688: The MAGA Contradiction & Educational Injustice with Terence Lester
- Phil Vischer

- Sep 24
- 2 min read

The memorial service for Charlie Kirk revealed a deep contradiction with the MAGA movement. Kirk’s widow was cheered when she forgave his assassin and modeled Jesus’ command to love your enemies. But the crowd also cheered when Stephen Miller and President Trump dehumanized their opponents and expressed hatred for their enemies. Esau McCaulley joins Phil and Skye to discuss the tension between Christian love and pagan power. Also this week, Dr. Terence Lester tells his inspiring story in his new book, “From Dropout to Doctorate,” and how he’s working both spiritually and systemically to reform education.
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0:00 - Show Starts
3:00 - Theme Song
3:21 - Sponsor - Rocket Money - Find and cancel your old subscriptions with Rocket Money at https://www.rocketmoney.com/HOLYPOST
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7:35 - Charlie Kirk’s Mixed Memorial Service
11:56 - Christlike Responses
22:53 - Two MAGAs
31:57 - Black Christians Grapple with Kirk’s Legacy
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44:00 - The After Party - What’s discipling you? Reimagine political engagement through the lens of scripture and neighbor love with the free Redeeming Babble course today - https://redeemingbabel.org/the-after-party/free-course2/?utm_source=TPO&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=TheHolyPost&utm_term=Fall2025
45:07 - Sponsor - BetterHelp - This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://www.betterhelp.com/HOLYPOST and get 10% off your first month!
46:05 - Interview
47:46 - How Poverty Causes Trauma
52:47 - The Headstart People Don’t Get
1:01:48 - The Sick, Sin, and System Narratives
1:14:33 - How He Decided Not to Quite
1:25:18 - End Credits
Links Mentioned in News Segment:
Bulwark Article on Two Speeches at the Memorial:
Black Christians Confront Charlie Kirk’s Religious Legacy:
Other Resources:
From Dropout to Doctorate: Breaking the Chains of Educational Injustice by Terence Lester: https://a.co/d/itUHu8I
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I have people in my church that I want to hear Skye's interview with Terence Lester. (#688) It was such a gracious and gentle conversation on race and education. Truly excellent. But the kicker is I have some people who have seen the title "Maga Contradiction" and have checked out. I asked once before to make the interview a stand alone video or, at least, change up the title slide. That conversation is too important to turn people off by two words. PLEASE - don't make this harder than it has to be as I try to lead my church beyond it's majority culture biases.