[00:00:00]

Escaping Reality, Facing Faith, and Finding Ourselves 🏃‍♂️✨🙏

Bruce Anthony: Escapism. When is it helpful and when is it detrimental? And the church not helping the needy, we gonna get into it. Let's get it.

Welcome to Unsolicited Perspectives 🎙️🔥

Bruce Anthony: Welcome, first of all, welcome. This is Unsolicited Perspectives. I'm your host, Bruce Anthony. Here to lead the conversation in important events and topics that are shaping today's society. Join the conversation to follow us wherever you get your audio podcast. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for our video podcast, YouTube exclusive content and our YouTube membership.

Rate review, like, comment, share, share with your friends, share with your family. Hell even share with your enemies. On today's episode,

Reality Shifting & The Church: Helpful or Harmful? 🌀⛪🤔

Bruce Anthony: I'll be talking about reality shifting. The church not helping the needy, and me and my sister are gonna talk about a Reddit post. But that's enough for the intro. Let's get to the show.

[00:01:00]

Bruce Anthony: You know, I'm gonna be on one on this episode. I'm gonna be on my pulpit. I'm gonna be preaching, I'm gonna be lecturing, I'm gonna be hopefully teaching. Speaking of teaching, when I was in school, I had a problem focusing. I use to daydream all the time, y'all. I still daydream all the, all the time. If I'm in a lecture, if I'm taking a walk, my mind is somewhere else.

Sometimes people even talking to me and my mind is somewhere else, and I daydream and dream very vividly. I dream in color. I have a, this really great imagination I always had, even when I was a little kid. I would often play with my action figures or my wrestling men and create, you know, wrestling events that I've talked about before that I had my brother sit down and watch these fantasy worlds where they would have these conversations.

Escaping Reality: My Childhood Fantasy Worlds 🎮✨💭

Bruce Anthony: I would play video games, typically sports games, and [00:02:00] create a franchise mode where I would hiring and. And firing staff, and signing players, and trading players. And even when I wasn't playing this video game, I, I would sometimes still be in the realm of being the gm talking about, you know, I need to make this move, that move to improve the team.

My mind is often in fantasy world. I, I snap back to reality relatively quickly, right? Because reality is reality. Like you have to live life. You can do this escapism, and that's okay, but you gotta snap back into it. And part of my escapism, part of my daydreaming, part of my imagination comes from various different things Now.

Undiagnosed, but people swear up and down. I have a DHD and the more symptoms that I read about A DHD, I'm almost positive that I've always had, it, always had a very, very difficult time focus focusing. [00:03:00] I've also had trauma. Things that have happened in my life, some stuff I've talked about on this podcast, some stuff you guys will never hear about.

It's not life or death trauma, but you know, everybody has trauma and people are affected by that trauma in different ways. I would escape, you know, and go into this fantasy world often by myself. I would go in the house. Go to my room that was off the distance from everybody else. Just because the house, the way our living situations were set up, I was typically away from everybody.

And I would go into my little area and I would disappear for hours into my little fantasy world. It was a coping mechanism. I would snap back out of it 'cause you gotta deal with reality. But I learned that I could be safe in that fantasy world when reality. Was hitting too hard and everybody does it.

When you listening to me right now, you say, damn, Bruce, that's kind of crazy. But you do it, [00:04:00] you escape in various things. Sometimes it's reading a book. Sometimes it's television shows. Men do it in sports, you know, every time I talk to to men my age, younger, older, doesn't matter. They're like, Bruce, what are you doing on Sunday?

You watching the games and like, eh, maybe sometimes their own. I used to be an avid sports fan. That was my escape. I don't need that anymore. You know what? Part of my escape is this podcast, you know, the, the podcast has become a form of therapy and escapism. Even though I deal with reality on this podcast, it is a form of escapism and men.

Tend to escape into sports. Why are men so obsessed in sports? Well, we're competitive by nature. Well, everybody's competitive by nature. I'm not gonna say that's solely on men. 'cause I know a lot of women who are way more competitive than I am. Uh, but men have to like get that, that aggression out. And we do in the sports sometimes entirely too seriously.

But you gotta [00:05:00] realize that men are stunted in our emotional development. We don't know how to express our mo. Our emotions, though, we are getting better and the only way we can escape those emotions is by paying attention to sports. Why am I talking about this? What does this all mean? Because I started off at the top of the intro talking about reality shifting.

What Is Reality Shifting? The Viral TikTok Trend 📱🌀🤯

Bruce Anthony: And this is kind of part of reality shifting. So a friend of mine introduced me to reality shifting. They were like, Hey, have you heard about this? I was like, no, I haven't. And immediately I did some research and I was fascinated by it. So because I'm fascinated by it, it became a topic on the show. So reality shifting is a trending practice among young people, particularly online, where individuals attempt to move their consciousness or awareness to alternate realities.

Sometimes imagine realms like. Those found in popular books or movies using various techniques such as meditation, visualization, and scripting, [00:06:00] though popular on platforms like TikTok and YouTube. There's no scientific evidence that reality shifting enables actual travel to other worlds beyond dreams or vivid imagination.

It's essentially a form of lucid dreaming or intense daydreaming that some use for mental escape. So as I start to talk about reality shifting. And older generations say, these young kids are crazy. Think about that last point. Mental escape. And think about what I earlier said. We all do escapism. Some adults actually lose themselves.

