The World and Everything in It: July 1, 2026

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LINDSAY MAST, HOST: Good morning!

Birthright citizenship stands, but men in women’s sports does not.

NICK EICHER, HOST: We’ll talk about the politics of the Supreme Court on Washington Wednesday with Hunter Baker.

Also today, World Tour.

And later: An interpreter brings to life the Indispensable Man.

CARNEGIE: We often fill what we don't know about them by our own wishes and thoughts

And WORLD Commentator Cal Thomas on what’s shaping up to be a worldview election.

MAST: It’s Wednesday, July 1st. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Lindsay Mast.

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

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

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: SCOTUS: Birthright citizenship » Mixed reaction on Capitol Hill to Tuesday’s Supreme Court ruling declaring that the children of illegal immigrants and tourists born in the United States are entitled to US citizenship.

The 6-3 decision authored by Chief Justice John Roberts says President Trump violated the Fourteenth Amendment by ordering citizenship be restricted to the children of citizens or legal permanent residents.

The top Democrat in the House, Hakeem Jeffries:

JEFFRIES:  Donald Trump was endeavoring to violate the Constitution because he's a wannabe king, and I'm thankful that that effort has been struck down  

Most Republicans had a very different reaction. And some now want to pass a law defining birthright citizenship in the same way as Trump did in his executive order. House Speaker Mike Johnson:

JOHNSON: I'm sure there's gonna be lots of discussion about that. I will say I'm very disappointed in that outcome. Uh, I think it subjects the country to serious challenges going forward, and we'll have to deal with it as a Congress

In Tuesday’s ruling, Justice Kavanaugh voted with the majority. But he said while he found that Trump’s order violated federal law, it did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment.

Justice Thomas dissented, arguing that citizenship isn’t Constitutionally guaranteed to children born in the U.S. to parents who are not—to quote the Fourteenth Amendment—“subject to the jurisdiction thereof,” such as illegal immigrants. Justices Gorsuch and Alito also dissented.

SCOTUS: Girls sports, campaign finance » The high court also handed down two other decisions on Tuesday, including one upholding state laws that protect women’s sports. WORLD’s Harrison Watters reports from Washington.

HARRISON WATTERS: In the case West Virginia v. BPJ, the court upheld state laws that divide sports according to biological sex, saying they have an important interest in protecting women’s sports. While all nine justices agreed that the laws do not violate Title IX, the court’s three liberals dissented in part—saying legal scrutiny should have been higher for evaluating the constitutional rights of athletes who identify as transgender.

Outside the court, Maggie McKneely with Concerned Women for America says the ruling sends a message to twenty-seven states with similar laws.

MCKNEELY: This is saying that states are allowed to pass the laws. It's not saying states have to, it's not saying that every locality across the nation has to recognize biological sex. It's just saying that they can.

In another decision, the court ruled 6 to 3 that campaign finance rules limiting contributions by political parties violate the First Amendment.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Harrison Watters, in Washington.

Iran talks » Two top U.S. envoys are in Qatar, working to keep the shaky Iran peace deal alive — but they're not talking to Iran directly.

Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Tuesday with Qatari mediators in Doha, who are passing messages between Washington and Tehran. Iran sent its own team, but insists it won't sit down with the U.S. until the deal is carried out.

One sticking point: 6 billion dollars in frozen Iranian assets. The U.S. says not a cent moves until Iran meets its commitments.

Tom Kean Jr returns to Congress » It was the case of the missing congressman.

New Jersey Republican Tom Kean Jr. had been absent from work in the U.S. House for the past four months and missed more than 100 votes. But he finally returned on Tuesday.

Speaking from the House floor he explained why he's been MIA.

KEAN: Several months ago, due to health concerns, I entered the hospital for some testing. I did not believe that this would result in a long-term stay. I was given the diagnosis of depression.

Kean said that like others who receive a similar diagnosis, he thought he could simply muscle through it, but ultimately decided to seek treatment. He said that's a good thing:

KEAN: Because today I stand before you healthier, stronger, and excited to return to the work that I love.

House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar told reporters Tuesday that the voters will ultimately decide whether Kean's explanation is a good one.

AGUILAR: The fact that somebody hasn't shared with their constituents why they skipped work for four months is between him and his constituents. We've got some thoughts on it. It's not how I would do things.

