The World and Everything in It: December 27, 2022

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning!

This week, we continue our 2022 news in review. Today, the battle for religious freedom gave us mixed outcomes in the courts.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Plus notable deaths this year in the fields of music and sports.

And more stories of answered prayers.

REICHARD: It’s Tuesday, December 27th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

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

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

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Weather » The Buffalo-area blizzard is one for the record books rivaled only in recent memory by the arctic blast more than four decades ago. Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz:

POLONCARZ: The blizzard of ‘77 lasted longer, three days of terrible conditions. This was two days of terrible conditions. But the ferocity of the storm was worse than the blizzard of ‘77.

The death toll from a Buffalo-area blizzard rose to 27 on Monday. Nationwide, the winter storm has killed at least 49 people.

First responders in Upstate New York worked through Christmas and into Monday to rescue people from cars and some powerless homes buried under feet of snow. Governor Kathy Hochul:

HOCHUL: We have been through a lot of wars together, and this blizzard is the one for the ages. Certainly it is the blizzard of the century.

The dead around Buffalo were found in their cars, homes and in snowbanks.

SoKo drones » South Korea scrambled fighter jets immediately after North Korean drones violated its airspace.

The military also responded by firing warning shots and launching attack helicopters to shoot down the drones.

There were no immediate reports of civilian damage on the ground in South Korea. But tensions were high enough that authorities grounded flights at Seoul’s two airports for an hour.

It was the North’s first incursion into the South’s airspace in five years.

Ukraine » Ukraine wants the United Nations to moderate a peace summit within two months, around the 1-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion.

Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba on Monday…

KULEBA: Every war ends as a result of the actions taken at the battlefield and at the negotiating table.

But he says how much they can accomplish at the table remains to be seen. And in fact, he doubts Russia would even take part in a UN-led summit.

Kuleba stressed that Ukraine won’t negotiate directly with the Kremlin until Russia faces a war-crimes tribunal.

China-Taiwan » China’s military sent 71 warplanes and seven ships toward Taiwan in a 24-hour show of force. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: The aggressive display came after Beijing expressed anger at Taiwan-related provisions in a U.S. annual defense spending bill.

From Sunday into Monday morning China sent planes across the Taiwan Strait into Taiwanese airspace.

Beijing claims Taiwan is Chinese property, and it has stepped up its military harassment of the island in recent years.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

TikTok ban push » On Capitol Hill, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are increasingly sounding alarms about a popular Chinese-owned social media app.

Congress just passed legislation banning the TikTok from federal government devices. But GOP Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis said Monday…

MALIOTAKIS: The real discussion will be in the next Congress on whether we ban this platform overall in the United States. There are over 100 million American users of TikTok.

Intelligence officials say the Chinese government can access the personal information of users in the United States and conduct influence campaigns by controlling the content users see.

China COVID » Meantime, in China, the communist government is dropping another pandemic restriction. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has more.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: The Chinese government will no longer require passengers arriving from abroad to quarantine for more than a week after arriving in China.

That as China appears to be giving up on its zero-COVID policy and its draconian lockdowns, which have damaged its economy.

The government abruptly dropped many of its pandemic restrictions earlier this month, sparking widespread outbreaks that have swamped hospital emergency rooms and funeral homes.

Amid the lockdowns, many residents have not developed natural immunity. And experts question the effectiveness of Chinese COVID vaccines.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

I’m Kent Covington. Straight ahead: remembering prominent people in the fields of music and sports.

Plus, more ways God has answered our prayers.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Tuesday the 27th of December, 2022. We’re so glad you’ve joined us for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. We continue this week’s review of top news of the year.

Today, developments in religious liberty. And here to talk about it is WORLD reporter Steve West.

REICHARD: Welcome, Steve!

STEVE WEST, REPORTER: Thanks Mary. Well, like any year, there’s good and bad.

REICHARD: Let’s start with the good news–the Supreme Court.

WEST: Yes! A conservative Supreme Court majority continued its drive to protect the rights of religious persons and organizations last year. The court kicked it off with Ramirez v. Collier, upholding the right of Texas death row inmate John Ramirez’s pastor to “lay hands' on and audibly “pray over” him during his execution. What that almost unanimous ruling indicated is that free exercise of religion is a priority, and it takes a compelling governmental interest to override it.

REICHARD: I’ll add if you’d like to delve deeper into that case, we covered it on Legal Docket Podcast. I’ll link to it in today’s transcript. It’s called Death Row Prayer. You’ll hear from John Henry Ramirez, the inmate, who Texas executed in October.

Moving on now, the court strengthened a principle of fairness this past term. One example I can think of is the court struck down lockdown orders during the pandemic that left open stores but closed churches.

