34.120 --> 0:04:36.880 that we're considering abortions. You know, they're alternatives. If if 0:04:36.880 --> 0:04:39.359 you want to pursue adoption, here are some of the 0:04:39.400 --> 0:04:42.279 resources available to you. Right, And and they sent the 0:04:42.320 --> 0:04:45.880 police to arrest them. And actually the video I tweeted 0:04:45.880 --> 0:04:47.520 out the video. I did encourage you to watch that 0:04:47.640 --> 0:04:52.760 video because, uh, you know, David is he said, Look, 0:04:52.760 --> 0:04:55.600 we're being peaceful. He's very calm, he's not angry, he's 0:04:55.640 --> 0:04:58.520 not they're not harassing anyone. He said, we're six feet away, 0:04:58.560 --> 0:05:02.360 we're not gathering, we're not leading social distancing. But but 0:05:02.720 --> 0:05:05.400 if the governor is going to say that that the 0:05:05.440 --> 0:05:07.799 abortion is essential, that the doctors and all the staff 0:05:07.839 --> 0:05:10.800 can gather there more than ten people in public, then 0:05:10.839 --> 0:05:14.120 how can that be essential? But yet the counseling of 0:05:14.160 --> 0:05:20.359 pregnancy alternatives is not equally essential to And it's interesting 0:05:20.360 --> 0:05:22.560 the officers are arresting him, and you could see the 0:05:22.600 --> 0:05:26.080 officers are reluctant, and David, to his credit, he's praising 0:05:26.080 --> 0:05:28.560 the officers. He said, listen, thank you for your service. 0:05:28.640 --> 0:05:32.760 Particularly now, I mean he's polite, he's praising them, and 0:05:33.120 --> 0:05:37.840 it just shows Look, and I don't want to make 0:05:37.880 --> 0:05:40.520 this partisan. And if there are are Republicans doing it, 0:05:40.560 --> 0:05:42.880 I will happily call them out too. It just seems 0:05:42.920 --> 0:05:46.360 to be it's the democratic governors and the Democratic mayors 0:05:46.600 --> 0:05:51.600 that that in that instance, you know, he's he's hard 0:05:52.040 --> 0:05:56.640 pro abortion and hard and anti pro life, and and 0:05:56.640 --> 0:05:59.080 and so it's not if you want to say neither 0:05:59.160 --> 0:06:03.040 of them are essential. Fine that I actually understand that determination. 0:06:03.120 --> 0:06:06.440 But you can't pick one side and silence those that 0:06:06.480 --> 0:06:09.800 would try to give it so ironic, and it totally 0:06:09.800 --> 0:06:11.680 gives away the game where they say, if you gather 0:06:11.800 --> 0:06:15.760 together to procure an abortion, that will not endanger your life. 0:06:15.760 --> 0:06:18.400 And let me tell you something, abortion one hundred percent 0:06:18.400 --> 0:06:20.599 of the time in danger's life. They say, no, that 0:06:20.640 --> 0:06:22.760 won't endanger your life. But if you go and offer 0:06:22.800 --> 0:06:25.840 some counseling, you also gathered together, that will endanger your life. 0:06:25.839 --> 0:06:28.360 It's so backwards, it's such a power grab. You know, 0:06:28.480 --> 0:06:31.359 certain states have made exceptions, and you know, in Colorado 0:06:31.400 --> 0:06:35.560 they arrested a dad for playing t ball with his kids. 0:06:36.440 --> 0:06:40.160 I mean, that's nutty. I spoke last night to a 0:06:40.240 --> 0:06:44.600 Nevada state legislator who was complaining the Nevada governor has 0:06:44.680 --> 0:06:48.240 shut down golf courses. Now I gotta say, Michael, it's 0:06:48.240 --> 0:06:53.080 hard to think of a sport more situated to social distancing. Listen, 0:06:53.080 --> 0:06:55.159 if you're with it, if you're closer than six feet, 0:06:55.360 --> 0:06:57.279 you ain't doing it right right like you ever, Like, 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:02.680 I'm all for acting sensibly to protect the public safety. 