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DECEMBER 27, 2014 Runaway sleigh Misgivings grow as Uncle Sam repeats mistakes of welfare’s past and expects different results MS_Green Ad_World10.14.indd 1 8/26/14 4:53:42 PM 26 CONTENTS.indd 2 12/4/14 2:58 PM DEC27/ 14/ VOLUME 29 NUMBER 26

COVER STORY Far as the curse is found The poverty rate remains stubbornly high years—and trillions of dollars—after the federal war on poverty began, but some have learned true riches come from a source higher than government

FEATURES DEPARTMENTS A nation at risk Joel Belz Extreme poverty, dependency, and distrust plague the DISPATCHES Navajo Nation, and secular News solutions aren’t working Human Race Quotables Iowa basics Quick Takes With midterms over, attention turns to and Janie B. Cheaney the high-proﬁ le ﬁ rst presidential caucus CULTURE Movies & TV Code blue Books A string of bad news has Q&A beset Obamacare, and worse Music is likely on the way Mindy Belz WORLD and Obamacare NOTEBOOK ON THE COVER Lifestyle Illustration by Krieg Barrie Technology Photo of Madeleine Kara Lim: handout Science Houses of God Sports Religion Mailbag Andrée Seu Peterson Marvin Olasky

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26 CONTENTS.indd 1 12/10/14 7:52 AM “The earth is the L ’s and the fullness thereof; the world and those who dwell therein.” For your tablet —P :

Editor in Chief Marvin Olasky Editor Mindy Belz Managing Editor Timothy Lamer News Editor Jamie Dean Senior Writers Janie B. Cheaney • Susan Olasky Andrée Seu Peterson • John Piper Edward E. Plowman • Cal Thomas • Lynn Vincent Reporters Emily Belz • J.C. Derrick Daniel James Devine • Sophia Lee • Angela Lu Correspondents Megan Basham Julie Borg • Anthony Bradley • Andrew Branch Tim Challies • Michael Cochrane • Kiley Crossland John Dawson • Amy Henry • Mary Jackson Michael Leaser • Jill Nelson • Arsenio Orteza Stephanie Perrault • Joy Pullmann • Emily Whitten Mailbag Editor Les Sillars Executive Assistant June McGraw Editorial Assistants Kristin Chapman • Mary Ruth Murdoch Art Director David K. Freeland Associate Art Director Robert L. Patete Graphic Designer Rachel Beatty Illustrator Krieg Barrie Digital Production Assistant Arla J. Eicher Director of Sales Dawn Wilson Account Execs Arla J. Eicher • Al Saiz • Alan Wood Oﬀ ice 828.232.5489 Manager Jim Chisolm Oﬀ ice 828.232.5260

Chief Executive Oﬀ icer Kevin Martin Founder Joel Belz Vice President Warren Cole Smith Download the digital edition for your tablet Marketing Director Jonathan Bailie Development Director Debra Meissner (free for WORLD Fellow Members) every other Friday. Website wng.org Go to wng.org/iPad for more details. Executive Editor Mickey McLean Managing Editor Leigh Jones Assistant Editors Lynde Langdon Angela Lu • Dan Perkins Editorial Assistant Whitney Williams Website worldandeverything.com CONTACT US: 800.951.6397 / WNG.ORG Executive Producer Nickolas S. Eicher Senior Producer Joseph Slife  Follow us on Twitter: @WORLD_mag  Follow us on Facebook Website worldji.com Dean Marvin Olasky To become a WORLD Fellow Member, give a gift membership, change address, Associate Dean Edward Lee Pitts or access other member account information: Email [email protected] Website worldoncampus.com Online wng.org/account (current members) or members.wng.org (to become a member) Editor Leigh Jones Phone 800.951.6397 (within the United States) or 828.232.5260 (outside the United States) ’ Monday-Friday (except holidays), 9 a.m.-7 p.m. ET Website gwnews.com Write WORLD, PO Box 20002, Asheville, NC 28802-9998 Publisher Howard Brinkman For back issues, reprints, or permissions: David Strassner (chairman) • Mariam Bell Back issues 800.951.6397 Kevin Cusack • Peter Lillback • Howard Miller William Newton • Russell B. Pulliam • David Skeel Reprints and permissions 828.232.5415 or [email protected] Ladeine Thompson • Raymon Thompson John Weiss • John White WORLD occasionally rents subscriber names to carefully screened, like-minded organizations. If you would prefer not to receive these promotions, please call customer service and ask to be placed on our DO NOT RENT list. To report, interpret, and illustrate the news in a timely, accurate, enjoyable, and arresting fashion from a perspective committed to the Bible as the inerrant Word of God. WORLD (ISSN 0888-157X) (USPS 763-010) is published biweekly (26 issues) for $59.95 per year by God’s World Publications, (no mail) 12 All Souls Crescent, Asheville, NC 28803; 828.232.5260. Periodical postage paid at Asheville, NC, and additional mailing oﬀ ices. Printed in the USA. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. © 2014 WORLD News Group. All rights reserved. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to WORLD, PO Box 20002, Asheville, NC 28802-9998.

26 CONTENTS.indd 2 12/9/14 10:27 PM Brand Hearts World 5.14.indd 1 4/4/14 2:05:21 PM 26 CONTENTS.indd 3 12/4/14 2:56 PM Joel Belz live on. Ask me—and I guess you did!—and I’ll tell you we’re headed the wrong direction.” Ronda Brockwell played the same tune. “So,” I asked her, “what do you think of Mr. Obama’s executive order protecting 5 million immigrants from deportation? Do you have any advice for him?” “Well, he was wrong,” Ronda said. “He Double trouble should be asking God for advice—and obviously, he’s not doing that.” With one action, the president offended Indeed, in 28 short conversations with both those who want less immigration Walmart shoppers, I didn’t find a single one and those who respect the law who was ready to defend the latest Obama pro- nouncements on immigration. (There was, to be sure, the attractive Hispanic Folks who claim that President Barack family, with a full shopping cart. R Obama is overly consumed with political They knew just enough English to considerations have a tough riddle to solve: If learn what my mission was—and politics are so all-important, why does the pres- then graciously argued that they ident keep doing things that are so politically were late and had to hurry on.) awkward? I wasn’t surprised by the Specifically, why did Obama respond to his proportion of the other 27 who disastrous midterm election results with an just seemed “anti-immigration.” executive order on immigration that he should “Enough is enough!” said Vickie have known would be colossally unpopular? If Gaddy. And then she emphasized he’d just headed from the White House on the ‘Let them by repeating: “Enough is enough! Let’s just leave morning of Nov. 5 to the nearest Walmart, he it at that.” Another shopper, who didn’t want me could have learned all he needed to know. follow the to use her name, said simply: “Charity begins at I can tell you that, of course, because that’s rules. I want home, doesn’t it? We have enough serious what I do, from time to time, to ground myself them to feel needs right here.” in political reality. I did it again last week—and, I was startled, though, by the number, boy, were the Walmart shoppers ready to talk! welcome. But certainly exceeding half, who stressed that their Obama would not have liked what he heard. they have to exception to Mr. Obama’s late November I’ve done these very folksy and informal do it legally.’ executive orders is based on what they see as surveys at least 15 or 20 times in the last 20 an extralegal, or even illegal, process. “I’m a years—but never have I heard folks respond so believer in a relatively low hurdle for those who lopsidedly on one side of the issue. “Tell me, want to come in on a legal basis,” suggested please,” I would ask while waving my right hand David Phelan. “But what we have right now is in a shopper’s face. “If over here on this side we chaos. Let them build an orderly structure for put up a big stop sign in front of those who those who want citizenship, and then follow want to enter the U.S. from other countries, but that structure.” Jacqueline Marlowe agreed: “Let over here on the other side” (now I’d start wel- them follow the rules. I want them to feel coming them with my left hand) “we promise welcome. But they have to do it legally.” that we’ve got room and that we’ll find a way to So the president, it seemed, was with a take care of you—on that spectrum, where single action sticking his finger in the eyes of would you put yourself?” two huge political blocks. On the one hand, he There was no pussyfooting among my was offending those who simply don’t want respondents. Not a single person said anything more immigration. But on the other, he was resembling a cautious “Well, I’d have to think proving just as offensive to those who wouldn’t about that.” “Let me tell you straight up,” said mind welcoming more outsiders—but want to Elmo Faren. “I don’t mean no harm to nobody. achieve that end in an orderly manner.

Fact is, it may say more bad about me than it But why alienate both groups? Where, in all Jacquelyn does about somebody who’s illegal. But when this, is the always-calculating politician? What is you’re full up, you’re full up. We’re full up. I’ve the political benefit when even a crude sidewalk

got a job, but it’s been 10 years since I’ve had survey suggests that he’s chosen an altogether artin/ap anything like a real job that pays me enough to losing proposition? I just don’t get it. A

4 WORLD december 27, 2014  [email protected]

26 JOEL.indd 4 12/9/14 12:09 PM Lana’s story: Member for fourteen years Heel injury Echocardiogram

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Lana “We’re going to give up on this concept of insurance and trust God and His people?! Yeah, of course! That’s a no-brainer!”

For more than twenty years, Samaritan Ministries’ members have • More than 39,000 families been sharing one another’s medical needs, without using health (over 130,000 individuals)* insurance, through a Biblical model of community among believers. • Sharing over $10 million* in Samaritan members share directly with each other and do not share medical needs each month in abortions and other unbiblical practices. • The monthly share has never Come see what our members are saying and start your Samaritan exceeded $405 for a family

JACQUELYN story today at: mysamaritanstory.org of any size* MARTIN/AP samaritanministries.org 888.268.4377 Biblical community facebook.com/samaritanministries applied to health care twitter.com/samaritanmin

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26 JOEL.indd 5 12/8/14 10:20 AM 26 NEWS-photos.indd 6 passionfor Do youhavea Christ. Christ. encouraging youtofollow encouraging youtofollow and problemand problem Creator Creator inthe inthe yourfaith yourfaith solvingwhilebuilding solvingwhilebuilding and and programs programsand Mathematics) and Mathematics) forinnovation forinnovation yourpotential yourpotential challenge challenge Bob JonesUniversity’s STEM(Science,Technology, Engineering

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CREDIT DISPATCHES NEWS / HUMAN RACE / QUOTABLES / QUICK TAKES

DEC. 6 CASSIDY WINS The Democratic Party lost its last Senate seat in the Deep South as Republican Bill Cassidy defeated incumbent Mary Landrieu in a runoﬀ election in Louisiana. Cassidy won 56 percent of the vote to Landrieu’s 44 percent by tying Landrieu to President Obama, who has a 39 percent approval rating in the state. Landrieu campaigned on the promise that her position as the chair of the Senate’s Energy Committee would help the oil-rich state. Yet after Republicans won the IMAGES Senate majority, she could no longer hold the post. Beginning January, Republicans will hold 54 seats in the Senate, nine more than they currently hold. GARDNER/GETTY SEAN

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26 NEWS-photos.indd 7 12/9/14 4:36 PM DISPATCHES NEWS

dec. 5 Obama picks Carter President Barack Obama nominated Ashton Carter to replace Chuck Hagel as defense secretary after Hagel resigned under pressure in late November. Carter, who holds the second-in- command position of deputy defense secretary, formerly taught physics at Oxford and started working in the Pentagon under the Clinton administration. Analysts say he is more assertive than his prede- cessor and would be more likely to recommend using American power. But they also say the Defense Department has little foreign policy influence in the Obama administration. Carter will likely

have a smooth confirma- kong: • hong Martin Jacquelyn carter: tion, as he enjoys support from Senate Republicans.

dec. 3 Hong Kong movement Three leaders of the Hong Kong L a

protests turned themselves in m

Y to the police in a largely sym- Fei ik

bolic gesture to press for free / G elections and encourage an end etty

to the months-long protest. Im Police did not arrest Benny Tai, • o ages Chan Kin-man, and Chu Yiu- ming—the founders of Occupy rion:

Central—and only held them in Sm

the station for less than an hour. iley

Another 65 protesters also N . Pool surrendered at the station. Yet /

other protesters refused to H oust back down so easily: Student leader Joshua Wong went on a on C hunger strike to pressure talks hron

with the government, but had to icle/ end it four days later for health A reasons. P

8 WORLD DECEMBER 27, 2014  Download WORLD’s iPad app today; details at wng.org/iPad

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12/9/14 4:41 PM WORLD DECEMBER 27, 2014

Mars, to SKY rst step rst need to THE humans IN taking 5 NASA launched the unmanned capsule Orion 3,600 miles into space, 15 times higherthan the International Space Station. Orion made two trips around the earth before splashing down in c Oceanthe four Pacifi hours icialslater. NASA hope to off send astronauts ight out on an Orion fl in seven years, but fi In what may be the fi ensure the craft can safely trans- port human beings. With their xedon Mars, icialseyesNASA fi off celebrated the successful test ight: “There’sfl your new space- craft, America,” announced Mission Control’s Rob Navias. DEC. toward ORION 26 NEWS-photos.indd 9

CARTER: JACQUELYN MARTIN • HONG KONG: LAM YIK FEI/GETTY IMAGES • ORION: SMILEY N. POOL/HOUSTON CHRONICLE/AP DISPATCHES NEWS

dec. 6 Hagupit hits the Philippines At least 21 persons died and more than a million others evacuated into shelters as Typhoon Hagupit hit the central Philippines, an area still recovering from last year’s Typhoon Haiyan, which left 7,000 persons dead or missing. Hagupit made landfall in the resort town of San Juan, about 60 miles south of the capital of Manila, with maximum sustained winds of 53 mph and gusts of 62 mph. Thankfully, the devastation this time around was less than officials had expected. Two days later, Hagupit weakened to a tropical storm and officials allowed villagers to return home. /AP e t i pplewh ott A c EN: J. S M ESS R NG O /AP • C ch r hu C enue Av e k a /L ahbi m W asse GS: B /AP • HUAN ila v a F n ro a CREDIT PHILIPPINES: A

10 WORLD DECEMBER 27, 2014 Copy goes here

26 NEWS-photos.indd 10 12/9/14 4:43 PM Nov. 30 home for Christmas A Qatari court cleared Matthew and Grace Huang of any wrong- doing in the death of their adopted daughter, Gloria, and four days later allowed the couple to return home to Los Angeles and reunite with their two adopted sons. The Huangs were imprisoned for a year after officials accused them of starv- ing Gloria to death to harvest her organs. The Huangs said Gloria suffered from an eating disorder developed from childhood malnutrition in Ghana and chalked the accusations up to misunderstandings about cross-cultural adoption. Officials initially blocked the Christian couple at the airport and confiscated their pass- ports, but eventually allowed them to leave. At Lake Avenue Church, Matthew Huang said

/AP worshipping with their church e t i family was “something we longed for for so long.” pplewh ott A c EN: J. S M dec. 4 ESS R

NG Protest vote O House Republicans responded

/AP • C to President Obama’s executive ch r action on immigration by pass- hu

C ing a measure stating the presi-

enue dent did not have the authority Av

e to grant legal status to millions k a of illegal immigrants. Supporters /L acknowledged the bill would not ahbi pass through the Democratic- m W led Senate, yet wanted to send asse a message of their anger. Some

GS: B in the Republican Party want to use the House’s authority of Rep. Tim spending to defund immigration

/AP • HUAN Murphy, R-Pa. policy changes, yet GOP leaders ila (right), and v a worry that such action would F Rep. Mike D. n lead to another government Rogers, R-Ala., ro a shutdown that would hurt the arrive for party. Polls, however, continued votes on CREDIT Capitol Hill to show the public opposes the Dec. 4.

