The World and Everything in It: November 28, 2023

PREROLL: The World and Everything in It is made possible by new donors like you. That’s right. I’m talking to the listener who benefits from WORLD, but hasn’t given yet to support it, until today. Let’s make today your day. It’s Giving Tuesday and the last chance to have your first-ever gift be matched dollar for dollar. I hope you’ll make your first-time gift today at wng.org/NewDonor. And I hope you enjoy today’s program.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning! An extended cease-fire in Gaza as Israel trades Palestinian prisoners for hostages. What’s the risk?

BOLTON: If this sets a precedent that undermines Israeli resolve to achieve the elimination of Hamas, it'll be a huge victory for the terrorists.

NICK EICHER, HOST: We’ll talk it over with an expert on foreign policy.

Also today, surprising election results in the Netherlands as a populist party takes the top spot in Parliament. And, Christian refugees from Myanmar pass on their culture to the next generation here in the U.S.

REICHARD: It’s Tuesday, November 28th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

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

REICHARD: Time now for the news with Kent Covington.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Israel-Hamas ceasefire extended » More former Hamas hostages are home with their families today. Israel confirmed that the terror group released 11 more captives on Monday.

That brings the number of Israelis freed under a temporary truce to 50, along with 19 hostages of other nationalities.

But the son of one of those freed captives says Hamas returned his mother in critical condition.

SON OF CAPTIVE: My mother left home when she was in a good condition, and she was well. Right now, she’s struggling for her life.

Israel has also released well over 100 Palestinian prisoners.

The government of Qatar, which has been handling negotiations, announced yesterday that the two sides agreed to extend the four-day ceasefire by another two days.

Israel has said it would extend the truce an extra day for every 10 additional hostages released.

Israeli government spokesman Avi Hyman said his country’s military pressure inflicted pain on Hamas.

HYMAN: So they were begging us to stop. And that’s how we got these hostages out, and we will continue that pressure. We will do the humanitarian pause for as long as we think it makes sense to get as many hostages out as we can.

And then he says Israeli Defense Forces will finish the job and eradicate Hamas.

Houthi attacks » Iran-backed Houthi rebels fired two missiles at a U.S. warship this week in waters near Yemen.

The U.S.S. Mason tracked two ballistic missiles fired toward the destroyer, both splashing down in the Gulf of Aden.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby:

KIRBY: We have responded forcefully against the threats to our forces in Iraq and Syria - and now our forces in the Gulf region, the Gulf of Oman and the Gulf of Aden. We’ll continue to do that as appropriate.

Iran-backed groups have ramped up attacks on U.S. troops in the region since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

Ukraine » While conflict in the Middle East has grabbed the headlines since last month … Secretary of State Tony Blinken is turning his attention to Ukraine.

He’s at NATO headquarters in Brussels today … to huddle with other top diplomats from allied nations. And the war in Ukraine will top the agenda.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that while Ukrainian forces haven't made much progress recently in reclaiming territory from the Russians.

STOLTENBERG: The Ukrainians have been able to inflict heavy losses on the Russian invaders, both measured in personnel and casualties, but also in taking out fighting capabilities.

In Brussels, the alliance will reaffirm its support for Ukraine’s defense.

The two-day session starting today will include the first foreign minister-level meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council.

Allied leaders created the council at their last summit to help prepare Kyiv to eventually join NATO, though that’s highly unlikely to happen anytime soon.

Korean Tensions » There will be more guards and razor wire along the border dividing North and South Korea. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has more.

KRISTEN FLAVIN: The North is reopening military guard posts along the border, and the South has restarted aerial surveillance in the area.

Tensions continue to mount between the two Koreas after Pyongyang launched a spy satellite into orbit.

That launch violated a UN Security Council resolution and the terms of a 2018 military agreement between the North and South. That pact was aimed at soothing tensions on the peninsula.

North Korea’s state news agency said Monday that leader Kim Jong Un has received photos its new spy satellite has taken of the White House.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

Vermont shooting » In Vermont, police are holding a suspected shooter without bail.

