The World and Everything in It - December 17, 2021

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Good morning!

Marriage rates are down and in lots of American big cities, crime rates are way up.

NICK EICHER, HOST: We will talk about that ahead today on Culture Friday.

Also the latest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Plus the final selection of hymns for the fourth week of Advent.

And a special Christmas edition of Word Play with George Grant.

BROWN: It’s Friday, December 17th. 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 has today’s news.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Senate approves China forced labor import ban » Lawmakers in the Senate have approved a bill that bans any product made in China’s Xinjiang region unless the manufacturer can prove it did not use forced labor.

GOP Senator Marco Rubio:

RUBIO: It’s already illegal, by the way, to bring goods made with slave labor. It’s been that way since the 1930s, and yet it’s still happening. And we know it’s happening at an alarming, horrific rate with the genocide we now witness being carried out by the Chinese government in the Xinjiang region.

The measure passed with bipartisan support after passing in the House earlier this week. President Biden is expected to sign it into law very soon.

The Commerce Department also blacklisted China’s Academy of Military Medical Sciences and nearly a dozen research institutes. The U.S. government accuses them of using technology “to support Chinese military end uses” including—quote—“purported brain-control weaponry.”

China denies any abuses are taking place. But an independent U.K. tribunal ruled last week that China is carrying out genocide, crimes against humanity, and torture of ethnic minorities.

CDC panel recommends Pfizer, Moderna vaccines over J&J shot » A panel of vaccine experts advising the CDC says most Americans should get the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines instead of the Johnson & Johnson shot. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has more.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: The advisory panel cited a strange clotting problem that has caused nine confirmed deaths after J&J vaccinations.

The panel said the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines do not come with that risk and they appear to be more effective.

Complications with the J&J shot are rare, affecting roughly one out of every 100,000 people to get the shot. Officials have confirmed 54 cases of blood clotting.

Until now the government has treated all three vaccines as an equal choice. But the CDC’s advisers said it’s time to recognize a lot has changed since vaccines rolled out a year ago.

More than 200 million Americans are considered fully vaccinated, including about 16 million who got the J&J shot.

The panel’s recommendation is not binding. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky will make the final call.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

At least 5 dead as Midwest rocked by hurricane-force winds » At least five people died after hurricane-force winds swept across the Great Plains and Midwest.

Corey Mead with the National Weather Service said warm temperatures helped to spawn the powerful winds and possible tornadoes.

MEAD: We had temperatures in the lower to mid 70s in Lincoln and Omaha, and that’s quite a departure from what we normally see here in mid-December.

The wind storm slammed Nebraska, Iowa, and Minnesota, including Lillie Nielsen’s hometown of Hartland.

NIELSEN: It was crazy. My mom went upstairs to get a flashlight and it sounded like a train was going through, but it didn’t last very long.

A falling tree killed a man in Minnesota. Three people died in Kansas when blinding dust kicked up by the storms led to car crashes. And in Iowa, violent winds toppled a tractor trailer, killing the driver.

Meantime, the death toll from a weekend tornado outbreak in Kentucky rose to 75 on Thursday with more than a dozen people still unaccounted for.

Haitian gang frees kidnapped missionaries » The 12 remaining missionaries that were kidnapped by a gang in Haiti are now free.

A spokesman for the Haiti National Police confirmed on Thursday that the 400 Mawozo gang released the remaining hostages.

And Christian Aid Ministries confirmed the report, saying—quote—“Join us in praising God that all seventeen of our loved ones are now safe.”

White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded to the reports…

PIERRE: We are thankful for the FBI, the State Department and Hatian law enforcement officials who have been working tirelessly to get these missionaries safely home.

Gang members abducted 16 American missionaries, one Canadian, and their Haitian driver two months ago, as they were driving to an orphanage near Port-au-Prince.

The gang then demanded millions in ransom money. The group included 12 adults and five children. Five hostages were released earlier.

Officials have not said whether anyone paid a ransom to the kidnappers.

Springsteen sells entire song catalog » “The Boss” just sold his entire song catalog for big bucks.

MUSIC: [Born to Run]

Sony reportedly just paid a half-billion dollars for the rights to all of Bruce Springsteen’s music. That’s the largest known price that anyone has paid so far for a music catalog.

That catalog includes the 15-times platinum album Born In The U.S.A. and hits like “Born to Run,” “Glory Days,” and “Hungry Heart.”

Springsteen has sold about 65-million albums in the United States over his 50-year career.

