SURVIVING SHARKS AND SOCIALISTS

SEPTEMBER 29, 2018

BLURRED IDENTITY Donor-conceived children wonder who their fathers are, and DNA testing is helping them find out

OUTSOURCING LOVE LIVES CHINA’S CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS TO NORTH KOREA AND BACK A Biblical, non-insurance approach to health care Monthly costs: As believers in Christ, we are called to glorify God in all that we do. (Ranges based on age, household size, and membership level) Samaritan members bear each other’s burdens by sharing the cost of medical bills while praying for and encouraging one another. Members Individuals $100-$220 can choose between two membership options for sharing their medical 2 Person $200-$440 needs: Samaritan Classic and Samaritan Basic. 3+ People $250-$495

As of August 2018 Find more information at: samaritanministries.org/world CONTENTS | September 29, 2018 • Volume 33 • Number 18

30 17 38

42 50

FEATURES DISPATCHES 5 News Analysis • Human Race 30 Dear Anonymous Dad Quotables • Quick Takes Tens of thousands of children conceived by donors are grown up now and wondering who their fathers are. Advances in DNA CULTURE testing are helping them find out 17 Movies & TV • Books 38 Socialist seeds Children’s Books • Q&A • Music A socialist revolution may not be imminent in the United States, but NOTEBOOK the ideology is getting a surprising boost ahead of midterm elections 55 Lifestyle • Technology 42 Love life, outsourced Science • Religion As modern dating fails them, some singles are turning to VOICES professional matchmakers 3 Joel Belz 46 Hard tests for China’s 14 Janie B. Cheaney Christian schools 28 Mindy Belz The emerging Christian school movement in China is battling for 61 Mailbag its future amid government opposition and administrative troubles 63 Andrée Seu Peterson 50 Surf’s still up 64 Marvin Olasky Film explores the remarkable life of pro surfer Bethany Hamilton, ON THE COVER: Photo by Pamela Lewis/Pamela 15 years after her shark attack Lewis Photography; illustration by Krieg Barrie

Give the gift of clarity: wng.org/giftofclarity Notes from the CEO “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof; the world and those who dwell therein.” —Psalm 24:1

When I reported to you this summer the economic factors putting upward Chief Content Officer Nick Eicher Editor in Chief Marvin Olasky R pressure on the cost of publishing magazines, I received encouraging notes Senior Editor Mindy Belz from so many of you, saying, in various ways, “Just charge more. We’ll pay it!”

I’m grateful for that, and we do need to start charging more. At the same Editor Timothy Lamer time, I know most of us are carefully looking to reduce our personal spending National Editor Jamie Dean Managing Editor Daniel James Devine wherever we can. If you are in that category, I want you to know that you can Art Director David K. Freeland Associate Art Director Robert L. Patete avoid this price increase by choosing a longer membership term (three years, to Reporters Emily Belz, Charissa Crotts, Sophia Lee, Jim Long, Harvest Prude be exact). East Asia Bureau June Cheng, Angela Lu Fulton Some explanation: The cost of paper and postage is going up. There’s nothing Story Coach Susan Olasky Senior Writers Janie B. Cheaney, Andrée Seu we can do about that. But by offering longer terms, we can pass along savings Peterson, John Piper, Edward E. Plowman, Lynn Vincent from things like monthly credit card transaction fees, marketing appeals, and Correspondents Sandy Barwick, Megan Basham, Julie Borg, Anthony Bradley, Bob renewal notices we don’t like sending and you don’t especially like receiving. Brown, Michael Cochrane, John Dawson, Juliana Chan Erikson, Right now, we charge the same price, regardless of whether you pay monthly Katie Gaultney, Charles Horton, Mary Jackson, Sharla Megilligan, or annually (we currently don’t offer a three-year term). Come Oct. 1, that will Jill Nelson, Henry Olsen, Arsenio start to change. We’ll begin to offer that multi-year term for roughly the same Orteza, Jenny Lind Schmitt, Russell St. John, Marty VanDriel, annual price we offer now—about $60. We’re planning to raise the single-year Jae Wasson Mailbag Editor Les Sillars price to $69.99 ($64.99 if you pay by credit card), and our monthly price will Executive Assistant June McGraw Editorial Assistants Kristin Chapman, Amy Derrick, increase to $6.99 per month. Mary Ruth Murdoch We retain the monthly option because we want to lower the Graphic Designer Rachel Beatty Illustrator Krieg Barrie initial cost and commitment to those who are new to WORLD Digital Production Assistant Arla J. Eicher and really just want to try us out at a lower price point. Speaking of new people, I want to mention some good Website wng.org Executive Editor Mickey McLean news about one other significant pricing change that will Assistant Editors Kiley Crossland, Lynde Langdon, happen on Oct. 1: We’re reducing the price of gift mem- Dan Perkins Reporter Onize Ohikere berships to WORLD. We encourage gift-giving because Correspondents Gaye Clark, Samantha Gobba, Rob Holmes, Bonnie Pritchett, we believe that you’re most likely to know specific people Julia A. Seymour who would benefit from Biblical journalism. Editorial Assistant Whitney Williams Our goal with gift memberships has always been to Website wng.org/radio make it easy to give them to your friends, family, co-workers, Executive Producer/Cohost Nick Eicher and neighbors. We hope this lower price will make you Managing Editor J.C. Derrick News Editor Leigh Jones more likely to share WORLD with others. Cohost Mary Reichard Reporters Kent Covington, Jim Henry, Sarah Schweinsberg Correspondents Paul Butler, Mary Coleman, Laura Finch, George Grant, Kim Henderson, Cal Thomas, Emily Whitten Producers Johnny Franklin, Carl Peetz (technical), Kristen Flavin (field) Kevin Martin Listening In Warren Cole Smith, Rich Roszel [email protected]

Chief Executive Officer Kevin Martin Founder Joel Belz HOW TO CONTACT US Development Pierson Gerritsen, Debra Meissner, Andrew Belz, Sandy Barwick To become a WORLD Member, give a gift membership, change address, access other Administration Kerrie Edwards ­member account information, or for back issues and permission … Marketing Jonathan Woods Advertising Partnerships John Almaguer, Kyle Crimi Email [email protected] Member Services Summer Dodd Online wng.org/account (Members) or members.wng.org (to become a Member) KIDS’ AND TEENS’ PUBLICATIONS Phone 828.435.2981 within the U.S. or 800.951.6397 outside the U.S. Website wng.org/children Publisher Howard Brinkman Monday–Friday (except holidays), 9 a.m.–7 p.m. ET Editor Rich Bishop Write WORLD, PO Box 20002, Asheville,­ NC 28802-9998 world journalism institute Back issues 828.435.2981 Website worldji.com Dean Marvin Olasky Reprints and permissions 828.232.5415 or [email protected] Associate Dean Edward Lee Pitts  Follow us on Twitter @WORLD_mag  BOARD of directors Follow us on Facebook @WORLD.Magazine John Weiss (chairman), William Newton (vice chairman), Mariam Bell, Kevin Cusack, Peter Lillback, Howard Miller, WORLD occasionally rents subscriber names to carefully­ screened, like-minded organizations. If you would prefer R. Albert Mohler Jr., Russell B. Pulliam, David Skeel, not to receive these promotions, please call customer service and ask to be placed on our DO NOT RENT list. David Strassner, Ladeine Thompson, Raymon Thompson MISSION STATEMENT Biblically objective journalism that informs, WORLD (ISSN 0888-157X) (USPS 763-010) is Published biweekly (24 issues) for $59.95 per year by God’s World Publications, educates, and inspires (no mail) 12 All Souls Crescent, Asheville, NC 28803; 828.232.5260. Periodical postage paid at Asheville, NC, and additional mailing ­offices.Printed ­ in the USA. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. © 2018 WORLD News Group. All rights reserved. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to WORLD, PO Box 20002, Asheville, NC 28802-9998. MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS VOICES Joel Belz

tions and abuses against seminarians and young priests by powerful priests, bishops, and cardi- nals. We are talking about acts and actions which are not only in violation of the sacred promises made by some, in short, sacrilege, but also are in violation of the natural moral law for all.” Bishop Morlino explained: “There has been a great deal of effort to keep separate acts ‘Gay , but celibate’ which fall under the category of now-culturally- acceptable acts of homosexuality from the BUT TIME TO BE VERY WARY … [publicly]-deplorable acts of pedophilia. That is to say, until recently the problems of the Imagine this scenario. You’re an officer in church have been painted purely as R an evangelical church. The congregation ­problems of pedophilia—this despite clear has been thriving and the spirit is good. evidence to the contrary.” But now comes a thunderbolt. Your assistant The Roman Catholic Church in pastor has just made it known to your church’s America is now paying dearly for buying leaders that he struggles with a lifelong sexual into the theory that men who embrace a attraction to other men. Not only that, but he homosexual identity can be church lead- has begun, through social media and otherwise, ers—so long as they promise “chastity.” It to let the public know about this. Through his is a theory that has been tried and found dress, manner, and associations, he demon- wanting. strates his preference for a personal identity Protestants and evangelicals should be and lifestyle that is frequently associated with forewarned. Reaching out with helpful homosexuality. But he assures you that there’s compassion to those entrapped by homo- no cause for worry, since he is sexually celibate. sexual temptation is one thing. If some of How’s a church to respond? Well, probably us need to be taught how to be more wel- not by doing what the Roman Catholic Church coming on that front, such is altogether has been doing for the last few generations. within the spirit of this column. There are By most accounts, the Catholic hierarchy has Offering those who suffer from same-sex attraction who willingly trained and ordained priests who do not celebrate homosexuality as an identity, self-identify or are otherwise known as positions of and who resist their temptation appropriately homosexual—all on the promise that they will church lead- without inviting scandal. be celibate. But those promises have been ership to But offering, or even allowing, positions of ­violated to such a degree that Archbishop Carlo church leadership to people who embrace and Maria Viganò has called for the “eradication” ­people who celebrate sexual disorders, all on the promise of “homosexual networks” within the clergy embrace and they will be chaste, is foolhardy. that are now “widespread in many dioceses, celebrate Bishop Morlino is kind but firm when he seminaries, [and] religious orders.” says: “For my part—and I know I am not alone— Archbishop Viganò points specifically to sexual disor- I am tired of this. I am tired of people being former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, previ- ders, all on hurt, gravely hurt! I am tired of the obfuscation ously the powerful archbishop of Washington, the promise of truth. I am tired of sin. And, as one who has D.C., who has been widely and credibly accused tried—despite my many imperfections—to lay of abusing his power over many years in order to they will be down my life for Christ and His church, I am sexually exploit seminarians and young priests. chaste, is tired of the regular violation of sacred duties by As to sexual abuse of minors, Archbishop foolhardy. those entrusted with immense responsibility Viganò points to the report of the John Jay from the Lord for the care of His people.” College of Criminal Justice, which found that So the next time you’re confronted with a over a period of more than 50 years, the vast candidate for leadership in your own church majority of “child” victims of priests were male (or school, or mission, or other institution) who (81 percent) and were aged 10 to 17 (86 percent). boasts that he is “gay but celibate,” you may do Bishop Robert Morlino of Madison, Wis., well to remember the clear and present agony noted in August that “in the specific situations of a growing host of your Catholic brothers and at hand, we are talking about deviant sexual—­ sisters. Every single one of the priests who almost exclusively homosexual—acts by clerics. stand guilty of sexual abuse started with a

MRKORNFLAKES/ISTOCK We’re also talking about homosexual proposi- promise of chastity. A

 [email protected] September 29, 2018 • WORLD Magazine 3 It’s not just science, but a study of God’s incredible creation. It’s not just math, but an encounter with a God of order and logical reasoning. It’s not just language arts, but an appreciation for God’s great gift of communication. It’s not just history, but an understanding of mankind and his relationships. It’s not just the Bible, but the living guide for His children.

AOP aop.com DISPATCHES News Analysis / Human Race / Quotables / Quick Takes

Honoring the dead A New York City firefighter takes part in observances at New York’s Ground Zero memorial marking the 17th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Manage your membership: wng.org/membership September 29, 2018 • WORLD Magazine 5 DISPATCHES News Analysis

Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee as protesters frequently disrupt the hearing.

and Kamala Harris (California) issued fundraising appeals. Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut) told Kavanaugh two months ago, “You don’t belong in this building as a justice. … I will be a ‘no’ vote,” but in September he said he needed “more time to review documents in a delibera- tive and thoughtful manner.” It wasn’t an amateur circus, though. Peggy Nienaber of Faith & Action, a group that prays for offi- cials, stood in line to get a seat at the hearing. She explained on WORLD’s podcast, The World and Everything in It, that left-wing activists went down the line and handed $50 to each person who signed up to scream and shout in the hearing room and then be arrested. That’s exactly what happened in the hearing. One by one, on cue, the professional protesters stood and screamed. If they were slow to play their part, they received text messages: KAVANAUGH: JACQUELYN MARTIN/AP • PROTESTERS: JACQUELYN MARTIN AND J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE/AP “Now. Yell now! Yell louder. Yell more.” Capitol Hill police then escorted out the protesters, took them to the police A seat at the circus station, charged them for the disrup- SENATORS, PAID PROTESTERS PLAY CLOWNS tion, and released them—about a four- AT KAVANAUGH HEARING by Marvin Olasky hour deal for $50, which is not quite a $15-an-hour minimum wage, but life isn’t perfect. Good news: The overall winner of ­government sits up and respects what’s What was a perfect nutcase storm R WORLD’s 2018 Hope Awards for done in Jesus’ name. broke out after lawyer Zina Bash, Effective Compassion is the Aquila Bad news: Harvest Prude’s first big ­sitting behind Kavanaugh, rested her Rehab Center in Hanoi, Vietnam! assignment as WORLD’s new right hand on her left arm. One left- Aquila received 35 percent of the votes Washington reporter was to cover the wing viewer of the televised hearings and will gain $10,000, which will go a Sept. 4-7 hearing on Brett Kavanaugh’s said she was giving a white nationalist long way in Vietnam. nomination for a Supreme Court seat. gang sign, and dozens of others jumped The bigger story is that God’s irony On the first day she tweeted, “Marvin on. Ironically, Bash is Mexican on her triumphs once more. Fifty years ago the Olasky told us the great fun in being a mother’s side and Jewish on her Tet Offensive was a turning point in the journalist is ‘having a front row seat at father’s—her grandparents were tragic war waged by atheistic North the circus.’ Those words have never Holocaust survivors—and she’s had Vietnam and the Viet Cong against seemed more true than today.” nothing to do with hate groups, but that South Vietnam and U.S. forces. Now, a A circus it was: Ambitious senators didn’t stop the haters. Maybe humor Christian ministry is helping to change grandstanded for television viewers. worked best: One response tweet read, the lives of addicts with results so Prospective Democratic presidential “Tomorrow she will be signaling ­powerful that even a Communist candidates Cory Booker (New Jersey) Powerball numbers.”

6 WORLD Magazine • September 29, 2018 With Aretha Franklin laid to rest on BY THE NUMBERS the last day of August, the funeral high- light of the first half of September was John McCain’s—and as is often the case in modern America, mourning for the dead gave way to attacks on the living. Meghan McCain, the late senator and war hero’s daughter, said, “We gather here to mourn the passing of American greatness—the real thing, not cheap rhetoric.” She took a shot at President Donald Trump: “The America of John The number of lizards and insects, including bumblebee millipedes and giant African7,000 mantises, stolen from the Philadelphia Insectarium and Butterfly Pavilion McCain has no need to be made great again because America was always in late August. The creatures are worth more than $40,000. great.” Use of the past tense like that— “America was always great”—reminds me of Merle Haggard’s 1981 song, “Are the good times really over for good?” Maybe not. September brought more $2.1 billion good economic news. The gross domes- Pop singer Michael Jackson’s inflation-adjusted earnings, according tic product, which grew 1.5 percent in to Forbes, since his death in 2009. 2016 and 2.3 percent in 2017, is on track for 3 percent growth this year. Worker satisfaction, income, and spending are all up. But we do not live by bread alone, and many cultural indicators signal trouble. Child abuse and spouse abuse continue to soar, and a new term entered the national vocabulary: The former live-in girlfriend of Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., said he was guilty of “narcissist abuse,” the emotional suffer- ing a self-centered person inflicts on his partner. The share of American employees who left vacation days unused in 2017. We also do not thrive in uniformity: September opened with more than 52% 100 Facebook employees calling their ­company “a political monoculture intolerant of different views.” Tired of Facebook’s leftward tilt, they joined an 17.5 million online group, FB’ers for Political The number of plastic surgeries and minimally invasive cosmetic procedures Diversity. At WORLD, we’re tracking in the United States last year, costing roughly $16.7 billion. corporate attacks on political and ­religious diversity—if you’ve been ­subjected to one, let us know. But back to Peggy Nienaber of Faith & Action at the Kavanaugh hearing. She says some protesters asked her what she was doing in the hearing room. Her answer was, “I pray. … I silently pray and don’t look to get arrested.” The ­protesters, confused, walked away. But praying may be the best thing we can do The number of for-hire electric scooters on the streets and sidewalks of A 2,049 during our current age of confusion. Portland, Ore., according to the city’s Bureau of Transportation.

September 29, 2018 • WORLD Magazine 7 DISPATCHES Human Race

up, that the officers gave of people in the grave. Drug them secret documents so cartels frequently use the government had an Veracruz as a dumping excuse to stop them. At ground for people they least one police officer have killed. Authorities came forward to support found 250 skulls in another their story. Their sentencing burial there in March 2017. has sparked international Since 2006, drug cartels in outrage against Myanmar’s Mexico have reportedly leaders. killed more than 200,000 people, and there are 37,000

registered as missing. SLIPPERS: RICHARD TSONG-TAATARII/STAR TRIBUNE VIA AP • SKULL: VERACRUZ STATE PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE VIA AP • MONEY: MARK LENNIHAN/AP • KYAW SOE OO & WA LONE: THEIN ZAW/AP

Found A witness told the media Upheld A pair of Judy Garland’s that only minutes later A U.S. circuit court has ruby slippers from the police arrived on the scene, ruled the quote “In God movie The Wizard of Oz has and they shot and killed We Trust” is not unconsti- resurfaced 13 years after its Perez in a brief gun battle. tutional due to long-term theft from a Minnesota Perez reportedly had use and an absence of any museum. Collector enough ammunition with compulsory element. Michael Shaw, who had him to kill more than a Twenty-nine atheists and owned the slippers for 35 hundred people. The years, had loaned them to ­incident, with four dead, is the museum. In 2005, on a the deadliest the city has night when the surveillance seen since 2013. camera was inoperative, a thief smashed the display Sentenced Found case, grabbed the slippers, The two Reuters journalists Investigators uncovered a and left through a window. who published a report of mass grave of at least 166 Investigators could not find the Myanmar government’s victims in Mexico’s eastern any evidence to help them massacre of Rohingya state of Veracruz. Officials apprehend the robber, but Muslims have been sen- told reporters they also a tip led to an FBI sting tenced to seven years in found more than 100 operation that recovered prison. The Myanmar ­identity cards, about 200 the slippers this July. . The court claims Wa Lone and items of clothing, and other pair of shoes may be one of Kyaw Soe Oo broke the personal belongings they the most valuable props in Official Secrets Act after hope will help them iden- related groups brought the movie history. They were they accepted information tify those killed. They are case forward after a lower insured at $1 million, but from two police officers. counting skulls to try to court rejected their experts told the BBC they The two say they were set ­figure out the exact number ­arguments in 2016. The are probably worth twice plaintiffs, represented by that now. Michael Newdow, claimed Kyaw Soe Oo Wa Lone the quote violates First Killed Amendment free speech Omar Santa Perez opened rights. In his ruling, Judge fire in the lobby of a bank Raymond Gruender cited a in downtown Cincinnati, 2014 Supreme Court case, killing three and wounding Town of Greece v. Galloway, two others. He entered which said courts must use Fifth Third Center through “historical practices and the loading dock early on understandings” in applying Sept. 6, carrying a 9 mm the Establishment Clause. handgun and hundreds of Gruender said the quote on rounds of ammunition. He coins is not coercive and reportedly began shooting reminds us of our “tradi- as he walked into the lobby. tion of religious freedom.”