Authorities say 48-year-old Jason Eaton shot the three college students of Palestinian descent on Saturday while they were walking in Burlington.

All three were hospitalized in intensive care.

Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George:

GEORGE: Although we do not yet have evidence to support a hate crime enhancement, I do want to be clear that there is no question this was a hateful act.

Federal authorities are eying possible hate crime charges.

The suspect is pleading not-guilty to attempted murder charges from the state.

Rosalynn Carter Memorial » The Carter Center is honoring the life of former first lady Rosalynn Carter this week with services and public tributes.

She died last week at the age of 96.

SOUND: [Song from service]

Her remains lay in repose at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library in Atlanta on Tuesday.

Carter Center CEO Paige Alexander told guests at a ceremony that Carter fought alongside her husband to wage peace and build hope.

Alexander: For The Carter Center's mission of waging peace, fighting disease, and building hope, Mrs. Carter was a force multiplier. President Carter described her as the perfect extension of myself.

Emory University’s chapel will host a tribute service today in Atlanta. A private funeral is planned for tomorrow in Carters’ hometown of Plains, Georgia.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: the policy hazards of Israel’s hostage deal with Hamas. Plus, raising refugee kids in the American midwest.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Tuesday the 28th of November, 2023. Thank you for listening to WORLD Radio. Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. Today’s the last day you can take advantage of the offer to double all first-time giving to WORLD. It’s Giving Tuesday and so I hope you’ll make like a journalist and hit that deadline!

REICHARD: Funny how that’s really human nature, though, and not just unique to our calling as journalists. We meet deadlines to show up to work, make flights, pay bills. We are just deadline-driven people, down to the wire. But as you say, here we are on deadline day: If you’ve never made a gift to WORLD, there’s no time like the present. Please pay a visit to wng.org/NewDonor today.

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EICHER: Another is just that we’re here every day for you, first thing in the morning with an information-packed program providing sound journalism, grounded in God’s word. We’re grateful that you invest your time with us. That’s no small thing, and that’s why it’s our daily habit to say thank you for trusting us with this part of your day. But is it worth a further investment of whatever amount you can afford to help ensure the future of this kind of daily journalism.

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REICHARD: And think about this number as well: times two. Meaning whatever that number is, it’s that number multiplied by two, but today only. That’s when the dollar-for-dollar match comes to an end, here on this Giving Tuesday. Again, wng.org/NewDonor, and a sincere thanks for helping.

EICHER: All right, first up on The World and Everything in It: a Middle East hostage deal.

Monday was supposed to be the end of a four-day cease-fire but Israel and Hamas worked out an agreement to extend it. Israelis hoping for more hostages released, and Hamas wanting more time and more fighters out of Israeli jails and onto the battlefield.

REICHARD: Last week as the original cease-fire was about to take hold, former ambassador to the UN and National Security Adviser John Bolton had this warning:

BOLTON: If the Hamas effort can help break the resolve of the Israeli forces, what they really want to do, and this is the real play, is to turn this four day pause into a permanent cease-fire. Now they're trying to put the onus on the Israeli forces. If and when they begin hostilities, again, they are playing, I think, in a surprisingly sophisticated psychological game here. But if this sets a precedent that undermines Israeli resolve to achieve what they're legitimately entitled to achieve - the elimination of Hamas as a threat - it'll be a huge victory for the terrorists.

EICHER: Joining us now to explain what’s going on is William Inboden. He served on the National Security Council under President George W. Bush and is now a professor at the University of Florida. He’s also a regular contributor to World Opinions.

Will, good morning to you.

WILLIAM INBODEN, GUEST: Good morning. It's great to be with you.

EICHER: Well, Let’s start with the terms of the cease-fire extension. What do Israel and Hamas each get out of it?

INBODEN: Well, in Israel's case, it's the hope for another perhaps 10 to 20 hostages to be released. I say "the hope for" because as of now, when we're recording, we don't know for sure. But um, but thus far, there have been some successes with about 58 hostages being released. And also the Israeli fighting forces get a little bit of a respite too, right. I mean, they've been in very intensive combat for what, about a month and a half right now, and so getting some sort of respite, chance to resupply and regroup for them is a tactical advantage.

