The World and Everything in It: January 23, 2024

PREROLL: The World and Everything in It is made possible by listeners like us. Hi, I'm Randy Brison, a retired public school teacher and small business owner in Dixon, Tennessee, near Nashville. My wife Denise and I have been financial supporters of WORLD News for over a year, because we think it's more important than ever to have a trusted voice tell us about world events from a scriptural perspective. And I pray that all listeners enjoy today's program.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning! 

DESANTIS: It’s clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance.

With Ron DeSantis out of the race, what’s next in New Hampshire?

NICK EICHER, HOST: Also today, pro-lifers in Tennessee face surprising charges after blocking access to an abortion business. And a visit to Hostages Square in Tel Aviv.

AUDIO: Something in our hearts has been broken. I don't think this missing piece will ever heal itself.

And WORLD commentator Janie B. Cheaney on the “two parent privilege.”

REICHARD: It’s Tuesday, January 23rd. 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: Time for news now with Kent Covington.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: New Hampshire » New Hampshire residents are set to vote today in the first-in-the-nation presidential primary contest.

And the two remaining GOP contenders have traded jabs in the final hours before the vote.  

Donald Trump heard there campaigning in Rochester, while Nikki Haley campaigned in Franklin, just north of Concord.

HALEY: He was good at breaking things. You’ve gotta be good at fixing things too. This is a time we’ve got to fix America.

The last of the polls will close at 8pm Eastern tonight.

U.S./U.K. strikes on Houthis » In the Middle East, British fighter jets soared over the Red Sea, and U.S. and British warships and submarines fired tomahawk missiles in the latest air strike against Houthi Rebels in Yemen.

That comes as the Iran-backed terror group continues to attack commercial ships on the Red Sea.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby:

KIRBY: As long as they continue to make that choice, we have a choice too. We have a choice to keep defending our ships and our sailor and our merchant traffic. And we have a choice, when we have the information available to us, to preempt their ability to conduct those attacks. And we’ll continue to do that.

The U.S. and British militaries last night struck targets in eight locations used by the Houthis.

The strikes reportedly targeted an underground storage site and locations connected to the Houthis’ missile and air surveillance systems.

Border SCOTUS Texas wire » A divided U.S. Supreme Court granted an emergency appeal from the Biden administration Monday in a battle over border security in Texas. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER: The administration asked the high court for permission to cut miles of razor wire that Texas installed on the U.S.-Mexico border. And in a 5-to-4 ruling the justices said the wire can be removed, at least for now as a court battle plays out.

The state placed roughly 30 miles of razor wire along the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass to deter migrants from illegally crossing.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

Border talks » The state of Texas says it has no choice but to do all it can to secure the border, because the Biden administration won’t.

Gov. Greg Abbott said when the White House asks for more money for the border.

ABBOTT: You have to look and see what that money is for. It is not to build more wall, to deny illegal access, to crack down on illegal immigration. It actually is to facilitate more illegal immigration.

But President Biden says that is not so. With major Democrat-led cities now calling on him to curb the border crisis. Biden told a gathering of mayors at the White House:

BIDEN: I believe we need significant policy changes at the border, including changes to our asylum system to make sure we have the authorities we need to control the border. And I’m ready to act.

Lawmakers continue talks on Capitol Hill and with the president on a package that would make big changes at the border while also funding aid to Ukraine.

Boeing Inspection » Boeing jets are once again under the microscope.

The Federal Aviation Administration is asking airlines to perform visual inspections of their 737 Nine Hundred ER jetliners.

That follows an incident earlier this month involving a newer Boeing model when a door-sized panel, known as a door plug blew off of a 737 Max 9 jet in mid-flight.

It turns out the older Nine Hundred ER uses a similar door plug panel.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters:

JEAN-PIERRE: What I can say is FAA certainly sees this as a priority, uh, to make sure that we're keeping American safe. 

But the FAA notes that Boeing’s 737 nine hundred ER has logged millions of flights without any issues with the door plug.

Biden/Harris abortion stuff » Vice President Kamala Harris launched a pro-abortion tour in the key swing state of Wisconsin Monday on the 51st anniversary of the now-defunct Roe v. Wade decision.

