The World and Everything in It — October 14, 2020

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning!

Judge Amy Coney Barrett faces day three of her confirmation hearing on the path to the Supreme Court. We’ll talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly with WORLD’s Jamie Dean.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Also WORLD Tour. 

Plus the great outdoors beckons this time of year. We’ll talk to someone who helps get it ready for you.

And WORLD founder Joel Belz on discernment ahead of the election.

REICHARD: It’s Wednesday, October 14th. 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: Next up, Kent Covington with today’s news.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Senate Democrats press Barrett on abortion, Obamacare » Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett faced tough questions from lawmakers Tuesday, day two of her confirmation hearing. 

As expected, Senate Democrats pushed her to voice her view of Roe v. Wade. She responded… 

BARRETT: It’s inconsistent with the duties of a sitting judge to take positions on cases that the court has decided in the past. 

Democrats also pressed Barrett on Obamacare. Senator Chris Coons said he felt she “chastised” Chief Justice John Roberts following the Supreme Court ruling that upheld the law.

COONS: You said in this article, and I’m quoting you—‘It is illegitimate to distort either the Constitution or a statute to achieve what it deems a preferable result. 

Barrett said Justice Roberts himself characterized his own opinion as not the most natural reading of the statute. Coons interrupted…

COONS: He didn’t describe his own opinion as not plausible. 
BARRETT: He said ‘less natural,’ and I thought it was implausible.
COONS: But not unsound?
BARRETT: So Senator Coons, I certainly would not and did not chastise the chief justice or impune his integrity. 

Barrett added that she is “not hostile” toward the Affordable Care Act.

The Judiciary Committee and Judge Barrett will resume questioning this morning.

U.S. forces launch airstrikes in Afghanistan » A Pentagon spokesman says American forces have carried out several airstrikes in Afghanistan. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin reports. 

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: Col. Sonny Leggett said U.S. forces launched recent airstrikes in support of Afghan security forces under attack by the Taliban. 

He said Taliban attacks were—quote—“not consistent” with a U.S.-Taliban deal signed in February. He accused the group of undermining ongoing peace talks. 

The Pentagon says Taliban fighters must “immediately stop their offensive actions in Helmand Province and reduce their violence around the country.” 

On Monday, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley dodged questions about President Trump’s recent remark that all U.S. troops “should” be “home by Christmas.” He said only that the United States will end the war on a “responsible” timeline. 

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin. 

Johnson and Johnson pauses COVID-19 vaccine trial » Johnson & Johnson has halted a late-stage trial of its COVID-19 vaccine after one participant became ill. 

Officials are now working to figure out if the illness is tied to the vaccine or unrelated. 

CFO and Executive VP Joe Wolk said the company gave information on the case to the independent monitoring board overseeing the safety of patients.

WOLK: It should really reassure the public that all scientific, medical, and ethical protocols are being followed to the utmost degree. And we just have to let that process play out, let that information be analyzed by the independent board.

The study of the one-dose vaccine called ENSEMBLE will include up to 60,000 people from multiple countries. Wolk said as of now, the company’s timeline hasn’t changed. He believes the vaccine’s still on track for approval in the first quarter of next year. 

Pauses are not uncommon in long clinical studies, and are often quickly resolved.

It’s not yet clear whether the sick participant even received a dose of the vaccine or just a placebo. 

Netflix executive defends Cuties » A top executive at Netflix is defending a controversial film that some U.S. lawmakers have called “child pornography.” WORLD’s Anna Johansen reports. 

ANNA JOHANSEN, REPORTER: The movie Cuties is a French film that features young girls dressed provocatively and dancing in a sexually suggestive way. 

But the company’s Co-CEO, Ted Sarandos, this week called the film “misunderstood.” He said, “It’s a very personal coming of age film,” that played in theaters throughout Europe without controversy. 

And he added—quoting here—“it’s a little surprising in 2020 America that we’re having a discussion about censoring storytelling.”

But many, including a Texas grand jury, contend that it’s not artistic storytelling, but exploitation of children. 

Nexflix’s distribution of the film led to a criminal indictment in the state. 