And these realities that they've created. I'm not going to name no names, but we have a leader in office that people say that he's a liar and he is, but I also believe he's created this world in his head that makes absolute sense to him, this [00:07:00] fantasy world in his head that makes absolute sense to him.

So he knows he's lying, but he convinced himself it's the truth and we do it. Every single day you know that you've been in that relationship. You convinced yourself that it was working. It was not. You knew that you was lying to you yourself. You were living in a fantasy world. You weren't living in reality.

What the point I'm trying to make is everybody does this. So when I explain to you what the youth are doing with this reality shift, don't judge. Don't judge. Because though you may not do this exact thing. You do it. Prime example, as I was reading this and it was described to me through, you know, various different sources.

We All Escape: Sports, Books & Mental Getaways 🏈📚🧠

Bruce Anthony: What reality shifting is, I said, oh, it's daydreaming. And that's what is described as it's daydreaming and we all do it daydream, and sometimes you do it [00:08:00] purposefully. All my people out there that practice yoga. Mindfulness. How often are you meditating in yoga or just meditating in general and you go to another place that relaxes you?

A beach, a rainforest? Maybe it is even in outer space. That's what this youth are doing. It's nothing new. The avenues of which they're getting there and interacting in these worlds is a little bit different. Different because. Though we may meditate and try to go to a place and may actually put ourselves there with reality shifting with the youth, they are taking themselves to fantasy worlds like Game of Thrones, right?

I, I don't pay attention to fantasy like Lord or Rings or the Habit Hobbit, but think all of that stuff, right? They create in their mind these characters of which they are and go to these worlds as they're daydreaming. [00:09:00] The problem is, is that some of them actually believe that they are in this world and are leaving their consciousness there to still live in the world as they come back to reality.

Now, these are kids, right? And I'm not gonna say that I didn't do this as a kid because there were times where I was daydreaming, like I said, I was creating. These franchises and I would be in everyday life still thinking about having my mind there. In that fantasy world, we all do it. The problem is, is that as adults, supposedly, we're able to snap ourselves outta reality.

I snap ourselves back into reality and realize this world that we've created, even though we may teeter. On that fantasy reality that this world that we've created is actually a fantasy world that we can't actually get to because if we did [00:10:00] get to, we'd be in an asylum. Okay. So how are people getting reality shifting to these fantasy worlds, and why do I feel like it's important to address it on the show?

AI Chatbots & Teen Tragedy: A Dangerous Connection 🤖💔⚠️

Bruce Anthony: Is there a connection with ai? There is. So there's been some recent cases of young people, and I'm talking 16, 13, unloving themselves with AI chatbots and this reality shifting, trying to, with these AI chatbots, cre, create this fantasy world and then get to this fantasy world. Okay, so over the past year there have been at least two widely publicized cases where young people died by unliving themselves following extensive interactions with AI chatbots.

These cases have sparked international concern and lawsuits alleging chatbot companies bear responsibility for failing safeguard vulnerable users. I, I [00:11:00] have the notes of the two young people, but I'm not gonna put their names out there. There were two young people, one in California and one in Florida, 16 and 13 years old that unli themselves.

One young person that underlied themselves in California, I believe was chatting with an AI chat bot and felt suicidal. Initially. The AI chat bot told this person to seek help. Now this person was interacting with this AI chat bot, creating this fantasy world that they would, that they would live in this fantasy world with this AI chat bot and this AI chat.

Bott was the other person in the fantasy world. They created this whole world and the AI chat, Bott was like helping them create this world, and the person said, I want to go to this world. The AI chat bot was like, well come to this world. And the parents are suing the AI chatbot companies because they're saying that there's no safeguards in the AI chatbot.

AI [00:12:00] is only programmed to, AI is not sentient, right? So I don't believe these AI companies are responsible for people unliving themselves. I don't. And there's, because I understand the technology, if you don't understand the technology, you need somebody to blame. I don't have any children. I don't know what it's like to lose a child.

I do know when tragedy happens, no matter what type of tragedy, people need something to blame to make sense of the tragedy. This young person that ollied themselves. There had to be signs that this person was not happy that this person was distant. And as I read the article about the investigation into what happened to this young person, [00:13:00] very much they withdrew, was in their room more often, wasn't socializing.

And this speaks to a bigger issue that I'm gonna get into later about the youth boredom and depression. But I'm not blaming the parents. Being a parent is a tough job because not only are you trying to take care of yourself, dealing in this reality that we live in, this existence that we live in, which we also try to escape because life is crazy.

Life is real. Life is hard. You're also responsible. From molding and shaping a younger pers a, a young person, a child, into a functioning and thriving, hopefully adult. It is [00:14:00] beyond a doubt, the toughest job that there ever is or ever was created by a person being a parent, being responsible. For raising a life to be successful.

The Hidden Depression: When Parents Don't See It 😔👨‍👩‍👦💬

Bruce Anthony: Some stuff may fall through the cracks. I had a conversation with my father and in that conversation I was talking about the depression that I had when I was around 16 years old. Really, really depressed. It was a lot of things going on. I'm not gonna get into it on the show, but, but. I was going through a lot.

If you look at some of the top stressors in psychology, I had four of the top five going on at the same time, and my father said, I, I, I had no idea. And of course he would have no idea because some of those same stressors he was going through, right? And I'm not the type [00:15:00] of person to share. It's still a problem today, my ex-wife said.