8 WORLD Magazine • September 29, 2018 Visit WORLD Digital: wng.org DISPATCHES Quotables

‘For when churches refuse to obey evil laws, it does not ‘You can stem from any political agenda; it does not stem rewrite your from resentment or hostility; it story out here stems only from the demands of if you want to.’ the gospel and JOSH GARCIA, operations manager for Centurion from a love for Technologies, on oil field workers in Texas, Chinese society.’ including some with criminal histories, who make six figures. Demand is so great because of the boom brought about by fracking. Said Garcia: TEXAS OIL: SPENCER PLATT/GETTY IMAGES • NAVRATILOVA: CHRISTOPHE ENA/AP • OWENS: PAULA LOBO/ABC VIA AP • CHINA CHURCHES: GIONNIXXX/ISTOCK “This is like a modern-day gold rush.”

A JOINT STATEMENT signed ‘Had I behaved by 116 pastors in China decrying increased persecution against like that on a tennis churches in China. court, I would have expected to get everything ‘I wonder if we that happened to Serena.’ are seeing the Former tennis star MARTINA NAVRATILOVA on Serena beginnings of Williams’ complaints that an umpire treated her some weird unfairly when he penalized her for receiving negative feedback on-court coaching, smashing her racket loop where … we in frustration, and verbal abuse of the umpire at the U.S. Open. don’t want to hang out with people in person ‘Every job is anymore because it’s easier to worthwhile and interact with valuable.’ them on our Former Cosby Show actor GEOFFREY devices.’ OWENS, who was spotted working as a Researcher VICKY RIDEOUT cashier at a Trader Joe’s. Owens, who on survey results showing that received a lot of public support after while 55 percent of teens say being “job-shamed,” said the moment they use their phones when was important for people to think they’re with friends, 44 per- cent say they get frustrated about “the dignity of work.” with friends using phones when they’re around them.

10 WORLD Magazine • September 29, 2018 Give the gift of clarity: wng.org/giftofclarity

BRAIDING: RUSLANDASHINSKY/iSTOCK • IRAN: IRANIAN PRESIDENCY OFFICE VIA AP • IOWA: THOMAS JEFFERSON HIGH SCHOOL • ILLUSTRATION: KRIEG BARRIE history of Iowa of Iowa history rushing, while North’s while North’s rushing, Doing a 180 had 749 yards ­ yards had 749 game against Thomas Jefferson High Thomas Jefferson against game highest-scoring in the ­ highest-scoring Sioux City North’s defense? It allowed allowed It defense? Sioux City North’s Jefferson High to score 99 points. The score to High Jefferson offense? It scored 81 points in a football football a 81 points in scored It offense? 99-81 score makes the Aug. 31 game the 31 game the Aug. makes score 99-81 quarterback threw for nine touchdowns. nine for threw ­quarterback School of Council Bluffs, Iowa. How bad is How Iowa. Bluffs, School of Council high-school football. Jefferson reportedly reportedly Jefferson football. ­high-school How good is Sioux City North High School’s School’s Sioux City North High is good How proposal proposal . “But we’d like like we’d . “But Tangled up Tangled Gov. Jersey New State. Garden a crime in the remains a license hair without Braiding requirements the licensing back rolled have would that legislation vetoed Phil Murphy of instead that suggested Murphy far. too went the measure saying hair braiders, for to required tag presently price and $17,000 of training the 1,200 hours eliminating for of training hours 50 just 40 to should require the state license, obtain a cosmetic require should not the state that of the bipartisan bill argued Sponsors braiders. and money time the onerous and that obtaintraining, barber to hair braiders African competition. establishedfrom hair stylists protect to only served requirements Scratched out Scratched Otago Daily Times Otago Quick Takes

September 29, 2018 • was seen on state television on Aug. 21 touting the nation’s the nation’s 21 touting on Aug. television on state seen was “We’re not cat haters,” Omaui Landcare Charitable Trust Charitable Trust Landcare Omaui haters,” cat not “We’re by a regional council would not allow residents of Omaui on New on New of Omaui residents allow not would council a regional by also register, neuter, and microchip all existing cats in the area. in the area. cats all existing and microchip neuter, register, also cats.” An opponent of the proposal and local cat owner told the told owner and local cat An opponent of the proposal cats.” A New Zealand town is exploring plans to rid itself of cats. A ­ of cats. rid itself plans to is exploring town Zealand A New Zealand’s south coast to replace pet cats that die. The plan would die. The plan would that pet cats replace to coast south Zealand’s Chairman John Collins told the told Chairman John Collins to see responsible pet ownership and this really isn’t the place for for the place isn’t and this really pet ownership responsible see to paper the measure made her feel she was living in a “police state.” living in a “police she was made her feel paper the measure developers, aviation experts say the plane looks eerily similar to the to similar the plane looks eerily say experts aviation developers, Iran year, same That 1974. by Northrup in produced jet first American F-5F of the jets. a squadron purchased A jet fighter touted as a new and innovative Iranian design by the nation’s by the nation’s design Iranian and innovative as a new touted A jet fighter President fighter. U.S. 1970s-era of a be a knock-off to appears president Rouhani Hassan by Iranian together put design than a new rather But fighter. “Kowsar” new In with the old In with the DISPATCHES WORLD Magazine 12 ILLUSTRATION: KRIEG BARRIE • CHICK-FIL-A: HANDOUT • ‘MA’AM’ SHEET: TERETHA WILSON • MAYO: KRAFT HEINZ COMPANY VIA AP • FIERROS: RIVERSIDE COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPT. Manage your membership: wng.org/membership and thecityrepainted itswater tower. Murphy saidthe namechange istemporary. town. Residents inattendance received aT-shirt andabottle ofthesandwichspread, announced thecityhadreceived a$25,000 donation from thecompany to beautify the “Miracle Whip.” At aname-changingevent sponsored by theKraft Foods brand, Murphy Aug. 24 that thetown ofMayo, Fla.,population 1,237, hadofficially changed itsnameto A smallFloridatown isturningto analternative to mayo. Mayor AnnMurphy confirmed on Krafty marketing A rolling start 405-mile race andcollect the pair of Chinese sportsmen of pair ofChinese sportsmenof A Shanghaicourt convicted a 200 mphhigh-speed train in their homingpigeons onto a method ofcheating: loading pigeon racing contest. Their court gave themthree-year order to shave timeoffthe fraud after they reportedly $160,000 grand prize. The tried to cheat inapopular suspended sentences. local corner that hadthree Starbucks locations. 2009, the sorts ofplacements are not unprecedented. In nearby stores for theforeseeable future. These The company saiditplansto operate thetwo Chick-fil-A carriedonasusual just 587 feet away. Inside, attachedto themall’s food court, theold parking lot ofMerrittSquare MallonAug. 22. fast-foodstand-alone restaurant openedinthe new neighbor: another Chick-fil-A store. Thenew A Chick-fil-A franchisea inMerritIsland,Fla.,has Inside andout Houston Chronicle reported onone theft at Riverside County farms. of abroader investigation ofagricultural in hiscar. Officers said thearrest waspart Sheriff’s deputiesinThermal, Calif., Police say hestole them—alot of them. Life didn’t hand Lemon bandit Old school manners Tamarion’s training at homegot the better admonished 10-year-old Tamarion Wilson ­parents metwiththeschool principaland ­previously told heryoung studentsnot to Impeccable manners didn’t keep aNorth of him,andheaddressed herpolitely. As fifth-grader to write “ma’am” onasheet inquiries. Thefemale teacher at North of papernearly 200times.Tamarion’s for replying “yes ma’am” to oneofher East Carolina Preparatory Schoolhad punishment, theteacher required the Instead, they got himinto trouble. A Carolina fifth-grader outoftrouble. refer to heras“sir” or“ma’am.” But ­classroom teacher inTarboro, N.C., moved Tamarion to another class. September 29, 2018 29, September Dionicio Fierros arrested Fierros on picked stolen lemons Aug. 24 after pounds offreshly • discovering the the ­discovering hauling 800 WORLD Magazine WORLD was allegedly Angeles 69-year-old Los lemons. lemons. ­resident 13 VOICES Janie B. Cheaney

include grandparents who care for the child of a wayward daughter, a husband who forms an attachment to the children of his wife’s previous relationship, a foster parent, or any combination of extended family. Quasi-parenting, and the need for it, has always existed. For example, a friend of mine, now 88, was adopted out of a large family by her childless­ aunt and uncle, The quasi- who raised her as their own even though ­everyone knew their biological relationship. With the rise of cohabitation, same-sex Evaluating a church or choosing a good one parent mess ­parents, and declining legitimacy, things get can be a difficult task. So many styles, so CHILDREN SHOULD HAVE RIGHTS, complicated, to a point where state courts are increasingly in the family-planning business. many types, so many different experiences NOT ONLY ‘BEST INTERESTS’ The Supreme Court has ruled on a quasi-parent and focuses. We quickly see the activities of situation only once, in Troxel v. a church, and those can be important; but One hot August day in 1902, a farmer was Granville, where it confirmed the R walking beside the Iron Mountain right of a widow to limit the time her how much do they reveal about the Railroad in Washington County, Mo. He paused children spent with their paternal church’s essential nature? Are there signs when he heard the #4 approaching Big River grandparents. The legal parent’s that a church is actually a good church, Bridge, and when the clatter and rumble of the right to make such decisions was train had passed, he heard a weak wailing from “fundamental,” ruled the court, but both on the surface and deep down? the river. Climbing down to the bank, he the justices failed to set standards for noticed a “telescoping valise,” a kind of long application. As a result, lower courts Certain marks have been given in Scripture squared suitcase, washed up in the shallows. have cited Troxel to come to opposite to distinguish the true, visible church from The sound was coming from inside. It turned conclusions. out to be a baby boy, about 5 days old, bruised Historically, Supreme Court cases false ones. In particular, there are three and dented from his 50-foot fall off the train, involving parental rights tend to essential identification marks, which we but not seriously injured. With the favor the parent—a­ good thing generally, but will explore in this book. The farmer took this unique baggage home, not always. Especially when the rights of a and in time he and his wife legally adopted the rise of ­biological mom or dad clash with the best boy they had named “Moses.” William Moses cohabitation, interests of the child. Rights are fundamental; Whether you are looking for a church, Helms, who never outgrew his notoriety as the same-sex “best interests” less so. seeking to understand your own church “Iron Mountain Baby,” went on to live a The problem, according to some legal ­productive life that owed its beginnings to a parents, and experts, is that courts favor the “nuclear family” experience better, or wanting to guide Providential interception, an assumption of his declining model that Americans are rejecting. Only about others in deepening the church's true value, and a simple, straightforward adoption legitimacy, 59 percent of children live with both of their identity, this book is for you. process. biological married parents. The others grow up Imagine the story updated, with a newborn things get in single-parent, stepparent, foster parent, or left in the dumpster behind an office building complicated. extended-family households. Among low-income after hours. The janitor finds her and takes her African-Americans, “informal adoption” home. A court appoints him and his wife guard- ­sometimes fills a gap. In Hispanic communities, ians, pending the appearance of lost relatives. extended family plays a much larger role in Four years pass, and the couple have begun for- child-rearing. Many same-sex couples long to Barry York offers an experienced voice of practical mal adoption procedures when the child’s father adopt children. Shouldn’t judges be more open application of Scripture. God has used him makes a sudden appearance, having learned to alternative family models? as a pastor, a disciple maker, and a church about the baby long after the fact. DNA testing Sometimes, yes. But a deep inconsistency confirms his paternity. He wants his daughter, lies at the heart of family law ever since the planter. He’s not offering just theory about but the little girl has naturally bonded with her Supreme Court ruled that the right to abortion church. Barry gives the real deal. adoptive parents. To make the situation more was also “fundamental.” Before, humans in the RUSS PULLIAM Indianapolis Star, WORLD Magazine emotionally charged, the father is black and the womb were understood to have rights; after, foster parents are Hispanic. Who gets the child? they only had best interests that could be

The law formally defines “quasi”-parent as trumped by adult interests even after birth. KRIEG BARRIE “a person not a legal parent who nonetheless That decision, in essence, threw the baby off has greater rights in a contest with the legal the train. As long as it stands, family law will parent than does any other party.” That would remain muddled and inconclusive. A

14 WORLD Magazine • September 29, 2018  [email protected]  @jbcheaney crownandcovenant.com | 412.241.0436 Evaluating a church or choosing a good one can be a difficult task. So many styles, so many types, so many different experiences and focuses. We quickly see the activities of a church, and those can be important; but how much do they reveal about the church’s essential nature? Are there signs that a church is actually a good church, both on the surface and deep down?

Certain marks have been given in Scripture to distinguish the true, visible church from false ones. In particular, there are three essential identification marks, which we will explore in this book.

Whether you are looking for a church, seeking to understand your own church experience better, or wanting to guide others in deepening the church's true identity, this book is for you.

Barry York offers an experienced voice of practical application of Scripture. God has used him as a pastor, a disciple maker, and a church planter. He’s not offering just theory about church. Barry gives the real deal.

RUSS PULLIAM Indianapolis Star, WORLD Magazine

crownandcovenant.com | 412.241.0436

CULTURE Movies & TV / Books / Children’s Books / Q&A / Music

Movie Merritt Prison, so that he Patterson and only talked about Samuel Hunt how horribly the Not Louie’s story war criminals there had treated him and sat down, entirely BIOPIC MISSES THE FUNNY, MESSY, RELATABLE forgetting to deliver his gospel mes- ZAMPERINI by Megan Basham sage until someone reminded him to. While this particular situation was Those who’ve read Laura had brutalized him perfectly captured specific to Zamperini, the jumbled mix R Hillenbrand’s Unbroken or who’ve his unique candor: “All the way over of emotions he experienced will be read an interview with POW, Olympic the Pacific Ocean, I was resentful, familiar to anyone who’s been a runner, and Christian evangelist Louis even when I arrived in Japan. This Christian long—knowing God’s will, Zamperini know what a hilarious, was God’s will, and I knew it. God even acquiescing to God’s will, yet still honest-to-a-fault character he was doesn’t say we have to be happy in His resisting it emotionally. Sadly, nothing before his death in 2014. His descrip- will. He just says that we should be so funny, messy, or relatable makes its tion in an interview with the Amateur obedient to His will and joy will way into Unbroken: Path to Redemption, Athletic Foundation of the Jonah-like ­follow. So I was being obedient.” a sort of sequel to the Angelina Jolie– reaction he had when he realized God He then went on to describe how directed 2014 film. Instead we see a was calling him to return to Japan to his emotions got the better of him saintly Zamperini, godly expression

UNIVERSAL 1440UNIVERSAL ENTERTAINMENT evangelize some of the very men who once he took the podium at Sugamo firmly in place, arrive to proclaim

 [email protected]  @megbasham September 29, 2018 • WORLD Magazine 17 CULTURE Movies & TV

blessings of salvation­ on a faith, he explained, “it was crowd of unanimously the most realistic thing that grateful Japanese men. Not ever happened to me; not surprisingly, we experience because there was any sort of almost no emotion at the emotional experience, I did sight. not have that. … I took [God] The film continues in at His word and I believed.” Lindsay Pulsipher this vein throughout, giving Most disappointing of all, us mild, generic sinners who however, is how Path to Movie become mild, generic saved. Redemption deals with the Zamperini’s real struggles great villain of Zamperini’s God Bless the weren’t so tame however. life, a sadistic guard known Along with reveling in the as the Bird. After the war, party lifestyle afforded by the Bird was never charged Broken Road his fame, his violent PTSD with his crimes and went Precisely half the Secular critics are say- dreams tormented him to on to have a successful sales R audience at the ing, “Too much message.” such a degree he once woke career. Zamperini asked to opening night showing of The real issue, though, is God Bless the Broken the film’smixed message. to find himself strangling his meet with him. The Bird Road that I attended From its opening minutes, pregnant wife. In the film, refused and was unrepen- seemed to enjoy the new the film fixates on he only flashes on such an tant, insisting, until he faith film. The other Amber’s potential love image then wakes to find eventually died a wealthy patron laughed and interest, hunky but his wife snoring peacefully man, that he’d done nothing gasped throughout, while ­struggling NASCAR beside him. Why pull the wrong. The wicked appeared I groaned in silence. driver Cody Jackson punch of the horror the to prosper. Justice did not Sure, melodramatic (Andrew Walker). A sec- Zamperinis actually lived? appear to be done. There was plot devices are a matter ond chance at romance It’s as if the film doesn’t only Zamperini’s determina- of taste. Here’s one of and the redemption of an trust the audience to iden- tion to obey God and forgive many; gauge it for your- abandoned faith lie at the tify with the real man or his the Bird and his faith that self: Late in the film, end of the road Amber real salvation experience God would set matters right Amber (Lindsay travels. The film prizes and so softens him in some in His time. Unbroken: Path Pulsipher), whose hus- both destinations equally, places and ridiculously over- to Redemption doesn’t men- band died in Afghanistan, trivializing the gospel. dramatizes him in others tion any of it. It’s too busy is feeling hopeless and Viewers might per- angry with God. The bank ceive twists on well- until he feels like no partic- with easy Hollywood end- has issued its final fore- known stories. Ruth: ular person, just another ings that don’t fit in neatly closure warning, and her Amber must cope with A stock Christian character. with real faith or real life. fourth-grade daughter her interfering single In the film, a tormented has run away. That’s mother-in-law. Job: Zamperini stumbles from when a wheelchair- Amber’s bubbly girlfriends Billy Graham’s revival tent bound veteran give only rosy feedback with the phantasm of a BOX OFFICE TOP 10 approaches her. He no matter how bad things FOR THE WEEKEND OF SEPT. 7-9 cackling, clownish Japanese according to Box Office Mojo strains to push him- get. And Cars: Cody has guard looming in his blurred, self out of his seat, been sent to the “minor teary vision. Dramatic, I CAUTIONS: Quantity of sexual (S), ­violent (V), stands (inexplicably), leagues” in Amber’s and foul-language (L) ­content on a 0-10 scale, guess. But it hardly feels with 10 high, from kids-in-mind.com salutes her, and hometown to work with authentic, especially given S V L explains the neck- racing “guru” Joe (Gary the simple, straightforward `1 The Nun* R...... 1 7 2 lace he’s wearing. Grubbs) because he has Her husband, who been taking racetrack thoughts Zamperini said he `2 Peppermint R...... 3 8 8 had saved his life, in turns too fast—Lightning was actually having in that `3 Crazy Rich Asians* PG-13. . . . 4 3 5 his dying moments McQueen’s failing. moment: “I began to think `4 The Meg PG-13 ...... 1 6 4 gave him the small Joe shares some about it as I started out of `5 Searching PG-13...... 2 5 5 crucifix that he had words of wisdom with that tent … even if I went `6 Mission: Impossible— PG-13...... 1 6 5 “made from the Cody: “What you need to