PHILIPPINES: A executive order.

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26 gNEWS-photos.indd Visit our website—wng.org—for 11 breaking news and more 12/9/14 4:44 PM  Download WORLD’s iPad app today; details at wng.org/iPad d Listen to WORLD on the radio at worldandeverything.com  Follow us on Facebook  Follow us on Twitter: @WORLD_mag BELL: DISCOVERY • CANAL: RODRIGUEZ/MCT/NEWSCOM • ILLUSTRATION: KRIEG BARRIE • USA WEEKEND: HANDOUT • FUEL: WMASTER890/ISTOCK FUEL: • HANDOUT WEEKEND: USA • BARRIE KRIEG ILLUSTRATION: • RODRIGUEZ/MCT/NEWSCOM CANAL: • DISCOVERY BELL:

HANDOUT 12/9/14 10:19 PM Follow us on Facebook  Taliban ﬁ ghters stormed Taliban ﬁ Follow us on Twitter: @WORLD_mag  AFGHANISTAN a U.S. aid compound, killing longtime Christianaid worker Werner Groenewald, his two children, and two Afghans. With the onset of winter, the UN World SYRIA Food Programme halted food aid to 1.7 million Syrian refugees, saying it had run out of funds. Listen to WORLD on the radio at worldandeverything.com Listen to WORLD on the radio at worldandeverything.com Visit our website—wng.org—for breaking news and more

Download WORLD’s iPad app today; details at wng.org/iPad Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dis- g d d  American photojournalist Luke globe ISRAEL solved his coalition government ring two Dec. 2, fi cabinet ministers and calling for elections in early 2015—more than two years ahead of schedule. YEMEN Somers and South African teacher Pierre Korkie were killed by al-Qaeda militants holding them after a failed U.S. raid. the Of nine young North Korean defectors repatriated by Laos last year, two KOREA NORTH have been executed, and the remaining seven have been sent to North Korea’s notorious prison camp—a modern-day gulag and hellhole of torture, forced labor, and inhumane conditions. rst time It was Laos the fi handed over defectors directly to North Korea, and all were believed to be orphans between the ages of 15 and 23. “Myheart breaks for the fact that all that work trying to rouse media and international sympathies for the kidswere for nothing,” said a South Korean missionary (not named for security reasons) who cared for the defectors. “But it breaks even more when I think about the sevenering kids still in prisonsuff camp.” Around NEWS MORE NEWSMORE THE WEBSITE: OF WORLD OUR ON IS WNG.ORG The National Health Service revised Nearly 12,000 persons resigned membershipin The International Criminal Court meet- A widening scandal over illicit dealings DECEMBER 27, 2014 BRITAIN

KENYA ing at The Hague cleared President Uhuru Kenyatta of crimes against humanity. Kenyatta was indicted in connection with rioting in 2007 and 2008 that killed more than 1,000. FINLAND the Lutheran Church after its archbishop expressed support for same-sex marriage. Finland’s Parliament narrowly approved legalizing gay marriage Dec. 5. BRAZIL involving rm Petrobras state oil ﬁ could involve President , the Dilma company’s Rousseﬀ former board chairwoman, as the country’s prose- cutor general prepared to indict 11 executives. GREAT birth guidelines, saying home births are safer than hospital deliveries for low-risk pregnancies. WORLD

DISPATCHES 12 26 NEWS-Globe+LA.indd 12 In this photo released by former South Korean lawmaker Park Sun-young and distributed via SouthAgency Korea’s on Yonhap Saturday, News June 1, 2013, nine young North Korean defectors own back who to were North fl Korea on May 28, 2013via China, are seen in Laos in May 2013. Human rights groups demanded that North Korea guarantee theits safety citizens of the who nine reportedly ofed to Laos, only fl to be apprehended and sent back home.ice (AP Photo/Off of Park Sun-young via Yonhap) KOREA OUT

6/27/14 10:05 AM

12/10/14 9:08 AM news, features Scripture, RADIO station, INTERNET CHRISTIAN online at RefNet.fm. Reformation Network, radio biblical preaching and audiobooks, music and for free Available more. the always-on streaming teaching, through app your store or TRUSTWORTHY LIG-312_2014_08_REFNET_WORLD_1-3V_FINAL.indd 1

USA will proposed Today advertising USA

Nicaragua’s magazine, a lifestyle

28 on declining ic. traﬀ the country. Industry experts blame revenue for the closure. Weekend more than 800 newspapers across publish its last edition of publication that ran as an insert in DEC. Construction

ahead

interoceanic

c Ocean will begin today and is slated for an for Bell

icials as a possible solution to the nation’s grinding pastor Paciﬁ completion in 2019. The canal, hailed by Nicaraguan oﬀ special. interoceanic canal linking the Caribbean Sea with the poverty, projects to be a competitor with the Panama Canal DEC. universalism. criticized conclusion:

television have much as 13 to 20 cents per gallon by 2020. Controversial The Friday after logical

As many Americans enter 2015 paying lower preaching

, who said he left Mars Hill ect today that force gasoline wholesalers to

1 21 network for 26 Bell fuel costs, Californians may not get the same break. Evangelicals purchase carbon off purchasesets. carbon Many off analysts expect the into eff ministry’s broaden his audience, has found show set to debut on OWN today. Oprah Rob Provisions in the Golden State’s cap-and-trade law go regulation to raise prices for gasoline customers by as Bell will star in a new one-hour talk Bible Church in Grandville, Mich., to JAN. his DEC. through an executive order on Dec. 5. Christmas will be a holiday for all but the most essential federal government employees. Citing recent pay freezes and furloughs, President Barack Obama decided to give federal employees the paid day off

through an executive order on Dec. 5. Looking DEC. Download WORLD’s iPad app today; details at wng.org/iPad

 BELL: DISCOVERY • CANAL: RODRIGUEZ/MCT/NEWSCOM • ILLUSTRATION: KRIEG BARRIE • USA WEEKEND: HANDOUT • FUEL: WMASTER890/ISTOCK FUEL: • HANDOUT WEEKEND: USA • BARRIE KRIEG ILLUSTRATION: • RODRIGUEZ/MCT/NEWSCOM CANAL: • DISCOVERY BELL: 26 NEWS-Globe+LA.indd 13

HANDOUT DISPATCHES NEWS

year on a platform of ending Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s stop-and-frisk Community crisis policy. This year, the crime rate has New Yorkers wrestle with police relations dropped even as the number of police after Eric Garner ruling stops has dropped by 79 percent. The by Emily Belz in New York, N.Y. number of misconduct complaints against the police has also had a signif- David Beidel has been a pastor in investigation, and the Department of icant drop from last year. R Staten Island for more than 20 Justice has opened an investigation on Still, the racial breakdown of those years. His church, New Hope potential civil rights violations. stopped is about the same. Police com- Community, is across the street from the Protests broke out in New York and missioner Bill Bratton is a proponent West Brighton Housing Projects, and in other cities after the grand jury’s of the “broken windows” theory of many of his congregants are low-income decision. The evangelical churches in policing, where his officers go after minorities. Beidel is also the president New York were largely unified in call- low-level violations like turnstile of the Staten Island Association of ing for peaceful protest, prayer, and jumping in the subway—and selling Evangelicals, a surprisingly diverse more attention to the voices of ethnic loose cigarettes. Beidel said police group of 20 evangelical churches on the majority-white Staten Island. SIAE’s 20 churches have black, white, Chinese, and Hispanic pastors, congregations with white police officers and impoverished minorities. The pastors meet regularly to pray, and worked together closely when Hurricane Sandy devastated many of their neighborhoods in 2012. Several of the pastors from the association went with Beidel to pray at the spot where African-American Eric Garner died on Staten Island, the night the grand jury handed down its decision not to indict the police officer involved in his death. The churches minorities. Trip Protesters officers in neighborhoods like his have held a prayer meeting the Sunday after. Lee, an African- rally on Dec. 4 a difficult job, but the law-abiding in the Brooklyn Beidel describes Staten Island as American rapper borough of residents pay a price for the seesawing having a “Mason-Dixon line,” where and a Christian, New York. law enforcement approaches. racial minorities largely live north of composed a song “On one end of the spectrum, a Interstate 278 and whites live south. and released it after heavy-handed policy can result in The Garner incident happened north the grand jury’s ruling. “I wanna say to many innocent young men being of the “Mason-Dixon line,” back in July. all my young black men / I know it’s harassed or rounded up in wide, blind NYPD officers arrested Garner for feeling like we just can’t win / But in arrest sweeps,” he said. “On the other selling loose cigarettes on the street, your anger don’t sin … Where’s your end, residents live in terror of the local while he protested and told them not hope at? Mine is in Him.” gangs because police officers try to to touch him. Beidel said he was proud of New avoid any confrontation in the [New One of the officers put him in a choke Yorkers’ response to the ruling—both York Housing Authority] complexes hold in the course of the arrest, a prac- the “restraint” of the police officers that may lead to accusations of brutal- tice banned in the NYPD. Garner gasped, handling the protests and the peaceful- ity. There is a desperate need for a new said, “I can’t breathe,” over and over, and ness of the protesters. While protesters generation of police officers who know then went unconscious. When EMTs were periodically arrested for blocking the youth and families in our strug- arrived shortly after, they did not give roadways, New York had none of the gling communities by face and name.” him oxygen or try to resuscitate him. looting and burning of the Ferguson, New Hope Community Church, for

The encounter was captured on Mo., protests. its part, had already been planning to Jason video, but the Staten Island grand jury Garner’s death occurred in the start a basketball league in its parking DeCrow/ap did not indict the officer. Now the context of a changing NYPD. Mayor lot next summer with neighborhood NYPD is conducting its own Bill de Blasio largely won election last youth and police officers. A

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SENT Houston Texans star J.J. Watt, , sent pizzas on Nov. to local fi refi ghters and police to express gratitude for their work. Watt—using impressive penmanship— included a handwritten, full-page letter of thanks: “As athletes, we often get the headlines and big crowds, but just like the men & women of our military, y’all are the ones who truly deserve the credit, appreciation & admiration.” Watt is enjoying one of the best defensive seasons in NFL history: He has . quarterback sacks and on Nov. became the fi rst DIED defensive lineman since

Cricket star Phillip Hughes, , died on Nov. after he was struck in the back of the neck during a to score fi ve touch- IMAGES GREENWOOD/GETTY SAM • WATT: IMAGES ROBBINS/GETTY JOE • KARAGEORGE: JAYAWARDENA/AP ERANGA HUGHES: match in Australia. Hughes, who would have turned on Nov. , was from England but was downs in a single season. playing for South Australia. The league canceled matches after Hughes’ injury and will have to make a decision about opening the next season. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott was among about , mourners who attended Hughes’ funeral, which was broadcast to millions worldwide. RESIGNED The New Republic, a longtime bastion of liberal FOUND journalism, virtually died Police found Ohio State University days after former President defensive lineman Kosta Bill Clinton appeared at its Karageorge, , dead of a self- th birthday bash. At infl icted gunshot wound on Nov. least nine senior sta and . They found the player in a some two dozen contribut- Columbus, Ohio, dumpster four ing editors resigned en days after he went missing. masse on Dec. after Karageorge’s mother, who told owner Chris Hughes hired authorities her son had been a new editor without dealing with bouts of confusion notifying the current editor due to concussions, said on the he was fi red. Freelance day of his death he sent her a text contributors also pulled message saying he was sorry if he scheduled stories, forcing was “an embarrassment.” Hughes to suspend publi- Karageorge, also an Ohio State cation until February. The wrestler, would have been protesting sta ers believe recognized at senior day during Hughes wants to make the the No. Buckeyes’ fi nal regular publication a click-focused

season game on Nov. . digital media company. BOYLE: REX FEATURES VIA AP IMAGES • RICHARD III: SOCIETY OF ANTIQUITIES OF LONDON VIA UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER/AP • DOYLE: MICHAEL BRADLEY/AFP/GETTY IMAGES • REZAIAN: VAHID SALEMI/AP

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26 HUMAN RACE.indd 16 12/10/14 9:17 AM By the numbers

Dating 18 trillion Scottish singer Susan The national debt as Boyle dreamed a of Dec. 1, in U.S. dream, and it might be dollars, according to coming true. Boyle, the U.S. Treasury. who became an inter- The debt was up national sensation with $7.379 trillion since President Barack her 2009 Britain’s Got Obama took office Talent performance, has in 2009. her first boyfriend at ap age 53. Boyle revealed

alemi/ the news to The Sun, a S 13 & 13 The id

h British newspaper, say- weight in pounds and a V : ing her beau is a doctor ounces at birth of Mia in Connecticut but Yasmin Hernandez, ezaian R declining to name him. Accepted who was accused of killing born on Dec. 1 in She said they met at a lux- A former British spy, protestors in the 2011 Alamosa, Colo. mages • I ury hotel in Florida during Phyllis Latour Doyle, 93, uprising that ended his a promotional tour of the reluctantly stepped back 30-year rule. Protesters, etty G /

P United States. Boyle, whose into the spotlight when mostly university 40 The percentage F A /

Y personal story helped she accepted the students, saw the drop in the price of oil endear her to audiences, Legion of Honour, action as further between July and BRADLE has sold more than 20 France’s highest erosion of the early December. Oil

AEL traded at $63 per

H million albums over the honor. At age 23 rights they won, barrel on Dec. 8. That MIC last five years. Doyle parachuted and some same day, the average into Nazi- claimed the old oyle:

D price for a gallon of Hug controlled territory guard is back in gasoline had fallen to h es: es: near Normandy to gather charge. Mahmoud Kamel er/ap • $2.67 from $3.26 the

E Confirmed ranga Ja ranga intelligence on German al-Rashidi, the judge who year before, accord- eicest L Scientists have confirmed troop locations in the dismissed the charges, said ing to AAA. Energy f

yawardena/ap • Karageorge: Joe Joe • Karageorge: yawardena/ap that genetic material recov- months leading up to Mubarak made mistakes experts predicted ity o ered in 2012 belongs to D-Day. Doyle—trained by a but “to rule for or against that increased pro- King Richard III, an English cat burglar who was him after he has become duction would con- nivers U

a monarch who died in the released from prison to old will be left to history tinue to bring prices Battle of Bosworth in help the war effort— and the judge of judges.” down next year.