WEST: That’s right. And in cases this, it made clear that religious people and organizations must receive even-handed treatment by the government. In Shurtleff v. City of Boston, a unanimous court struck down a city policy that excluded a flag with a Christian cross on it. The court said that was wrongful discrimination based on religious viewpoint. And then, in June, fair treatment came up again. In Carson v. Makin, it rejected an attempt by Maine to bar parents from using state tuition assistance to pay for their children to attend religious schools. This is an area where no public school is available so the state allowed use of the money for non-religious schools.

REICHARD: Well, most people have heard of Coach Kennedy, the praying football coach. Tell us about that.

WEST: For seven years Washington high school football coach Joe Kennedy has been trying to establish his right to pray a short, silent prayer, on his own, at midfield following high school football games. In June, he finally got it. In Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, the court said both the free exercise and free speech clauses of the First Amendment protected his right to pray–and his job.

REICHARD: That’s another one we covered in depth on Legal Docket Podcast. I’ll link to that one, too. It’s called Level Praying Field.

Okay, Steve, let’s talk about the current term that began in October this year.

WEST: The big case to watch now involves Colorado website designer Lorie Smith. That was argued early this month. Smith challenged the same law in Colorado that snagged masterpiece Cakeshop baker Jack Phillips. The state law requires her to design websites for same-sex weddings if she designs websites for any weddings. That would violate her religious convictions. It’s likely she will win, but as always, it’s how she wins that matters.

REICHARD: Alright, let’s highlight some other areas where trouble is brewing and where cases have not yet reached the Supreme Court.

WEST: Well, as you know, a lot happens in the lower courts, and I’ll highlight just two areas of the many. First, threats to the ability of churches, Christian schools, and other religious institutions to operate in line with their convictions. Back in 2020, in Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, the Supreme Court said a doctrine that bars courts from interfering in religious institutions’ internal matters applies to teachers who perform “vital religious duties.” That’s a doctrine called the ministerial exception.

But the lines are blurry. Meaning, which employees perform vital religious functions and which do not? For example, a Catholic school in North Carolina. A federal judge ruled a teacher there who taught only secular subjects wasn’t doing vital religious duties. But in Indiana, a Catholic school’s decision to fire a school guidance counselor for entering into a same-sex relationship was upheld. So courts are still working this out.

REICHARD: What about adoption and foster care agencies?

WEST: We thought that threats to faith-based adoption and foster care ministries would have ended with the Supreme Court’s ruling in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia. That 2021 decision protected Catholic Social Services’ right to foster child placements and adoptions in accordance with its Biblical beliefs on marriage and sexuality. Yet challenges continue. Texas challenged a Biden administration rule against states partnering with faith-based organizations late in the year.

REICHARD: I know that you have also been writing more about parental rights. We’re used to hearing about free speech and religious liberty, but not so much about parental rights. Why?

WEST: Mainly because this right is a natural right that courts have recognized. It was assumed, like air we breathe. That is, until schools became hotbeds of progressive ideology, pushing transgenderism and critical race theory. Let’s use transgenderism as the prime example. Many schools are committed to ushering children into gender transition, and parents have sued. But the results of this litigation have been mixed.

A school district policy in Wisconsin was allowed to stand that says the school need not tell parents of their child’s gender transition. Yet a few months later, a federal judge chastised school officials in Pennsylvania for allowing a teacher to promote her own views on gender dysphoria and gender transitioning over parents’ objections.

These conflicts will continue, particularly as Americans increasingly attach less value to religion. But we can pray that the Lord will change hearts. He majors in great reversals.

REICHARD: Steve West writes about religious liberties for WORLD Digital. You can read his work at WNG.org. You can also subscribe to his free weekly newsletter on First Amendment issues, called Liberties. Steve, always good to have you on.

WEST: Mary, Merry Christmas.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: December’s especially eventful for a young couple from Huntsville, Alabama and this year for Dylan and Cassidy Scott, it got even more so.

You see, the two share the same birthday: December 18th.

So when Cassidy got pregnant this spring and did the math, they must’ve thought—hmm, I wonder.

Flash forward to December 17th. They check into the Huntsville Hospital for Women and Children, the clock strikes midnight.

Could it be? Could it be?

Yes, indeed: 12:30 a.m., December 18th, baby daughter Lennon came along. So now mom, dad, and baby share the same birthday!

How likely is that, you ask?

REICHARD: Yes, I do ask.

EICHER: One chance in 133,000.

Now, I checked this on the blog of statistician Anthony B. Masters. Listen to this: The odds of picking up a coin and immediately tossing heads 17 in a row is more likely than parents and a child all sharing the same birthday.

REICHARD: Imagine that!

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

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Tuesday, December 27th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Mary Reichard.