Fallout* FREESTYLE RELEASING forward and made the `7 Christopher Robin* PG. . . . . 1 2 1 shrapnel of our first learn is when to go fast ­commitment of my faith in `8 Operation Finale* PG-13. . . . 1 6 5 firefight.” (The PG and when to go slow.” Christ, I knew I couldn’t `9 BlacKkKlansman R...... 1 5 10 film has some brief, And Amber walks in. live a Christian life. So this `10 Alpha* PG-13...... 1 6 1 bloodless combat Silent groan. would make me a big hypo- action.) —by BOB BROWN *Reviewed by WORLD crite.” Once he professed

18 WORLD Magazine • September 29, 2018 best-funded killing infrastructure in human history—is helping to save the world.” And that’s even before the review gets to the part about Jack Ryan’s A new and “white male entitlement” presenting a “case study in toxic narratives.” different Jack What’s that verse about being neither hot nor cold? PC SIGNALING AND BAD LANGUAGE MAR The funny thing is, both critics have AMAZON’S INTERESTING TAKE ON JACK RYAN a point. Jack Ryan is Tom Clancy’s most by Megan Basham famed creation, and no author was ever a greater champion of American interven- tionism. If Amazon wasn’t comfortable with that, best not pick him up at all. Because, as National Review observes, the tacked-in PC-signaling, like making Ryan’s superior Muslim and having a character voice a stereotypically racist argument against immigration, feels cheap rather than organic. And it isn’t enough to disguise the worldview of the original source material. To their complaints I’d add that the show works overtime to prove it’s part of the edgy new club of prestige cable and streaming dramas, giving Ryan a far fouler mouth than he ever had in the movies and digressing to a couple of ridiculously unnecessary sex scenes. It’s a bit of a shame, because ­whenever the show stops running around half-apologizing for its exis- tence and trying to prove it’s cool kid cred with F-bombs, it actually works. Particularly effective is the family drama that plays out in the terrorist leader’s home and the flashbacks that John Krasinski trace his rise to power. Also surprisingly effective: John These days, when nearly every In the conservative journal National Krasinski’s beta male approach to the R film or scripted series wears its Review, Kyle Smith says this new Jack character. It’s a markedly different Jack political affiliation on its sleeve, it’s Ryan sounds more like “a Bernie Ryan from the ones that Harrison Ford, ­fascinating to come across one that Sanders volunteer who majored in Alec Baldwin, and Chris Pine gave us, seems to defy immediate categorization. Peace Studies at Hampshire College” and that’s a good thing. It truly is as if Amazon’s reboot of Jack Ryan than a secret agent. Pointing out scenes Jim Halpert from The Office suddenly would have made headlines even if it that suggest the French are to blame for ended up behind a desk at the CIA hadn’t become the latest partisan terrorist attacks within their country, he instead of Dunder Mifflin. Rorschach test. Along with Tom asserts the showrunners do everything No other Jack Ryan has made us Clancy’s gold-plated name, the online to make this Jack Ryan more palatable smile so much. It almost makes you wish retailer spent massive sums to create a to left-leaning millennials except “give that in the already commissioned Season small-screen reboot that puts the [him] a hankering for avocado toast.” 2, Dwight Shrute would get a job as a ­production value of 24 and Homeland On the other side of the aisle, Vanity CIA analyst too. Because when the plot to shame. But the authentic locations Fair calls the show a “patriotic night- finally starts firing around Episode 4, we and stunning set design aren’t grabbing mare” and chides the plot for being fully believe good ol’ Jim could rise to attention nearly as much as its muddled based on the “unquestioned notion the occasion to save the world and still

JAN THIJS/POTOMAC RIVER PRODUCTIONS INC./AMAZON STUDIOS INC./AMAZON RIVER PRODUCTIONS THIJS/POTOMAC JAN political messaging. that American-military might—the have time for a practical joke or two. A

See all our movie reviews at wng.org/movies September 29, 2018 • WORLD Magazine 19 CULTURE Books

turned to politics.” He notes are exceptionally bright, Sesardic well-known examples: highly educated, and Jean-Paul Sartre, Bertrand ­presumed to be extraordi- Russell, and Ludwig narily sophisticated?” Wittgenstein championed Economist Dambisa Communism; Martin Moyo wrote Dead Aid, an Heidegger and Kurt Gödel excellent book on how not danced with Nazism; and to help the African poor, Michel Foucault cheered but she falters in Edge of on Iran’s Islamists. Chaos (Basic, 2018) as she Particularly valuable are his proposes “weighting votes chapters on those lesser by voters’ knowledge of known outside philosophi- ­civics, age, or professional cal circles: Otto Neurath, qualifications.” She pro- Rudolf Carnap, Michael poses one vote for all but Dummett, Hilary Putnam, more for those who scored Donald Davidson, and so higher on a civics test. Or, on. “weighting could also be Even Albert Einstein tied to one’s professional Political follies defended the murderous qualifications (such as certi- AGAINST RULE BY PHILOSOPHERS Josef Stalin at times. fication as a doctor, teacher, AND PROFESSIONALS by Marvin Olasky Sesardic asks how highly lawyer, and so forth), intelligent people could be employment status (such as so stupid and why “it is being an administrator of a Neven Sesardic’s bodies but our brains are precisely such very smart hospital, manager, or CEO), R When Reason Goes fallen and naturally sinful. individuals who are espe- and level of educational on Holiday: Philosophers Philosophy professor cially prone to exhibit cer- attainment, on the assump- in Politics (Encounter, Sesardic shows how promi- tain types of irrationality? tion that excelling in these 2016) is one of those thor- nent philosophers “admired What if there are follies domains makes one more oughly secular books that for their scholarly contribu- that often spare ordinary likely to make well- supports a crucial Biblical tions actually abandoned people while more easily informed choices in the understanding: Not only our reason altogether once they afflicting exactly those who ­voting booth.” Does it?

BOOKMARKS involving God’s sovereignty, man’s freedom and respon- David Bahnsen is my fine financial manager, so I sibility, and faith. Daniel Ritchie’s My Affliction for His will not praise his Crisis of Responsibility (Post Glory (Kirkdale, 2018) is the story of how a man born Hill, 2018) as I otherwise would, except to say that without arms realized that God had given him dignity he has excellent insights into housing, education, and creativity. labor, and tax policy. The football season has begun, and Rob Maaddi’s Daniel Darling’s The Dignity Revolution (Good Birds of Pray (Zondervan, 2018) profiles Philadelphia Book Company, 2018) doesn’t contend that we have Eagles players including quarterbacks Carson Wentz dignity because of our reason: We have dignity because God and Nick Foles. Foles describes his roller coaster ride to last made us, so we mess up when we imagine, unreasonably, year’s Super Bowl victory in Believe It (Tyndale, 2018). that we made ourselves. Darling thoughtfully comes to grips Anyone who takes Foles’ triumph as evidence for a pros- with abortion, euthanasia, race, immigration, poverty, justice, perity gospel should read Paul Tripp’s journey through agony sexuality, and marriage: He shows that evangelicals are and in Suffering: Gospel Hope When Life Doesn’t Make Sense, should be more than an interest group defending our turf. and anyone who thinks our purpose in life is to prosper Anyone who yearns for a return to Obama administration ­economically should read Tripp’s Redeeming Money: How foreign policy should read David Kirkpatrick’s Into the God Reveals and Reorients Our Hearts (both books are Hands of the Soldiers (Viking, 2018). The New York Times Crossway, 2018). correspondent’s street-level look at the failure of Arab John Perkins, the great proponent of racial reconcilia- Spring in Egypt castigates the Obama administration for tion, knows that part of God’s purpose for us is to realize contributing to the return of authoritarian rule in Egypt. that all humans are “one blood, all created from one man, HANDOUT John Lennox’s Determined to Believe? (Zondervan, Adam”—and Perkins’ One Blood (Moody, 2018) has his 2017) comes down in the evangelical middle on questions “parting words to the Church on race.” —M.O.

20 WORLD Magazine • September 29, 2018 Four recent Christian novels reviewed by Sandy Barwick

HIDDEN AMONG THE STARS Melanie Dobson When a current-day Ohio bookstore owner acquires an unusual copy of Bambi, her search for its original owner starts a chain of events that will change her life—and several others’—forever. Flashbacks to Nazi-occupied Austria tell of hidden treasures, a tragic love triangle, and Hitler’s evil plan to exterminate Jewish lives. Dobson expertly weaves together past and present to pro- duce a fascinating connection between them. This lyrical story— AFTERWORD poignant, yet hopeful—shows that, even though we don’t Ann H. Gabhart’s captivating understand God’s whole plan, we each have our assigned part in novel River to Redemption His perfect design. (Revell, 2018) is based on a real 1833 cholera outbreak CALLED TO PROTECT Lynette Eason that killed 55 people in In this second book of the Blue Justice series, Chloe St. John and Springfield, Ky. In this story, her K-9 partner join the team tasked with busting the human Louis, a slave left behind trafficking ring that’s probably behind her young cousin’s disap- when his owner flees the pearance. Meanwhile, someone kidnaps U.S. Marshal Blake deadly disease, forfeits his MacCallum’s daughter to use as leverage to force him to murder chance to escape to free- the judge he’s assigned to protect. Romantic—yet not cloying— dom. Instead, he stays to tension exists between Chloe and Blake, but the excitement is in bury the dead and care for the search for the girls before they disappear forever. Eason the sick, including 7-year- ­handles well the heavy subject without being too graphic; no old orphan Adria Starr. Fast- need to have read Book 1 first. forward 12 years to find Adria—a secret abolitionist— THE FASHION DESIGNER Nancy Moser all grown up This delightful sequel to The Pattern Artist continues the story of but still very Annie’s new life in New York City. It’s 1912, a time when women close to are increasingly entering the workforce and marching for the Louis. He right to vote. To accommodate changing attitudes and lifestyles, teaches her Annie and friends launch a clothing line for the “modern” woman. much about The characters find their faith stretched, and watch in awe as faith. “If God provides steppingstones for each one. Historical details like you pray the sinking of the Titanic and real-life characters like early cloth- believin’, you ing designer Lane Bryant help to make this a fun, compelling can make a read. mountain move from THE HEART BETWEEN US Lindsay Harrel this spot here to somewhere over there.” His upstanding At age 32, Megan receives a much-needed heart transplant and decides to complete the bucket list found inside her heart character wins respect and donor’s journal. A GoFundMe account enables her and her twin, admiration from the towns- Crystal, to embark on a whirlwind trip including Peru’s Machu people, and Adria devises a Picchu, the Great Wall of China, the Egyptian pyramids, London’s plan to raise enough money Buckingham Palace … the exhaustive list goes on and on. But to buy his freedom. Several don’t expect vivid descriptions of exotic places. It’s all about their subplots keep the action individual hang-ups. On the bright side, the sisters eventually moving briskly—and the share a refreshed outlook on life, but all those fantastic back- story ends on a hopeful

HANDOUT drops are wasted on navel-gazing. note. —S.B.

To see more book news and reviews, go to wng.org/books September 29, 2018 • WORLD Magazine 21 “I’’ve gotten many compliments on CULTURE Children’s Books this watch. The craftsmanship is phenomenal and the watch is simply pleasing to the eye.” Davis’ son Finding their way Ayden —M., Irvine, CA FOUR MIDDLE-GRADE NOVELS reviewed by Kristin Chapman “GET THIS WATCH.” —M., Wheeling, IL LOUISIANA’S WAY HOME Kate DiCamillo Louisiana Elefante, whom Kate DiCamillo fans will remember from Raymie Nightingale, is on the run with Granny, a question- able caregiver battling demons from her past. They land in a small Georgia town where Louisiana soon discovers she’s not who she thought she was. As she struggles to come to terms with her unfolding life, trustworthy new friends help her see AFTERWORD that amid a lifetime of lies she can still choose forgiveness and In The World Is Awake Back in Black: decide who she wants to be in this world. This poignant story (Zonderkidz, 2018), author The New Face of of loss echoes with themes of hope and redemption and hints Linsey Davis reminds chil- Luxury Watches at how we find belonging and true identity in Christ alone. dren to celebrate the every- (Ages 10 & up) “...go black. Dark day blessings God has given and handsome them. The rhyming picture remains a classic ROSETOWN Cynthia Rylant book (“The world is for a reason” Rosetown, the latest release from Henry and Mudge author awake—it’s a wonderful Cynthia Rylant, is a slow-paced story set in 1972 that chronicles place, alive with God’s — Men’s Journal the everyday life of 9-year-old Flora Smallwood. As the tumul- power and glad with His tuous Vietnam War drags on, sensitive Flora is looking for grace”) follows two children ­confidence and consistency after her fourth-grade year begins as they admire God’s cre- a bit chaotically. Although the book opens with Flora’s mother ation first in their backyard I’ll Take Mine Black…No Sugar and father separating, it portrays engaged parents and strong and then at the zoo. The n the early 1930s watch manufacturers took a An offer that will make you dig out your old friendships and happily ends with a restored family. Along the colorful and whimsical clue from Henry Ford’s favorite quote concerning tux. The movement of the Stauer Noire wrist watch way, Flora learns that even though life will be marked with illustrations will appeal to I unexpected disappointments and uncomfortable changes, it his automobiles, “You can have any color as long as carries an extended two year warranty. But first enjoy young children while can also produce surprising delights. (Ages 8-12) it is black.” Black dialed watches became the rage this handsome timepiece risk-free for 30 days for the ­featuring another of God’s good gifts: racial diversity. especially with pilots and race drivers. 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Wilder sees the luxurious Stauer Noire at a price to keep you in the black… the text does not explain the ® a solo journey as an opportunity to prove his manhood, but only 3 payments of $33. So slip into the back of your black mustard seed parable and LINSEY DAVIS VIA TWITTER Stauer his parents require that he take along his best friend and a limousine, savor some rich tasting black coffee and look at your 14101 Southcross Drive W., foster kid who’s struggling to fit in. Although the trip gets off only includes one reference wrist knowing that you have some great times on your hands. Ste 155, Dept. NWT430-06 to a rough start, by the end the boys have proved—to to God: Instead the end- Burnsville, Minnesota 55337 Rating of A+ www.stauer.com ­themselves and each other—that they are stronger and more notes suggest the story resourceful than they knew. 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22 WORLD Magazine • September 29, 2018 To see more book news and reviews, go to wng.org/books “I’’ve gotten many compliments on this watch. The craftsmanship is phenomenal and the watch is simply pleasing to the eye.” —M., Irvine, CA

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JOHN FREEMAN Struggle vs. surrender HELPING CHRISTIANS NAVIGATE A WORLD OF SEXUAL SIN by Marvin Olasky COREY PERRINE/GENESIS PHOTOS John Freeman founded Harvest Hide or Seek: When Men Get Real with then he said gays and lesbians make up R USA, a Christian ministry that God About Sex. Here are edited excerpts the largest unreached people group, helps individuals and families troubled of our interview before students at because the church was saying, by pornography, homosexuality, and Patrick Henry College. “Hands off. What do we have to do sexual addictions. He’s a graduate of Missionaries speak of “unreached with them?” Westminster Theological Seminary, an people groups” abroad. What’s the Harvest tries to reach them? We elder in the Presbyterian Church in largest one in the U.S.? I sat in Harvie minister to those affected by homosex- America, and the author of a new book, Conn’s missions class in 1983. Even uality, pornography, and gender issues.

24 WORLD Magazine • September 29, 2018 We also develop and create this.” The easier road to walk is to just Why do we get so upset about materials and resources. give in. homosexuality but we often accept What’s the biggest growth Some say there is as much hetero- heterosexual adultery? In one church field? Harvest was originally a sexual adultery within the church as a person told the pastor about his 100 percent ministry to gays outside of it, and that pastors are as homosexuality, and the pastor said, “If and lesbians, and to Christians likely to view pornography as people in you had told me you were having an struggling with same-sex the pews. True? The statistics are a affair, I could understand.” That pastor attraction. Now, about 7 of ­little bit lower concerning adultery. On was revealing something about his own every 10 calls we receive con- pornography, probably 70 percent of heart. All these things are on the same cern pornography and sexual pastors under 40 bring a history of use level with God, but we have downplayed addiction. into their ministry. We’ve started five the impact of the playboy mentality for Some of those calls come support groups for pastors. the last 50 years. One pastor sent a letter from parents? Parents with a Do some churches deal well with out to every male in his church over 18. son or daughter who has sexual sin? One church 150 miles from The essence was, “I know you’re proba- embraced a gay or lesbian Philadelphia has multiple groups for bly struggling with lust on some level. I identity want to know how to parents with a gay or lesbian loved one, want to hear about it. Come and talk to love their adult child but at three groups for men struggling with me.” About 25 people in three weeks the same time say, “I can’t pornography, and two groups for wives came to talk to him. march in a parade. I can’t put of men who are struggling with por- Churches sometimes advertise my support behind this nography. The church had none of that seminars on purity or chastity. Do because I think it’s Biblically 10 years ago. We did a seminar there, those draw crowds? We had a church harmful to you.” They want a “Sexual sanity in a sexually crazy world.” that did a seminar on sexual purity and relationship with boundaries. That was on the marquee in the front. 35 people came. Another church named When parents ask Some people came in for the first time. its seminar “Sex in the City” and 480 whether they should invite What’s been the result? People go people came. Millennials could attach their child’s same-sex spouse to the church and see it’s a place that to that, but not to the idea of purity. or partner to come to dinner can handle this. People are coming to What are options when church and then share a bedroom, know Jesus more personally and pow- leaders refuse to address those what do you advise? That erfully. They’re having idols dislodged issues? Members themselves can start only God can tell you how to in their hearts. Those aren’t nice issues, getting together in homes to discuss extend love and mercy with- but the gospel isn’t about being nice those issues. That pushes pastors in a out enabling. It takes a lot of people. It’s about being new people. good way. prayer and wisdom. We have Why is it so hard for churches? You write in one chapter about a parents who say yes to dinner We’ve not been honest that we’re a “Kevin” who is about to become a but they cannot let their adult redeeming and forgiving people but we member of a church on a Sunday. child’s spouse or partner sleep struggle with the same things others Several days before, he tells the over because that encourages struggle with. Sometimes church lead- ­pastor he’s gay. How did you advise a more intimate relationship. ers are committed to educating people the pastor? I said, “You’ll have a lot of Should the parents go to a in a worldview of sex and sexuality the conversations between now and same-sex wedding? We don’t way God intended. But some pastors Sunday to figure out what that means.” believe there’s a hard-and-fast rule have told me they won’t talk about Is Kevin struggling with things he except that your child should know these issues because they’re afraid they knows aren’t right before God, or is he where you stand. Some parents say, will lose people. saying being gay has as much legiti- “I can’t go to the service, but I’ll send A pastor in Milwaukee told me that macy and power as following Jesus? them a gift to show I care about them.” if he really preached firmly against If Kevin says, “I am struggling. I One Christian parent might say, “I’m adultery, he’d lose two-thirds of his know this is wrong. I don’t want to do going,” and the other says, “I’m not.” congregation. When someone tells it” … If he is being honest and says, “I It causes a conflict. me that, I ask two questions: Are you know God is calling me to something How often do pastors with a gay content with the world’s culture con- deeper. I don’t know how to get there. I child change the way they read the tinuing to be the primary educator and failed at it.” … We all fail at being who Bible? We encourage them to remain discipler of your people? How do you we should be as believers, and the body faithful to Scripture, and to think of give the person sitting in despair the of Christ can help. But if a person says, how they can never be more loving hope that Jesus can do something “My sexuality and gender has as much than God is loving. The harder road to ­powerful in his life? I’ve never had a of a place and authority as my commit- walk is, “I love you and want you to be pastor answer those questions. They ment to Christ,” then you would say, part of my life, but I’m not approving just stare at me. “We’re sorry.” A

 [email protected]  @MarvinOlasky September 29, 2018 • WORLD Magazine 25 CULTURE Music

