The World and Everything in It - July 21, 2020

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning!

More women than ever are running for Congress as Republicans. We’ll talk about what’s behind it.

GRIFFIN: We are not running because we are women. We are not running because we are black. We are running for great policies and great initiatives to change the dynamics of our culture, and our nation.

BRIAN BASHAM, HOST: Also: pastors are deciding whether and how to bring their flocks back together in person. We’ll talk to some of them. 

Plus, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards calls for prayer and fasting.

EDWARDS: Praying for the people of Louisiana. Praying for the sick. Praying for those who care for those who are sick, and praying for the families of those who have passed on.

BASHAM: And our editor in chief Marvin Olasky on hostile newsrooms, and what to do about it.

REICHARD: It’s Tuesday, July 21st. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

BASHAM: And I’m Brian Basham. Good morning!

REICHARD: Now the news! Here’s Kent Covington.

Lawmakers set to clash on new stimulus bill » Lawmakers have returned to Capitol Hill this week with pressure mounting to pass another economic relief bill. But the battle lines are already forming on key proposals. 

At the end of this month, those now getting jobless benefits will no longer receive an extra $600 dollars per week from the federal government. 

And many Republicans do not favor extending that federal unemployment boost. Georgia Congressman Doug Collins …

COLLINS: We have to encourage our economic activity, while at the same time being safe in this, because our extra federal unemployment has caused worker shortages in many of our businesses here in Georgia and across the country. We need to start phasing back that or do away with it all together. 

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said jumpstarting the economy should be the focus of the next stimulus bill. 

MCCARTHY: We need liability protection because these small businesses are questioning whether they can open again. So let’s protect those.

But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is urging Democrats to unite against a plan GOP leaders are drafting with the White House. 

He blasted the plan for not extending the federal unemployment increase. And he said the liability protections Republicans want would … “grant legal immunity to negligent corporations” that “fail to take reasonable steps to avoid spreading the virus.”

Schumer also reacted to reports that the White House wants to block billions of dollars in funding for the CDC that GOP senators want to include. 

SCHUMER: We are going to do everything we can to make sure the CDC is fully funded in the stimulus package. 

Republicans are drafting a bill likely in the $1 trillion dollar range. House Democrats have already passed a bill that would spend an extra $3 trillion. 

Oxford vaccine shows promising results » Scientists at Oxford University say their experimental coronavirus vaccine is showing good early results. Professor Adrian Hill told reporters …

HILL: We have found that in under a thousand people the safety profile looks rather good and reassuring. And importantly we are seeing good immune responses in almost everybody. 

More tests are needed to find out if the vaccine will truly protect against COVID-19. But Hill said “What this vaccine does particularly well is trigger both arms of the immune system.”

That means it’s triggering both neutralizing antibodies … and a reaction in the body’s T-cells. That helps by destroying cells that have been taken over by the virus.

Larger trials are still underway. And another trial is slated to start soon in the United States, aiming to enroll about 30,000 people.

U.K. suspends Hong Kong extradition treaty, blocks arms sales » Britain’s government is suspending its extradition treaty and blocking arms sales to Hong Kong. That after China imposed a new so-called national security law, which strips the former British territory of key liberties. 

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said Monday …

RAAB: There remains considerable uncertainty about the way in which the new national security law will be enforced. I would just say this: the United Kingdom is watching and the whole world is watching. 

As tensions grow with Beijing, Raab said he’s concerned about human rights abuses in China. He said “We will protect our vital interests. We will stand up for our values and we will hold China to its international obligations.”

The United States, Australia and Canada have already suspended extradition arrangements with Hong Kong. 

Last week, Britain backtracked on plans to give Chinese tech giant Huawei a role in the U.K.’s new high-speed mobile phone network, citing security concerns.

The U.K. has accused Beijing of a serious breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration … under which the U.K. returned control of Hong Kong to China in 1997. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced it would open a special route to citizenship for up to 3 million eligible residents of Hong Kong.

Rioters clash with federal guards in Portland » Demonstrators in Portland clashed with federal officers on Monday, ignoring warnings.  

SOUND: This is the federal protective service. Do not attempt to damage, remove, or climb the fence around the federal courthouse. [fade under and crossfade with next bite]

Rioters tore down the fence protecting the U.S. courthouse … before setting a fire in the building’s entryway. 

SOUND: [up from 10 to 17 sec, the under and crossfade with next bite]

Federal guards extinguished the blaze and then scattered the crowd using tear gas. 