HARRIS: In America, freedom is not to be given. It is not to be bestowed. It is ours by right. By rights. And that includes the freedom to make decisions about one's own body, not the government telling you what to do.

But pro-life groups say she’s forgetting about the right to life itself.

Also on Monday, President Biden called a meeting of his so-called reproductive health care access task force.

The task force discussed ways to provide easier access to contraception and abortion drugs nationwide.

President Biden’s team plans to make so-called “abortion rights” a major focus of his reelection campaign.

China/Taiwan » Six Chinese balloons either flew over or near Taiwan recently with Chinese warplanes and navy ships also swarming nearby. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin reports.

KRISTEN FLAVIN: Officials with the self-governing territory say it appears that China is floating an increasing number of balloons over the island or through its airspace.

It’s unclear if they are spy balloons or if they serve some military purpose. But at least one crossed near an important Taiwanese naval base.

Some speculate that it’s merely part of a campaign of harassment against the island, which Beijing claims as its own territory.

Chinese forces started ramping up aggressive behavior, breaching Taiwanese waters and airspace in the lead up to Taiwan’s presidential election earlier this month.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: What Ron DeSantis dropping out means for the New Hampshire primary. Plus, remembering hostages still in captivity.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Tuesday the 23rd of January, 2024.

Glad to have you along 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. First up: the rise and fall of the Ron DeSantis campaign.

In May of 2023, DeSantis launched his campaign on a Twitter livestream that didn’t go so well. Nearly 8 months later, DeSantis returned to the platform now called “X” to suspend the campaign, and endorse Donald Trump.

DESANTIS: It’s clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance. They watched his presidency get stymied by relentless resistance, and they see Democrats using lawfare to this day to attack him.

REICHARD: Joining us now to talk about where things go from here is Hunter Baker. He’s provost at North Greenville University in South Carolina. He’s also a regular contributor to World Opinions.

Hunter, good morning.

BAKER: Good morning. Glad to be with you.

REICHARD: Glad you’re here. When DeSantis launched his campaign, he promised to fix problems like the border crisis, illegal drugs, and the economy. He was coming off of big midterm wins in Florida. At the same time, Trump was trying to explain why Republicans didn’t fare well in the midterms elsewhere and also facing several indictments against him.

Given all that, Hunter, why do you think DeSantis wasn’t able to gain more traction?

BAKER: Well, it’s really counterintuitive. When he started, I think people thought he is going to be able to knock the king off. DeSantis had had an incredible win in Florida. People forget that President Obama won Florida twice. And so to take a state that President Obama won twice, and then to win yourself a second term with something like 58% of the vote is unheard of. It’s unbelievable. And so the fact that he was able to do that, it made everybody think if he can do that, then he can solve the national equation and win as well. And at one point, he did poll fairly closely to Donald Trump and two things happened. Trump began to attack DeSantis, calling him DeSanctimonious and he, this is the counterintuitive part: Trump was indicted and the more legal troubles he had, the more his coalition rallied to his side, almost as if to say you will not deny him to us. And so you can just see it, right, that the poll numbers begin to spread, the greater Donald Trump’s legal troubles seemed to be.

REICHARD: So the lawfare tactics seemed to backfire?

BAKER: Well, from from DeSantis’s perspective, from Nikki Haley’s perspective, I mean, it may be the case that there are some folks on the left who may be thinking, we want to face Donald Trump in a national election. And this is in part a way to accomplish that. And they might really prefer to face Trump versus a Ron DeSantis or a Nikki Haley, for example.

REICHARD: Let’s talk about the timing. All the indications going into the weekend were that DeSantis was skipping New Hampshire to prioritize South Carolina. What factors do you think went into his decision to quit early?

BAKER: Well, I went to a major pro-life event in South Carolina a few weeks ago, really expecting to see a lot of DeSantis support, and then maybe Haley support because she had been the governor. But it seemed like there was already, even in that environment, a considerable amount of Trump support, and certainly people there thought that Trump would prevail in South Carolina. So I think that DeSantis thought to himself, I’m gonna go to South Carolina, I’m going to see what kind of support I think I have and whether I can do something there. And I think that he must have concluded that the prospects were not good, and that he needed to wrap up the campaign. And honestly, DeSantis really put everything into Iowa. I think that the entire plan was to win Iowa, to show that Donald Trump was beatable, and to go from there, and it did not happen. And my understanding is that something like half of the people who had pre-committed to DeSantis in Iowa did not ultimately go for him in that contest. If they had, we might be looking at a totally different situation.