Freedom attested to the esteem in which her peers held her. Little if any of what’s been written about Franklin in the last few weeks, however, has touched on her live albums Amazing Grace and One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, expansive, jubi- lant gospel projects that found her unleashing her entire melismatic arsenal in the service of the Lord. Were they the only albums that Franklin had ever recorded, they would’ve left listeners no choice but to conclude that the Queen A queen remembered of Soul was a fervent OBITUARIES RARELY DISCUSSED ARETHA FRANKLIN’S Christian believer. TWO FERVENT CHRISTIAN ALBUMS by Arsenio Orteza Amazing Grace came out in 1972 at the height of her chart-topping success, In the days following The daughter of the Rev. by refusing to address them One Lord, One Faith, One R her death on Aug. 16 C.L. Franklin, a Detroit- publicly (her 1999 autobiog- Baptism in 1987 in the wake from pancreatic cancer, based, superstar Baptist raphy was widely dismissed of her mid-’80s renais- Aretha Franklin was alter- preacher with many as frustratingly superficial), sance. Neither, in other nately eulogized as the famous friends and a latitu- by picking fights with any words, was released under “Queen of Soul” and dinous attitude toward sex- female vocalist whom she a bushel. Amazing Grace upbraided as a self- ual morality, Franklin grew considered even remotely even went double platinum, absorbed diva. up in a feverish atmosphere competitive (sometimes becoming the best-selling The praise vastly out- combining faith, celebrity, turning duets into “cutting album of her career. weighed the excoriation and hedonism. Her mother, contests”), by spending By comparison, One and focused on her indomi- fed up with C.L.’s woman- (and dressing) ostenta- Lord, One Faith, One table voice, her string of izing, left the family when tiously, by refusing to fly, by Baptism underperformed. iconic late-’60s hits, and her Aretha was 6 and died chain smoking (she quit in (It peaked at 106.) And no longevity. (Her final album three years later. 1991), and by “comfort matter what one thinks of of original material, Aretha A surer-fire recipe for eating.” the music or the cameos by Franklin Sings the Great Diva perpetual insecurity would She also threw herself Mavis Staples and Joe Classics, came out in 2014, be hard to imagine. into making indelible Ligon, the preacherly inter- 58 years after the recording By the time Franklin music, recording at least ludes totaling over half an of her first,Songs of Faith.) was 15, she’d given birth to half a dozen classic gold- or hour impede the flow. The upbraiding focused two children, delegating platinum-selling albums, But sometimes, as in the on her adolescent pregnan- their rearing in large part not counting the classics- case of Jesse Jackson’s fiery

cies, her unhappy mar- to friends and family filled compilationsAretha’s sermonette, they accelerate DIMITRIOS KAMBOURIS/GETTY IMAGES riages, her propensity to ­members when the music Gold (1969), 30 Greatest the flow instead. And while leave promoters and fans in business, having caught Hits (1985), and Greatest the Rev. Cecil Franklin’s the lurch by canceling wind of her pyrotechnic Hits: 1980-1994 (1994). Her claim that his sister’s ­concerts and other profes- talent, began calling. numerous Grammy awards, “Christian commitment to sional obligations at the last She subjugated what- her 1987 induction into the carry the gospel to every minute, and her weight. ever guilt she may have felt Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, creature is unquestionable” Both perspectives were as an absentee mother in her 1994 Kennedy Center may strain credulity, in this accurate. They were also the same way that she sub- Honor, and her 2005 context it resonates like a connected. jugated her other miseries— Presidential Medal of fait accompli. A

26 WORLD Magazine • September 29, 2018  [email protected]  @ArsenioOrteza New/recent releases reviewed by Arsenio Orteza

JAPANESE GUITAR MUSIC, VOL. 4 Schin-ichi Fukuda & Shigenori Kudo Despite this album’s title and the top billing of the classical guitarist, most of the melodies are assigned to Shigenori Kudo, whose flutes breathe forth an airy loveliness charac- teristic of each selection but the three that he sits out. So consider the program a Kudo recital highlighted by the flute solo “Air” and featuring the expert accompaniment of Schin-ichi Fukuda. How expert, exactly? He captures the Piazzolla-inspired inflections of “Kojyo no Tsuki” as ENCORE vividly as he captures the liquid properties of “Wave The reasons that detractors Recollections” and “Water Drops.” of Philip Glass give for ­dismissing his compositions— ON THE PATH TO H.C. ANDERSEN their hypnotic repetitive- Hanzhi Wang ness, their lack of melodic The somber timbres—part calliope, part flute—that Wang or harmonic development, conjures from her instrument in the three Martin Lohse their static ecstasies—are compositions that make up this disc’s first half are lyrical often the same ones that enough to dispel any notions you might have acquired from fans of Glass give for prais- zydeco or polkas about the accordion’s expressive poten- ing them. The only point on tial. The experimental timbres—part suspense thriller, which the two camps dis- part art-house film—that Wang conjures in Jesper Koch’s agree is whether music that “Jabberwocky,” Bent Lorentzen’s “Tears,” and Sven functions more like a vast, Aaquist’s “Saga Night” will make sure that those notions pulsating audio kaleido- never reassemble themselves and return. scope than … well … what- ever music is supposed to WHISPERING FRAGRANCE: THE CHAMBER function like is enjoyable. WORKS OF STEPHEN YIP Various artists To such disputes there can Born in Hong Kong and now a U.S. resident, Stephen Yip be no resolution. composes music that’s probably nowhere near the top Orange Mountain Music of President Xi’s playlist. Although it utilizes traditional has released new recordings Chinese instruments almost exclusively, the traditions of the early Glass works that it evokes have more in common with those of free Music with Changing Parts jazz than with those of Beijing opera. And don’t be (1970) and The Grid (four fooled by titles such as “In Seventh Heaven” and “Peace selections from Koyaanisqatsi of Mind”: Yip’s sounds are as agitated and demanding as anything ever to drive the next-apartment neighbors [1982] plus “North Star” of Ornette Coleman fans nuts. [1977]) by the Salt Lake Electric Ensemble and the organist James McVinnie MUTSUO SHISHIDO: COMPLETE WORKS respectively. Neither will FOR PIANO Akina Yura convert skeptics. But both— Anyone tired of the war on “cultural appropriation” will find the latter by dispatching relief in this omnibus. Although Shishido made a priority of with an ensemble and the giving his works a Japanese character, his studies with former by adding textures Olivier Messiaen and André Jolivet guaranteed Western (or at least Parisian) influences as well. Another Shishido to and subtracting 16 priority: formal diversity. Sandwiched between the opening ­minutes from the original—­ two suites and the concluding two sonatas are three pieces possess a personality­ not that clock in at under five minutes combined. And in his usually associated with compositions for children, he achieved a nimble playfulness Glass’ ego-effacing

HANDOUT in which Akina Yura takes obvious delight. ­proceedings. —A.O.

To see more music news and reviews, go to wng.org/music September 29, 2018 • WORLD Magazine 27 VOICES Mindy Belz

have known for years: Iran’s intelligence service worked with al-Qaeda’s leaders to provide cover to 9/11 planners and hijackers, even safe passage through Iran. As the world could not abide a Saddam Hussein possessing chemical weapons, so it cannot abide an Iran with nuclear weapons. Yet Ekéus-like hopes prevailed in interna- Beyond sanctions tionalist circles and the Obama White House— and led to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. That deal IRAN WAS A MAJOR U.S. ALLY FOR has unraveled following the United States’ May A REASON, AND CAN BE AGAIN withdrawal and withering sanctions. The sanctions the Trump administration Rolf Ekéus was a patient tutor on the imposed in May marked the 17th round of U.S. R Middle East, and he spent some tedious sanctions and brought to 145 the number of hours on the phone with me from his post at individuals and entities now barred from U.S. The Hague after events forced him to give up soil and U.S. markets. The goal, said State Draw your own conclusions heading the UN weapons inspection team in Department policy adviser Brian Hook, is “to Iraq. Ekéus chaired the panel during the 1990s, force Iran into simple but hard choices of crucial years when Saddam Hussein (contrary whether to cease or persist in the policies that to revisionist historians) tried to circumnavigate trigger the sanctions.” sanctions to build weapons of mass destruction. Europeans have howled over the American In the middle of conversations about about-face, but European businesses are getting Saddam’s regime—Iraqi officials thwarted on board: Siemens, Daimler Benz, Total, and Ekéus in inspection tours and at one point Maersk are among major firms that have offered a $2 million bribe to doctor reports—the announced they’ll stop doing business with Iran. Swedish diplomat said something about Iraq’s Yet the most stringent round of sanctions is neighbor I couldn’t forget: “Iran should be the due in November, to stop Iranian oil exports most natural U.S. ally in the region.” and throttle international sales by denying Iran Not finding new ground for that relationship access to SWIFT, the network facilitating after the 1979 revolution, Ekéus believed, was a Iranians global financial transactions. lost opportunity. Iran is the natural outlier in the But sanctions are a tool of foreign policy, not region—a Persian not Arab culture with unique have been the policy itself. The Trump administration is history separate from religiously driven Arab ­protesting taking needed steps on paper, yet needs to conquests; a mostly Muslim nation whose lead their engage more. Iran in the Bush and Obama years language is Farsi, an Indo-European language gained ground that will take savvy muscle in the not the Quran-mandated Arabic; a lead oil ­government region (with Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and ­supplier with a once-thriving economy and in some others) to roll back. Since the latest rounds of heavy emphasis on education. Iran under the form almost sanctions went into effect, Iran has reportedly shah developed extensive U.S. ties, ties severed moved long-range missiles into Iraq and has when Ayatollah Khomeini came to power. daily for the opened a missile factory in northwestern Syria. Today more than 1.5 million people of Iranian past year and In it all, it’s important not to forget the Iranian descent live in the United States—the largest are a potent people and their potential role in changing the number outside Iran. course of their nation. Iranians have been Those are reasons to care, not coddle the force for ­protesting their government in some form almost regime. The Ekéus hope wasn’t wrong, just change. daily for the past year and are a potent force for overtaken by events. Iranians next year will change. Yet the United States hasn’t highlighted mark 40 years under a religious dictatorship. their cause, but has blocked nearly all Iranians

The ayatollahs have introduced the world to the from entering the United States, including nearly SALAMPIX/ABACA/SIPA VIA AP cruel realities of life under state-imposed Islam. An Iranian woman 100 whose cases we’ve followed in Vienna, protests the Islamic They spread their revolutionary model to Africa law that requires Iranians extended invitations for asylum but and beyond, seeding political movements with women to wear now blocked under opaque U.S. rules. terrorist strains while equipping myriad terrorist headscarves in public To be successful a tough sanctions policy groups aimed at threatening the West. by taking hers off and needs to be wed to Ekéus-like hope for future waving it on a stick in Earlier this year a top Iranian official admitted Tehran. Authorities ties to Iran’s people, a promise that hasn’t what investigators and families of 9/11 victims arrested her. passed. A wng.org/podcast

28 WORLD Magazine • September 29, 2018  [email protected]  @mcbelz

TWE-FullPageAd.indd 4 4/6/18 4:00 PM Draw your own conclusions

wng.org/podcast

TWE-FullPageAd.indd 4 4/6/18 4:00 PM FEATURES

Tens of thousands of children conceived by donors are grown up now and wondering who their fathers are. Advances in DNA testing are helping them find out BY MARY JACKSON photo by Gary Fong/Genesis DNA STRAND: BLUEBAY2014/ISTOCK Amanda Serenyi’s father turned out not to be her father; she was donor-conceived.

September 29, 2018 • WORLD Magazine 31 manda Serenyi’s father Serenyi took a DNA test with 23andMe in 2012. A year told her almost nothing and a half later, she had a “predicted first cousin” alert, and about his four older chil- within days, she was staring at a picture of her biological dren from a previous father with his two daughters, one posed in a white dress marriage. But one of almost identical to one of Serenyi’s own childhood photos. So them found her name far, that man has shunned contact with Serenyi, except to on her grandmother’s send a yearly medical report through his lawyer. She also obituary and then on found a half brother, who is only two months older than her Facebook. Then, that and donor-conceived by the same father. They met recently half sister revealed a for drinks in D.C., and Serenyi joked it was the start of a family secret: Before ­sibling reunion: “There could be 20 more of us.” Serenyi was con- Serenyi’s confusing experience is like the experience of ceived, her father many others who face profound questions about their had a vasectomy. ­parentage and identity. That is how Serenyi found out o one knows for sure how many children are born each she was donor-­ year using sperm and egg donors. One 2010 study esti- conceived. Her N mated 30,000 to 60,000 children were born that year mother paid a using sperm donation. But the law does not require fertility secret visit in 1977 clinics to maintain such statistics, and only 20 to 40 percent to a doctor who of women voluntarily report their child’s birth to sperm and was ­“performing egg banks, according to Wendy Kramer, founder of the miracles”—­ 60,000-member Donor Sibling Registry (DSR). artificially Furthermore, the majority of donor-conceived people still inseminating do not know their origins. One 2011 study found that half of women using the children conceived by egg donation and three-quarters anonymous of those conceived by donor insemination had no knowledge donors’ sperm—at a University of California San Francisco that either their mother or father is not a genetic parent. fertility clinic. She knew nothing else about Serenyi’s biologi- The first recorded account of “donor-assisted” reproduc- cal father. tion took place in 1884 when a Philadelphia doctor secretly Serenyi spent subsequent months roaming San Francisco inseminated a sedated woman with sperm from his “most streets speculating that middle-aged strangers with similar attractive” medical student. The practice became more physical traits as hers could be siblings. She wondered if one ­popular during the baby boom after World War II, and third- of the graying men she saw could be her father. party reproduction exploded in the ’80s and ’90s as infertile Until recently, Serenyi would have kept wondering. But in couples began seeking in vitro fertilization (IVF) and single the last decade, the emergence of inexpensive and women and homosexuals wanted to increasingly popular genetic testing has blown the have families. lid off of anonymity for children born from third- But how donor-conceived children party reproduction. Now, almost anyone can go might feel about their parentage has online and piece together a family tree using social attracted little attention. networks and direct-to-consumer DNA testing sites Matt Doran, 32, hopes to change like 23andMe and Ancestry.com. that. In 2013, he started a social Armed with this information, donor-conceived ­network called DonorChildren.com, people are unraveling family secrets, finding siblings which now has 3,000 members who they never knew they had, and interrupting the lives use the site to find family members, of men who sold their sperm assuming they would share resources, and tell their stories. remain anonymous. “We are an unknown, voiceless They are also gaining a voice. Many donor-­ demographic that society doesn’t conceived people now run websites, blogs, and know about or care about,” says Doran. forums to help each other and raise awareness. Some “It is hard for people to empathize have turned to activism, using fighting words like with what we go through.” “eugenics” and “human trafficking.” A few are Growing up, Doran’s parents kept ­pushing back on the unregulated, multibillion-dollar hidden that they used an anonymous fertility industry: They are threatening court battles sperm donor to conceive him and his and petitioning the U.S. Food and Drug Administration sister. As Doran reached puberty, he Matt Doran for tougher restrictions. struggled to connect with his father

32 WORLD Magazine • September 29, 2018 Dr. Robert Graham (left) fills liquid nitrogen into tanks that contain frozen sperm in 1982. One of the 215 babies produced from Graham’s “Nobel Bank” was Nicholas Isel (inset).

Nobel Bank” and produced 215 babies before closing shortly after Graham’s death in 1997. Isel says he detached himself from his “abu- sive” father as a teenager. He latched onto the ­little he knew of his biological dad, called “Donor Coral” in the repository catalog and described as “a professional man of very high standing in his science, has had a book published.” Journalist David Plotz documented the repository and Isel’s experience in his 2005 book The Genius Factory and a subsequent 2017 documentary. Plotz helped Isel find and meet his biological dad in 2003. “Donor Coral” turned out to be an obscure Florida doctor who fathered 30 children through the repository, 18 with his six ex-wives, and numerous more through other sperm banks. Now Isel, a Chicago-area roofer, says he is only now recovering from the shock of learning about his biological father. He has been married for 17 years and has two ­children, but fatherhood still terrifies him: “I have two father figures; neither one is a good role model.” Isel is channeling some of his pain into activism, which he calls a “moral responsi- bility.” In 2016, he submitted a citizen and noticed physical differences. Then at 25, he ­petition with the Food and Drug and his wife saw their first daughter on a sono- Administration, asking the agency to gram: “It surfaced the question I had about my extend the time span that sperm and egg own conception.” Doran’s father told him the banks are required to hold a donor’s and truth later that night. Doran remembers it as an recipient’s personal and medical informa- “out-of-body experience.” tion from 10 years to 50, allowing donor- Doran, a Melbourne, Fla., aerospace engineer, began conceived children more time to access it. searching for his biological father in 2011. DNA tests, internet Last year, the FDA indicated that Isel’s petition is still sleuthing, distant relatives, and reporters led him to a man under review. If denied, Isel plans to take his case to the dubbed “Dr. Papa,” who is rumored to have fathered more courts. Meanwhile, he has teamed up with the children’s than 300 children by sperm donation—Doran is one of them. rights group Them Before Us to draft a new petition they Using an anonymous email address, Doran reached out to plan to submit to the FDA later this year. his biological father. After their second exchange, his father The Donor Sibling Registry’s Kramer and her now-adult, wrote: “I most probably participated in giving you life and donor-conceived son, Ryan Kramer, also petitioned the FDA exceptional genes. … I should not have to be put through any in 2016 to ban anonymity, require genetic and medical testing personal discomfort because of that act of kind service. Good for donors, and require comprehensive record keeping for night and good life.” sperm and egg banks—18 months later, the petition remains under review. icholas Isel, 33, also heard that he had exceptional genes. Kramer said her organization has also pursued the At age 15, he learned that he and his sister were “Nobel National Institutes of Health, the surgeon general, and N babies,” products of eugenicist Robert Graham’s numerous legislators, to no avail: “[The fertility industry] is Repository for Germinal Choice, a California-based sperm big and powerful and they have lobbyists who squelch any bank that started in the 1980s and claimed to accept only regulation immediately. We are a little charity up against

GRAHAM: PAUL HARRIS/LIAISON/GETTY IMAGES • DORAN AND ISEL: HANDOUT PHOTOS • DORAN IMAGES HARRIS/LIAISON/GETTY PAUL GRAHAM: “genius” specimens. The repository became known as “The Goliath.”

