Netanyahu's Wars and My Dad's New Podcast
The Vigilant Voice, Friday, June 27, 2025
Greetings fellow Vigilant Citizens,
How are you today?
On this day, June 27th, in 1880, Helen Keller was born. Also on this day, June 27th, in 1844, the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were martyred at Carthage Jail.
Besides our Savior Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith has done more for the salvation of men in this world than any other man that ever lived in it. He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people, and I count him among the greatest positive influences in my life.
But what’s going on in this crazy clown world 🤡 🌎 today?
This man breathing air wonders what God has ever done for him.
The Jews have sponsored a post to declare that Tucker Carlson is a moron.
Democrats hate democracy, unless they get their way.
The Supreme Court of the United States finally legalized Trump’s presidency.
I’ve often shared my reasons to be skeptical of Trump, but the Entertainer in Chief has recently given us more reasons to be skeptical, even during this recent lengthy press conference in which he declared that his profession is dangerous. Democrats loathe Trump and Trump voters for all the wrong reasons. But many Republicans and Trump voters are also furious about his decisions to intervene in Netanyahu’s wars.
The chaos, commotion, and war in the Middle East are exacerbated by the average American’s profound ignorance concerning the region, its peoples, its history, its languages, its religions, its culture, and almost everything else. Much of this ignorance, in my opinion, is a product of the propaganda that Middle Eastern Studies programs in American universities have disseminated for many decades under the aegis of Edward Said’s “Orientalism.” It is also a product of George Bush’s propaganda on the “war on terror.” The truth about Israel, Iran, and the Middle East is much more complex, complicated, and nuanced than most media personalities or university professors can tell.
I don’t consider myself to be an expert on all things Middle Eastern, and even after having lived and traveled extensively in the region (see also here and here), I have much to learn. From what I understand, however, one of the best guides for understanding the Middle East is the British American historian, public intellectual, and prolific author Bernard Lewis. I’ve read a couple of his books, and I would like to read more of them.
What is my take on the impending third World War? My hunch is that, once again, the conspiracy theorists are right, this time about Epstein’s connections with Israel (please don’t trust Peter Thiel), Netanyahu’s corruption (see also here), and the planned attacks in Iran.
With AI and transhumanism threatening to consume the world, It’s no wonder that Christians, pundits, and intellectuals everywhere are dusting off their copies of C.S. Lewis’ prescient or prophetic books The Abolition of Man and That Hideous Strength.
As for the chaos, commotion, and war closer to home, that’s another can of worms. In the LDS world, there has been a lot of buzz lately about an alleged cover up of a purported revelation received by John Taylor (see also here). I still need to watch the videos to find out what’s going on, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a lot more being covered up than just that.
Even closer to home, especially for me, my dad (Ralph C. Hancock) has teamed up with CWIC Media host Greg Matsen to start a new podcast series called “The City and the Soul.” I used to vaguely understand and agree with my dad about many, if not most things, but after more than a decade of intense reading and study, I have begun to better understand what is at stake in the questions that my dad raises and the answers that he gives. In this first episode he frames the arguments and the subject matter of the podcast and he comments briefly on a particular topic that he wrote about recently in Public Discourse:
There is a depth behind the simple title “The City and the Soul” that very few people will understand in this life, and even fewer people will understand the preparation and the amount of work that precedes this podcast. Nevertheless, I guarantee that if you listen carefully, you will learn something that you didn’t already know, and you might even begin to unlearn some things that you thought that you knew.