Welcome to an all glasses version of nonprofits. And today we are going to talk about a bunch of high school kids that got illusioned into a good trick and AJ is going to take us there. So, AJ, what do you got for us?
Have you ever clicked on an innocent link and then poof suddenly and you find yourself on someone's only fans. It's called bait and switch, and this is what Brian Drake, a Christian illusionist, is doing across South Carolina public schools in order to recruit teenagers that he can later convert to Christianity. Now, the Freedom from Religion Foundation attempted to stop one of the latest public school magic shows by Drake without success. These events are absolutely a triple bait
and switch. Okay, So first, the teens attend a fun magic show at the school, where they're invited to an after school event a nearby church. And at this nighttime magic show, suddenly they introduced the main guest, the Lord and Savior Jesus. Now by sharing the gospel at this second event, they're then invited into Drake's main show, Ground Zero, which is a nonprofit that focuses on getting teenagers into a relationship with Jesus. Now, if this sounds really really
quepy to you, it's because it is. This story is from The Friendly Eighties by Herman Metta on November fifth, twenty four.
Yeah, you know, before we go anywhere, kudos to him at Matta for bringing his stories to the forefront. He's always bringing up really good stories like this. It seems like every week we're picking one of his The deal on a non profit, So kudos to him because he's the author doing a lot of good work. Cindy, do you think Drake is able to claim the moral high ground after his behavior?
No? No, it's to me, every time I hear a Christian talk, and it's been like this for a few years, the first word that popping pops into my mind is hypocrite, all of them, because Christians are constantly claiming that they have the moral high ground, Like you know, how many times have you heard you can have morals without God? So yeah, they claim that every time, but the second it's no longer convenient, then the Belgium to the ends
justify the means paradigm. So because yeah, I'm pretty sure it's it's going to be what they will say internally, if there's any criticism or any voice saying that, yeah, we shouldn't be doing that. Yeah, laying for Jesus is not a real scene and and all that. You know, you've heard that a lot as well.
The ends justifies the means, right.
Yeah, yeah, so yeah, it's it's just hypocrisy to the highest level. Yeah, we we didn't know what was what the show was going to be about. We didn't know, even though f fr F sence as an email, but yeah, we didn't really know. It's just yeah, hypocrisy. Yeah. On a different notes, I just wanted to say that I hope f fr F is heavily recruiting right now because I predict that they're going to have dozens, if not hundreds of cases like this throughout the US in the
near future. They're doing incredible work right now and have been for for years, but I think the next few years are going to be on the next level. So consider supporting them if you can. But more important, more importantly, be safe everyone, because a bumpy ride.
It's already been a bumpy rider. I think we've already done at least one story that was similar to this, with the high school kids being bussed to a to a ministry basically, John, do you think the school authorities knowingly turned a blind eye to Drake and his Christian message.
I would say they definitely are. They definitely knew, and they definitely are hiding it. The schools there already have an awful lot of religion, and it's something that since I did live there at one point, they are. There's a church on every corner. It's always Southern Baptist. I saw I think one Lutheran some once and it was kind of like, you know, unusual. But so it's like these people have Christianity as a mindset and a way
of life there. They don't they don't always say what they're thinking, but they usually do, and it's usually some sort of moral superiority thing about being Christian, and you know, and it's just like it's kind of really really creepy there. So I am sure that these school boards, which are probably totally full of evangelical Christians, are going to turn a blind eye to everything this guy does, regardless of what it is, and so to get people into to
accept their religion. So I don't think that's ever going to be a You would think that lying in deceit would be in anathema to Christian uh, to these Christian bullshit peddlers. But in that particular state, it's kind of rampant. Everybody's a freaking preacher there. But everything is legal to convert everybody to a racist, anti human religion that condones and encourages abuse of marginalized computer communities. It's just it is sickening. They give their own children lifelong trauma through
their belief system. This is if this, this is enough to get you sick to your stomach, and but I'm all puked out. I can't. I can't get emotion about this anymore. It is overwhelmingly evil. And he even admits he's lying to the school district will not do anything because he gives them plausible deniability. Unfortunately FRFF took that from him for the future because they told him what this guy was doing, so they can't claim they don't know anymore, but they will so, you know, it's sort
of like your little kid, he wants some candy. That's real creepy, dude. You know. I'm just kind of like his deflection away from real harm being done to people is just amazing.
