The World and Everything in It - July 13, 2021

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning!

Haiti’s in turmoil after the assassination of its president. We’ll talk to an American physician who lives there.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Also California’s allowing gender identity to decide whether biological men can choose women’s prison. It’s causing problems.

Plus The Olasky interview. Today, a conversation with pastor and political activist Samuel Rodriguez.

And WORLD commentator Steve West on the right kind of homesickness.

REICHARD: It’s Tuesday, July 13th. 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 now for news with Kent Covington.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Top U.S. general in Afghanistan relinquishes command » The top U.S. general in Afghanistan relinquished his command at a ceremony in Kabul on Monday.

Gen. Scott Miller handed off the command to Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, who said Monday’s ceremony marked—quote—“an important milestone in the transition of our involvement in Afghanistan.”

MCKENZIE: But it’s not the end of the story. It’s rather the end of a chapter. More chapters will be written and the narrative will continue. What it does signify—the ceremony today signifies—is our renewed commitment to our Afghan partners.

McKenzie, the head of U.S. Central Command, will oversee operations remotely from Central Command headquarters in Tampa.

He will have authority to conduct possible airstrikes in defense of Afghan government forces at least until the U.S. completes its withdrawal next month.

The handover ceremony came as the Taliban continues to conquer more territory throughout the country.

Afghanistan’s National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib said the U.S. and NATO withdrawal has left a vacuum. As a result, he said, already Afghan forces have been left stranded on the battlefield without supplies, sometimes running out of food and ammunition.

Biden voices support for Cuban protesters » President Biden said Monday that the United States stands with Cuban protesters who have taken to the streets, demanding changes from Cuba’s communist regime.

BIDEN: The Cuban people are demanding their freedom from an authoritarian regime. And I don’t think we’ve seen anything like this protest in a long, long time.

Thousands in dozens of cities are publicly protesting food shortages and high prices amid the pandemic. It’s one of the island's biggest antigovernment demonstrations in recent memory.

Cuban dictator Miguel Diaz-Canel said the United States is fomenting unrest. He blamed the protests on what he called a deceptive social media campaign.

CANEL (translated): In the last couple of weeks, a social media campaign against the Cuban Revolution increased, setting out the root source of the problem around issues and shortages we are facing because that’s the way it’s created to try and create dissent, dissatisfaction.

Citing that supposed campaign, the Cuban government has blocked social media sites within the country.

Biden hosts White House meeting on crime reduction » President Biden hosted city and law enforcement leaders from around the country at the White House on Monday to talk about surging crime rates and what to do about it. The president told reporters:

BIDEN: While there’s no one-size-fits-all approach, we know there are some things that work. And the first of those that works is stemming the flow of firearms used to commit violent crimes.

Shootings and killings are up around the nation, with local politicians and police struggling to manage the violence.

Attorney General Merrick Garland and several anti-violence experts joined the White House meeting. They talked over federal law enforcement efforts, including new strike forces in several major cities. They’re charged with taking down illegal gun traffickers and enforcing a new “zero tolerance” policy for dealers who sell guns illegally.

The president recently announced a slate of proposals to address the problem, including plans to provide funding to cities that need more police. But many of the proposed measures are little more than suggestions to local governments.

White House: Hati’s request for U.S. troops “under review” » White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Monday that Haiti’s request for U.S. troops to help stabilize the country is “under review.” She added that President Biden is keeping close tabs on the situation in Haiti.

PSAKI: Certainly the safety and security of the people of Haiti is of great interest to the president and to the administration.

A 7-member team of U.S. security officials returned home from Haiti on Monday after a short visit. They met with top government leaders in Haiti and reviewed the security of critical infrastructure there.

Haitian officials are scrambling to manage growing unrest after the assassination of Presisident Jovenel Moïse last Wednesday.

President Biden said Monday…

BIDEN: People Haiti deserve peace and security and Haiti’s political leaders need to come together for the good of their country.

The White House suggested that Haiti's political uncertainty was a complicating factor in determining whether to grant the government’s request for U.S. troops.

Meantime, Hatian authorities have arrested a Haitian businessman living in Florida in connection with Moise’s assassination. They identified the suspect as 62-year-old Christian Emmanuel Sanon, who once expressed a desire to lead his country in a YouTube video.

