Understanding Charlie Kirk a Little Better..

Can you take a breath and just answer the question??

I don’t blame Jews for being VERY sensitive about political trends and rising antisemitism.  If, for 2,000 years, you have endured “tiny minority” status in every country under which you are governed, it’s bound to make you nervous–given the realities of pogroms, genocides, and the everyday cruelty of prejudice.  I get it.  REALLY, I do, but when we discuss these issues, I really wish a few folks would “pump the brakes.”

Forty-eight hours before Charlie’s assassination, he expressed frustration about political ultimatums.  In a leaked text to friends, he wrote:

“Just lost another huge Jewish donor. $2 million a year because we won’t cancel Tucker…I’m thinking of inviting Candace.   Jewish donors play into all the stereotypes. I cannot and will not be bullied like this. Leaving me no choice but to leave the pro-Israel cause.”

Most people don’t respond very well to ultimatums — particularly if they require you to sever ties with old friends or de-platform people who can add to the discussion.  I agree there are people who don’t deserve the stage.  (Nick Fuentes comes to mind.)  But America is emerging from the three network gatekeeper complex.  We are breathing the sweet, nectared air of freedom, and, apparently, it absolutely fills some people with trembling panic.  Being shoved outside the Overton window by “Idea Puritans” is irritating, and I believe it has pushed Tucker Carlson a bit over the edge.

Can we imagine a more pleasing outcome if we agree to disagree?  If we agree to refute arguments instead of destroy the speaker?

In a recent Facebook post, where I was specifically criticizing Tucker for making the idiotic assertion that “unconditional surrender means foreign troops can rape your wife and daughter,” I thought my Jewish friends would warm to my criticism.  Unfortunately, I got a little too nuanced and sent one meter maid from the nuance police into a real tizzy..

Jim Riley: I agree on some of those points, but when Tucker forgets about Islamic atrocity and slanders Americans bringing peace back to Japan and Europe, he needs course correction. He also needs to remember that American and Israel **MAY** have common interests on some occasions. I don’t want Iran to have nuclear weapons, and I don’t care if that benefits Israel or not.

Rachel:  Riley’s Farm So do you support Israel? This Conservative Jewish Woman would like to know. I have visited your farm, dinner shows, food etc, and would like to know the Business I give my money to, backs Israel and my people. In the times we are in I never thought I would even have to ask this question.

Jim Riley: Rachel Of course I support Israel, but it’s this kind of do-it-our-way-or-die that turns people the wrong way. There are times when our interests will coincide (most times) and there are times when they won’t. You can’t possibly be saying, “do EVERYTHING that Israel asks or be considered an enemy.’ Are you?  ..because the flip side of that is when sane people like me agree that Iran should never have nukes, we are accused of slavishly doing everything Israel asks — and that TOO is silly.

Rachel: <<no response>>

Jim Riley: You never made it clear. Must you agree with EVERYTHING the Israeli state does to be considered a “supporter of Israel?” I am genuinely curious.

Rachel: WHY is that even a Question? What kind of Question is that? Do we not support everything this current Admin does or do we pick and choose? Unbelievable. Let me ask you this then What do you not support with Israel? I am a Jewish Conservative Zionist so yes I support Israel the only Nation in that Region where people are truly Free. If you pick and choose then that is just what was it you said???
“Silly” Your deflective response tells me everything. Thanks for proving my previous point.

Jim Riley: Rachel You aren’t answering the question. It’s fairly simple: “Must you support all of the actions of the Israeli state or be considered anti-Israel?”

Rachel:  And you are deflecting yet again..
What is it about Israel you don’t like or support? Obviously you don’t understand what a “Zionist” Truly is which I referred to myself as. That should tell you everything you need to know about me. Your comments about what I believe is deflection as I asked “What is it you don’t support?” I support a Country that has been our strongest partner in that region for Decades. I support a Country that has Muslims, Christians and Israelis living in the smallest region in the Middle East side by side.
I support a Country that partners with us on Technology, advancements in Cancer research and the Like.
Although Small Israel is no small Country on how it survives. So do you then support Israel and Jews there and around the World or is that still “Silly?” We are on a Public Forum and I am asking for myself and other Jews who have come to your Farm.
If so HOW? IF not WHY?
“Silly” is not a response.

