The World and Everything in It: May 6, 2024

PREROLL: The World and Everything in It is made possible by listeners like us. I'm Kevin Carlson, Owner of Cabin Six Films. I live out in the country, near Flandreau, South Dakota, with my beautiful wife Jessie and our five kids. I hope you enjoy today's program.

JENNY ROUGH, HOST: Good morning! The Supreme Court takes up a city’s ban on homeless camps. And a key question was whether being homeless and sleeping out in public is status or conduct.

JUSTICE KAGAN: I mean, you could say breathing is conduct, too. Presumably you would not think it’s okay to criminalize breathing in public.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Legal Docket’s ahead, then the Monday Moneybeat: antitrust, big tech, and what is a monopoly? Later, the WORLD History Book, an iconic symphony.

AUDIO: Beethoven is struggle. The struggle for peace. He achieved it in his music.

ROUGH: It’s Monday, May 6. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Jenny Rough.

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

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

SOUND: [Rocket]

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Hamas says cease-fire talks have ended » Rockets fired from Gaza over the weekend, one of the all too familiar sounds of war in the region.

And they will likely not fall silent anytime soon after Hamas rejected the latest cease-fire proposal. The terror group says the latest round of talks in Egypt have ended.

Israeli leaders were offering a 40-day pause in the fighting. But Hamas wanted Israel to commit to ending its offensive in Gaza in exchange for releasing hostages.

NETANYAHU: [Speaking Hebrew]

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said ending the war and leaving Hamas in power is not an option. He said in the scenario, another October 7th-like terror attack is only a matter of time.

Israel is vowing a ground operation in the city of Rafah “very soon” to destroy the remaining Hamas battalions.

Republicans pressure White House » With the collapse of the latest caese-fire talks, some Republicans are calling on the White House to stand firmly behind Israel. Senator Marco Rubio said the Biden administration should make it clear:

RUBIO: That we are Israel’s side. They are the good guys in this fight. And Hamas are the evil ones. And these terrible civilian casualties that are happening is because Hamas is using them as human shields.

The White House has maintained that President Biden opposes a ground operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, which Israel says is the last Hamas stronghold. Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre:

PIERRE: There’s more than a million Palestinian civilians seeking refuge in Rafah, and we want to make sure that their lives are protected.

But top administration officials have said in recent days that Israel’s most recent cease-fire offer was more than generous, and that if the talks failed, the blame would lie solely with Hamas.

Campus protests » Meantime, pro-Palestinian/anti-Israel demonstrations continue on college campuses.

SOUND: [UVA protest]

Police arrested at least 25 protesters over the weekend as they cleared an encampment at the University of Virginia.

SOUND: [UVA protest]

Virginia attorney general Jason Miyares said some outside agitators who were not students showed up on campus in riot gear with bullhorns, directing students “on how to flank our officers.”

MIYARES:  We even see them taking water bottles, pouring half of it out, putting bear spray in the water bottles and throwing them at these officers.

He said the state will prosecute any threats or acts of violence against police.

MIYARES:  I got to tell you, you're going to find out real quickly, Virginia is not New York or California, and we're going to hold you accountable.

 Police also broke up encampments at the University of Southern California and elsewhere over the weekend.

Push to oust Speaker Johnson » On Capitol Hill, a showdown is expected on the House floor this week. GOP Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has vowed to call a motion to vacate Speaker Mike Johnson.

But it’s a move most Republicans in both chambers oppose. Sen. Tom Cotton is among the GOP lawmakers calling for the party to come together.

COTTON: I think Speaker Johnson is doing an outstanding job. I agree with President Trump on that. I agree that we need to have unity in our party right now, as we face off against Joe Biden and the Democrats.

Greene and a group of House conservatives were angered by Johnson’s support for bills that funded the government and foreign aid without insisting on major reforms.

For his part, Speaker Johnson said Sunday:

JOHNSON:  It is not helpful to our cause to advance conservative policy and principle, uh, to have any, uh, you know, any of the uprising in our own camp. And that's what this is.

He said he’s confident that the motion to vacate will not be successful.

Vice President contenders at GOP donor event » In South Florida over the weekend, all eyes were on the so-called veepstakes, as contenders to be Donald Trump’s GOP running mate joined the former president at a fundraising event.