Hamas, of course, gets more supplies coming in, particularly through their southern border. They also get a reprieve from the Israeli assault. And, you know, the concern, which I certainly share, is that Hamas can use this you know, for—soon to be looks like six day pause, to further burrow in, further reinforce their fighters and make Israel's operation to destroy them all the more difficult. And Hamas also I think gains a certain strategic advantage, as they are now controlling the information space and the narrative a little bit more, where now world opinion seems to be focusing more on, “Hey, Israel, are you going to keep fighting? Why won't you stop this barbaric assault?” And by engineering a pause like this, Hamas gains a little bit of a strategic advantage of some of the information narrative. I know Ambassador Bolton has voiced a similar concern there, and I think that's correct.

And finally, Hamas, you know, in earlier iterations of the deal, they're getting hundreds of their prisoners released from Israeli prisons, you know, quite a few of those released Hamas prisoners we know are going to be returning to the battlefield and continuing their their bloodlust in their effort to kill as many Jews as possible. So this is, these are very, very difficult trade-offs.

EICHER: This may be my own bias coming through, Will, but when I look at the terms of this, Israel releasing three young men for each woman or child or elderly person, I just wonder about the lopsided nature of the agreement. And just the general principle, at least this is maybe more of an American political thing where we say, we don't negotiate with terrorists, whatever happened to that idea?

INBODEN: Yeah, well, Nick, I share a lot of those concerns, right. And so by any measure of equity, this is a grotesquely lopsided deal to Hamas's advantage. And unfortunately, Israel has a history of doing those. I'll mention a precedent on that in a moment, but it also needs to be said, and I know you and Mary agree with me on this, but just on a humanitarian level for those Israeli families who are suffering, the agony of their loved ones being you know, held as hostages and, and and many others, of course, who have who have been killed, any price to be paid is worth it to bring that one back, especially with, of course, the history of awful atrocities and suffering that the Jewish people have known. And so Israel has historically been willing to pay tremendous prices to get its soldiers and hostages back.

The problem, as you point out is that creates real moral hazard. it incentivizes more hostage taking. Hamas was very deliberate about this, they wanted to grab as many Israeli hostages as possible. And to give it a little more context and show why, you know, some of this is troubling. Back in 2011, when Hamas was holding Gilad Shalit, just you know, one Israeli soldier, Prime Minister Netanyahu, who was in power then, he released over 1000 Hamas prisoners in exchange for that one Israeli soldier. So that set the price very, very high. One of those Hamas prisoners that Netanyahu released was Yahya Sinwar, who is currently the head of Hamas in Gaza who planned this whole operation. I'm not trying to blame Netanyahu for this, okay. Don't misunderstand me there.

But these are not just low level operative prisoners. This case, it was the mastermind and the leader of this new operation. And so the moral hazard is a real concern, which is why Israel's strategic goal should not just be getting the hostages back, but destroying Hamas, so none of this can happen again.

REICHARD: I’m wondering about the Americans who have been taken, and those who have been released, what do we know about them?

INBODEN: You know, what really encapsulated just the humanitarian tragedy and the barbarism of Hamas was one of the hostages just released was a four year old American girl, Abigail Mor Edan, and of course, the more you read about her situation, the more heartbreaking it is. She had seen her parents murdered in front of her, right? I mean, it's just just awful. So the traumas this poor little girl will have for life. But that shows you just what savages, what true moral cretins we're dealing with here. And she's an American. Well, we know there are at least 10 other Americans currently being held hostage among the 180 or so hostages being held, right. So this is not just an attack on Israel, it's an attack on America as well. And I hope the Biden administration is doing all they can not just to get those Americans returned, but to support Israel's operation to destroy Hamas and none of this happens again.