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ties found implica- selling soap from tions: DNA testing her bicycle and Charged his client. Rezaian, an R obbins ntiqui A did not fully match eventually trans- A Tehran court formally Iranian-American who Of the royal line, indi- mitted 135 secret leveled charges at holds dual citizenship, / G etty etty cating marital infidel- messages to Allied Washington Post became the Post’s ociety S : I mages • mages ity likely occurred Command. Doyle’s four reporter Jason Tehran bureau III somewhere between the children only learned of her Rezaian on Dec. 6 chief in 2012. ard h ic W 14th and 15th centuries— spy past 15 years ago when after Iranian Secretary of State R att: att: which could cast doubt on they discovered it online. authorities John Kerry in a S am am the Tudor claim to the arrested him in statement said he mages • I

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B whole new one.” dictator Hosni Mubarak, 86, been allowed to meet with Iran’s nuclear program. A

d Listen to WORLD on the radio at worldandeverything.com DECEMBER 27, 2014 WORLD 17

26 HUMAN RACE.indd 17 12/10/14 9:17 AM DISPATCHES QUOTABLES

‘The one-sided report that will ‘I’ll give be released by Democrats on it to you. You the Senate Select Committee on have employed Intelligence cost a lot of people, U.S. taxpayers over $40 million mostly as secretary dollars to produce, and its of defense.’ authors never Mock conservative host STEPHEN COLBERT to interviewed a President Barack Obama in a Dec. 8 “interview” single on Comedy Central, after Obama spoke about CIA job creation. Colbert is leaving the o cial.’ network to replace David Letterman U.S. Sen. next year on The Late Show MARCO at CBS. RUBIO, R-Fla., on a Senate report that claims the CIA misled the ‘Jonathan public, Congress, Gruber was pilloried and the White House on its aggressive interrogation today for being the most methods after 9/11. honest architect of this law.’ MICHAEL CANNON of the Cato Institute on the Dec. 9 congres- ‘These mistakes sional hearing in which legislators grilled MIT economist Gruber, a key architect of Obamacare, over his comments are on Rolling that a lack of transparency and “the stupidity Stone, not on

of the American voter” were important Jackie.’ PRESS ASSOCIATED REPORT: • SENATE IMAGES KAUFMAN/GETTY TYLER COLBERT: in passing the law (see p. 54). ROLLING STONE magazine, in a letter to readers, apologiz-

ing for not interviewing more CANNON: HANDOUT • RODRIGUEZ: BARRY BRECHEISEN/INVISION/AP sources for a November story about an alleged gang ‘It’s insane. rape at a University of Virginia fraternity. The story We’re in hand-to- didn’t interview any of the alleged attackers or check hand combat with key facts. It caused the university to suspend all other schools.’ fraternities until next year DANIEL B. RODRIGUEZ, dean of the Northwestern but then began to unravel as University School of Law, on students bargaining many details were proven down tuition prices at elite law schools. false. The magazine initially With enrollment at law schools plummeting blamed alleged victim over the past few years, students “Jackie” before acknowledg- have more leverage to get ing that it should have better deals. spoken to more sources.

18 WORLD DECEMBER 27, 2014  Follow us on Facebook

g Visit our website—wng.org—for breaking news and more 26 QUOTABLES.indd 18 12/10/14 11:51 AM  Download WORLD’s iPad app today; details at wng.org/iPad d Listen to WORLD on the radio at worldandeverything.com  Follow us on Facebook  Follow us on Twitter: @WORLD_mag 12/10/14 11:17 AM 26 QUOTABLES.indd 19

colbert: Tyler Kaufman/Getty Images • Senate report: associated press Cannon: handout • Rodriguez: Barry Brecheisen/Invision/AP 26 QUICK TAKES.indd 20 20 dress shirt, tie, and slacks to class. to slacks and tie, shirt, dress a wearing by beard his for compensate must Quezada year, the of end the at expires which exemption, beard his to According character. abearded portray to him requires for preparing is he role acting an because exemption an earned Quezada beards. prohibits College Business LDS the tutions, insti- educational Mormon many Like see. to anyone for times all at neck his around yard alan- on card” exemption “beard his wore he if only but November, in abeard grow to permission Quezada granted Utah, City, Lake Salt in College Business LDS owned Mormon- Oﬀ the at icials attached. strings Paolo For License customer: Chinese people. According to the state-run state-run the to According people. Chinese customer: Road in the city’s embassy district recently posted a sign informing customers, “Chinese not admitted, admitted, admitted, not not “Chinese “Chinese customers, customers, informing informing asign asign posted posted recently recently district district embassy embassy city’s city’s the the in in Road Road caused an uproar on the Chinese social media website Weibo, but a legal expert told the newspaper the the newspaper the told expert alegal but Weibo, website media social Chinese the on uproar an caused caused an uproar on the Chinese social media website Weibo, but a legal expert told the newspaper the the newspaper the told expert alegal but Weibo, website media social Chinese the on uproar an caused DISPATCHES The owner of a Chinese clothing store in the heart of Beijing has had enough of one particular kind of of kind particular one of enough had has Beijing of heart the in store clothing aChinese of owner The reputation for shoplifting, pickpocketing, and trying on clothes without making a purchase. The sign sign The apurchase. making without clothes on trying and pickpocketing, shoplifting, for reputation reputation for shoplifting, pickpocketing, and trying on clothes without making a purchase. The sign sign The apurchase. making without clothes on trying and pickpocketing, shoplifting, for reputation

except for staff .” A store clerk interviewed by the paper complained that its Chinese clientele has a has clientele Chinese its that complained paper the by interviewed staff for clerk .”except Astore except for staff .” A store clerk interviewed by the paper complained that its Chinese clientele has a has clientele Chinese its that complained paper the by interviewed staff for clerk .”except Astore WORLD store’s owner probably isn’t breaking the law because China has no anti-discrimination legislation. anti-discrimination no has China because law the breaking isn’t probably owner store’s store’s owner probably isn’t breaking the law because China has no anti-discrimination legislation. anti-discrimination no has China because law the breaking isn’t probably owner store’s Quezada

DECEMBER 27, 2014 27, DECEMBER to , a beard comes with with comes , abeard grow QUICK Korea tree as A past In north. the from visible be will that decorations and lights with structure the deck to plans it says ministry The Korea. North with border nation’s the near structure tree–like Christmas a30-foot erect to again once permission ministry aChristian gave agency defense Korean South the 2, Dec. On zone. tarized demili- Peninsula’s ﬁ Korean next the the along spark ght could tree A Christmas Branching South Christians near in TAKES Korean December the border prepare soldier 2010. with a stands Christmas out journal the in published Astudy anthropods. the are there then appetite—and abig have Yorkers New Some Trash dispose eﬀ They provide. arthropods these that vice City’s Youngsteadt fact,” asilly just isn’t “This they disappeared. parks hot measure To year. every food junk discarded of pounds 2,100 Manhattan a of portion small one in insects that calculated University Apple’s North Beijing Youth Daily Youth Beijing City York New in cookies and chips, potato dogs, guard and insect

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neighborhood population insects’ noted. collectors Change trash to shell the structure with artillery ﬁ artillery re. with structure the shell to promised have propaganda, Western as tree Christmas the viewing who, leaders Korean North from reactions strong instigated has structure the years, collection. medians , a clothing shop on Albemarle Albemarle on shop , aclothing “This team for appetite, Local control Local Biology us.” as highlight and could led the The by measured York New hailed has researchers unsung North dispose  Elsa control d g Download WORLD’s iPad app today; details at wng.org/iPad at details today; app iPad WORLD’s Download s

Visit our website—wng.org—for breaking news and more more and news breaking website—wng.org—for our Visit a Listen to WORLD on the radio at worldandeverything.com at radio the on WORLD to Listen Youngsteadt very Carolina hero of how about real placed of ectively fast the State ser-

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Follow us on Twitter: @WORLD_mag Twitter: on us Follow  Beaten the victim at gunpoint gunpoint at victim the and fl and when foot on ee the teens then forced forced then teens the steal a car on Nov. 30 30 Nov. on acar steal before being stymied stymied being before victim. Police say the the say Police victim. police initiated apur- initiated police drove toward apark- toward drove to show them how to to how them show to medical school as he he as school medical was insuff icient, and and insuffwas icient, attacked afi attacked rst-year abandon the vehicle vehicle the abandon But the quick lesson lesson quick the But aggravated robbery robbery aggravated teens attempting to to attempting teens keys and attempted attempted and keys According to police, police, to According then took the man’s man’s the took then apartment. The pair pair The apartment. by the car’s manual manual car’s the by suit. Both suspects suspects Both suit. and manual shifter. shifter. manual and Follow us on Facebook on us Follow 15- and 17-year-old 17-year-old and 15- found they needed needed they found operate the clutch clutch the operate alleged carjackers alleged carjackers to steal his vehicle vehicle his steal to student at a local alocal at student were arrested on on arrested were A pair of Houston Houston of A pair the teens had to to had teens the help—from their their help—from ing space at his his at space ing a transmission. transmission. stick charges. by 12/10/14 10:16AM

ILLUSTRATION: KRIEG BARRIE • QUEZADA: HANDOUT • APPLE: AMETE/ISTOCK • SOUTH KOREA: KIM JAE-MYUNG/AFP/GETTY IMAGES • MANUAL SHIFTER: MILOSLUZ/ISTOCK SHIFTER: MANUAL • IMAGES JAE-MYUNG/AFP/GETTY KIM KOREA: SOUTH • AMETE/ISTOCK APPLE: • HANDOUT QUEZADA: • BARRIE KRIEG ILLUSTRATION:

MICHAELIS: GEOFF PUGH/REX/NEWSCOM • PETERBOROUGH: CLIFFORD SKARSTEDT/PETERBOROUGH EXAMINER/QMI AGENCY • JERNIGAN: JON MEOLI/BALTIMORE SUN/TNS/LANDOV • ILLUSTRATION: KRIEG BARRIE ILLUSTRATION: KRIEG BARRIE • QUEZADA: HANDOUT • APPLE: AMETE/ISTOCK • SOUTH KOREA: KIM JAE-MYUNG/AFP/GETTY IMAGES • MANUAL SHIFTER: MILOSLUZ/ISTOCK SHIFTER: MANUAL • IMAGES JAE-MYUNG/AFP/GETTY KIM KOREA: SOUTH • AMETE/ISTOCK APPLE: • HANDOUT QUEZADA: • BARRIE KRIEG ILLUSTRATION:

26 QUICK TAKES.indd 21 MICHAELIS: GEOFF PUGH/REX/NEWSCOM • PETERBOROUGH: CLIFFORD SKARSTEDT/PETERBOROUGH EXAMINER/QMI AGENCY • JERNIGAN: JON MEOLI/BALTIMORE SUN/TNS/LANDOV • ILLUSTRATION: KRIEG BARRIE Floridian was playing in the snow— g same.” the tastes it so together it blend to how exactly know “We News. Sky told he taste,” changing always it’s gets—so it rain and sunshine of amount the on depending change will wine, fl like “Tea, varying avors. produce crops as even consistent remains that ablend produce can company the that so teas of avariety taste to Michaelis entrusts Tetley Sebastian on policy insurance an purchased recently manufacturer tea British The tester? off taste Tetley’s tea is icial valuable How A never seen snow in person before, before, person in snow seen never Jernigan couldn’t resist putting off putting resist couldn’t Jernigan on Nov. 26. The 22-year-old native native 22-year-old The 26. Nov. on Harbaugh told told Harbaugh for the fi rst time in his life. Having Having fi life. his the in for time rst Jernigan Baltimore Ravens rookie Timmy rookie Ravens Baltimore Visit our website—wng.org—for breaking news and more more and news breaking website—wng.org—for our Visit for being late to a team meeting meeting ateam to late being for the Ravens practice fi a with practice eld Ravens the matter meeting to build a snowman on on asnowman build to meeting John Harbaugh seemed to take take to seemed Harbaugh John enjoy it. He was like a little kid.” alittle like was He it. enjoy team employee. Ravens coach coach Ravens employee. team the tardiness in stride. “It’s all all “It’s stride. in tardiness the “It was just fun watching him him watching fun just was “It Snow good, he had a fun time,” time,” afun had he good, Michaelis had an unusual excuse excuse unusual an had The Baltimore Sun Baltimore The rookie of ’ taste buds for more than $1.5 million. million. $1.5 than more for buds ’ taste taste .

petition for a return to the normal, friendly morning routine. morning friendly normal, the to areturn for petition to hall city at gathered families of group asmall 28, Nov. on But safety. student protect to made was move off the say City icials practice. the end to quickly, children with pleasantries high-fi exchange used to ves who guards, crossing Off Peterborough’s specifi told icials cally streets. crossing students with contact physical any make longer no could they that guards crossing city’s the off informed city year, icials this Earlier guard. crossing ahigh-fi afriendly from ve Ontario: Peterborough, in schoolchildren many of routine morning the from missing now thing’s One Slapped down without the purse. purse. the the without without fi fithe the fl fl and and ght ght ed ed up up gave gave abruptly abruptly who who thief, thief, the the on on vomited vomited woman woman the the struggle, struggle, the During purse. purse. her her steal steal to to attempted attempted and and car car another another against against woman woman the shoved thief thief the the Then Then Ga. Ga. Athens, Athens, in in amall amall outside outside car car her her to to walking walking was was she she as as woman woman unnamed unnamed the the struck struck assailant assailant amasked 29, Nov. On snatcher. apurse escape to vomit awell-timed employed woman A Georgia The best DECEMBER 27, 2014 2014 27, DECEMBER defense ... WORLD WORLD 12/10/14 10:17AM

