The World and Everything in It: August 22, 2023

PREROLL: The World and Everything in It is made possible by listeners like us. My name is Abby Mason. I live in Northern Kentucky and stay at home with my four young children, whom I also home school. I'm a huge fan of world and rely on it to keep me informed, inspired, and encouraged. It helps me to consider relevant issues from a biblical worldview. I love discussing what I've listened to each day with my husband Taylor who listens on his drive to work. Tomorrow is his birthday. We hope you enjoy that program.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Good morning! New York is requiring schools to get rid of Native American logos and nicknames, but one school is pushing back.

AUDIO: If my parents were a Chief, and I had a different mascot, that's not something to be connected on. It's like renting a building.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Also today: states are confronting the corrosive effects of pornography on young people and are seeing surprising breakthroughs.

Plus, helping kids get over their fear of riding bikes.

AUDIO: And I’ve had friends and people say, ‘Oh so you run with the kids?’ I’m not holding them! Like, they can learn how to do all this.

And same-sex marriage as a wedge issue in the Ukraine war.

BROWN: It’s Tuesday, August 22nd. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

EICHER: And I’m Nick Eicher. Good morning!

BROWN: Up next, Kent Covington with today’s news.

SOUND: [TROPICAL STORM HILARY]

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Hilary » Driving rain from the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years knocked over trees and flooded homes, and swept people into swollen rivers.

One resident of La Quinta, California near Palm Springs said she’d never seen anything like it.

RESIDENT: It was really scary. I mean, the winds were unbelievable. And the amount of water that came down was just out of this world.

In some desert and mountain areas, the storm dumped half the average annual rainfall in a matter of hours, washing out roads and triggering mudslides.

Big cities were not spared either. Rich Thompson with the National Weather Service:

THOMPSON: Downtown Los Angeles, they recorded 2.48 inches of rainfall yesterday, which beat the old record of 3/100 of an inch that was set in 1906.

In aerial views of LA, floodwaters made Dodger Stadium look like an island.

And as the remnants of Tropical Storm Hilary track north, it has continued to pour heavy rain on much of the Western United States.

Hawaii » President Biden Monday toured the ruins of a Hawaiian town incinerated by a wildfire two weeks ago. He also met with first responders and fire victims.

BIDEN: From stories of grief, we’ve seen so many stories of hope and heroism, of the aloha spirit. Every emergency responder who put their lives on the line to save others. They’re our everyday heroes.

Biden vowed more federal support, and said federal relief agencies will be there as long as it takes to help victims back to their feet.

The flames destroyed Maui’s historic town of Lahaina, leaving thousands homeless.

More than a hundred people are confirmed dead, and as many as 800 others remain missing.

Texas v Biden border case » The Department of Justice heads to a federal courthouse in Texas today. The DOJ wants a judge to order the state to remove a series of large orange water buoys from the Rio Grande. The state deployed them in July as floating barriers to discourage migrants from trying to swim across.

The Biden administration calls the buoys dangerous and inhumane.

But Texas Gov. Greg Abbott fired back:

ABBOTT: The United Nations, an agency of it, declared the border between the United States and Mexico as the deadliest land border in the entire world. Joe Biden is responsible for that deadly border.

The governor charged that it’s Biden’s border and immigration policies that are inhumane.

Traffic at the southern border has shattered all-time records over the past two years. And border arrests surged again last month, with agents making more than 130,000 arrests.

Trump bail » A Georgia state court has set Donald Trump's bond at $200,000. The former president is required to surrender to authorities this week in a case accusing him of scheming to overturn the 2020 election.

Trump is also barred from directly communicating with 18 co-defendants or witnesses, including through social media.

Georgia trans law injunction » Meantime, a federal judge in Georgia temporarily blocked a state law protecting children from transgender interventions. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin reports.

KRISTEN FLAVIN: District court Judge Sarah Geraghty issued an injunction Sunday, freezing a law that protects minors from cross-sex hormone treatments and puberty blockers.

Republican lawmakers passed the protections earlier this year, and GOP Gov. Brian Kemp signed them into law.

But some parents of children who identify as transgender sued, claiming the new law violated their children’s 14th amendment right to equal protection and due process.

While the ruling allows minors to receive hormones again, it is still illegal to perform gender surgeries on minors in Georgia.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

Meta Canada news » Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is blasting Facebook parent company Meta over its decision to block news from Canada from its platforms in response to a new Canadian social media law.

