The World and Everything in It - June 18, 2021

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Good morning!

State attempts to ban critical race theory are growing—at least in Republican-governed states.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Right. And I’ll ask John Stonestreet about it because he thinks there may be a better way to approach the issue.

Also today: Emily Whitten on summertime scripture listening.

And George Grant with this month’s Word Play.

BROWN: It’s Friday, June 18th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

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

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

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Democrats celebrate another legal win for Obamacare » Democrats on Capitol Hill are celebrating another legal win for Obamacare.

The Supreme Court ruled for the third time on Thursday to let the Affordable Care Act stand.

SCHUMER: The ACA is here to stay. And now, we’re going to try to make it bigger and better.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer heard there.

In the 7-2 decision, four conservative justices sided with the majority … including Amy Coney Barrett. Democrats painted her as a threat to the healthcare law during confirmation hearings last year.

The Republican-led challenge claimed the individual mandate, which required most Americans to obtain health insurance or face a penalty, was unconstitutional. The court upheld the mandate in 2012 because Congress has the power to levy a tax on people without insurance.

During President Trump’s administration, Congress reduced that tax penalty to zero. Republican states renewed their objection to the law saying it did not pass constitutional muster anymore because it didn’t include a tax.

But the justices said the states did not have standing to sue because they could not prove the law harmed them.

High court sides with Catholic agency in foster care dispute » Religious liberty advocates are also celebrating a big win in a separate case on Thursday. WORLD’s Anna Johansen Brown has more.

ANNA JOHANSEN BROWN, REPORTER: The Supreme Court unanimously sided with a Catholic foster care agency who’s religious values prevent it from working with same-sex couples as foster parents.

The justices said the city of Philadelphia violated first First Amendment rights of Catholic Social Services by limiting its work with the group over its policies.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that CSS—quote—“seeks only an accommodation that will allow it to continue serving the children of Philadelphia in a manner consistent with its religious beliefs; it does not seek to impose those beliefs on anyone else.”

A lawyer with The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty who argued on behalf of Catholic Social Services cheered the ruling. In a statement, Becket’s Lori Windham said “It’s a beautiful day when the highest court in the land protects foster moms and the 200-year-old religious ministry that supports them.”

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Anna Johansen Brown.

Chirstian baker to appeal discrimination ruling in religious liberty case » Meantime in Colorado, Jack Phillips is still locked in a legal struggle over his First Amendment rights.

The Christian owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop won a U.S. Supreme Court case after declinging to back a wedding cake for same-sex couple. But he’s now battling another case in which he’s been accused of discrimination after declining bake a cake celebrating a gender transition.

District Court Judge A. Bruce Jones ruled this week that Phillips discriminated against transgender attorney Autumn Scardina, who requested the cake.

Phillips is appealing the ruling. Alliance Defending Freedom, which is defending Phillips issued a statement, saying “Every American should have the freedom to live and work according to their beliefs without fear of government punishment.”

State of Texas planning to go it alone on border wall » Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says his state will spend up to $250 million to build more barriers along the southern border in Texas.

ABBOTT: We will build the wall. We will secure the border. But most importantly, we will restore safety to the citizens who live in the Lone Star State.

The governor’s office is also crowdsourcing funds for more barriers … setting up a website and post office box where people can donate money to the effort.

The governor said the Biden administration is choosing not to enforce the nation's immigration laws, and that Texas communities are paying the price in the form of increased crime and drug trafficking. That, he said, has forced the state to act on its own.

Questions remain over how far the state can take a project whose total cost, length, and timeline are unclear. And the effort could face legal challenges, including from the federal government.

Abbott said he wants the U.S. government to return land obtained for the border wall and return it to private citizens who can allow Texas to finish the job.

Editors of Hong Kong newspaper arrested under security law » Hong Kong police used China’s new so-called national security law Thursday to arrest five editors and executives of a pro-democracy newspaper. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has more.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: Thursday’s arrests mark the first time the Chinese government has used the legislation against the press in yet another crackdown on fading liberties in Hong Kong.

Police said they had evidence that more than 30 articles published by Apple Daily played a “crucial part” in what they called a conspiracy with foreign countries to impose sanctions against China and Hong Kong.