SOUND (Portland NATS-3): [up from 7.5 to 13 sec, then under to next bite]

Protests in the city have persisted every night for nearly two months, following the death of George Floyd. 

The Portland Police Bureau said its officers did not engage the protesters who set the fire. And state and local officials have blasted the federal government’s involvement. 

Democratic Mayor Ted Wheeler told CNN … 

WHEELER: Their presence here is actually leading to more violence and more vandalism, and it’s not helping the situation at all. They’re not wanted here. We haven’t asked them here. In fact, we want them to leave. 

And Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum on Friday sued the Department of Homeland Security for warrantless action in Portland. But President Trump pushed back on Monday. 

TRUMP: Portland was totally out of the control. The Democrats, liberal Democrats running the place had no idea what they were doing. They were ripping down, for 51 days, ripping down that city, looting it. 

President Trump said his administration is also looking at other big cities where he said the federal government may need to step in. 

Georgia Democrats choose nominee to replace late Rep. John Lewis » Georgia Democrats have chosen State Senator Nikema Williams as the party’s nominee to fill the seat of the late Congressman John Lewis. Williams is the chair of the state’s Democratic Party. 

Lewis died on Friday after being diagnosed with late stage pancreatic cancer. 

Williams will face GOP nominee Angela Stanton-King. She is a TV personality and author whom President Trump pardoned for her role in a car theft ring.

Republican Governor Brian Kemp is expected to call a special election in the coming days to fill the remainder of Lewis’ term, which expires in January.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: the record number of Republican women running for Congress.

Plus, Marvin Olasky on Christians in journalism.

This is The World and Everything in It.

BRIAN BASHAM, HOST: It’s Tuesday, the 21st of July, 2020.

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

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

First up, women running for office. 

Two years ago, the Democratic Party won control of the U-S House of Representatives, in a big way. The party flipped 40 seats. That’s twelve more than Democrats needed to take the majority. 

Many of the candidates who led this so-called “blue wave” were women. Democrats elected a record 89 women to the House. Republicans…just 13.

BASHAM: But 20-20 could look a lot different for conservative women in the House. WORLD’s Sarah Schweinsberg reports.

SARAH SCHWEINSBERG, REPORTER: After the 20-18 midterms, Republican leaders in the House began strategizing. They needed to flip 17 seats to take back the Speaker’s gavel. 

Party leaders tapped Parker Poling to head the National Republican Congressional Committee. It’s in charge of increasing the number of Republicans in the House. 

Poling started by identifying the districts most likely to turn red. 

POLING: Ultimately, we started the cycle with 55 targeted races.

Then the committee went to work recruiting a more diverse set of candidates. Poling says the party wants a delegation that more fully represents its demographics: that especially includes women. 

Poling: Recruiting more women, more veterans, more people of color, making sure that they are getting exposure to, you know, the folks in DC, the donors and the small dollar donor community.

More than 200 Republican women filed to run for the House this year. That’s up 86 percent from two years ago. And a record number of these women are winning their primaries. 

Poling: We’re actually at 63 Republican nominees at the moment in all of our seats and that is a record. Our previous record was 53 and that was set in 2004. And we still have a number of primaries and conventions yet to go. 

About a third of these winners are also women of color. 

Debbie Walsh directs the bipartisan Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. She says the surge in women running for office is partly in response to 20-18. 

Walsh: Republican women were a bit inspired by what they saw in 2018. And thought, Oh, you know, let maybe we can do that too.

Fundraising for conservative women has also gotten easier. Walsh says there are now more campaign resources available outside of traditional party structures. 

Walsh: You do have groups now like Winning for Women, VIEW PAC, which is Value in Electing Women PAC, Maggie’s list, there are more and more groups out there that are supporting conservative women.

While there are a record number of Republican women running for the House, many of them are in up-hill races. The Center for American Women and Politics’ Debbie Walsh says half of the G-O-P women primary winners are in strong Blue districts. 

Walsh: So 32 right off the bat are really unlikely to win. Then you’ve got eight who are in likely or lean democratic… You’ve got seven who are in toss up races. Then a total of two who are either in likely lean republican or solid Republican. 

Florida’s 13th district is one of those competitive races. Democrat Charlie Crist currently represents the Tampa-area district that’s traditionally been Republican. 

Five Republicans are racing to challenge him. Four of those are women. One of those is businesswoman and community activist Sheila Griffin. 

