What Makes A Loyal American In An Anti-Christ Age

What if the field, the stage, and the screen are teaching more than they entertain? We follow the breadcrumbs from rainbow pregame shows to franchise rewrites and ask a blunt question: are we financing stories that catechize us against our own first principles? Not every change is propaganda, but when ideology outranks story logic, it’s a clue. From there we pivot to the deeper plumb line that keeps convictions straight under pressure.

Scripture frames the test. Song of Solomon paints a rich, covenantal vision of love and fidelity that pushes back on a culture of performance and self-rule. Matthew’s parable of the net, Nazareth’s unbelief, and Herod’s fatal oath reveal how judgment, familiarity, and vanity shape destinies. Psalm 18 reminds us that courage is borrowed strength, and Proverbs 4 insists that wisdom is the best defense. Together they ground a standard that doesn’t sway with trends.

History adds weight. We honor Medal of Honor sailor Charles Bradley, an immigrant who proved loyalty through duty and courage. Then we unpack Theodore Roosevelt’s “fair play” letter: no mercy for disloyalty, no discrimination against loyal Americans because of birthplace or parentage. That’s the balance we’ve lost. Loyalty should be measured by lived allegiance to the principles that birthed American liberty—truth above state, conscience protected, law under God. Ideologies that deny those roots, whether fashionable or fierce, cannot sustain freedom.

We close with a practical charge: steward your attention, measure your media by coherence and truth, and build homes that carry the fragrance of covenant love. If this conversation sharpened your thinking, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review so more listeners can find it. Your attention is powerful—aim it on purpose.

Transcript

Greetings, Thanks, And Prayer

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Hey folks, this is Jesse Cope, back with another episode of the American Soul Podcast. Hope y'all are going well wherever y'all are and whatever part of the day you're in. Sure to appreciate you joining me, giving me a little bit of your time and attention. Little piece of your day, I will try and use it wisely. Hopefully, y'all are getting to listen to this with somebody else. For those of y'all who continue to share the podcast with others and tell others about it, thank you. For those of y'all who continue to pray for me and for the podcast, thank you. Very, very grateful for your prayers, need them and want them. Father, thank you for today. Thank you for you, Father, and your son Jesus Christ and your Holy Spirit. Thank you for your love and your mercy, your grace, and your forgiveness of sins through the merit of your son Jesus Christ. Thank you for those who listen to the podcast and share it. Be with them, Father, please.

SPEAKER_00 1:07

Be with their families. Guide them, bless them. Surround them with your angels. Protect them from evil of any kind. Help us to truly love your son Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_01 1:26

To follow his commands, to love you with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, to love our neighbors as ourselves. Give our leaders in the pulpit and in the state wisdom, courage, and strong faith. Help them to rule in fear of you.

SPEAKER_00 1:43

Me with our military. Law enforcement firefighters, EMS. Particularly our ICE agents these days. Thank you for getting all of our military homes safe from Venezuela. Bless our marriages, Father. Help us to look to you for guidance and wisdom inside of our marriages, inside of our families. Be with our senators and representatives. Admirals and generals. Forgive us our sins. In your son's name we ask and pray.

Jack Ryan Reboot And Ideology

SPEAKER_01 3:09

The LGBTQ flag sewn into the uniforms and rainbow lights, etc., when they came on the ice. And of course you can translate that pretty much across every professional sport today. And a lot of college sports and certainly entertainment, movies, TV, you look at uh Netflix is a great example right now, right? For those of y'all who are familiar with Stranger Things, which I'm not a huge fan of the show to begin with for a number of reasons. Uh, but they put quite a bit of LGBTQ, they made that a big core theme, I think, in one of the recent seasons. I didn't even make it that far, but but it's pretty objective that the left does a phenomenal job of ruining entertainment and sports. Uh, but I would argue we allow it. Um, you know, we so many of us that claim to be conservative and Christian, we continue to give our time and money and energy uh to these sports, these athletes, these entertainers, singers, right? People that openly mock God and despise America. But as I was thinking about this, as I saw this post, something popped into my head. You got to give me a minute here. But for those of y'all that are familiar with Tom Clancy, who was probably arguably one of the most successful authors from America in the 20th century, I don't really know what the statistics bear out, but he was certainly very successful. He wrote military uh action adventure kind of novels, and one of his main characters was Jack Ryan. They redid that TV series uh a while back within the last five or ten years, and maybe one of the biggest telltale signs of the intentionality of the left shoving in anti-liberty, anti-American propaganda, is they took one of the main characters in this Jack Ryan series. Um I think the man's name was Greer. And they had rebooted this series. So in the original book series, it was during the Cold War, right? Uh but they rebooted, when they rebooted the TV series or made the TV series, it was took place today. And so the war on terror that we've had for the last two plus decades. And they made this main character in this book, a Muslim. And they tried to portray him as a quote-unquote moderate or quote-unquote good Muslim. It would have been like in the original series during the Cold War, making one of the main characters of the book, the true good guys in the series, a open communist, but somehow they weren't fighting for the Soviet Union and communism. I mean, it's absurd. It's absolutely absurd on its surface, and yet they purposefully made this exchange in this modern series. Maybe that makes sense to some of y'all. Maybe it doesn't. It was just a thought that popped in my head when I saw this. Um the point is, folks, what I'm trying to get at this propaganda that's put into sports and entertainment, it's not by accident. It's not like you have these people who are decent people just trying to make a living and they just accidentally put this stuff in there. It's it's very purposefully done. I mean, it has to be purposefully done because often it doesn't even fit the storyline. It goes directly counter to the storyline.