Apple Daily has long been one of the most outspoken defenders of Hong Kong's freedoms. Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai is currently serving a 20-month prison sentence after being convicted of playing a role in pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in 2019.

Those arrested Thursday included Apple Daily’s chief editor, the CEO of its publisher Next Digital, and multiple top editors.

Police also froze millions of dollars in assets belonging to three companies linked to Apple Daily.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: the push in Republican states to ban Critical Race Theory.

Plus, a historic Bible infamous for its errors.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: It’s Friday, June 18th, 2021. Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Myrna Brown.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. It’s Culture Friday. John Stonestreet is here. He’s president of the Colson Center and host of the Breakpoint podcast.

John, good morning!

JOHN STONESTREET, GUEST: Good morning.

EICHER: John, there’s a growing movement—mainly in red states, Republican states—to target the teaching of Critical Race Theory. Florida is the latest, joining Arkansas, Idaho, and Oklahoma. At least a dozen other states are considering legislation on the subject.

But I want to talk to you about your recent commentary on that subject. Now, I know the Colson Center isn’t a legislative lobby, but you express opinions sometimes on legislation and this surprised me a little bit. You had a pretty vigorous word of caution about those states trying to ban CRT. Tell me why.

STONESTREET: Well, in the first place, I think a lot of the headlines, the breathless headlines, the panicked headlines, the angry headlines over the states that have issued legislation limiting how race is talked about in schools, the headlines there have been overblown, I'm not sure that even most of those legislations can be characterized as banning CRT, the hesitation that I did have had to do with solving a problem through legislation. And the memory here is obviously the memory of prohibition, you can pass a particular piece of legislation and then lose the war, so to speak. Legislation has a role. legislation is not the best way, or the only way or sufficient enough as a way to deal with really bad ideas. critical race theory is full of bad ideas. But if a group of legislators think that they can issue a particular piece of legislation, and that's going to solve the problem, then that's asking legislative action to carry far too much weight. But the ideas that are behind critical race theory are influential enough in our cultural moment, they are influential enough in the classroom, in media, and so many other aspects of corporate wokeness and other things that they need to be addressed. And legislating against them doesn't actually advance the cultural imagination. Like I said, it's very possible remember prohibition to try to win your case, by passing a law. But the law tends to be downstream from culture, and the cultural influences and the cultural level of ideas needs to be addressed as well.

EICHER: I have heard the same argument about abortion. I mean, just go for hearts and minds don't go for legislation. How's that different?

STONESTREET: Well, I don't think I said that we shouldn't issue legislation when necessary. Again, I don't think that what these states are trying to do are necessarily all the same, and certainly don't rise to the breathless hysteria of the headlines. So legislation is sometimes very necessary, specifically when we're talking about not just bad ideas, but actual actions that you know, that is harming individuals in this case killing unborn children, that sort of legislative action needs to happen. But again, I don't think any pro lifers should imagine that their job is to make abortion illegal, I think the end of the day, we want it to be as unthinkable as slavery is. In other words, it needs to be it needs to be fully dealt with and seen for the horror that it is, is not sufficient in and of itself to deal with big cultural challenges.

EICHER: John, you made the point that the best way to fight bad ideas is with better ideas. Are you saying the better remedy is home-schooling or private education if you’re concerned as a parent about what’s taught? Is that a way to fight bad ideas with better ones?

STONESTREET: Well, that's an interesting distinction. And I think it's also important to note the distinction between whether we're talking about banning at at a state funded university or a high school level, and what we're teaching Primary School students who don't have yet the full capacity to understand who they are and the history of things. And I think there certainly needs to be some ways to limit the harm, that the extreme versions of critical race theory in particular bring about and especially on schoolchildren, we wouldn't want to repeat the mistakes of America's past, in which and little children because of the particular race they belong to, or the race of the earth and their ethnicity were considered evil or less than human. And CRT in its worst form reverses that and does it go to little white children or little children and cultural power? And that's it. That's a horrific thing to say to a young child. When you start talking about middle school and high school, you got to address the issues, let me be really clear if you homeschool or you private school, and you're not teaching students in high school and middle school in high school, how to understand the influence of these ideas that are dominant in our culture about race and ethnicity and power dynamics. If the first time they hear about, you know, privilege, and about, you know, cultural power dynamics, it should be in the context of an educational experience. I'm not saying don't talk about it. I'm not saying only talk about it, I'm saying let's highlight it and actually work through what critical race theory is. I will say this too, and going specifically to your question about, is it better to homeschool or private school? And increasingly, in many areas, there's just no way around that any anymore? If there ever was? I mean, yes. You know, one of the tragedies when a educational system or educational approach is hijacked by an ideology is that you don't even get a good education. You know, you don't even actually get a full fledged study of whatever topic that you're looking at. Instead, you get whatever is politically correct, you get whatever is pre determined. And that's not teaching kids to think and to borrow from Robbie, George's Twitter thread, which I first was responding to in the commentary that I did. That is indoctrination. That's not education. And they're not the same things.