Authorities also suspect dozens of former Colombian soldiers in the killing. Twenty-three of them are in custody, along with three Haitians.

Death toll from condo collapse climbs to 94 » The death toll from the South Florida condo collapse climbed to 94 Monday. Twenty-two people now remain missing.

Surfside, Fla. Mayor Charles Burkett told reporters…

BURKETT: The search continues until everyone trapped in the debris is pulled out.

Burkett said officials have decided to increase security around the debris pile to help ensure that possessions are returned to their rightful owners.

Workers have recovered everything from jewelry to several paintings.

Police said there has been “no criminality” at the site, but officials want to make sure the area is secure.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: turmoil in Haiti.

Plus, an ode to summer camp.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Tuesday the 13th of July, 2021.

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. Up next: the crisis in Haiti.

Well, as we’ve reported, the Haitian government has asked the White House to send U.S. troops to help protect major infrastructure and stave off anarchy as gangs increasingly run the streets.

REICHARD: Turmoil is nothing new to Haiti. It’s the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

And few Americans know that better than Dr. David Vanderpool. He is a trauma surgeon and the founder and CEO of LiveBeyond. That is a ministry that helps provide healthcare, clean water, education, orphan care, and the gospel to the people of Haiti.

And he joins us now. Doctor, good morning!

DAVID VANDERPOOL, GUEST : Thank you. Good morning to you.

REICHARD: We mentioned that Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Give us a sense of what life is really like for the people of Haiti, current crisis aside. What specific challenges do the Haitian people deal with each day?

VANDERPOOL: Well, you know, Haiti on a good day is really tough. You know, there's very little electricity in Haiti, almost no running water, and no sewage control. So, you're looking at a country that doesn't have any of the niceties that we enjoy here in the United States. And so people are extremely poor. We're talking about 80 percent of the people live on less than $2 a day, which is just an incredible crushing poverty that they live in day to day. Very difficult for them to find food, sufficient food. We're seeing about a 40 percent increase in starvation and children in our area, and so it’s very, very difficult, very challenging. And it's amazing considering how close Haiti is to our own border.

REICHARD: We’ve heard a lot about the gang violence there. How big of a problem is that for the people of Haiti?

VANDERPOOL: It's an extremely big problem. I can't emphasize that enough. Since the United Nations left in 2017, the gangs have proliferated. They’ve become really national gangs, almost cartels in nature. They've also been able to gather exceptionally powerful weapons. We've always seen nine millimeter weapons, small machine guns, but now they actually have Russian made medium machine guns at their disposal, which are just absolutely devastating against a population. So, the gangs are absolutely in control of the entire country and have been so for quite some time. The violence is just absolutely astounding. We've had violence perpetrated against us. Personally, my wife had an attempted kidnapping and beating. We were able to thwart that kidnapping, but it took overwhelming force to do so. Our base manager has been kidnapped and tortured for four days. And so people really need to understand that Haiti is an exceptionally bad place right now. It's exceptionally dangerous, and really needs some kind of external stabilization to get it back on track.

REICHARD: Doctor, the Hatian government has asked the White House to send troops to help keep some law and order ahead of elections. It remains to be seen whether the U.S. government will do that. Tell us about elections in Haiti: Are they relatively secure? And do the people trust the results as accurate?

VANDERPOOL: Not at all. The elections are not secure at all. A very small percentage of the people actually vote, and so it's arguably not a democratic election with such a small percentage. The people do not trust it. They know that the politicians are corrupt and corruption in Haiti is just of epic proportions, top to bottom, side to side. And so really, the elections are generally sort of a sham and they don't trust them at all, especially this last round of elections that was had in 2015 actually was vacated because of corruption. And then elections were held again in 2016 with the now assassinated president was democratically elected at that time. But a very, very corrupt country, the government is certainly corrupt as well.

REICHARD: How might Christians specifically pray for the people of Haiti?