Kean's last vote was on March 5th. He is currently running for a third term in a competitive district.

Venezuela update » Nearly a week after Venezuela's twin earthquakes, the crisis is shifting — from digging for survivors to keeping the living alive. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has that story:

KRISTEN FLAVIN: Aid groups warn the country's battered hospitals are at the breaking point, and that disease could be next.

The official death toll has climbed past 1,700, with more than 5,000 hurt. And experts say the real toll is likely far higher — with tens of thousands more listed as missing.

Damaged hospitals are overwhelmed, some no longer working, and key doctors are missing. With thousands now homeless and crowded into unsanitary shelters, the World Health Organization warns of outbreaks of measles and waterborne illness.

Christian groups are pitching in. Samaritan's Purse has flown in a field hospital, and local churches are taking in survivors.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Hunter Baker is standing by for Washington Wednesday. And later: An interpreter brings to life the Indispensable Man.

This is The World and Everything in It.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: It’s Wednesday the 1st of July.

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

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

First up, a blockbuster finish at the Supreme Court—but not a simple left-right one. The court settled disputes over women’s sports, political parties, independent agencies, the Federal Reserve, birthright citizenship, and mail-in ballots.

MAST: So today, three big questions.

One: Have Christian conservatives won the culture war—or at least that part of the culture war fought at the Supreme Court?

Two: The court has strengthened the presidency, but what happens when that presidency changes hands?

And three: Disappointing rulings on birthright citizenship and mail-in ballots. So what’s next?

EICHER: Well, what’s next is Hunter Baker. He joins us now. Hunter is a senior fellow at the Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy.

Good morning, Hunter.

HUNTER BAKER: Good morning.

EICHER: Well, congratulations on the new post. I think the immediate listener question has got to be, “Wait, are we losing Hunter?” So I’ll ask: Are we losing you?

BAKER: No. I’ve enjoyed doing the podcast so much that I think it intensified my interest in doing more work of this type, including the research and writing. So I took a job that goes along with these interests.

EICHER: I can go with that. Good news.

MAST: Well, Hunter, here’s proposition number one.

The Supreme Court has been delivering on major culture questions, many of these cases shepherded by the conservative legal movement, Alliance Defending Freedom, and other groups. Roe v. Wade overturned by Dobbs. The Coach Kennedy case on praying on the football field. Religious schools. Religious accommodation at work. Jack Phillips finally winning a long battle. And now women’s sports protected from the transgender revolution.

So, Hunter, has the court and the broader legal movement settled most of the major fights Christian conservatives took into court?

BAKER: I don’t know if I would say settled. Maybe we’ll have a time of equilibrium.

I think that Roe v. Wade taught the American people to believe fairly strongly in abortion rights, and that belief is going to be with us for quite some time. I look forward to the day when, under Democratic consideration with Dobbs, we’re able to make a U-turn on abortion. But for now, we have a pretty powerful status quo that we’re dealing with.

I think that Obergefell has radically upset the way Americans think about marriage. My hope is that, before it’s too late, we can begin to rethink and reconsider. I’m not sure that they’re going to go back and reverse that ruling, but that’s something that is still wide open, and I think that Americans need to think about it a lot.

On religious liberty, yes, it’s true that we had a victory on the Masterpiece Cakeshop case, but that was kind of an attenuated victory. There’s more to come on that.

On the trans students in sports issue, I think that we probably are going to get to a point of settlement on that. I think that’s really great from the court. It’s just so scientifically obvious that you should not have boys playing in women’s sports, and I think that that issue is probably settled.

EICHER: Well, Hunter, now a purely political case on campaign finance. The court saying that political parties may spend freely in coordination with their own candidates.

Does this one quietly strengthen the traditional political parties, or do parties now just become bigger versions of the outside interest groups that we already have?

BAKER: I think this takes us away from this weird asymmetrical situation where the super PACs can do things that the parties can’t.

I think it’s just realistic. Not only is there the fundamental free speech issue, but there’s also this issue of: Can’t we just have disclosure? Can’t we just know who’s giving how much money? Doesn’t that really deal with the corruption concerns that we have?

Basically, sunlight is the best disinfectant. I think that we can have a lot more success with good laws regarding disclosure instead of these highly artificial spending caps and rules about coordination.