EICHER: Speaking of education, I’ve heard back from listeners with practical questions about how to choose Christian universities because you’ve raised questions about historically Christian institutions that are moving away from their roots. So rather than try to create some kind of list of recommendations, what I’d ask is, how do you recommend parents do their homework to discover whether a school is remaining faithful. What are the right questions to ask? And to whom would you direct those “right questions”? How do you do that research?

STONESTREET: Well, you don't ask the admissions department you want to get past. Maybe you start with the admissions department, but you get past it. You don't ask the president whose job it is to sell the school. I tell you, who you ask, are the sophomores, the second semester sophomores because the honeymoon’s over, and they will tell you exactly what's happening on the campus. So find some sophomores and ask them the questions. You know, in particular, I think I want to just go back and revisit something that I said last week, which you know, you talking about historically, Christian institutions. In some cases, that's really obvious. And what I was talking about was historically Christian institutions moving away, or apologizing for its past convictions. That's going to be a far harder school on a child's faith, on a student's faith than a state school. In other words, when you put certain ideas that are counter biblical, and superimpose them in the mouth of Jesus, that can be a really disorienting experience, especially if a student's not grounded in his own faith in any sort of strong way. You certainly want to ask the LGBTQ questions, you certainly want to ask, you know, what are professors teaching in the classroom about these particular issues? Are there any professors here? Who would endorse a gender transition? Are there any professors here that believe that same sex marriage is a legitimate institution as opposed to an invented institution? Are there professors here who believe that so you jump right to the hottest topics of our day where biblical faithfulness has the greatest amount of consequences, especially in the academic space? And you say, Where are they? What are they saying? And, you know, there's a couple things to be aware of, obviously, if there's any sort of full out affirmation, that's something to be concerned about. In the same way, though, it not only if there's a full out affirmation, but if there is a real hesitation, to say definitively what's right and wrong, or a constant need to hedge every moral statement with an apology about the Christian position and when you start apologizing for the Christian moral position. That's a really bad sign. And then when it comes to the social sciences, when it comes to what Christian activism looks like, you want to kind of keep your ear perked up for those kind of typical words, having to do with power dynamics and the oppressed. And injustice and these sorts of things. And you know, we teach students this all the time that one of the things that you need to do is always question definitions. And I would challenge moms and dads when you hear, you know, a professor say I believe the Bible's true. What do you mean by true? You know, I believe that every person has dignity. What do you mean by dignity and what gives them every person dignity? And how do you balance the you know, creation and fall in that? And the power of asking good questions to get behind the vocabulary that people are using to the dictionary that they're relying on is just as applicable, maybe even or more applicable when we're talking about Christian academics.

EICHER: John Stonestreet, president of the Colson Center and host of the Breakpoint podcast. John, thanks!

STONESTREET: Thanks!

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: This next story is one of zombies and third eyes!

Seriously.

An industrial designer in South Korea named Paeng Min-wook designed a device he’s calling The Third Eye.

It’s a sensor equipped with an alarm that you can strap to your forehead to warn you before you bump into something.

The 28-year-old inventor created the device for what he calls “cell phone zombies.” You know, those people who walk around looking at their phones, not watching where they’re going.

Paeng called the device a “satirical solution.” He’s hoping it will make people—quote—“recognize the severity of their gadget addiction and look back at themselves".

It’s The World and Everything in It.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Friday, June 18th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: soaking up Scripture.