VANDERPOOL: Well, you know, the real challenge and I think, you know, we hear this a lot from people is that Haiti’s not worth it. Why do we want to put any money, any energy into a place like Haiti? It's a failed state. And I understand that. I live there full time. And so I completely understand that sentiment. However, that people are not. And these are people that Jesus died for. And so the people who are there are the ones that are suffering and exceptionally the extreme poor. These are the ones who suffer the most. And so as people are praying, I ask people to pray that the peace of God will permeate Haiti, that the peace that really is not understandable through human terms will permeate Haiti, and that the love of Jesus and faith in Jesus, the entire country will turn toward Jesus for their salvation. Not toward the United States, not toward the United Nations, but to Jesus. That's their only way. It's anybody's only way of salvation. But Haiti in particular, really needs that right now.

REICHARD: Dr. David Vanderpool with LiveBeyond has been our guest. Dr., thanks so much!

VANDERPOOL: Thank you for having me.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: gender ideology in prison.

Last year, state lawmakers in California approved Senate Bill 132. The measure allows inmates to request transfers to women’s prisons or men’s prisons based on their gender identity. It took effect on January 1st.

NICK EICHER, HOST: But opponents of the policy worry about the danger of placing men with women behind bars.

WORLD intern Caleb Bailey reports.

AMIE ICHIKAWA: If you read the layout of this law, it hates women. It hates women.

CALEB BAILEY, REPORTER: Amie Ichikawa is the founder and director of Women II Women, a nonprofit organization that provides reentry services to women paroling out of prison.

ICHIKAWA: But our biggest issue right now is getting SB 132 amended. There's been so many distress calls that we've received, that there's no way I could sleep at night if I ignore it.

The legislation doesn’t require transgender inmates to undergo any kind of medical treatment before requesting a transfer. That means if a man says he’s a woman, he qualifies for placement in a women’s prison.

And Ichikawa says male prisoners have plenty of motivation to seek a transfer.

ICHIKAWA: There is a humongous cultural difference between men and women's facilities. Men are in a killing field. I mean, as soon as they hit receiving, it's a state they live in, a state of mind that's kill or be killed.

In April, the Los Angeles Times reported that 261 inmates had requested a transfer since the bill took effect in January. All but six requests came from men wanting to move to a women’s facility.

LAUREN ADAMS: So these are men who fully have, you know, all their original body parts and aren't taking hormones, or at least they don't have to be.

Lauren Adams is the legal director of the Women’s Liberation Front, also known as WoLF.

ADAMS: Most of the men who have transferred so far, are serving time for really serious crimes. And there's already been incidents, and the women feel really abandoned, and they're not safe. And they're just being completely forgotten in all of this.

The California bill builds on previous federal legislation. In 2003, Congress adopted the Prison Rape Elimination Act to deter sexual assault behind bars. It sets guidelines that prisons use to prevent attacks. It also requires each prison to collect data on reported assaults.

ADAMS And it also directed the Department of Justice to make national standards that correctional facilities had to follow. And what they came back with included cross-sex housing, in some cases, which was not something that they were directed to do by Congress in passing the act, they came up with that on their own.

The sponsors of California’s bill see it as a step in the right direction to protect a vulnerable population. State senator Scott Wiener authored the bill. He says isolating transgender inmates is not a proper solution to the attacks. But Lauren Adams says putting other prisoners at risk isn't the right answer either.

ADAMS: They want to solve it by taking a small subsection of those vulnerable men and moving them into the women's facilities. And it's dangerous, and it's lazy. They're leaving behind some of the other vulnerable people.

While women’s advocates are worried now about California, the issue could soon become a national problem. Democrats in Congress are pushing a bill to amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The so-called Equality Act would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of things that qualify for protection against discrimination.

Craig DeRoche heads the Family Policy Alliance.

DEROCHE: The Civil Rights Act is who you are. The color of your skin, your race, your nation of origin, your faith, things like that. This is a behavior. This is venturing out into saying for the first time in American history, that how you behave is a protected right. This is the first time in American history that we are trying to put in a statute to subtract the hard fought rights gained by women over the last couple 100 years. This is not bringing them up to the standards of what women have, it’s saying they have too many rights. We need to subtract them.

Though the new bill threatens safety in women’s prisons, transgender inmates do face violence. The Federal Bureau of Prisons reported in 2020 that nearly one-fifth of sexual assault claims in California prisons came from transgender inmates.

DeRoche says their safety is also important.