21 JANIE B. CHEANEY religions, for instance—ignore the most convincing evidence of all for the existence of Christ, and that is the existence of Christians. The Roman Empire teemed with cults, philosophies, and mystery religions; they came and went and left intriguing tracks for skeptical scholars to follow up centuries later. Some of these produced quiet, moral individuals whose Myth makers main purpose was stoically to endure. Some Scholars who doubt Jesus’ existence follow produced fanatics who threw themselves into martyrdom or zealots who were dragged to standard conspiracy theory procedure crosses. Some produced shamans who practiced occult rituals to influence the gods. Was Jesus a historical myth or mythic Christianity pulled together all R history? The traditional view among skep- these spiritual impulses, the wild tics is that a man named Jesus appeared in the and the calculated, and tamed them. early first century, became the central figure of a It produced quiet, moral individuals religious cult, and was executed for insurrection, who went willingly to martyrdom after which His followers spread the rumor that and practiced “occult” rituals, not to He had come back to life. The “historical Jesus,” influence their God, but to become according to this theory, was the victim as more like Him. much as the inspiration of a great hoax. And they were everywhere. By Lately, though, some scholars are becoming the end of the first century, more vocal about their belief that no such Christianity had infiltrated every person walked the earth. “5 reasons to suspect rank of society and almost every Jesus never existed” appeared in Salon last province of the empire. They were month, highlighting their work. The writer of Skeptics who mistrusted, they were misrepresented, they the article boils the argument down to five endured waves of spectacular persecution, and main reasons: (1) the lack of contemporary nitpick evi- every year there were more of them. The faith secular references to Jesus, (2) the puzzling dence ignore offered clear advantages to the lowly, but also failure of the earliest Christian writers (such as the most attracted members of the imperial family. And Paul and Peter) to mention any details of His it spread and spread, like ripples in a pond, early life, like His virgin birth, (3) the lack of convincing slowly raising humanity and leavening the authorial attribution in the Gospels, (4) the evidence of culture with its central message of pardon and many contradictions in the Gospels, and (5) the all for the forgiveness in Christ. Jesus was the stone wildly conflicting views of the “historical Jesus” dropped into the pond. that scholars claim to have found. existence of Imagining creation without a Creator leaves Evidence like this is neither new nor espe- Christ, and a hole in the universe that science has not been cially convincing to a Christian, and some points that is the able to close. Imagining Christianity without made in the article are flatly untrue. “Even the Christ leaves a hole in history that scholars can’t New Testament stories don’t claim to be first- existence of explain away. God doesn’t seem interested in hand accounts”? John would disagree (John Christians. forestalling their arguments with extra-biblical 19:35; 21:24; 1 John 1:1); so would Luke (Luke documentation; we have plenty, and the story is 1:1-3) and Peter (2 Peter 1:18). The Gospels “The Preaching of still unwinding. Luke the physician concludes contradict each other? On some details they St. Stephen,” fresco his account of the church’s beginnings with no painting by Fra Angelico appear to, but the story they tell is remarkably conclusion—he passes the story, like a flaming consistent. As for competing views of the his- torch, to the second generation of Christians, torical Jesus—the fable of the blind men and the who will hand it off to the third, and the fourth, elephant illustrates how such a thing could be. and on down through time.

These arguments follow standard conspiracy Christians: Some would be persecutors and D uncan theory procedure: Bypass the obvious, focus destroyers (and perhaps not Christians at all). But

more would be builders, affirmers, reformers, P

on the obscure, and stitch together the pieces .

that support the thesis. Skeptics who nitpick healers, teachers, and proclaimers, powered by alker/ evidence—the appearance of trinities or the Spirit of God. If you believe it, you know it. i s

crucified-and-resurrected gods in other And that’s enough. A tock

22 WORLD december 27, 2014  [email protected]  @jbcheaney

26 CHEANEY.indd 22 12/4/14 2:50 PM 12/4/14 2:28 PM 26 CHEANEY.indd 23

35044802/istock 26 MOVIES &TV.indd 24 For graduation rates, the median debt of students who completed the program and other important info visit on.bju.edu/rates. (15609) 9/13 See whattheyhavetosay documentary tellstheirstory. Earlier thisyear ourstudentsgrabbed theircameras andstartedrecording. Theresulting 13-minute sayingWhat aboutLife students at are BoBjonesuniversity? CMYK www. lifeat bju.com 12/8/14 10:27AM

CREDIT 26 MOVIES &TV.indd 25 Universal Pictures R p h moments of before watching thefilm. is toknow Christian LouieZamperini— War able —a movie abouttheremark- ama L Unspoken MOVIE o of h art im was most e said the Indeed, theopening u life of IIhero, anddevoted the war The best way is Zam z ing sto Olympian, World the whole story Unbroken— epic is life p erini bi toabsorb Unbroken b ry

Jamie o t leave p story.” identify book based onthebest-selling description: “partof New Yorkstill toppingThe Zamperini’s life in abook captured thearc of story.” ic tells Hillenbrand masterfully Dean by Perhaps abetter p Laura Hillenbrand— themovie as“atrue s o ortant an u CULTURE t what

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nudity mild language, andbrief for rating war. (The filmearnsaPG-13 Olympics andthehorror experiences theglory of fully Jolie—faith- actress Angelina Japanese prisoncamps. years of Pacific Ocean,andtwo raft intheshark-infested plane crash, 47 hero: Zamperinisurvived a Worldbecomes War runner story years after Times bestseller Zamperini’s life, ashe The film—directed by depictsthefirst two acts traces anOlympic inaprisoncamp.) from California who brutalabusein wartime violence, itsdebut. The days ona listfour &TV MOVIES of II the

a DECEMBER

O’Connell California reuniting his with family Zamperini ends with survives, andthemovie The soldier guard known as“The Bird.” ment of under isn’t portrayed inthefilm: begins. crucial partof movie ends where themost died inJuly after postscript abouthislife unknown actor portrayed by

BOOKS What happenednext But for Zamperini—powerfully

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MUSIC

12/10/14 10:42AM

25 in

CULTURE MOVIES & TV

After returning from war, The movie’s postscript Zamperini spiraled into says Zamperini credited his severe post-traumatic stress decision to serve God as syndrome, and turned to saving his life, and that his alcohol for relief. He bitterly faith motivated him to dreamed of returning to forgive his captors. But it Japan to murder “The Bird.” doesn’t mention the In 1949, he reluctantly Christian commitment attended a Billy Graham Zamperini championed. crusade in Los Angeles with In a press conference his wife. after a screening in New Hillenbrand found the York City, Jolie said she sermon Graham preached couldn’t include every part that evening, and included of Zamperini’s life in the the scene in her book. film, and she rebuffed the MOVIE Graham preached: “Here suggestion she made his tonight, there’s a drowning faith generic: “I don’t think man, a drowning boy, a it’s generic at all. I think it’s Mr. Turner drowning girl that is lost out universal.” Jolie conceded Mr. Turner, written The film could have in the sea of life.” the movie is “not specific to R and directed by Mike been cut by an hour and Leigh, is not so much a film still made sense. Lead A stricken Zamperini one faith” but said Zamperini as it is a moving painting. actor Timothy Spall does returned the next night, and “wanted the message to Lingering wide-angle shots the best he can with the Graham again preached the reach everyone.” bathe Dutch windmills and lengthy script to turn gospel of salvation from sin Zamperini did want the ships in sunlight. People Turner into an empathetic, through faith in Christ. message of salvation in seem insignificant in these if crass, character. Zamperini and his wife Christ to reach as many peo- landscapes—when they Perhaps the saddest embraced the gospel. ple as possible. (He told me appear at all. part of the film is Turner’s His conversion trans- that during an interview in This is fitting for a self-isolation. Painting is formed him. 2011.) But while the gospel biopic about eccentric usually a solitary pursuit, Zamperini turned from offer is universal, the gospel landscape painter J.M.W. but Turner takes this to an depression and alcohol to message is a call to faith in Turner. An ancestor of extreme. He has no real Christ alone for salvation. modern abstract artists, friends. He would rather During my interview with Turner shocked his travel alone with an artist ’s portfolio tucked Zamperini in 2011, he said Victorian audiences with indistinct paintings of sea- under his arm than risk he was thrilled Hillenbrand scapes and snowstorms. vulnerability. He even included his Christian con- With its convoluted isolates himself from God: version in her account of his romances and indulgent When a doctor tells Turner life: “There wouldn’t be a style, this film will shock that he will die of a heart book without it.” And when modern audiences, as well. condition, the artist says, Fea Focus Turner: Mr. he remembered the best day Mr. Turner doesn’t have “So I’ll become a of his life, he didn’t mention much of a plot: Turner inter- nonentity.” his liberation from war. mittently paints and spends One Scottish woman Instead, he said, “It was the the rest of the 2½-hour tells Turner that his paintings make viewers see the day I came to Christ.” runtime pursuing women. t ures • jol ures It seems clear Jolie has a The real-life Turner had chaos in the universe. Jolie and O’Connell twisted relationships, to According to Leigh’s script,

deep admiration and affec- x o art makes sense and & ie

say the least. He denied his F

tion for Zamperini, and y r O

two daughters and refused beauty out of a cruel and u ’ t Christian faith and service. wanted to tell his story care- C onnell n

to support their mother, meaningless world. But e He forgave his captors, fully. In many ways, she did. and he took a seaside hotel perhaps both life and art do C :

returned to Japan, and wrote But by omitting his Christian U owner as his mistress. The have ultimate meaning. tieth nivers a moving letter to “The Bird,” faith, the filmmaker didn’t n film focuses on these Perhaps the light in we n/T telling his tormenter: “I also just miss one part of his life. aspects and also invents a Turner’s paintings symbol- Pic al

forgave you and now would She missed the real reason lecherous dalliance with izes a deeper yearning for row B t y hope that you would also Zamperini was ultimately Turner’s maid, earning its R an eternal light and truth. ures err

become a Christian.” unbroken. A rating for sexual content. —by Rikki Elizabeth Stinnette K

26 WORLD DECEMBER 27, 2014 See all our movie reviews at wng.org/movies

26 MOVIES & TV.indd 26 12/10/14 10:44 AM MOVIE Exodus: Gods and Kings Exodus: Gods and R Kings director Ridley Scott introduced his movie at its New York premiere by saying it was “the biggest movie I have made.” “Big” is the best description of the fi lm–minimal theology, but big, big visuals. Christians are going to fi nd various faults and tex- the cruelty of Pharaoh (Joel Bale as Moses (above); tual departures with Scott’s Edgerton) to the Hebrews, so Edgerton as Pharaoh interpretation of Exodus, just the audience understands and Golshifteh Farahani as his wife. as they did with Darren why God would send such Aronofsky’s Noah. For one, horrifi c plagues. there’s the tiniest hint that “I’m going from what is his face, Bale said Moses the plagues could have natu- the basis of reality, not has to come across a little “How would you have ral causes. But is that any fantasy,” Scott told me. “This mad from his divine encoun- represented God?” Bale denial of God’s power? “The is not Harry Potter.” ters: “Otherwise it trivializes responded when I asked LORD drove the sea back by a Bale said while modern a direct communication with about the child. “If you’re put strong east wind all night,” scholars debate the historic- God.” in Ridley’s shoes, it’s an says Exodus 14:21. ity of the Exodus account, he Have you read Exodus immensely diff icult thing. My chief textual com- and the others involved lately? It is a strange story, What on earth do you do with plaint is that the fi lm treats approached it as a real, histor- fi lled with terrifying imagery that?” the Passover, the heart of the ical event. He delivers a solid and diff icult theology, like the Artistically ambitious story, as an aside, a random performance as a Moses who idea that God hardened fi lms should do more than religious act comparable to goes from respected Egyptian Pharaoh’s heart. In the fi lm, pipe in a deep voice from the pagan practices of the general to a wild-eyed reli- Pharaoh stands in agony heaven. We know that in the Egyptians. Fortunately, gious leader. Mentioning the before Moses with his dead Old Testament God’s appear- the Exodus screenwriters veil Moses had to wear later son in his arms, asking how he ances, or those of other heav- used almost no dialogue from in his life to shield people could worship a God like this. enly beings, were scary. The the primary text, a tacit rec- from God’s glory refl ecting on Scott, even for ham-handed child, Malak (“messenger of ognition that this is a moments, gets at some God”), has an M. Night signifi cant adaptation. of the strangeness of Shyamalan creepiness. So MR. TURNER: FOCUS FEATURES • JOLIE & O’CONNELL: UNIVERSAL PICTURES UNIVERSAL & O’CONNELL: • JOLIE FEATURES FOCUS TURNER: MR. Scott, like Aronofsky, BOX OFFICE TOP 10 the biblical account, the kudos for creativity, even if does not profess faith, FOR THE WEEKEND OF DECEMBER 5-7 otherness of God. Malak doesn’t quite pull it off . and he handles the faith according to Box Off ice Mojo The depiction of Overall the visual eff ects elements gingerly. The God–or the young boy I are stunning. Crocodiles fi ght CAUTIONS: Quantity of sexual (S), violent fi rst half of the fi lm, (V), and foul-language (L) content on a 0-10 incorrectly thought was to the death in the Nile, lines before Moses (Christian scale, with 10 high, from kids-in-mind.com God–is an unsettling of chariots rush around the Bale) encounters God in S V L aspect of the fi lm. Only edges of a mountain, a heap the burning bush, is more `1 The Hunger Games: one line late in the fi lm of frogs tumble off Pharaoh’s confi dent storytelling. Mockingjay, Part 1* PG-13 ...... lets you know that the bed. The 3-D is superb. FOX But the atheist direc- `2 Penguins of young boy is a messen- Sometimes movies feel as if Madagascar PG ...... tor works hard to mold a ger of God and not God they have 3-D just to have

CENTURY `3 R ...... mysterious narrative Horrible Bosses 2 Himself. Scott said the 3-D. Here it enhances the `4 PG ...... into something a modern Big Hero 6 popular concept of an shots without being obtru- mind can understand. He `5 Interstellar PG-13 ...... angel, wings and all, was sive. If you can merely think partly succeeds. The `6 Dumb and Dumber To PG-13 .... too fantastical, so he of Exodus as a blockbuster, ﬁ lm, incredibly violent `7 The Theory of wanted to use a regular you’ll enjoy it. Read the book

BROWN/TWENTIETH Everything PG-13 ...... for its PG-13 rating, puts boy to be God’s messen- for the deeper, bigger story. `8 Gone Girl R ......

KERRY a magnifying glass on ger to Moses. —by Emily Belz `9 The Pyramid R...... not rated `10 Birdman* R ......