EICHER: Well, it's interesting you bring that up, because I was thinking about that very thing, Will, where President Biden, and I should say, with all due credit to John Kirby the next day, but President Biden the other night was talking about the release of Abigail, and how great it is, she's free now. And that is great, but no mention of the fact that she's free to be an orphan in Israel, and she has to be raised by her aunt. And thank the Lord that she's there to provide that care. But we forget about that when we focus and that is probably exactly what Hamas is trying to do here.

INBODEN: Yeah. And this is again, going back to Ambassador Bolton's good points about the information war, the strategic narrative that Hamas has thus far winning, right. I mean, in the first couple of days after the initial barbarous assaults and the massacres of what, you know, some 1200 innocent Israeli civilians, you know, world opinion, there was an initial outpouring of support for Israel as well, there should be, but in with our shortened attention spans with a 24 hour news cycle with the inanities of social media. Now, a lot of opinion in the United States among the progressive Democratic base, and certainly across the rest of world is really turning against Israel, and seem to have completely forgotten about the atrocities that Israel is trying to avenge and also ensure that this doesn't happen again. And in addition to Abigail Mor Edan, there are hundreds of other Israeli children who are now orphans, because their parents were butchered by Hamas, as well as so many other Israeli children who are dead because of being butchered by Hamas. So we should not forget that.

REICHARD: You mentioned moral hazard earlier. Actions do have consequences, so how does this hostage deal relate to the hostage deal the Biden administration cut with Iran back in September?

INBODEN: Yeah, well, that was another one I was very critical of, too, and you know, to get a few American prisoners / hostages released, you know, the Biden administration unfreezes $5 billion in frozen assets to send it back to Iran. Again, I think in some ways, it is of a piece of it is rewarding hostage-taking. Now, I'd say this with you know, deep empathy and grief for the suffering of the families and individual hostages themselves. There are no good or easy answers with any of this right? So let's not pretend otherwise. But we also need to acknowledge that every time the United States or Israel or any other freedom minded nation, pays something for the release of hostages, like even with the Biden administration, you know, released Viktor Bout to get Brittney Griner out of Russia, right, same thing, and then a few a couple months later, Putin arrests the innocent Wall Street Journal reporter. So every time we pay ransoms for hostages that puts other innocent people at risk of being the next hostage taken. So it's a troubling practice overall, even if I understand the hard cases in each individual circumstance.

REICHARD: William Inboden is a professor at the University of Florida and a contributor to WORLD Opinions. Will, thanks so much for your time.

INBODEN: Thank you, Mary. It's great to be with you.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: Surprising election results in the Netherlands.

This small northern European country is famous for its progressive values. But on November 22nd, Dutch voters went to the polls and picked an anti-Islam, anti-immigration contender for prime minister. His name is Geert Wilders and he leads the Party for Freedom which is now the biggest political party in the Dutch parliament.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: WORLD Senior Writer Emma Freire used to live in the Netherlands and has been following this story for us. Good morning, Emma.

EICHER: Let’s start with a primer. How do Dutch elections work and what exactly did voters cast their ballots for?

EMMA FREIRE, REPORTER: The Netherlands has a multi-party system and there's 150 seats for 17 and a half million people. So a lot of parties tend to get into parliament. It's clear that Dutch voters wanted a big change. The parties that lost the most in this election cycle were the ones that were part of the previous governing coalition. This vote was a repudiation of the previous government. At the very beginning of the campaign, there was a very promising anti-establishment candidate named Pieter Omtzigt. But he dropped the baton with a weak campaign and Wilders just jumped right in there and picked it up. In the days right before the election, polls show that there were four parties that were roughly tied to become the biggest. One of them was Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom. So he was expected to do well. But then when the results came in, he was the biggest party by a huge margin. He had 37 seats, and the next biggest party had 25.

REICHARD: Tell us a bit about Geert Wilders. Who is he? What does he stand for?

