The World and Everything in It: June 18, 2024

MARY REICHARD, HOST: We are in the middle of our June Giving Drive and in case you missed it yesterday, all this week all gifts, whether you’re giving for the first time or you’ve given before, every single gift given today through the rest of the week will be matched, dollar for dollar.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Generous WORLD Movers are making that offer as a demonstration that no one gives alone. It’s a team effort. So be sure to take advantage this week. wng.org/donate.

Now your Tuesday program. Enjoy!

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning! The Southern Baptist Convention weighs ethical questions about in vitro fertilization.

HALL: Is it upholding the sanctity of human life to create life in a lab, or to freeze it?

NICK EICHER, HOST: Also, bird flu is infecting cattle. Could that be a big problem for humans?

And the story of an Israeli hostage who survived 8 months of physical and emotional torment.

AUDIO: 'You, tomorrow in the grave, dead.’ And the day after he would tell him 'I love you'. Like, he made a lot of games, he would say 'No one waits for you.’

REICHARD: It’s Tuesday, June 18th. 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: Up next, Kent Covington with today’s news.

BIDEN:  Well, Secretary General, welcome back to the Oval Office.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Stoltenberg/NATO » President Biden welcoming NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg at the White House on Monday ahead of next month’s NATO summit in Washington.

The two leaders said more members of the alliance than ever before are stepping up their defense spending.

BIDEN: A  record number of allies, uh, meeting the NATO commitment to at least two percent of their GDP on defense. And I look forward to building it all on all this progress next month.

Stoltenberg, in his remarks, made the case for the critical importance of the alliance. He also said that at the meeting next month, he expects leaders to reaffirm their support for Ukraine.

STOLTENBERG:  I think it's important to understand that the stronger our support for Ukraine is, the sooner this war can end, because the sooner President Putin will realize that he cannot wait those out.

The summit is slated for July 9th through the 11th.

Netanyahu dissolves Israel’s war cabinet » Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is now relying on the counsel of a small group of ministers for advice on wartime decisions after dissolving his nation’s war cabinet.

The White House declined to weigh in on the decision.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby:

KIRBY: Well, that’s really up to the prime minister to decide. The war cabinet is an internal — was an internal domestic measure taken by the prime minister to better advise and provide him counsel on the war.

Kirby added that Netanyahu was really left with no choice but to dissolve it after Benny Gantz resigned from the cabinet. Gantz is a longtime political rival to Netanyahu … who joined the panel in a show of unity. But he recently quit, criticizing the prime minister’s handling of the war.

Houthi attacks » In the waters of the Middle East the U.S. Navy is engaged in what has turned into the most intense running sea battle it has faced since World War II.

BLOMBERG:  I don't think people really understand just, just kind of how deadly serious it is, what we're doing …

Commander Eric Blomberg spoke aboard the USS Laboon on the Red Sea where the Navy is countering the Yemen–based Houthi rebels as they continue to launch attacks on commercial shipping lanes.

BLOMBERG: The ships continue to be the Houthis shooting every day. Uh, our ships remain under threat every day.

The Houthis claim they’re launching the attacks in solidarity with the Palestinians amid the war in Gaza. But the White House calls that nonsense saying the Houthis’ actions are harming the entire region, including the Palestinians and the attacks are purely terrorism.

And Rear Admiral Marc Miguez, Commander of Carrier Strike Group Two says that leads back to the world’s leading state sponsor of terror.

MIGUEZ: Not only is Iran providing financial support, but they’re providing intelligence support.

And of course, he says Iran is providing plenty of weapons.

Surgeon general social media » Warning: Social media could be hazardous to your child’s mental and emotional health.

That’s the word from U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy who wants a warning label on social media platforms similar to the ones we’ve seen on cigarettes for decades.

MURTHY:  When adolescents spend more than three hours a day on social media, we're seeing an association with a doubling of risk of anxiety and depression symptoms.

And on average, he says, American adolescents are spending five hours a day on social media.

And he told NBC’s Today Show that a warning label could help parents understand the risks.

MURTHY: And we have data from tobacco warning labels that in fact tells us that they can be helpful in changing awareness and changing behavior.

He adds that parents and teachers can also help address the problem in part by making classrooms and dinner tables phone-free zones.

Heat wave » Extreme heat is baking much of the United States. More than 70 million Americans are under heat watches or warnings, including much of the Midwest and Northeast.