The indictment, revealed last week, states that Netflix did “knowingly promote visual material which depicts the lewd exhibition of the genitals or pubic area of a clothed or partially clothed child who was younger than 18 years of age at the time.”

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Anna Johansen. 

Whitmer kidnapping suspects face federal judge » Several men accused in a plot to kidnap the governor of Michigan faced a judge on Tuesday. Five of the six men charged stood in a federal court with their wrists shackled together. 

All the while, prosecutors revealed bizarre and shocking details of the case. The ringleader of the plot allegedly planned to take Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer to the middle of Lake Michigan in a small boat, kill the engine, and leave her there. 

The suspects also allegedly talked about kidnapping Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam. 

Several of the men have histories of anti-government rhetoric and organizing. And at least one of the six was an avowed anarchist. Brandon Conserta posted this video online in front of an anarchist flag:

CONSERTA: Every single person that works for the government is your enemy, dude. 

He said that includes President Trump, who he called a “tyrant” and police who he called “enemies” of freedom. 

The defendants face up to life in prison if convicted. 

Seven others linked to a paramilitary group were charged in state court for allegedly seeking to storm the Michigan Capitol and plotting to start a civil war.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s religious beliefs.

Plus, Joel Belz on praying for wisdom as Election Day approaches.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD: It’s Wednesday, the 14th of October, 2020. Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER: And I’m Nick Eicher. First up: Washington Wednesday. 

Judge Amy Coney Barrett faces day three today of the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing.  

Republicans point to Judge Barrett’s experience that makes her more than qualified to be a Supreme Court justice. She attended Notre Dame law school, graduated first in her class, clerked for the late Justice Antonin Scalia and worked in private law practice. Then Barrett began teaching at Notre Dame, where she remains on the faculty. President Trump appointed her in 2017 to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

REICHARD: But Democrats say her beliefs disqualify her from serving on the Supreme Court. What are those supposedly radical beliefs? WORLD’s Jamie Dean did some investigating for her recent profile of Judge Barrett and joins us now to talk about them.

Good morning, Jamie!

JAMIE DEAN, REPORTER: Good morning, Mary.

REICHARD: You recently wrote about Amy Coney Barrett’s religious beliefs, and how they may or may not affect her work as a potential Supreme Court Justice. How did this question become such a hot topic in the run up to the hearing on her confirmation this week?

DEAN: Well, it originally became a hot topic because Democratic senators made it a hot topic three years ago when a Senate panel questioned Barrett during a hearing over her confirmation as a federal judge in a U.S. District Court.

REICHARD: Remind us what happened during that hearing.

DEAN: Yeah, I think the most famous—or maybe infamous—part of that hearing came when Dianne Feinstein, a longtime Democratic senator from California, asked a series of questions regarding how Barrett’s devout Catholicism might influence her role as a judge. And Feinstein told her she was concerned that quote—“the dogma lives loudly within you.”

REICHARD: How did that go over?

DEAN: Not that well. Conservative groups took that statement as a badge of honor, and started printing up T-shirts that said things like “the dogma lives loudly within me.” But that wasn’t the only moment when the issue of religion came up. Senator Al Franken of Minnesota questioned Barrett about why she spoke at an event for the Blackstone Fellowship.

Senator Franken pointed out that the Blackstone Fellowship is a program run by the religious liberty law firm Alliance Defending Freedom. And he made a big deal over the fact that the Southern Poverty Law Center had designated Alliance Defending Freedom “a hate group.”

Now, we know that the SPLC has also designated Christian organizations like the Family Research Council as hate groups, so this moniker doesn’t give us a particularly fair picture of how we should define hate. And the other thing Senator Franken did not acknowledge was that three months earlier, attorneys from Alliance Defending Freedom had won a religious liberty case at the Supreme Court. And the justices ruled 7-2 in favor of their arguments.

REICHARD: OK, let’s fast-forward to this week: When members of the Senate Judiciary Committee gave opening comments during the first day of Barrett’s confirmation hearing, they didn’t bring up her Catholic faith. Why do you think they didn’t emphasize it right from the start?