Griffin: They call me the dark horse on my campaign, because I’m also the underfunded candidate, and I’m not the candidate that anyone expected to even make it past qualifying 

Griffin says black Americans and women are mostly being represented by Democrats. She wants to change that. 

Griffin: We know we have voices that are being overshadowed and in particular by those who are new to politics that are Democrats that have been leading the mantra inside of Congress that cannot be tolerated. 

But Griffin says Republicans shouldn’t vote for women or people of color just to make the party’s representation more diverse. Voters should still vote for a candidate’s ideas. 

Griffin: We are not running because we are women. We are not running because we are black. We are running for great policies and great initiatives to change the dynamics of our culture, and our nation.

On the Senate side, the political situation for Republican women is not as bright. Right now, the Senate G-O-P has a record nine women in office. Out of those, four face very competitive re-election bids.

But party leaders note there are still bright spots. In Wyoming, two women are running to replace retiring Republican Senator Mike Enzi. Attorney and businesswoman Donna Rice is one of them. 

Besides her pro-Trump and small business friendly polices, Rice says, as a woman, she can bring something different to the table. 

Rice: I see in politics these days, you know, such vitriol and animosity. I think a woman’s voice in that mix, is a really powerful connector, if you will. We just bring something into that negotiating process…that really helps… move that along in a positive way.

Nineteen states haven’t had their primaries yet. Wyoming’s and Florida’s are still a month away. 

Debbie Walsh at the Center for American Women and Politics says through the primaries, most Republican women have closely supported President Trump. But to win elections in purple districts, they may have to change their tune.  

Walsh: So, in the general election, the question is for those women who are running in, for instance, the toss up districts, will they… have to move the way candidates do have to move closer to the center in order to win.

Even if GOP women don’t end up winning a record number of House seats or holding their numbers in the Senate, National Republican Congressional Committee’s Park Poling says more women will show up again in 20-22. 

Poling: I don’t see any reason why we should stop now with the amount of energy and enthusiasm that we have for Republican women candidates. I predict that this is a trend that’s going to continue to grow.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Sarah Schweinsberg.

BRIAN BASHAM, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: restricting worship.

California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an order earlier this month that banned singing in church. Several congregations have sued to block the order. They say the ban is unconstitutional, in violation of their First Amendment rights.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Churches don’t want officials dictating what they can and can’t do during worship. 

Yet some pastors have concluded meeting together in person is too risky. Some have even announced they won’t be meeting in person again until next year!

WORLD reporter Myrna Brown has our story.

AMBI: LIVE CHOIR PERFORMANCE: Sing it, we will not be moved…

MYRNA BROWN, REPORTER: On February 9th as many as 300 men, women, teens, and children sang shoulder to shoulder, packed in a choir stand that spilled into the pulpit.

SOUND: That’s what we’re here to do today. To thank God for 75 years of ministry. 

Derek Allen was just four months into his new role as pastor of First Baptist Tillmans Corner. 

ALLEN: You think about what all I need to accomplish in the first year. Leading through a pandemic was not what I thought would be on the radar.

But like many pastors around the country, in mid-March Allen began leading his Mobile, Alabama congregation in online-only services. Two months later, the state of Alabama began relaxing its COVID-19 restrictions. Then on May 17th, First Baptist Tillmans Corner once again began meeting in person.

ALLEN: Excited, yes. But, overwhelmed emotionally is kind of more how we felt. We had lost something not gathering together and we knew it. So many people were fighting back tears. Others were not fighting back tears. They were just openly crying, you know with the emotion of it all.  

Before reopening that Sunday, Pastor Allen says his staff followed all state and C-D-C ordered protocols. But he says it wasn’t gathering on Sunday that brought the virus to his church.

ALLEN: It was during the week and it was a volunteer who was helping paint some rooms.  

Pastor Allen says while serving at the church, an infected volunteer had contact with a staff member. Once that volunteer began showing symptoms, both were put in quarantine and isolated. The rest of the church staff, including Pastor Allen, also got tested and put themselves in quarantine. But by then, it was too late. 

ALLEN: Another staff member was not feeling well. And then another staff member and another staff member and then the original staff member’s test came back as positive and then it just kind of started spreading so quickly.

Thirty-two church members, including several staff have either been diagnosed with the virus or are experiencing severe symptoms.

ALLEN: I felt helpless because I knew I was going to get another phone call. I knew another text message was coming. 