Bruce, you just don't tell me what's going on in your head. I know there's something going on. You just don't, just tell me I don't feel safe. That's where that escapism came from. As a child, I don't feel safe telling people how I feel inside. Most people don't. Most people hold it in. So how a parent's supposed to know what their kids are going through.

Uh, one way is to constantly be in their shit, and I don't mean in like an aggressive. You know, invasive type thing. It starts when the kids are young and it's hard to do, right? It starts with indulging every stupid activity and dumb question that they have, even when you don't have the time or patience to do so.

Because by doing that, [00:16:00] the children know that no matter what you do as far as discipline, um, not to the extreme, but even when you have to discipline them, they know they can feel safe around you, that they know that they can come to you well, no matter how crazy idea it is, and feel safe around you to talk about it, that's how you develop.

Openness with children. You can't try to try and start that when they're a teenager, right? You need to start that when they're young. Now you can try to reestablish. If you've never established it, you could try to establish it, and they're teenage years. But you have to, you have to allow young people to make mistakes no matter how dumb it is, because we were all young and making mistakes.

I'm not blaming the parents because being a parent is a tough job, but to say. [00:17:00] That a, a AI company holds responsibility. When an AI chat is only it, you're giving it something and it's giving it back to you. That's all it is. That's all it's doing, right? What are. Some of the issues with AI chatbots because there are some issues with AI chatbots, but not the way in which you think about it.

So the growing trend of y of the youth using ai chatbots for social, romantic, and emotional sports amplifies the risk as these bots sometimes are available 24 7, providing affirmation and companionship that can be dangers dangerously influential, especially for isolated or distressed teens. Now. When I say that it could be influential, it's because teams are expressing things to these AI chatbots and AI chatbots are [00:18:00] responding.

Why Kids Turn to AI Instead of Their Parents 📱👪😢

Bruce Anthony: This goes back to my point of developing a relationship of communication with your child. The reason why these children are going to AI chatbots, there's a variety of reasons, right? Not solely parenting. It could be isolation from social peers. That's a whole different thing with the younger generations because of technology.

But also, and these are my Gen X and millennial parents, and we're supposed to be evolving emotionally and mentally. We have to allow the young people, no matter how bad the situation is, to come to us and talk to us. I have a goddaughter, my goddaughter and her youth, she's listening to the show. She was a wild child, much like her godfather.

That's the reason why we bonded. We are very similar in our personalities. Whenever she did something that got in trouble, that got her in trouble with her parents, granted it's not my [00:19:00] daughter, but got in trouble with her parents, she would come and talk to me. No matter how crazy it was, never judged her, never ridiculed her.

I just sat and listened and if she asked for my advice, I would give her my advice. If she tried to drag down her parents for not understanding her, I would say, well, let's examine what you did and how that response from your parents is justified. But the key is, is a lot of reasons why these children are going to these AI chat box or reality shifting more so than maybe previous generations.

It's 'cause they've not, they're feeling like they're not being heard. Surveys estimate that as many as 72 adolescents have interacted with AI companions at least once while one in five high schoolers have had romantic connections with AI bots or. Known someone who has this has led to [00:20:00] mental health experts, parents and lawmakers to talk, offer urgent regulation.

Warning that chat box can validate harmful thoughts and quickly shift to inappropriate or risky territory. Or adults could be more involved with these young people instead of blaming something else perhaps. Just a thought. You can interact with your children, your nieces, your nephews, your little cousins, your students, and give them safe spaces to talk and not judge them.

So often older generations are always judging younger generations. It's like the Gen Z stare. What does that mean? The Gen Z stare simply is, what the hell are you talking about? 'cause what you're saying makes no sense. That's all it is. I do the Gen Z stare, and I'm not [00:21:00] even in Gen Z. Instead of brushing young people off saying that they don't know what they're talking about, they haven't lived lives, listen to 'em.

Because the fact of the matter is whether more or over. These younger generations have more information. They're either more informed or over informed, and they have something to say. I was a young person that had critical thinking skills. I had something to say in high school. I had something to say in middle school.

Luckily, my parents pushed that, and there are times that I hid stuff from my parents. But there's a lot of times, even still, I go to my parents for counsel. They created a safe space. I know I said that I used the escape 'cause childhood trauma, but they still created a safe [00:22:00] space. Look, the AI chat box is connected to reality shifting because when you are doing.

Boredom Is the Real Enemy: Too Much of Everything 😴📲🎯

Bruce Anthony: Romantic and companionship with AI chatbots. That's just going into a fantasy world. That's reality shifting. Okay? And we all did it. Some people out there had long distance relationships. How often did you see that person? Right? Same concept. You were just chit chatting, talking on the phone, whatever.

That's what these AI chat bots is doing instead of judging the young folks. Understand why they're here. I approached what my theory was to a person and they said they didn't agree with me. And my theory for not only why kids are reality shifting is because they don't have safe spaces. [00:23:00] I think it's boredom.

There's boredom and it leads to depression. Now all my older generations are gonna say. Well, why would these kids be bored? They have everything. We didn't have everything when there was a movie that we wanted to watch. If it was at Blockbuster, if it wasn't at the video store, if it wasn't coming on tv, we were SOL.