FREIRE: Well, Wilders has actually been a mainstay of Dutch politics for a very long time. He comes from a humble background, he was born into a blue-collar family in an economically depressed area in the south of the Netherlands. When he was a teenager, Wilders traveled to Israel and lived and worked there for about a year. He likes to say in interviews that this experience shaped his worldview. Because he observed that in Israel, people had freedom and prosperity due to democracy, but he saw that in some of the neighboring countries in the Middle East, they were poor and oppressed. And he believes that's because of Islam. So he's a strong critic of Islam, and he is to this day, a very strong supporter of the State of Israel.

He was elected to Parliament in 1998 with one of the biggest parties, but then he had a falling out with them. And in 2006, he started his own party, the Party for Freedom. So he has actually been a Member of Parliament for 25 years. He's always been very outspoken in his criticism of Islam. He called for a ban on sales of the Qu'ran, and he says it should be treated like the book Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler. And he has also called for the closing of mosques, which he calls palaces of hate. He's been prosecuted in the Netherlands for things like discrimination and inciting hatred for some of the things that he has said over the years. Now, it's also important to point out that Wilders is not a social conservative in any way, shape or form. He is pro-euthanasia and pro-abortion.

REICHARD: What were some other big issues at play in the election?

FREIRE: Well, Dutch voters are struggling with a feeling that their government is broken. There was a big scandal involving parents who were falsely accused by the government of child care benefits fraud. They were ordered to repay the benefits, which often amounted to 10s of 1000s of dollars. This was very devastating for them. And to understand the context here, Dutch people are used to good governance. In America, unfortunately, we are familiar with government messing up. But to Dutch people this scandal really shook their faith in the government.

The Dutch government is also working on plans for the forced sales of farms to reduce nitrogen emissions to meet European Union guidelines. Farmers have been engaging in mass protests. Many Dutch people are very sympathetic to the farmers and very unhappy about these plans to close the farms. So that was a big issue as well.

And also Dutch people are just feeling very insecure. There's been inflation. Cost of health care is going up. A longtime housing shortage just keeps getting worse. And high levels of immigration have been feeding into all these concerns, particularly the housing shortage. Dutch people are concerned if there aren't enough houses for them, where are Dutch people going to live?

REICHARD: Back in September, Italy elected a so-called “far-right” prime minister, and now the Netherlands follows a similar pattern. What political trends do you see spreading to other European countries?

FREIRE: Well, political scientists have invented the term Dutchification of the vote to describe trends where the traditional political center in a country collapses. So we see that very clearly in the Netherlands, the traditional large parties are doing very poorly in elections and fringe parties are rising up, and to some extent, this is a result of the structure of the Dutch government. It's quite easy for a small new party to get at least one seat. Other country’s governmental structures make it harder for fringe parties to rise, but we are seeing in other countries, particularly Germany and France, that the traditional large parties have collapsed and fringe parties, while perhaps not getting the top jobs, are taking more seats in parliament and in local government and getting a bigger say in policymaking.

REICHARD: Emma Freire is a Senior Writer for World Magazine. Thanks for covering this story!

FREIRE: Oh, sure. Thanks.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Merriam-Webster has announced its word of the year. Last year, it was “gaslighting.”

This year, it’s “authentic.” As in, not an imitation. As in, true to one’s personality, spirit, or character.

Merriam-Webster determines its word of the year by looking for spikes in online searches along with correlating events. For example, businessman Elon Musk said people should be more authentic on social media, that caused a spike.

So did singer Taylor Swift’s saying she was looking for her authentic voice.

What’s interesting is a few runners up are kind of opposites: Deepfake. Dystopian.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Yeah. Somebody said online: “Authentic is a word of the past. Synthetic is the new and true now and Pathetic is where we’re headed.”

It’s The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Tuesday, November 28th.

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Mary Reichard.

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

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: escaping religious persecution.

A small ethnic group called the Zomi live in Columbus, Ohio. They hail originally from Myanmar. Their minority status there led to persecution. Following Bible translation into their native language in the 19th century, many became Christians. Then they faced religious persecution on top of that.

REICHARD: Today, most of the Zomi people are Christian, and they are still under threat in Myanmar. Some have fled to the U.S., bringing their culture, their faith, and their kids with them.

