Open Conversations With Students at Appalachian State | Shane Winnings

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:00]I am a journalist and I'm very very interested in TPUSA. Um it's a fascinating um organization to me. And so my question is what is I guess it's a multi-layered question. What is what is the purpose of of these events of these uh debates?

[00:00:17]>> Yeah, the purpose kind of like I alluded to in the last question, but it's really to just get a conversation going. You know, even Charlie Kirk said when we stop talking is when we start fighting.

[00:00:28]And so, you know, being able to just converse, hear each other out, like have the emotional maturity to be able to hear something you hate and process it and not get triggered and like freak out, you know, and cry and call names, >> right?

[00:00:43]>> And that and that's the society we live in. Like there's hate speech now.

[00:00:47]There's people that get triggered by words, you know, which I think is crazy.

[00:00:51]And so, we need to keep talking and understand where each other's coming from. And when we do that, we will find value in other people and see them not just as someone who is saying something I hate, but like, hey, they're saying these things for a reason. What's their background? What's their experience? Why do they have these convictions? That is a big piece of what these events do is they promote this type of conversation where you really wouldn't have it otherwise, >> right? And how effective do you think these debates are at achieving that goal?

[00:01:21]>> Honestly, I think they're very effective. I mean, this is what philosophers back in the day used to do, you know, debate in the in the public square. Now, we just have cameras and we're doing it on social media. Um, so while I might not change your mind, there there could be hundreds of people who hear that conversation and they go, "Wow, I never thought about that."

[00:01:38]>> But I will say we also have seen people change their mind like on the spot.

[00:01:42]Because when you get into a debate, we're both forced to like dig deep to defend. And if you dig and you find out there's nothing there, that really is convicting. And we've seen a lot of people kind of come to the end of themselves in an argument and realize that a lot of their worldview is very flawed or is an outright lie. And we are here not just to beat them up or make them look stupid, but to also give them truth and say, "Hey, the way you've been looking at things is not true. Here's the truth." And we believe ultimately that as Christians that our truth is found in God. Our truth is found in Jesus Christ and in his word. Um so I I think it's highly effective. I don't judge it by the fruit of the moment. I believe as a Christian I'm scattering seeds of God's word that don't return void and that uh one day whether by someone else or by God himself those seeds could be watered and produce fruit.

[00:02:36]>> So my dad was a cop in Charlotte for 30 years and some people have hated me for it. I've gotten some pretty nasty DMs from people because I posted a picture of me and my dad and he was in his uniform. Why do you think people act this way?

[00:02:51]>> Um, you know, I was an army officer, went to war in 2014. I came back from war. I joined the police force and when I changed uniforms from an army uniform to a police uniform, I lost a bunch of friends instantly. friends from church who simply looked at me differently because I now put on a different uniform and instead of serving the nation, I'm serving our city >> and they hated me for it. I think some of that is learned experience, uh, learned behavior. Some of it is experience. You know, the reality is there are some people that have had bad experiences with cops. They don't desire to create new better experiences or or do the research and see if this was like, you know, uh something that doesn't happen all of the time. Maybe I just caught someone on a bad day.

[00:03:36]Instead, they, you know, we as humans can tend to be hardened in our beliefs because going out and doing the research and having conversations, it takes work.

[00:03:45]And so I say that because most people either they've had a bad experience or they're just echoing what they've heard online because it's like popular to hate on cops. You know, when I was going through the police academy, those Dallas cop five Dallas cops had just been killed. And we began to see an uptick in like violence towards us.

[00:04:03]>> Um and I I I think it's just society is kind of it's the pendulum that's swinging. Um, so you know, I hate that that happened to you, but I would encourage you, >> most people do not feel the way that those people who commented did.

[00:04:17]>> You know, >> the internet is not always a great representation of like humanity.