We had to wait. There was a long wait from movie theaters to the video. It was almost like six, seven months. If you missed it in the movie theater, you had to wait. Nowadays, kids don't have to wait. So if you're saying that kids with technology have access to everything, how are they bored? Therein lies the problem over consumption.

When you have so much of everything, you don't have anything. Prime example, how many rich people do you know? Deep down the side are very unhappy. They don't have temporary happiness because [00:24:00] they have things. But how often are they happy? See, things don't make you happy. They don't. They give you temporary happiness.

Right. But they don't ultimately make you happy. You know how I know? 'cause I used to have a Jordan addiction. Every time a pair of Jordans would arrive and I would buy two a month, every time a pair of Jordans would arrive, there was this euphoria. Euphoria would last for a little while until the next pair came.

The shoes didn't give me happiness. Peace of mind gives me happiness. So no matter I've got, I don't know, I've gotten rid of a lot. I've got like 30, 35, 40 pairs of Jordan's right now that I hardly ever wear over. Consumption did make me happy. Same thing with technology. Over consumption can make you bored.

Lemme explain. There's a significant correlation between mass technology consumption among youth, and increased experiences of boredom and apathy [00:25:00] supported by both experimental and longitudinal research findings. Look, I know I didn't say that word exactly right. Y'all know I got speech impediment. Let's move on.

The Science: How Tech Creates Boredom & Depression 🧪📊😞

Bruce Anthony: So what is the evidence of this correlation? Multiple studies indicate that while young people often turn to digital technologies such as smartphones, short form video platforms, and social media to alleviate boredom, this coping strategy frequently backfires and can intensify feelings of boredom and apathy over time.

For instance, consuming digital media through constant switching, skipping between videos or browsing social feeds. Paradoxically induces more boredom, lower satisfaction, and diminishes meaning and attention. Boredom is indeed leaked to depress. When research showing a significant correlation between boredom, proneness, and depression symptoms, studies indicate that people who are more prone to boredom also tend to exhibit higher levels of [00:26:00] depression through boredom and depression are distinct emotional states with some overlapping features.

Boredom, proneness correlates with the precious symptoms. This is suggesting those who experience boredom frequently or intensively are at an increased risk of depression. Boredom can disrupt motivation, reduce ability to experience pleasure, and interfere with goal directed behavior, all of which can be attributed to the development and worsening of depression symptoms.

I say all this to say this, the reason why these kids are reality shifting. It's 'cause they're trying to escape. The reason why they're trying to escape is 'cause they're bored as hell. That boredom has led to depression. Kids are depressed because they have so much of everything. Just like rich people [00:27:00] that have so much everything but are depressed.

When you have everything, you have nothing. Things have to matter. Relationships, experiences matter, interactions with loved ones, friends, family, whoever matter. These kids through technology are losing that. Not only are they losing that from their peers, losing it in the home. So before everybody blames AI chatbots, why don't we all collectively.

As older humanity, take a bigger influence, take a bigger presence in the younger generation's lives. Let's get him off the phones, let's get him off the iPads. I saw a young kid, four or five years old on his iPad in the hallway of my building. [00:28:00] He ran directly in the ladder, bumped off the ladder, looked up, saw it was a ladder.

Went around a ladder, went right back to his iPad. Before he went around a ladder, his ladder, his eyes were going directly back to the iPad. Let's get back to human connection. That's what's gonna help these kids.

Bruce Anthony: The church ain't helping the needy y'all.

Churches Refusing to Help: The Viral Experiment 🚨⛪💔

Bruce Anthony: Here in the US the church are not helping the needy Now. I'm speaking in specific terms, not generalities, like obviously at a macro level, more churches are helping than hurting, but this idea that we are, this Christian country has [00:29:00] been turned on it head and it's been turned on this head by a woman named Nico Monroe.

Who's recently gone viral on TikTok for conducting a social experiment where she called dozens of churches and other religious centers across the United States, posing as a mother and desperate need of baby formula for her infant. Her efforts have been sparking widespread discussion online because most churches refuse direct help highlighting the gap between religious rhetoric and community action.

Y'all know I've been on this show. Numerous times talking about the hypocrisy of Americanized religion, and I say Americanized because I don't know what the religion is like in other countries. I can only speak to what I know in America. I can only speak to what I know because I grew up in the church.

My father was a pastor, my uncle was a pastor. I literally grew up in the church. [00:30:00] When I say grew up in the church, I've expressed it before. Sunday mornings, I would wake up, catch a bus to Sunday school before my parents were even out of bed. We'd go to Sunday school, we'll do the church service, we'll do after service.

We'd eat dinner, breakfast, lunch, dinner at the church every Sunday, not including on Wednesdays. I grew up in the church. Now, I'm not saying the church that I grew up in was hypocritical. I'm saying that a lot of people that call themselves Christians. Are not Christians. I'm gonna get into that later, but I'm more interested in ex in exposing what Ms.

Monroe did with the social media experiment. So. Monroe called Churches Nationwide claiming she had a two month old baby who, who hadn't eaten since the previous night and needed urgent help securing formula. She deliberately included a sound of a crime baby in the background to stretch the urgency and authenticity of her pleat.

[00:31:00] The result, the results were eye-opening. About 90% of the churches declined to assist her, often citing policies, referring her elsewhere, or responding curtly. So major Christian churches, especially in the Deep South and other large congregations, typically rejected her requests. Requests stating they only help church members or directing her to external assistance like food banks or pantries.