AJ It seemed like, Drake went to the high school with a particular idea of what he was doing there. I mean, he didn't go there just to do an illusion an illusion show. Would you agree to that? And what do you think that his real motivation.
Was for going there?
Absolutely, Drake and his wife had no intention of performing a magic show and an illusion show just to entertain or to even somewhat educate these teenagers. The ultimate goal was to evangelize them, to proselytize there. He posted on his own social media saying that we always want to point the students to a nighttime event where we can share the gospel with them. We never want to do just the show. We wouldn't travel with our girls if
it was just about performing and entertaining. So, I mean, he also clarified and on his social media as well, that they have a passion for reaching communities through their schools. Like, it doesn't get any more loud and clear than that. He is publicly letting everybody know that his original intention was to get these kids from the school to the church.
Yeah, I mean, yeah, he didn't make any he didn't make any bones about it. That's what I am here to do this and this alone and do it while I'm entertaining the kids so they get a good feeling about coming. I think is part of the deal too. I did so much it is kind of disgusting. I did check out his website. He does have his own website, And I gotta make a comment on a couple of things that were said there. Brian and Carla Drake have performed for hundreds of thousands of people over the past
ten years. They have witnessed the amazing grace of God firsthand as thousands of people at their show have surrendered their lives to follow Jesus. Now I'm reading this and I'm thinking, well, they admit that they had hundreds of thousands of people, but they only they were only able to convert a thousand, So they don't seem very effective. If they're only reaching one in one hundred people, they
got a lot more work to do. And I thought it was also interesting that the last part of that sentence that these people have surrendered their lives to follow Jesus is just directly coming out and saying that you cannot be in charge of your own life. If you want to follow Jesus, you have to give up your life and to Jesus you no longer have your own life.
I thought that was a pretty interesting thing, Cindy. Do you think if there was one message that you got you can give about this story, what would it be?
Don't trust religious people? Uh No, it's I know, we we can't generalize like this because there are genuine and honest Christian and Muslim and but it feels like every time a religious person has power, they tend to use it in order to impose their religion to other people. I don't see that in most of Europe except a
few exceptions. But it's it's clear in in many parts of the world, uh the US, many countries, in in in South America, in in Africa, in Asia, and it's it's it's it's everywhere, and and it's it's hard to fight this all the time. Uh and and again, as uh ages said, said Emmane Meadow does know you you said that, Kelly. Sorry. He does a really great job looking around the internet and bringing us those stories.
Uh.
And and we need more people like this because there are a lot of stories like this on on on the website where we found this article, I found another one that was interesting and talked about one missionary uh that was sent to work with orphanages, and they had some some some interesting insights. This article is pretty interesting, so go to their website and and read a little bit of what they say. It will give you an
insight on on how how they think. But other than that, yeah, it's it's just uh stay out of school, uh stay out of public office and and uh church separation of church and states.
Yeah, yeah, John, you know, there was this big bait and switch and I I don't know that you could call that. I mean, we've all kind of said it was the wrong thing to do. But what do you think is the ultimate lesson that high schoolers are getting from the from this baden switch technique.
Well, I think the ones that uh that ballford are getting no lesson from it. The ones who watch it happening and go and then that's not right. They're the ones who are learning that uh, Christianity is a bunch of bullshit, that they're lying about everything, you know, and they're trying to make them think the world is broken and that they're broken and they need the church to fix them, they need their relationship with Jesus to fix them, and that's not going to fix anything. It never has.
And you know, for thousands of years, rulers have used religion in order to enslave and keep the working people working for them because they'll get their reward in the next life. And that is one of the biggest griffs that's ever been placed on any public from for the
last five or six thousand years, maybe longer. And this is just because they need the poor to work for free or to work for very low wages so they can acquire wealth in such large quantities and as long as they believe they will be better off the next life, just sacrifice everything to fill in the blank, and you will be saved from the shit world that we have created for you. You know, you know they're the ones who made it that way, and then now they're going
to save you from it. That is just such an obvious rift, you know, it's it's it's really sad. And we see parallels to that today pretty much.
Now Drake has his own organization too, called Ground zero AJ. Can you give us a little bit of information about that.