REICHARD: When DeSantis endorsed Trump, he not only made clear that he wants Trump to win, but went further and argued why Nikki Haley should lose.

DESANTIS: He has my endorsement because we can’t go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear -- a repackaged form of warmed-over corporatism -- that Nikki Haley represents.

REICHARD: Hunter, what do you think is the old Republican guard of yesteryear he’s referring to…and is that really the biggest concern Republicans face now?

BAKER: Well, when you’re talking about the old guard, you’re talking about the Republican party that was primarily a smaller government party; a party that was generally a free trade party, which is kind of a different direction than Donald Trump has gone; a party that probably was generally favorable to legal immigration, and maybe encouraging more of that; and a party that was socially conservative. I think I think the deal that Donald Trump made was that he thought, You know what, I can pick up the social conservatism, at least the pro-life part of it, and then I can combine it with an economic populism with regard to things like immigration and free trade that he thought would be a more appealing package, and he was able to make a whole new coalition out of that. Oh, and also being less inclined to get involved in the foreign affairs of other nations. Trump has talked a lot about the U.S. being a normal country, and not doing things like these grand invasions in the Middle East. And that also has appealed to a lot of people. And that’s, you know, that’s kind of a different brand than the Republican Party has had. You know, at one point they were flush with victory in the Cold War, and they thought we could do anything overseas. And that turned out not to be the case.

REICHARD: Well, tonight is Nikki Haley’s chance to stand out as the alternative to Donald Trump. New Hampshire has open primaries, and that means Independent and undeclared voters can vote in the Republican primary. And that means Haley could cobble together Republicans and Independents who don’t want Trump to be the nominee.

Hunter, what do you expect to see tonight?

BAKER: Well, she does have the support of New Hampshire’s very popular Governor Chris Sununu. Certainly they convinced Chris Christie to get out of the contest for exactly this reason, to try to bolster her chances. First of all, I don’t think she will defeat him. But second, even if she does, I think it’ll be kind of a boomlet. I think that he will go on to win South Carolina convincingly and and to win other places convincingly as well. So, I think I’m with a lot of the other analysts who think that this thing is over and it’s over faster than we thought it would be.

REICHARD: Anything else you’d want to add to this topic?

BAKER: Just that Donald Trump is in an entirely different place than most of us thought he would be. After the end of the election in 2020, I think a lot of us thought that he had ended badly, that the family’s brand was in disgrace, and that there was no future and that was totally incorrect.

REICHARD: Hunter Baker is provost at North Greenville University in South Carolina. Hunter thanks so much.

BAKER: Thank you.

EICHER: Before we move on, if you’re interested in following the results of the election tonight, WORLD’s got you covered. Check out our election center at wng.org. You’ll find the latest returns along with a list of useful articles about the election. We have a link in today’s program notes.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: on trial for pro-life activism.

Last year, a jury in Washington found nine pro-lifers guilty on charges stemming from protests in front of an abortion business.

They’re currently in custody as they await sentencing that could result in more than a decade in prison.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today, jury selection begins in the trial of six pro-lifers facing the possibility of spending the next 11 years in prison.

Their crime? Taking part in a sit-in almost three years ago at a Nashville-area abortion business.

WORLD reporter Leah Savas has the story.

LEAH SAVAS: Kyle Bradshaw remembers the day FBI agents arrested his father-in-law, Paul Vaughn.

BRADSHAW: So that arrest actually happened on the anniversary of our wedding. So we had plans for that day, I was at work like normal, and then got a text from my wife asking me to come home. So I didn't really know what was going on.

Paul’s wife and some of his eleven children were getting ready for school when the agents showed up with guns drawn. Audio here from a video Paul’s wife Bethany took on her cellphone.

FBI: But if you’re not going to let me, I’ll just—

BETHANY VAUGHN: No, I want to know why you were banging on my door with a gun!