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

Counting today, we have five days remaining in our December Grassroots Giving Drive. Last I checked, we were around 90 percent. It is so important that we get to 100 or better. We are listener supported. We say it every day because it’s true. Your gifts are the reason we’re able to be here every weekday. If you’ve not given yet, I hope you’ll do it today. Just ask yourself what WORLD Radio is worth to you, and if you can, please give that amount at WNG.org/donate.

REICHARD: Alright then. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: Significant deaths in sports and music.

WORLD’s Josh Schumacher takes us through some of the major figures in the world of music and sports who passed away in 2022.

AUDIO: We have one more drummer who’s going to come up and play for us tonight ... Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome Mr. Shane Hawkins on the drums.” [Cheering]

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: 16 year old Shane Hawkins sat behind the drum set. It was late September 2022, and the Foo Fighters were performing at a tribute concert to their longtime drummer Taylor Hawkins—16-year-old Shane’s dad.

A photo of Shane and his dad appeared on the massive screen behind him.

AUDIO: [Shane starts this song...]

Taylor Hawkins died at the age of 50 at a hotel in Columbia in March while the Foo Fighters were on tour. A toxicology report showed ten different drugs in his system.

AUDIO: [There goes my hero! Watch him as he goes.]

Hawkins leaves behind his wife of 17 years—Alison—and their three kids.

AUDIO: [“My Story” by Big Daddy Weave]

While he wasn’t in one of the biggest rock bands in the world, Jay Weaver was frontman of one of the biggest Christian bands around: Big Daddy Weave…

Weaver died at the age of 42 in January. Cause of death: complications due to COVID-19. He had both his feet amputated in 2016 after struggling with diabetes and a weakened immune system.

AUDIO: [When the night has come…]

That’s country singer and songwriter Mickey Gilley’s cover of “Stand By Me.” He died in May at the age of 86. Gilley garnered 17 No.1 Billboard hits throughout his career… And founded the nightclub that would inspire the movie “Urban Cowboy” starring John Travolta and Debra Winger.

Gospel singer LaShun Pace died in March at the age of 60. Stop-you-in-your-tracks vocals and a love of the Lord propelled her into a life of praise and worship.

PACE - “I Know I’ve Been Changed.”

Pace started singing as a child with her siblings in a group called the Anointed Pace Sisters. Her marriage to a gospel music producer with a lengthy list of closeted homosexual affairs fell apart, even as her career as a gospel recording artist began to take off. Pace struggled with her health over the past few decades before she passed away this year.

Rock n’ roll star Jerry Lee Lewis also died this year at the age of 87. He’s most well known for his song “Great Balls of Fire.”

SOUND - “Great Balls of Fire”

Lewis was probably Elvis’s biggest competition for the title of the King of Rock and Roll.

But his legacy was marred by scandal…including his marriage to his 13-year-old cousin…Even before officially divorcing his previous wife. He was 22 at the time. He and his cousin divorced more than a decade later… After, she described their marriage as abusive.

[CHARIOTS OF FIRE THEME]

You probably recognize that movie theme. Greek Composer Vangelis—the man behind the music—passed away in May at the age of 79. The prodigy taught himself how to play the piano…Vangelis began his career as a rock star before turning to writing movie scores. He is best known for the score of Chariots of Fire—a film about the lives of British runners Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams. The score won an Academy Award.

[007 Theme]

British Composer Monty Norman, the mastermind behind this signature James Bond movie theme. The theme first appeared in the 1962 Sean Connery James Bond Movie “Dr. No.” A Times of London article in 1997 alleged that he wasn’t actually the author of the 007 theme—it said that the real author was the arranger of the piece, John Barry. Norman sued the newspaper for libel and won 30,000 pounds in damages and court costs in 2001. Norman died in July at the age of 94…

The Rapper Coolio—the performer behind “Gangsta’s Paradise”—died this year at the age of 59.

SOUND - “I’m the kinda G that little homies want to be like/On my knees saying prayers under the streetlights.”

As one of the bigger, and older, names in hip-hop, many younger rappers looked up to him. Some of those rappers may have been Takeoff, PnB Rock, JayDaYoungan, and others. All of who were 30 years old or younger and were killed this year by gunfire.

Shifting now to the world of sports: Mike Leach, renowned college football coach, died earlier this month at the age of 61. He revolutionized the college football passing offense, and was one of very few college football head coaches who never played college football. He held a law degree, and withheld almost no opinions on political and social topics.

On New Year's Day, 2022, NFL coach and former NFL running back Don Reeves died of complications due to dementia. He was 77. He is one of a small group of people who appeared in the Super Bowl—as both a player and later a coach. The Associated Press named him their coach of the year twice during his time on the sidelines.

He was also a Christian. Audio courtesy of Tele-missions.

REEVES: You know, I think a lot of times the loneliness that you read about or hear about from our young people, sometimes it's just a shame that they don't understand that He's just as far away as you getting on your knees and just start talking to Him. That he's real and He does. Listen to you.