House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik:

STEFANIK:  There's a lot of names that are in the mix. I'm honored to have my names as one of them, uh, in the mix right now, but it is a true testament to the strength of the Republican Party. 

South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott is another contender who spoke at the Mar-a-Lago fundraiser.

SCOTT: I hope that the president will choose a person who helps the country unite and heal. I certainly expect to have a decision from President Trump in the next 60 days or so, but he did not bring it up. I certainly didn't bring it up.

Other speakers at the event believed to be on Trump’s short list included: Senators J.D. Vance and Marco Rubio, and governors Kristi Noem of South Dakota and Doug Burgum of North Dakota.

Texas floods » Floodwaters have submerged many streets in the Houston area with more rain in the forecast today.

One resident says parts of his home are underwater.

RESIDENT: It's a lot to take in. All we're doing right now is trying to see what we can salvage.

And many, like this retiree, say they’re homes are not covered for flood damage.

RETIREE:  I don't know what a lot of people are gonna do like me. I didn't get insurance because I can't afford it.

Houston is one of the most flood-prone metro areas in the country. And storms have dumped more than 20 inches of rain on some parts.

Authorities carried out hundreds of high-water rescues over the weekend.

The forecast today calls for more morning thunderstorms.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Homeless camps and the Constitution in this week’s Legal Docket. Plus, the Monday Moneybeat.

This is The World and Everything in It.

NICK EICHER, HOST: It’s Monday morning, May 6th, 2024, and you’re listening to The World and Everything in It from WORLD Radio. Good morning! I’m Nick Eicher.

JENNY ROUGH, HOST: And I’m Jenny Rough. It’s time for Legal Docket.

Today’s case: City of Grants Pass v. Johnson. It’s about ordinances in a small Oregon town designed to curb the growing homeless population. They’re aimed at those who camp on public property.

EICHER: The word camping has a legal meaning. If you’re sleeping with a blanket or other bedding materials on streets, sidewalks, in parks you’re camping. If you’re living in a car, you’re camping. And that matters in this case.

The purpose of the laws is intended to keep the public spaces sanitary and promote health and safety.

Penalties for violators start at $295 fines. If someone continues to violate the ordinances, the fines increase and ultimately result in a criminal trespassing. That comes with thirty days in jail.

The legal question is whether this violates the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. You might recall from our death-penalty cases, that it’s the Eighth Amendment that prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. Which strikes me, Jenny, as an odd use of that amendment.

ROUGH: Yes, it strikes me that way too. Eighth Amendment cases typically are about the death penalty, methods of execution, maybe too-harsh sentences on juvenile offenders. Certainly not cases like this.

To get a sense of the case, I went up to Grants Pass. I didn’t find the plaintiff, but I found lots of people in her exact situation. I talked with a woman named Dorothy. She lives near Riverside Park. She’s 53. And she’s very open about her struggles with an addiction to crystal methamphetamines.

DOROTHY: And I’ve been doing it for years. You can smoke it, you can shoot it, you can snort it. It’s an upper.

She smokes it. Or rather, smoked. Past tense.

She says she quit cold turkey two weeks before I met her. Right around the time she arrived in Grants Pass.

DOROTHY: From Texas. Been to Cali. Now I’m here. [Laughs]

Even though Grants Pass is now her home, she has no home and not even a car. She sleeps in a tent. A few local churches and organizations hand them out for free.

DOROTHY: They gave me a tent, a sleeping bag, and helped me with all kinds of stuff because they say that a lot of women out here get raped. It’s not a safe place for women, whether you’re with a man or not.

She’s not exaggerating. Brian Bouteller of the Gospel Rescue Mission says the homeless encampment in Grants Pass is a living hell.

BRIAN BOUTELLER: It’s terrifying. These people are stealing from each other. Robbing each other. Raping each other. There’s so much victimization that goes on out in the parks all the time that nobody wants to sleep at night. So they don’t sleep at night, so they use methamphetamine to stay awake.

Bouteller is the executive director of the mission. When he first came on board, he says, the mission was only a place for three hots and cot.

BOUTELLER: Three hot meals and a place to sleep.

EICHER: But over time, the mission’s emphasis turned to effective compassion: equipping the homeless with life skills, helping them become independent. And to do that, he runs a high barrier shelter. Meaning, there are rules.

No drugs. No alcohol. No cigarettes.

BOUTELLER: So everybody’s up at 5:30.