Bradshaw didn’t find out what happened until he got home. His mother-in-law, Bethany, and some of her kids stayed at the Bradshaws’ house that day as they waited for news about Paul.

BRADSHAW: That was a very traumatic experience, to say the least, for for my wife and her siblings and Paul's wife—just living with the unknown for a number of hours that day. Because they had no idea where where Dad was.

Before Paul came home later that day, the family found out that he was one of several pro-lifers charged with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, or FACE, punishable by up to one year in prison for a first offense. He also faced a charge for conspiracy against the right to obtain reproductive health services, punishable by up to a decade. All because of his part in a March 2021 sit-in at the Carafem Health Center—an abortion facility in Mount Juliet, Tennessee.

AUDIO FROM LIVESTREAM: [Singing]

OFFICER: We need you to carry it outside, guys, you’re gonna block the hallways. We need more officers up here.

That’s audio from a 2-hour Facebook livestream of the event, documenting what the pro-lifers call a “rescue.” It started a little before 8 in the morning. A couple dozen pro-lifers crowded in a hallway in front of a medical suite, some sitting or standing directly in front of the doors. When police arrived, the group sang over instructions to leave…and the pro-lifers stood in the way of people trying to enter.

OFFICER: Hey guys, we're gonna need you guys to disperse outside okay? This is your last warning. I need everybody to step outside. Go to the sidewalk…

For about two hours after police made that announcement, the pro-lifers alternated between praying, singing, reading Scripture, and discussing next steps in the demonstration.

CHESTER GALLAGHER: …Naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison—come on, this should encourage you today, hallelujah—I was in prison…

Their goal was to keep staff and patients out so abortions couldn’t happen. Around 10 a.m., police started taking names. They arrested 9 adults, according to local news reports.

For many of the families facing these charges, pro-life activism like this is just a part of life. Paul Vaughn practically proposed to his wife while in jail for a similar rescue in the 90s. Ruth Green, the wife of another defendant facing a possible 11 years, said her husband, Dennis, has also been a part of activities like this for decades.

RUTH GREEN: Mostly him. Sometimes me too, but mostly him, and he would take some of our children with him. So they’ve been exposed to pro-life work all these years.

That day in Tennessee, some of their children were in the hallway with Dennis. Meanwhile, Ruth was outside the building, handing out tracts and holding signs.

GREEN: When once we were told that he was being charged with FACE, that's when I was like, Oh, wow, this is bigger than we initially thought it was going to be.

The family had known about the FACE Act before. Dennis thought there was a small possibility of facing a civil charge and paying a fine under that law. But the conspiracy charge with the possible 10-year prison sentence came out of the blue to the pro-lifers. Until 2022, they had never heard of charges like that for nonviolent sit-ins. One of the defendants in the Tennessee case pled guilty in exchange for reduced charges.

For Ruth, who is in her mid-50s, the idea of losing her husband for a decade is troubling. Together, they have 13 children with five still at home. She’s especially worried about how not having Dennis at home would affect their youngest son.

GREEN: Our youngest son, Benjamin, he's 10. He has Down syndrome. And they're very, very close. They're, they're just best pals…. And Benjamin would not understand the ramifications of the situation, he wouldn't understand why dad is not around. Where's dad? When's he coming home?

But Ruth said she’s trusting that God will bring good out of the situation, even if there’s a guilty verdict.

GREEN: The Father told us that those who love Him will be persecuted and suffer for righteousness sake. So that kind of keeps me going.

Paul Vaughn’s son-in-law Kyle Bradshaw hasn’t participated in a rescue himself… and he said he doesn’t know how he feels about them as a tactic. But he’s seen the heart of love for unborn children that motivates the defendants and their families. He’s seen how they’re trusting the Lord with the outcome of this case.

KYLE BRADSHAW: We should never go out and seek troubles and persecution. But if that comes as a result of living faithful lives, then glory be to God. … The Lord uses these situations to grow us and shape us in ways that we  could never be sanctified without these trials.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Leah Savas.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Winter weather may have driven down voter turnout in Iowa last week, but others made the most of it. Like sculptor Carlos Maldonado.

The audio from Iowa’s News Now:

MALDONADO: I didn't really want to do anything plain. So I gave it a shot and this is what we ended up with.