AMBI FACEBOOK POST: Hey everybody, this is Pastor Derek. We are moving back to an online format…

On July 1st, Pastor Allen announced plans to go back to online-only services. 

ALLEN: If I could go back, I would have isolated all of our staff members, including myself, gone to an online-only service, even though I found out on Saturday that one of our staff members had symptoms and we had to make a decision pretty quickly. I think I would have gone ahead and said, let’s do online only, even tomorrow and just make sure that this thing is not spreading. 

AMBI OUTDOOR SERVICE: Holy, holy, holy…

Six hours north of Mobile, a worship team sings from a small wooden platform, surrounded by trees and patches of grass. Families sit 6 feet apart in lawn chairs and on blankets. 

AMBI OUTDOOR SERVICE: It seems like one of the things we’re going to be doing for a while is this..

Grace New Hope Church is about an hour northeast of Atlanta. Pastor Randy Rainwater says even after the state of Georgia began reopening at the end of April, he waited an additional two months to offer in-person services.

RAINWATER: We had a member of our church that was 57, in good health, runs four or five days a week, that died in seven days. I feel like we wanted to come up with a plan that we thought was safe, based on what the medical personnel that are a part of our church were telling us in correlation with the C-D-C.  

AMBI ZOOM CALL: Hello Grace New Hope. This is Robert Sowa. I have a P.H.d in microbiology..  I’m Scott Keller. I’m a family physician in Lilburn, Georgia, My name is Noah Fouts. I’m a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner.

Pastor Rainwater asked doctors and nurses from Grace New Hope Church to come together online to answer questions from the congregation.

AMBI ZOOM CALL: Most of you are not used to wearing masks – 12 hour shifts. For teachers who are going to have to do it, start doing it now…

RAINWATER: We got those people together and talked with them about what we should be doing moving forward.

Back in Alabama, Pastor Allen says they’re moving forward with a growing perspective.

ALLEN: God doesn’t waste suffering. Every suffering that comes into our life is a tool He’s using to accomplish a greater good.  And I see that lived out not only in history, but in my own life, it’s just another validation of what God’s Word says. That God is working for our good and His glory, even in the middle of suffering.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Myrna Brown in Lawrenceville, Georgia.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: The CEO of a small healthcare company didn’t need more work to do. 

But Mary Daniel took a side job at an assisted-living facility in Florida. 

She didn’t take the job for the money. She did it because her husband, Steve, lives there. He haAlzheimer’s Disease. 

Visitors aren’t allowed during the pandemic, so Mary got creative. She took a job as dishwasher to be near him. 

After being apart from Steve for several months, Mary told WJXT …

DANIEL: He saw me and he said ‘Mary,’ and we hugged, and just to hold him again after 114 days was just an amazing, an amazing feeling.

The couple has been married 27 years. Mary said she was willing to do whatever it took to fulfill her promise to be there for Steve every step of the way.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Tuesday, July 21st. You’re listening to The World and Everything in It and we’re so glad you are! Good morning to you. I’m Mary Reichard.

BRIAN BASHAM, HOST: And I’m Brian Basham. Coming next, fasting and prayer.

The reported number of COVID-19 cases is on the rise in Louisiana. So last week, Governor John Bel Edwards responded with an unusual appeal. Something beyond masks and hand washing.

Governor Edwards is a Catholic pro-life Democrat, and he called for three days of fasting and prayer. Correspondent Kim Henderson has the story.

KIM HENDERSON, COMMENTATOR: Back in March, the state of Louisiana was rivaling places like New York and Italy for the number of confirmed coronavirus cases. 

AMBI: MARDI GRAS PARADE

Some speculated the surge was related to Mardi Gras events like this one. In February, more than a million revelers from all over the world converged on New Orleans.  

AMBI: MARDI GRAS PARADE (con’t)

In the months since, Louisiana has worked hard to control the effects of the pandemic. Just a week ago, Vice President Mike Pence spoke in Baton Rouge, addressing what appears to be a summer spike. 

PENCE: As we’ve seen rising cases across the Sun Belt, it was here in Louisiana that the people of this state, your state leadership, your healthcare workers have already demonstrated that the people of Louisiana know how to slow the spread. 

They know how to flatten the curve. They did it before, and we’re very confident that Louisiana is going to do it again . . .

Two days later, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards held a press conference. About 23 minutes into it, he made a surprising appeal.

EDWARDS: I’m going to call for three days of fasting and prayer for our state for July 20th through the 22nd . . . we’ll be doing lunch fasting . . .  