*Reviewed by WORLD DECEMBER 27, 2014 WORLD 27

26 MOVIES & TV.indd 27 12/10/14 10:45 AM CULTURE BOOKS

proposal: A constitutional amendment that What if ? would require Congress to “restrict estimated A GRAB BAG OF PROPOSED NATIONAL spending to the limits imposed by estimated tax RESOLUTIONS by Marvin Olasky revenues,” with three-fourths majorities of both houses able to waive that limit in extraordinary Lots of people states, the Court circumstances such as war. —James Buchanan R make New of the Union Year’s resolutions. would review and John R. Vile’s have the power to extraordinary circumstances on a biweekly basis to come Re-Framers: reverse ananyy such as war. Buchanan noted before leaders of the opposi- Eccentric, Visionary, Supreme Court that Congress had abused its tion for a public hour-long and Patriotic decision “relating powers under the general accounting of his policies.” Proposals to Rewrite to the rights welfare clause, so he pro- Didn’t happen then, but now the U.S. Constitution reserved to the posed any program benefi ting that the major public tests for (ABC-CLIO, ) states or to the a particular group based on candidates involve respond- shows us decades people by this “ethnicity, location, occupa- ing to questions, shouldn’t of resolutions for the nation Constitution.” tion, industry, or activity” we have them do in o ce o ered by both strong think- What about all the bal- would be disqualifi ed. what they did to get elected? ers and crackpots. anced budget proposals? This past May I proposed Proposals from the left Would we be better o if In Nobel-winning we create President’s over the years have often a proposal in the s economist James Buchanan Questions sessions in the shown the contempt for from the Council of State proposed a constitutional Senate chamber, like the democracy recently evident Governments had made it? amendment that would Prime Minister’s Questions in MIT Professor Jonathan The council proposed that the require Congress to “restrict in the House of Commons. Gruber’s crowing about United States have a “Court estimated spending to the lim- Vile’s book showed me that Obamacare deceit. In the of the Union” consisting of its imposed by estimated tax scholar/journalist Michael s, John Mertens’ The the chief justice of each state’s revenues,” with three-fourths Novak suggested the same Second Constitution for the highest court. Upon request majorities of both houses thing years ago: “The United States of America by the legislatures of fi ve able to waive that limit in president should be obliged wanted power moved from legislators to a Council for the Protection of the Environment that would phase out internal combus- SHORT STOPS Rationalist, edited by tion engines, and to a Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa’s Aspiring John Piper and David Council for Production and Adults Adrift: Tentative Transitions of College Mathis (Crossway, 2014) Distribution of Food that Graduates (University of Chicago Press, presents good essays on would outlaw fast foods with- 2014) shows, among other things, colleges C.S. Lewis by Randy out recommended health and falling down on their jobs: “Rather than pro- Alcorn, Philip Ryken, and nutritional benefi ts. viding rigorous academic experiences to pro- others. Steven Lawson’s Or how about the pro- mote undergraduate learning and character John Knox: Fearless Faith posal two years ago by formation, colleges and universities have (Christian Focus, 2014) is a Robert Hinkelman that top embraced a model that focuses on encourag- good short biography. Washington candidates be Alex Wainer’s Soul of the Dark Knight ing social engagement and sociability.” Many nominated by “established, (McFarland, 2014) gives a thorough treat- students graduate with high self-esteem but certifi ed organizations” such low understanding of reality, and that’s why ment of Batman as a mythic fi gure in comics as the National Academy of Chelsen Vicari’s Distortion (Front Line, 2014) and fi lm. Glenn Frankel’s The Searchers: The Sciences, then tested by is useful as a Millennial’s memo to other Making of an American Legend (Bloomsbury, Millennials: Don’t fall in behind the Christian 2013) is a well-researched look at what went “qualifi cations compliance left’s Pied Pipers. into the making of John Ford’s superb Western evaluators” before gaining a David Limbaugh’s Jesus on Trial (Regnery, in 1956, including the true 19th-century story place on the ballot? (Others 2014) is a solid introduction to the evidence and the relationship between Ford and John proposed a mandate that

of biblical truthfulness. The Romantic Wayne. —M.O. federal public o cials have MILLER

IQs of or higher.) A RON

28 WORLD DECEMBER 27, 2014

26 BOOKS.indd 28 12/8/14 4:17 PM 26 BOOKS.indd 29 RON MILLER wng.org/books to go reviews, and news book more see To postp FOUR OR FANTASY SCI-FI NOVELS Notable violence Cautions: power. transcendent God’s about astory tell Jeff him, before Lewis C.S. with His of cost true the and Christ of person the to readers his points author debut this religiosity, works-based and institutionalized of condemnation implicit his Through one. greatest the always not is enemy external the that warns darkness Jeff TOWERS THE the and it, in role government’s technology, new of quences ingly asurpris- and allusions biblical has novel the vignettes, of Told aseries as caricaturing. avoids Zahn author that televangelist apragmatic is story the of center moral selfi and ruthless the leading tality, immor- to apath provides also Soulminder But repaired. Sommers Dr. son, 5-year-old his of death the over grief by Driven SOULMINDER of powers the by siege under acity of fantasy ers’ moral prowess sacrifi one and dilemmas develops death cial frank Like meekest. and weakest the but power, or conclusion. sacri

long Jordan Timothy Zahn discussion a of enough fi soul-capturing those not are heroes true it, In ce. its Je eff ers protagonist. ers realize aman half even help can company, good in borne ships, action violent its with adventure, Viking-style This victory. the than worthy more often is struggle the and win heroes all not that discovering before mightily struggles Yarvi Prince kingdom. his recapture to eccentrics of crew motley a gathers slave galley turned prince former the traitors, the on revenge Vowing treachery. to it lose to only murder, father’s his after throne the takes Yarvi Prince Crippled AKING HALF It for probes emotionally write to ability Hobb’s highlights core novel’s the at ship relation- father/daughter sweet The regret. and fear, guilt, with struggle own Christian’s the experience we FitzCh confi and assassin king’s as role his from retired has Farseer FitzChivalry 50-year-old Brooding, FOOL’S eff the and family of pleasures and pains the on meditates fantasy gentle This own. our as lovely and risky, messy, as are In respond. to fails FitzChivalry but help, for calls friend old an Meanwhile, senility. of signs clear shows wife of books to allegory uses ectively damaged vile and his the At it. covet to sh himself, and superstition, time, with war ivalry’s device sins. true the grim ASSASSIN call. destiny’s masking drudgery daily of ect ethical calling. complex landscape, Joe bodies designed Abercrombie conse- to characters

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12/8/14 4:18PM 29

CULTURE Q&A

Lon Solomon From burden to blessing Serving a special needs child changed a pastor for the better by Marvin Olasky photo by Joshua Yospyn/The Washington Post/Getty Images

At Christmas we celebrate the R birth of Jesus who freely chose to come to earth to serve and save all who believe in Him. We often don’t appreciate the importance of serving others until we have no choice but to do so. That’s the experience of Lon Solomon, senior pastor at McLean Bible Church in Virginia for 34 years. He and his wife Brenda have three sons, seven grandchildren, and one daughter, Jill, whose birth and life led to the founding of Jill’s House. Did the problems with Jill begin at her birth in 1992? Everything at first seemed to be great, but then she started having seizures, and more seizures, six, eight, 10 a day. On our first Thanksgiving with her she had 19 grand mals before the turkey came out of the oven. We spent the whole weekend in the hospital. What was the cause? We now know it’s Dravet syndrome, a chromosomal aberration that leads to massive seizures and mental retardation, but doctors then did not know. Jill lost the ability to speak. No medicine worked. We didn’t sleep through the night for years because she’d have seizures in the middle of the night. A hard time, and hard for our boys, because we couldn’t keep up with their schedules and still try to keep Jill alive. How did this experience affect you? I never had that kind of suffering in my family growing up. If I saw a disabled child on the street, I’d cross to the other side. I was a pretty shallow person, and this was a very painful, very difficult, don’t-want-to-go-through-it-again, growth experience that I thank God for. I think I’m a better husband, better father, better pastor. I never used to cry, but now when parents tell me a story of their

30 WORLD DECEMBER 27, 2014

26 Q&A.indd 30 12/9/14 4:19 PM child, or even an aging loved one, I get it. God broke little with us. We have a Velcro board in the house and me down so I became more usable to Him. pictures for “Walk,” “Eat,” “Go for a van ride,” “Get the The Bible repeatedly gives us such stories. God mail”—she gets the mail every day—“Separate the always broke down people before He used them: silverware,” “Go to Target.” Moses, 40 years in the wilderness. David, seven years How did Jill’s House start? Jill was about 3 and we hiding in caves. Ruth and Naomi, losing their hus- had a meeting with parents in our situation—almost bands. God has to break us before He can use us to all moms, because a lot of dads fly the coop in these the fullest. situations. I could see in their faces that they were This suffering gospel seems the opposite of the tired, discouraged, hopeless. They needed a break. I prosperity gospel we often hear. I don’t buy into the said to Brenda, “Somebody needs to help these people!” prosperity gospel at all. God’s general plan is to provide all kinds of benefits for His children, but Paul says in Philippians 1:29 we’re privileged to share in the sufferings of Christ, because we learn ‘Lord ... You don’t say in the things through suffering that we cannot learn through success. I never saw anybody get humble Bible that serving other through success. At one point you viewed this whole experience people leads to greatness, with Jill as a curse, but now you see it as a privilege. I regarded Jill as an imposition. I don’t even know You say it is greatness.’ how the change happened—no epiphany moment—but when she was 8, 9, 10, I began to She turned and said, “If you care so much about these think, “Lord, I’m looking at this all wrong. You people, then why doesn’t McLean Bible Church do don’t say in the Bible that serving other people something to help?” leads to greatness, You say it is greatness.” Most of So the church did. We started Access Ministry, a us get to serve an infant for a short period of time, Sunday ministry to allow people with children with and then they grow up, but most of us don’t get to disabilities to come to church, and then Breakout serve someone like an infant for 22 years. I and Breakaway, Saturday ministries to give people a change her diapers. When she went through— break. Brenda’s long-term dream was to establish began having her period—can we talk about that? Jill’s House, which would provide overnight respite We can. I mean, I changed her pads and stuff. for a family: You could drop your child off after You talk about an experience—I was like, “What in school, the child would spend the night, and you’d the world is this? Holy smokes, Brenda! Come get a complete night free during the week to spend here!” Now I do it and I don’t even think about it. with the other children, to sleep, to go out with your It’s just part of serving my daughter, and I con- husband or your wife. sider it a real privilege to serve her. It took 14 years for that to happen? The county, the In that sense the experience was helpful to you neighbors, the zoning—but God had it built, and it and Brenda, and helpful to the church. But what opened its doors in 2010. Six or eight Jill’s Houses about Jill? Yes—how’s this fair to her? Those of us exist around the country. Our goal is to see a place who believe in Jesus understand there’s another like this in every community in America. The kids love side to the grave, and that God doesn’t settle all coming to the indoor pool and all kinds of activities, accounts here. If He did, it would be very depress- because these children never get to do these things. ing. Jill’s been willing to live this life that God gave It’s hard to take a child with a wheelchair to a pool by her—she doesn’t know she’s disabled, people yourself. feed, dress, bathe, ride her around. God forgive us Has it become a blessing to the whole city? Ninety for judging other people’s reality and seeing Jill as percent of the families who use it have no relation to living a bad life, but there are limitations, and I McLean Bible Church. We have Muslim, Jewish, believe God will settle up with Jill on the other atheist families, and we’re hoping to break down that side of eternity. wall of suspicion. They ask, “Why are you guys doing A video of this Suffering with Jill went on and on and on. Yes, interview this for us? We don’t come to your church.” We’ve but once Dravet sufferers get through puberty, in its entirety had the privilege of leading so many of these parents they get better. Nobody knows why. We had 16 can be found and children to Christ. A at wng.org straight years of difficulty, but then Jill’s seizures and in the —For the story of how Lon Solomon himself came to Christ, started diminishing. Today at 22 she can go a iPad edition of please go to wng.org. For information about other respite care month without a seizure, and can communicate a this issue centers, see “We were exhausted,” WORLD, Dec. 1, 2012.

 [email protected]  @MarvinOlasky DECEMBER 27, 2014 WORLD 31

26 Q&A.indd 31 12/5/14 9:00 AM CULTURE MUSIC

anything resembling heavy metal, it seeks to reconstrue Queen’s -year run as an exercise in an agnostic, romantically tinged fatalism from which even Gustav Mahler might have drawn inspiration had he been born a century later than he was. Some of Forever’s more anachronistic segues feel forced. It takes more than mellowness and existential resignation, after all, to make songs as stylistically disparate as “Lily of the Valley,” “Spread Your Wings,” “Friends Will Be Friends,” and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” feel of a piece. But on the whole the project provides a compellingly alternative narrative to the prevalent one that Queen Queen was nothing other than a pro- lifi c hit machine, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. The three-disc version of David In with the old Bowie’s Nothing Has Changed (Legacy) QUEEN COMPILATION ALBUMS WORK BETTER THAN THE attempts to do a similar favor for its sub- BEST AND THE REST OF DAVID BOWIE by Arsenio Orteza ject. But by including an overgenerous tracks (practically every Bowie single) and programming them in reverse Despite the continued decline of inclination that opened them and their chronological order, all that the compilers R music sales, best-ofs and box sets audiences to a broader-than-usual array have managed to achieve is a gimmicky by “classic” bands and performers of infl uences, what with the “play” being Benjamin Button e ect while sandwiching continue to proliferate. the thing and all. hits from Bowie’s golden years between Some of the releases signal obvious Admittedly, is an unusual year selections from his dud-strewn last commercial desperation, so often have for Queen to be the subject of archival three decades and fi rst half-decade, their contents been recycled and repack- releases in that the group essentially respectively. aged over the years (Universal’s The Who came to an end years ago with the Some of the duds deserve a second Hits !). And some of it is simply beside AIDs-related death of its iconic frontman chance (the three cuts from ’s the point, bundling portions of an artist’s Freddie Mercury. Yet, from the two-disc- never-released Toy, for instance, and long-available output without adding plus DVD Live at the Rainbow ’ to the “Seven” from ’s ‘Hours …’). But the much in the way of perquisites (George historically revisionist, two-disc edition sole new recording, “Sue (Or in a Season Harrison’s The Apple Years [CMG], Bruce of the career-spanning compilation of Crime),” which veers dangerously Springsteen’s The Album Collection Vol. Forever (both Hollywood), the quartet’s close to the semi-operatic pretensions of - [Legacy]). singularity has never been easier to Scott Walker, is not among them. And But in at least two cases, Queen and appreciate. ultimately the ratio of misses to hits will David Bowie, the powers that be have Live at the Rainbow ’ proves that, try fans’ patience, making them wish shown an imagination that makes the long before Queen had a slew of hits on they’d remained content with Rykodisc’s collections they’ve come up with worth which to fall back amid expensive light defi nitive hits-and-nothing-but MICHAEL assessing on their own merits or lacks rigs and dry ice, the quartet could hold its compilation Changesbowie. A thereof. own as a no-frills, borderline-heavy-metal PUTLAND/GETTY Queen and Bowie will be fused in pop act on the small stage without losing music’s collective memory if only sight of its capacity for mythological because of their collaboration on the fl ights of fancy.

hit “Under Pressure.” They did, how- Forever is both more redundant and IMAGES ever, have something else in common: more ambitious. Omitting the band’s

namely, a particularly British theatrical signature “Bohemian Rhapsody” and HANDOUT