September 29, 2018 • WORLD Magazine 33 he United States is the world’s largest exporter of sperm, requires clinics to test donors for STDs and a handful of mostly because of its lack of regulation and the fact that other diseases, including cystic fibrosis and Tay-Sachs. T sperm donors can earn up to $1,000 per month. Egg Prospective parents choose from “anonymous” or “open- donors make $10,000 for a completed retrieval. With identity” donors. “Open identity” means donor offspring can increasing demand for babies coming from single women contact the bank when they reach age 18 and the bank will and infertile and gay couples, the global sperm-bank business facilitate communication with the genetic parent. In 2011, could reach a net worth of $5 billion by 2025, according to Washington became the first state to make “open identity” the California-based Grand View Research. the default unless a sperm donor requests anonymity. Sperm and egg banks offer thick, comprehensive catalogs But DNA testing is rendering anonymity claims obsolete, and online databases touting donors’ postgraduate degrees and it keeps getting cheaper. The price for a basic kit from and desirable physical and professional traits. 23andMe dropped from $1,000 a decade ago to last year’s U.S. fertility clinics do not have to maintain or share infor- Black Friday sale of $100. A cheek swab or a vial of saliva can mation about donors. They do not have to keep records on yield information regarding ancestry and maternal and how many children a given donor produces—one man can paternal family lines. produce hundreds of children. Many clinics claim to cap the number of offspring per sperm donor at 25 families, and eanwhile, Hollywood has run with these new family ­others more conservatively at 10. Kramer said it is normal for storylines in recent years. MTV’s 2013 reality show DSR members to reach “spreadsheet status,” finding dozens, M called Generation Cryo followed one teen as she traveled if not hundreds, of siblings using DNA testing. around the country to find her 15 half siblings and their Furthermore, a donor’s medical history is mostly self- sperm-donor father. The Kids Are Alright, a 2010 movie, tells reported, so donor-conceived children often know nothing of a lesbian couple’s two teenage kids who set out to find about mental illnesses and congenital defects. The FDA only their sperm-donor father. The 2013 comedy Delivery Man

bered the first two letters of his last name. CHILDREN OF THE DUST For more than 40 years, that man ‘ ’ remained a mystery. But in the last decade, DNA testing Amerasians turn to DNA testing has brought new possibilities to to find their GI fathers Amerasians like Nguyen. The prolifera- tion of inexpensive, direct-to-consumer In a rural, postwar Vietnamese village, birth certificate—anything that would genetic testing is allowing many of them Jannies Nguyen remembers as a girl trace them to an American soldier and to find their GI fathers, who are now ­regularly paddling out in a boat to peer jeopardize their lives. She knew Nguyen’s ­hitting their mid-60s or early 70s. Some at her reflection in the water and try to father by a nickname and only remem- Amerasians are finally gaining U.S. citi- picture her father, a U.S. serviceman she zenship for them- had never met. Her mother said she selves and their looked just like him. families after decades Nguyen is one of tens of thousands of of waiting. Hundreds children born to Vietnamese mothers still remain in Vietnam and GI fathers during or shortly after the with renewed hope Vietnam War. Veterans left behind these that DNA testing will children, called “Amerasians”—some provide the proof they half-black, some half-white—and then need to come to denied or tried to forget them. Some America. never knew they existed. Three years ago Nguyen’s parents secretly married, Nguyen, 46, took a but war separated them. After her father DNA test with left Vietnam, Communist officials threat- Ancestry.com. Within ened her mother, and she moved with months she had a sec- Amerasian children in Nguyen to a remote village, burning ond-cousin match, a Ho Chi Minh City in 1972 ­pictures, letters, even her daughter’s Florida man she found

34 WORLD Magazine • September 29, 2018 KRAMERS: DAVID ZALUBOWSKI/AP • CHILDREN: AP  Amerasians andmore than55,000 gration status. Since then,nearly 25,000 tion in1987 granting themspecial immi States after Congress enacted legisla days ofwar. Others cameto theUnited left in1975 duringthetumultuous final ­herself boxing so shecould fight back. up almostdaily;at age 10 shetaught ­children spat on,taunted, andbeat her school duringherearly years. Other hair, andshewas not allowed to attend Nguyen’s mother shaved Nguyen’s curly abject poverty and harsh discrimination. Vietnam. Amerasian children endured from aninvading army inpost-war and treated themasunwanted leftovers children to leave usbehind.” telling meheissorry andhedidn’t mean Nguyen says, “Hecriesalot. Hekeeps attended herson’s football game. visited herOklahomaCityhomeand versations. InAugust Nguyen’s father who confirmed heisher father. July Nguyen received atext from aman on Facebook, andbegan messaging. In struggle withsubstance abuseandreport problems withthe Parenthood’s Future. Theyare more thantwiceaslikely to conception, according toa2010study by theCommissionon offspring are disturbed thatmoney was involved intheir people, thesestories are painfullyreal. Nearly halfofdonor Kramer in2006 Wendy andRyan [email protected] More than3,000 Vietnamorphans The Vietnamese calledAmerasian That text hasledto many more con bui doi , or“children ofthedust,”  @WORLD_mag the fatherof533children. depicts amanwhofindsoutheis But forsomedonor-conceived - - - and told Nguyen healways thought, lived. Hestillattempted to findthem bomb wipedouttheregion where they had diedwhenreports camethat a Meanwhile, herfather presumed they didn’t want to mess uphislife.” ­discouraged herdesire to findhim:“She for herfather. But Nguyen’s mother remembers lookingaround theairport grated to Oklahoma Cityin1990, she have found theirfathers. United States. Still, fewer than5percent ­family members have immigrated to the private Facebook group called Wickman isalso helping. Heco-runs a in Vietnam. Amerasians intheUnited States and200 Nguyen’s group iscurrently assisting 50 costs for poorVietnamese Amerasians. raise funds for DNAkitsandrelated offer assistance with genetic testing, and cacy groups that hostget-togethers, Veterans. Itisoneofahandful ofadvo Amerasian Children ofVietnam to helpothers. In2014, shestarted “What if?” When Nguyen andhermother immi Ex-Navy manandretired CPA Paul Nguyen’s experiences compelled her point togetknow my grandchildren andyour wifeandmy “Pops.” He recently wrote: “Iwould like very muchatsome confirm hisparentage. Now, hesignshismessageswith whom heasked WORLD nottoname, tookaDNA test to they begancommunicatingagain,andhisbiologicalfather, Kansas tomeethisbiologicalfather. daughter [Doran’s sister].” This fall,Doran planstotake hiswifeandfourchildren to ing. Every Father’s Day, hesendshimacard. Recently, Doran’s biologicalfathercuthimoff, he kept persist product thatsomeonebought.” Even afterMatt 100 dollsandyou are just oneofthem.You are a feel like there’s adollmanufacturer whocranked out “Anonymous Us,” says, “You don’t feelhuman.You is donor-conceived andrunsanonlineforumcalled and “Confessions ofaCryokid.” AlanaNewman, who groups withtitleslike “We Are DonorConceived,” statement, “My spermdonorishalfofwhoIam.” thirds ofadultdonoroffspringconcurred withthe depression andothermentalhealthissues. Two- law before age25and1.5timesaslikely toreport Many have started websites, blogs, andFacebook - - first time.” they united and embraced for thevery she never knew. Today after 47 years Vietnam conflict to anAmerican father through DNA. [She was] borninthe girlfriend andIfinally found … her family meeting herfather withacaption:“My recently posted avideo ofhisgirlfriend On Wickman’s Facebook page, oneman age andwant to rectify oldwar wounds. infidelity. and hasnever told hiswife abouthis He was marriedduringtheVietnam War delivery letters from hisAmerasian child. who hasrefused multiplerestricted- about oneserviceman inhisearly 80s Amerasian children. Wickmantold me still deny theirpaternity andreject their would bevirtuallyhopeless,” hesaid. plicated, “butwithoutDNAtesting it internet sleuthing. Theprocess iscom records, obituaries,social media,and together their family tree usingmilitary Wickman helpsAmerasians piece results are confusing orinconclusive, and American GIFathers. SometimesDNA Amerasian Children Looking for Their September 29, 2018 29, September Still, mostveterans are reaching old Despite DNAproof, some GIfathers —M.J. A • WORLD Magazine WORLD - 35 - TAKE YOUR With multiple emphases available, the Doctor of Ministry program at LEADERSHIP TO Midwestern Seminary provides the equipping you need in practical THE NEXT LEVEL theology for direct church work and ministry leadership. And because all of our doctoral programs are WITH OUR D.MIN. modular, you don’t have to leave your current ministry to pursue your degree.

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� @MBTS | MBTS.EDU | 816-414-3733 | KANSAS CITY, MO TAKE YOUR With multiple emphases available, the Doctor of Ministry program at LEADERSHIP TO Midwestern Seminary provides the equipping you need in practical THE NEXT LEVEL theology for direct church work and ministry leadership. And because all of our doctoral programs are WITH OUR D.MIN. modular, you don’t have to leave your current ministry to pursue your degree.

MIDWESTERN SEMINARY’S DOCTOR OF Take the next step. MINISTRY DEGREE PROGRAM IS THE NEXT STEP IN TRAINING FOR LOCAL MINISTRY. mbts.edu/world

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A socialist revolution may not be imminent in the United States, but the ideology is getting a surprising boostby Jamie ahead Dean of midterm elections

SOCIALIST SEEDS

hree months before democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 28, stunned politicians by defeating a 10-term incumbent in a Democratic primary in New A socialist revolution may not be T York, Nicanor Ochisor, a cabbie in his mid-60s, stunned his family by committing suicide in his garage in Queens. imminent in the United States, Ochisor, a taxi cab driver for nearly 30 years, had been but the ideology is getting a dismayed by plunging profits in recent months, and his son surprising boostby Jamie ahead Dean said his father was distressed over losing significant busi- ness to the ride-sharing company Uber. Ochisor was the of midterm elections fourth New York City cab driver to kill himself in five months. Ocasio-Cortez responded to the tragedy with a tweet: “Yellow cab drivers are in financial ruin due to the unregu- lated expansion of Uber.” By late August, Ocasio-Cortez was a political star ­touting democratic socialism in appearances across the country, and federal records showed her campaign staffers had paid $4,000 for at least part of their ground transpor- tation between April and June. The mode of transport: Uber. During the same month, Ocasio-Cortez continued her call for a $15 minimum wage, and she dropped by a Union Square coffee shop where she once worked to visit employees ahead of the restaurant’s closing after 28 years: “I’m a normal, working person who chose to run for office because I believe we can have a better future.” The New York Post reported the owner of the restau- rant said he was closing down because times had changed, rents are high, “and now the minimum wage is going up and we have a huge number of employees.” The episodes are easy to pounce on, and some critics have called Ocasio-Cortez “mini-Maduro”—comparing her to Nicolás Maduro, the socialist dictator of collapsing Venezuela. But according to the thousands of Americans embracing socialist ideas and candidates ahead of midterm elections, this isn’t your authoritarian dictator’s socialism. In many ways, that’s true. The Democratic Socialists of America, a primary advocacy group, offers wide latitude for political viewpoints among its members, but candidates claiming the organization’s banner haven’t called for the confiscation of private property or the imprisonment of Ocasio-Cortez speaks at dissenters. They talk about ideas like “Medicare-for-all” a progressive fundraiser and free college for everyone interested in applying. in Los Angeles. But basic economics teaches that no scarce service is MARIO TAMA/GETTY IMAGES free, including college, and one economist estimates that

SOCIALIST SEEDS September 29, 2018 • WORLD Magazine 39 MAINE: CHARLES KRUPA/AP • TLAIB: ANTHONY LANZILOTE/ THE NEW YORK TIMES/REDUX -

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1 ` That’s not what Ocasio-CortezThat’s usually pushes in public socialism, ask her to summarize interviewers when Instead, has appeared gone on a national speaking tour and she’s Still, as if they aren’t even seem popular, coattails still Sanders’ member of a former Democratic Rashida Tlaib, the Democratic primary in Michigan’s 13th primary in Michigan’s the Democratic run and will District Congressional a mem unopposed this fall. She’s ber of the DSA. (Tlaib would Muslim also be the first elected to woman Congress.) into culture and family: “Socialism is about democratizing the democratizing is about “Socialism and family: into culture democratizing relations … [and] of patriarchal to get rid family between relationship the hierarchical challenging by the schools of the school.” students of the school and the the teachers appearances. be too poor to live in America should person “No answered, she’s the political across actually an idea voters That’s in this country.” on, but Ocasio-Cortez agree would spectrum likely struggled has the or how fix such problems socialism would how to explain entitlements. vast for such to pay could afford government candidate presidential the 2016 I-Vt., with Sen. Bernie Sanders, socialism and made a formidable who championed democratic Hillary Clinton. nominee Democratic eventual bid against candi wish: Several as some socialists level long on the federal the primaries, fizzled out in the DSA dates identifying with though Ocasio-Cortez another democratic is set to have colleague in Congress: socialist won of Representatives, the Michigan House - - - - September 29, 2018 •

York City Democratic primary. She is expected to defeat She is expected primary. Democratic City York he biggest socialist splash came in the heat of the summer, came in the heat of the summer, splash socialist he biggest in a New Crowley Joe Rep. as Ocasio-Cortez U.S. ousted WORLD Magazine But Jared Abbott, a member Jared But What does DSA believe? Some DSA leaders have leaders have Some DSA believe? What does DSA The growth comes as a Gallup poll reported in August that in August comes as a Gallup poll reported The growth DSA isn’t a political party—it’s an organization for members an organization a political party—it’s isn’t DSA Just nine months before, Ocasio-Cortez nine months before, tables waiting was Just And while democratic socialists haven’t made huge inroads haven’t socialists And while democratic Indeed, concern alone isn’t enough for effective policies. No policies. effective enough for alone isn’t Indeed, concern

40 steering committee, has committee, steering also written about deeper an even infiltration such sweeping proposals. such sweeping national of the group’s called for abolishing capitalism, abolishing the U.S. the U.S. called for abolishing capitalism, abolishing agency Enforcement and Customs Immigration Senate. U.S. abolishing the (ICE), and even to implement debate how Members tively, while only 47 percent viewed capitalism positively.) The capitalism positively.) viewed while only 47 percent tively, voters. younger support for socialism came from strongest membership has swelled to nearly 50,000. to nearly membership has swelled capi view of socialism than favorable a more have Democrats socialism posi said they viewed percent talism. (Fifty-seven paying dues, but it also endorses candidates. In recent years, years, In recent candidates. but it also endorses dues, paying the group 1982 and 2016, Between membership has skyrocketed. elections, Since the 2016 members. maintained about 6,000 by touting her membership in the Democratic Socialists of Socialists her membership in the Democratic touting by pushing its ideas. and by America (DSA), at a restaurant. The last time Crowley had a primary challenger had a primary time Crowley The last at a restaurant. for his seat (in 2004), Ocasio-Cortez old enough to vote. wasn’t campaign, social media a savvy through she gained traction But her Republican opponent in the Democratic-leaning district in district Democratic-leaning opponent in the her Republican November. splash, pushing some politicians to the left, grabbing the inter politicians to the left, grabbing splash, pushing some embraced and tapping into ideas already voters, of younger est the political spectrum. across some voters by can lead down a dangerous road, including for Christians road, a dangerous can lead down ideas. to socialist attracted they’ve elections, into the upcoming midterm made a big system in a sinful world is perfect or without abuses (including is perfect or without world in a sinful system compulsion compassion by but an impulse toward capitalism), Medicare-for-all would cost at least $32 trillion over 10 years. years. 10 over $32 trillion at least cost would Medicare-for-all on taxpayers— fall inevitably would for payment The burden demo that system the free-market within work of whom many as unfair. oppose socialists cratic

T MEDICARE RALLY: ERIK McGREGOR/PACIFIC PRESS/LIGHTROCKET/GETTY IMAGES INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY PROTEST: LUCAS JACKSON/REUTERS B unaffordable withoutthedynamic capitalist parttheydislike.” of thosecountriesthatMr. [Bernie]Sanders’ fanslike would be part that financegenerous publicservices. Indeed,the‘socialist’ They are free-market economieswithhighrates oftaxation Economist ­welfare policiesastheidealforUnited States. But as with Scandinavian nations.” in mindisjust somepleasingideathattheyusuallyassociate ­advocate thatideatoday: “More oftenthannotwhattheyhave the 20thcentury.” But henotesfewdemocratic socialists productive property: “That’s whatsocialismactuallymeantin the abolitionofprivate property, orgovernment ownership of in itshistoric form. the current crop ofdemocratic socialists describeisn’t socialism of the star ­former actress and Cynthia Nixon, an wave.the Ocasio-Cortez wasn’t partofabiggertrend. Nancy saidherwin Pelosi, D-Calif., for somevoters. House MinorityLeader perhaps sensingthesocialist labelgoestoofar andotherdemocratic socialists, from Ocasio-Cortez In fact,somedemocratic socialists pointtoNordic-style Richards says historically theideaofsocialismhasinview Others have triedtoride Some Democratic leadershave distanced themselves `2 an expert oneconomicsand free markets, says thatwhat ut whatisthereal thing? 

Jay Richards, afellow attheDiscovery Institute and `3 haspointedout,“Thosecountries are notsocialist. [email protected] as well give themthereal thing.” us socialists nomatterwhatwe do, sowe might proclaimed, “Republicans are goingtocall Cortez ataconvention inAugust and  posed forpictures withOcasio- @deanworldmag New York governor whenshe Democratic nomination for in her bid for the in herbidforthe was trailing badly and theCity show The The Sex Sex , more dangerous itgets.” how we confiscate the wealth ofother people,” Richards says. create value andwealth forourselves andothers, we focuson tomed tothisdependency. …Ratherthanfocusingonhow we a movement inwhichapopulationgetsmore andmore accus a trajectory toward thatend. renewed popularityputsatleast somevoters andcandidateson its purest form,Richards says it’s worrisome thatsocialism’s reality works, you canendupdoingalotofdamage.” very strong moral passiontoavery faultyviewofhow economic cern fortheintrinsicdignityofevery person:“But ifyou attacha ideas aswell. He says theappealseemstobeavalid, moral con Richards says he’s seenyoung Christians attracted tosocialist memory oftheColdWar years andtheatrocities theybrought, the countryinatailspin. vast socialaidthatturnedintovast government control andleft elected formerPresident Hugo Chávez basedonhispromises of change through voters democratically. But Venezuelans freely parisons toplaceslike Venezuela, saying theywant tobring dangers ofsocialism.Many democratic socialists disavow com Venezuela stands outasacurrent andtragic example ofthe American lifeasadesirable politicalforce. end oftheColdWar, socialismnearlydisappeared from ian rulersinplaceslike theSoviet Union andCambodia.By the more decadesof socialist andcommunist horror by authoritar vote—in thepresidential election. Debs won nearlyamillionvotes—6percent ofthepopular members toCongress. In1912, socialist candidateEugeneV. touts democratic socialism,heisn’t amemberoftheDSA.) “The more thepopulationisinthatconfiscatory mode, the “That’s essentiallywhatIthinkdemocratic socialismis. It’s Though many democratic socialists don’t pushsocialism in Here intheUnited States, where ayounger generation hasno Other countrieswere still experimenting, though,and But theparty’s two decadesofpopularitycamebefore many In theearly20thcentury, voters electedtwo Socialist Party won’t bethefirst socialists inCongress. (Though Sanders Washington, D.C., afterfallelectionsasexpected, they If Ocasio-Cortez andTlaibdotake seatsin If Ocasio-Cortez of theseedstheseideascross partylines. `

support Medicare-for-all, showing thatsome 4 Democrats and52percent ofRepublicans A September 29, 2018 29, September in August found85percent of A Reuters/Ipsos pollpublished some vast socialprograms. supporting at least ­supporting atleast • aren’t alonein WORLD Magazine WORLD Democrats - 41 - - - FEATURES

As modern dating fails them, some singles are turning to professional matchmakers Love life, outsourced by SOPHIA LEE illustration by Krieg Barrie

delle Kelleher once had trouble staying home at night. She was approaching her mid-30s, listening to her internal clock tick away with each unsuccessful date. On evenings when she decided to ditch the bar for her couch, she felt more anxious than relaxed: WhatA if tonight was the night she would have met the one? By then Kelleher had “tried it all.” She agreed to meet the men her mother picked for her, but they fit her mother’s taste more than hers. She let her friends fix her up with their male friends, but nothing clicked. She signed up for various online dating sites and met plenty of sweet guys, but “you have to go through a lot of frogs to find that one good prince”—and somehow, she wasn’t meeting that prince. At the time, Kelleher had a demanding but successful career at a Fortune 500 company. She has an outgoing personality, shiny dark curls, sparkling green eyes, a svelte figure, good brains, and a wide smile. She didn’t have trouble filling her calendar with dates, but the whole cycle felt exhausting: “I just felt like dating became another full-time job.” Welcome to the modern dating world, where people have more options than ever before, yet say finding a life partner is more challenging than ever. Many frustrated daters are turning back to old-school methods. They’re hiring professional matchmakers to match them with the right person—and they’re willing to pay a hefty price for it: The average client pays about $5,000 to $8,000 for a package. These modern matchmaking companies say they can lighten the stress and work of dating, but they can’t guarantee second dates or proposals. What clients mostly pay for is peace of mind: Someone like Kelleher can stay home on a