0:07:02.720 --> 0:07:06.400 But but there's some that are just eager to put 0:07:06.400 --> 0:07:08.680 on that jackboot and it's scared. Now, what do you 0:07:08.720 --> 0:07:10.840 make of these different states? I mean, some states they've 0:07:10.880 --> 0:07:13.680 been arresting pastors if they try to hold services. Other 0:07:13.760 --> 0:07:17.160 states have made an exception for religious services, and and 0:07:17.280 --> 0:07:19.160 you know at various state by state. Luckily we haven't 0:07:19.160 --> 0:07:22.120 had one national, one size fits all policy for this. 0:07:22.320 --> 0:07:24.600 I mean, how is that going to play out even 0:07:24.640 --> 0:07:29.920 after the pandemic's over. Listen, our law has always respected 0:07:29.960 --> 0:07:33.080 religious liberty. The First Amendment protects religious liberty. I think 0:07:33.120 --> 0:07:37.840 we should should do everything possible to protect people's right 0:07:37.880 --> 0:07:41.880 of faith. At the same time, I think the responsible 0:07:41.960 --> 0:07:47.160 thing to do is to act to protect the community. 0:07:47.240 --> 0:07:49.120 So so my church, Ide and I are members of 0:07:49.120 --> 0:07:51.800 a First Baptist church in Houston. It's a big, big church. 0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:57.080 We've been going to church virtually online. Our pastor made 0:07:57.080 --> 0:07:59.760 the very I think, very sensible decision to say We're 0:07:59.800 --> 0:08:01.960 not going to bring people together and have thousands of 0:08:01.960 --> 0:08:05.320 people in a sanctuary while there's a global pandemic going on. 0:08:05.400 --> 0:08:10.360 And you know, I will say, as it's Easter Easter, 0:08:12.280 --> 0:08:15.400 you know, you Easter Sunday. From for as long as 0:08:15.400 --> 0:08:17.520 I can remember, we would always go to church on 0:08:17.640 --> 0:08:24.600 Easter Sunday, that's and celebrate the Jesus. But it's worth 0:08:24.720 --> 0:08:27.800 also remembering, you know, for those of us who are Christians, 0:08:29.400 --> 0:08:32.920 the church is not a building. The church is not 0:08:33.080 --> 0:08:36.200 bricks or mortars. So I'm I'm sad not to be there. 0:08:36.240 --> 0:08:38.960 It's nice to be able to sing and have the 0:08:39.040 --> 0:08:41.800 music in person. It's nice to be able to worship together. 0:08:42.800 --> 0:08:44.880 But it actually has been beautiful. So what we do 0:08:44.960 --> 0:08:48.200 every Sunday morning is we come down, come down to 0:08:48.240 --> 0:08:50.600 the living room and we put we put the live 0:08:50.679 --> 0:08:53.960 stream of our church up up up on the TV, 0:08:54.720 --> 0:08:57.559 and Heidi and the girls and I just the four 0:08:57.600 --> 0:08:59.800 of us in the living room and we'll watch and participate. 0:09:00.080 --> 0:09:02.000 You know, we have to kind of drag the girls 0:09:02.000 --> 0:09:03.679 out of bed, and you know, it's nice. I'll have 0:09:03.720 --> 0:09:06.680 a cup of coffee and I'll confess I've done church 0:09:06.760 --> 0:09:10.760 sometimes and my slippers normally did same here. I'm ashamed 0:09:10.800 --> 0:09:13.199 to say, but I did. But you know it's interesting. 0:09:13.280 --> 0:09:15.400 Number One, I was talking to my pastor earlier this week. 0:09:15.440 --> 0:09:18.839 He said that that that the viewership has gone through 0:09:18.880 --> 0:09:22.240 the roof, that a ton of people are logging on 0:09:22.280 --> 0:09:26.160 and watching it online who wouldn't necessarily come in person. 0:09:26.280 --> 0:09:31.280 And it is interesting because we're ending up having much 0:09:31.360 --> 0:09:36.199 longer conversations with our girls about about the sermon, about 0:09:36.240 --> 0:09:38.520 what's going on. You know, if you're in church, you 0:09:38.559 --> 0:09:40.560 don't want to talk talk in church and bother people. 