SPEAKER_00 7:14

Just a thought.

Why Messaging Is Not Accidental

Song Of Solomon Marriage Verses

Matthew: Net Of Judgment And Unbelief

Herod, John The Baptist, Consequences

Psalm 18: Rescue And Strength

SPEAKER_01 7:22

So the marriage verses for today Song of Solomon for Solomon's Love Expressed. How beautiful you are, my darling, how beautiful you are. Your eyes are like doves behind your veil, your hair is like a flock of goats that have descended from Mount Gilead. Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn ewes which have come up from their washing, all of which bear twins, and not one among them has lost her young. Your lips are like a scarlet thread, and your mouth is lovely. Your temples are like a slice of a pomegranate behind your veil. Your neck is like the tower of David built with rows of stones, on which are hung a thousand shields, all the round shields of the mighty men. Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle which feed among the lilies, until the cool of the day when the shadows flee away. I will go my way to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense. You were altogether beautiful, my darling, and there is no blemish in you. Come with me from Lebanon, my bride. May you come with me from Lebanon. Journey down from the summit of Amana, from the summit of Sinir and Herman, from the dens of lions, from the mountains of leopards. You have made my heart beat faster, my sister, my bride. You have made my heart beat faster with a single glance of your eyes. With a single strand of your necklace, how beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride, how much better is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your oils than all kinds of spices. Your lips, my bride drip honey, honey and milk are under your tongue, and the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon. A garden locked is my sister my bride, a rock garden locked, a spring sealed up, your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates with choice fruits, henna with nard plants, gard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all the trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes, along with all the finest spices. You are a garden spring, a well of fresh water, and streams flowing from Lebanon. Awake, O North Wind, and come wind of the south. Make my garden breathe out fragrance, let its spices be wafted abroad. May my beloved come into his garden and eat its choice fruits. We're going to start with Matthew thirteen, verse forty-seven. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a fishing net that was thrown into the water and caught fish of every kind. When the net was full they dragged it up onto the shore, and sat down and sorted the good fish into crates, but threw the bad ones away. That is the way it will be at the end of the world. The angels will come and separate the wicked people from the righteous, throwing the wicked into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Do you understand all these things? Yes, they said, We do. Then he added, Every teacher of religious law who becomes a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like a homeowner who brings from his storeroom new gems of truth as well as old. When Jesus had finished telling these stories and illustrations, he left that part of the country. He returned to Nazareth, his hometown. When he taught there in the synagogues, everyone was amazed and said, Where does he get this wisdom and the power to do miracles? Then they scoffed. He's just the carpenter's son, and we know Mary, his mother, and his brothers, James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas. All his sisters live right here among us. Where did he learn all these things? And they were deeply offended and refused to believe in him. Then Jesus told them, Prophet is honored everywhere, except in his own hometown and among his own family. And so he did only a few miracles there because of their unbelief. When Herod and Tippus, the ruler of Galilee, heard about Jesus, he said to his advisors, This must be John the Baptist raised from the dead. That is why he can do such miracles. For Herod had arrested and imprisoned John as a favor to his wife Herodias, the former wife of Herod's brother Philip. John had been telling Herod, It is against God's law for you to marry her. Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of a riot, because all the people believed John was a prophet. But at a birthday party for Herod, Herodias' daughter performed a dance that greatly pleased him. So he promised with a vow to give her anything she wanted. At her mother's urging the girl said, I want the head of John the Baptist on a tray. Then the king regretted what he had said, but because of the vow he made in front of his guests, he issued the necessary orders. So John was beheaded in the prison, and his head was brought on a tray and given to the girl, who took it to her mother. Later John's disciples came for his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus what had happened. Psalm eighteen verses sixteen through thirty six. He reached down from heaven and rescued me. He drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemies, from those who hated me and were too strong for me. They attacked me at a moment when I was in distress, but the Lord supported me. He led me to a place of safety. He rescued me because he delights in me. The Lord rewarded me for doing right. He restored me because of my innocence, for I have kept the ways of the Lord. I have not turned from my God to follow evil. I have followed all his regulations, I have never abandoned his decrees. I am blameless before God. I have kept myself from sin. The Lord rewarded me for doing right. He has seen my innocence. To the faithful you show yourself faithful. To those with integrity you show integrity. To the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd. You rescue the humble, but you humiliate the proud. You light a lamp for me, the Lord my God lights up my darkness. In your strength I can crush an army. With my God I can scale any wall. God's way is perfect. All the Lord's promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to him for protection. For who is God except the Lord? Who but our God is a solid rock? God arms me with strength, and he makes my way perfect. He makes me as sure footed as a deer, enabling me to stand on mountain heights. He trains my hands for battle. He strengthens my arm to draw a bronze bow. You have given me your shield of victory. Your right hand supports me. Your help has made me great. You have made a wide path for my feet to keep them from slipping. Proverbs four verses seven through ten. Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do, and whatever else you do, develop good judgment. If you prize wisdom, she will make you great. Embrace her and she will honor you. She will place a lovely wreath on your head. She will present you with a beautiful crown. My child, listen to me and do as I say, and you will have a long, good life.