32 WORLD DECEMBER 27, 2014  [email protected]  @ArsenioOrteza

26 MUSIC.indd 32 12/9/14 1:13 PM

IMAGES PUTLAND/GETTY MICHAEL

26 MUSIC.indd 33 HANDOUT wng.org/music to go reviews, and news music more see To breath. last his draws man great a many doubt no which with bittersweetness the evoking thus one, “completed” CLASSICAL Notable Petites and suite title Shostakovich seven-movement the That cases). both in (plenty fl they as much as compositions the fl she assembled, was program her which with care the or talent precocious her it’s whether And 9. turned she before just selections 26 these recording began prodigy piano Chinese this 10, of all Now DOLLS THE OF DANCES see. to museums visit to have don’t you internet, the to thanks that, paintings intense spiritually equally to soundtrack intense spiritually a result: The time. their of style polyphonic pella, acap- the in them record and inspiring, found and heard likely would’ve he that music of Spanish and fi title, the in subjects religious (mainly) of painter Spanish 17th-century afamous Namecheck Nevel: Van Renaissance The ZURBARÁN DE OREJA LA either. dullsville exactly aren’t Chopin and Liszt, Mozart, her And sparkle. them make Wang does brightly so itself, suggest even doesn’t children by latest Latin in examples religious (mainly) eight nd Piéces strategy vocal Infantines ALBUMS ensemble f ollowed played be to intended were Serena Poule by and Paul Van Nevel Ensemble; Huelgas CDs this

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12/9/14 10:38AM

MINDY BELZ worth pausing to give thanks for and learn from. There’s the day-by-day informative—as when my credit card company emails to question an unusual charge—and there’s the sublime. A few months ago William Murray, chairman of the Religious Freedom Coalition, emailed to ask about aid groups working with Syrian refugees. He learned I was traveling in Lebanon from This hyper- Globe Trot (a three-times-a-week tonic of foreign news you can receive by email if you contact me) and wanted to know more about the refugees connected world there. I put him in touch with a group working What’s to be done with that email backlog? through churches in Bekaa Valley. Months later, without anyone ever being together in the same room, Murray’s coalition has The mail icon on my phone glares at me. been able to arrange 1,000 R On any given day it says I have more than Christmas dinners for refugee 10,000 emails. Try as I might, I don’t expect in children in Lebanon. He my lifetime to conquer the backlog. Among the traveled there this month to offers of “Unique Opportunity!” “Last Chance!” host the first of 10 dinners and “Eat Bacon, Reverse Diabetes” are surely where 100 children will have a some meaningful, and missed, gems. festive time and go home with When the year winds down and the days fill a basket of food for their more with night than light, we seek rest and time families. When the internet to focus on the Prince of Peace. Yet the throng of brings the world close— a media-saturated world and the blare of nonstop Humans are linking plenty to want—that’s good. information can seem more oppressive, more made for Facebook helped connect a Sunni Muslim with full of noisy gong and clanging cymbal than ever. an Israeli army spokesman in a remarkable effort We wade through heaps of toxic sludge. interaction. to save a storied Jewish synagogue in war-torn Elizabeth Lauten not only gave classless insult That’s what Syria. The quest, reported in The Wall Street to the president’s children, she got a speeding the age we Journal, eventually involved Israeli officials, Syrian ticket and was arrested for running a red light rebels, and New York rabbis. It failed to save a key at 19. These things we learn in bullet points live in is really landmark (the synagogue was bombed in May), and bold face on the homepage of so-called telling us. but may pave the way for something more lasting. serious news sites. Want a bigger blast? Try Scripture has plenty to say about how we #EricGarner or #CrimingWhileWhite as recent communicate, and models a variety of forms. court decisions prompted thousands into the Recounting history and waxing poetic—even streets and millions into inflamed hashtag romantic—all have their place, along with harsh comments on Facebook and Twitter. admonition and R-rated graphic details of real Toxic social media can be serious stuff. life in a fallen world. Sarcasm and humor? Earlier this month the FBI and Department of Those too. But the forms are formed and the Homeland Security issued warnings to families point is: Have a point. Speak with purpose. In of U.S. military personnel: Islamic State militants this day that might mean pausing to think what are scouring social media for Americans in uni- I hope to accomplish in 140 characters, rather form, calling on supporters to “show up [at their than simply increasing my Twitter followers. homes] and slaughter them.” Officials warned Emails that get my attention state their pur- the troops and their families to take out public pose and show someone thought enough of my

information that could make them a target. time to reread before sending them. Former Justin In it all there’s tonic too. After all, humans President Ronald Reagan insisted all memos

L e

are made for interaction. That’s what the age we crossing his desk, no matter the subject, be no w live in is really telling us. So I’m wading through more than one page. Brevity isn’t boss, but it is/sto

incoming and backlogged social interaction shows thoughtfulness. And whether you ne/getty like a Marine taking a swamp, on the lookout Facebook, Tweet, Gchat, or hit Slack, words fitly for dry ground to speed the journey. And here spoken and thoughts that connect are more to images are just a few life-giving promontories, ones treasure than ever. A

34 WORLD decembeR 27, 2014  [email protected]  @mcbelz

26 MINDY.indd 34 12/9/14 10:21 AM Writing Creative Nonfiction Taught by Professor Tilar J. Mazzeo TIME ED O T FF I E IM R L 1. Welcome to Creative Nonﬁ ction 70% 2. Finding the Story 1 O 1 3. Honoring the Nonﬁ ction Contract

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26 MINDY.indd 35 12/4/14 3:08 PM FAR AS THE CURSE IS FOUND The poverty rate remains stubbornly high 50 years—and trillions of dollars—after the federal war on poverty began, but some have learned true riches come from a source higher than government by JAMIE DEAN in Neon, Ky. PHOTO BY LUKE SHARRETT

26 COVER STORY.indd 36 12/9/14 3:36 PM FAR AS THE CURSE IS FOUND

An abandoned mine which once produced coal for the Bull Creek Coal Corporation stands across from St. Martha’s Catholic Church in Prestonsburg, Ky.

DECEMBER 27, 2014 WORLD 37

26 COVER STORY.indd 37 12/9/14 3:36 PM n a steep hill overlooking an abandoned coal mine in McDowell, Ky., a broken railroad and rusted coal chute testify to busier days in this isolated community in the mountains of eastern Kentucky. During the mine’s heyday in the 1960s, sturdy men strapped on heavy helmets with bright headlamps and descended into the earth to extract tons of black rock that powered thousands of homes and most of the state’s economy.

On a recent morning at the same site in McDowell, dozens of local residents clutched red shopping baskets and filed into the mine’s tiny office to extract a handful of donated canned goods to help them through the holiday season. The once-bustling mine is now home to God’s Appalachian Partnership (GAP)—a Christian ministry that helps residents struggling in the region’s long-depressed economy. The simple supplies won’t make a feast, but they’ll supplement food stamps most clients receive. On this morning, mothers with toddlers squeezed into a crowded hallway, carefully selecting cans of corn, jars of spaghetti sauce, and packages of ramen noodles from plastic shelves. In a room at the end of the hall, Perry Como’s voice wafted from a radio: “From now on your troubles will be out of sight.” It’s a scene far removed from a November morning in the Oval Office in 1964. President Lyndon B. Johnson had just won the national election, and he told a Democratic senator his lofty ambitions for the term ahead: “Lincoln abolished slavery, and we’re going to abolish poverty.” Fifty years later, the outcome is clear: The poor are still with us. Indeed, Johnson’s “unconditional war on poverty”—inspired partly by visits to eastern Kentucky in 1964—produced an opposite effect. Instead of providing short-term aid and bolstering local economies, some government programs produced long-term dependence and weakened working conditions. The more government gave, the less self-reliance grew. That wasn’t Johnson’s goal. The president pledged he wanted to give poverty-stricken Americans “a fair chance to develop their own capacities” and embrace “opportunity not doles.” But a critical problem emerged: Sometimes relying on the dole became the most accessible opportunity. Consider the stats: Today the federal government has at least 92 programs to help low-income Americans, including 17 food aid programs and more than 20 housing programs. Total government spending on the programs in 2012: nearly $800 billion. Since Johnson declared war on poverty in 1964, the U.S. government has spent over $22 trillion on anti-poverty programs, according to the Heritage Foundation. That’s three times the cost of all military wars in U.S. history since the American Revolution. And it doesn’t include Social Security or Medicare. The result? Today the poverty rate in America hovers at around 15 percent— about the same as when the war on poverty began. But the federal government isn’t the only big spender. In eastern Kentucky—where the poverty rate approaches 175 percent of the national rate—a host of nonprofits, church groups, and Christian ministries have poured massive amounts of money and manpower into the region. Every summer, busloads of youth groups from all over the country descend on these hills to fix roofs, patch holes, and paint houses. Often the assistance is helpful—especially to widows and the elderly—but it can also be overwhelming. In eastern Kentucky’s Owsley County—where

38 WORLD DECEMBER 27, 2014

26 COVER STORY.indd 38 12/9/14 3:38 PM government benefits account for 53 percent of the county’s President and income—one resident told The American Prospect: “I think Mrs. Johnson greet Tom we’ve been helped so much, we’re getting helped to death.” Fletcher, an The combination of high levels of poverty and govern- unemployed ment aid produces unflattering stereotypes of a region saw mill worker, once known for its backbreaking work ethic. Kevin and members of his family and Williamson of National Review recently called this part of their friends in the country “the big white ghetto,” and derided locals for Inez, Ky., in “the pills and the dope, the morning beers … the tall piles 1964 (left). The of gas-station nachos … the draw. …” distribution center for God’s But beyond easy potshots over serious problems, Appalachian another story quietly unfolds. Some families have learned Partnership. that man doesn’t live by bread alone, and that poverty isn’t a line in a checkbook. And some of those helping have learned that relationships offer something the government can’t give, and that poverty is a problem everyone faces, no matter how much money they have.

drive through eastern Kentucky’s coal mining towns reveals a region familiar with boom and bust. Since mining began here in the 1800s, many coal operations have hit it big and run their course. These days, it’s more bust than boom. For example, a drive through Neon, Ky., doesn’t take long, but this small town was once a bustling center for several surrounding coal camps. Miners came here to buy clothing and supplies, watchA a show, or eat a meal. These days, storefronts sit abandoned with piles of dusty merchandise still visible through busted windows. Cans of oil line the shelves of a long-closed auto repair shop, broken furniture clutters a closed General Electric store, and the marquee at the shuttered theater is rusting. A local library is open, but its bulletin board reveals local problems, with announcements like: “Get your GED,” “Become a foster parent,” “Payday advances,” and “Narcotics Anonymous.” In recent years, coal companies have laid off thousands of workers in this region, and unemployment has soared: In nearby Harlan County, coal jobs have fallen by 48 percent in the past three years, and the county’s unemployment rate has hit nearly 17 percent.

inez: Bettmann/Corbis/AP • gap: luke sharrett

DECEMBER 27, 2014 WORLD 39

26 COVER STORY.indd 39 12/9/14 3:38 PM 40 WORLD DECEMBER 27, 2014

26 COVER STORY.indd 40 12/9/14 3:38 PM Several factors aid the decline: Natural gas has grown popular, coal is easier to mine in other parts of the country, and regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency have grown stringent. Some folks here accuse President Barack Obama of waging a war on coal with severe federal standards. Whatever the cause, the outcome is clear: For many who stay here, jobs are hard to fi nd and ends are hard to meet. That’s a plight Tony Brown remembers. From his o ce at HOMES, Inc., a nonprofi t organization that builds and repairs homes for low-income families, Brown recalls how he fi rst came to the organization: He was a client. Brown grew up near Neon, and married young. By the time he was , he and his wife had three children and eventually cared for four others belonging to struggling family members. The family of nine lived in a former coal-camp house in desperate need of repairs. Brown met two men from HOMES who would help strengthen the foundation for his house and his life: John

‘THAT’S WHEN I HEARD THE GOOD NEWS. ... THAT IT’S ALL CHRIST’S WORK. THAT ANYTHING I DO NOW IS BECAUSE OF WHAT HE ALREADY DID. ... AND THAT WAS GREAT NEWS TO ME.’

Tony Brown Belden and Seth Long worked for the (left) and organization, and eventually helped start a Seth Long. church in Neon that Brown and his family joined. (Brown is still a member of Neon Reformed Presbyterian Church.) The men gave Brown a job at HOMES and mentored him in his Christian faith. They taught Brown he could work hard for a living, but he couldn’t earn his salvation. That was a revela- tion for Brown, who attended local churches that taught Christians could lose their salvation and work to get it back. (It’s a common teaching in this region that leads to an exhausting cycle that causes many people to stop attending church.) Belden—who went on to serve as the ﬁ rst pastor of Neon Reformed—explained God’s grace to Brown. “That’s when I heard the good news,” Brown says. “That it’s all Christ’s work. That anything I do now is because of what He already did. … And that was great news to me.” That great news helped Brown connect his faith to his job, and he began to thrive. Before HOMES hired Brown to work construction in , he says he was dependent on food stamps and welfare.