0:09:40.559 --> 0:09:43.480 If you're in your living room, you can talk to 0:09:43.480 --> 0:09:44.720 each other and you can say, hey, what do you 0:09:44.760 --> 0:09:46.679 think about what he just said? And you know, you 0:09:46.720 --> 0:09:51.040 can have conversations that flow out of it. That that 0:09:51.280 --> 0:09:55.040 are you know, what the Bible said is that is 0:09:55.080 --> 0:09:59.120 the Church is the body of believers, is everyone who 0:09:59.200 --> 0:10:02.560 is a Christian? That we're the church, not the building. 0:10:03.400 --> 0:10:08.360 Um and and so even though East Easter Sunday, most 0:10:08.400 --> 0:10:10.720 of us are not going to be at a physical church. 0:10:10.840 --> 0:10:16.360 If if we are giving thanks for Jesus's resurrection, that 0:10:16.480 --> 0:10:20.000 we're celebrating Easter and the church is celebrating and and 0:10:20.000 --> 0:10:23.800 and I hope also listen. This is a time, you know. 0:10:23.840 --> 0:10:26.760 I remember back when Hurricane Harvey hit Texas and it 0:10:26.800 --> 0:10:31.760 was devastating in Texas, second costless natural disaster in US history, 0:10:32.920 --> 0:10:35.720 and it was really amazing to see the churches all 0:10:35.760 --> 0:10:39.000 throughout Texas, especially on the Gulf Coast, coming out and 0:10:39.040 --> 0:10:41.760 helping people, helping people whose homes had been destroyed. Everything 0:10:41.800 --> 0:10:44.440 they had was lost. And it was a time when 0:10:44.440 --> 0:10:46.920 the church was doing what the church should. The church 0:10:47.320 --> 0:10:49.880 should be helping people, people in need, people who are 0:10:49.960 --> 0:10:53.440 scared people. You know our church, we've had one member 0:10:53.480 --> 0:10:56.840 of a woman in our eighties who died of COVID 0:10:56.920 --> 0:11:02.839 nineteen and you know, the ministry for seniors. It's hard 0:11:02.880 --> 0:11:06.440 for seniors to be isolated. And this is a time, 0:11:06.520 --> 0:11:09.040 I hope and I believe the church is doing more 0:11:09.640 --> 0:11:12.080 to help people who are scared, who are in need, 0:11:12.280 --> 0:11:14.719 even if we don't gather in person. It's much more 0:11:14.760 --> 0:11:18.079 important for the church to reflect the love of Jesus 0:11:18.080 --> 0:11:21.240 than to stand in one particular building, right. And I 0:11:21.280 --> 0:11:23.880 think there's something else going on here too with regard 0:11:23.920 --> 0:11:27.079 to the pandemic, which is people always think about Easter, 0:11:27.360 --> 0:11:30.000 but you forget that you don't get Easter without Good Friday. 0:11:30.080 --> 0:11:32.800 This is a reminder. This whole season of Lent, which 0:11:32.800 --> 0:11:36.400 by the way, has corresponded exactly with the coronavirus pandemic. 0:11:36.760 --> 0:11:39.040 Lent begins and you get ashes on your head if 0:11:39.040 --> 0:11:42.680 you're a Catholic or a certain other denominations, and they say, remember, man, 0:11:42.760 --> 0:11:45.240 you are dust to dust, you shall return. And it's 0:11:45.400 --> 0:11:49.000 very easy in modern life to forget that someday, eventually 0:11:49.320 --> 0:11:51.360 we're all going to die. We might not die from 0:11:51.360 --> 0:11:55.120 the coronavirus, let's hope, but we will die eventually. And 0:11:55.200 --> 0:11:57.439 that reminder that, you know, I think it was doctor 0:11:57.520 --> 0:12:00.640 Johnson said, hanging concentrates the mind. You know, when you 0:12:00.679 --> 0:12:03.080 look death straight in the face, it focuses you on 0:12:03.120 --> 0:12:05.959 the bigger questions. In a way, locking down the churches 0:12:06.520 --> 0:12:11.400 might have a pretty positive effect on religion in the country. 