42 WORLD Magazine • September 29, 2018 September 29, 2018 • WORLD Magazine 43 HANDOUT PHOTOS - - - - In 2013, Goldstein launched Goldstein In 2013, San Francisco to Chicago to Francisco San at services start TDR’s Boston. beyond and can hike $4,500 for the VIP package. $35,000 about 70 per says Goldstein in a clients are cent of TDR’s the end of their by relationship find suitable To contract. TDR ­candidates for clients, medical crash matchmakers and comic conven conferences at strangers approach tions, andclasses and airports, yoga a good- car-chased once even looking guy they spotted at Chipotle. her first matchmaking party, matchmaking party, her first Two she had 20 attendees. and had 300, she months later, people were soon 600 young piling into her events. (TDR). Today, Rule Day Three 50 matchmakers TDR employs from areas in 10 metropolitan That’s why half of the matchmaker’s job of the matchmaker’s half why That’s able to count on men to call women to plan a able to count on men to call women other much anymore—everyone’s too busy other much anymore—everyone’s at their phones. looking down to date well. coaching clients on how involves in Los Angeles a matchmaker Ferman, Julie in the dating has worked N.M., Fe, and Santa she used to be She says since 1990. industry So Goldstein began matchmaking other single friends began matchmaking other single So Goldstein She also has to untangle the many knots from long-term knots from She also has to untangle the many was able to quit her job as a producer for E! Entertainment for a producer to quit her job as able was Angeles in Los company matchmaking her own and start Goldstein co-worker. with a grumpy started It in 2010. up with so she set him smile on his face, to put a wanted a sudden, he was and all of knew, she another woman make this I can ‘If the office: “I thought, floating into happy.’” anyone I can make man happy, grumpy up, paired of her matches and when many and co-workers, she the market, test a gift. To she might have she realized then matches, for three people $250 charging started When she hosted as demand grew. it to $500 increased date, but now she has to arrange the first date for her cli the first she has to arrange but now date, schedules to making reservations. coordinating from ents, clients come to her jaded and bitter from online dating: Many Ferman at all,” not sexy and “that’s bad dating experiences, clients to be open-minded and tells them. She encourages they’ve because how dated hasn’t teachable and realistic, male client, for example, One 74-year-old so far. worked When Ferman older than their 50s. to date women refused “Oh, we’re shameless,” Goldstein said. “We’ll go up to any said. “We’ll Goldstein shameless,” we’re “Oh, body, do whatever it takes.” Nobody has ever reacted negatively negatively reacted has ever Nobody it takes.” do whatever body, After all, it’s them, she said. offers to matchmake to TDR’s seem to notice each nice to be noticed, and people don’t always Talia and Talia Aaron Goldstein with son Max Adelle and Adelle David Kelleher I Kissed Dating I Kissed - - - - September 29, 2018 - • ), but some Christians who tried it and failed have have who tried it and failed ), but some Christians That so many peo That so many But it’s not just Christians who feel overwhelmed by today’s today’s by who feel overwhelmed Christians not just it’s But Perhaps that’s why our dating culture why that’s Perhaps Online dating only intensifies these chal Online dating only intensifies Most people who turn to matchmaking do so after repeated matchmaking do so people who turn to Most WORLD Magazine is why Talia Goldstein Talia is why 44 ple are willing to pay ple are thousands of dollars for guidancerelationship why not outsource not outsource why ­husband-hunting to a expert? romance David: If she could out If David: house-huntingsource agent, estate to a real simpler, more traditional dating structures, and matchmaking dating structures, traditional more simpler, is one such option. Kelleher how That’s met her now-husband pushed back by advocating casual, slow-paced dating. casual, slow-paced advocating pushed back by longing for people are and more landscape—more romance navigate modern dating in a Biblical way. dating in a Biblical way. modern navigate paths to tried pursuing countercultural have Christians Many Harris’ Josh marriage such as courtship (think Goodbye cially true in conservative Christian circles Christian cially true in conservative and marriage, values that uphold traditional to figuring out how still ways in many are yet doesn’t quite meet all your standards? quite meet all your doesn’t tradi seems to swing back and forth from espe That’s tional courtship to casual dating. also make users lazy, selfish, and distracted: selfish, and distracted: users lazy, also make the possible dates round more so many With for someone who around stick why corner, 39-year-old general contractor in Kentucky in Kentucky contractor general 39-year-old who do like, swiping, just told me: “You’re These dating apps can is pretty?” think you swiping for the next taller, wealthier guy, the guy, wealthier taller, swiping for the next view girl, that they don’t sweeter hotter, next a potential date as an individual but as one a meat market,” like “It’s another profile. lenges by making it so easy to find people on making it so easy lenges by seem so distracted People their screens. emojis, and Instagram likes; men are asking men are likes; and Instagram emojis, to “hang out”women cheap on effortless, intimate with the most dates that might end acts in bed. more prone to devastating heartbreaks. More and more young more and More heartbreaks. to devastating prone more in serious dating: people lack experience messages, text flirting through Singles are unsuccessful attempts at dating. Ever since birth control pills since birth control Ever at dating. unsuccessful attempts restraints sexual had fewer have people came out in the 1960s, less committed, less intentional, and became and relationships dating coaches, and professional photo shoots. Matchmakers Matchmakers photo shoots. and professional dating coaches, mitigate any each date, for feedback after ask both parties detailed advice. and offer parties, between ­misunderstandings weekend and turn off her phone, knowing someone else is date- someone knowing phone, and turn off her weekend in-person vetting, services often include These for her. hunting matched him up with a 64-year-old woman, he met and At the time, Le attended a small church in Orange County, liked her, then balked when he found out her age—and so and most people her age there were already dating each other. did that woman. Another female client requested a 6-foot- She tried eHarmony, Match, and speed-dating, but most of 2-inch man, yet she’s only 5-foot-4. Ferman constantly has the guys she found online weren’t committed Christians, and to remind her clients, “The best catch in the room is not the their cheesy, sometimes creepy pickup lines turned her off. best-looking woman or the wealthiest man.” Also, talking to multiple guys at atchmakers also tell me one of the challenges of the same time modern dating is changing gender dynamics. More confused her, and women are earning university degrees than men, People seem so Le had to be very andM while women’s wages are increasing relative to men’s distracted swiping careful not to wages, many male-dominated jobs are disappearing. Yet most mix them up. women want a man who’s better-educated and better-paid than for the next taller, So when a they are. Those men are getting harder to find, and the ones wealthier guy, the friend told her who fit their criteria are also incredibly picky in other ways. next hotter, about a local That means matchmakers often have to persuade clients Christian match- to consider changing their criteria. When Kelleher first hired sweeter girl, that making company TDR, she thought she was going to be an easy client. She told they don’t view a (that’s now her matchmaker that she didn’t care if the guy was bald, potential date as defunct), she chubby, or wrinkled. She wanted her match to be Jewish like perked up. her, someone who wants to be a husband and a father, some- an individual but as Maybe that’s one who’s close to his family, someone who drinks socially another profile. how God would but doesn’t do drugs. open the door for Then she received her match, “and I didn’t know what to her, Le thought. do with him.” She liked everything about David’s profile, but She found he was blond and blue-eyed, and she had never in her life ­comfort in the dated someone so blond and fair. So she told her matchmaker idea that the matchmaker professed to pray over every match, no. Her matchmaker pushed back: “This guy is everything and she agreed to pay $4,000 for her matchmaking services. you’re looking for. He may not be your type, but your type hasn’t But Le got only a total of two dates from that service. The worked for you so far.” Kelleher agreed to meet him for a drink first match showed up 20 minutes late to Starbucks, and then but says she had already decided they wouldn’t have chemistry. fumbled to pay for their drinks with three different gift cards. They met at a bar. Kelleher ran fashionably late as usual, and Le never saw him again. The second match took place at a nice when she arrived, she saw David waiting for her outside. He Italian restaurant, but Le felt she and the guy had nothing in was wearing jeans that fit him well and a button-down shirt common. Her matchmaking service offered coaching, but she with the sleeves slightly rolled up, revealing strong, muscular only got to talk to the dating coach once on the phone and forearms. When Kelleher approached him, he looked up from didn’t feel their talk was helpful. “I feel like I was swindled,” his phone and smiled—and that was when Kelleher tossed aside Le told me. any reservations she once had: “Second I saw him, I was like, Le returned to online dating. She tried an app called Coffee ‘Dang, he is hot!’” Meets Bagel, which limits the number of profiles a user can Kelleher’s date with David lasted five hours, with conversa- view each day. “By that point, I was going to give up on the tions flowing naturally into topics such as politics, religion, and ­dating stuff,” Le recalled. “I was at the end of my ropes.” Then a family. Later, as they weaved through a thick crowd in the res- friend pinged her the profile of a guy named Kevin. After 11 days taurant, David turned around and grabbed her hand to help her of texting and phoning, Le and Kevin met at a poke restaurant. through—“and I melted,” Kelleher recalled: “It showed he was After dinner they continued their conversation at an Asian assertive, but it was also a very thoughtful, gentlemanly gesture, bakery next door. Le thought he looked cute in his black wool and I felt like that was kind of hard to find these days.” peacoat, and she thought he was even cuter when, before they After 11 months, David proposed on a gondola in Venice, said goodbye, he loaned her DVDs of the movies she had Italy, and Kelleher said yes. They married in November 2015, ­mentioned she hadn’t seen. “Does this mean we’re going to and today Kelleher, now 37, has a 15-month-old blond-haired see each other again?” she asked playfully. He grinned back: son who’s the spitting image of David. Had it not been for her “Yeah!” Within seven months, they were talking seriously about matchmaker, Kelleher said, “David could be standing right in marriage. They married in October 2016. front of me and I wouldn’t have given him the time of the day.” As the booming market for matchmaking services shows, Not everyone has a good experience with matchmaking, dating is not easy. Modern daters blame the maze of online however. My Le, a 34-year-old elementary school teacher in Los ­dating, the increasingly self-focused culture, and shifting Angeles, had also “done it all.” Le, like many young Christian ­gender roles—but was there ever a time when relationships women, prayed hard about her future life partner. She believed were easy? When two individuals open their hearts to one God would open the door “if it’s meant to be,” but that she had another, they risk heartbreak, rejection, and disappointment. to put in the work of putting herself out there, too. That’s a risk even a matchmaker can’t prevent. A

 [email protected]  @sophialeehyun September 29, 2018 • WORLD Magazine 45 FEATURES

46 WORLD Magazine • September 29, 2018 HARD TESTS FOR CHINA’S CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS The emerging Christian school movement in China is battling for its future amid government opposition and administrative troubles BY JUNE CHENG

he start of a new school year brings varied emotions: excitement to reunite with friends, the dread of homework, or, for parents, the relief of an empty, quiet house. But for students and parents at unregistered Christian schools in China, another feeling reigns: uncertainty. Will their school remain open all year, or will the government try to shut it down? A shutdown is what almost happened at Beatitudes (Bafu) Kindergarten this past March, when students, parents, and teachers showed up to school one morning to find 50 Tsecurity guards blocking the front gate. The scene was the climax of a monthslong battle between the church school and the local government, and in the end, school administrators had to split up the school and meet in private residences. Today, security guards still keep watch over the empty building to prevent the school from meeting, according to Jacob Jiang, one of the school’s founders (WORLD changed his name for his protection). As teachers and parents fretted over the government opposition, Jiang reassured them: “Our name is Beatitudes, and the one blessing we lacked was ‘blessed are the persecuted,’” he said. “Thankfully God has a sense of humor. He allowed us to go through persecution so we could gain all eight blessings.” In 2015 I visited six church schools (including Beatitudes) and three teacher training centers where I interviewed principals, teachers, students, and parents who were part of the fledgling Chinese Christian school movement. I met parents desperate to give their children a God-centered education, and saw scrappy schools with limited funding and inexperienced teachers. I sensed the palpable excitement of starting an indigenous Christian school movement, the uncertainty of stu- dents’ future prospects, and the determination to follow God’s calling in a hostile environment. Three years later, pressure has increased on the hundreds of Chinese church schools like Beatitudes, with China’s President Xi Jinping tightening control over religion and Children play outside a church ­education. The growth of new schools has stalled, and some existing schools have closed with a sign reading “Notice: due to financial shortfalls. Schools are dealing with the uncertainty of potential evictions Minors prohibited from entry” in China’s Henan province. and face internal problems due to the inexperience of teachers and administrators. Despite

NG HAN GUAN/AP the serious challenges, the Christian school movement in China is persevering: Chinese Christian education pioneers continue to teach the children however and wherever­ they can, whether in rented buildings or private homes. Ministry leaders are also working­ to train local teachers, equipping them to serve their students skillfully and faithfully.

September 29, 2018 • WORLD Magazine 47 arents and leaders of Beijing’s Agape Church who craved a Christian alternative to high-stress, atheistic government schools Plaunched Beatitudes in Beijing in 2013. It was a typical Chinese Christian school startup story: These parents wanted to ensure their children not only gained academic skills and knowledge, but wisdom, morals, and spiritual growth. In March of that year, the first class of eight began meeting in the choir room of Agape Church. The school, now independent from the church, eventually grew to 150 ­students in three locations—a kindergarten, an elementary school, and a small middle school. Most students at Beatitudes come from 20 different churches around the area. Fifteen percent­ of the students are non- Christian—even unchurched parents see the problems with government-run­ schools and want something better for their children. At times, police would visit the school and A former Then early Thursday morning, 50 security guards in riot tell the principal to close it for a few days Beatitudes gear blocked the front gate of the school. Skirmishes broke out elementary during politically sensitive times. “There was school between the guards and parents who tried to get back inside the always persecution,” Jiang said. “Like house classroom school. One parent was beaten so severely he couldn’t walk churches, it does not exist in an open society afterward and was taken away on a stretcher, according to … but if we compare­ it to past generations, Texas-based China Aid. things were going pretty well. It was relatively free.” “At first the parents felt wronged, they didn’t understand Big problems started last year when the government pressured why this was happening, and they were afraid,” Jiang recalled. the landlord of the elementary school to evict Beatitudes. The “But slowly they were willing to stand up and face these landlord offered to refund the school for breaking the contract, attacks. … Worse come to worse, they’d go back to teaching and administrators agreed to leave peacefully. their children in private homes since this is something no one But then in January of 2018, police from eight different can control.” departments began showing up at Beatitudes Kindergarten, Since the March incident, the school has hired lawyers to claiming someone had reported on the school. Jiang said that sue the landlord for the destruction of property, although the for three months, authorities came every day, sometimes both success of the case is uncertain. in morning and in afternoon. They claimed school administra- Today Beatitudes has returned to its roots: Instead of eight tors were violating three laws: They were illegally operating a students in a choir room, classes of 20 meet at the homes of business, illegally running a school, and illegally evangelizing ­parents or in rented apartments—one grade per location. to minors. Students need to quietly enter and exit apartments in order not Parents of the school countered that Beatitudes, like Uber to disturb neighbors who might complain and report them. Of or Airbnb, was based on a sharing economy. Rather than func- Beatitudes’ 150 students, about 20 left the school after the tioning as a private­ school that views students as customers, at ­eviction, but the rest are continuing their Christian education. Beatitudes “parents hired teachers and school administrators to Evictions and disruptions are common among church teach their children,” Jiang said. The parents also argued they schools unable to officially register with China’s Ministry of were not illegally evangelizing to minors—they were sharing Education due to their Christian foundation. One person with their faith with their own children, which is legal. knowledge of the situation said that most schools move to new Authorities conceded that this type of “shared” school didn’t facilities about every 18 months due to government harassment. break the law, but still decided they wouldn’t allow it to continue. The bigger the school, the more difficult it is to move and the They pressured the kindergarten’s landlord to evict the school, more likely it is to catch the eye of authorities. even though Beatitudes had signed a 10-year lease and spent more than $60,000 to build the kindergarten. When the school t China’s young Christian schools, the external asked for compensation for breaking the contract, the landlord problems of persecution and harassment can lead to refused. On March 25, while most of the school’s staff was internal problems, including a difficulty in recruiting attending Sunday service, 20 unidentified men broke into the and maintaining staff. Jerry Wolfe (name changed school, cut TV lines, destroyed the generator, and threw all of forA his security), the founder of a bilingual school serving­ the furniture into a park. The parents reported the destruction ­multiple house churches, said the constant government to police and hired movers to put everything back in order. On ­pressure makes it difficult to develop teachers and create an Monday, school started up again as usual. environment where the staff can see a future.