DEAN: A couple of thoughts here: The Democratic senators led by emphasizing the Affordable Care Act, and raised concerns that Barrett had expressed disagreement in the past over how the Supreme Court had upheld that law. I think the senators know healthcare is a really important issue to millions of Americans, and it’s a smart strategy to emphasize this right before an election.

I also think they saw the backlash from that religion-based line of questioning in 2017, and possibly wanted to tread carefully. But they also probably know that questions about Barrett’s religious beliefs were being hashed out by many different news outlets in the run up to these hearings. So even if the senators never question Barrett’s personal beliefs, many news outlets have been doing that very thing.

REICHARD: How so?

DEAN: There have been several stories casting suspicions about an organization Barrett has been connected to called People of Praise. This is an independent, Christian group founded in the 1970s. It describes itself as a charismatic Christian community. The membership is mostly Catholic, but it is open to Protestants as well.

There are chapters of this group in several states around the country. They meet for fellowship and times of worship, in addition to members attending their own churches that aren’t formally connected to the group. The organization has founded four Christian schools over the last few decades.

One thing that’s gotten a lot of attention is that the group calls its membership agreement a covenant. But they emphasize that this does not involve taking an oath or a vow, and they say that members are free to follow their consciences.

Some news outlets have also pointed out what they consider to be darkly controversial: They say this group teaches a wife should submit to her husband’s leadership. This, of course, isn’t controversial at all to many Christians in churches where this Biblical principle is taught.

And the idea that Barrett is under some form of oppressive leadership by her husband seems undercut by the fact that he literally stood with her as she accepted a nomination to the highest court in the land.

REICHARD: What about Barrett’s faith and her views of abortion?

DEAN: This has certainly gotten a lot of attention as well.

Barrett belonged to the pro-life group University Faculty for Life for about six years at Notre Dame, where she teaches. And in 2006, she signed onto a statement by a local pro-life organization that said the signatories, quote “oppose abortion on demand and defend the right to life from fertilization to death.” End quote.

This statement ran as an ad in a local newspaper. The pro-life organization that organized the statement also bought an ad on the opposite page that called for, quote, “an end to the barbaric legacy of Roe v. Wade.” End quote. It wasn’t quite clear to me whether the hundreds of people who signed the group’s statement on the first page—decrying abortion in general—had also signed off on the ad on the opposite page regarding Roe v. Wade.

But whatever the case, I think here’s the point to bear in mind: Pro-life views are not surprising for a Catholic who embraces her church’s official teaching about  abortion.

Barrett’s pro-life views also aren’t surprising considering that she and her husband have seven children, including two adopted from Haiti. They seem like a couple who value children and who value life. These shouldn’t be shocking realities.

REICHARD: It does raise questions about how Barrett might rule on a challenge to Roe v. Wade, wouldn’t it? 

DEAN: Certainly the question comes up. But I think some pro-abortion advocates have viewed Barrett’s nomination as a death knell for Roe v. Wade, and some pro-life groups have viewed her nomination as a slam dunk for overturning the decision.

But that’s not been the way Barrett has talked about it in the past.

In a 2013 lecture at Notre Dame, she said she thought it was unlikely the court would overturn Roe. She said, quote: “The fundamental element, that the woman has a right to choose abortion, will probably stand.” End quote. 

In 2016, Barrett again said she thought it was unlikely the court would try to overturn Roe. She said, quote: “The question is how much freedom the court is willing to let states have in regulating abortion.” End quote.

That’s already become a key question as states have passed a slew of laws aimed at regulating abortion. In June, the Supreme Court struck down a Louisiana law requiring abortionists to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. So this question of how the high court will allow states to make decisions about abortion does seem to be on the forefront of the legal battle over abortion.

When it comes to how Barrett’s religious or personal views of Roe would affect her work in a courtroom, she told the Senate panel in 2017 that a judge should always adhere to the law—not her personal beliefs—when ruling. 

So none of that tells us exactly how Barrett would rule on specific cases, or how she might conclude the law applies in specific circumstances, but it does give us an idea of how she might approach thinking about those issues.

RECIHARD: Do you think abortion proponents will take her word on that?