90% Said No: When Religion Fails the Needy 😡🙏❌

Bruce Anthony: Some staff explained they stopped helping directly years ago, while others claim there were restrictions due to laws around formula distribution. A minority of religious institutions, including a Catholic church. Two historically black churches, a small church in Appalachia, and some Islamic centers offered sincere help or said they would go out of their way to [00:32:00] provide formula.

Now I don't know what the legal implications is of going and getting formula, but I do know. If that woman randomly butt dialed me or dialed the wrong number with a crying baby in the background, and I'm not at, I'm not a member of any church. Okay. Crying in the background. Or if I'm at the grocery store and there's a crying baby.

'cause that's how, that's how people that stand outside the grocery store always get me. When they got the kids. I'm like, I'm gonna feed them babies. There's been numerous times that I've taken. People that are standing outside the grocery store with those signs that are saying, Hey, I need some food. And they got the kids with 'em and I'm like, let's, let's go ahead and go get you some food.

Or I will go in there and get 'em a gift card and say, go get, go in there and get what you need. It's 50, a hundred dollars on here. Go get, you need, feed them babies. Right. I'm not a member of the church. I'm a Christian, but you know, I mean, I'd be dibble dabbling in a lot of sin, right? But I [00:33:00] would help these people.

And churches megachurches turning down because they say legality reasons. At the very least, you can give somebody money so that they can go buy formula. If the legal reasons are, you can't go buy formula and give it to a child, which by the way, what laws say don't feed the kids. Oh, that's right. Every single law that Republicans are trying to push.

Taking food outta kids' mouth. Don't believe me. Don't believe me. Courts have have forced the Trump administration to provide the SNAP benefits to help feed those people that are in need. Courts have. The Trump administration have appealed that because they don't want to feed the needy. You know who the needy are?

The kids, this is the same political party that say they are pro-life. [00:34:00] They are not. They are pro control. They want to control you. They don't give a damn about life unless this is theirs. Anyway, let me get back 'cause I'm preaching right now. But I'm gonna literally be preaching in a minute. But let's get back to the social media, reaction.

So. The TikTok series now featured across Reddit, Instagram, and Facebook. I found it on Instagram, has led to a robust conversation about the true role of churches in supporting families in need and accusations of religious hypocrisy. Many users have expressed disappointment and the reluctance of churches to provide basic aid, especially while publicly advocating for pro-life and family values.

Hmm, I just pointed that out, didn't I? Some noted that Mosque and Buddhist temples were quicker to offer practical help than churches fueling further debates about community support across different faiths. The experiment also triggered community [00:35:00] commentary on boundaries, nonprofit regulations, and the limitations of.

Religious charity, along with a few criticisms about possibly staging and authenticity do. Monroe has posted nearly 40 call recordings as evidence. This viral experiment has shined a light on real world challenges faced by people seeking emergency help and is and broader reflections on the comparison within organized religion in America.

I have often said that the problem with religion in America. A lot of the founding religions of America. What I mean by that is there's denominations in Christianity. Then I'm just like, oh, okay. Like you did an offshoot of Christianity. That's nothing new. But your version of Christianity is deliberately discriminatory.

I'm not saying that you only find it here in America, but a lot of the times, these [00:36:00] new denomination, Mormonism. You know Jehovah Witnesses, seven Day Adventist Evangelicals typically are extremely discriminatory. So how can you be a follower of Christ when you are discriminatory? I often call people out on their hypocrisy.

Faith Without Action: The Hypocrisy Exposed 🎭⚖️🔥

Bruce Anthony: There is a difference between calling yourself a Christian and then actually living like a Christian. And this is a prime example of what I've been talking about. This is a woman. That's calling for help with a crying baby. A baby in the background, not asking for direct money, just asking for help to feed the baby, not even feed herself, feed the baby, and is being rejected.

I don't give a damn. What the rules are. If I'm a church member, if I answer that phone, I'm gonna defy those rules to help people. Why? [00:37:00] Because that's the Christian thing to do. This is the problem that I have with the hypocrisy of American Christian, and I'm not talking about every Christian, I'm not, but y'all know who I'm talking about.

Y'all know exactly who I'm talking about, but I often get into debates with people that call themselves Christians, and I say to them, what ways in which you ex do you exhibit yourself to live as a Christian, human beings to maintain those principles of Christianity? What ways do you do it? Oftentimes it's these vague kind of general.

Generalize answers. And I said, there you can say all day that you're a Christian, but unless you're list living by the Christian principles, [00:38:00] then you're not really a Christian. And now I get to my preaching because Jesus spoke extensively about helping others and the topic of sin, his teachings emphasized compassion.

Practical support for the needy and the importance of both faith and action. A lot of people out there say they got faith, but do they have the action? Okay. What did Jesus say about helping people? Matthew 25, verse 35 through 40 for I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.

I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me. I was sick and you looked after me. I was in prison and you came to visit me. Truly, I [00:39:00] tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. Okay? So a lot of times people don't understand what the meaning is behind these verses.

What Jesus Actually Said About Helping Others 📖✝️💡

Bruce Anthony: Don't worry. I'm gonna break it down for you. What does this mean? Jesus identifies acts of kindness towards those in need as a direct service to him. Teaching that true faith is true faith is lived out through compassionate action. Those churches that didn't answer the call.