TRUDEAU: In an emergency situation where up to date local information is more important than ever. Facebook's putting corporate profits ahead of people's safety, ahead of supporting quality local journalism.

Trudeau pointed to news about wildfires currently raging in parts of Canada.

Earlier this year, the Canadian government enacted a law requiring top social media companies like Meta to compensate the writers of Canadian news stories whenever users share their work.

Instead, Meta said it would simply turn away Canadian news altogether.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: A school in New York says “Once a chief, always a chief. Plus, a morning with “the Bike Whisperer.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: It’s Tuesday the 22nd day of August, 2023.

Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Myrna Brown.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

First up: Go team!

AUDIO: One of the more unusual finishes, but it’s a goal, the Stanley Cup to the Chicago Blackhawks. 

The 25th home run hit by the Braves in this 11-game-plus winning streak. And the Braves strike first, a lead-off homer, one-zip in Washington.

A few pro sports franchises still have Native American imagery in their team names … But in recent years, pressure to change names that some deem racist and ethnically offensive has been growing.

The NFL team formerly known as the Washington Redskins dropped the name and logo in 2020 and early in 2022 rebranded as the Washington Commanders. That didn’t go over well with fans.

BROWN: Well, the team now has a new group of owners that includes NBA Hall-of-Famer Magic Johnson. And in an interview with the Today Show back in July, Johnson hinted that another name change is possible.

JOHNSON: Everything's on the table, right, especially after this year. We, we, we'll see where we are with the name, but I can't say that right now.

EICHER: Then last week, the Native American Guardians Association sent a petition to the owner’s group asking them to change the name back.

This debate over native American imagery in sports branding is also happening on a state and local level, New York, for example. The state board of education recently demanded that schools replace their mascots by 2025 or risk losing state funding.

But one school on Long Island has decided to push back, and WORLD Intern Alex Carmenaty visited to find out why.

ALEX CARMENATY, INTERN: This past April, the New York State Board of Regents voted unanimously to ban Native American team names, mascots, and imagery in public schools.

AUDIO: Those in favor? Aye.

More than 130 New York school districts who have Native American themed nicknames are affected by this vote. Many are willing to comply, but one school district on Long Island is taking legal action.

SOUND: [2023 MASSAPEQUA HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION]

The Massapequa School District has been the home of the Chiefs for over six decades. A nickname that comes from the town’s Native American roots dating back to the 17th century. In response to the state’s decision, Massapequa Board of Education President Kerry Wachter is spearheading a legal battle to keep the Chiefs, the Chiefs.

KERRY WACHTER: We believe that this is an overreach by New York State. All the people who made this edict or this regulation, not one of them was elected. They're all appointed.

Massapequa is filing the lawsuit at the end of this month. The town motto, "Once A Chief, Always A Chief" has become the rallying cry for this cause.

WACHTER: Kids are told that from when they first enter school, you know, once a chief always a chief. And that starts very early on. And that's why our building principal ends the high school graduation with once a chief always a chief because it applies to all of our students.

For many of the town’s 21,000 residents, the Massapequa Chief is a unifying symbol. This is especially so with Massapequa High School students.

WACHTER: I think it's a point of pride for not only our athletes, but all of our students, whether you're a theater kid, or you’re an academic kid, or you're an artist, or an athlete, we're all Chiefs.

Massapequa Athletics is one of the many reasons why the Chiefs are so important to this town. The high school athletics program has won numerous Nassau County, Long Island and New York State championships.

KAITLYN KILMEADE: We're here to win. We're here to play like when you're thinking, Oh, we have to play Massapequa like the Massapequa Chiefs. It's a tough game.

SOUND: [KILMEADE PLAYING SOCCER]

Kaitlyn Kilmeade played on the Varsity Girls Soccer team all four years of high school. Now a player at Union College, she says if you get rid of the Chiefs, the history behind many great wins also goes away.

KILMEADE: That wipes us of all the games we've won and the battles we put out on that field, because at the end of the day, you're representing the chiefs… every championship every Long Island, County, we're screaming chiefs on 3, 123 chiefs, at the end of the day, why wouldn't we want to keep that legacy? When years and years go on, and we're winning championships as the Chiefs it's a tribute. Not a disrespect.

Kilmeade is not the only one in her family that graduated from Massapequa High School. Her siblings, parents and grandparents were all born and raised in the same town.