WORLD correspondent Maria Baer visited a Zomi community … and brings us the story.

SOUND: [Kids playing outside]

MARIA BAER, REPORTER: It’s noon on a quiet street north of downtown Columbus, Ohio. Big, old trees are blowing red and golden leaves across a stretch of bright green lawns. Halfway down the block sits an old brick school building. In a few minutes, a group of first- and second-graders will explode through the backdoors.

SOUND: [Whistle]

No more quiet neighborhood.

SOUND: [Footsteps, yelling]

Roughly 260 students are enrolled here at Tree of Life Christian Schools’ Clintonville campus. The school teaches preschool through fifth grade.

Recess here is pretty much like recess everywhere. A very serious game of freeze tag is quickly underway. Girls are jump-roping. A couple daring young chaps are competing to see who can go the highest on the swings.

But a group of giggly second-graders is playing a game in an unfamiliar language.

CHILDREN: Cut-cut, cut-cut, Cut-Bam, Bam-Bam…

Grace, Cing, and Vung are three of the now 35 Zomi kids enrolled here at Tree of Life Clintonville. Each of their families fled to the U.S. within the last few years to escape persecution.

CHILDREN: [Counting in Burmese, laughing]

There are twelve major ethnic groups recognized in Myanmar, including the Chin people, which make up less than four percent of the country’s population. The Zomi are a small fragment of the Chin. It’s dangerous to be an ethnic minority in Myanmar. It’s even more dangerous to be a religious minority.

BAER: What percentage of the Zomi people are Christian?

PAU: OK, 95 percent.

Hau Pau and her husband, Pastor Thang Pau, lead Zomi Christian Church of Columbus. Pastor Thang came to the United States as a religious refugee in 2000.

Many Zomi Christians have followed him to Ohio in the years since; most with his name and phone number in their pockets. When they arrive in Ohio, Pastor Thang invites them to his church. If they have kids, he points them to Tree of Life, where this tiny tribe of persecuted believers is a growing subset of the student body.

CHILD 1: I wanna play freeze tag with Cing and Grace!

CHILD 2: Can I play too?

Katie Frost teaches second grade at Tree of Life. In her four years here, at least eight Zomi kids have come through her classroom.

KATIE FROST: They tend to at first migrate towards people from their own community, but then once they get more comfortable they do branch out and make friends with the other students as well.

Many of the Zomi kids here at the elementary school are siblings or cousins. Most have been living in the U.S. since they were babies. Seven-year old Vung was born — or in second-grader-ese “got borned” — in a refugee camp.

CHILD: Me and my sister got borned in Malaysia, and then we came here.

The girls have a hazy understanding of why they had to leave Myanmar.

CHILD 1: My family left Burmese because there was a lot of shooting there.

CHILD 2: I left there for my own good safety. (giggling)

Open Doors tracks Christian persecution around the globe. Myanmar consistently ranks as one of the world’s most dangerous countries for believers. Government forces often raid Christian villages and churches, kidnapping or killing believers. Sometimes they block Christian communities’ access to water or healthcare.

The situation got worse in 2021 when the Myanmar military staged a violent coup. Earlier this month, the military junta dropped a bomb on a school in the Chin state, killing eight children.

Now safe in the U.S., the Zomi families at Tree of Life are doing what they can to hold on to their culture. Most of the kids speak their native language, Zomi, at home with their parents and English at school.

CHILD: My parents get mad when I speak English.

BAER: Is it hard to be at school with people who only speak English?

CHILD: Not really. Sometimes they don’t understand me! (Speaking Zomi and giggling)

For their American and Hispanic classmates, the Zomi kids are a window to another part of the world.

Last year, Tree of Life’s music teacher organized a spring concert called “Trip Around the World.” Kids researched their family’s heritage and then performed songs from their native culture. There were songs from China, Peru, Australia, Italy, Kenya, and more. When it was the Zomi kids’ turn, the line of performers stretched all the way from stage right to stage left.