Andrew Orrison with the National Weather Service:

ORRISON:  We are going to be looking at a rather prolonged heat wave here, certainly building with time, especially for the eastern part of the country. Temperatures that are going to be well into the nineties, locally approaching 100 degrees.

Boston, New York City, and Philadelphia are among the cities that could approach record highs for mid-June. And high humidity will make it feel even more oppressive in some places.

Maryland drug crime pardons ready to record » Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has announced the largest round of criminal pardons in the state’s history. The Democratic governor signed an executive order issuing more than 175,000 pardons for misdemeanor marijuana convictions.

MOORE: This is about changing how both government and society view those who have walled off from opportunity because of broken and uneven policies.

Moore said that black residents had been more likely than others to be punished for the possession of pot. That was before Maryland legalized the drug in 2022.

The pardons will not result in past convictions to be automatically expunged. But backers of the move say it lifts barriers to opportunities based on convictions for conduct that is no longer illegal.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Southern Baptists try to find common ground on IVF.

This is The World and Everything in It.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Southern Baptists try to find common ground on IVF.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Tuesday the 18th of June, 2024. This is WORLD Radio and we thank you for listening! Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

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

First up on The World and Everything in It, the ethics of IVF, in vitro fertilization.

At its annual meeting in Indianapolis last week, the Southern Baptist Convention voted on its first-ever resolution on IVF.

It calls on Southern Baptists to affirm the value of the human embryo… and only to use reproductive technologies that affirm the dignity of unborn life.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Many headlines say the resolution from the country’s largest protestant denomination opposes IVF. But, according to the voting members at the meeting—also known as messengers—what exactly the resolution means depends upon who you ask.

WORLD’s Leah Savas reports.

LEAH SAVAS: Due to a packed schedule at this year’s SBC meeting, a proposed resolution on IVF almost didn’t make it to a vote. But a motion to consider the resolution kicked off ten minutes of discussion.

Messenger Monica Hall from Oak Grove Baptist Church in Paducah, Kentucky, spoke in favor of the resolution. She and her husband adopted two frozen embryos in 2017.

MONICA HALL: They were created in a lab, frozen, leftover from someone else's IVF cycle, donated, thawed, and then transferred into my womb where they died before I could even hear their hearts beating. Those are chilling phrases to describe a human being created in the image of God. Nothing in the process of IVF upholds the sanctity of life.

Others spoke against the resolution. Daniel Taylor, messenger from Charity Baptist Church in Paris, Michigan, recommended amendments to soften the language. He talked about his close friends who conceived their son through IVF.

DANIEL TAYLOR: The resolution would castigate and condemn the entirely moral and ethical actions of these two friends of mine, calling their faithful sacrifice, struggle, and blessing a wicked thing. It would also unnecessarily make it more difficult for all of us to reach those who have gone through IVF as parents or children.

After the discussion, messengers voted on the resolution.

BART BARBER: As many as are in favor of adopting the resolution, would you indicate by lifting your ballots.

An overwhelming majority raised their orange ballots in support.

BARBER: The ayes have it, and the resolution is adopted.

Daniel Taylor said he cried after the resolution passed. He believes the language leaves no room for the thoughtful approach he says his friends used by giving all their frozen embryos a chance to be born.

DANIEL TAYLOR: My biggest concern about that is that when we say or when we imply no, no, no, don’t ever use IVF, what we’re essentially saying to those people who are going to decide to do so is don't go to your pastor for advice about how you can do it in an ethical way.

But not every Southern Baptist who supports IVF agreed with Taylor’s concerns.

SCOTT MYERS: I didn't think the resolution was problematic.

That’s Scott Myers. He attended the meeting as a messenger from University Park Baptist Church in Houston, Texas. He and his wife have a son conceived through IVF and a frozen embryo that they plan to give birth to later.

MYERS: And I didn't think that it was it was really condemning IVF in the way that some people have said that it is.

In his mind, the resolution simply affirms that it matters how parents and doctors use IVF.

MYERS: It needs to be done in a way that treats the embryos as if they are actually human beings. And I fully agree with that. So, the way that we did IVF, my wife and I, I think is compatible with that.

For one thing, the Myers chose not to genetically screen their embryonic children. Some use genetic testing to weed out embryos that are less likely to survive to birth. Instead, the Myers resolved to give every embryo a chance to be born.

Monica Hall, the woman who spoke in favor of the resolution, says she once believed there was an ethical way to do IVF. But now she doesn’t see any way in which IVF can be ethical.

MONICA HALL: In IVF, you are creating embryos that you know, ahead of time, most of them will die. Is it upholding the sanctity of human life, to create life in a lab in the first place? Or to freeze it?