I’m Kent Covington. Straight ahead: falling marriage rates.

Plus, the many ways we talk about Christmas. 

This is The World and Everything in It.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: It’s Friday, December 17th, 2021.

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. Well, it’s Culture Friday. Time now to welcome John Stonestreet. He’s the president of the Colson Center and host of the Breakpoint podcast. Morning, John.

JOHN STONESTREET, GUEST: Good morning

EICHER: Shout out to WORLD Opinions writer Ericka Anderson for calling attention to this, that government numbers show marriage rates in this country at an all-time low, going back to the time when government began keeping these statistics. She quoted a think tank paper delving into these numbers and making the point that the Covid pandemic made a bad situation even worse—most notably for the poor. She noted: among low-income Americans, the statistics show an 11 percent decrease in interest in having children, and only 45 percent have a desire to marry. The numbers are a little better as you go up the income scale, but still not good.

John, is this a big deal and what might the effects be?

STONESTREET: This is an enormous issue. I mean, but of course, it's only an enormous issue if we agree on what marriage is. The dominant idea, culturally, is that marriage really is a social construct. So it exists in our culture, like a speed limit exists, you know, it's not really fixed, you know, in the heavens. The consequences of that way of thinking are significant. If marriage is in reality, not so much like a speed limit, but like gravity. In other words, it's not a social construct, it's not something that we have gotten together decided upon would be helpful and useful as we live our lives together. But it's actually something that's built into the fabric of reality itself. So then when you start to try to change it, you really can't. And when you try to deny it, then you kind of reap the consequences of it. So we can try to alter gravity, but it's not really going to work in any sort of long-term way, the more we fiddle around with marriage, redefining it, expanding it, changing it, substituting for it, making counterfeits and pretending like it's no different, then we'll see the consequences. So you look, let's just specify children, the single greatest predictor of a child's long-term success, and nothing else comes anywhere close is that a child is raised in a home with married biological mom and dad now doesn't mean that there are no other relationship arrangements that in which children can flourish. This is where the beauty of adoption is, this is where courageous single moms come in, we're talking about statistics. And if marriage is actually built into the world, like gravity, then these other relational arrangements have to overcome incredible things that marriage itself brings to the table. There's so many other things we can point to that is just really important. The fundamental question that is, you know, then created by Ericka Anderson in WORLD opinions is that you can't have a significant precipitous decline in marriage without seeing social consequences across the rest of society as well.

BROWN: John, I want to talk about crime. People tend to play games with statistics and some try to dismiss the rise in crime by saying that in aggregate the numbers aren’t as high nationwide as in the 1980s and ’90s, for example.

Now of course that’s true, but people don’t live in the aggregate. They live in cities like Philadelphia, Louisville, Indianapolis, Austin, Texas, Tucson, Arizona,  and I mention those because they and five other good-sized cities have already shattered their all-time annual homicide record and the year’s not even over yet.

Thirteen large cities are reporting their highest crime rates in three decades: Cincinnati, Memphis, Cleveland, and your hometown Colorado Springs.

Jason Riley of The Wall Street Journal calls attention to movements like Defund the Police and efforts to cut ties between police departments and public school districts. And he notes the attendant rise in school violence.

So clearly, crime is rampant in pockets around the country and worse than ever in some places. Is this problem as simple as saying don’t defund the police? Or is there something bigger going on?

STONESTREET: Oh, this is such an important question. Yes, it is partially true that, and meaningfully true, let me be clear that that these numbers are unbelievable. I think the statistics that you brought up today, Myrna are less the the root and more the fruit. The root is indicated by other numbers that we're seeing. And I mean, opioid deaths. This falls into that same category. For me, the opioid epidemic is a sign of a deep cultural brokenness, a sort of cultural brokenness that made our culture unable to navigate the real challenges of isolation and loneliness during the pandemic, the flip side of that same coin, of so called deaths of despair, is what I would call acts of desperation, writing, violence, hijacking protest in order to be lawless. The increasing strange acts of crazy on airplanes, the violent crime rate that you're talking about here, and a violent crime still is not quite where it was in the 90s. But so many other categories of crime. It's not just murders. It's also assault as you brought up, it's also petty crime. It's just one thing after another, it by the way, it's only in these urban centers. It's also in Chicago, for example, what started in the urban center has moved out of the suburbs, many people are now reporting Philadelphia's had incredible numbers, I mean, just kind of one thing after another after another after another. That's the these acts of desperation of the same coin. It's just the opposite side from the deaths of despair. And this is a coin of meaninglessness and purposelessness in other words, not knowing who we are and what we're for not having a strong civil society, abandoning those institutions, like marriage to go back to our first question that helped cultivate and catechize citizens who were able to govern themselves. The loss of healthy male influence, particularly dads, all masculinity being toxic. We've taken these aspects of life that were fundamental to our understanding of being human and being human together, and then treated them like they're not important. And now we're seeing consequences going, where did that come from? Yet, the quote unquote, 'defund the police' movement has some responsibility to bear. But you reduce the police force, and a well catechized society in terms of virtue and honor and citizenship and so on, and you don't see these spikes. This not only points to a bad strategy, which it was let me be really clear. I mean, those who advocate for defund the police are reducing police presence in many of these communities are getting the math exactly  backwards. You can only reduce the math if you have an uptick in virtue. As you have a downtick in virtue and character and family and the institutions that help us govern ourselves and then you try to defend the police, then you're going to have these sorts of numbers as a result.