AUDIO: [Singing in Zomi]

Katie Frost said she loves watching the kids from Myanmar introduce their classmates to the quirks of their culture, from their holidays to the origins of their names. The name Cin, or the female version, Cing, is hugely popular — there are thirteen kids here at Tree with that name. It’s a reference to the Zomi people’s larger ethnic group, the Chin people.

And of course, to their classmates, being bilingual is a Zomi superpower.

CHILD 1: I want to learn how to say cheetah.

CHILD 2: It’s just cheetah! (Laughter)

But Zomi culture is also a Christian culture. The song they sang at the school concert? That was a worship song. Every Saturday and Sunday, most Zomi families in Columbus gather at Pastor Thang’s church, an unassuming brick building near a strip mall. Inside, in dim lights under a drop ceiling, kids run around while their grown-ups pray and worship in Zomi.

AUDIO: [Singing hymn]

Back at recess, the second-graders are goofing off on the soccer field. The Zomi kids seem perfectly at home here at Tree of Life. It’s a long way from Myanmar, but it’s right in the middle of the family of God.

BAER: Vung can you tell me something in Zomi?

VUNG: Hallelujah!

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Maria Baer in Columbus, Ohio.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Tuesday, November 28th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Up next … is marriage a bad deal for men? WORLD Opinions commentator Nathanael Blake takes on that question.

NATHANAEL BLAKE, COMMENTATOR: Anti-marriage influencers claim to be looking after men’s interests, but they are directing men toward unhappy, cowardly lives. The latest example comes from X, formerly known as Twitter, where social media personality H. Pearl Davis declared that “marriage is a terrible deal for men in 2023.” To the contrary, sociologist Brad Wilcox pointed out that married men are, on average, much happier than their unmarried peers (and the same is true of women).

The rejoinder from Davis and her followers was that the problem with marriage is in the potential for failure—sure a happy marriage might be great, but a bad one may be so miserable, or a divorce so devastating, that marriage is not worth attempting. Though Davis overstates the prevalence of these ills, they are real. Men can have their hearts broken, their bank accounts drained, and their children taken from them.

The critics are right that marriage is risky. Indeed, it is more than risky; it is a surety of suffering. There are, as one G.K. Chesterton character put, no prudent marriages. The end of a good marriage is one spouse mourning at the deathbed of the other. Those whose goal in life is to avoid suffering should avoid marriage. Indeed, they should avoid love of any sort.

As C.S. Lewis put it, “to love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken….”And it is not only love that makes us vulnerable, for all good and noble ventures entail the possibility of failure. Relying on other people for anything creates risk; whether friends or business partners, they may let you down or betray your trust.

Some risks are not worth taking, but marriage is not so intrinsically foolhardy as to be among them, even in 2023. Indeed, marriage is the vocation that the great majority of men are called to. Furthermore, men can do a great deal, both before and after getting married, to increase the likelihood of matrimonial success. Yes, there will still be instances in which men, despite their best efforts, find their marriages falling apart. In such cases, real men will persevere. They will continue to live, to serve God and others, and to find sources of joy in this life. Such men still rejoice in the happy marriages of those they know, rather than turning to bitterness and trying to drag others with them.

Marriage unites the two halves of the human race to provide for its continuation, establishing the primeval human relationships of mother, father, and child. Marriage vows are a commitment to this in defiance of both fate and one’s own future fickleness. And the vulnerability of binding oneself to others is inseparable from the flourishing it enables. Love, joy, and meaning come with risks and pains.

Cowards will shrink from this, but men—who want to live as men are meant to live—will welcome the dangers and satisfactions of love and marriage.

I’m Nathanael Blake.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Tomorrow: Red state versus blue state. We’ll preview the upcoming debate between governors Ron DeSantis and Gavin Newsom on Washington Wednesday. And, a ministry in Texas cooking up kosher meals for the needy in Israel. 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 Psalmist writes: “Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble. I hope for your salvation, O Lord, and I do your commandments.” —Psalm 119: 165, 166

Go now in grace and peace.

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