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You're listening to The Russell Moore Show, where we look for signposts in a strange time by standing fast to what really matters.

Kingdom over culture wars, truth over tribalism, pilgrimage over partisanship, sanity over cynicism,

witness over winning, and Christ over everything.

Today we have a listener question as we seek to do just that.

Welcome back, listeners. My name is Leslie Thompson. I get to produce this show and with me is Russell Moore. Hello, Russell. Hey, Leslie. Well, it's a very exciting day here. We're not only taking a listener question, but it is the first country music question. Good. Woo! And it's a good one. So let's hear, it's pretty

specific. So I hope your 90s country music chops are sharpened. Sharpen. We'll see.

Sharpened and ready. All right, well, let's listen.

Hi, Dr. Moore. This is Rachel in Oregon, and I'd like to ask you to analyze Independence Day by Martina McBride.

It's the tale of a woman trapped in domestic violence who takes extreme action to free herself and her child.

In my imagination, the story takes place in a town with strong law enforcement and a church on every corner.

And while followers of Jesus can't endorse this remedy, I believe this song speaks to the

desperation of those sitting silently in our pews who are victimized and oppressed.

Like you, Dr. Moore, I appreciate country music's honest wrestling with real

life pain and struggle, and I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thank you.

Wow, that is a throwback. Back to Montemite Bride's Independence Day. Yeah, I mean,

there are some songs that take something wrong and try to make that feel as innocent and glorious as possible.

That's in one category.

...