Hall also doesn’t read the resolution as condemning IVF—although she would like it to. Still, she thinks it’s a step in the right direction.

HALL: We stand by it, we think it's well-written. It’s a good start. I think it's a good start to the conversation.

One of the people who helped start the conversation is Jason Thacker. He’s a senior fellow at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, and an advisor to the SBC resolutions committee. Thacker says the purpose of the resolution is not to condemn IVF but to unify the denomination.

JASON THACKER: I think that this conversation highlights that Southern Baptists are agreed upon the basic principles: the dignity of the human embryo, the searing pain of infertility, and also the way that IVF is routinely practiced.

The resolution calls on Southern Baptists to only utilize reproductive technologies consistent with the inherent value of human embryos.

THACKER: And people are going to have some differing opinions on exactly what that means. Does that mean IVF is always and totally wrong? And others might say, maybe there's a more ethical way to use that.

Thacker says the resolution is not binding—it’s just a statement of belief.

THACKER: This isn't now something that Southern Baptist can like, kick people out of their churches, or call them into sin or anything like that, that’s not what the purpose of this document is. The purpose of this document is to highlight where we agree, and to show the moral complexity of these particular artificial reproductive technologies.

Next steps on IVF are up to the messengers…and the churches they represent. But for now, this year’s resolution attempts to unite Southern Baptists with opposing views on IVF—and interpretations of what it means to treat human embryos with dignity that look very different in practice.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Leah Savas.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: bird flu in cows.

NICK EICHER, HOST: That’s right. Back in March, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the CDC, found a strain of bird flu that causes disease in dairy cattle. Now 12 states have reported finding it among livestock. Then in April, bird flu made the leap from dairy cattle to humans. The CDC thinks that’s the first instance of animal-to-human spread of the disease.

REICHARD: So should we be worried about another pandemic or about the milk we drink?

WORLD Radio’s Mary Muncy reports.

MARY MUNCY: Jamie Fagan and her husband own a dairy farm in Indiana. They heard about avian flu on the news.

JAMIE FAGAN: If you Google right now, avian flu, oh, my, so many headlines come up that are scary.

Things like “Is the flu in your milk?” and “Cows are dying.” But then she asked their vet about it, and she said just to watch their cattle.

FAGAN: You can tell pretty quickly if the cow's not feeling well, by the way she walks in the barn and maybe she's not eating, she has slower movement. You can just tell when she doesn't feel well.

The United States Department of Agriculture is asking anyone who works with cattle to take some extra precautions: things like wearing gloves and washing uniforms often, as well as paying extra attention to their cattle. But Fagan says they’ve been watching even when there wasn’t an avian flu risk.

FAGAN: You know, if she is acting not right, her milk doesn't go into the tank.

With the COVID-19 pandemic not that far in the rear view mirror, some are watching this strain of avian flu closely just to make sure there isn’t another mass infection.

A New York Times article on Monday quoted some virologists asking for more action to build up vaccine stores. And other news outlets have wondered whether this is the start of a new pandemic or if there could be a threat to the national food supply.

So what does the virus do to cows and their milk, and should Americans be worried?

BRIAN BOHL: A lot of these dairies that were initially infected, a lot of them have recovered.

Officials believe Texas is the first place where migratory birds in March started infecting dairy cattle with H5N1, a strain of avian flu.

BOHL: So you had maybe 20 percent of the animals got sick, the mid-lactational dairy cows, and with very little mortalities at all.

There is also concern over egg prices because avian flu kills chickens, and the U.S. requires farmers to cull a flock where infection is found. But bird flu has already been plaguing the poultry industry on and off for several years, and while egg prices have spiked a few times, and it hit some poultry farmers hard, there hasn’t been a wide scale collapse.

On the other hand, Bohl says cattle seem to be more resilient so there shouldn’t be a big drop in milk production, that is, if the milk is safe to drink.

Last month, the Food and Drug Administration tested almost 300 milk samples from pasteurized dairy products across the country for avian flu. None of the samples contained virus that could infect people.

BOHL: In those cases, it demonstrated that pasteurization works, and it's safe, and the milk is safe.

But earlier this month the FDA released a letter saying it was uncertain if the virus could show up in raw milk, encouraging states that allow the sale of unpasteurized milk to monitor those farms more closely.

So what about the human factor?

Peter Kasson is a researcher on emerging viruses and professor at Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Virginia.