48 WORLD Magazine • September 29, 2018 CLASSROOM: JUNE CHENG • GUARDS: FACEBOOK  both thechallengesandblessings schools, andshehaswitnessed China forteachersatchurch has taughtatatraining centerin entire lives. Most teachershave attendedChinesegovernment schoolstheir ­educate teachersonhow toteachfrom aBiblicalworldview. ­teachers. Andthere are nolegalChristian collegesthatcan unregistered, theschoolscan’t openlyrecruit students or for anewChristian schoolisexacerbated: Becausetheyare Christians would just crack underpressure.” ment thatissohard foryou to flourishin,thentheybelieve that don’t have toraid you consistently iftheycancreate anenviron grow,” Wolfe said.“Ithinkthegovernment understands … they makes itdifficultto devote thetimeandenergy thatittakesto [email protected] For thepast eightyears, Margaret Zhou(notherreal name) In thisoppressive environment, thetypicallearningcurve “If you constantly have todealwithexistential challenges, it JUST CRACK UNDERPRESSURE THEY BELIEVETHAT CHRISTIANS WOULD HARD FOR YOU TO FLOURISH IN CREATE ANENVIRONMENT THAT ISSO RAID YOU CONSISTENTLY IFTHEY CAN UNDERSTANDS ‘ I THINKTHEGOVERNMENT  @WORLD_mag ... THEY DON THEY Security guards blockthe ’ gate to theBeatitudes Kindergarten campus. T HAVE TO . , ’ THEN - ­draining theschool ofresources. maintain anextremely low student-teacher ratio of3to1, schools thatgrow larger than50students. Many church schools ­government may take noticeofandcrack down onChristian books oncetheyattract more students. But inChina,the teachers. beabletobalancethe Administrators assumethey’ll it’s commonforschoolstostart with20to30students andsix administrators, andahighturnover rate. is burnout,personalityclashesbetween teachersand result inexperienced schoolleaderswithhighexpectations. The schools oftenmust contendwithlow pay, littlesupport,and lifelong process.” The teachers whoendupworking inchurch and know theLord, butdeveloping aChristian worldview isa minds are transformed,” shesaid.“People becomeChristian mature Christians. “Thegreat needinChinaare teacherswhose time togetmore thanafewweeks oftraining. because oftheimmediatedemandforteachers, most don’t have school. Groups like Zhou’s trytoprovide teachertraining, but Christian education,butwhohadnoexperience runninga were individualswhowere passionateaboutgivingchildren a of thisyoung movement. Thefoundersofmany oftheschools future experts onhow todo ChineseChristian education.” create it,” Zhoutellstheteachers. “Our trainees willbethe school movement hasonlyexisted inChinafortwo decades. expect alearningcurve andreminds themthatthechurch education. the future ithopestoexplore newareas suchasspecial training program toreach teachersinmore rural areas, andin coaching.few monthsforin-service In2016, itstarted anonline with several key localschoolsandsendsatrainer there every can helponlyasmallnumberofteachers, itinstead partners needs: Instead offocusingonyearlong training programs that tion philosophy. children, andprovide lessonsonBiblicalworldview andeduca cover educationalbasics, like how tomanageaclassroom of ­center’s reliance onforeign teachersfortheclasses. Theclasses teachers have stepped intoleadthetrainings, reducing the teacher training center, more andmore experienced Chinese online schools. ­students forself-study sothatthestudents couldtransition to self-study. Elementaryschoolswould needtoprepare their themselves, Zhouhasfound,asfewhave beentaughthow to every city. Yet onlineeducationisdifficult even fortheteachers in finding schoolmeetingspacesandqualifiedteachers Chinese onlinemiddleschools, potentiallysolvingtheissuesof around thecountry includeamiddleschoolandhighschool. ­difficult tofind.Currently onlyahandfulofchurch schools ­subject—and trained teachersare Christian middle-school more teachers since eachteachertypicallyspecializesina students ontheirhands.middle-school Middleschoolsrequire started around 2010withonlyakindergarten classnow have Some schoolsstruggle tostay afloatfinancially: Zhounoted Zhou hasseenalackofexperienced teacherswhoare also “Nobody knows how it’s goingto work …you are goingto As teacherscomethrough Zhou’s program, shetellsthemto The centerhasalsofoundways tobetterserve schools’ Despite thedifficulties, Zhouhasseen great growth. Ather Zhou believes onepossiblesolutionwould betocreate Further heighteningthisproblem, thewave ofschoolsthat September 29, 2018 29, September • WORLD Magazine WORLD A 49 - FEATURES

, FILM EXPLORES THEBETHANY REMARKABLE HAMILTON LIFE OF PRO SURFER 15 YEARS AFTER HER SHARK ATTACK SURF’S STILL

AT THE TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL UPBY EMILY BELZ PHOTO BY AARON LIEBER

50 WORLD Magazine • September 29, 2018

UNDER BLUE WATER, lot, with people wanting to a grown-up Bethany Hamilton was meet her. motionless, suspended in the deep The documentary ocean. There was a shark behind her. doesn’t dwell on the attack Hamilton, a victim once before of a itself. Lieber remembered shark attack, didn’t flinch but stared that he didn’t notice the ahead. The shark kept swimming. Soon injury when he met her: she was back above the surface and “She has her shoulders grabbing her surfboard. back, she’s got great That scene is in a new documentary ­posture, she’s very about the professional surfer, ­confident. I think her Unstoppable, that is scheduled for ­nonverbal language, the release this fall. Hamilton won her first way she walks through life, surfing championship when she was 8 you see her for … how she years old, and then again when she was carries herself.” 12. In 2003, when she was 13, a shark Before the attack, attacked her in the water, and she lost her Hamilton was a rising left arm and a lot of blood. Four weeks ­surfing star and her parents after the attack, she was back in the water were working multiple jobs and doing what seemed impossible, to support her surfing. Her learning to surf with one arm. story has not lacked for She has said over and over in years media treatment, but this since that her Christian faith has given film has new home videos her the emotional and spiritual strength from her younger years to do all of this. that add texture. The 2011 movie Soul Surfer told Hamilton’s dad dug Hamilton’s teenage story, but until now through their attic and there has never been a documentary on found a dusty box of videos the life of the girl who grew up to be a for Lieber, and at one point Lieber In the decade since, she has continued top pro surfer, wife, and mother. recovered videos from a failed drive. He professional surfing and making the Unstoppable is a combination of a surf ended up with 400 hours of old videos. media rounds with her story, even film—long shots of Hamilton taking on In one of those home videos from while she fell agonizingly short of big waves or pulling off aerial tricks— before the attack, Bethany Hamilton’s ­championships for some time while her and a biography tracking Hamilton from mom Cheri Hamilton is talking to young contemporaries went on to dominate. teenage surf phenomenon to adult Bethany and her best friend and fellow In 2013 Hamilton married Young Life professional. surfer Alana Blanchard. staffer Adam Dirks, whom she met The documentary’s director, surf “Are you concerned about sharks at through church friends in Hawaii. Not filmmaker Aaron Lieber, had never seen all?” the mom asks. Blanchard puts a long after their marriage she found out Soul Surfer until the final stages of magazine over her face in response. she was pregnant, raising her anxiety ­making the documentary. He’s filmed “Yes,” said Bethany. “You just pray.” about how she would change a diaper or the biggest names in surfing, like world Blanchard was surfing with Bethany cradle her baby. She continued surfing champion Kelly Slater and wunderkind when the shark attacked her. Lieber said through pregnancy, with Dirks as the Noah Beschen. “They all have this work the attack seemed to have traumatized dutiful dad who would join her for surf ethic that I really enjoy,” said Lieber. Blanchard more than Bethany—when sessions too. They now have two “Having to do everything with one arm, he, Blanchard, and Bethany were ­children, and say they do “ministry she has to work even harder. … My ­swimming with sharks at one point together.” ­interest was her ability in the water.” ­during filming, he recalled that A few months after giving birth to Lieber knew Hamilton could surf Blanchard was more scared than her first child, Bethany decided that she with the best. She’s had frustrations in Bethany and felt nauseous afterward. wanted to ride the surf break in Hawaii pro competitions but won a pipeline A month after the attack, Bethany called Jaws, a spot that consistently has showdown in 2014. He also knew she slowly started surfing again, her dad some of the biggest waves in the world. had star power, because he recalls in the ­figuring out a board modification so she Experienced big wave surfers say Jaws course of filming that fans would mob could grip the board while paddling past scares them. Lieber and his camera went them at airports. He remembered they the breakers. In 2005, she won a along for the ride. went surfing in California one time, just national championship, thanking Jesus The day she went out, with Dirks in a for fun, and by the time they got back to Christ by name when she received the nearby boat and the baby with a baby the car a line had formed in the parking trophy. sitter, the waves were 40 feet high.

52 WORLD Magazine • September 29, 2018 LEFT: AARON LIEBER • RIGHT: HANDOUT year editing. and agraphics colorist. Theyspentafull bringing inthree editors, acomposer, Most funding went topostproduction, we’re done,” Liebersaidwithalaugh. money Igotanotherinvestor, andnow an investor, and when Iran out ofthat more funding. another Bethany sponsor, provided when thatran out.ThenCorkcicle, Bethany didaKickstarter campaign provided initialfunding, thenLieberand the project. Hamilton’s sponsorRipCurl Lieber patchedtogetherfinancingfor Bethany) with young girlsmissinglimbs. (through hernonprofit Friendsof competitions andtohermeetings and following herfamilyaround tosurf years, surfingbig waves withBethany worth advertising. ad forBethany Hamilton, butsheseems ­passages comeacross asaslicksurfing a skyscraper wave. Someofthese incredible footage ofBethany takingon was key atthismoment,capturing Lieber’s experience asasurffilmmaker “Once Iran outofallthatmoney, Igot As many documentariansmust, Lieber shotthedocumentaryforfour  [email protected]  @emlybelz naturally incorporates itintowhat’s story. Thefilmdoesn’t buryherfaithbut inthe too many questions too early” message, andhedidn’t want to“answer was forstorytelling, notpreaching a who sheis.” But heargued that afilm that that’s abad thing,” saidLieber. “It’s all considerthemselves Christians. two children husband and and withher in Hawaii (left) surfing Jaws Hamilton warmly. Theyespeciallyembraced the the festival received himand Bethany faith elementwithhimandeveryone at of thefestival staff ever brought upthe focus on“woke” films. Liebersaidnone into Tribeca, afestival thattendsto endures forever”) gainedacceptance (“Give thankstotheLord … his love with aBibleverse from 1Chronicles championship. speech aftershewon the 2005 happening inherlife, suchasinher “She wants ittobeover thetop—not The result isthatamovie thatcloses way, becausethey heads—in afriendly Adam butted he andBethany and the film,Liebersaid ­portray herfaithin On how to “to faceyour fears.” Lieber saiditwas inHamilton’s nature one theysaw was aGalapagosshark. shark would show up, butthebiggest swimming, there was achancetiger a 14-foot was tigershark;as they were see you andyou canseethem. fully submerged helps too, sosharkscan never fatallyattacked ahuman.Being are slightlysmallerandgentlerhave sharks were blacktipreef sharks, which shark expert withthem, andthese matters, Liebersaid.Theyhadalocal type ofsharkyou’re swimmingwith around themregularly asasurfer. The the attack,althoughshecertainlyis jumped inthewater withsharkssince first timeBethany hadintentionally in thelounge.) Thesharkshotwas the explain thepresence ofapilepuppies (A Tribeca press contactwas unableto puppies playing onthefloorbehindhim. festival, withahorde ofnonthreatening while sittinginapenthouseloungeatthe shot withBethany? Lieberexplained it sional femaleathlete. rare big-screen treatment ofaprofes September 29, 2018 29, September The sharkthatattacked Bethany But whataboutthatterrifyingshark • A WORLD Magazine WORLD - 53 HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS: Choose from 50+ courses TAKE ONLINE Work at your own pace Select your start date Complete course in 4 months COLLEGE COURSES Save at $200 / credit hour Enroll online online.taylor.edu

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Lifestyle Cruelly misled TO NORTH KOREA AND BACK AGAIN: KAWASAKI EIKO’S STORY by Angela Lu Fulton

At age 17, Kawasaki Eiko boarded after World War II. Propaganda by yelled at them to turn back, but it was R a ship from her home in Japan and North Korea and groups representing too late. For the next 43 years, headed to North Korea, a land depicted Koreans in Japan provided a seemingly Kawasaki had no choice but to stay as paradise on earth with free education, simple solution: move to North Korea. in North Korea, as the government healthcare, food, and ample jobs. The As the boat drew near the North ­monitored the immigrants and denied year was 1960, and Kawasaki and Korean port of Chongjin, Kawasaki them freedom of movement. It ­hundreds of other Zainichi Koreans— and her fellow passengers realized wouldn’t be until 2004 that she would ethnically Korean residents in Japan— their mistake: The harbor was dingy, return to her family back in Japan. were desperate to leave the poverty and the people looked malnourished Kawasaki’s parents grew up in

YURI KAGEYAMA/AP YURI and discrimination they faced in Japan and overworked. Someone on shore what is now considered South Korea

Visit WORLD Digital: wng.org September 29, 2018 • WORLD Magazine 55 NOTEBOOK Lifestyle

order to buy a Chinese passport to return to Japan. But her brother suggested that she try to come to Japan as a refugee. So Kawasaki went to the Japanese ‘The only way Embassy and announced that she was a North Korean defector. Back in to save the Japan, her brother approached the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, showing them Kawasaki’s birth record and people is if the school transcripts and presenting him- self as the guarantor for his sister. The United States Japanese government flew Kawasaki and United back to Japan, and after 44 years she finally reunited with her family. Nations push Kawasaki is one of a few hundred North Korea North Korean defectors who live in Japan; most of the Zainichi Koreans who to change its went to North Korea haven’t been heard regime.’ from since. Only one of Kawasaki’s five then migrated to Japan for work as children has defected to Japan. Japan had colonized Korea. After the Since returning to Japan, Kawasaki end of World War II, these ethnic has been an activist for North Korean Koreans lost their Japanese citizenship With no way out, Kawasaki kept human rights. Now 75, she’s written a and became second-class citizens. quiet and studied engineering. She book about her experiences, started the With the backing of the North Korean married a North Korean man and had NGO Korea for All, and helps other government, the General Association five children, yet her family faced North Korean defectors adjust to living of Korean Residents in Japan (called ­discrimination because she had lived in Japan. In 2015, Kawasaki and 10 Chongryon) began conducting a cam- in Japan. The thought of escaping first other returnees petitioned the Japan paign to persuade Zainichi Koreans to came to her after the death of Kim Il Federation of Bar Associations to move to North Korea, calling it a Sung in 1994. Bad government poli- charge the Japanese and North Korean “Paradise on Earth.” cies, a loss of Soviet aid, and flooding governments, the Red Cross, and It was a win-win for both North led to a severe famine that killed at Chongryon for abusing their human Korea and Japan: North Korea needed least 3 million. rights. The returnees argued that they a larger labor force, and Japan wanted Kawasaki remembers seeing dead are all complicit in allowing the repatri- to get rid of the Zainichi Koreans. The bodies strewn on the side of the road ation program to continue even when it Red Cross interviewed those “return- and wondering why she survived became obvious North Korea was lying. ing” to their homeland to make sure when so many around her died. At the Earlier this year, Kawasaki brought they were going voluntarily. Yet few same time, Kim Jong Il began spending the petition up to the International had ever been to North Korea before: extravagantly to create a giant hall and Criminal Court, asking it to declare 90 percent of Zainichi Koreans are mausoleum for his father. Righteous the Zainichi Korean repatriation pro- from South Korea. Between 1959 and indignation burned within Kawasaki gram a crime against humanity and 1984, 93,000 people migrated from as she observed the disparity between charge North Korean leader Kim Jong Japan to North Korea, among them the lives of the elite and the common Un. While Kawasaki at 75 looks like a 6,000 Japanese wives married to people: She began to plan her escape. sweet grandma, she has strong words Korean men. With help from some money her for the Kim regime that entrapped her At the time, Kawasaki had not yet brother in Japan sent to her, a broker for 43 years. PIERRE BOUTIER/POLARIS/NEWSCOM graduated from high school, and the rest helped Kawasaki cross the Yalu River “I hope the United Nations pushes of her family begged her not to go. But into China in 2003, where she stayed for more sanctions and President the dream of a perfect communist state for the next year and a half. She Donald Trump gives Kim Jong Un two tugged at her until she made the journey ­considered herself one of the lucky choices: Either give up as a dictator or in 1960. She left from Niigata, a small, ones, as her brother’s money allowed give up your life,” Kawasaki said. “The poor fishing port in Japan, and when she her to stay with the broker and she only way to save the North Korean arrived at North Korea’s main Chongjin was not trafficked like many other people is if the United States and port, she was shocked to find that its North Korean defectors. She tried to United Nations push North Korea to condition was worse than Niigata’s. make money teaching Japanese in change its regime.” A

56 WORLD Magazine • September 29, 2018 NOTEBOOK Technology A smarter scanner RESEARCHERS BELIEVE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE CAN IMPROVE MRI SPEEDS by Michael Cochrane

Magnetic resonance imaging, the ­NYU-provided data set of 3 million R gold standard of modern images of the knee, brain, and liver. ­diagnostic imaging, provides doctors The challenge, according to a with greater detail than other imaging Facebook blog, is to get the artificial techniques, such as X-ray or CT scans. intelligence network to “recognize the But MRI scans take a long time—­ underlying structure of the images in anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour order to fill in views omitted from the or more. All the while, the patient accelerated scan” and to bridge those ARTIFICIAL must lie still inside a claustrophobia- gaps without sacrificing accuracy. SHAKESPEARE inducing metal tube. Missing a few key pixels could mean Artificial intelligence (AI) That scenario could change. the difference between a clear scan ­algorithms called artificial Facebook’s Artificial Intelligence and one showing an anomaly such as a neural networks have gener- Research (FAIR) group and the New torn ligament or a tumor. ated original music and art, York University School of Medicine If the project is successful, the some of it to critical acclaim. recently announced a collaborative researchers believe the benefits of But until now, few researchers research project that will use faster MRIs would extend beyond a have tried to construct an AI machine-learning techniques to make more comfortable patient experience. system that writes poetry. MRI scans up to 10 times faster. “You also get increased accessibility In a paper presented at “Using AI, we believe it may be in areas with MRI shortages and you the 2018 meeting of the Association of Computational possible to capture less data and can get improved image quality when Linguistics, researchers ­therefore image faster, while still you’re trying to image things that described their deep-learning ­preserving or even enhancing the rich move fast, like the heart,” Sodickson ­algorithm called “Deep- information content of MR images,” told Forbes. “If we can get it fast speare,” designed to create Dr. Daniel Sodickson, vice chair for enough to replace X-rays or CT [scans] poems that match the style research in radiology at NYU School then we can also reduce radiation­ and beauty of Shakespeare’s of Medicine, told Forbes. exposure for the population while sonnets. Facebook researchers will train still getting the critical medical Using a data set of 2,685 their “fastMRI” model using an information.” English-language sonnets, the researchers trained the AI STOCK i ­system to generate four-line poems. These poems were ­randomly given, along with human-authored poems, to human judges who did not know the source of each poem. The AI poems scored high on form, such as meter and rhyme, but fell short on ­readability and emotion, according to the researchers. Here’s an example of a poem generated by Deep-speare: “Shall I behold him in his cloudy state / for just but tempteth me to stop and pray / a cry: if it will drag me, find Sodickson (right) and other no way / from pardon to him, NYU School of Medicine who will stand and wait.” —M.C. researchers examine an MRI. SODICKSON: COURTESY OF FAIR AND NYU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE • SKULL: KOYA79/ OF MEDICINE • SKULL: SCHOOL AND NYU OF FAIR COURTESY SODICKSON:

Give the gift of clarity: wng.org/giftofclarity September 29, 2018 • WORLD Magazine 57 NOTEBOOK Science

California carbon ban? LAWMAKERS AIM TO WEAN THE STATE’S ELECTRIC GRID OFF OF FOSSIL FUELS by Julie Borg MILK ADVISORY California lawmakers voted this “If we can get to 100 percent renewables, With recreational ­marijuana legalized in ­summer for strict energy legislation others will as well.” (So far, only Hawaii has R nine states and medical that would require the state’s electricity a similar mandate.) marijuana legalized in 31, sources to be 100 percent carbon-free within Opponents of the bill, though, warned doctors report that an less than 30 years. The bill, passed by the the goal is unachievable and could sharply increasing number of State Senate and Assembly and now awaiting increase the cost of energy for businesses, pregnant and breast- a final Senate vote and Gov. Jerry Brown’s factories, and food processors—costs they feeding women use the signature, would bump up California’s will ultimately pass on to consumers. drug. The American ­current mandate, increasing from 50 percent Assemblyman Jim Patterson, a Republican Academy of Pediatrics to 60 percent the amount of renewable from Fresno, described the bill as “a leap of recommends that power generation required in the state by faith and a gamble,” the Los Angeles Times breastfeeding women 2030. The ultimate goal: All California reported. refrain from marijuana

­electricity would be produced without The bill elicited the most opposition use, but until now little CALIFORNIA: NOAH BERGER/AP • BABY BOTTLE: KYOSHINO & MSK.NINA/ greenhouse gases by 2045. from Republican lawmakers, but some health research has If the bill becomes law, California will Democrats voted against it as well. ­illuminated the subject. eventually need to get all of its electric Democratic Assemblyman Adam Gray Now a new study, published online Aug. 27 energy from sources such as wind, solar, accused the plan’s proponents of trying to in Pediatrics, shows that geothermal, and dams. Lawmakers claim impress progressives across the country THC, the primary psy- they will hash out the specifics later. rather than considering the poor residents choactive chemical in Supporters hope the plan will influence of rural communities who would face higher marijuana, not only the rest of the nation. “We have to show what electricity bills. “This is yet another in a comes through in a can be done,” Assemblyman Bill Quirk, a laundry list of bills that are discriminatory mother’s breast milk but Democrat from Hayward, said in a statement. to the people I represent,” he said. can remain present for up to six days. The researchers found that the active compounds in marijuana easily bind to TAG-ALONG ASTEROIDS fat molecules abundant Earth’s “mini-moons” may be the next frontier in space, according to a in breast milk. Although i review published May 24 in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences. THC exposure in the STOCK • MINI-MOON: NASA/JPL-CALTECH Existing technology has so far identified only one mini-moon, a nursing infants measured small asteroid caught in an orbit around the Earth. The speed and relatively low, the small size of mini-moons, only about 3 to 6 feet in diameter, make researchers said that no them hard to detect. But scientists hope the new Large Synoptic one knows what consti- Survey Telescope, currently under construction in Chile, will tutes a safe amount. They ­discover many mini-moons orbiting our planet. (The telescope will noted marijuana varieties photograph the entire available sky every few nights.) today contain much Scientists envision capturing the asteroids and studying their more potent compounds composition to learn more about our solar system. —J.B. than they did 20 or 30 years ago. —J.B.