Moving now to womens sports. Shirley Spork was one of 13 women who founded Ladies Professional Golf Association—or LPGA. Spork helped found the group while working as a public school teacher in Detroit. She died this year at the age of 94.

Spork also formed a teaching program to help women learn to play the game.

She described these accomplishments quite humbly in this interview with Jennie McAfferty.

SPORK: Through my education, I was able to do a lot in the teaching and coaching of golf and along with it got to play a little bit of the tour and had fun out there. But in the early days, there wasn't much money and there weren't a lot of tournaments. So I thought I should use my teaching credential.

A few weeks before her death, the LPGA announced that it would induct her and its other founders into the Hall of Fame. Sports Illustrated describes the LPGA Hall of Fame as one of the hardest-to-enter in the world of sports.

Finally, basketball star Bill Russell played as the center for the Boston Celtics. As a 12-time All Star, and 5-time MVP, he helped lead the team to 11 championships in 13 years. He also served as the first black coach for any integrated major American sport. He was one of only a few black athletes in the NBA when he first started. The Hall of Famer died at the age of 88.

Some considered him to have had the greatest career ever in team sports. Many called him the best basketball player of all time until a young kid by the name of Michael Jordan began to showcase his skills in the 1990s.

Russell said that he intentionally tried to use his platform as an athlete to speak out against social issues.

RUSSELL: Being a high-profile athlete, there was a forum there for me should I choose to use it. And… I choose to use it.

He received the Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2011. And the NBA awarded him its lifetime achievement award in 2017.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Tuesday, December 27th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. Now, day 2 of our series of Answered Prayers. First up, two prayerful grandmothers. And Mary, you’re one of them!

REICHARD: Here is my prayer story. So let me go back to the happiest of moments. They arrived when my first grandbaby made her grand entrance into this world back in April of this year, of this year full of vim and vigor and loud at one end, and inconsiderate at the other. She was just perfect. But within a few days, my daughter, the baby's mother, developed a life threatening infection. She was re-admitted to the hospital right away. I googled the diagnosis, which I know you aren’t supposed to do and my heart just sank. The dark prospects scared me so badly. I don’t mind saying that I was on my knees weeping and praying to God, please spare her. Take me. Take me and not my daughter. I know you’re not supposed to bargain. I’ve prayed hard in my life, but never as hard as that. I just kept doing the next thing that needed doing. Care for the baby, cook some food, take out the trash, ask questions, hope, wait, pray some more. As it happened, the timing worked out, the right antibiotics killed the infection. And soon all was well once again. Thanks be to God for prayer and for life.

EICHER: Amen! I remember that well. Next, grandmother Kari Stadem:

KARI STADEM: One Tuesday morning in February, I had a problem. My younger daughter was having more contractions and it looked like she might give birth to her first child that day. I was supposed to practice with 16 individual performers for a music contest, and then travel to accompany them at the contest the next day. My husband Pete and I prayed, “Lord, please help me make it to the contest and to the birth. And what should I do today?” I decided to go and practice with my phone handy so I could be called and leave at a moment's notice. And then immediately after the practice, I'd go to Sara's house. That's what I did, arriving at about 3pm. Baby Addy came into the world at 10:30pm. I dozed through the night at the birthing center. We arrived back at their house at 6am. And after a half an hour nap, I got ready and drove to the contest. Since I had so many students, I was able to stay awake and we had a successful contest day. After which I drove back to Sara's house and stayed a couple more days to help the new moms settle in. Just a few weeks later, I faced a similar problem. Pete and I felt a need to attend a funeral four hours away, but my other daughter was due to deliver any minute. Once more we prayed. My husband felt peace about going to the funeral. The family was blessed by our presence and two days after we returned, baby Lydia made her first appearance with grandma in the room to greet her. I'm so grateful for a God who has perfect timing.

REICHARD: Grandmother prayers, so powerful! And finally today, Luke Ferraguti:

LUKE FERRAGUTI: There are two prayers from 2022 that God answered that I'd like to share with you. The first was that God would reacquaint me with dependence on Him. And despite my stubbornness and attempts to pursue my own plans over His, His mercies have chased me down this year. And I've been reminded that even though God works through sadness, He ultimately has our good in mind. The second is that God would provide for the first Ferraguti niece who was born into our family in October of 2022. Mom, dad and baby are all healthy, and I'm so grateful for His provision in that area of our lives. I'm so grateful for The World and Everything in It community, and I hope you have an amazing day.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Tomorrow: we continue our review of the biggest stories of the year—Wednesday is international news.

And, remembering those in politics and the military who died this year.

That and more tomorrow.

I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard.

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: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. (John 14:27 ESV)

Go now in grace and peace.

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