PATRICK MURPHY-RACEY/GENESIS

DECEMBER 27, 2014 WORLD 41

26 COVER STORY.indd 41 12/9/14 3:41 PM As he earned more money, his family received less government benefits. Brown says some people struggle with giving up the certainty of a government check for the uncertainty of a job, but he thrived. “I started working here at about five and a nickel an hour, but I was as happy to go to work then as I am right now,” he says. “It was a great feeling for me to have my kids see me get up and go to work everyday. It still is.” Brown knows that’s not the case for others. He knows men who are physi- cally stronger than he who won’t work because they can collect government benefits. “They are in bondage to that check,” he says. “That check is their master.” In some ways, a certain level of dependence grew even when jobs were more abundant. In the height of the coal- The God’s mining era, miners often lived in company-owned houses, Appalachian and bosses paid employees with tokens or “scrip” they could Partnership use in the company store to buy food and supplies they Christmas needed. In many camps, coal bosses even built the churches store in Minnie, Ky., and employed the ministers. stocked with Now, even traditional skills like gardening have dwindled, toys on Dec. as people have grown reliant on food stamps. And local resi- 4 (top); Neon dents say some recipients use food stamps to buy soda to sell Reformed Presbyterian or trade for cigarettes. Church on Some parents have withdrawn children from literacy Main St. in classes so the family can continue to draw Supplemental downtown Security Income for children with disabilities. Neon, Ky. Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times wrote about the phenomenon in 2012: “This is painful for a liberal to admit, but conservatives have a point when they suggest that America’s safety net can sometimes entangle people in a soul-crushing dependency.” When it comes to help from local organizations, HOMES does require clients to participate in their home repairs, but some groups don’t make such requirements. Executive director Seth Long says some residents turn down help from HOMES, saying, “I want the free work.” That makes helping people on a deeper level more difficult. “It’s like there are so many resources, it’s hard to minister,” says Long. “Entrenching people in the entitlement mentality can happen even when people come to help.” Other clients receive help after working for many years, and then facing difficult circumstances. Pat Hubbard—once a board member at HOMES—worked at a hospital for decades and supported two children as a single mom before she suffered a heart attack. After she lost a leg to medical complica- tions, HOMES helped make her house more accessible. She’s grateful for the service, and says it helps her continue to serve her own community. She remains active in her local church, where she plays an organ modified for her disability. She’s discouraged by problems she’s seen grow in the region over the decades, but points to deeper roots: “It’s a moral decline for lack of spiritual instruction.” Belden—the former pastor of Neon Reformed—learned that spiritual instruction wasn’t always easy to provide. Even after working at HOMES for several years, he found it was difficult to gain the trust of locals wary of outsiders. Some of the wariness comes from the perception that outsiders bring a savior complex to Kentucky. Belden says he saw this mentality in some church groups that traveled from far away to volunteer for a week: “We’re the ones that have it all together. We’re the ones who are going to fix eastern

gap: luke sharrett • neon: Patrick Murphy-Racey/Genesis

42 WORLD DECEMBER 27, 2014

26 COVER STORY.indd 42 12/9/14 3:38 PM Kentucky.” Some church groups were even disappointed if residents weren’t as destitute as they expected. Belden resigned from the Neon church after nine years of exhausting work as a pastor. He left burned out and weary. But looking back, he says seeing his own weakness has made him realize he’s as needy as the people he served—a humbling lesson anyone trying to help others should learn. “I think God was trying to tell us, ‘You’re not any di erent,’” says Belden. “You do have something to give, but you need it just as much as they do.”

ack in McDowell, Ky., the sta at God’s Appalachian Partnership (GAP) has a similar mindset. Sta members at the Southern Baptist ministry o er a food pantry to local residents on Tuesdays and a distribution of toys for children at Christmas, but they also talk to clients about spiritual needs. (As clients come in for their assigned distribution day once a month, they receive food items based on their level of need.) BOn a recent Tuesday morning, sta member Kathy Henson met with Shirley Smith, a client who has been coming to the ministry for more than years. Smith, , is the guardian for fi ve grandchildren ages to . Her income is around $ a month. Smith asks for prayer for a son struggling with drug addiction. But she also expresses excitement about recently joining a local church. Henson asks her, “That means you have a relationship with Jesus, right?” Smith answers, “I know that He walks with me.” Director John Morris—who grew up in nearby Hazard— says the work requires patience and helping people learn how to manage the limited resources they do have. It’s often bewildering, he says, when he realizes it’s more eco- nomically viable for a client to stay on welfare than to drive a long distance to fi nd a low-paying job. Sometimes help begins with small steps: Helping clients develop a budget that shows how much they could save if they cut out soda or cigarettes. Cooking classes to show how they can prepare low-cost, healthy meals. Finance classes with games that help teach basic budgeting principles. The small steps can lead to bigger changes over time, as clients examine both material and spiritual needs. “They are constantly being told they’re poor,” says Morris. “They develop a hopelessness. … We tell them the hope of Jesus is the only hope we have of our lives being transformed.” Henson says she knows clients are beginning to change when they talk about how much God has blessed them. She tears up when she recalls a client who recently came in for food and donated a handful of change to the ministry. “I didn’t even know what to do with it,” says Henson. “It was like the widow’s mite.” Five decades after President Johnson vowed to end poverty, it’s helpful to remember Jesus’ commendation of the widow who was generous, though poor. The story is a reminder of the dignity of those who are thankful for what they have, and a motivation to continue to extend help to those in need, with help that goes beyond material needs. It’s also cause for celebrating a Savior who became poor—and who still comes to make his blessings fl ow as far as the curse is found. A

 [email protected]  @deanworldmag DECEMBER 27, 2014 WORLD 43

26 COVER STORY.indd 43 12/9/14 3:38 PM A nation at risk Extreme poverty, dependency, and distrust plague the Navajo Nation, and secular solutions aren’t working by Sophia Lee in Chinle, Ariz. Photo by Robert Alexander/Archive Photos/Getty Images

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26 NAVAJOS.indd 44 12/9/14 3:28 PM A nation at risk cloudless Monday morning in the complaints: A Vietnam veteran asked for a new veterans home ON A HOT, heart of the Navajo reservation, so veterans won’t have to go to o -reservation cities. Several women wearing traditional turquoise jewelry and men with elderly members requested a senior citizen center and more silver-buckled belts and cowboy hats gathered at a community nursing homes. Parents worry about insu cient college schol- center. All came determined to have their voices heard. arships, lack of Navajo language programs, and inadequate The Navajo Nation had just settled a historic lawsuit against Wi-Fi connection. The Navajo Technical University needs more the U.S. government for mismanaging the reservation’s funds and full-time professors and a new campus. natural resources. The government agreed to pay $ million— Many fear that the $ million would disappear into the the largest settlement ever granted to an American Indian tribe. pockets of tribal o cials. One woman met applause and cheers This meeting in Chinle, Ariz., one of Navajo chapters, was when she shouted, “Why are we always denied? I think we should the fi rst public hearing on what to do with the money. have the settlement paid out per capita, that’s what I say. And Some people were so eager that they drove miles to what land did we have to give up to get that money?” A local o - attend the hearing. Rows of pickup trucks with mud-crusted cial quickly explained that no Navajo land had been bargained, wheels fi lled the parking lot and stayed till sundown as the but the thundercloud of distrust and anger continued to storm. meeting dragged on for more than six hours. As people listed Distrust is a constant theme in Navajo history. After centuries the desperate needs of the community, voices rose and emotions of long-su ering domination, exploitation, and abuse from churned. It quickly became clear that $ million wasn’t Spanish Conquistadors, Pueblo tribes, the U.S. government, and enough to alleviate the nation’s extreme depth of poverty. mineral corporations, distrust is etched into the Navajo psyche. The Navajo Nation is America’s largest Indian American But the recent exposures of corruption among Navajo o cials reservation, comparable in size to West Virginia. Most of the have redirected Navajo resentment toward their own leaders. , Navajos or Dinè (“The People”) still live on the reserva- In , for example, Navajo council delegates voted - tion, which straddles striking terrains of northeastern Arizona, to divvy $ , from an emergency fund to buy gold rings New Mexico, and Utah, from rolling gold-and-amber plains to for themselves, brazenly tacking it as an amendment onto a craggy red canyons. Its people, however, are trapped in third- measure that provides funding for summer youth employment. world levels of poverty: acute material In , a federal audit accused the Navajo Department of Richardson’s Trading needs, poor infrastructure, and a Workforce Development of mismanaging $. million in Company & Cash vicious cycle of injustice and violence. federal funds for a job-training program, while letting $. Pawn on Route 66 Today, many Navajo families million sit unused even as thousands of prospective applicants has served area depend on unstable low-pay work and waited for assistance. Native Americans and catered to chronic public assistance. About Other common misdeeds include siphoning cushy jobs for collectors of Navajo percent are unemployed, and over one- family and friends, taking lavish “business” trips and “training” rugs, jewelry, and third are considered “severely poor.” conferences in Las Vegas or Hawaii, slush funds, and bribery. other Indian arts The per capita income among Navajos (Several Navajo o cials did not respond to requests for inter- since 1913. is about $,, compared to the views for this story.) In , irate voters approved a ballot ini- national $,. Today , fami- tiative to reduce the legislative branch from delegates to . lies still lack electricity, and , homes lack running water. But the people still see their government as betrayers of hard- During my time among the Navajos, I frequently heard the earned sovereignty—and much of their bitterness is rooted in word self-determination as a long-term policy in eradicating pov- history. erty. But without a clear defi nition on what “self-determination” means, questions about its implementation remain: Are the years ago, the Navajos truly weaning themselves o federal assistance? Can TWO HUNDRED Navajos were the Navajo government reform itself? Would Navajos distin- pastoral, matrilineal clans loosely connected through common guish positive aspects of their cultural history from blatant culture and language. They tended sheep, wove rugs and blan- idolatry? Are Christian missions doing life-changing gospel kets, and lived in hogans—small round houses packed with work instead of social work? earth or stone. Other than disparate groups appointing their own headmen, the Navajos had no unifi ed representative body. hearing in Chinle gave me a Then in , oil was discovered on their land, and the U.S. THE PUBLIC good sense of the dire straits government needed representatives to grant access. So in in Navajoland, as individuals stepped up with requests and federal o cials formed the fi rst version of the Navajo Tribal

DECEMBER 27, 2014 WORLD 45

26 NAVAJOS.indd 45 12/9/14 4:32 PM Council by hand-selecting—without Navajo consultation—24 delegates who best demonstrated “Westernized” values. That’s not the only time the U.S. government micromanaged Indian life. Way before FDR or LBJ, American Indians were America’s first welfare project. The federal government promised subsidies and benefits in exchange for land, often short- sticking the Indians or outright violating treaty terms. Today, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) reach deep into all Indian tribes—while at the same time spending $2.6 billion annually in taxpayer funds to fund and oversee various federal programs on Indian tribal lands. Meanwhile, Navajo leaders signed away their oil, uranium, coal, natural gas, and water rights, and by 1958, 93 percent of Navajo revenue came from extractive industries. This created thousands of temporary jobs and contributed millions annually to government coffers, but came at a bitter cost for the Navajos who endured forced removals from homelands, health issues, and polluted air and waters. `1 From 1944 to 1989, Navajo uranium miners returned home coated with uranium dust, which poisoned not just themselves but their wives and children. Neither the U.S. government nor mining companies had warned them about the known risks or even created safety precautions. More than 1,000 Navajos died from lung cancer or other radon-exposure-attributed illnesses, and local residents still suffer from lingering contamination and abandoned mill sites.

drive through the reservation A SIMPLE reveals the many cracks that bog down economic development. Most obvious are the unpaved roads—rock-ribbed dirt that oozes mud and slime when it rains or snows—and the rural isolation: You can drive miles without seeing anyone, except a lone trailer or two, or a tiny cluster of dilapidated single-unit homes and modern-day hogans. But the greatest economic roadblock is land: Like a socialist country, the majority of reservation land is held communally, which means nobody really owns the land. Without secure prop- erty rights, Navajos cannot build or pass on their wealth, and `2 business sites cannot sprout organically. In addition, the small percentage of individually allotted land became so fractionated over the years that hundreds of individuals now claim ownership over one parcel of land. A developer interested in leasing the land has to negotiate with too many people for conclusive consent. In one town, I found three elementary schools, a high school, and a junior high school squeezed into a single block. Turns out, that was the only piece of land that the Unified School

District could procure because of land constraints. Likewise, Pat Carter/a J. 1: opening a dry-cleaning shop in Navajoland can require up to five years of waiting for the same governmental approvals that would take only a few days in a nonreservation area.

Unsurprisingly, all this red tape discourages potential inves- p tors, entrepreneurship, and job creation. • rema

Meanwhile, the youngest and brightest Navajos are slipping ining away. Local educators find themselves in a Catch-22 situation: p They provide cheap tuition, federal grants, and scholarships, hoto

only to have students leave the reservation with their knowledge s: S o

and skills because of a lack of jobs. p hia Le hia I sensed a certain collective weariness among the 15 young `3 men and women I met at a GED class in Twin Lakes, N.M. Many e

46 WORLD DECEMBER 27, 2014

26 NAVAJOS.indd 46 12/9/14 3:29 PM of the students are young, unmarried parents who dropped out of high school because of financial issues, family problems, or negative lifestyles such as gang activities or substance abuse. When I asked about their dreams, they all answered guiltily: to leave the reservation and find a better life. “I know we’re sup- posed to stay and help our people,” one student said, sighing. “But there’s nothing here for us.” Aaron Sandovar, at 44 the oldest, said he’s stuck at the reservation because no able body stayed to take care of older family members and livestock. Sandovar started working when he was 15, learning to till the field, plant corn and melon, and tend the sheep. But he also remembers growing up without shoes and crawling into bed with an empty stomach. “Guess what—people are still living like that today,” he said, and he blamed the younger generation’s “mentality and attitude of demanding” for the status quo: “We’re always dependent on somebody.” It’s a shared sentiment among many Navajos who worry that future generations may never shake off that long, strained 4 addiction to dependency. The Navajos once taught strong t’àà ` hwò àj’t èego, or self-reliance, fiercely resisting government welfare at first. Today many able-bodied, intelligent young Navajos (1) Shiprock Mountain off Navajo Highway 13. (2) Navajo kids at a Navajo church in Blue Gap, Ariz. (3) The public hearing at Chinle are living on welfare because their parents and grandparents Community Center in Chinle, Ariz. (4) Robert Tso and his wife Rose did, and they don’t plan to stop. at the Navajo Ministries’ Vertical Radio station in Farmington, New Mexico. (5) One of the many hogans in Blue Gap, Ariz. condition in the reservation, it (6) Navajos worshipping at Blue Gap United Methodist Church at a Saturday all-day service. GIVEN THE would be disastrous to cut off federal monies without a well-formed, long-term plan to reform Navajos’ legal and economic environment. Previous federal and missionary efforts to “assimilate” and “civilize” the Indians failed with devastating reverberations. In the past several decades, however, long-term policy has shifted toward Indian self-determination. In 1975, Congress passed the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, which authorized Indian tribes to manage federal-funded programs such as healthcare and education. Most Navajos have embraced the concept and are gradually whittling it to fit Dinè culture and values. One example is Tsèhootsooì Medical Center (TMC) in Fort Defiance, Ariz., which recently transitioned from a federal Indian Health Service facility into a tribal operation. “Everything’s going to change,” said marketing and public relations director Ira Vandever. “We’re now at the same level as the `5 federal government. We’re no longer seen as conquered people, expected to act accordingly to our ‘great white father.’” The day I met Vandever, he was wearing moccasins, a stud- ded leather belt, and silver-and-turquoise necklace, bracelet

1: J. Pat Carter/a J. 1: and rings—all of which he crafted himself. A Drake University alumnus, ex-professional football player in Germany, and owner of two European-fusion restaurants, Vandever is a true cosmopolitan. But as a born-and-raised Navajo and grandson

p of a medicine man, he’s also deeply traditional, following all • rema the beliefs and rituals his grandfather taught him.

ining ining Like most other Navajo-run institutions, spirituality is a core value at TMC. Their guiding principle is hòzhò, roughly p hoto translated as “balance,” “beauty,” and “harmony.” They believe s: s: imbalance and disharmony beget social ills such as poverty S o p and alcoholism. That’s why Navajo-operated modern hospitals hia Le hia like TMC employ shamans to conduct regular traditional `6 e ceremonies of song, prayer, and dance. When TMC opened a