DEAN: Well, it’s unlikely. Planned Parenthood strongly condemned her appointment as a federal judge in 2017, and they’re against her nomination to the Supreme Court now. I think this will continue to come up as fodder in the presidential campaigns.

That probably won’t affect the confirmation process. The Senate Judiciary Committee is likely to recommend her as the nominee, and if enough Republican senators remain healthy and can show up for a full Senate vote, she appears to be on track for being confirmed by the Senate, quite possibly before the election.

But if the last few weeks have taught us anything, I think they’ve reminded us not to boast about tomorrow because we truly do not know what a day will bring. So we’ll have to wait and see.

REICHARD: We will indeed. Jamie Dean is WORLD’s national editor and chief political reporter. She recently profiled Judge Amy Coney Barrett for WORLD Magazine, and we’ll link to that story in today’s transcript. Thanks for joining us, Jamie.

DEAN: You’re welcome, Mary.

MARY REICHARD: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: World Tour.

Onize Ohikere is on assignment this week, so let’s get started in Asia.

AUDIO: [YELLING]

Kyrgyzstan turmoil—When protests turned violent in Kyrgyzstan last week, the president declared a state of emergency. What sparked the chaos in the former Soviet country was a disputed parliamentary election. The dispute is over accusations that the president’s political allies were buying the votes they needed to capture a majority. 

Protests broke out in the nation’s capital. 

Opposition groups stormed government buildings. 

The prime minister stepped down, and demonstrators continue to call for the president to resign as well.

On Friday, someone fired shots at several political leaders. President Sooronbai Jeenbekov issued a state of emergency the same day. But parliament failed to sign off on it so he issued it again on Monday. 

The order includes a curfew, and a ban on rallies and public events. But observers say Jeenbekov has lost all political power. In the past 15 years, two presidents have been overthrown in Kyrgyzstan.

NICK EICHER: Police increase violence against protesters in Belarus—Next, to Eastern Europe.

AUDIO: [Interior minister of Belarus speaking Russian]

That’s the interior minister of Belarus, which has authorized lethal force to put down protests. The interior ministry called the move necessary to halt what it called “radicalized” anti-government protests. Security forces detained more than 700 people over the weekend. They used water cannons and batons to break up the crowds.

Protesters have hit the streets every week since August. That’s when president Alexander Lukashenko claimed to have won the election by a landslide. The protesters say he rigged the vote to stay in power. For his part, Lukashenko denies wrongdoing. 

On Monday, the European Union warned Lukashenko it may impose sanctions on him personally if he continues to crack down on protests.

AUDIO: There has not been any signal from the Belarus authorities to engage in any kind of conversation, in any kind of talks.

The EU has already issued sanctions for 40 top officials in Belarus.

REICHARD: French hostages released, one killed—Moving West, now, to France.

AUDIO: [Son hugging Sophie Petronin and crying]

Aid worker Sophie Petronin returned home last week. She spent four years as a captive in Mali. The French and Malian governments negotiated her safe return along with three others. 

Petronin was working for a children’s charity when gunmen abducted her in 2016. Mali has struggled against a jihadist insurgency that emerged in 2012.

The other captives include two Italian nationals, as well as a prominent Malian politician. After his disappearance, political pressure began to build against the president for failing to stamp out the jihadists. Nationwide protests followed … that eventually forced the president out of office.

Petronin reported the jihadists killed a fifth hostage last month, a Swiss woman who was a Christian missionary. 

EICHER: Arctic expedition returns—And finally, we end today in Germany.

AUDIO: [BOAT HORN]

That’s the Polarstern, the icebreaker ship just returned from the Arctic Circle. The ship set off on a scientific expedition more than a year ago.

During the trip, the crew created a small scientific village. More than 300 scientists from around the world participated in the mission. The Polarstern is bringing back a trove of data.

The crew says it may take them a decade to sift through it all, but they hope it will help them learn more about the atmosphere, weather, and climate.

That’s this week’s World Tour. 

NICK EICHER: Being cooped up at home due to the pandemic paid handsomely for a Minnesota horticulture teacher. 

40-year-old Travis Gienger passed the time productively feeding and watering a pumpkin.  

But not just any pumpkin…

AUDIO: The great pumpkin!