ROUGH: 5:30 AM, bright and early.

EICHER: Chapel attendance twice a day. Work, if you’re able.

BOUTELLER: Help out in the kitchen. Or help out on housekeeping. Or maybe go work in one of our thrift stores.

ROUGH: And no dogs.

That’s one reason Dorothy doesn’t want to stay at the mission. She has a puppy.

And it’s a reason the plaintiff in the case, Gloria Johnson, also refused shelter. 

ROUGH: The city of Grants Pass has a population of about 38,000. And around 600 homeless.

At the encampment near Riverside Park, I watched where I stepped because of discarded needles. The playground was abandoned most of the day. A lot of parents don’t feel safe bringing their kids there anymore. The city had fenced off the water spray area, because the homeless were using it for a shower. This is one of many encampments.

At this one, I counted about 30 large tents near a bridge. The parking lot had maybe a dozen people living out of their cars and vans. These vehicles were stuffed to the brim with possessions.

And in this specific case, there are two plaintiffs: Both homeless individuals who live in their vehicle.

EICHER: They contend the ordinances are cruel and unusual, that Eighth Amendment contention. And so far, it’s been successful. The lower courts issued an injunction on the city to prevent enforcement unless it could accommodate all the homeless people in Grants Pass.

ROUGH: In finding the ordinances violated the Eighth amendment, the lower courts relied on Supreme Court precedent from 1962. A case called Robinson versus California. There, the defendant faced 90 days in jail for violating a California statute that said no person shall be addicted to the use of narcotics.

The Supreme Court said that law violated the Eighth Amendment, because you cannot punish a person’s status. The status of being an addict. But the court did note that punishing a person’s conduct is different.

So, possessing or using illegal drugs, that’s okay to punish. But sending a person to jail simply for being addicted, not okay.

EICHER: Back to this case. Lawyer Theane Evangelis argued on behalf of the City of Grants Pass defending the city ordinances. She tried to distinguish this case from the Robinson precedent by saying the anti-camping laws do target specific conduct.

EVANGELIS: The conduct of establishing a campsite, which includes making a bed with bedding.

But Justice Elena Kagan wasn’t buying it.

JUSTICE KAGAN: But your ordinance doesn’t just prohibit that. Your ordinance prohibits a single person, who is homeless, so does not have another place to sleep. It’s a single person with a blanket.

EVANGELIS: Sleeping in public is considered conduct.

And a biological necessity, Justice Kagan pointed out.

JUSTICE KAGAN: It’s sort of like breathing. I mean, you could say breathing is conduct, too. And for a homeless person who has no place to go, sleeping in public is kind of like breathing in public.

ROUGH: The discussion kept circling back to the fact that sleeping outside necessarily arises from homelessness. But lots of conduct might be considered biologically necessary. That’s one of the things that makes this case so difficult.

EICHER: Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wondered what about an ordinance that prohibited eating on public property.

JUSTICE BROWN: And the city, for, you know, very rational reasons, has determined that when people eat outdoors, it creates problems with trash and rodents, and the like, and so it bans eating in public places and it punishes violators.

ROUGH: Or what about laws that prohibit public urination? That came up a lot at oral argument. Here’s an exchange between Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Kelsi Corkran, who argued for the homeless.

JUSTICE BARRETT: There’s no facilities available, and a homeless person has no place else to go.

CORKRAN: You might have, I mean, there are commercial establishments. I-I-don’t.

JUSTICE BARRETT: Take my hypothetical. Commercial establishments don’t want non-patrons coming in to use the facilities, there are no public facilities, and it’s a generally applicable rule that says no public urination.

CORKRAN: So I think there one distinction between urination and defecation and sleeping is that sleeping outside is part of the definition of homelessness, right? Homelessness is lacking a fixed, regular, nighttime address. So the sleeping prohibition goes more directly to the status of homelessness.

So, it’s a slippery slope. Will the court limit the 1962 Robinson precedent solely to the status of addiction? Or will it extend the Robinson precedent to cover homelessness and sleeping outside?

EICHER: A few other things of note: Justice Jackson mentioned that the state of Oregon has enacted a statute. It requires cities to adopt reasonable regulations that govern the time, place, and manner of camping restrictions for those who are homeless. And she wondered if that made this case moot.

ROUGH: Yeah, she brought that up a few times. 