Didn't have compassionate action. They might have the faith that believed that Jesus Christ is the son of God. They didn't have the action. I got more Mark 10 21. [00:40:00] Jesus looked at him and loved him. One thing you lack, he said. Go sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.

Then come follow me. What does that mean? The meaning is generosity to the poor is central to discipleship. Material wealth should never outweigh compassion for others. I remember being in college sick in a communications class. It was during the 2000 election between George W. Bush and Al Gore. The push for the economy was mass consumption and waste, because that would fuel the economy,

but consumption of material things [00:41:00] and not given to the needy. Is direct contrast to Jesus's teachings if we were consuming and wasting, but consuming to give to the needy, that's one thing. But we aren't, these churches exemplified that by not helping Ms. Monroe Ro get formula for her baby and also. Is the same example as the Trump administration not actually fighting to fund Snap so people could eat.

And this is supposedly the party of Christianity, the party of religion, but I'm not done. Luke 6 38 give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be poured into your lap. For, [00:42:00] with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Bruce, what does that mean?

Giving generously brings spiritual rewards the way one treat others would be how one is treated. I often talk to my father. My father is very generous. With his money and his time, extremely generous. Both my mother and father have always been that way. Even if they didn't have a lot to give, if somebody was needy, they would give, and that's the reason why my brother and sister, I and I are the way that we are.

I could have $5 to my name, but if somebody is hungry. Man, let's go over to McDonald's. And it used to be a dollar meal, but it's two 50. Let's go over to McDonald's and at least get you a sandwich. It'll be two 50, it'll be half of my money [00:43:00] and I only had two 50 left, but I'll find some way to be back on top in a couple of days.

You need this now. And it's because my father was a pastor giving generously bring spiritual awards. And I talk to my dad all the time. I was like, man, you, you got a lot of people, you know, hitting you up for things you need Like, like, I don't know how you do it. And he is like, man, I've been rewarded. I gotta give back.

And that always hits me, but I ain't done preaching yet. Luke 1233 through 34, sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for their for yourselves that will not wear out a true, a treasure in heaven that will never fail for where your treasure is there, your heart will be. Also, [00:44:00] what does that mean?

Acts of charity are valued. Eternally caring for others reflects on true spiritual priorities. In every instance, Jesus is talking about helping the needy, not tearing people from their families, putting them on planes and sending them to prisons, not hiring Gestapo that hired their mask to round up people, not feeding people, not giving healthcare to people.

And I'm not TA attacking all Republicans. I'm talking about those conservative nat, those Christian nationalists that are in the Republican party that are fighting to do everything, fighting against everything that Jesus told us to do, and [00:45:00] they call themselves Christians, and that's what this TikTok viral thing did.

It exposed them for the hypocrites that they are. There's difference between talking a big game and action. Remember, it's faith and action, but a lot of times people play moral

Christian Nationalists vs Christ's Teachings ⛪😤

Bruce Anthony: gymnastics a right. A lot of times people say These people aren't worthy. What does she do that she can't afford? Formula I what?

Is she going to use that money that we give to her to go buy drugs and not feed that baby? Is this person deserving of our gifts of our help? Well, what did Jesus say about sin? John eight verse seven. Let him. Who is without sin among you, be the first to throw a stone at her. That's the famous one, right?

He is [00:46:00] without sin, meaning this, everyone has sinned. Therefore, judgment towards others should be tempered with humanity and mercy. See, you got people out here faking the funk. People out here thinking that they saying that they righteous and they don't saying when they saying every single day. Every day, but judge others for their sins without looking at themselves or holding themselves accountable.

That's the hypocrisy that I'm talking about. That's that moral gymnastics that I'm talking about. Matthew seven, verse one through two. Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For. In the same way you judge others, you will be judged and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Jesus warns not to judge others harshly highlighting the [00:47:00] shared human condition of sin and the importance of forgiveness.

It don't matter if that person is a drug addict. Hypothetically speaking, what if Ms. Monroe was a drug addict and she's calling to give formula for her baby? There's a variety of ways in which you can make sure that baby gets the formula, but to turn your back and judge for a made up sin that you don't even know exists, or even if you do know exists, even if you do know exists, is going against the teachings of Jesus.

Matthew nine 13, this is the last one. I promise y'all I'll be done preaching after this. I have not called, I have not come to call the righteous but sinners. What does that mean? Jesus's mission, sinners on offering forgiveness and restoration to those who recognize their own need. [00:48:00] A call for mercy and repentance, that's self-righteousness.

There's a lot of self-righteous people that are in this Christian national movement. Call themselves Christian, maybe in faith, definitely not in action. So Jesus teaches teachings about helping others and addressing sin are intertwined. True discipleship is demonstrating both love, non-judgmental service to those in need and awareness of others', own limitations and a need for grace.

Jesus elevates compassion. Humanity and generosity as the greatest expressions of faithfulness. A person could technically call themselves a Christian without fully following Jesus' teachings, but Christian tradition and scripture emphasizes that true [00:49:00] Christianity involves both faith in Jesus and an effort to practice his teachings in everyday life.

And I ask you if you call yourself a Christian, I already know you have faith in Jesus, but are you practicing Jesus' teachings and everyday life? I, I'm just asking a question.