BROWN: John Stonestreet is president of the Colson Center and host of the Breakpoint podcast. Thanks, John.

STONESTREET: Thank you both.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Well, you’ve heard that every vote counts when it comes to public office.

And the Hameroff family in central Pennsylvania can testify to that!

Avi and Lindsay Hameroff decided to vote absentee in recent local elections. You know, to avoid crowds at the polls.

But Avi told tv station WPMT that he noticed something odd about the ballots.

AVI: These several positions and they were just blank with no candidates running at all.

So kind of as a joke, Avi, who’s a doctor, wrote his own name on the ballot for a couple of positions. And wife Lindsay immediately gave him her support:

HAMEROFFS: I was like sure, sure, you’ve got my vote! And I said wow, there’s two votes already.

A month later, a letter in the mail—saying he’d won the election for Minority Inspector of Elections in Lower Paxton Township! With two whole votes!

Avi says he didn’t expect to win, but he’ll do his public service with all seriousness.

MYRNA BROWN: Another reminder that yes, every vote counts!

EICHER: It’s The World and Everything in It.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Friday, December 17th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Myrna Brown.

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

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: the most anticipated superhero movie to swing into theaters in a while. Here’s reviewer Collin Garbarino.

COLLIN GARBARINO, REVIEWER: Two years ago, fans panicked when Disney and Sony couldn’t come to terms over what to do with Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Disney owns Marvel but Sony owns the film rights to the character.

Spider-Man: Far from Home came out in 2019 and ended on a bit of a cliffhanger. But it looked like it might be the last joint project between the studios.

Disney and Sony eventually put their differences aside to give fans Spider-Man: No Way Home—debuting in theaters today. It’s a new Spider-Man movie set in Disney’s MCU that manages to pay homage to Sony’s Spider-Man legacy. And most importantly, it resolves that cliffhanger, picking up right where Far from Home left off.

J. Jonah Jameson: That’s right, folks. Spider-Man is in fact Peter Parker.

At the end of the last installment, the world discovered Spider-Man’s secret identity, and the revelation has caused endless trouble for teenage Peter Parker. Half the world thinks he’s a hero. The other half thinks he’s a menace. He’s worried about his own situation, and he’s even more worried about his friends and family.

MJ: Does any part of you feel relieved about all this?

Peter: What do you mean?

MJ: Now that everybody knows, you don’t really have to hide or lie to people.

Peter: For the record, I never wanted to lie to you.

In an attempt to straighten out his mess, Peter seeks help from his old friend Doctor Strange, once again played by Benedict Cumberbatch. It’s like Cumberbatch was born to play Strange.

Doctor Strange: So, Peter. To what do I owe the pleasure?

Peter: I’m sorry to bother you, sir.

Doctor Strange: Please, we saved half the universe together. I think we’re beyond you calling me “sir.”

Peter: Okay. Steven.

Doctor Strange: That feels weird, but I’ll allow it.

Doctor Strange tells Peter he can cast a spell that will cause the whole world to forget Peter Parker is Spider-Man. But things don’t go according to plan when Peter starts to change his mind.

Doctor Strange: The entire world is about to forget that Peter Parker is Spider-Man.

Peter: Wait. Everyone? Can’t some people still know?

Doctor Strange: That’s not how the spell works.

Peter: So, MJ’s going to forget about everything we’ve ever been through?

Doctor Strange: Stop tampering with the spell.