58 WORLD Magazine • September 29, 2018 NOTEBOOK Religion Echo churches MANY EVANGELICALS WANT TO WORSHIP WITH PARTISAN COMRADES by Russell St. John

Evangelical churches have agreed, with 35- to 49-year-old R become political echo churchgoers agreeing far more chambers—and many of their often (57 percent) than those congregants prefer it that way. ages 50-64 (37 percent) or 65 Surprisingly, younger evangeli- and older (33 percent). SAYING GOODBYE cals—those 35 to 49 years old— The Bible tells us that Jesus desire homogeneity more than has “torn down the dividing wall TO NIKE their elders. of hostility”: He reconciles One college that does not follow That’s according to Lifeway through the cross people ­current American cultural trends is Research. The polling group who would otherwise stand College of the Ozarks in Point asked evangelicals to assess the divided—but many evangelicals Lookout, Mo. When Nike early in September made former NFL quar- statement: “My political views condone politically divided terback Colin Kaepernick its poster match those of most people at Christianity. If Lifeway’s find- boy, that Christian college threw my church.” Nearly 51 percent of ings are accurate, these evangeli- away all its Nike athletic gear. respondents agreed, and the cals not only fail to see the Kaepernick kneeled during the generational breakdown was gospel contradiction inherent to national anthem in 2016, sparking a stark. While 44 percent of those their ecclesiastical self-selection, debate over freedom of speech. age 65 and older and 47 percent but actually prefer it. Nike’s ad has Kaepernick saying, of those ages 50-64 agreed, fully “Believe in something, even if it 61 percent of 35- to 49-year-old means sacrificing everything.” He evangelicals agreed. has not played in the NFL since 2016 While the data expose an and recently filed a lawsuit against escalating politicization of the the league, accusing its teams of church, they also underscore a colluding against him. darker trend. Lifeway asked College of the Ozarks President evangelicals to agree or disagree Jerry C. Davis responded by saying, “If Nike is ashamed of America, we with this statement: “I prefer to are ashamed of them. We also attend a church where people believe that those who know what share my political views.” While sacrifice is all about are more likely 42 percent of respondents dis- to be wearing a military uniform agreed and 12 percent were than an athletic uniform.” unsure, 46 percent College of the Ozarks has the nickname “Hard Work U.,” since stu- dents work on campus instead of paying tuition and typically gradu- ate debt-free. Its website says the college strives to “encourage an understanding of American heritage, civic responsibility, love of country, and willingness to defend it.” Marci Linson, the college’s vice president for patriotic activities and dean of admissions, says, “Nike is free to campaign as it sees fit, as the College is free, and honor-bound by its mission and goals, to ensure that it respects our country and those who truly served and sacrificed.”—R.S.J. CHURCH: FUSAROMIKE/ISTOCK • COLLEGE OF THE OZARKS: CLIFF SCHIAPPA/AP OF THE OZARKS: • COLLEGE FUSAROMIKE/ISTOCK CHURCH:

Manage your membership: wng.org/membership September 29, 2018 • WORLD Magazine 59 ® BRING YOUR BIBLE TO SCHOOL DAY Did you know students have been told they can’t read their Bible or pray during free time at school? OCTOBER 4, 2018 If you share our belief that students should be empowered to express their faith—and that the Bible has a message of hope that should be celebrated, not banned—then you’ll LEARN MORE AT love this event for students! It’s a day when kids across the BRINGYOURBIBLE.ORG country can celebrate their religious freedom.

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VOICES Mailbag

The other border crisis [ Aug. 18, p. 32 ] I just returned from Bogotá, Colombia, and saw stoplight merchants, all of them Venezuelans, washing windshields and selling candy. My host said they are often treated rudely because many Colombians have forgotten that some of their own countrymen had to do the same thing years ago. I am thankful to read of this ministry. —LARRY PANELLA on wng.org

Thank you for an enlightening article. Himself stopped us from blowing I cannot imagine living through such ourselves up. turmoil, especially inflation so outra- —DICK DICKERSON / Mechanicsville, Va. geous that people barter with eggs for Cheaney is correct that “no one person a taxi ride. Pot in the bottle should have that kind of influence —EARL SMITH / Fort Walton Beach, Fla. [ Aug. 18, p. 38 ] The article on mari- over policy” such that his taking office juana was well-written and alarming, is cause for such a slugfest. The prob- Improbable events with its ominous information on the lem is that top officials of the execu- [ Aug. 18, p. 64 ] This is one of Marvin direction our country is headed. I look tive and legislative branches swear the Olasky’s best columns. Why did the forward to more articles by Jim Long same oath as the justices, to uphold Cold War end without nuclear disas- and the Caleb Team. the Constitution, but they have ceded ter? Because of Ronald Reagan via, —CAROL BLAIR / Gladewater, Texas their judgment to the courts. possibly, Roe v. Wade. Astonishing. —VIC TRIPP / Tucker, Ga. —AARON L. JOHNSON on Facebook It’s not enough now to have just one intoxicant at a time? It reminds me of A space for freedom I recall how so many journalists and Brave New World, where everyone is [ Aug. 18, p. 26 ] The interview with politicians mocked Reagan’s speeches intoxicated while trying to live a Matthew Kaemingk was thought-­ and his belief that the Soviet empire “happy” life full of promiscuity but provoking. The command of Jesus to could be brought to its knees. Even devoid of meaning. love your neighbor as yourself demands today many historians have heartburn —PAULINE MARIE FERRILL on Facebook that we be hospitable to Muslims. giving Reagan any credit. There really However, we must have an effective was a war then, and it was a spiritual I wonder if the folks planning to ingest vetting process for immigrants seeking war between the forces of God and the marijuana-laced edibles and drink- to enter our great country. forces of Satan. ables realize that using those products —ROBERT FRANCIS / Wakefield, Mass. —TOM HAGEN / Plymouth, Minn. will make them fail their next drug Biblically literate editors serving liberty-minded thought leaders across the United States test in any pre-employment back- I agree that we must treat all our Olasky did not mention two key ground checks. neighbors as souls for whom Christ ­participants in the fall of the Soviet —CRAIG A. WHITE / Pflugerville, Texas died, whether they be American Union, namely Jesus and Pope John ­citizens, legal immigrants, or illegal Paul II. Ultimately Jesus defeated the Branched out aliens. But we should distinguish Communists, but the pope’s many [ Aug. 18, p. 16 ] Janie B. Cheaney between Muslims who are citizens ­visits to his homeland, including his laments the inevitability of federal with constitutional rights and those personal visits to Lech Wałęsa, court imperialism in her column on who are not. strengthened the Polish people in Anthony Kennedy’s retirement, but —ANDRE TRAVERSA / Chicago, Ill. their fight. Congress can prune back the U.S. Research & Writing Editing & Instruction For Professional Teams —FRANK W. RUSSELL / Nalcrest, Fla. Supreme Court’s excessive growth by Human Race invoking the Exceptions Clause to [ Aug. 18, p. 10 ] I was heartened to see, More than 950,000 client words edited since 2013 Nuclear war with the Soviet Union limit jurisdiction. As James Madison after all of the negative publicity over seemed inevitable when I was growing noted, “In republican governments the the accusations against Bill Gothard [email protected] | (937) 219–5366 up in the 1950s and ’60s. It was scary. I legislative authority necessarily four years ago, that you noted the goodcommaediting.com believe Reagan had everything to do predominates.” ­dismissal of the lawsuit against him. with its implosion, and that the Lord —DARRELL WHITE / Baton Rouge, La. —ALFRED CORDUAN / Joliet, Ill.

Visit WORLD Digital: wng.org September 29, 2018 • WORLD Magazine 61

VOICES Mailbag

Minding the victims heavy-handed morality plays; Anne such ministries. They are the arms and [ Aug. 18, p. 30 ] Mindy Belz’s call to with an E became as bad as the worst legs of Jesus Himself. grant safe haven to persecuted of those. After Season 2 the series —HENRY HARVEY / Memphis, Tenn. Christians and others from around the should be Anne Without an Audience. world is right on. A standing ovation —MARK PEERBOLTE on wng.org Correction at a Washington “ministerial” means It’s not clear how numerous journal- nothing if we just push them back Dictatorial ideologies ists learned that the Liberty University afterward. You can’t shelter the [ Aug. 18, p. 8 ] Why would the two les- administration had asked Champion defenseless while holding them at bian women who are now suing news editor Erin Covey not to cover arm’s length. Friendship Village even want to join the Red Letter Revival (“Papered —JOHN KLOOSTERMAN on wng.org when their values are so contrary to its over,” Sept. 1, p. 43). Biblical positions? It’s hard to believe I cannot imagine any of my three this question did not occur to them Read more Mailbag letters at wng.org daughters enduring what women like before they submitted their deposit. It Nadia Murad have experienced. Not sounds like another contrived giving them refugee status is encounter. LETTERS and COMMENTS disgraceful. —JIM MAUST on wng.org Email [email protected] —MARK B. BLOCHER on Facebook Mail WORLD Mailbag, PO Box 20002, Go and do likewise Asheville, NC 28802-9998 Website wng.org [ Aug. 4, p. 42 ] This issue highlighting Anne with an agenda Facebook facebook.com/WORLD.magazine [ Aug. 18, p. 21 ] Christian movies, TV the Hope Awards was a blessing to me Twitter @WORLD_mag shows, and books are typically mocked and an incentive to all in Christ’s Please include full name and address. Letters (often rightly) for being ungainly, church to participate in and support may be edited to yield brevity and clarity.

Complete Christian Homeschool Curriculum Where God’s Word is Always Central MFWBOOKS.COM/WNG 573.202.2016 VOICES Andrée Seu Peterson

We are all about “the children” in this ­country. Except when we are not. We’re about ­children except when we want to get a divorce, or except when we want to have an abortion. Or except when we do whatever we want to do and call it art and say it’s up to moms and dads to monitor their children’s viewing habits. So you go with hubby to see Happytime, Puppets go ‘blue’ then take the kids to Incredibles 2. That’s fine for now, but in four months the DVD comes ON-SCREEN IMMORALITY WILL AFFECT out, and have you thought about where you’ll CHILDREN IN LONG-LASTING WAYS stash it, with that pied-piper puppet art on the cover? The care- I brought my puppet with the chef’s lessly left case, the R white coat and tall white hat to a baby- grown-ups’ ­giggling sitting gig, and a little boy named Luke bonded overheard from with him—to the point that when I returned six Caitlyn’s bedroom, months later, the 3-year-old immediately the inevitable inquired about Luigi by name. Children are schoolyard net- intrinsically attracted to puppets. working, there are Here is what I know about children. The a hundred ways to most two-left-footed grown-up with a group of prick your best-laid pre-Ks in a Sunday school class, the minute she plans. gloves her hands for the weekly Krusty and Anyway how’s Patty Show, is trusted with their secrets as they that parental guid- enter into a different world that has not been ance working for invaded by the larger-body set. We are all you? A relative of mine, unbeknownst to me, Here is what I know about the afterlife: took my prepubescent son to see The Silence of There will be “a severe beating” or “a light about ‘the the Lambs. The boy that he returned to me was beating” awaiting those who frolicked while children’ in not the same boy I sent out. It took a week of the Master was away (Luke 12:47-48), depend- this country. sleeping badly till he finally got over it. ing on degree of sin. And the deepest darkness But not really. It’s like what a local chiro- is reserved for those who “cause one of these Except when practor shared about childhood sports injuries: little ones to sin”: “It would be better for him if we are not. They always ring twice—once on the soccer a millstone were hung around his neck and he field when you’re 12, then unexpectedly in were cast into the sea” (Luke 17:2). ­middle age when you thought they were safely Brian Henson, as a boy, used to hang around behind you. If the body remembers, how the studio of his father, Muppet creator Jim much more the soul? Henson, and he noticed the most fun happened There is no more going back to a pre– before the director called “action” and after he Happytime Murders day now (absent a spiritual called “cut.” That’s when puppeteers get bawdy revival), any more than there is for my son to go and the puppet show gets “blue.” “Blue” is back to a pre–Silence of the Lambs innocence. Brian Henson’s preferred word for perverted. A peach in your fruit bowl, pretty as it is today, He also uses “raunchy” and “adult” but mostly will only go in one direction, from perfection to “blue,” “blue” sounding sophisticated, and corruption; there are forces deep inside it pleasingly obfuscatory. Henson’s new film ­quietly at work, and you at best can just retard ­featuring foam-stuffed felt characters, and them for a while in the refrigerator. That’s why ­marketed to adults, is decidedly blue. Don’t it is written in the final chapter of God’s Word even defile yourself on the trailer. to man: Critics are dutifully panning The Happytime “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of Murders for now (except in Toronto, our neigh- this book, for the time is near. Let the evildoer bor to the north being advanced in “blueness”). still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the Their complaints are that the jokes don’t “land.” righteous still do right, and the holy still be Presumably, a rightly landing joke would be holy. Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my Joel McHale stars redemption. Conspicuously absent in reviews is in The Happytime recompense with me, to repay each one for

HOPPER STONE/STX ENTERTAINMENT HOPPER STONE/STX any mention of the children. Murders. what he has done” (Revelation 22:10-12). A

 [email protected] September 29, 2018 • WORLD Magazine 63 VOICES Marvin Olasky In Select Theaters

cates who said Prohibition would transform America. Evangelist (and former ballplayer) Billy Easter 2019 Sunday declared, “The reign of tears is over. … Slums will soon be only a memory. We will turn our prisons into factories and jails into store- houses.” The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union equated Prohibition with happy homes. Rev. A.C. Bane dubbed the campaign against Beer bashing alcohol “humanity’s greatest battle,” and said the United States would now advance “with the HOW PROHIBITION (OF ALCOHOL) spirit of the missionary and the crusader to help BEGAN A CENTURY AGO drive the demon of drink from all civilization.” Throughout the 1920s some Americans In September 1918 the Boston Red Sox pushed for repeal of Prohibition, but the Texas R won the World Series. Some boys pasted a senator who had authored the 18th Amendment, diamond-shaped sticker onto their baseball Morris Sheppard, saw as much chance of bats: “Speed! Aim! Ambition! Make a good ball repealing it “as there is for a hummingbird to player. Liquor injures all three. Ask the Red fly to the planet Mars with the Washington Sox.” It was a time of wild baseball optimism in Monument tied to its tail.” After all, Prohibition Massachusetts—yet the next World Series win and prosperity began with the same three letters: wouldn’t come until 2004. Put the money saved by not drinking into the Some Boston draftees that fall journeyed 38 Prohibition stock market and grow rich, since the market miles northwest to Fort Devens, preparing for became law would always go up and up and up. travel to France to finish off the Germans. It But Prohibition advocacy had two soft spots. was a time of wild optimism regarding future in 1920, inau- One was potential: What if prosperity declined? peace as the War to End War ended, but many gurating a Another was based in class and ethnicity: of those soldiers never left Fort Devens: They roaring Workingmen, particularly of German and Irish were victims of an influenza pandemic that descent, didn’t see why beer that gave them a killed probably 50 million people worldwide, decade in buzz should be classed with hard liquor. During including 675,000 in the United States. (And a which some the world war, beer could be no more than 2.75 Choose Your Gift today. An Illustrated second world war, even more destructive than thought the percent alcohol, and even with the 18th the first, started only 21 years later.) Amendment—which prohibited “intoxicating” Storybook or FREE Movie Tickets! But one reason for optimism engaged many Millennium beverages but didn’t define that word—many Christians especially. More than two-thirds of cometh. had expected beer of moderate strength to U.S. senators and representatives had voted for a remain legal. The much-anticipated CGI animation of The Pilgrim’s Progress will hit the big screen, in select theaters, Easter constitutional amendment to prohibit the manu- Nevertheless, prohibitionists intoxicated with facture and sale of all liquor in the United States. success pushed Congress to set the legal limit at 2019. The film closely follows the orignal epic masterpeice of the same title by John Bunyan. By January 1919 three-fourths of the states had 0.5 percent. Beer’s connection to German approved it. Prohibition became law the follow- ­brewers—the United Brewery Workers’ constitu- For a limited time, when you support the worldwide Your contributions will make it possible to release the ing January, inaugurating a roaring decade in tion required that it’s president speak German— release of The Pilgrim’s Progress, you can receive a film in theaters across the U.S. on Easter weekend which some thought the Millennium cometh. hurt it’s wartime standing. The Anti-Saloon FREE full-color, illustrated storybook based on the 2019—and to distribute it freely to the global missions The Prohibition campaign had tied legal League said, “The worst of all our German ene- liquor to many kinds of social decay. A study of mies, the most treacherous, the most menacing movie or two FREE movie tickets. You choose your community. No other work of fiction has been used to paupers in 10 states found 2 in 5 owed their are Pabst, Schlitz, Blatz, and Miller. … German free gift! encourage the church and evangelize the world like plight to liquor. A physician found that 70 per- brewers in this country have rendered thou- The Pilgrim’s Progress, and now you can become part cent of all men under 25 who contracted venereal sands of men inefficient, and are thus crippling disease had done so after heavy drinking. Church the Republic in its war on Prussian militarism.” of this incredible journey. leaders equated drinking with Sabbath-breaking Congress passed the Volstead Act, which and adultery. More than 5,000 of the 5,820 prohibited everything alcoholic. The number of PHOTO12/UIG VIA GETTY IMAGES saloons in Manhattan and the Bronx defied blue breweries cratered from 1,300 to zero. Tens of laws by opening on Sunday, in the process thousands of workers in those businesses lost ­bribing local constables. Prostitutes frequented their jobs. The Coors Brewing Company started To make your donation, simply call 800-824-8022 Chicago saloons, which often displayed erotic producing malted milk and porcelain products. paintings or posters furnished by beer companies. Authorities pour a Democratic presidential candidate Al Smith or visit www.Pilgrims.movie barrel of confiscated A University of Texas collection of pamphlets beer down a drain proposed in 1928 that beer be allowed. He lost from the 1920s displays the exuberance of advo- during Prohibition. badly to Herbert Hoover. A —To be continued All donations are tax-exempt as allowed by law. Minimum donation required. This offer is brought 64 WORLD Magazine • September 29, 2018  [email protected]  @MarvinOlasky to you by RevelaitonMedia. In Select Theaters Easter 2019

Choose Your Gift today. An Illustrated Storybook or FREE Movie Tickets!

The much-anticipated CGI animation of The Pilgrim’s Progress will hit the big screen, in select theaters, Easter 2019. The film closely follows the orignal epic masterpeice of the same title by John Bunyan.

For a limited time, when you support the worldwide Your contributions will make it possible to release the release of The Pilgrim’s Progress, you can receive a film in theaters across the U.S. on Easter weekend FREE full-color, illustrated storybook based on the 2019—and to distribute it freely to the global missions movie or two FREE movie tickets. You choose your community. No other work of fiction has been used to free gift! encourage the church and evangelize the world like The Pilgrim’s Progress, and now you can become part of this incredible journey.

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