Am I Overreacting? Friend Shared My Private Messages 😠💬🤐

Bruce Anthony: Alright sis, another am I overreacting from Reddit and this one is a little bit different. This has to do with friendship. Now

I figured that this would be an interesting story because I'm messy and I got a lot of friends that tell me about their messy stuff. And sometimes their story though, I leave their names and information out of it, ends up on the [00:50:00] podcast.

And now recently I've been getting the, Hey, is this on the record or off the record question?

Jay Aundrea: Yeah, yeah,

Bruce Anthony: And I was like,

Jay Aundrea: is, which is

Bruce Anthony: no, it's absolutely fair. And I'm like okay. Just from now on, everything will be off the record unless, unless I ask you can I put it on the podcast, but so this post said, a friend shared my private messages with our group chat for advice.

I overreacting. So this person had a private conversation with another friend,

Jay Aundrea: Mm-hmm.

Bruce Anthony: and that friend discussed that private conversation in a group chat with another group and other friends. This person wants to know if they're overreacting just from the title. 'cause the reason why, ladies and gentlemen always say just from the title, what do you think is to kind of teach you guys a lesson?

You can read a title, you can read a headline and not get the full context of story the majority of the time. And so it's important to [00:51:00] take that initial feeling that you have and then read afterwards to see if those two things match. But Jay, just from the title, what do you think?

Jay Aundrea: No, you're not overreacting. The point of the private message is because I didn't want to share it in the group chat.

Like everybody's got a group chat and then you got like subgroup

chats, right? Where it's like offshoots maybe. Maybe it's just you and one other person, or you and two other people from the group chat.

Like everybody has those like, so yeah, the point of the private message is because I didn't want it in the

group chat. So you then putting it in the group chat. If I wanted in a group chat, I would've asked in the group chat,

Bruce Anthony: Right.

Jay Aundrea: so no. You are not overreacting for that. From the title alone, it seems like that friend is wrong.

Bruce Anthony: so let me get to the post and then we'll come to an ultimate conclusion after reading this. Am I overreacting for being upset that my friend shared a private [00:52:00] conversation? We had one where I opened up about something really personal with our mutual group chat just to get their opinion. They say they didn't mean any harm and that I was being too sensitive since no one knows the full context anyway, but I feel completely betrayed.

I didn't expect our private messages to become group entertainment. Would you consider this a minor misstep? Serious breach of trust.

Jay Aundrea: That's a serious breach of

trust. Well, well, first of all, if you're putting it in the group chat to get their opinion, and they don't even have the full context, their opinion is

Bruce Anthony: Mm-hmm.

Jay Aundrea: That's number one. Number two, I asked you your opinion. All I asked was for your opinion. On this very, very personal situation that I pulled you into a private conversation to have. You don't need backup. I didn't [00:53:00] ask for backup. I didn't ask for anybody to co-sign your opinion or mine all. I asked her, what is your opinion on this situation? And that's all you had to provide me with. So putting it now in the group chat. Without asking me first, Hey, do you wanna put this to the group and see maybe what they think?

Then I could tell you, no, it's actually something really personal and I really only wanted to share this with you, so you did it without asking my permission. You didn't even give them the full context, which I'm glad because you, I didn't want them to have it anyway because this is something I'm opening up about that's really deeply personal. No, you, that's a serious breach of trust. And the thing is, honestly, if you wanna put this in front of the group, then my, my response is gonna be in the group chat

also, and the response is, Hey, I really didn't wanna share this with the group. This really hurt my [00:54:00] feelings. This was a serious breach of trust, and so now I know how to handle you moving forward. Because of the way you've handled me. Like it's, you could, like I said, you can forgive, but don't forget, like, just because you might get to a place where you forgive this person for this breach of trust doesn't mean that they're gonna have the same level of access to you that they used to have. So yeah, I, I, I don't think you're overreacting for feeling betrayed by this.

This was not a minor misstep. This was a serious breach of trust.

Bruce Anthony: So this has happened to me before, not, not specifically this, but me opening it up to somebody and I find out, oh, you done told my business.

When Trust Is Broken: How I Handle Betrayal Now 💔🚫👥

Jay Aundrea: Mm-hmm.

Bruce Anthony: And I don't talk to them. I don't, I don't tell them anything pertinent anymore. And then they get upset with me and it was like, yo, you don't, you don't never tell us nothing going on.

And I, I did that voice in a male voice, but it's not just males [00:55:00] as males and females. That's just the voice that I make when I say, you, somebody's doing all this. When somebody start complaining that that's,

that's not gender specific. Okay. Ladies and gentlemen. 'cause I know some people out there gonna be like, is that the reason why you don't tell me anything?

Jay Aundrea: mine is like, why you don't never tell me nothing. Mine is that voice. So that also is not specific to any gender.

Bruce Anthony: it's not

Jay Aundrea: you sound to

Bruce Anthony: it's not specific to Andy Gender, but that is very familiar. But so is, so is mine, but nevermind that.

Jay Aundrea: Yeah.

Yeah,

Bruce Anthony: Yeah, I just, I just don't tell people stuff and now

it, it, it's weird. Because when your friends portray your trust, when you decide to open up yourself and be like, this is what's going on with me.

And they turn around and they tell people, not even strangers, people that, that you both know and it's going to get back to them. And if I wanted to [00:56:00] tell them, I would've told them. If you tell, if you tell your aunt a story I told you. I don't ne I, I've never, I'm never gonna meet your aunt. Okay. Alright. I can let that slide, but if you tell.