PETER KASSON: The fact that there's transmission between mammals, although not to our knowledge, between people, is something that I think makes everyone a little bit worried.

Since the first case in April, the CDC has reported two more cases of avian flu making the jump from cattle to humans in the U.S. The symptoms were mild and like other flus—things like fever, cough, and a sore throat—and they were all in direct contact with infected cattle.

KASSON: One of the things that the CDC does when they're evaluating pandemic risk for unusual influenza viruses is they do a lot of experiments looking at both disease and transmission in ferrets.

Ferrets are a good animal model system for humans. The CDC found that the virus spread among the ferrets via direct contact, but not through the respiratory system.

KASSON: And that means the likelihood of someone walking down the street getting this is low. If you had respiratory transmission, then onward transmission from one sick dairy worker to friends and family in the community becomes higher.

Kasson says it’s much easier to control transmission when the virus requires extensive contact with bodily fluids.

KASSON: The hard question is how much do we invest in preparing vaccines at this point?

There are a lot of different theories as to why and how some viruses make the jump from animals to humans, and that makes it hard to know what H5N1 will do.

The CDC says it has two existing vaccine candidates that work against H5N1 though it hasn’t kicked them into high production because that costs a lot of money.

KASSON: You don't want to say, we saw the train coming and we didn't get out of the way. And, on the other hand, you don't want to be Chicken Little and always running around saying the sky is falling, if you're wrong in either direction there are consequences.

For now, Kasson says they’re trying to slow transmission as much as possible without putting a strain on the dairy industry.

Dairy farmer Fagan says that while she’s one of the ones most at risk, the most immediate way avian flu could affect her business is if people stop buying her milk.

FAGAN: We have only had one or two people even ask about it. Really best thing is to talk to your farmer. If you know your farmer, You know your food.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Mary Muncy.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Tuesday, June 18th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day. Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

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

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: The condition of the Israeli hostages remaining in Gaza. CNN put the question to a senior Hamas leader.

REPORTER: How many of those 120 are still alive?

OSAMA HAMDAN: I don’t have any idea about that. No one has an idea about this.

WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has the story.

KRISTEN FLAVIN: When Israeli forces do get an idea of the whereabouts of hostages—as they did two weekends ago—they move quickly.

You’ll hear the name Andrey amid the chaos. This is bodycam footage of the Israeli rescue operation.

AUDIO: [Sound of IDF rescue]

Four people in total rescued.

Russian-Israeli Andrey Kozlov was one of them. His mother Evgeniia Kozlova marks on her son’s hostage poster that he’s free.

KOZLOVA: [English] At home. [Russian] At home. [English] At home.

At home, but not near ready to speak to media about his ordeal. His girlfriend Jennifer Master spoke for him about that, describing the psychological games Kozlov’s captors would play. One day threatening his life, one day expressing affection, but always saying Kozlov had no future beyond Gaza.

MASTER: ‘You, tomorrow in the grave, dead.’ (GESTURING) And the day after he would tell him ‘I love you.’ Like, he made a lot of games, he would say ‘No one waits for you.’

His family, of course, was waiting but with little expectation.

Andrey’s father Mikhail.

MIKHAIL: [In Russian] He is a man, and it was difficult to imagine that even if a deal was concluded, he would be among the first to be released.

He’s saying that men, especially young men, are less likely to be freed, even in a hostage-release deal. It’s usually women, children, and the elderly.

But a military rescue is different. Israeli forces act on an intelligence report and come in guns blazing. They save whomever they can save.

Andrey Kozlov—still mum about what happened to him—displays what might be the equivalent of “survivor’s guilt.”

KOZLOV: I can’t feel, like, all the happiness from this situation because I was rescued and they are not. They are still there. In Gaza.

Last weekend, he made a plea for the remaining hostages.

KOZLOV: It’s only one decision. Only one. It is the deal between Israel and Hamas. I ask to bring them home as soon as possible. Israel, world, Hamas, I ask you to make a deal as soon as possible.

He’s talking about the multi-phased U.S.-backed proposal that includes a full ceasefire and withdrawal of Israeli forces from populated areas of Gaza. Under the deal, Hamas would free a number of hostages and in exchange Israel would release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Secretary of State Tony Blinken expressed annoyance with Hamas for coming back with additional demands.

BLINKEN: Hamas has proposed numerous changes to the proposal that was on the table. Some of the changes are workable. Some are not.

Blinken spoke yesterday with the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia and State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the two addressed ongoing efforts to make a deal. Miller had nothing further to add.