SPEAKER_00 15:06

For today is Charles Bradley, Boatswain's mate.

Medal Of Honor: Charles Bradley

SPEAKER_01 15:13

U.S. Civil War, USS Louisville, U.S. Navy. January 10th through 11, 1863, Fort Hendman, Arkansas, USA. Served on board the USS Louisville, carrying out his duties through the thick of the battle and acting as captain of a nine-inch gun. Bradley consistently showed attention to duty, bravery, and coolness in action against the enemy. Accredited to New York, New York, not awarded posthumously. Presented September 5th, 1863 on board the USS Louisville by Captain Kay Owen, born 1838, Ireland. Every time we read one of these folks, I can't help but mention the fact that the quality of immigrant overall that we have had in the past is vastly different than the huge numbers of illegal and mass Muslim immigrants that we have today in America. They're not even in the same category.

Theodore Roosevelt On Loyal Americans

SPEAKER_00 16:20

Charles Bradley. So we're gonna go back again to Theodore Roosevelt.

Defining Loyalty And Ideology

SPEAKER_01 16:33

Y'all are regretting that I found this book, probably. But I think it's fantastic. And this is uh another part of the appendix, appendix B, fair play for all Americans. June 26, 1917. My dear sir, in the New York Times of the 22nd and 23rd instant, it is stated that the United States government has announced that in Red Cross units sent to the base hospitals of the Allies abroad, American citizens born in Germany or in Austro Hungary, who are par or whose parents were born in Germany or Austro Hungary will not be allowed to serve. I very earnestly hope that the government will at once recede from this position. If our Red Cross units are not desired abroad, whether with the base hospitals of the Allies or anywhere else, then we can use them purely for our people or with our own armies. But wherever we do send them, it should be on the assumption that we no more permit distinction to be made among the American personnel on the ground of birthplace or parentage than on the ground of creed. Service on the Red Cross should be like service in the ranks of the army. No man worthy to serve in one should be barred from service in the other. If any spy or disloyal person is found in either in the theater of war, he should be hung out of hand or shot by drumhead, court martial without mercy, whether he is of native or foreign parentage. But it is an intolerable wrong, an insult to discriminate or permit discrimination between loyal and devoted Americans because of their parentage or birthplace. I have the right to speak in this matter because I have insisted that we should take the most drastic measures against any man who acts disloyally, and I hold that all men who attack our allies or uphold our enemies while we are in this war are disloyal to America. No man can now be loyal both to this country and to Germany. No man can be both a German and an American. He must be either all German or all American. If he is the former, he should be turned out of the country or put in a detention camp. If he is the latter, it is an intolerable outrage not to treat him as on an exact equality with all other good Americans. When I was president, one of the men who sat in my cabinet was born in Germany. Another was a descendant of one of Bletcher's colonels. The man who had been closest to me politically for the last fifteen years is of German parentage. In this great crisis, no organization has done better work in rousing the slumbering patriotism of the nation than the vigilantes, and no one of the vigilantes has done better work than Hermann Hadgdorn of German parentage. If I had been allowed to raise the four divisions of volunteer troops which Congress authorized me to raise, I would have asked that one of the divisions should be commanded by General Cunn, the head of the War College, and another division, or else a brigade, by my old head of the Philippine Constabulary, Colonel Brad Bandholtz. Both are of German parentage. Both are Americans, and nothing else. And I would eagerly and proudly have served. Served under either. Four of the regular officers whom I would have recommended for colonels of are of German parentage or descent. One of the few non regulars whom I would have recommended for a colonel coloncy, colonelcy. At present, the colonel of a National Guard regiment in Illinois is of German parentage. And he told me that eighty five percent of the men who would have come in with him were of foreign parentage. My headquarters chaplain, not of my religious creed, would have been a retired regular army officer born in Germany, my brigade quartermaster a man of German parentage. These men and many, many others like them, are fit to lead our armies in war and to hold our highest civil offices, and they stand in the forefront of our citizenship in time of peace. They are Americans in every fiber of soul and body. I would gladly confide the honor of the flag to their keeping, exactly as I would gladly confide my own honor and good name to their keeping. I resent any slur on their loyal Americanism as keenly as I would resent any slur on my own, and if they and those in heart like them form the highest to the lowest, from the highest to the lowest, are not fit to represent this country, in the army, in the Red Cross, in any and every capacity, at home or abroad, then no Americans are fit to represent us. I earnestly hope that the government will punish with alert, instant, and unsparing severity any man of whatever origin who is disloyal to us or false to our allies in any position during this war. But I no less earnestly hope that the government will refuse to permit any discrimination among true and loyal Americans because of their parentage, birthplace, or creed.