KILMEADE: I look at it as opening a brand new whole high school, in my opinion, or, like you're rebranding a school district, that's something that people shouldn't take lightly. If my parents were a Chief, and I literally went to the same high school they did, and I had a different mascot, that's not something to be connected on. It's like renting a building.

So what do Native Americans think about this? John Kane is a Native American who sits on the New York State Education Department’s Indigenous Advisory Committee. He spoke to Fox 5 New York about how Native Americans are constant targets for team nicknames.

JOHN KANE: You can’t do it with Jewish people, you can’t do it with black people, you can’t do it with hispanic people, but you can still do it to us? We’re the only people used this way.

Harry Wallace is the former chief of the Un-ka-chug Nation. He lives on the Poos-pa-tuck Reservation in Mastic, New York. Along with the Chiefs name, Massapequa has a logo of a Native American Chief. Wallace told CBS 2 New York that he finds the logo appalling.

HARRY WALLACE: There is no chief that has ever looked like that. It is a fraudulent symbol. It is a disrespectful defiance of the law and hurtful to the Native community of Long Island.

Betsy Broderick lives in nearby Wantagh, where the school district in her town is also affected by New York State’s decision. Broderick would have no problem if the Wantagh Warriors kept their name and logo, and is ok with Massapequa trying to do the same thing. At the same time, she also is willing to consider an alternative that helps cool down the temperature.

BETSY BRODERICK: Well, times change and things change. If the name is outdated and if the people are offended by it, then maybe they should think about changing it. A team is made up of the players and the students in the high school and the spirit of the high school. A name is just a name.

According to Board of Education President Wachter, if Massapequa were to change their name, it would cost an estimated $2 million. A lot would go into paying the piper.

WACHTER: It's signage. It's, you know, gym floors, its fields, its scoreboards, its uniforms. Even like the staff, you know, the custodial staff and all their uniforms have it on there. So it's a lot of things. It's not going to be cheap.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Alex Carmenaty in Massapequa, New York.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: State laws cracking down on objectionable websites.

A quick word to parents: this story is good news, but it deals with a topic not intended for young ones. You may want to pause and come back later, or skip ahead 6 minutes.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Several states have passed new laws this year that will hold websites with pornographic content liable if minor children can access them. Utah, Virginia, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Montana have passed these laws with bipartisan support. Other states aren’t far behind.

BROWN: In a handful of states, these laws have produced an unexpected outcome: Some so-called adult sites are cutting off access altogether. This is a first in the quest to regulate the online porn industry—but now, the laws have to survive multiple lawsuits.

WORLD’s Mary Muncy reports.

MARY MUNCY, REPORTER: Deepak Reju is a Biblical counselor with experience helping people overcome pornography addictions.

DEEPAK REJU: The basic way to understand it is it begins to rewire your brain. If you think about, like, grass. And if if people keep walking down that same stretch of grass, after time, the grass not only gets worn down, it turns into a dirt path.

According to a survey by Common Sense Media, children on average first see pornography at age 12. Some even younger. The survey also showed that over half of those children access it accidentally.

REJU: What we have now is the younger generations that have been raised up on technology.

Reju says now he has college-aged and older students coming to him after already being addicted for 15-plus years, cutting those pathways deep into their brains.

But some states are trying to change that.

In June of last year, Louisiana was the first state to pass a law that holds websites with adult content liable if they fail to verify their users are over 18 years old. Now, six other states have followed, and others are trying to get them on the books.

The new law in Texas will go into effect on September first. State Representative Matt Shaheen helped author the bill.

MATT SHAHEEN: I think what you're seeing is we're we're adapting a little bit to some of the changes in the culture.

Texas’ bill and others like it are generally bipartisan. The bills are passing with large majorities and Republican and Democratic governors alike have signed them.

SHAHEEN: This is already done for other industries, but you literally go on online, and it, the form will pop up, and you just populate it, and like your name, your address, those types of things.

And the laws are working.

The company that owns PornHub says traffic to the website in Louisiana has dropped 80 percent since the law took effect.

PornHub has also exited three other states rather than comply with the age verification rule. It says the laws violate the First Amendment, put people’s privacy at risk, and ultimately harm children by pushing people to what they call less regulated sites.

PornHub and other websites have sued the states, but a court in Utah has already rejected one of the lawsuits.