Miller last week did address criticism of Israel that when its military forces rescued Kozlov and the three others that scores of Palestinians were killed. Washington’s position is: Hamas has no business taking hostages in the first place.

MILLER: Number one, Israel has a right – as any country does – to try and rescue hostages that were taken. Hostages never should have been held for more than eight months. They should’ve been released a long time ago. They should be released today. That’s the first thing.

The second thing is that Hamas opened fire and that prompted an intense firefight. Miller said it’s important to note that it wasn’t just Israeli soldiers firing as they executed the raid. Civilians did regrettably get caught in the crossfire—whether it was the Hamas number of 270 or the Israeli number of less than 100.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the efforts of Israeli soldiers and renewed his commitment to securing the release of the remaining hostages.

NETANYAHU: We're committed to getting the release of all the hostages and we expect Hamas to release them all. And if they don't, we'll do whatever it takes to get them all back home.

Israel reports that 116 hostages are still being held by Hamas, though they believe about a third of that number are already dead.

There’s a sense in which Andrey Kozlov cannot believe he’s among the living.

EVGENIIA: [In Russian] Andrey told us: ‘There are some things I will never tell you’. I don't know what he didn't tell us and what he doesn't want to ever tell us.

His mother—Evgeniia Kozlova—saying here there are some things Andrey will never tell about what happened while he was in captivity.

MASTER: Right now he just has a lot of gratitude that he's alive. That he survived it.

Andrey’s girlfriend Jennifer Master says he’s highly emotional. He does smile occasionally, but what he needs most is time to heal, to fix his mind.

MASTER: It's hard for him to make decisions, and the first night he also whispered, he talked to me like this (WHISPERING), he whispered. And I always say, and I always tell him, 'Andrey talk like this, you can talk, talk.'

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Tuesday, June 18th, 2024. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. We talk a lot about the rise of the nones, that is n-o-n-e-s, those who identify as having no religion. But WORLD Opinions commentator Daniel Darling says that trend may be shifting.

DANIEL DARLING: In his recent analysis of new data from the General Social Survey, American political scientist and sociologist Ryan Burge noticed that the steady rise in non-religious Americans has plateaued. This cluster includes “nones,” who claim no religious affiliation, combined with atheists and agnostics. Between 2008 and 2013, the number of non-religious Americans rose from 21 percent to 30 percent, and in 2019 rose to 35 percent. But in the last half-decade, this number has remained steady.

Burge then digs into the generational cohorts and discovers something interesting. Among baby boomers, non-religious activity continues to rise, but among Generation X, it remained steady. And among millennials and Generation Z, there was a significant decline.

We should be careful not to read too much into one year’s survey data. But the march of secularism in American culture seems to have hit a wall and, it seems, receded among the youngest generations. Perhaps these numbers are beginning to reflect what we are hearing and seeing among Generation Z anecdotally. Last year, at Asbury University, thousands of young people gathered for days to repent, pray, and seek God in a powerful moment that spread to other college campuses. Today, there are continued reports of students on college campuses hearing the gospel, getting baptized, and pledging to follow Christ.

Why might secularism be waning among Generation Z? Perhaps this is a move of the Spirit to turn the hearts of people toward Christ in a time of trouble and tumult. History shows that God often moves in a powerful way during the most troubling times in the world. We should be thankful for the many churches and campus ministries who labor faithfully to share the gospel with students at institutions around the country.

But Christians should recognize that secularism and expressive individualism is a spiritual dead end. It has left people enslaved by their passions and lied to by the false ideologies of the age. God has wired into the human heart a yearning for purpose and meaning behind this life. Perhaps the emptiness of the culture of self in a time of tumult is causing many to turn once again to Christianity.

Late last year, former Muslim turned atheist Ayaan Hirsi Ali professed faith in Jesus. She now says the message of Christianity is one of love that speaks powerfully to the human condition.

In a time of confusion, let’s pray Ali is joined by millions of others. But the Christian mission remains the same, regardless of what the trend lines show. To a hopeless world, the message of the cross is the power of God for salvation.

God’s people might often be concerned about the times in which we live, but we shouldn’t retreat into cynicism and despair. God has called us to communicate the good news of the gospel to a confused world. Secularism won’t have the last word, because Christ has overcome the world.

I’m Daniel Darling.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Tomorrow, Donald Trump has a lot to say on the campaign trail. But what about policy? We’ll have a report 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. WORLD’s mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates, and inspires.

The Bible says: “But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.”  —I Peter 3:14-16

Go now in grace and peace.

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