Cages, Choices, and Conscience: A Moral Wake-up Call | Episode 226

Cages, Choices, and Conscience: A Moral Wake-up Call | Episode 226

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Have you ever stopped to consider how you'd want to be treated if the tables were turned? In this thought-provoking episode, we dive deep into the cornerstone of moral living—the golden rule—and why it matters more than ever in today's complex world.

As we celebrate passing 224 episodes on our way to 300 by the end of 2025, we reflect on the incredible journey that's connected us with listeners across 60 countries and nearly 700 cities. This global reach reinforces our core message: treating others with dignity and respect transcends all boundaries, beliefs, and backgrounds.

The episode explores profound questions about moral responsibility, examining the stark contrast between being confined in cages, separated from family, and denied basic human dignities versus being treated with respect and compassion. We confront uncomfortable truths about exploitation, particularly when disguised behind claims of Christian values, and challenge listeners to consider the weight of their actions when standing at life's end. What matters isn't your political stance or worldly possessions, but how you've treated others—especially the vulnerable.

We address troubling patterns of exploitation where individuals profit from others' work without compensation, denial of involvement despite evidence to the contrary, and the frantic efforts to suppress information that reveals wrongdoing. The message is clear: if you have nothing to hide, why search desperately for evidence that might expose you?

Join us for this powerful conversation about faith, judgment, and living by the golden rule. Subscribe to Voices for Voices® and be part of our mission to shine light on truth, foster dignity, and give voice to stories that need to be told.

We reflect on the journey of Voices for Voices® reaching over 224 episodes and the impact we're having across 60 countries as we approach our goal of 300 episodes by the end of 2025.

• Faith and treating others how we want to be treated as fundamental pillars of our organization
• The burden of knowing our actions will be judged at life's end
• How political affiliations matter less than how we treat fellow humans
• Contrasting dignity and respect with exploitation and control
• The golden rule as a simple but powerful guide for moral behavior
• Evidence of exploitation and those who frantically try to hide it
• Standing up for truth instead of participating in exploitative systems
• The disconnect between claimed Christian values and harmful actions

If you've been touched by our message or found value in our content, please consider sharing this episode with someone who might benefit from hearing it. Your support helps us continue our mission of giving voice to important stories that need to be told.

#cages #choices #conscience #morality #ethicaldilemma #socialissues #moralwakeupcall #thoughtprovoking #socialcommentary #humanrights #socialjustice #activism #awareness #moralresponsibility #ethicalreflection #childProtection #childSafety #wolves #sheepsClothing #socialAwareness #advocacy #familyValues #parentingTips #childRights #childAbuse #childWelfare #socialIssues #communitySupport #familySafety #childEducation

Chapters

• 0:00 Podcast Introduction and Milestone Reflections
• 3:50 The Burden of Impact and Faith
• 9:10 The Golden Rule: How We Want Treatment
• 16:56 Confronting Exploitation and Injustice
• 26:58 Evidence, Truth, and Accountability
• 34:29 Final Thoughts on Moral Judgment

Transcript

Justin Alan Hayes: 0:02

Welcome to this episode of the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast. I am your host, founder and executive director of Voices for Voices Justin Alan Hayes. Thank you for joining us today. Well, over 224 episodes. At this point, we're still going towards that 300 goal by the end of 2025 calendar year and I have an inkling that we may go over that. So that's just something to keep an eye out, for.

Justin Alan Hayes: 0:45

It's really been a journey, to really say it, the easiest of the organization where we've been, where we're going, where we're going, and we wouldn't be able to be sitting here with you watching or listening to our show for this many episodes if there wasn't an interest in the content that we are putting out. So, as we do on every episode, we couldn't do this without you. Thank you for your love and support, and this is just really incredible the impact that we're having location-wise, demographic, geographic. Location wise, demographic, geographic however you measure listens, downloads, uh, you know all those metrics uh, they, uh, they just continue to go up, but they continue to rise and it's it's really a miracle to be where we're where we're at and and to have had, and continue to have, such diverse topics, diverse guests. We've, of course, done several multiple remote episodes, different states, different countries. So it's really, in our eyes, when we have the ability to, we'd like to come and talk to you, share world events, current events, personal events, topics, because, as I've learned pretty early on growing up, that there's always at least one, at least one person, that every, every episode, every interview, every speech, every press conference, uh, every class taught, uh, that we're going to reach somebody.