EICHER: Do you think that stronger parties will mean more accountability, or is it just going to be more money with maybe better branding? I don’t know.

BAKER: It’s a good question.

We’re in the era of the super-wealthy politician who does not necessarily rely on the party. We saw Donald Trump come out of nowhere and establish himself that way. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t, but I think we’re going to see more of it in the future.

MAST: Hunter, moving to other cases. The court says the president has greater authority to remove heads of independent agencies, although it does treat the Federal Reserve differently, and conservatives like this outcome.

Then there’s the immigration ruling on TPS and the asylum claims that we’ve covered here.

But, of course, these moves strengthen the presidency generally. The rules do not expire after one administration. So when the White House changes hands, are conservatives going to be just as comfortable with this much presidential power?

BAKER: If the president has more authority over agency heads and the bureaucracy, that’s a pure win for conservatives or Republicans.

The reason I say that is that the bureaucracy has, for decades and decades, essentially been a fourth branch of government and heavily tilted toward the Democrats and the left, very often frustrating the agendas of Republican presidents.

So the degree to which the president will be able to exert more authority and fire those people who are not responsive, I think it’s actually going to make government work much better.

MAST: So then where does Congress fit? Has Congress outsourced so much power that these fights are really symptoms of legislative weakness?

BAKER: Well, Congress needs to be making the laws, and the president needs to be enforcing the laws.

But I would argue that the bureaucracy is not only unresponsive to presidents, I think it’s probably somewhat unresponsive to Congress as well.

I think that the bureaucracy has been highly independent, highly obstructionist, and it lobbies Congress. It shapes what Congress does.

So I think that it needs to be brought to heel, and a decision like this is just the beginning of that.

EICHER: Well, Hunter, Chief Justice Roberts had the majority opinion in issue three, the birthright citizenship issue.

He says that children who are born here, even to parents in the country unlawfully or temporarily, are automatically citizens under the 14th Amendment.

Now, I think this opinion could be a disaster for the country, as we have discussed over the last month, since we started thinking that the decision was near. You think that the court basically got it right. Why?

BAKER: Well, we really get into questions of law versus policy.

When I look at the text of the Constitution, and we’re talking about those people born in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, I think that the only people who were not subject to the jurisdiction were families of diplomats, people who are in Indian tribes, and individuals who are part of an invading army. I think that’s who that refers to.

Now, if that is the correct interpretation of the text, then this ruling is the correct ruling.

Now, I said law and policy. Policy is a separate question.

Some people are saying this can’t be right regardless of what the text says. It’s a national suicide pact. It means that we can have all these potential sleeper citizens and birthright tourism and all kinds of problems.

All I can say to that is that is not the Supreme Court’s problem. We do not need to have the Supreme Court ruling in that fashion. We have to honor our own Constitution, which has lasted longer than any other.

If it is as bad as we say it is, then we need to amend the Constitution.

But I’ll say something else. One thing that I agree with Warren Buffett about—I disagree with him about a lot of things—but one thing that I agree with him about is, don’t ever bet against America.

I think that I am bullish on America, and I am bullish on the impact that America will have on the people who come to this country.

EICHER: Yeah, so I heard some of the things that we have talked about as you were dismissing those.

Let me tell you my difficulty here.

I have so much respect, Hunter, for Justices Alito and Thomas—more than anybody at the Supreme Court. I think of them as principled conservatives, and I outsource a lot of my thinking to them because they are both so brilliant.

So I don’t think I’m making just a special pleading here. I am persuaded that the 14th Amendment is not a suicide pact, and I’m very concerned about this ruling.

The justices spent pages reconstructing what people understood in 1868. Meanwhile, the country they’re governing looks nothing like it.

We’ve got the birth tourism industry, for one thing, and we’ve got enemy nations taking advantage of that, for another thing.

Is there room, Hunter, in constitutional interpretation for changed circumstances, or are we just stuck with the text?

BAKER: I think that our Constitution is made to be amended when we think it is wrong.

I think that we have lost patience with amending the Constitution.

I have been upset over and over again when the left amends the Constitution with a vote of five justices, and I think that we should exercise the discipline of amending the Constitution in the normal fashion.

MAST: So, Hunter, one more.