Yeah, this is the third part of you know, the whole we part and switch where they get them from the school all the way to Ground zero. That's the main goal. And so Ground zero is like a religious ministry and they promote cultivating the lives of teenagers through faith or as we like to call it, indoctrination. Now, there are website claims that they use high quality current events, entertainment, and experiences to cuture the attention of teenagers and impact them.
For christ, I think this is really really creepy because they are using things that they know these teenagers are interested in in order to get them hooked into the
whole religious aspect of it. Now, their website also has part of it that's labeled Biblical positions and all this shows you where they proudly sure that their pro life is loaded with purity culture ideologies like abstinence before marriage, you know, extremely homophobic messaging, and it's all stated clearly along with their proper Bible verse that defense, that position, and that they're using to indoctrinate and teach all of these ideals to these teenagers that come to their gown
zero organization. It's really I find the highly problematic.
Yeah I do too, I really do too. One of the things that I really want to stress here is I don't want to take away from the ACA, because the ACA does a lot of wonderful work. They've built a wonderful community. They're out there doing things. But I think if after you support the ACA, if you've got a couple of bucks left over, send it to the Freedom From Religion Foundation, because they really are out there
on the front lines of this battlefield. I mean, you Cindy mentioned it that it that's it's a hard fight, you know, and sometimes it gets a little disheartening. And yet these guys are out there every single day. They got lawyers out there actually fighting these things that we're bitching about here on this show. So, like I said, if you've got a couple of bucks left over after you've supported the ACA, please please support the f R the f fr F. I this this story really really
really got to me. I really don't like seeing kids taking advantage of like this, and I think it's sent the wrong message that here, Hey, you know, it's all right to lie. It's all right to lie as long as they as long as the ends justifies the means. And I've never been a believer in that. Now, what I'd like to do is ask the panel, maybe is our last question and bring it around to everybody. Do you think that the lesson that was being taught here was a good lesson? And if you were a high
school or what would you take out of it? And let's start with aj because she's right next to me.
Yeah, No, I do not find that to be a positive message at all. You know, I think that Drake wanted to share a message with teenagers that said, yeah, we live in a beat up, broken wall and you know, here's why. And then he's clearly about to teach him the typical question doctrine that ensures that you can't ever be good enough and that's why you need Jesus, like you are weak, and he wants to know that scenes, rather than choices, are what make this wold such a
horrible place. And then you know, suddenly you can go poof be saved whenever you let Jesus into your heart and your minds and your body. And it's just creepy. It's just creeping. That's the message I get out of it.
Well, they want they want weak people. They're telling you they want you to surrender. They want weak people, Right, John, what are your thoughts on that?
I really think that the whole doctrine of the world is a broken place. Yeah, you guys made it that way. You had two thousand years to screw this place up and your religious bullshit, and you have. And so you make something screwed up enough to where people you can use it as an argument for them to join your group, you know, and then you tell them that they're broken and that they need to, you know, stay in the place so that they can get unbroken. But they're not
going to get unbroken here on earth. They're going to get unbroken sometimes else after they died, so they get the entire lifetime of these people draining them of their their wealth and their blood until they die, and then they're supposed to get a non existent reward. Right. This is just brutal. You know, we know, we know that there's not going to be anything after you die. People, you're not broken. If you feel broken, go to a legitimate therapist and work on it. These churches do nothing
for you. Faith does nothing for you. It's just a bunch of lies to cover up and put lipstick on that pig. Okay, you're not broken. Don't let them tell you you're broken, because you're not. You're a human being. You have fought failings, but that doesn't mean you're broken. That just means you're human and you're operating like all the other humans, which means you're not broken, okay.
Or yes, they were all either that or just all broken. Cindy, what are your final thoughts?
You know, I've been saying for for four years that if we stop teaching religion before the age of eighteen, religions will disappear in a couple decades. I know this is not realistic because people will always want to side what they teach their children at home, and and and
and that's fair. But in this time where where so much bad information on purpose or by accident is shared and and and found on the internet and with people around you, I think we need to start thinking as as a society of how we can value the truth first, and then how we can fight all this disinformation and misinformation. And that includes religion. So yeah, that's my my my last word. It's just we need to have this talks as a society.
And I say this all the time. Teach science before religion.
I agree. As a scientist, I'm all for that. And you know, you can buy all kinds of really cool a C A stuff, tiny dot, C C slash, a C a merch