“A” if not “the” great pumpkin. 

Gienger watered it up to 10 times a day and fed and fertilized it at least twice each day.

He then hauled it from Minnesota all the way to the World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, California just south of San Francisco.

GIENGER: So it was about a 35-hour drive, and with something like this, you’re just white-knuckling every bump. You know, you don’t want to hit those bumps and have it crack on you!

That’d be some kind of mess. Thankfully, that didn’t happen. So his 23-hundred, 50-pound great pumpkin took the $16,000 prize—little less than 7 bucks a pound.

So a great pumpkin but still not the greatest. In the 40-year history of the event, the heaviest-ever was more than 2,500 pounds.

That’s a lot of pumpkin spice. 

It’s The World and Everything in It.

NICK EICHER: Today is Wednesday, October 14th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day. Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD: And I’m Mary Reichard. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: What Do People Do All Day.

It’s understandable that Texans might feel giddy when the first cold front of fall blows from the Texas Panhandle to the Gulf Coast. That’s when it’s time to round up the camping gear and head out for a few nights under the stars.

EICHER: A small army of volunteers called park hosts supplement the work of paid staff at Texas State Parks. These are the people who help set up campsites and assist campers during their stay. WORLD correspondent Bonnie Pritchett recently spent a day with a park host in the piney woods of east Texas.

BULLET WELCH: Number 40? OK. Thank y’all. Yes, sir. Somebody left their campfire going so we’ll need to go splash some water on it. 

BONNIE PRITCHETT, REPORTER: Bullet Welch steers his two-seater Kawasaki Mule utility cart along the forested road toward the offending campsite. When he pulls into the parking spot, he lifts a small ice chest from the bed of the cart. The ice had long since melted and supplies him just enough water to douse what was left of the smoldering fire.

WELCH: My name is Bullet Welch and I’m a Park Host for Huntsville State Park.

Whether he’s tapping out abandoned campfires, cleaning out fire rings, or blowing leaves and pine needles from campsites and roads, Welch is one of almost 850 volunteer hosts with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The department waives the hosts’ campsite fee in exchange for 24 to 36 hours of work per week doing general maintenance, keeping the campsites tidy, and answering questions. Lots of questions.

CAMPER: Hey, is there firewood for sale anywhere?
WELCH: Yes, ma’am. It’s at the office.
CAMPER: We only have a bike. I don’t know if I can get firewood back on my bike.
WELCH: Well, I tell you what. I’ll bring ya some…

Think of it as a woodlands concierge service. 

Like Welch, most park hosts are retirees. Some are university students or veterans. Still others have a job they can do remotely from an RV. They generally serve from 3 to 6 months at each park.

Welch volunteers year-round.

WELCH: That’s my trailer. Me and my chihuahua, her name’s Mitsy. She’s my traveling partner. When she turned one and I turned 60 we headed out on the road. I sold my house…

Welch has served as a park host since 2015. He returns to the same three parks as regularly as the changing seasons. He spends his summers in one of the hottest regions of Texas.

WELCH: There at Copper Breaks it gets really hot. It gets so hot you can’t open your door, you know, cuz the handle is so hot. 

Welch pulls up the left sleeve of his khaki park volunteer shirt to show his tan line. It also reveals the bullet tattoos circling his biceps.

Yes, his parents did name him Bullet.

Living and working outdoors comes naturally for the 70-year-old Welch. And he doesn’t flinch when asked to remove uninvited guests from campsites.

WELCH: I was at my house – my trailer—and this guy come up to my door and says, ‘Will you relocate this rattlesnake for me?’ I said ‘Sure.’ So, I got my snake getter and walked down there to his camp and, by gosh, he had four arrows stuck in him. I said you can’t do that in a state park…

Camp hosts duties end where law enforcement’s begins.

AUDIO: ENGINE SOUND

Welch rarely has to call on park police or rangers for help. Usually, he’s the one responding to calls for help.

TRACY ADAMS: You know, he’s just like a little guardian angel for me around here. Like today, I was trying to get this set up and I was having problems and I heard the cart coming through and I knew who it was…

That’s Tracy Adams. The two met at one of the other parks where Welch hosts. Adams gratefully accepts Welch’s offer to help right his listing trailer.