Summer is often a time for families to spend more time together, having fun and making memories. And there’s no better way to do that than to dive into God’s word together. You can certainly do that the old fashioned way—you know, reading. But if you’re interested in experiencing the Bible in a new way this summer, reviewer Emily Whitten has a few suggestions.

CLIP: What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin. How can we live in it any longer?

EMILY WHITTEN, REPORTER: That’s one of the voices from the Dwell Bible app launched as a Kickstarter project in 2018. Co-founders Jonathan and Joshua Bailey wanted to create a Bible app for your smartphone—one you’d want to listen to.

VIDEO: When we set out over a year ago, We didn’t just look for one voice. We looked for multiple voices.

In a way, this app combines Bible content with a music player. You can read the text, but the app focuses on audio options. You can listen to an entire book of the Bible, one particular story, or a themed playlist of verses—say, on the topic of anxiety.

Once you hit play, you get a toolbar to customize your experience. That’s where you choose your reader. The reader we heard a moment ago was Kylie reading from the NIV. Here’s Felix, one of the ESV readers.

CLIP: In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God.

A lot of reviewers like Rosie, who also reads the ESV.

CLIP: Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.

My favorite is the actor, David Suchet, reading the NIV:

CLIP: But now apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been made known to which the law and the prophets testified.

Other ways to customize the app include changing the background music. You can choose from options like piano, ambient, or guitar. All fairly soothing and meditative. Finally, it’s worth mentioning that you can add a timer to your playlist, in case you want to use it before bed.

To unlock the entire experience, you’ll need to pay $29 for a yearly subscription. Some pastors and elders might want to check out the church licensing option. It’s a good bit cheaper that way.

My second recommendation may be especially helpful for teen boys or reluctant readers. The Epic Bible by Tyndale and Kingstone Comics came out last fall, and it contains 820+ pages of Bible stories drawn by Marvel and DC Comics illustrators.

CLIP: Hung on a cross to die. But the story didn’t end there. Find out more in The Epic Bible.

The presentation spans Genesis to Revelation, and it’s similar to the popular The Action Bible. But The Epic Bible differs in that it’s a little more mature, including its presentation of evil and violence. Readers see a sword plunged in Ehud’s belly, for instance.

My main caution, though, regards the contrast between the visually muscular, idealized comic-style heroes and the real heroes of the Bible. 1 Corinthians tells us “God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.” And Isaiah describes Christ as having “no form or majesty” and “no beauty that we should desire him.” That might be worth pointing out to young readers.

That said, the text of this book is remarkably faithful to the original Bible text. Much of the dialogue comes straight from Scripture, and it lists Bible chapter and verse references at the bottom of each page. Here’s a Youtube clip of Kingstone Comics founder Art Ayris on the Shaun Tabatt Show this April.

AYRIS: We have so much anecdotal, so many letters and notes and emails from people about, now I understand the Bible. I never understood it until I read this. We see it elevates the level of Bible understanding. And that makes us super happy.

Ayris also says that while they originally targeted tween and teen boys, they have seen demand grow among female readers, men ages 20-35, and Hispanic readers. If you know of a teen or any reluctant reader who might not read a print version of the Bible, this version might just peak their interest. And The Epic Bible might inspire them to find out more by reading the original Bible stories.

My third recommendation is one the whole family can enjoy.

CLIP: For this is the love of God that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

That’s music from The Corner Room created by Adam Wright. He’s music minister at Cahaba Park Church in Birmingham, Alabama. And he sets Scripture to music to help his congregation—and other Christians—memorize and savor Scripture.

CLIP: Count it all joy my brothers when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect…

Listeners will find a mix of musical genres here, so take a few moments to browse Corner Room’s Youtube channel or website to find what best suits you. Parents of little ones may especially appreciate Remember and Proclaim, Wright’s album for families.

CLIP: Fear not for I am with you….

I’m Emily Whitten.

CLIP: Be not dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Friday, June 18th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. In publishing, the typo, it’s the worst. And typos seem to hide in proofing pages, only to reappear in dramatic fashion on the printed page.

At least that’s the way it seemed typos operated back in the day when I was editing WORLD Magazine.

But in the June edition of Word Play, our George Grant tells of a colossal epidemic of typos that suggested a wicked lack of careful attention.