When the spell goes wrong, things get a little crazy. Villains from outside the Marvel Cinematic Universe get sucked into Spider-Man’s story.  No Way Home might include Doctor Strange, but this movie isn’t your typical Avengers tale. It feels more like a love letter to fans of Sony’s Spider-verse.

Doc Ock: Hello, Peter.

Yep. Your ears don’t deceive you. That’s the fantastic Alfred Molina back as Doctor Octopus. We also get to see Willem Defoe again as Green Goblin. Both appeared in Sam Raimi’s excellent Spider-Man films from almost 20 years ago. This multi-verse mashup is lots of fun, but I don’t want to spoil the surprises. If you haven’t seen all Sony’s previous Spider-Man movies, you won’t feel lost, but there’s a good chance you’ll want to go back and watch some of them.

Peter: I’m sorry. What was your name again?

Doc Ock: Dr. Otto Octavius.

Peter: [laughing] No seriously. What’s your actual name?

Spider-Man: No Way Home is rated PG-13 for some language, superhero action, and brief suggestive comments. But the movie’s got a lot of heart. Peter and his friends MJ and Ned are some of the most likeable characters in any superhero franchise, but this movie ups the stakes with some surprising themes. Sometimes virtue isn’t rewarded. Doing the right thing doesn’t guarantee a good outcome. But we should do the right thing anyway.

We’re used to seeing superheroes save people through self-sacrifice, but Spider-Man: No Way Home puts a new and powerful spin on that idea. It’s not often we see an action movie exploring the command to “turn the other cheek.”

Doctor Strange: The problem is you trying to live two different lives. The longer you do it, the more dangerous it becomes.

Throughout the movie, Peter is faced with choices, but they all boil down to whether he’s going to put others before himself.

I hope Disney and Sony have taken that message to heart and decided to put fans before their feuding over the franchise. Because I can’t wait to see what the next chapter holds for Peter Parker.

I’m Collin Garbarino.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Friday, December 17th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. Time now for Word Play. This month, George Grant considers—what else?—the vocabulary of Christmas.

GEORGE GRANT, COMMENTATOR: G.K. Chesterton once asserted, “The great majority of people go on observing forms that cannot be explained; they keep Christmas Day with Christmas gifts and Christmas benedictions; they will continue to do it; and someday suddenly they wake up and discover why.” Someday, they may well discover that even the vocabulary of “Christmas” means something! And that is saying a lot: the Christmas vocabulary is as sparkling, as brilliant, as gaudy, as colorful, and as wildly diverse as the most extravagant of Christmas decorations.

Think of all the ways we say Merry Christmas: Blessed Yuletide, Happy Holidays, Joyeux Noël, Feliz Navidad, Seasons Greetings, Joy to the World, Glad Tidings of Comfort and Joy, Gloria in Excelsis Deo! Yuletide and Holidays both come from the old Anglo Saxon. Joyeux Noël is French and Feliz Navidad is Spanish. Joy comes from the old Norman, which in turn came from Latin. Tidings is derived from the old Norse. And Gloria in Excelsis Deo is Latin. All have passed into the English melting pot of our Christmas parlance. And all declare the same message: Good news! Be ye glad! Take heart! On this, the grandest of all festivals, the promise is fulfilled: He has come to make His blessings flow as far as the curse is found.

But of course, there is an entire arsenal of words that we use to supply our holiday vocabulary: there is the Dutch mistletoe and the Greek carols, the Latin advent and the Norman tinsel. Eggnog is a hybridized word from Middle English describing two of the most distinctive ingredients of this uniquely Christmas grog. Poinsettia is a modern Latinized neologism named for Joel Roberts Poinsett, a 19th century American botanist, physician and the first United States Ambassador to Mexico.

Nativity is an Early English term taken from Old French and derived from Late Latin. Santa Claus is from the dialectal Middle Dutch for Saint Nicholas. Magi is from the ancient Persian describing the mystery men of Matthew 2—and the old Armenian tradition of Caspar, Balthazar, and Melchior. You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen. And of course, you recall the most famous of all: Rudolph with his nose so bright.

The historian Christopher Dawson declared, “Christmas is the hinge upon which all human history turns.” And, Alexander McLaren asserted, “Christmas is the day that holds every other day together.” No wonder then we find it necessary to employ a special vocabulary, literally drawn from the ends of the earth, to adorn this most special of occasions.

So, although it’s been said many times, many ways, Merry Christmas to you.

I’m George Grant.

Before I sign off for this year 2021, I want to leave you with a question: Would you take a moment and consider the many times and many ways this year that the work of WORLD has enriched your life?