Jim Riley: I didn’t deflect. You did. I asked a simple question: “Do you need to support EVERY action of the Israeli government or risk being labeled anti-Israel and antisemitic?” You STILL have not answered the question. You made it a matter of supporting the Trump administration 100% or not. (Again, not the question). If you’ve followed me, or read any of my recent posts, I’ve praised Israel for creating the only livable country in the middle east. I’ve said that our interests on most occasions are aligned. There have been notable exceptions: The USS Liberty, the Pollard Case, and the treatment of some Christians in Israel by the ultra orthodox. If you refuse to answer, it says a LOT.

Rachel: I am sick and tired of the pile on of Israel and my People that was my point which you totally missed. Saying supporting everything they do in itself is “Silly” Is just that. That did not need to be said Full Stop! You know my answer I made that clear. Is any Country perfect? No neither are we yet I still support America and never say it is “Silly” Words speak volumes. Yours did to me as well.

Jim Riley: You have basic reading comprehension issues. I put forward this scenario: suppose I believe it is in America’s interest to make sure Iran does not have nuclear weapons. There are people who call me “Israel’s poodle” for doing that. I called THAT silly, you judgmental moron.

Who was “deflecting” here?  Who was evading the question?  Who was DEMANDING, on pain of losing business, I agree to cheer on a foreign state (albeit one I like generally) with ABSOLUTELY NO qualification whatsoever?

A little hint for some of my nervous Jewish friends.  Calm down.  Take a breath.  If you demand abject obedience, you will drive all your friends to distraction.

Christian Nationalism Again — March 11, 2027

Obviously, there are hardcore progressives who hear the words “Christian Nationalism,” and they fly to their basement safe room, turn on the intercom, and listen for whish-whish sound of Nazi jodhpurs marching by in the street above. You can’t do anything for these people. They need therapy.

BUT a few things should be made clear..
..there are despicable racists who try to corrupt that standard (there’s nothing you can do about them either. They need therapy too.)
..Christian Nationalism (“CN”) is not intended to constrain conscience. No serious advocate of CN believes in forced conversion, unlike say “Sharia nationalism.”
..Most of our history is characterized by de facto CN. I have a 1763 New Hampshire law book on my self. The first pages are embroideries on the Ten Commandments. If you believe that murderers and rapists actually deserve execution, thank the Bible.
..All legislation, throughout time, has followed some religious standard, even if it is the religion of consensus humanism. A CN standard would proceed from Thomas Jefferson’s declaration that we are endowed by our “Creator with certain unalienable rights.” That means your home, your life, your right to defend yourself, your right to worship (or not worship) as you choose is not up for a vote.
..The First Amendment is meant to keep the state out of the church, not the other way around. Christian thinking has routinely informed our legislation and our methods. (If you don’t think so, ask an East German woman in 1945, whether she would prefer being conquered by the American or the Russian army.)
..CN is NOT theocracy. No one wants to be ruled over by Baptist or Methodist pastors. The bible clearly dictates religious and civil spheres. The gritty, real-world men of state are called, simply, to draw on Christian ethical standards when writing law, or enforcing policy.
..We would not now be enduring the abortion holocaust or the disfiguring of children to satisfy their parents’ weird gender hang-ups if a Christian consensus properly shamed those ideas as being contrary to the native rights of human beings.
..pure “reason” and pure secular “consensus” means something very dark: you would be at the mercy of the latest “approved thinking,” the latest killer jab, the latest version of misinformation. The Soviets, the Maoists, and the Cuban Marxist killers committed all their atrocity without the approval of God. Comforting, right?

..if you don’t get it, you might not ever get it.

.and another thing..

If you are a happy agnostic, uneasy with any sort of conventional sexual morality, any kind of hard line against gossip, slander, petty fraud, if you enjoy a kind of sliding moral scale that allows you a little leeway on all things financial, cultural, and sexual: the BEST place you could live would be in a Christian Nationalist country where others do the hard work of making sure the streets are paved, the violent criminals are put away, and the kids learn how to read. You get to slide and the country gets to work. In a way, this describes America from 1900 to 1960 or so..