0:12:11.559 --> 0:12:14.240 It also brings families together, whether you whether you like 0:12:14.360 --> 0:12:17.080 it or not. Look, Caroline said, you know, I can't 0:12:17.160 --> 0:12:19.079 stand it. I've been in this house for a month, 0:12:19.120 --> 0:12:21.760 and I mean and she's eleven, and I'm like, sweetheart, 0:12:21.800 --> 0:12:24.440 I know we all had we're like ready to jump 0:12:24.480 --> 0:12:29.680 out the windows. But there have also been so every 0:12:29.760 --> 0:12:32.560 day Heidi and I. We've had had had lunch with 0:12:32.640 --> 0:12:35.960 the girls. We've had dinner with the girls. That's never 0:12:36.040 --> 0:12:38.520 happened in the whole time we've been a family. We've 0:12:38.559 --> 0:12:41.320 never had and and I'll tell you one thing we've started. 0:12:41.360 --> 0:12:42.800 So we've started doing a couple of things. When we 0:12:42.880 --> 0:12:46.520 go for walks every evening, um sometimes family walks, we 0:12:46.600 --> 0:12:48.880 walk the dog. Sometimes it's just tidy in me, but 0:12:48.920 --> 0:12:51.120 like the whole neighborhood is out walking and and it's 0:12:51.160 --> 0:12:53.839 like like Central Houston. Now it's we're six feet apart. 0:12:53.920 --> 0:12:56.280 We stay, we stay at a distance, but it's like 0:12:56.320 --> 0:12:59.440 Central Houston became Mayberry. I mean, it's an amazing thing. 0:13:00.240 --> 0:13:03.800 But something else we've started doing that I wanted to 0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:07.120 do for a long time is every night we're reading 0:13:07.120 --> 0:13:12.400 from the Bible and listen. I've wanted to do that 0:13:12.480 --> 0:13:15.000 regular and we've done it. Sometimes we've done it sporadically, 0:13:15.040 --> 0:13:17.640 but not with real discipline. And part of it is, 0:13:18.120 --> 0:13:20.880 you know, being in the Senate. Typically I get up 0:13:20.920 --> 0:13:23.839 Monday mornings, I fly to DC and I'm gone for 0:13:23.880 --> 0:13:28.520 four days. I come back Thursday night. It's hard as 0:13:28.559 --> 0:13:31.120 a dad if you're in town two three days a week. 0:13:31.200 --> 0:13:34.760 It's hard to sort of have a family discipline of 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:38.200 after dinner we sit down and read the Bible. And 0:13:38.200 --> 0:13:40.760 and I've I've been like guilty in thinking about it. 0:13:40.800 --> 0:13:42.520 We need to do more of it. And so with 0:13:42.559 --> 0:13:43.839 all this time at home, how do you and I 0:13:43.880 --> 0:13:45.600 just decid all right, we're going to do this. And 0:13:45.720 --> 0:13:47.560 our girls didn't like it. I mean, it was a 0:13:47.600 --> 0:13:50.760 big battle. It was not that this was not mild 0:13:50.840 --> 0:13:53.760 or easy. And so we started with just Matthew chapter 0:13:53.840 --> 0:13:58.360 one and reading three chapters a night. I think the 0:13:58.400 --> 0:14:00.920 first night it took us hour hour and a half 0:14:01.000 --> 0:14:03.120 to get through three chapters. The girls were acting up. 0:14:03.160 --> 0:14:06.960 It was it was a bit of a mess. But 0:14:07.000 --> 0:14:10.559 it's interesting we've gotten through. I think we're like Matthew 0:14:10.640 --> 0:14:14.040 chapter twenty four. Um, so, so we haven't done it 0:14:14.080 --> 0:14:17.760 that long, but it's been been each night and it 0:14:17.840 --> 0:14:20.600 has been really And what's interesting is it just so 0:14:20.720 --> 0:14:24.600 happens we're right now moving into good Friday and Easter, 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:27.640 like like just just the timing worked out. We didn't 0:14:27.640 --> 0:14:31.120 sit down and planet like this. But but you know, 0:14:31.840 --> 0:14:35.840 last Sunday was was Palm Sunday and we were we 0:14:35.840 --> 0:14:38.640 were reading in Matthew where it talks about Palm Sunday 0:14:38.640 --> 0:14:43.000 and Jesus riding into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. 