She also brought up a debate about “cruel and unusual.” Grants Pass attorney Evangelis argued this:

EVANGELIS: These are low-level fines and very short jail terms for repeat offenders. … This is not unusual in any way. It is certainly not cruel.

But Justice Jackson had a different view.

JUSTICE JACKSON: You know, it seems cruel and unusual to punish people for acts that constitute basic human needs.

Now, another possible outcome: The court could say the Eighth Amendment isn’t the right framework at all here. The Eighth Amendment was designed to govern what methods of punishments are permitted. Not what kind of conduct is required for a crime. Perhaps this case should be relocated under a Fourteenth Amendment due process analysis. That argument was sort of touched on, but not in depth. So I’m not sure a majority of justices will go for it.

EICHER: The United States government also took a position. Deputy Solicitor General Edwin Kneedler told the court it should require local law enforcement to look at each individual’s circumstances, to see if the person does or doesn’t have an alternate place to sleep.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh seemed to agree that municipalities, rather than federal courts, are best suited to manage homeless policy on a day-to-day basis.

He also noted that the state of Oregon has a so-called necessity defense. Those who are cited for violations can show their illegal conduct couldn’t be avoided by showing there was no alternative shelter.

JUSTICE KAVANAUGH: If a state has a traditional necessity defense, won’t that take care of most of the concerns, if not all, and therefore avoid the need for having to constitutionalize an area and have a federal judge superintend this rather than the local community...

ROUGH: One odd thing about the Grants Pass case is how many times a party or justice assumed the homeless in Grants Pass had no place else to go.

It’s true that there are more homeless individuals than available shelter beds. But it’s worth noting, the lower court here, the Ninth Circuit, did not count empty beds at the Gospel Rescue Mission. Because of its gospel affiliation, the Ninth Circuit cites establishment law concerns.

Even so, executive director Brian Bouteller says the mission invites people all the time.

BOUTELLER: I’ve got 33 men in the men’s facility right now. So that’s less than half full. I’ve got maybe, maybe 17 women right now in our 60 bed facility.

EICHER: So there is room at the inn.

And that’s this week’s Legal Docket.

JENNY ROUGH, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: the Monday Moneybeat.

NICK EICHER, HOST: It’s time to talk business, markets, and the economy with financial analyst and adviser David Bahnsen. He’s head of the wealth management firm The Bahnsen Group and he’s here now.

David, good morning!

DAVID BAHNSEN: Good morning, Nick. Good to be with you.

EICHER: David, closing arguments came on Friday in the Google anti-trust trial. We’ve talked anti-trust before and it was in the context of this new Justice Department suit against Apple. So I came across this story in The New York Times, the title: “U.S. Antitrust Case Against Google Is Just the Start.” Subheadline: “As the Justice Department’s case against Google nears an end, the federal government has more suits in the pipeline trying to rein in Big Tech.” And this is not just on the left. There’s been a lot of concern raised on the right about the power of Big Tech. What’s the impact on markets of this sort of aggressive push to go after these companies, as the story suggests, prosecutions to “rein in Big Tech”?

BAHNSEN: Well, one can have concerns with big tech power and the way they use the power without believing that it meets any reasonable definition of a monopoly. Being good at what you do and having a lot of consumers want your product and use your service does not make you a monopoly. And so to me, big tech abuse should be very carefully defined. And so we can have critiques about censorship, we can have critiques about left wing bias, we can have all of those discussions. 

But that has nothing to do with the regulatory state, whether it was Trump administration, or now the Biden administration deciding that because they're big and powerful, and popular that we want to bring antitrust case against them. They tried it with Microsoft in the late 90s. Right now, there's concerns about Apple and their use of their app store in concert with their hardware, Amazon having a cloud business in conjunction and web hosting in conjunction with being such an e-commerce power. And then now Google with search and advertising. And all anyone has to do is look at the advertising dollars spent across the web and realize Google doesn't have a monopoly on how internet advertisers spend money. People are spending money with Google, because they're the best search firm. And they're spending money with a gazillion other places of social media and websites that are useful for their own advertising needs. So, I really get bothered by these types of cases, not just because they're wrong legally and economically; I get bothered because they then distract us from a tensioning what we say is our real agenda, that we actually do want to deal with where there are big tech abuses. And you do not effectively deal with big tech abuses when you wrongly go after another aspect of the big tech business. That's to me the biggest problem is the distraction that represents or diversion from a more productive way of addressing it.

