Going No Contact w/Noelle Merring

Drew Mariani (0:00)

The issues that matter most, right here.

SPEAKER_2 (0:03)

The Drew Mariani Show.

SPEAKER_3 (0:05)

On Relevant Radio.

Yeah, I've been going around the country for the past six years talking about progressive ideology and started hearing more and more often from parents whose grown children had become quite ideological and wound up cutting them off. And at first I thought it was isolated incidents, but the more and more often I heard these tragic stories, the more I realized something new was happening and that it was worthy of examination.

Drew Mariani (0:31)

It's The Drew Mariani Show on Relevant Radio. Yeah, that's my next guest. That's at least the voice of my next guest, Noelle Merring, talking about her new book out, it's called No Contact. And we'll hear the story of how she decided to write this. You know, I sit back and I'd love to hear your story too. So if you're going through this right now, maybe it's providential you're tuning in. And maybe you've got a sibling or somebody else that's going through this, tell them to tune in. You can stream the show over the mobile app, over the website, especially if your signal gets a little sketchy and you say, oh, I wish I could hear this. Download the mobile app, it's a great way to listen. You can also check out our podcast there. But I was thinking about this, Satan hates family, I'm gonna start with that. He loves division and he hates family, and he'll do anything to divide your family. Just imagine for a second, maybe you're not going through this. You raise your child, and all that goes into raising a child, you change the diapers, you take care of the child when they're sick, you sit by the bedside, you teach them how to ride a bike and throw a ball, and you celebrate every birthday, every graduation, right? And yet you make mistakes, you're a parent, you're not perfect, but you love that child.

And they grow up and one day the phone stops ringing.

Your texts aren't being answered. And well, maybe they're even being blocked. Maybe you're being blocked on social media. Maybe you're told, sorry mom, sorry dad, you can't see the grandchildren anymore because, and they give you the reason why, right? Not because you abuse them, but maybe because you disagree. And that is an incredibly painful phenomenon. And my next guest will be joining me here in a minute or two, Noelle Merring. She examined that. She's out with a brand new book, and I want to get you plugged in to it. It's called No Contact. How a seductive ideology broke families and friendships and how we can repair them. And that's really the heart of this. So the numbers that she cites are pretty startling. Let me just throw out one or two here. There was some polling that was done back in, I guess, late 2024, and it found that one in five Americans reporting estrangement from a family member. I was stunned by these numbers. I come from a pretty tight Italian family, and I'm thinking, one in five Americans are reporting estrangement from a family member. And they are blocking a relative on social media, skipping a family gathering because of political or ideological disagreements. And I do know some families who, one member might be really conservative, the other might be really liberal, and maybe the policy is, hey, we're not gonna talk politics at Thanksgiving, or maybe that brother-in-law or sister-in-law or whoever it might be, aunt or uncle, they just don't want you there anymore. They don't talk to you. They don't invite you. It can be painful, too.

But an important distinction here, too, and I just want to lay this out as we get into the conversation. I mean, there are circumstances where distance from an individual is necessary. I mean, if you're dealing with abuse or violence or manipulation or dangers, boundaries are really important. They can be essential. But those situations is not what Noelle's talking about nor what she's criticizing. She's asking something completely different, okay? She's saying, when did estrangement become a form of self-care? When did disagreement become harm?

When did somebody holding a different political or religious belief become toxic? How many of you have been blocked on social media from lifelong friends because of your political affiliation or because of your religious belief or how you look at transgenderism or same-sex marriage or some other issue?

And when did forgiveness become optional? I mean, the readings this past week, and I've been hearing all these things about forgiveness, forgiveness, forgiveness.

We're dealing right now in a cultural wildfire, it's being fed by identity politics and weakening family bonds and political partnerization, social media, and so many other things. So how do we heal those wounds? What do we do to protect our families? I'm joined right now by the author of the book, Awake Not Woke, and of course her latest one as well. I hope you'll check it out. You can get them on Amazon or check out your religious bookstore as well. Latest is No Contact. Noelle Merring joins me today. She's a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Noelle, thank you for writing this. I saw the PDF of the book. I know the book is now for sale, and I hope people will pick it up. I think this is critical, especially if their families are ruptured. But welcome to the program. Thanks for joining me.