Justin Alan Hayes: 3:52

We're going to reach somebody, and that's what makes the burden really so heavy on us is, whether we know it or not, we're going to be impacting individuals and we know nobody's perfect. You know nobody. Here is Jesus. Jesus is perfect. So we're going to make mistakes, we're going to maybe misstate things when we're not sure that it's on us to share that. We're not perfect, we're not an expert on everything, so we think that the best for other people, without taking advantage of them, that's what we in the end, you know when we're at the gates, you know at the end of our time on earth, you know that's how we're going to be judged. You know at the end of our time on earth, you know that's how we're going to be judged Again. Can't bring your house, can't bring your car, your yacht, your jet. You know we can't take those things with us. So that is very just powerful to think about and it can be hard. It can be really hard to think about that.

Justin Alan Hayes: 6:01

As far as that impact on how we're going to be judged by Jesus, that's a big burden and I think I speak for a lot of people that that burden's probably bigger than how we feel about touching an individual's mind about a topic, about an experience. Those are very important, but to think that this thing we call life is going to cease to exist, it really, you know, puts things in perspective, as we call it, and I think that's a big deal. It's a big deal to think about. It's a big deal. That's a burden, you know, because we can be so concerned and worrying about what we're saying, how we're saying it. But when we talk about being a Christian and having that as a pillar of the organization, voices for voices, that's something that's big Because we're talking about faith.

Justin Alan Hayes: 7:28

We're talking about faith in God, we're talking about faith in individuals, the congregation. Who's sitting next to you in the pew, or behind you, or in front of you, or in front of me, behind me, in front of me, and so we think about this thing called faith, and faith in the good. The doing is right, as we can. We know we're going to mess up. We know we're going to mess up. We know we're going to screw up. However, to have your faith in the Antichrist or something, that is very wrong and troubling, and we've talked about that. So we're not going to get into that, that topic tonight, other than to say, when individuals talk about topics and have no remorse for things they've done, things they're doing, then that that is that's troublesome.

Justin Alan Hayes: 9:00

But again it comes that judge judgment. Right, you know who. Who am I to to judge anybody? Who are you to judge anybody? So, when we talk about what are we doing on earth, why am I alive instead of somebody else that never had a chance to live, it really makes you think right, makes you makes you really think about wow, there's seven, seven plus a billion human beings on earth now, now, and that there's so many that never had a chance, that never had a chance to live, never had a chance to grow up, for a variety, variety of reasons. So we would like to think that being good outweighs being not good, hurting somebody, no matter what form that comes in mentally, physically, spiritually. That's something that's not okay, it's not acceptable, and we don't care where anybody stands politically and, to be frank, people are surprised when I talk and share about where I'm at, but I don't feel that it's a topic that we really need to talk about a whole lot, because we're talking about all humans.

Justin Alan Hayes: 11:28

When we're at the pearly gates, god's not going to say, oh, democrat, republican, libertarian, independent, oh you voted in how many presidential elections? None of that's going to matter. So how you voted, how I voted, that does not matter. What matters is that golden rule. And what is that golden rule? To treat others just the way I would like to be treated. We've all probably heard that said that tens, maybe hundreds of times throughout the years, and so when we think about that golden rule, I think it's very clear when we talk about treating others, when we talk about treating others Again, we're all gonna have bad days. All the breaks aren't always gonna go our way, no matter how much we want it to, they're just not.

Justin Alan Hayes: 12:57

So when we do take a look at that treating others how I want to be treated well first we have to look at is well, how do we want to be treated. I mean, that's a. I think that's a good place to start. Would I want to be treated by being locked in a cage, by being forced to do unthinkable acts? To do unthinkable acts? Would we like to be starved? Would we be like? Would we be like to be taken away from our family, family? Would we want to be injected with metals and who knows what else? Would we want to abuse, whatever that may be? Would we want to be that way? Do I want to feel abused? Do you want to? That's where this conversation starts at here. You know, going on 15 minutes of this episode.