SHAHEEN: We knew pretty much it would, there was going to be a lawsuit. So we drafted it in such a way in anticipation of these kinds of silly lawsuits. But we're, we're we're very well positioned to to win those.

Texas and most other states have obscenity laws informed by the Communications Decency Act of 1996 and Supreme Court precedent.

Basically, those allow the state or federal government to limit speech in public if it’s deemed obscene under community standards. But there’s a lot of controversy around what those community standards are—especially on the internet.

Will Creeley is the legal director at FIRE, a legal advocacy group specializing in First Amendment issues.

WILL CREELEY: Courts have been clear in decisions dating back about 20-plus years now that restricting adult access or putting barriers to adult access to protected speech, even if it's done in the name of protecting minors, raises serious constitutional questions.

If the government wants to limit speech based on its content, it must pass the strict scrutiny test. That involves two things. First, there must be a compelling government interest to restrict speech, and second, it must use the least restrictive means to do so.

Creeley says these laws likely put an undue burden on adults since parents could put safeguards on their children’s devices.

CREELEY: Different parents make different decisions. It's not the state's role to tell you what speech isn't isn't fit for your children.

In other words, Creeley believes laws like the ones in Texas and Louisiana are not the least restrictive means.

He also says governments need to prove that the way pornography harms children is a compelling government interest.

CREELEY: That's assuming that those studies are bulletproof and we can show that access to adult content for for children is basically equivalent to smoking a pack of cigarettes.

Others believe these laws should, and will, pass muster.

CHRIS MCKENNA: Chris McKenna. I'm the founder of Protect Young Eyes. Protect young eyes is an organization that helps families, schools and churches create safer digital spaces.

McKenna says there should be reasonable barriers to pornography so that children cannot do themselves harm. It’s one thing to tell a child not to walk into an adult entertainment store or a strip club—it’s another thing to keep them away from the dark edges of the internet.

MCKENNA: To simply say, based on millions of websites that have multiple access points, all through different devices, be it at a friend's house, be it at school, be it on social media, be it in all these different places, are you telling me that parents have the sole responsibility to control all of those digital doorways to this content?

In addition to unanticipated access points, pornography often has unanticipated effects that aren’t limited to a child’s mental health.

MCKENNA: Because neurologically due to mirror neurons and other developmental, what are supposed to be benefits to children being able to mimic the world around them, they find that when children see porn, they practice porn on other children.

There are a slew of studies showing that viewing pornography can normalize deviant sexual behaviors in adults—even more so in children.

In other words, McKenna believes that there is a compelling government interest and that the burden placed on adult users is worth it. After all, it’s a similar burden placed on buying alcohol or tobacco online.

The problem with porn goes much further; it’s something that state laws alone can’t fix. Biblical counselor Deepak Reju says that while these laws are a good start, the church has much more to do.

REJU: You use a law to cut off access, say all those folks who are already addicted. All you've done is encased a sexually crazed heart. And if you put a wall around a sexually crazed heart, that just shows ultimately the issue is not behavior, but the Lord transforming the heart. So laws are good. They're a great step, but they're not the answer to the problem.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Mary Muncy.

NICK EICHER, HOST: State fairs can be pretty cheesy. Literally!

FAIR ANNOUNCER: The 2023 Best New Food at the Iowa State Fair! Joni Bell, What’s Your Cheez!

Joni Bell was the runaway winner for best new food at the Iowa State Fair. Audio from Sioux City Journal:

BELL: Well I’m a culi-concoctor. So I like to take products I have and come up with I think might be really good.

Culi-concoctor. That’s a new one, but her made-up foods are better than her made-up words. Joni Bell’s concoction that took the top prize was her mac n cheese brisket sandwich deep fried with bacon.

You’ll note a theme here with the runners up: cheese wrapped in bacon, with marinara, then a bacon-wrapped jalapeno with pork, corn, cream cheese, and ranch.

BROWN: They call it the Iowa Twinkie. I call it disgusting!

EICHER: Too many of those and you may need to call your doctor.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Tuesday, August 22nd. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: taking off the training wheels.

For some kids, learning to ride a bike can be a time of skinned knees and frustrated parents. But in Louisville, one teacher specializes in helping children safely overcome their fears, and take to the streets and sidewalks with confidence. WORLD Associate Correspondent Travis Kircher has the story.

TRAVIS KIRCHER, ASSOCIATE CORRESPONDENT: It’s a muggy summer morning and the sun is beating down on Motor City Church in Louisville, Kentucky, as cars pull into the parking lot.