EICHER: We’ve talked a lot, David, about the campus protests, but not the central demand, namely that college pension funds divest from Israel. Suppose this succeeds at a certain level, what’s the overall impact of this and what do you think of the trend of weaponizing finance in this way?

BAHNSEN: Obviously, it's not gonna have any impact if a college pension fund were to go sell stock in Caterpillar, because they make, you know, tractors that people in Israel buy. Or they make pharmaceuticals that are manufactured in Israel. These people can't move the needle on this stuff. But it does speak to the ongoing weaponization of pension funds as at least an attempted strategy to try to implement social policy. And by the way, I want to point out this is not just radical college students. The first time I ever heard about a big movement to divest of companies that are connected to Israel was in the PCUSA pension fund, and those that wanted to put an end to any purchase of military equipment or anything related in Israel. And this was some years back and it was actually in an allegedly Presbyterian denomination looking to do this. So this kind of far left-wing idiocy in pension fund thoughts now has gotten out of control with ESG and environmental movement, DEI, other forms. But this goes back a bit, and that weaponization is, I think, just a tremendous problem.

EICHER: OK, defining terms, David, I’d like to go back to the beginning. As you were talking about the pursuit of Google, you said that just because a lot of consumers want your product does not make you a monopoly. So, what’s a monopoly?

BAHNSEN: A monopoly by definition is a company that uses the power of the state to force out competition. And it can be very direct, like the government just passed a law you have to buy all of your chicken from this chicken producer. Or it can be less direct where you use regulation and other policies from the state to try to benefit your business and hurt others. But a monopoly can never be defined as just customer preference. The late, great Robert Bork famously taught, and legal doctrine throughout the 20th century, the importance of the “harm principle,” there has to be a customer being harmed. It's the largest... And that's what Linda Kahn at the FTC now in the Biden administration specifically disagrees with. The new mantra for, unfortunately, some on the so called New Right and many on the left, is that big is automatically bad—where I think the legal history, and certainly the Bork principle, is in a monopoly, there has to be someone being harmed. And by again, just to get down to the basic definition, it's cronyism. It is the wedding together of power from the government with business—that is where I believe you get into monopolistic problems.

EICHER: So you defined monopolies in relation to coercive government power. But are there no natural monopolies? Does that ever happen without government, or is government power always a necessary component?

BAHNSEN: Well, a natural monopoly is a very undefinable term, because, again, by definition, a company can never be a monopoly without the power of violence, the power of the state. If what we mean is a company has 100% market share, which I've never seen. In a free society, Nick, that can't be sustained because there's so much money apart from government and hear me out is very important principle. By definition, I see how much money you're making in another business, I now have all the incentive in the world to come in and compete with you. And then your monopoly goes away. Now you say, Well, you can't compete. Well, why can I not compete. That's where the monopoly comes in. If the reason I can't compete is some regulatory barrier has been put in front of me, or a cost or governmental restriction, and so forth. But in any environment where someone has 100% market share, and it's profitable, automatically, there are natural incentives for competitors to come in. So what is the barrier keeping competitors from coming in where someone has that “natural monopoly”? Those barriers are what become monopolistic, and those barriers by definition have to involve the state. And if you say, no, no, there are other companies just so good at what they do, you can't get in. Well, then I guess somebody has really competed quite effectively in the marketplace.

EICHER: Ok, David Bahnsen is founder, managing partner, and chief investment officer of The Bahnsen Group.

Check out David’s latest book, Full Time: Work and the Meaning of Life at fulltimebook.com.

Have a great week, David!

BAHNSEN: Thanks so much, Nick.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Monday, May 6th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

JENNY ROUGH, HOST: And I’m Jenny Rough.

Coming up next, the WORLD History Book. Today, the premiere of a symphony, one of the most famous pieces of music ever written. Here’s WORLD Radio special correspondent Anna Johansen Brown.

SOUND: [Orchestra tuning]

ANNA JOHANSEN BROWN: The theater is crowded tonight. May 7th, 1824. Vienna is a hub of culture, and notable figures like the Austrian chancellor and composer Franz Schubert are in the audience.

The orchestra is also packed. Multiple groups have come together to perform this work for the first time: Beethoven’s ninth symphony.