Justice Barrett wrote that Mississippi may count absentee ballots that are postmarked by Election Day but arrive several days later.

Is the larger lesson here simply this: Don’t put too much stock in the courts? There are three branches of government, and the separation of powers is a reasonable obstacle.

BAKER: So this Election Day issue—Congress can act.

Congress definitely has the ability to regulate a federal election, and they could say ballots are not going to come in after Election Day. Full stop.

They could do that.

This is another one of those places where, okay, the court is not going to answer the question for us, but Congress can, and they should.

EICHER: Hunter Baker is a senior fellow at the Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy and our regular analyst here on Washington Wednesday.

Hunter, thanks so much.

BAKER: Thank you.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: World Tour.

The Solomon Islands may be headed in a new direction after a recent change in its government. The country’s rich resources and its strategic location in the South Pacific have meant increased interest in the country, and that affects its politics.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Since it gained independence 48 years ago, only two prime ministers have managed to complete their 2-year parliamentary term. In May, Matthew Wale became the new prime minister. WORLD correspondent Amy Lewis has our report.

AMY LEWIS: The country has endured years of unrest and political turmoil. Parliamentarians often change parties and allegiances. In 2019, the country switched diplomatic relations from Taiwan to China and welcomed China’s investment dollars, security, and involvement in the exportation of vital resources. In 2022, a former prime minister negotiated a secret security pact with China, and it’s still in effect.

But in April of this year, the island nation’s government experienced big shake-ups.

Incumbent Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele lost most of his support when 19 members of parliament defected and many of his ministers resigned.

Matthew Wale’s coalition took the parliamentary majority from Manele. A subsequent vote of “no confidence” removed Manele from office. A week later, Democratic Party member Wale was elected as prime minister.

WALE: We want to do as much as we possibly can…But I promise you, change is coming.

Past elections often erupted in riots. This time was different. Regina Lepping is a member of Wale’s Democratic Party. She was at Parliament House when Wale’s win was announced.

LEPPING: The town is just down the hill, so you can hear the cheers. They were honking the truck, and it was just powerful, like people really wanted it.

Just weeks into his term Wale has already targeted resource exploitation in fishing, logging, and mining companies.

WALE: I have terminated some people. I will terminate some more, too….

Like the forestry commissioner.

WALE: The economy, believe me, has been mismanaged for so long. You know those loggers. They’ve been raping and pillaging our country for so long. Not anymore.

Two weeks ago, Wale’s finance minister terminated tax exemptions for these companies.

Lepping says good leadership isn’t only about what you accomplish. It’s also how you do it.

LEPPING: When he came out of the parliament house as Prime Minister, the first one he shook hands with was the security guard who opened the door for him.

Lepping says Wale is a people person and one of the people. When he holds a press conference, he speaks in a mix of English and Pijin, the language of the Solomon Islands.

WALE: Everyone must work. [Pijin]

Traditionally, people defer to elderly Solomon Islanders to make decisions about the direction of the country. But 70 percent of the country’s population is under the age of 30. Wale takes that into consideration.

LEPPING: When it’s issues affecting the young people, he will ask directly the young people.

Lepping says one of the deeper needs Wale will need to address is the normalization of corruption.

LEPPING: When I wanted to get things done, I have to pay extra for it in order to get a normal work done. But then everyone is used to it now.

Wale is also taking steps to improve foreign relations. In late May, he signed a new investment incentive with the United States. In mid-June, Wale made his first foreign visit. He and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced plans for a new Pacific-wide treaty.

ALBANESE: We want Australia to be the security partner of choice.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean Wale will cut ties with China. The security pact his predecessors signed with one of their nearest neighbors is complex.

WALE: I’ve been praying and fasting about it, but of course, Cabinet will need to have a look at these things.

The challenges facing Wale and the Solomon Islands are bigger than one man can face alone. On the steps of Parliament House, Wale closed his acceptance speech by praying an ancient prayer.

WALE: It is appropriate as it is necessary that I conclude with the prayer of King Solomon of old: ‘So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?’

Regina Lepping says the prime minister’s humility and plans for the country encourage her.

LEPPING: I see hope for our women, I see hope for our youth, I see hope that we can actually have change.

Wale plans to reform the logging, fishing, and mining industries to increase government revenue and bring the country more independence—and affordable education.