Our mutual friend. If we're in a group of five like mean girls, no, that was four. If we're in a group of four like mean girls, and I tell you something and you tell the other two something the same thing that I told you privately, now that means that I don't like the way you move, so I'm gonna move different around you.

And so does that, so does that mean that you don't have the same piece of meat that you had? Yes. And does that mean that maybe we're not gonna be as close as friends as we once were? Yes. Because. I opened myself up and for somebody like me personally who's not the greatest about opening up at all, I know ladies and gentlemen, I got a podcast.

You would think Bruce be talking. No, I'd be talking about a lot of surface stuff. I don't talk [00:57:00] about no deep down inside stuff, about what's going on with me. So I'm slow to open up. So if I do and you move a certain type of way, I will never open up to you again. So, yeah, this person isn't overreacting because you trusted that person.

And if that was too much for that person to handle and they felt like, well, this is a lot. I need help with giving you advice. Communicate that to me beforehand, before you go tell everybody else.

Jay Aundrea: Just say that. Just say, Hey friend, I really don't know what you should do in this situation. Like, I, I don't know. I, I don't think I'm the person to answer this question because I, I honestly don't know what advice to give you. 'cause either you can't relate, you've never gone through a similar thing, or you're just not equipped to give that level of.

Bruce Anthony: Mm-hmm.

Jay Aundrea: We're not therapists unless we actually are. So like, you know, it's okay [00:58:00] to also tell your friend, Hey Fran, I don't know.

You might wanna ask somebody

Bruce Anthony: there are.

A few exceptions to this rule though. If a, if one of your friends from, from a group is talking about potentially hurting themselves,

Jay Aundrea: Right?

Bruce Anthony: you need to bring in as many people as you can. They, because they may confide in you, but it is like, this is serious or hurting themselves. And anyway, if they like purposely hurting themselves or if they're having problem, like a substance abuse problem or something like that, like that is something that you say, all right.

Is bigger than me and you, other people need to be involved.

Jay Aundrea: If they're a danger to themselves or

someone else, then obviously you need to, to act on

that. But if it's just like they're looking for some advice, right? But it's about something personal, you know, they're not a danger to themselves, they're not a danger to anyone [00:59:00] else. They just, but it is something personal and they're looking for advice. And if you're not equipped to give that advice, it's okay to say

that, but it is not okay. To take that private conversation and make it public.

Bruce Anthony: I completely agree. So short A, you ain't overreacting. I called you shorty. It didn't specify that you were a female. I don't think it did. But I'm gonna assume, nope, not gonna

Jay Aundrea: Yeah. They didn't, they didn't.

Bruce Anthony: I would say that I would assume that she's a female, but nope. Guys do this and matter of fact, guys gossip and have little catty beefs more than women do.

You don't believe me.

Jay Aundrea: In fact, they didn't, they didn't put a gender for them or their

Bruce Anthony: Okay.

Jay Aundrea: They didn't put a age or a gender for

Bruce Anthony: But I'm about to say that like men are more catty and got more beef than, than women do. You don't believe me. I, I've, I love Cameron. Alright.

Jay Aundrea: Mm-hmm.

Bruce Anthony: Camera always got a beef with somebody. Right? [01:00:00] Most of the time it's not him doing something. There's people coming at him, but like Dane Dash always got beef and they be bickering and putting stuff out in the street and be making rap songs to be real hurt in these interviews and crying like dudes is messier than women.

Men Are Messier Than Women: The Truth About Drama 🎭👨😂

Bruce Anthony: I'm telling y'all.

Jay Aundrea: Yeah. Yeah. And so the fact that you brought it to one person, you're like, this is not a, you are trusting that this person will keep your confidence. That's why I brought it to

you. If I wanted to bring it to the group. And you know, the group got people like Cameron or Dame Dash

in it that

Bruce Anthony: club?

Jay Aundrea: Right. Or just like, just like you know the group chat. Yeah. This is the group chat for all, you know, when we go out, we have fun. It is not necessarily the friend group. You tell the deep personal stuff to

right there. There could be different levels

of friendship and so if I pulled you aside, that means I don't want

Bruce Anthony: Yeah,

Jay Aundrea: to know.

I certainly didn't want this to [01:01:00] be made public in a group

Bruce Anthony: yeah. yeah. So

Jay Aundrea: No, you are not overreacting.

Bruce Anthony: for the audience. Is she overreacting? Is she underreacting? How would you react in this situation? What are the guidelines that you like to

Jay Aundrea: He sheer them.

Bruce Anthony: I say what?

Jay Aundrea: He sheer them.

Bruce Anthony: What'd she say?

Jay Aundrea: You said, was she overreacting? And I said he sheer

Bruce Anthony: Oh yeah, yeah, they were they overreacting or underreacting? How would you react in this type of situation? Leave your comments in the comments section and we're gonna get at you.

I want to thank you for listening. I want to thank you for watching, and until next time, as always, I'll holler.

Woo. That was a hell of a show. Thank you for rocking with us here on Unsolicited Perspectives with Bruce Anthony. Now, before you go, don't forget to follow, subscribe, like, comment, and share our podcast. Wherever you're listening or watching it to it, pass it along to your friends. If you enjoy it, that means the people that you rock, we'll [01:02:00] enjoy it also.

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Audi 5,000 Peace.