0:14:43.240 --> 0:14:45.240 And by the way, my pastor said something very interesting 0:14:45.280 --> 0:14:46.520 that I didn't know. I don't know if you knew. 0:14:47.400 --> 0:14:50.800 Did you know that Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter, 0:14:51.680 --> 0:14:56.320 was the day traditionally in Judaism when they selected the 0:14:56.400 --> 0:14:59.400 lamb to be sacrificed. I did not know that. I 0:14:59.440 --> 0:15:01.920 had never heard that. Our pastor said that this last Sunday, 0:15:01.960 --> 0:15:03.840 and I thought that was fascinating because a lot of 0:15:03.880 --> 0:15:06.880 what we've been talking about with the girls was the 0:15:07.040 --> 0:15:12.640 parallel with Passover and and and and the entire story 0:15:12.680 --> 0:15:15.080 of Passover, which we kind of take digressions as we're 0:15:15.120 --> 0:15:18.160 reading the Bible to say, Okay, the people of Israel 0:15:18.200 --> 0:15:21.040 were in captivity in Egypt, and and the ten plagues, 0:15:21.120 --> 0:15:23.520 and so Catherine sang a song on the ten plagues 0:15:23.600 --> 0:15:26.360 like that that that struck Egypt. But but you know 0:15:26.400 --> 0:15:29.080 we were talking about, you know that for the Angel 0:15:29.160 --> 0:15:31.360 of Death to pass over your home, that you had 0:15:31.400 --> 0:15:33.760 to put the lamb's blood on the side of the door, 0:15:33.840 --> 0:15:38.560 on the top, and and and that that that that 0:15:38.800 --> 0:15:42.400 is what Easter is all about, is that Jesus was 0:15:42.440 --> 0:15:48.360 the Lamb sacrificed for us, and the passover Lamb Jesus 0:15:48.560 --> 0:15:54.320 was that same sacrifice and that story. Having the opportunity 0:15:54.360 --> 0:15:59.280 to talk about it at this time we're Easter's at home, 0:16:01.040 --> 0:16:04.000 it has made it, I think, in many ways more 0:16:04.120 --> 0:16:08.000 meaningful than being in a big service for the converse. So, 0:16:08.040 --> 0:16:09.920 you know, this is something that my wife and I 0:16:09.960 --> 0:16:12.640 have been doing too in our little one bedroom apartment. 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:15.880 I think probably my greatest risk of death right now 0:16:16.000 --> 0:16:18.040 is not any pandemic. It's going to be murder when 0:16:18.080 --> 0:16:21.520 my wife finally snaps. But if that doesn't happen, you know, 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:24.840 in the meantime, what we've been doing, especially because we're Catholics, 0:16:24.880 --> 0:16:28.160 so we have certain icons and religious images around and 0:16:28.320 --> 0:16:30.240 when we go to church now, the church is at 0:16:30.240 --> 0:16:32.640 the kitchen table, and we live stream it in from 0:16:32.640 --> 0:16:35.240 our priests who's down in southern California, and it's just 0:16:35.360 --> 0:16:38.520 him on a live stream, and it really focuses you 0:16:38.920 --> 0:16:40.960 on these images. So it's just my wife and I 0:16:41.000 --> 0:16:44.280 sitting in kitchen chairs. You know, there's no smells and bells, 0:16:44.280 --> 0:16:47.040 there's no beautiful music going on. It's really just us 0:16:47.360 --> 0:16:50.560 contemplating some of these images, listening to these words, listening 0:16:50.560 --> 0:16:53.080 to these prayers, and you know, it does remind you 0:16:53.120 --> 0:16:57.320 when Jesus says, when you pray, go into your innermost closet, 0:16:57.440 --> 0:17:00.600 you know, do it in solitude and really make it 0:17:00.640 --> 0:17:02.840 about that connection to God. And it just gives you 0:17:02.880 --> 0:17:05.479 another sense when you go and pray the Rosary at 0:17:05.560 --> 0:17:08.040 night and it's just the two of you and everybody's 0:17:08.119 --> 