That’s this week’s World Tour. I’m Amy Lewis.

NICK EICHER, HOST: It’s been a hot summer!

How hot?

Well, so hot ... that in Switzerland, the yodelers had trouble keeping their cool.

Basel hosted the country’s national yodeling festival over the weekend. Temperatures got up to 102.

So the performers had to scout out the coolest seats in town—perching on the edges of public fountains, rehearsing singing while soaking their feet in the cool, cool water.

Nearly 200,000 people attended, where yodeling, alphorn playing, and Swiss flag-throwing all went on despite the sweltering temperature.

Proof that when the heat is on, the show goes on.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: Today is Wednesday, July 1st. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Lindsay Mast.

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

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: Making history human.

As Americans mark the nation's 250th anniversary, many are visiting Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia, where historical interpreters bring the founders to life for thousands of visitors each year.

MAST: WORLD correspondent Jeff Palomino went to meet the man with perhaps the most challenging assignment of all: portraying America's first president.

AUDIO: Hello! Are you interested in touring the palace or seeing Mr. Washington? Mr. Washington.

JEFF PALOMINO: A young woman in colonial dress stands between two brick columns outside the Governor’s Palace in Colonial Williamsburg. A crowd is gathering, and it’s starting to get a little chaotic.

AUDIO: All right, all right . Give me one second. My friends, if you want to meet with Mr. Washington, I need you to form a line going to the right.

The people in line are eventually directed to walk through green gardens and into the Palace’s West Advance room.

Over 70 people squeeze into 4 rows of chairs and tight seating around the walls. Children sit on the hardwood floor in the front of the room. The crowd can’t wait to see the man who will walk through the door.

CARNEGIE: My name is Ron Carnegie. I work for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. And I’ve been playing George Washington for the last 20 years.

Carnegie is a historical interpreter. He portrays George Washington in various Williamsburg programs.

CARNEGIE: My job, in my opinion, is for you to feel like you've met Washington.

That might sound like a fun job - even an interesting one - but bringing “The Father of our Country” to life for audiences in 2026 is also a job with many unexpected challenges.

WASHINGTON: Morning, gentlemen, ladies, good people of our United States of America.

Carnegie wears an ivory vest and trousers and a brown coat. A black, cocked hat sits on a wig of long, grey hair tied in the back with a black ribbon. A lace neck piece and walking stick completes the look. His program today is an abbreviated version of Washington’s Farewell Address.

WASHINGTON: The instance for a new election of a citizen to administer our executive branch of government being not far removed, I thought at this time it proper that I apprise you of a decision that I have made and that is that my name shall not be amongst the number from whom your choice shall be made.

Carnegie worked at Williamsburg 11 years before being asked to audition for the role of Washington.

CARNEGIE: Washington, that came to me unexpectedly. I don't look like George Washington. So I never saw myself in that role.

He got the job, and Williamsburg gave him a full year to prepare.

CARNEGIE: Washington is an incredibly well-documented man. So there's a phenomenal amount of information regarding him out there.

He read books and pored over original documents. He even watched shows and documentaries. When the year ended, Carnegie knew Washington pretty well, but now he had to interpret him – while interacting with an audience.

CARNEGIE: The problem is, until you're playing it, you often don't know what the public's going to find interesting and is gonna want to know more about. And the researching doesn't stop. It keeps going on and there's constantly new things that you have to embrace.

Another challenge Carnegie faced comes from Washington’s own personality and public persona.

CARNEGIE: Washington was a stoic. He’s a little aloof. He's not a cuddly, bouncy, cheerful man. Jefferson called him gloomy. He has his moments, but they're mostly in private. And that's not really the best kind of character to choose for the kind of work we do.

You wouldn’t know it this morning, though, as the crowd hangs on every word. Even the kids sit still. At the end, hands shoot up.

CARNEGIE: My favorite part of most of my programs is when I'm taking questions from the public.

And that’s when Carnegie encounters yet another challenge of being Washington. Tall tales and legends.

TOURIST: There have been some reports the cherry tree story is fabricated. Can you shed light on that?

The Cherry Tree story was invented after Washington died, but many myths started during his life. Carnegie thinks this happened because a young America wanted its own heroes. But that’s not the real Washington.