WELCH: He’s at least 5 inches slanting toward the lake. So, he’s got to get his trailer up on these and that should level it…

AUDIO: [PLASTIC AND WOOD SLIDING ACROSS CONCRETE]

Welch shoves RV leveling blocks–they look like big, flat, yellow Legos–and sections of 2 by 6 boards in front of and behind the wheels on the trailer’s low-slung side.

WELCH: Tracy, pull forward about 6 inches. Whoa! OK, Trace, come on back. A little bit more. Whoa! Perfect. 

It takes several attempts but the pair make sure Adams’ fried eggs wouldn’t slide to one side of the pan the next morning.

Welch then moves on to welcome new campers and bid happy trails to those heading out.

WELCH: Everything working. O.K.?
CAMPER: It is. We’ve been here since yesterday…

Outside Welch’s trailer is a screened canopy. Four camp chairs and a Chihuahua-sized dog mat encircle a propane-fueled fire pit in the center. It’s an open invitation for fellow travelers to sit a spell.

WELCH: You know. I like to visit with people. So, I have a lot of fun doing that.
PRITCHETT: Tell me about some of the folks you’ve met
WELCH: Aww, there’s many, many just, you know, good people. I’ve got some good friends right now. They’ll call me every once in a while, or I’ll call them just to see what they’re doing. And they’ll say, ‘When are you coming back to the park?’ It’s a lot of fun.

MUSIC: [CHRIS RICE, MY CATHEDRAL]

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Bonnie Pritchett in Huntsville State Park.

NICK EICHER: Today is Wednesday, October 14th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD: And I’m Mary Reichard. WORLD founder Joel Belz now on Election Day discernment.

JOEL BELZ, FOUNDER: By my latest calculation, the roughly half-million people who make up WORLD’s readers and listeners each week are likely to divide their votes next month among three different groupings:

Those who hope to elect Donald Trump—Something well over 50 percent. Half will be enthusiastic about their choice; others will cast their ballots under duress.

Those who favor Joe Biden—If it’s over 25 percent, I would be surprised.

Those who fervently wish they had a third choice—Something approaching 100 percent.

To be sure, these are not real-life numbers. They’re based on my observations over the last 68 years—watching what happened in 18 different presidential elections.

My guess is that when they go to the polls a few days from now, some conservatives in the WORLD family will vote for Trump, and some moderates will vote for Biden. 

We should not leave out the many of us unsatisfied with the shape of that choice. In some situations, we would have been thought of and referred to as third-party folks. But that doesn’t fit this time around. We are much more committed to a few ideals than we are to a person or a movement.

So it didn’t take long, after the Democrats chose Joe Biden as their presidential candidate for the current cycle, for some of us to conclude that it was impossible for us to support him. The reasons reach now from his comprehensive commitment to the pro-abortion movement to his selection of demonstrably leftist Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate.

The debate among us concerning a vote to renew Donald Trump’s lease on the White House was more problematic. We were grateful for his appointment of hundreds of right-thinking personnel (especially to the judiciary and bloated regulatory bureaucracy). Our applause meter leaped as he nudged other nations’ governments to take up their share of leading the world. He seems bold in supporting educational choice. But we were stressed—again and again—at the president’s utter carelessness with facts, his rudeness and crudeness, and his mocking disdain for his opponents and sometimes even for his friends.

Bottom line: No way could I withhold my vote from Biden and then—with virtually the same set of standards—give a pass to President Trump. 

Will I turn in a blank ballot? No way. Will I write in someone like Nikki Haley or Kay James? Maybe. I’ve still got a few days to resolve such important issues.

In the meantime, I’ll remind all WORLD members who are imitators of Jesus to pursue the wisdom of Ephesians 5:8: “Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.”

I’m Joel Belz.

NICK EICHER: Tomorrow: We’ll find out what’s driving the latest fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan and why regional powers are getting involved.

And, we’ll take you to a feast in France with a menu that might seem a bit unusual to American diners.

That and more tomorrow. 

I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD: 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 reminds us to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.

Go now in grace and peace.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.