0:17:11.600 quiet and no one's outside. In a way, it really 0:17:11.800 --> 0:17:17.080 amplifies your prayer and your spiritual connection to God, even 0:17:17.119 --> 0:17:20.040 when you can't go into your own church. Well, and 0:17:20.280 --> 0:17:22.960 and I'll say this this also cuts across face. So 0:17:23.080 --> 0:17:25.200 some good friends of ours who are who are neighbors 0:17:25.200 --> 0:17:29.840 who are Jewish, and they celebrated this week their Passover Sader, 0:17:30.320 --> 0:17:33.960 which which ordinarily they would do with the whole extended family. 0:17:34.000 --> 0:17:36.160 And they were telling me, Okay, so we're just doing 0:17:36.200 --> 0:17:38.720 it with you know, mom and dad. And they have 0:17:39.119 --> 0:17:41.280 a daughter who's really close friends with Caroline, and they 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:43.200 have a son is a little bit younger, and they said, 0:17:43.200 --> 0:17:46.119 what they're doing is just they're face timing on I 0:17:46.160 --> 0:17:49.920 think iPads with their extended family. So with parents and sisters. 0:17:49.960 --> 0:17:52.760 You know they're not you know, most of us are 0:17:52.800 --> 0:17:55.240 not seeing our parents. My dad's eighty one, my mom's 0:17:55.240 --> 0:17:57.120 eighty five. I've seen either one of them and over 0:17:57.160 --> 0:17:59.879 a month because I'm not going to jeopardize their health. 0:18:00.920 --> 0:18:04.040 But it is interesting, even a passover Satyer. You know, 0:18:04.040 --> 0:18:06.800 I've been to a lot of sators and they're wonderful 0:18:06.840 --> 0:18:08.399 and fun. But you think of them as you know, 0:18:08.640 --> 0:18:14.080 big groups of multi generational extended family, and with technology, 0:18:14.119 --> 0:18:15.880 you can even do that if it's just a few 0:18:15.920 --> 0:18:18.560 of you and you're trying to socially distance, you can 0:18:18.600 --> 0:18:25.320 still you can still have a wonderful faith and family 0:18:25.400 --> 0:18:30.240 experience together. And I suspect we'll look back at these. 0:18:32.240 --> 0:18:35.879 It wouldn't surprise me if when our girls are grown 0:18:35.960 --> 0:18:39.440 they look back to this time of spending day after 0:18:39.560 --> 0:18:42.280 day and week after week together as a family as 0:18:42.320 --> 0:18:45.640 some of their favorite time ever. Now they wouldn't admit 0:18:45.760 --> 0:18:52.760 that now, right who, but it it is. You know, 0:18:53.400 --> 0:18:56.200 Caroline is in our front yard right now, building a 0:18:56.200 --> 0:18:58.960 little bit of a treehouse and a tree and you know, 0:18:59.080 --> 0:19:01.639 coming and pulling me out of I'm on conference calls 0:19:01.680 --> 0:19:05.120 with work and doing all just I'm in the middle 0:19:05.160 --> 0:19:08.440 of what basically a teletour across Texas, like meeting talking 0:19:08.480 --> 0:19:12.040 with all different communities. But like Caroline comes comes yesterday 0:19:12.040 --> 0:19:13.879 and says, you know, Dad, we need your help to 0:19:13.920 --> 0:19:17.560 cut the lumber. I'm not very handy, but but thankfully 0:19:17.600 --> 0:19:20.359 I have told her, okay, no power tools. As an 0:19:20.359 --> 0:19:22.760 eleven year old, I don't want severed digits. So I 0:19:22.800 --> 0:19:26.320 got the jig saw and managed to cut the board 0:19:26.359 --> 0:19:28.479 without in fact severing any of my digits. So that 0:19:28.520 --> 0:19:30.359 was good. But it's kind of right in the middle 0:19:30.359 --> 0:19:32.920 of the day. It's like, like, come to the garage 0:19:32.920 --> 0:19:35.400 and let's cut lumber to build the treehouse. There's something 0:19:35.680 --> 0:19:38.160 really nice about that. I've noticed the same thing as 0:19:38.160 --> 0:19:41.119 you mentioned with your friends in