He said the idea came from a phone meeting that’s a regular part of his schedule. 

EDWARDS: Every couple to three weeks I have the opportunity to have a conference call with hundreds of pastors across the state of Louisiana . . .

He called for people of all denominations to join him in one purpose. 

EDWARDS: Praying for the people of Louisiana. Praying for the sick. Praying for those who care for those who are sick, and praying for the families of those who have passed on.

Edwards isn’t the first governor to call his state to prayer this year. 

SOUND: PASTOR PRAYING

Back in April, Governor Mike Dunleavy of Alaska promoted a day of prayer and hope. His televised program included clips from various interfaith leaders . . .  Christian, Muslim…

SOUND: SINGING

… and a Jewish family singing a song of healing.

I was sitting on a socially distanced pew in a Louisiana church this past Sunday, wearing a mask, when I first heard an elder describe Governor Edward’s initiative. A hundred and 80 miles south, Pastor Tom White was encouraging his congregation in a similar vein.  

WHITE: I know that we understand the power of prayer and I know that we know the power of meditating on God’s word. So I’m asking Jerusalem Baptist Church, all of our members, to join in with Governor Edwards and the rest of the state for these three days next week and participate in this fast. Listen, if we will do what we can do, God will do what we cannot do.

Other leaders in Louisiana reminded participants to pray for those whose livelihoods have been threatened by the pandemic, and for scientists in their search for a vaccine.  

Yesterday, Governor Edwards tweeted that he believes in the power of prayer, as well as the power of working together and being good neighbors to overcome COVID-19. He also referred to a verse found in the book of James. Faith without works is dead.  

That encourages Phillip Juban, a Baton Rouge resident who serves on a committee that plans the governor’s annual prayer breakfast. 

JUBAN: What better proclamation to come out of a politician’s mouth than to ask for prayer and asking for God to come and answer those prayers?

Juban says he will participate in the daily fasts and times of prayer. 

JUBAN: We can be united in this effort, although in so many other areas in this day and time we are not united. But this is one specific area I think everyone is united. So we just need to follow through with it and go to Him in prayer.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kim Henderson.

BRIAN BASHAM, HOST: Today is Tuesday, July 21st. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Brian Basham.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. The need for Christian journalism is clear. Here’s WORLD’s editor in chief Marvin Olasky.

MARVIN OLASKY, EDITOR IN CHIEF: Maybe I should say I told you so – but there’s no joy in Mudville.

When Joel Belz started WORLD in 1986, I was writing a book entitled Prodigal Press: The Anti-Christian Bias of the American News Media. He and I did not yet know each other, but we had arrived at the same conclusion: The days of Christians being able to write on the pages of big secular newspapers and magazines were coming to an end.

Lots of Christians criticized our emphasis. Their goal was to train young Christians to get jobs at local newspapers. I proposed a different strategy: Christians should put time and money into setting up Biblically objective publications that through strong reporting could attract audiences. 

Last week’s news showed my subtitle should have addressed not anti-Christian bias but Anti-Everything-Except-Revolution bias. Last week The New York Times showed it was anti-Jewish. A fine writer and analyst, Bari Weiss, found it necessary to leave. She said the Times quote “is more and more the record of those living in a distant galaxy, one whose concerns are profoundly removed from the lives of most people.” She gave “rule one” for Times writers: quote “Speak your mind at your own peril.”

Last week New York Magazine showed it is anti-gay if the gay is a conservative, like Andrew Sullivan, whom executives also pushed out. Sullivan said in mainstream media writers are quote “mere avatars for their race and gender or gender identity, rather than unique individuals.” Sullivan described the new order: quote “any writer not actively committed to critical theory in questions of race, gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity is actively, physically harming co-workers merely by existing in the same virtual space.”

Last week dispelled any illusions concerning supposedly mainstream media. Whether our predominant loyalty is to conservatism or (much better) to Christ, we need to emphasize growing our own publications, not just trying to place a few people in hostile territory. 

But it doesn’t give me joy to note the accuracy of my dire prediction from a third of a century ago.

I’m Marvin Olasky.

BRIAN BASHAM, HOST: Tomorrow: WORLD’s Jamie Dean joins us to talk about the battle for the U.S. Senate.

And, you’ll meet a man who teaches others how to carve carousel horses.

That and more tomorrow. 

I’m Brian Basham.

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 disciples asked, “Who can be saved?” Jesus answered, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”  

Go now in grace and peace.

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