CARNEGIE: He’s just another man. He's a remarkable man. Most of us couldn't be Washington, but he's still a mortal man. He still suffers faults. He still has sins. He's not perfect.

TOURIST: Was there ever a point during the Revolutionary War where you did not think you would win?

WASHINGTON: Sir, it’d be easier to answer if there was a point during the late war where I thought we would win. (Laughter)

The program covers a range of topics. Mr. Washington asks people to respect the “new written constitution" and he pleads for national unity over “mere regional distinction.”

WASHINGTON: There is no greater honor that may be bestowed upon you than your title of American, which is your title in your national capacity…

He warns against divisions caused by political parties and America becoming “embroiled in foreign entanglements.” He even gets this question.

TOURIST: What happens if a future president has a desire to become king?

WASHINGTON: Well, I don't see that happening. So, the question is, what occurs if a future president wishes to be king?

Carnegie says audiences always remark that the program sounds like it was written for today. And that’s a challenge in and of itself. We all have a tendency to interpret history through modern filters.

CARNEGIE: We do that with all the founding fathers. The challenge is that we often fill what we don't know about them by our own wishes and thoughts.

In doing so, we may forget America’s founders disagreed about a lot of things. Still, when the audience makes connections in their heads it can only mean only one thing: they find Washington relevant.

CARNEGIE: I will do this as long as I can, because in this kind of work that's brilliant, that's exactly what I want.

It’s also why, at age 64, he still loves showing people the human side of American history.

CARNEGIE: I think showing historical figures, whether they're well known or not as real humans, makes history more interesting. It reminds you that these people don't know where they're going. They're taking risks that they don't know the answers to. History is human.

WASHINGTON: I would like to thank you for your time and your attention. God save us all, and God save the Constitution of our United States of America (applause)

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Jeff Palomino in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia.

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

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: And I’m Lindsay Mast.

Following last week’s Democratic primary elections, House Speaker Mike Johnson delivered a stark warning about the direction of the Democratic Party. WORLD commentator Cal Thomas says the larger issue isn’t merely who won a primary—it’s what those victories may say about the country’s future.

CAL THOMAS: Following last week’s primary elections, in which the rise of Democrat-Socialist candidates alarmed many longtime Democrats, House Speaker Mike Johnson argued the movement is no longer confined to New York City.

JOHNSON: Across the country, Democrats have candidates winning primaries and rising through the ranks...

To many Americans, that list sounds less like isolated incidents than evidence of a broader trend.

Johnson says the success of these candidates is only possible because younger Americans have never had to live under socialism. He warned they have been taught too little to recognize that the lofty promises of socialism have repeatedly ended in cruelty and failure.

Johnson recalled a similar warning given by Ronald Reagan.

JOHNSON: He said freedom is not passed along in the bloodstream. It's got to be fought for. These are the times Reagan was warning about. He was warning about communism overseas. Now it is on our own shores...”

Contrast that with the Democratic Party of John F. Kennedy, who favored lower taxes and was an ardent anti-communist.

Labor unions, though largely supportive of Democrats, were proudly pro-American.

Public schools began the day with the Pledge of Allegiance and, until the Supreme Court ruled otherwise, many also included prayer and Bible reading.

Political parties change. Some changes are for the better, like the battle for civil rights. Others deserve much closer scrutiny.

Johnson argues the deepest divide isn’t over issues like tax rates or spending.

It’s over the source of our rights.

JOHNSON: The principles of America... individual freedom... limited government... the rule of law... peace through strength... fiscal responsibility... free markets... human dignity... the sanctity of all life... We hold these truths to be self-evident... all men are created equal... created by our Creator...

America’s founders believed our rights come from God—not government.

That conviction has distinguished this nation from every system that places the state above the individual.

As America prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday, perhaps that’s the larger question before us.

Not simply which party wins elections.

But whether Americans still believe in the self-evident truths on which this nation was founded.

For WORLD, I’m Cal Thomas.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: Tomorrow: Analysis of the landmark ruling on men in women’s sports. We’ll have a report. And, a Christian publisher has some counter-cultural advice for writers. That and more tomorrow.

I’m Lindsay Mast.

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

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 says,  “A man’s spirit will endure sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?

An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.” —Proverbs 18:14–15

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.