“This” would be a five-and-a-half-foot-tall great white shark made entirely of snow. It drew lots of attention and cameras.

VISITORS: Say cheese! Cheeeeeese!

Maldonado says his snow shark took only about four hours but that’s because he had good help from his two young sons:

SON: I was packing the snow and next my dad spray painted it. My brudder worked on the tiny fin over there.

There’s no evident danger that this fad will jump the shark anytime soon, but eventually time and temperature will melt it.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Tuesday, January 23rd.

This is WORLD Radio and we’re glad you’ve joined us today. Good morning. I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: A sobering milestone.

January 14th, that was the 100th day in captivity for some Israeli hostages in Gaza. Many families don’t know if their loved ones are dead or alive. 

WORLD’s Jill Nelson paid a visit to Hostages Square in Tel Aviv last month where thousands of Israelis gather each week to show support. Here is her story

AUDIO: [Piano]

JILL NELSON: It’s a Saturday afternoon in December— Shabbat in Israel. A crowd gathers around a bright yellow piano as a musician leads song after song.

The mood is solemn. This spacious plaza is situated next to an art museum and Israel’s defense ministry. In the wake of Oct. 7th, Israelis transformed it into a space for activism.

Some people whisper as they point to the pictures of hostages they know. Others wipe tears from their eyes.

GROSS: Something in our hearts has been broken. I don't think this missing piece could ever heal itself.

Liad Gross is from Netanya, about 20 miles north of Tel Aviv. She has been coming to Hostages Square every week since Hamas kidnapped her friends from Kibbutz Nir Oz.

Gross walks around the plaza holding large posters with their pictures and their names—Eitan and Yair Horn. She is baffled by those in the West who support Hamas—particularly members of the LGBTQ community.

GROSS: I think when I hear you, if it's on Tik Tok, or Facebook or Instagram, saying oh free Palestine, free Palestine. Oh boy you don't know what's waiting for you in Gaza. If you guys would stand in Gaza, you would be slaughtered in a minute.

Gross has two requests for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

GROSS: I think the government and Bibi himself. They need to bring all the hostages back. They need to finish the Hamas organization because we cannot live under terror any more.

South Dakota Senator John Thune met with Netanyahu during an October trip to Israel. Thune compared the country’s heartache and challenges to that of the United States after 9/11. He said Netanyahu pointed out one major difference.

THUNE: He said, the difference is for you in the United States, your enemy was 3,000 miles away. Ours is 1 kilometer away. And it really puts into perspective just the threat environment that Israel sits in. It's a very dangerous neighborhood.

AUDIO: [Men singing]

A long table in Hostages Square reminds visitors just how dangerous this neighborhood is. Each place setting displays the name and picture of a hostage still in Gaza. The table seems to go on forever—more than 100 seats.

This display is personal for many Israelis, including 64-year-old Nissin Shasha and his family.

SHASHA: I know people from other kibbutzim, Nir Oz and Kibbutz Be’eri, that was murdered and also was kidnaped to Gaza

NELSON: Were you able to find their pictures here?

SHASHA: Yah, I saw them.

AUDIO: [Crowd singing]

Soon a large crowd gathers around the table to light the Shabbat candles as the sun sets. One end of the table is dotted with stuffed animals for the children still missing.

I ask Shasha what he would say to the people of Gaza.

SHASHA: I think that they missed the chance to build Gaza like Singapore. They, there was an election and voted for Hamas. 2006. And Hamas doesn't care for the people there.

Michael Levy strolls around the plaza wearing a shirt with his brother’s picture. He recounts the morning when Hamas slaughtered 1,200 Israelis and dragged hundreds more into Gaza, including his 33-year-old brother Or.

LEVY: They got there on Oct. 7 at 6:20 am, about ten minutes before hell started. They immediately ran…

His brother called their mom and told her what was happening. That was the last time they heard from him. Levy’s sister-in-law died during the attack, and now the family is caring for the couple’s 2-year-old son.

There’s been little hope of a second hostage deal since the November exchange that freed 120 people.

Israelis have mixed feelings about hostage swaps. The exchange of 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for one Israeli soldier in 2011 was controversial. One of the prisoners Israel released was Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. He was the mastermind behind the Oct. 7th terrorist attack.