DEROCHE: People that live a transgender lifestyle need protections from abuse and bullying, because these are people created in God's image as well. But that's not what this bill is about. This bill is about reducing the civil rights of other Americans and putting America back several steps in the civil rights movement.

DeRoche hopes California lawmakers will consider drafting a new policy under the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act.

DEROCHE: Prison is no place for sexual abuse. Christians. far right, conservatives far left progressives can agree on that. And there are ways to write a bill to prevent this type of abuse.

Currently, Four states house inmates based on gender identity: California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. New York City also prioritizes identity over biology. But if the federal Equality Act passes, every women’s prison in the country will be open to men.

DEROCHE: The fight for America isn't necessarily a financial one, you know, or one over the military. It's fights like this, that you can tell the character of a nation by how it treats its prisoners.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Caleb Bailey.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Usually, when politicians really want to get a point across, they turn up the volume a little bit. They raise their voice and add some punch to the message.

But President Biden is trying a different approach. He’s turning down the volume.

Like so:

BIDEN: I got them $1.9 trillion dollars of relief so far.

Vanessa Beasley is an associate professor of communications at Vanderbilt University. She said it is a little weird.

BEASLEY: It does look a little bit like a Saturday Night Live skit.

But who knows? It may be working.

Beasley said it’s an attention-getting way for the president to express emotion.

BEASLEY: And so that breaks the fourth wall, if you will, of the presidency to see what a president really thinks.

Some late night comedians have already begun poking fun at the "Biden whisper," as it’s becoming known.

But as long as the audience keeps leaning in, why not?

BIDEN: I wrote the bill on the environment.

REICHARD: You try it.

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

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Tuesday, July 13th. 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. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: the Olasky Interview. 

Today, a conversation about faith and politics with Samuel Rodriguez. He’s president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference and an Assemblies of God pastor in Sacramento, California.

In this excerpt of their interview, Marvin Olasky begins by asking about the potential conflict between the two roles Rodriguez finds himself playing.

MARVIN OLASKY, EDITOR IN CHIEF: Wearing both hats, I think could be a difficult situation. How has that worked out for you?

SAMUEL RODRIGUEZ, GUEST: Because of the demographic landscape of my congregation, we pastor a church with campuses all through California: Los Angeles, Sacramento, Reno, and so forth. But it's very multi-ethnically diverse. So our church is about 40 percent white, 40 percent African American, 20 percent Latino and Asian. It became difficult on occasion, I can't deny that. Right when the George Floyd incident took place, the subsequent protests that later on, unfortunately, morphed into riots, it placed me in a very precarious situation.

Because we confronted an issue of injustice without a doubt. At the same time, I refuse to take the knee or to bow or to acquiesce to a movement that was out of alignment with the Word of God. And simply stated, I believe in the sanctity of life from the womb to the tomb. Every single person is created in the image of God, without a doubt. So I repudiate any and all vestiges of bigotry, of course, and racism. But I am not going to advance an agenda that is out of alignment with the Word of God.

And I saw the spirit of Malcolm X in America’s streets, and not the spirit of Psalm 89:14—righteousness and justice, truth and love. I did not see Micah 6:8—doing justice, loving mercy, walking humbly before God. The burning down of cities, the riots, the vandalism, the physical assaults on innocent individuals eating at restaurants, or shops, completely out of alignment of the Word of God.

So I couldn't support a movement, or any ideology that does not advance righteousness, justice, truth and love. If I were to use a 20th century example, from civil rights icons, I was not going to support Malcolm X. But I would be more inclined to support the non-violent protests of Dr. King. But definitely it wasn't Dr. King winning the day it was Malcolm X.

And because of that, it became difficult to be very honest. We lost a couple families. And by a couple, I think the number may be six or seven families. Because I refused to march with an apparatus, led by a flag that was counterintuitive to what I believe as a Christian, and as an American. Again, I am fully committed to dealing with racism in my generation, but not in the name of a movement that makes me take a knee. The only one that prompts me to take a knee is Jesus. And I'm not going to bow to anyone else, but Jesus Christ.

OLASKY: So how did you explain to people that the gospel is the gospel and politics are secondary, when you were so politically involved?