Justin Alan Hayes: 14:35

So we're halfway through and we're getting to that spot. We know we're not perfect, we know that. And anybody who believes otherwise I don't know what else to say so any individual who thinks that they are, that they are God, that they rise to that level, that's not right, that's wrong. So that's a pretty, it's pretty, pretty standard response. So then we get to that next level of the golden rule that we talk about treat others the way we like to be treated. We would like to be treated. And then we get to that spot where we had just arrived before this short summary of how we would like to feel or how we would like to be treated, and I listed a myriad of things, of actions being made towards us and I 100% would say no, that's not how I want to be treated. That's not probably guessing and it's probably stronger than I guess that you wouldn't want to be treated that way, would you? So we move on. So nobody's gone, nobody's perfect.

Justin Alan Hayes: 16:41

Treat others the way we want to be treated. And what are those ways? A 180 and say would we like to not be starved where family that's not in a cage? So how about that? Because I think just those two or three things are very, very telling and the question is, it can't be any simpler Treat others the way we'd like to be treated, want to be treated like an animal? Want to be treated like a possession? Want to be sold for money? Want to tell individuals what they can and can't do when they can do it? Or would we want to be treated with dignity, respect, access to food, a restful, an opportunity for restful sleep at night?

Justin Alan Hayes: 18:36

So again, these are diametrically, these are 180s, and that's why we're talking about it, because there is that, that stark contrast, and so this episode might not be for everybody, just like our full catalog. We have so many episodes, so many, so many great topics, so many great guests, and this episode might not be for you. And it might not be for you because you have a good understanding of right and wrong, of how you want to be treated and how we treat others, and if we're treating others the way we want to be treated or not. Or you may not be interested in this episode because you are an individual that, along with other individuals, we work together to have that 180 approach of not treating others with respect, holding individuals in cages, not providing them nourishment, not allowing them to see their family. And so I talked about the burden at the beginning. Well, the burden, what I just described, has got to be so much heavier, has to be so much heavier, has to be so much heavier To have that knowledge of taking advantage of playing God, which we know there's only one God. So for you to play, play that role, for you to decide what happens, what doesn't, at what time, at what place. So we can't be any clearer when we think about again how we want to be treated If, for some reason, that you got caught up in some of these activities that aren't treating people with dignity and respect, not allowing them to see their families.

Justin Alan Hayes: 21:55

I think we can all agree on what that course of action would be right, because do you want to be standing at the pearly gates with that on your mind, with that on your heart, and you haven't repented, you haven't tried to make a wrong, a right or as close to a right as possible? You didn't decide to say you know what? I've done a lot, a lot of bad things, and I wish I hadn't, but I did. So I have what's coming justice-wise Again. We're not talking about rocket science here. Again, these aren't. We're not talking about rocket science here. We're not Elon Musk talking about sending rockets up all the time, saving astronauts that our former president, joe Biden, left up there because, for whatever reason, they're supposed to be up there for a few days and they're up there for several months. That's not what we're talking about here. You know what we're talking about. You know darn well what we're talking about and what we're talking about. You know darn well what we're talking about and what we're talking about is reaching people, reaching's, reaching families. It's reaching parents.

Justin Alan Hayes: 24:01

So do you have a guilty conscience, do you, or is this all just it's okay? You just continue on this, all just it's okay. You just continue on. This is just par for the course for you. So we would just like to say that that's a shame. It really. Is it really? It really is it really? It really is. It's very, very disassociated with how I'm betting you want to be treated. I don't think you want to be in a cage. I don't think you want to be in a cage. I don't think you want food rationed from you. I don't think you want to be taken away from your family. And I didn't even mention even worse. That you know and I know has happened.