AUDIO: [Rally chant]

But at this plaza, the focus is on bringing the hostages home, and the clock is ticking. Hamas has threatened to kill more hostages if Israel doesn’t stop its bombardment campaign of Gaza.

Israel believes 25 of the 136 remaining hostages have died in captivity. Levy wants to make sure the world doesn’t forget about his brother and the rest of the people taken by Hamas.

LEVY: We all miss them and we all want them back as soon as possible. And they just need to try to imagine their brother or their father or their son being kidnapped by monsters.

AUDIO: [Singer]

As darkness settles over Tel Aviv, thousands of people gather near a large stage.

An Israeli artist sings and around a dozen people file onto the stage holding posters of their loved ones.

Gross works her way closer to the group. She’s both hopeful and honest about Israel’s long road ahead.

GROSS: It was not up to us you know. The peace was not up to us. But we still want peace.

Reporting for WORLD I’m Jill Nelson in Tel Aviv, Israel.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Tuesday, January 23rd. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Up next: The Two-Parent Privilege. WORLD commentator Janie B. Cheaney cites a recent book that confirms the benefits of marriage for society—and especially for children.

JANIE B. CHEANEY: Some observations just seem like common sense. For instance, children from one-parent households appear on average to start life at a disadvantage. And yet the number of one-parent households keeps rising. More men and women are opting to stay single, and the widening income gap between married and single-parent households is no coincidence. Author Melissa Kearney has watched the numbers for decades with growing alarm. She writes, “I approach these issues as a hardheaded—albeit softhearted—MIT economist,” an economist who believes we ignore the facts at our national peril.

In her 2023 book The Two-Parent Privilege, Kearney assembles an impressive set of data that in almost any other context would be impossible to ignore. But too many policy makers have framed criticism of single-parent families as blaming the victims, pining for the old days of mom in the kitchen, or promoting the patriarchy. Fellow academics have quietly told Kearney, “I tend to agree with you about all this—but are you sure you want to be out there saying this publicly?”

The book’s main point is a simple equation: family minus one parent equals many fewer resources available to children. Money, certainly, but also time, opportunity, and what Kearney calls “emotional bandwidth”—that is, sharing the challenges of life and providing each other room to breathe. For a single mom, the stress of a full-time job, home and car maintenance, bills, schedules, and crisis management leaves little space for reading aloud, laughing, or just listening.

As for single dads, the decline in marriage has left many men rootless, shiftless, and often jobless. (15% of men between the ages of 25 and 54 are out of the workforce.) Lacking a consistent male role model, boys are struggling in school and at home, and often fail to form healthy relationships with women.

While recommending more government action to address the problem, Kearney is careful to steer clear of politics and avoid pointing fingers . That's not true of some of her critics. She says, “Addressing the decline of the two-parent family will require efforts on multiple fronts,” only one of which is government action. But some critics of her thesis blame the marriage decline almost entirely on policy. Writing at The Cut, an online opinion page of New York Magazine, Rebecca Traister insists, “It’s not marriage—it’s money, and the racist and economically unjust policies that leave some Americans with less of it to begin with, regardless of their marital status.” She goes on to blame Republicans for denying the poor the stability they need to get married. Jill Filipovic, writing for CNN, agrees, while adding: “Our cultural respect for marriage hasn’t receded. What’s changed is that Americans feel like we should be adults before we get married: that we should be financially stable, that we should marry someone we love and who is also a force for stability and support.”

Speaking for myself, it was marriage that made me an adult: God’s sanctifying tool, forging my husband and I into a loving, financially stable whole. Marriage is more a process than an achievement. That’s the part that doesn’t seem like common sense to the contemporary world, and I don’t know that it ever will. Declining marriage is mostly due to personal choice, in places policy can’t reach, but Christians can model a better way.

I’m Janie B. Cheaney.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Tomorrow: results from New Hampshire on Washington Wednesday.

And the Space Force. It does play a vital role in national security, but few people know much about it. Tomorrow you’ll meet some members of this new branch of the military.

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.

The Bible records Pharaoh speaking of Joseph to his servants, “‘Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?’ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.’ And Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.’” —Genesis 41:38-41

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.