Principles Over Parentage And Ethnicity

SPEAKER_00 21:51

Yours truly, Theodore Roosevelt. A question becomes when you read this, what does it mean to be a loyal American, a true American?

Book Plug, Support, And Closing Prayer

SPEAKER_01 22:13

You go back and you look at John Adams saying the only principles that our founders could have united around were the principles of Christ. You look at the Holy Trinity Court case and Justice Josiah Brewer's extensive list of evidence that we are a Christian nation. We are a Christian people. You look at the writings of WHP Fonts that we talk about back at the turn of the 19th to 20th century, talking about the fact that what does it mean to love your home, to love your country? It means to love the principles, the values on which that country, that home was built, right? And so very different today from in times past when we've had a particular country that we were at war with, uh, that represented a particular ideology, today, those lines have been blurred. It's very asymmetric. But the ideology is the same. If the ideology is anti-Christ, it is impossible for those people that follow those ideologies to be loyal Americans, to be true Americans. Right? It's it's and even if you have somebody that claims to be uh conservative but they follow those ideologies, it's like saying that you're socially liberal but fiscally conservative. Eventually those liberal social tendencies are going to bleed over into your fiscal priorities principles. And so I I offer Christless conservatism, leftism, which includes that whole umbrella socialism, communism, Nazism, fascism, Islam. You cannot be a truly loyal American, a true American at heart, and support those ideologies because at their core, each of those is first and foremost anti-Christ and therefore anti-liberty and anti-American because those are the principles that our nation was founded on.

SPEAKER_00 24:45

That being said, you have to remember what Roosevelt said here too.

SPEAKER_01 24:50

If you have somebody that values the principles of Christ, regardless of their denomination, regardless of even if they choose to accept Christ as their savior, if you have somebody that takes an oath, says, I'm going to uphold these principles of Christ, I am going to uphold these founding principles of America, it doesn't matter where they come from, folks. It doesn't matter who their parents were, it doesn't matter what their ethnicity is, their skin color, their socioeconomic class. It is intolerable to discriminate on those superficial traits.

SPEAKER_00 25:30

If that person loves America, the principles of Christ that founded America.

SPEAKER_01 25:41

But we have a lot today that we treat as citizens who love America, we go along with that fallacy, that pretend, that pretense, when in fact it's impossible for them to because of the ideology that they cling to primarily. If you are looking for a family-friendly, middle-grade fantasy, kind of along the lines of Narnia, the Hobbit, Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, but that hopefully clings to the principles of Christ more so than the principles of the world. If you would check out Countryside, there's two books in the series so far. And if you enjoy them, if you would leave a review for one or the other or both, I would be very grateful. And if you feel like you're getting something out of the podcast on at least a semi-regular basis, uh, marriage versus scripture, medal of honor citations, or the ties back our American heritage and history tying us to God and Jesus Christ. If you have five or$10 a month that you can spare for the podcast, there's a link at the bottom of the show notes where you can set that up on the Buzz Sprout website. And I would appreciate that. And any reviews that you want to leave for the podcast episodes. Also, if you would rather listen to the podcast on YouTube, it's been up there, or you know somebody that would, it's been up there for a couple weeks now, and you can do that. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not to temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen. God bless you all, God bless your families, God bless your marriages, God bless your nation, wherever you are around the world listening. God bless America. We will talk to you all again real soon. Looking forward to it.