Justin Alan Hayes: 25:17

So, again, all we're trying to do is to help others. That's what Voices for Voices is all about. We know we're not God. We know we can't help every person. However, what we can do is we can try to share as much experience, as many events from as many individuals about their lives and our lives. So that's probably why, as we as 60 countries and closer to oh boy, we're getting close to now, we're getting close to 700 cities and again, I know our board knows our volunteers. We know we can't save the world. However, like I mentioned. We can share experiences, we can talk about facts, we can talk about the evidence. One thing, two things. Okay, that's two, now three and four, and five and six and seven and eight and nine and ten, and you just keep stacking that. Well, that's called evidence, and evidence is not in Evidence, is not in your favor.

Justin Alan Hayes: 27:39

If you are one who is playing the role of God and not treating people with dignity, without treating them with respect, not allowing them to eat, not giving good sleep conditions, taking them away from their families. What have you for the bold-faced lies that you tell people? Oh, we're just helping. Oh, wow, okay, that's interesting Because we had a conversation with somebody who's very, very, very, very, very much involved with a lot of these activities, a lot of these negative activities, a lot of these activities that are not good, and this person decided well, we don't know you, I don't know you and I can't share about person one, person two I'm leaving the names out and so I'll close this episode and say I can't share anything. This is what this person said. I can't share anything because I was pastor at an even time and I want to treat them with respect.

Justin Alan Hayes: 29:19

The funny part about all this, which really isn't funny is this individual, along with a lot of other individuals, have said they never knew these people, they never met them, they don't know them. No-transcript knew and know of these individuals, and it's those individuals. If you are one of those that it would be. It would be a good thing to stand up for truth instead of sitting down to stand up for helping really helping, not saying oh, let me, you know, let me see what your story is about and if it's good enough, I'm going to take it, and then I'm not going to pay you for that. That's called, that's something that's illegal, goal and right. So there's different organizations who have operations in certain parts of the world where they pay very little money for a lot, lots of work. At least, in those cases, the companies are actually paying the individuals. In your case, your cases, you're not even paying them, you're not even giving them a chance at a royalty.

Justin Alan Hayes: 31:36

So that's why so many parents have come forward. So many parents have come forward. So many parents have come forward and changed their plans Because number one they're rooted in christian values. Does debate and switch, like we talked about before, we're gonna rail you in, rail you in. Yeah, christian in yeah, christian values. Yep, we're going to have speakers, we're going to do this.

Justin Alan Hayes: 32:27

But hey, once you come, once you go through, you know however many layers of security to get through, which that by itself is pretty interesting. I mean, the Super Bowl Getting near, you know heads of state. I can understand a lot of security for that, but for what you guys do and have done, that's Not really sure why, why you need all that security. But hey, what do I know? I just know the evidence, and you know the evidence too, so much so as you've been searching all over, all over, high and low, and left and right, and here and there and everywhere.

Justin Alan Hayes: 33:29

So if there wasn't evidence, why would, why would you be searching so hard? I mean, if I didn't do anything wrong, I wouldn't be worried about evidence things out there, because I didn't do anything wrong. On the other hand, if you and you are doing things wrong morally, ethically, the law I guess it would make sense that you'd be looking all over for that evidence, because Because you've got to make that money on that script, you've got to make that money on those books. You can't let somebody else get the credit. Who actually wrote those scripts and wrote those books, can you? Hmm, that's how we find a lot of things interesting.

Justin Alan Hayes: 34:49

But I hearken back to the golden rule, to your others, how we want to be treated. Nobody's God. And if you don't have anything to hide, then why be? Why be in a frenzy over wanting to know, wanting to find things? How do you even I don't even know how anybody would know that there would be things to find, unless you know there's things to find, and I don't even know where any of these things are. I don't know what exists, what doesn't exist. We get like a little crumb here and there which is like nothing. So we can only suffice to say that on the outside, on the outside looking in, it looks like there's some guilty individuals. And while I don't know how I'm going to be judged at the pearly gates after my time here on Earth, I don't know that. I don't know how that's going to turn out. But what I do know, what I do know that I will not be included, involved in. And what is that included, involved in? And what is that? I'll let you answer that. Oh, human trafficking.