How a piece of news reporting may have helped you to see something in a way you hadn’t seen it before.

How a timely word of commentary turned you toward a more Christian understanding of the world.

How an urgent bulletin prompted you to quiet yourself and pray.

How a whimsical story might’ve brought a smile to your face.

How even a wise selection of music moved you to thank our Creator God for providing the beauty of sound for us to enjoy.

For my part, I can say that WORLD has blessed me in all of these ways this year and so today I’m writing out my gift of support for this year’s December Giving Drive.

Would you join me? Please visit WNG.org/donate and together, we can ensure that WORLD is there for us in 2022 and for years to come.

WNG.org/donate. Thank you.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: This Sunday marks the fourth, and final, Sunday of Advent. While our Music of Advent features come to an end today, next Friday we’ll bring you music for Christmas Eve.

NICK EICHER, HOST: We’ve made a Spotify playlist for you of this year’s selections. And some asked if we could also make an Apple Music playlist. I’m happy to report that we now have both! Links are included in today’s transcript.

Bonnie Pritchett comes now with two versions of two different selections about the humble birth of Jesus.

BONNIE PRITCHETT, CORRESPONDENT: Snow probably didn’t fall. And, most likely, it wasn’t even winter in Bethlehem when Jesus was born. But, perhaps, it was a steely, cold, bleak winter day in London as Christina Rossetti penned the poem: In the Bleak Midwinter.

Winter’s short days shroud the world in darkness as moaning winds chill to the bone. Rossetti’s poem hints of a tomb and the hope of Christ’s coming glory.

Born in 1830, Rossetti became a respected and prolific poet in Victorian England. She wrote few hymns but the lyrical quality of her poetry prompted some to set a few of her works to music and publish them in hymnals. In the Bleak Midwinter has been put to a number of melodies, the most popular being by Gustav Holst.

CROUCH END FESTIVAL CHORUS: Snow had fallen, snow on snow on snow, in the bleak midwinter long ago…

This 2021 album, Christmas Choral Classics: Encore features the Crouch End Festival Chorus and the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.

SINGING: …heaven and earth shall fall away when he comes to reign. In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed the Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

The cello and violin-playing duo, The OK Factor, composed this arrangement and simply called it “Midwinter.”

MUSIC: [INSTRUMENTAL]

O Little Town of Bethlehem is another hymn that underscores Christ’s humble birth. The angels’ startling announcement to shepherds sent the men hurrying to Bethlehem where they found the newborn king. Luke 2 tells us they returned to their fields praising God.

Bethlehem’s residents slept through the whole thing. Or, so the song goes. Nat King Cole sings the story in his 1962 album The Christmas Song.

NAT KING COLE: O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie. Above thy deep and dreamless sleep, the silent stars go by; yet in thy dark street shineth the everlasting light. The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight…

A trip to Bethlehem during Christmas inspired Phillip Brooks to write this poem in 1868 for the children’s Sunday school class at the Philadelphia church where he served as rector. The Lord’s humble entry into the world exemplifies the child-like humility we must have in order to receive him.

SIDEWALK PROPHETS: Where meek souls will receive him still…

On their 2019 album Merry Christmas to You (Great Big Family Edition), the Sidewalk Prophets linger on the message of God with us. Abide with us.

SIDEWALK PROPHETS: Come enter in. Come enter in. Christ enter in. Oh, Son of God, please enter in. A baby born. Our Savior lives. Light up the world in Bethlehem…

I’m Bonnie Pritchett.

SIDEWALK PROPHETS: Emmanuel. Emmanuel. Our God with us, Emmanuel. A baby born. Our Savior lives, light up the world. Light up the world in Bethlehem. Light up the world in Bethlehem.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Time now to thank the dedicated team that made this week’s programs possible:

Kent Covington, Kristen Flavin, Mary Reichard, David Bahnsen, Katie Gaultney, Bonnie Pritchett, Amy Lewis, Steve West, Onize Ohikere, Janie B. Cheaney, Kim Henderson, Cal Thomas, John Stonestreet, Collin Garbarino, and George Grant.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Carl Peetz and Johnny Franklin are the audio engineers who stay up late to get the program to you early! Leigh Jones is managing editor. Paul Butler is our executive producer, and Marvin Olasky is editor in chief.

The Bible records Mary saying:

My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.

I hope you’ll worship with your brothers and sisters in Christ this weekend.

Lord willing, we’ll meet you back here on Monday.

Go now in grace and peace.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.