AUDIO: Beginning of symphony]

Ludwig Van Beethoven himself is on stage tonight, conducting…sort of. By this time, the 53-year-old composer is almost completely deaf. Has been for almost a decade. It hasn’t stopped him from composing, but it does make it impossible for him to keep track of an orchestra. Still, he takes his place on stage to beat out starting tempos. Another conductor leads the musicians.

BENJAMIN ZANDER: So if you take the first movement, the first movement has different kinds of music…

Benjamin Zander conducts the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. Audio here from Forbes.

ZANDER: For instance, there’s [imitates music] but then the winds go [imitates music]. So you’ve got two worlds, you’ve got the world of the driving force, and then you’ve got the tender contemplative side, life and death.

Those two worlds continue to struggle for dominance throughout the symphony. Chaos and despair, life and joy.

AUDIO: [Second movement]

As the music unfolds, listeners are riveted and baffled. Beethoven is breaking musical boundaries. The structure of the movements doesn’t fit the traditional Classical mold. And the length is extraordinary, over an hour long.

AUDIO: [First theme of “Ode to Joy”]

Then comes the final movement. And the choir steps in.

AUDIO: [Bass solo]

Now, choral music is extremely popular in 1824 Vienna. But vocalists are usually reserved for oratorios or operas. To include them in a symphony? Unheard of. But it’s this section of the symphony that will become an iconic anthem the world over: the “Ode to Joy.”

AUDIO: [“Ode to Joy” choral theme]

The audience is wildly enthusiastic. Several times during the performance, they leap to their feet, cheering, clapping, waving hats and handkerchiefs. Beethoven can’t hear any of it, standing with his back to the audience. The young soprano soloist gently turns him around to see the response.

SOUND: [Finale, applause]

But though the symphony is a hit with the audience, critical reviews are mixed. Audio here from Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor of the Nashville Symphony.

GIANCARLO GUERRERO: One reviewer reported poor intonation and really bad ensemble…another reported that weak players just set down their bows and just decided to sit out many measures that seemed technically impossible. My favorite line refers to the finale when the sopranos could not reach the high note, they simply did not sing.

Regardless, the symphony becomes an enduring success, its themes resonating with listeners across cultures. Again, Benjamin Zander.

ZANDER: The piece is about joy, it’s about humanity, it’s the hymn to the dream, the capacity of human beings to dream.

Beethoven took the lyrics from a poem by Friedrich Schiller, a German writer. Here’s conductor Leonard Bernstein.

LEONARD BERNSTEIN: Peace, brotherhood, we are all children of one father, let us embrace one another all the millions of us, friendship, love, joy. These of course are all the key words and phrases from Schiller’s poem to which Beethoven attached that glorious music.

The “Ode to Joy” has been adopted by dozens of groups and causes, including protesters before the Tiananmen Square massacre, and demonstrators in Chile calling for an end to dictatorship.

AUDIO: [Chile protesters singing]

It’s the official anthem of the European Union, and was played in Berlin just after the demolition of the Berlin wall.

BERNSTEIN: Beethoven is struggle. The struggle for peace…He achieved it in his music…Somehow it must be possible for us to learn from his music by hearing it. No, not hearing it, but listening to it with all our power of attention and concentration. Then, perhaps, we can grow into something worthy of being called the human race.

Listening to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony is unlikely to end wars, but the lyrics do hint at a higher power, a Creator “above this tent of stars.”

AUDIO: Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love…

In 1907, a Presbyterian minister wrote new lyrics and set them to Beethoven’s melody. They give a better glimpse of the way all men can live in peace.

AUDIO: Mortals, join the happy chorus, Which the morning stars began; Father love is reigning o’er us, Brother love binds man to man. Ever singing, march we onward, Victors in the midst of strife, Joyful music leads us Sunward In the triumph song of life.

That’s this week’s WORLD History Book. I’m Anna Johansen Brown.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Tomorrow: Great Britain prepares to deport asylum seekers who enter the country illegally. We’ll talk with an expert about the Rwanda Asylum Plan. And, how a Muslim found the true Jesus  in our Classic Book of the Month. That and more tomorrow.

I’m Nick Eicher.

JENNY ROUGH, HOST: And I’m Jenny Rough.

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 Psalmist writes: “Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!”—Psalm 115 verse 1

Go now in grace and peace.

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