RODRIGUEZ: I explained that to them. And I explained to them that the gospel drives us and compels us to address issues that may have some political implications and ramifications. However, we are not to be politically driven. You've heard me state this previously, I constantly, constantly tell my church, we can't be married to the agenda of the donkey or the elephant, we must exclusively be married to the agenda of the Lamb.

So I talked about this. Look to me, it's about policies. It's about Psalm 89:14. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of God's throne. Truth and love lead the way as attendants. So to me, it's about that.

I am staunchly pro life. 100 percent pro-life. I believe in the sanctity of life. I believe it's one of the most critical issues of our lifetime. I am likewise committed to preserving religious liberty. So my children and my children's children will hear the clear, unbridled and undeterred preaching of the gospel of Jesus, the full gospel.

And I'm committed to Biblical justice—not social justice—but Biblical justice, where we recognize the imago dei in every human being. Where we advance justice in the name of Jesus, which is just righteousness applied in our public sphere and landscape and culture and society. So that's the way I describe it to my congregation. I tell them sometimes you will see your pastor on network television, and it looks like he's giving a political speech, but he's actually talking about righteousness and justice, truth and love.

EICHER: That’s Samuel Rodriguez talking with Marvin Olasky.

You can read more of their conversation in WORLD Magazine. We’ve posted a link in today’s transcript at wng.org/podcasts.

You can also listen to an earlier interview with Rodriguez in Season 2 of The Olasky Interview podcast.

We’ve included a link to that as well.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Tuesday, July 13th. 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. Some people are wanderers; some people, wonderers. Here’s WORLD commentator Steve West.

STEVE WEST, COMMENTATOR: A few years ago, we delivered our daughter to her last summer camp. She'd been looking forward to it for days, counting down the hours even, bubbling over with excitement. As we turned into the wooded entrance, she rolled down her window and said “Smell that air! Isn't it great?”

Well, no. No, it isn’t.

It’s hot, humid, and dusty. And the idea of spending a week in a non-air conditioned, musty, spider-filled cabin sounded horrible to me. But I only smiled. That was completely irrelevant to her.

When we returned home, the house felt empty. We passed by her vacant bedroom and sighed. There was a hole in our home, a hole in our hearts, a voice we didn’t hear, hugs we couldn’t savor—for two weeks that is. We talked about her, remembered things she said, prayed for her. We wondered what she was doing nearly every minute. We pored over pictures the camp counselors posted, looking for her face.

Contrast that with her attitude about our separation. When I asked her if she'd miss us, she thought about it for maybe a second. Then, somewhat apologetically, she said she wouldn't. At least not much. She said she'd be too busy. She said she'd write, once, maybe. The previous summer, we wrote to her every day. In return, we received one postcard scrawled with two sentences: “I’m having fun. I had chicken for dinner. Bye.” That's how it goes.

This camp experience is foreign to me. The two summers I went to camp you would have thought I was being incarcerated. I cried before I went and pleaded with my parents to let me stay home. When they dropped me off, I looked longingly at their car as it drove away. I was the last to go to sleep in my cabin, every night, as I lay there wondering what was happening at home and plotting my escape. Oh, I got on with it, but in the corner of my mind, ever-present, was my dream of home.

It bothered me that my daughter didn’t miss us, at least not much, until I finally made my peace with it. For whatever reason, I think God left the “missing” part out of her. He has His reasons. Maybe she needs to do things that will require her to travel, to be away for long periods of time. Maybe this frees her to move in the world unencumbered, untethered by homesickness and roots like some of us. It has its downside, sure. She may never know the deep love of place and community that us home-bound people feel, that connectedness. But perhaps she will be able to do things we cannot.

She’s grown now. After four years of college in Kansas, with post-college stops in Texas and California, she lives three minutes from us, taking care of her animals and those of others. She’s home after all.

Yet one thing I still pray: that she'll develop a homesickness for Heaven. And maybe, just maybe, if she lights out again, she'll miss her Dad and Mom and brother a little bit while she's out there with the people, living, enjoying it all, smelling the air of freedom.

I’m Steve West.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Tomorrow: a preview of 2024.

A conservative group gathered for its annual conference last weekend—C-PAC. What clues did it give us about future presidential candidates? We’ll talk about it on Washington Wednesday.

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.

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Jesus said: “Go...make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. ”

Go now in grace and peace.

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