One-by-one, children and their parents emerge from the vehicles, each group lugging a small bike. Some of the parents look worried. Some of the kids look downright scared. They’re here for one purpose: to learn to ride a bike without training wheels – and they’re hoping one man will make it happen.

His name is Brian Lindsey. The kids know him as Mr. B. Many of the parents know him by his other nickname: The Bike Whisperer.

BRIAN LINDSEY: A granddad dubbed me that, because I got his granddaughter up and riding in maybe 20 minutes. Do I think I’m the Bike Whisperer? I go with it. I go with it.

At Mr. B’s Bike Camp, Lindsey works with children for one hour a day for five days – or until they learn to ride. Today, Bob Borgerding brought his son Walker to the camp.

BOB BORGERDING: We are teaching our 9-year-old to finally ride a bike. After we’ve tried several different methods on our own, we figured it was time to leave it up to one of the professionals.

WALKER B.: Yeah, I’m a bit scared because I fell off a bike multiple times – and that scares me.

Seven-year-old Olivia Siegelstin is here with her grandmother and is eager to show off her bike.

OLIVIA SIEGELSTIN: It’s a Spiderman bike with a unicorn slap bracelet. My daddy put it together a couple of days ago.

But even with superpowers and Spidey-sense, Olivia admits to some trepidation at the thought of getting on a bike.

SIEGELSTIN: I’m a little nervous.

Brian Lindsey understands their fears. He remembers when he first learned to ride.

LINDSEY: So growing up in the 80s, I think we all learned pretty much the exact same way. So I got on. Dad shoved me. I pedaled and went straight into a sticky bush that was bigger than me. Right? Bigger than me. But I learned how to ride. It was scary, because I didn’t want to get a whoopin.

He says many families use those same teaching techniques today – and in his view, they just don’t work.

LINDSEY: We get parents and grandparents that call and say, ‘Hey, we really need you. My back is hurting because I can’t keep up with them.’ And I’m thinking, ‘Why are you running in the first place?’ And I’ve had friends and people say, ‘Oh so you run with the kids?’ Heck no! Heck no! I’m not running with them! I’m not holding them! Like, they can learn how to do all this.

Instead, Lindsey has taught roughly 600 kids over the past seven years using his own method.

In step one, the kids straddle the bikes and walk with them through the parking lot. In step two, they pick their feet up and coast for one second, every time Lindsey says the word “Up.” In step three, they coast for several seconds – as long as they can. Lindsey says that’s about teaching balance. And in step four, they are awarded their coveted pedals – and they finally learn to ride.

Today, in this hour, Lindsey is teaching five students.

LINDSEY: Every time I say, ‘Up,’ you’re gonna pick both feet off the ground, let the bike roll and then put your feet down. Alright let’s walk. Let’s walk. Up. Up.

Lindsey says part of his ability to work with kids comes from his other job as a P.E. teacher at Jefferson County Public Schools. He also serves as a youth pastor at Motor City Church.

LINDSEY: I’ve always prayed for these kids on Monday. Before I show up, I pull out my calendar. I pray for – by name – all the kids on that list. Because I don’t know what I’m dealing with. Don’t know. We’ve seen parents break down and cry. Especially parents who had kids with tumors and been in surgery. They’ve been told their kids would never-ever ride. Like, that’s a big deal.

Near the end of today’s class, 6-year-old Rett Rust is about to experience a moment that will change his life forever. After Rett shows that he can maintain proper balance, Mr. B. finally awards him his pedals.

LINDSEY: You sir, when you go, ‘one, two, three, four,’ you’re gonna put your feet on your pedals and start pedaling.

And with that, Rett Rust is riding his bike for the first time in his life.

KIRCHER: He just got it. 

LINDSEY: Yeah he did!

The first thing Rett does after his momentous accomplishment is bask in the limelight.

KIRCHER: What did you just do? 

RETT RUST: Um, I started biking and I did pedaling and I just learned how to do it now! I felt the breeze and it felt very good. Fun too!

Then, Rett runs to share the good news with his mother.

RETT: Mom! Mom! I learned how to ride a bike!

LYNSIE RUST: Really?

RETT: Yeah!

LYNSIE: Awesome!

RETT: Mr. B. helped me and then I started pedaling and I did it!

For Lindsey, this moment is a gratifying experience. He remembers how learning to ride on two wheels changed his life.