the Passover Sader people, 0:19:41.200 --> 0:19:43.800 family members, old friends that I have not called in 0:19:43.800 --> 0:19:46.400 a long time. Now, we're just doing calls because that's 0:19:46.400 --> 0:19:48.639 what people are doing. I mean, it's and speaking of 0:19:48.680 --> 0:19:51.040 connecting with people virtually. I know we've only got a 0:19:51.040 --> 0:19:52.720 few minutes left, but I do want to get to 0:19:52.760 --> 0:19:54.600 some of the mail bag because we've got some very 0:19:54.960 --> 0:19:57.760 important questions here. Probably this is the most important one 0:19:57.800 --> 0:20:02.240 that I've read in weeks. Senator Amber does Ted think 0:20:02.359 --> 0:20:06.640 Joe Exotic should be pardoned? I'm serious, I want his opinion. 0:20:07.040 --> 0:20:11.159 Michael can answer to Senator, what's your answer? Well, I 0:20:11.200 --> 0:20:15.480 will say I cracked up laughing that this week at 0:20:15.480 --> 0:20:18.200 the White House Press conference, they asked if Joe Exotic 0:20:18.240 --> 0:20:21.479 should be should be pardoned, and and President Trump, I'm 0:20:21.520 --> 0:20:23.360 not sure he knew what was going on, but said yeah, yeah, 0:20:23.359 --> 0:20:25.399 we'll have to look at that. And then that was 0:20:26.760 --> 0:20:29.000 that was pretty durn funny. You know, I've got a 0:20:29.040 --> 0:20:32.439 pet theory. Yeah that that that that the prospect of 0:20:32.520 --> 0:20:38.120 Joe Exotic being pardoned is why Obama delayed endorsing Joe 0:20:38.160 --> 0:20:41.399 Biden because you know, look, I apparently Joe Exotic ran 0:20:41.520 --> 0:20:44.680 for president in twenty sixteen against against me. I didn't 0:20:44.720 --> 0:20:47.000 know it at the time, against Trump. So who knows, 0:20:47.080 --> 0:20:49.399 maybe Joe Exotics on the ballot in twenty twenty and 0:20:49.440 --> 0:20:53.760 Obama's holding the the endorsement back uh waiting for the 0:20:53.760 --> 0:20:57.359 Tiger King endorse. This is the most brilliant political insight 0:20:57.480 --> 0:20:59.800 I have seen in so long. I am now, I 0:21:00.320 --> 0:21:02.920 don't know my feelings on Joe Exotic getting a pardon, 0:21:03.000 --> 0:21:07.480 other than I indorse Barack Obama endorsing Joe Exotic. So 0:21:07.520 --> 0:21:09.080 I guess that means we got to spring him from 0:21:09.080 --> 0:21:12.120 the slammer. A very good point, Senator. Next question from Peter, 0:21:12.920 --> 0:21:17.159 is there any evidence that China purposely delayed and lied 0:21:17.240 --> 0:21:20.040 in their report in order to tank the world economy 0:21:20.320 --> 0:21:24.520 considering that theirs was already in shambles. So that's an 0:21:24.520 --> 0:21:29.080 interesting question. There is absolutely evidence that China purposely delayed 0:21:29.119 --> 0:21:32.160 and that they covered up that when the Wuhan outbreak 0:21:32.240 --> 0:21:35.960 was ongoing, that that they hid evidence of it, that 0:21:36.000 --> 0:21:38.760 they punished the scientists who were trying to blow the whistle, 0:21:39.160 --> 0:21:43.119 including the doctor who courageously did it anyway and has 0:21:43.160 --> 0:21:48.719 since died of COVID nineteen. You know, I'm not aware 0:21:48.760 --> 0:21:52.240 of any evidence that they did it with the intent 0:21:52.359 --> 0:21:56.400 of tanking the global economy. I think that's probably a stretch. 0:21:57.720 --> 0:22:01.439 Although when it comes to ascribing malign intentions to the 0:22:01.520 --> 0:22:04.840 Chinese communist you almost can't stretch two minds, no limit. 0:22:04.920 --> 0:22:07.000 But you know, I had an I had an old 0:22:07.040 --> 0:22:09.520 boss who was a federal judge who used to say, 0:22:10.440 --> 0:22:14.440 never attribute to malice what you can attribute to incompetence, 0:22:15.320 --> 0:22:18.920