GEORGE GRANT, COMMENTATOR: In 1631 Robert Barker and Martin Lucas, London publishers and booksellers with Royal Warrants of Appointment, reprinted the King James Version Bible. It was an expertly crafted octavo edition, bound with exceptional Italian calfskin and printed on fine, smooth paper stock imported from Sweden. The newly designed typeface and the high contrast India ink added to the attractions of the publication. Unfortunately, the text was plagued by several typographical errors that the copy editors, typesetters, and compositors overlooked.

One typo was particularly egregious: in the Ten Commandments the word “not” was omitted in the sentence, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Thus, the Seventh Commandment in this beautiful new edition of the Bible read, “Thou shalt commit adultery.”

The print run was soon dubbed the “Wicked Bible,” prompting guffaws throughout London. But, King Charles I and George Abbot, the Archbishop of Canterbury, were not amused in the least.

Barker and Lucas were summoned before the High Commission “Star Chamber” and were fined and stripped of their printing license.

Nearly the entire print run of the “Wicked Bible” was seized, impounded, and subsequently destroyed. As a result, extant copies are exceedingly rare—there are only fourteen known to exist today, most of which are in the collections of universities, museums, and libraries, including Oxford, Cambridge, the British Library, and the New York Public Library.

Though the “Wicked Bible” is the most prominent example of Bible errata, it is by no means the only one. In the 1562 second edition of the Geneva Bible, Matthew 5:9 declares, “Blessed are the placemakers: for they shall be called the children of God;” but of course it should read “Blessed are the peacemakers.” A 1612 printing of the Authorized Version has Judas, not Jesus, saying, “Sit ye here while I go yonder and pray” in Matthew 26:36. A year later, another King James edition rendered Psalm 119:161 as, “Printers have persecuted me without a cause” rather than “Princes have persecuted me.” In 1716, yet another reprint read “sin on more” rather than “sin no more,” for Jeremiah 31:34. A 1717 Clarendon Press Bible had, “The Parable of the Vinegar” in Luke 20 instead of “The Parable of the Vineyard.” In 1804, 1 Kings 8:19 was translated as, “Thy son shall come forth out of thy lions,” rather than “out of thy loins.” In one 1823 edition, “Camels” replaced “damsels” in Genesis 24. So, “Rebecca arose, she and her camels, and they followed the man.”

All this is a reminder to us that while the Bible is “God breathed,”—inspired, inerrant, and infallible—no one translation and no single edition is. It remains an inescapable fact that, “To err is human.”

I’m George Grant

GEORGE GRANT: A final word, please, on priority.

Isn’t it interesting that such care was taken to select the finest leather, the most-excellent paper and ink, a beautifully redesigned typeface, and yet not enough care was taken for the word.

That’s a problem of priority. Not that good materials and workmanship are unimportant, but the care for the word must be the priority.

In all my decades of co-labor and friendship with my colleagues at WORLD, what I’ve most appreciated is the priority here to care for the word.

I appreciate the professional quality of WORLD’s paper, ink, and design, good technology, broadcast skill, and professional polish.

But it’s care for the word that sets WORLD apart.

And it’s why I think it’s so important that people who also prioritize care for the word support WORLD’s efforts to produce sound journalism grounded in God’s word.

This is WORLD’s June Giving Drive. Would you please take a moment and visit WNG.org/donate to support WORLD’s June Giving Drive.

If you prize the work of WORLD, would you make a generous gift of support?

WNG.org/donate. Thank you.

NICK EICHER, HOST: It really does take a dedicated team to put this program together and deliver it to you each morning. And what a team we have!

Thanks are in order:

Mindy Belz, Anna Johansen Brown, Janie B. Cheaney, Kent Covington, Kristen Flavin, Katie Gaultney, Rachael McClamroch, Onize Ohikere, Jenny Lind Schmitt, Josh Schumacher, Sarah Schweinsberg, Cal Thomas, and Emily Whitten.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

Johnny Franklin and Carl Peetz are our audio engineers. Leigh Jones is managing editor. Paul Butler is executive producer. And Marvin Olasky is editor in chief.

And you! Thank you for making possible Christian journalism in the vast marketplace of ideas.

But as for me, I will look to the Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.

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.