LINDSEY: Learning how to ride as a kid was wonderful. Gave me freedom. I was all over the city with my bike. I don’t know if my mom and them knew that. Mom, if you’re listening, sorry.

It’s a childhood experience he wants his students to have too.

LINDSEY: I feel like I’m putting little bodies out, I’m sending little minions out into the world to go ride their bikes and take over the city.

For his part, Rett may not take over the city, exactly. But he’s got big plans.

KIRCHER: What are you going to do now that you can ride?

RETT: Probably stay home riding my bike all day. My brother likes taking laps all round our neighborhood, and now I’ll probably do that with him now a lot.

He’s gone from four wheels to two. At least for a while. In about 10 years or so, he’ll be ready for another transportation milestone. But that will be another story.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Travis Kircher, in Louisville, Kentucky.

LINDSEY: Arlo, pick ‘em up higher. Yes – just like that. Good.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is August 22nd. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

And I’m Nick Eicher. Up next: the politics of same-sex marriage in Europe.

Evert van Vlastuin  spent 30 years as a journalist in the Netherlands before founding Christian News Europe in 2021. That’s an Christian news website written in English but covering news across the European continent.

Last month, van Vlastuin spoke at WJI-Europe, our World Journalism Institute held in Brussels, Belgium. While there, he recorded this commentary about the influence of the president of Russia on the same-sex marriage debate in Europe.

EVERT VAN VLASTUIN, COMMENTATOR: Promoting gay marriage is a way to fight against the Russians, or at least, so said a left-wing politician in Estonia last June. It is a good question whether this is right or not.

By using such a frame, the Estonian politician says all of us who defend traditional marriage are part of Putin’s camp. And since Putin is a threat to Europe, all traditionalists are a danger to peace. Well, that is quite an aggressive way to delegitimize the other position.

There is no doubt the vote in Estonia to allow same-sex marriage introduces a new era. Until recently, all the former Soviet countries upheld marriage as between a man and a woman. But this year the former Yugoslav republic, Slovenia, became the first country from the Eastern Block to open marriage to homosexuals. We know from debates in other countries that Slovenia and Estonia will not be the last.

Regarding some family values, it’s true that the Russian-influenced east is more conservative than the west. Many eastern countries have defined marriage in their constitution as a relationship between one man and one woman, sometimes as a reaction against liberal tendencies. And many conservatives in Western Europe admire Poland and Hungary, since those countries stick to their traditional position against more liberal countries.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has tried to exploit this view. He says his fight in Ukraine is against the Western values of sexual depravity. The leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, even claimed Putin’s war was launched to stop gay pride parades.

As for The European Union, it has no formal position on many of these issues. Many Protestants and Catholics have tried to enshrine Christian values in a European constitution, but liberals are winning at the moment. Most recently, the European Court of Human Rights ordered both Romania and Ukraine to legislate for civic partnership for homosexuals.

That said, it might be wise to reject part of the left’s and Putin’s framework. In some aspects, Central and Eastern European countries can be very liberal.

Let’s take abortion. Countries behind the Iron Curtain legalized the termination of pregnancies much sooner than Western Europe. And their abortion numbers are still higher, with Poland being the only exception. In Hungary, even the so-called Conservative-Christian government has done nothing substantial to limit the liberal abortion law.

If Putin and Kirill are fond of family values, they have enough work to do in their own country. Until the war in Ukraine started, there was a flourishing child surrogacy ‘industry’ in Russia, Georgia, and Ukraine. And according to some reports, Russia’s divorce rate is the highest in Europe, followed by Belarus and Ukraine. Of course, the state cannot just force parents to stay together. But the government can do much to stimulate help. Unlike Putin’s war, that would be an investment in both happiness and values.

I’m Evert van Vlastuin.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Tomorrow: Republican candidates for the party’s nomination are heading to Wisconsin for the first primary debate. Who’s on the stage and what issues will they focus on? And how will they deal with the non-presence of Donald Trump? We’ll talk about it on Washington Wednesday.

And, cricket is an English sport popular in India, but it’s growing in the United States. We’ll get out on the pitch to find out why.

That and more tomorrow.

I’m Nick Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

The World and Everything in It comes to you from WORLD Radio. WORLD’s mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates, and inspires.

Jesus said, Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed or hidden that will not be known. Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.

Luke chapter 12 verses 2 & 3.

Go now in grace and peace.

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