The Loyalty Question March 10, 2026

The loyalty question..

The background and the blessings: I believe the enormous academic, cultural, and financial success of Jews in the modern world is a kind of living proof of Biblical promises. They dominate the Nobel prizes. They represent 0.2% of the world’s population and, depending on your source, between 10 and 20% of the world’s billionaires. Even if you don’t believe in the Bible, you have to admit there is something in Jewish culture that inspires success. We should all LEARN from those virtues, instead of envying their fruits.
Moreover, if I had to live in the Middle East (not my cup of tea), I would choose Israel without a second thought. I think their politics are WAY too left of center for me, but they represent the only instance of ordered, representative government in the region, the only nation in the region with anything like “equality before the law.”

However, nearly two hundred years of dispensationalism in the west have created an unrecognized kind of spiritual dissonance in many evangelicals. They might not admit it, but they actually see their own salvation wrapped up in how thoroughly they cheer, and pray, for the modern state of Israel, sometimes forgetting that the “Israel of God” in Galatians and Romans 11 refers to BOTH native and grafted branches, Jews and Gentiles. It’s not “replacement” theology. It is “addition” theology. God graciously offers adoption to the ENTIRE WORLD, and tells us in Matthew 28, that those nations will remain “nation states” until He returns. He put you in a nation, and your primary political loyalty is to THAT nation.

There is nothing anti-Christian, and nothing antisemitic, about pondering the question of national loyalty. Will this or that policy really be of benefit to us? In the case of Israel, I believe that MOST of our interests will naturally align. I don’t want to see a savage country like Iran get nuclear weapons. However, there have been instances in history (the USS Liberty, the Pollard case, the treatment of some Christians in Israel by the orthodox) where it is entirely appropriate to discuss our differences. Don’t let anyone label you a heretic for doing so.

“Holy” Men and James Talarico  March 9, 2026

I’ve felt the reality of this distinction since being a small boy..

There were men within the congregation who might be applauded for being “holy.” Their holiness was defined by being soft-spoken, gentle, and even tolerant in the face of gross sin. Usually, these men were humorless, judgmental, and clothed in a kind of spiritual arrogance that reeked of believing themselves to be on some higher spiritual plane to which others could only aspire. They didn’t drink. They didn’t smile at pretty women. They didn’t tell jokes, and you would not believe how many people actually thought they were close to God.

There were others who had rougher edges. They were the kind who would smack some boy upside the head if he said something vulgar to one of the young ladies. Your dad didn’t smoke, but these guys would smoke cigars out in the backyard, and you could see them poking your dad in the chest and laughing at a joke with him. They had war stories. They painted pictures of you as a grown man, predicting unlikely levels of success and stature, because they had a kind of natural optimism. They valued manly virtues. They weren’t the holy ones. They were not going to be considered first for any church honor, but they were exactly the kind of guys who would crawl under a burning car to rescue someone if the occasion required. They were the kind to scold gross evil to its face, with scorching language if necessary. They were the ones you could count on for a frank conclusion: “that pompous little ass will make the worst mayor we’ve ever had.”

Christians, if you applaud soft-spoken servants of the devil like James Talarico, I would have been able to spot your kind when I was six years old.
..and so would Jesus.

Don’t Mess With His Little Ones  March 7, 2026

If someone is doing good “on earth,” and you are a major Christian pastor or influencer, I would be VERY CAREFUL about ridiculing them, or implying that their spiritual priorities are askew.

The people who walk the streets for good men running for office? The people who hand you petitions advocating the total elimination of abortion and child mutilation? The tireless local activists who hold meetings every week, who cajole people to work for the kingdom? The priests and ministers you see out on the sidewalk praying at abortion clinics?

Those are God’s servants. They are HIS “little ones.” Unless you want a rope and a millstone, and the ONLY THING you are doing is prayer, two words for you: SHUT UP.

Categorised in: Farm Journal

This post was written by Jim Riley