[00:04:23]>> Um, and and often times it's the people with the loudest opinions that are commenting. You know, there's so many silent agreeers. So, I would just say don't get too caught up in the hate speech that, you know, don't get too caught up in in the bad comments. um your dad, you know, serving as a cop, that's a noble profession. And also that has nothing to do with you. You know, you're proud of your father. So, I I would just shake it off. It's it's people who don't know who they are truly and so they're they're trying to lash out at someone else's daughter, which I think is just kind of crazy.

[00:04:53]>> Yeah.

[00:04:54]>> Yeah.

[00:04:54]>> Do you think social media has like hurt the way that people like communicate about like problems that they have with each other or like phones and stuff like through texting? Yeah, I think so because it's too easy to just fire off a text, you know, or to or to drop a comment. Back in the day, I really doubt you would have like rage written a letter and then, you know, I'm sure someone did it, but like it took a lot more work to like, you know, get the feather and the ink and like write out this letter and then go send it, you know. Um, right now if you're angry, you could just go online and just like troll people. You could comment, you could send nasty text like instantly without thinking.

[00:05:37]>> So I do think that uh >> you know the advancement in technology and social media has made it a lot easier to give in to your impulses >> and that's why we need to become people of greater self-control.

[00:05:49]>> Yeah. Okay. Well, >> thank you so much.

[00:05:52]>> Yeah. Thank you. What do you have to say to anybody that's unwilling to come up here and just have a conversation with you in a, you know, in a respectful way, regardless of whatever your views might be? you know, maybe people think they're strong views. However people people feel about that, that's how they feel.

[00:06:06]>> Um, what do you have to say about that?

[00:06:07]>> I mean, I don't judge anyone that doesn't want to come up.

[00:06:11]>> Um, I've got an opinion of people who want to run their mouth but don't want to come have a conversation, but like if someone feels unprepared or unqualified, I'm not expecting anyone to come up here and face someone who is somewhat prepared. And, you know, I wouldn't call myself qualified. I think I've just studied. Um, but yeah, I mean this is how we grow. So if anything someone could come up and just ask questions like you know we say prove me wrong, we say change my mind, but really it it could just be like hey pick my brain you know you want to know how a Christian thinks, how a conservative thinks, come ask me some questions and you could even share your viewpoint and I'm going to just explain maybe why I think yours is wrong or why mine is right. But yeah, I'm not here to like belittle anyone honestly. You know, it's that concept of like I give people enough rope to hang themselves. Like anyone who gets belittled probably walk themselves into that spot and I just like let them talk.

[00:07:07]So when I was a cop, I I used to let bad guys talk until they got themselves in trouble. And I kind of just do the same thing here. As a Christian in a major and wanting to go into a field that is minorally Christian, how would you give advice to people wanting to go into those fields and keeping their faith and being able to defend it respectfully?

[00:07:29]>> What which field are you going into?

[00:07:30]>> I'm a physics major with an astronomy concentration and I would like to go into astrophysics.

[00:07:34]>> Oh, that's sick. I live near Kennedy Space Center. So, we my dad was on the the a project manager for the rocket that just went up yesterday that took dudes around the moon allegedly, right?

[00:07:46]Um, no, I you know, I think that's a great question and you have to be real about the field that you're entering.

[00:07:53]Um, one I would say that nobody can put your light out except you, right? So other people can't extinguish the light of Christ in you, but you could be afraid and put a basket over your own head and not let your light shine. So I would say let your light shine everywhere that you go. Um, but also understand, and I tell this a lot to like teachers, you know, you're not going to go in and like uproot the whole system and change it because the the leadership sets the culture. So having realistic expectations of like knowing the mindset of people in that field and just knowing what you're getting into.

[00:08:31]If you feel called to that and you're excited about it, go in know that you're going to have some challenges maybe, but like ultimately your relationship with Christ is the most important thing. And you know, you might not always have the right words, but people will look at how you live. and they will be convicted by the way that you respond to the trials of life uh through the victories of life and that will be your greatest testimony. So