DECEMBER 27, 2014 WORLD 47

26 NAVAJOS.indd 47 12/9/14 4:33 PM new optometry unit, a medicine man came to chant for blessings and harmony.

missionaries have actively CHRISTIAN witnessed in the reservation for centuries, but local pastors estimate fewer than percent of Navajos call themselves Christians, and consider even less to be truly born-again. Today various Christian and other religious groups—from Baptists and United Methodists to Latter-day Saints and Catholics—scatter throughout the reservations. Mission groups visit in the summers for vacation Bible schools. Some Navajos convert, but when problems hit, many easily seek the old comforts of hand tremblers, healers, and medicine men. Some, like the Native American Church, even blend their practices with Christian themes. Robert Tso, pastor of Victory Life Church in Shiprock, said God’s Word “simply isn’t given enough time to sink in.” Instead, many churches in Navajoland “water down the gospel and say things that tickle the ears. So there’s no liberation and freedom in the Christian walk, because they are weighed down by all that junk” such as false prophets, weak theologies, and idolatry that have tainted the people’s understanding of the gospel. Without consistent, sound Bible teaching and discipleship by local ministers, initial passions dry out and life transformations cease. One week at the Navajo reservation exposed me to various movers and shakers: weary activists demanding formal apolo- gies for past injustices; ambitious politicians parroting old `1 promises; underfunded social workers struggling to meet growing needs; idealistic educators working within and against a broken system; and zealous Christians gradually compromising the gospel for pluralistic social work. All interviews ultimately boiled down to one question: “What is poverty?” Depending on their defi nition of poverty, these folks gave me varied, eloquent solutions that made sense on paper, but didn’t compute quite as neatly in reality because of one common variable: humans—and all the complex baggage of brokenness and depravities that defi ne humanity. Without clearly understanding human nature or the root cause of poverty, they were fl icking blanks at the target. None satisfi ed me the way worshipping with Navajo men and women did at a tiny church in rural Blue Gap, Ariz., whose pastor Billy John is an ex-shaman. From noon to evening, they `2 `3 shared testimonies and sang classic hymns mostly in Navajo, but I needed no interpreter to understand their visible joy. One Vietnam War (1) Navajo worshippers pray over a church elderly woman recited Psalm with tears. Another woman when he fi nally member at a church service in Blue Gap, Ariz. (2) Larry Haskie (left) and Benson Ndolo, a proclaimed, “I realize now that Jesus is the one and only true asked Jesus missionary from Kenya. (3) The church sign living God!”—to which everyone responded with cries of “Amen!” Christ to be his at the end of a dusty, bumpy road. and “Jesus!” Many others testifi ed how God delivered them from Lord and Savior. spiritual, social, and fi nancial poverty. From then on, Then I broke bread with Larry Haskie, a doe-eyed veteran God has been healing all aspects of his life, even smoothing old who told me, “Navajos are like Job. Satan’s really been trying to bitterness into thanksgiving and praise: “Whatever the white destroy us, especially the family and church.” When I noticed men did to us, Christ already took care of it on the cross. I’m the “Army of God” label ironed over his U.S. Army cap, he just thankful they brought the gospel of Jesus Christ to us.” beamed: “Yeah, di erent army now.” People like Haskie emphasize that only the gospel brings Haskie was an -year-old boy when Presbyterian missionaries true relief and eternal reconciliation. God’s spirit moves and fi rst visited his home. They spoke about Christ but also criti- transforms His people—not just spiritually, but everything from LEE SOPHIA cized his family for herding sheep, calling it a “pagan practice.” intellectually to fi nancially—in mysterious, miraculous ways. Years later, Haskie was cowering under sniper fi re during the Anything else, like the $ million settlement, is temporary. A

48 WORLD DECEMBER 27, 2014  [email protected]  @SophiaLeeHyan

26 NAVAJOS.indd 48 12/9/14 3:29 PM 12/9/14 9:46 AM 26 NAVAJOS.indd 49

Sophia Lee IOWA BASICS

With midterms over, attention turns to 2016 and the high-profile first presidential caucus

by Daniel James Devine in Ottumwa, Iowa

he first Pizza Ranch opened Republican candidate for state treasurer in northwest Iowa 33 years described his spiritual journey to the ago. Today the cowboy- potential voters in the room. themed buffet has over 180 The Pizza Ranch chain, whose vision T branches and is most popular statement is “To glorify God by positively for two things you wouldn’t guess from impacting the world,” is a go-to place for its name: fried chicken and politics. political meet-and-greets in Iowa. Mike One fall evening before the November Huckabee visited Pizza Ranches across midterm elections, about 25 local resi- the state when he ran for president in a grassroots director at The Family

dents crowded into a private room at 2008, and other candidates followed his Leader. “Iowans ultimately demand that both a Pizza Ranch in Ottumwa. Inside, example. With the 2014 midterms over hands get shaken, and all their questions photos: Bob Vander Plaats, a former candidate and 2016 on the horizon, Pizza Ranches answered. … Iowans are spoiled.” for governor of Iowa and president of and other small venues in Iowa can expect As the state with the earliest caucus The Family Leader, a Christian values an upsurge of customers hungry for polit- (scheduled for Feb. 1, 2016), Iowa is one Charlie group, dished out slices of supreme, ical change in the White House. And smart of the first places presidential hopefuls Neibergall/ap cheese, meat, and veggie pizza before candidates will be there to meet them. go to gauge voter interest. That makes it giving a pep talk about supporting bibli- “A town of 3,000 people might a great place to learn, unofficially, who’s cal values in politics. Afterward, a have the next president of the United thinking about lacing up their White States serving pizza,” said Greg Baker, House racing shoes. In theory, the more

50 WORLD DECEMBER 27, 2014

26 IOWA.indd 50 12/8/14 5:20 PM support Iowans show a potential candi- presidential candidate (10 percent Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton at Sen. Tom Harkin’s annual

both date, the more likely he or she will be to chose Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth fundraising Steak Fry in Indianola, Iowa. run. Warren, the poll’s second most strongly photos: So, who’s popular in Iowa? supported candidate). Ask Iowa Democrats their favorite Clinton has said she won’t decide Charlie candidate, and the most common name about a presidential bid until after Jan. Tour,” criticized Obama’s foreign you’ll hear is Hillary Clinton. In an 1. Yet she’s widely seen as preparing policy, and made 45 stops in 19 states Neibergall/ap October poll from The Des Moines for a race: She quit her job as President to support campaigns and fundraisers Register and Bloomberg Politics, 53 per- Obama’s secretary of state in early before the midterms. If that doesn’t cent of Iowa Democrats said Hillary 2013, wrote a memoir, began what The smell like a presidential campaign Clinton would be their first pick as a Wire called a “NeverEnding Book appetizer, nothing does.

DECEMBER 27, 2014 WORLD 51

26 IOWA.indd 51 12/8/14 5:21 PM 26 IOWA.indd 52 Bagniewski, anattorney one-on-one asshecan,” there andmeetingasmany this time. say), shemay didn’t enough visit smalltowns, some well Iowanswith in2008(because she candidate. Iowans will notsupportafemale tor Republican Joni Ernstastheir this year, in which Iowans elected senator John Edwards andalittle-known Illinois Hillary year—senator female representative or—until this elected afemale governor “Hillary “woman problem,” voters), seemto campaign never 52 (with strong supportfrom male “It’s theretail politics.It’s getting out And althoughClintondidn’t connect However, theNovember Some have speculatedIowa hasa

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role inthe world better up.” still beinghelddown andneedahand for the grassroots Ready strong military.” She’s notadoubter doubter candidate outthere,” to her experience assecretary record, Bagniewski believes Clinton’s trated with Obama’s foreign policy a time when many who campaignedfor declined callstorun. Clinton, though: Warren hassofar something,” many detractors inher campaign. “Elizabeth Warren resident of comes intotown thepeople. “I think The fieldseems wide openfor Not tosay tiesto Wall Street. advantage. of American exceptionalism. sheunderstands America’s Huxley says Brenda Brink, a Clintondoesn’t have

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W Wisconsin to offer Marco Rubio aconvenient opportunity Gov. Mike Huckabee andFlorida Sen. dential speculators like former profile Senaterace this year coming out.” Kentucky Walker, IndianaGov. Mike Pence, and Rick Bobby Vander Cruz. Rick Huckabee.love Ted Cruz: They ones. Huckabee: Obviously, Iowans still “And thatisthere are toomany about conservative candidatesfor Massachusetts Gov. MittRomney, 2011. in Ranch Pizza Rick Indeed they Santorum Santorum, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Jindal, former Plaats listedoff their Sen.Rand Paul. “They’re all corner Plaats toldmeataPizzaRanch e may Perry’s got hismojoback.” Rep. Paul R endorsements onIowa soil. campaigning are. Joni Ernst’s high- have a table when Iasked Pennsylvania Sen. yan, former problem,” LouisianaGov. at gave presi-

love Ted Arkansas good Vander 2016.

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m co ws /ne A M U Fall ck i Patr : m Santoru on/Z

Huckabee: Ian McVea/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/MCT • Carson: Christy Bowe/Polaris/newscom paul: Mark Wilson/Getty Images `3 `1

`2 they heard a speech from Rand (1) Carson; (2) Huckabee; (3) Paul. Paul, whose father, Ron Paul, won percent of Republican Randy Davis, a chalk artist from votes in the Iowa caucus. neurosurgeon Ben Carson, and Ottumwa, wants Mike Huckabee to jump “I think Rand Paul has a lot of interest New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in. “I even have relatives who are from establishment Republicans right also have visited Iowa in recent staunch Democrats, and they would vote now because they feel that they can trust months, either campaigning for for him in a heartbeat.” He views him,” Rogers said. “And also because they Republican candidates or speak- Huckabee, a Fox News television host, as think he can manage a winning coalition ing at conservative events and someone who can work with Democrats of Republicans,” including tea party and fundraisers. without compromising his principles, libertarian-minded conservatives. In contrast to broad Demo- and believes he’d be articulate and Many grassroots conservatives cratic support for Clinton, charming in debates. haven’t settled and are still open to Republicans in Iowa are broadly splin- During the state convention in June, hearing from all the candidates. Vander tered over whom they’d prefer to send Will Rogers, the chairman of the Plaats said conservatives will need to to the White House. In the Des Moines Republican Party of Polk County, which coalesce around one soon, or they’ll Register poll, more Republicans named covers Des Moines, had lunch with end up with another candidate chosen Mitt Romney as their fi rst choice— several other Republicans. They were by the “establishment.” percent—than any other candidate, “extremely excited,” Rogers said, after “We know that establishment candi- even though Romney claims he isn’t dates cannot win the running. Other respondents in the presidency,” Steve survey split their support among more Deace, a conservative than a dozen other conservative fi gures, ‘We know that talk show host in Des starting with Carson, Paul, and Moines, told me. “Ask Huckabee. establishment presidents Dole, McCain, While that suggests Iowa Republicans Romney. They can’t win.” are unsure who is best suited to carry candidates Deace said the grass their torch in , it doesn’t mean roots in Iowa are tired of SANTORUM: SANTORUM: PATRICK FALLON/ZUMA/NEWSCOM some haven’t already picked favorites. losing: “I really think Michelle Fetters Steen, who lives cannot win the this time around it’s outside Indianola, supports Ben Carson. going to be a vetting “I feel like he’s honest,” said Steen, who presidency. Ask process unlike any fi rst heard of Carson when he criticized other. … Who can show Obamacare at the National Prayer presidents Dole, that they are capable of Breakfast last year (while Obama sat rallying the conservative about fi ve feet away). Steen said Carson McCain, Romney. base, and beating the has courage and overcame a disadvan- establishment in a pri- taged background without a “woe-is-me They can’t win.’ mary? That’s who I’m

HUCKABEE: IAN MCVEA/FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM/MCTPAUL: • CARSON: MARK WILSON/GETTY CHRISTY BOWE/POLARIS/NEWSCOM IMAGES attitude.” —conservative talk show host Steve Deace going to support.” A

 [email protected]  @DanJamDevine DECEMBER 27, 2014 WORLD 53

26 IOWA.indd 53 12/8/14 5:25 PM 26 OBAMACARE.indd 54 12/9/14 10:30 PM A string of bad news has beset Obamacare, and worse is likely on the way by J.C. Derrick in Washington, D.C. PHOTO BY DAVID GOLDMAN/AP

LAST APRIL the Department of Health and Human Services reported some million Americans had enrolled in health insurance plans under the A ordable Care Act. President Barack Obama stood in the White House Rose Garden and proclaimed the law a success: “The debate over repealing this law is over.” But as the second open enrollment period gets under way, a string of bad news is casting new doubts on the president’s proclamation. The website works this time, yet systemic problems are growing: Companies are shedding jobs, rural hospitals are closing, premiums remain high, penalties have spiked, and the administration has admitted last year’s

The emergency room of the 55 closed Flint River Community DECEMBER 27, 2014 WORLD Hospital in Montezuma, Ga.

26 OBAMACARE.indd 55 12/9/14 10:36 PM enrollment fi gure was infl ated. Actual cases close locations to cut costs or slide fi rst-year enrollment numbers landed at under the -employee threshold that . million—leading the administration requires a company to provide health in November to lower enrollment insurance. Others are dumping employ- expectations from million to less than ees into the health exchanges, risking . million. the fi nes that will accompany enforce- The main thrust of the A ordable ment in (see sidebar). Care Act (ACA) is to increase access to “This is exactly what our survey pre- healthcare, but on a surprisingly large dicted,” said Duke University Professor scale it’s having the opposite e ect. Campbell Harvey, who helped poll more Millions of Americans lost their health than , chief fi nancial o cers a year insurance because their plans didn’t ago to ask how they would handle the meet the requirements of the law, ACA. Between and percent accounting for a large portion of the . reported they would hire fewer workers, million enrollees. Ed Haislmaier, a shift toward part-time employment, and/ health policy expert at the Heritage or lower health benefi ts. “The impact on Foundation, estimates a maximum of . the real economy is astonishing,” Harvey million previously uninsured individuals said, and the country is “defi nitely” still obtained insurance through the state in the early stages of feeling the e ects. 1 and federal exchanges. Others have lost As the nation’s ` healthcare access through hospital clo- labor participation sures: Forty-fi ve rural hospitals have rate already shuttered since , including at least a languishes at dozen this year, according to North historic lows, the Carolina Rural Health Research Program Congressional tracking data. The closures are primarily Budget O ce this due to new regulations and cuts to year projected the Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement, but ACA would directly rather than helping reverse the alarming lead to the loss of trend, the ACA has accelerated the million full-time- process. equivalent workers “It’s going to get worse,” said Carla by , rising to Roadcap, the former CEO of a -bed about . million in hospital in rural Linden, Texas. Roadcap . Harvey said told me her facility was already strug- that “signifi cantly gling fi nancially, and knowing the ACA understates the leg- would bring more cuts in islation’s impact,” prompted the three-hospital system to because it is based close that location, a ecting about on historical pat- employees. Now the closest hospital is terns and doesn’t another rural location miles away, the refl ect companies sole fi rewall saving Linden residents planning to hire from a -mile drive—which would put less and shift to thousands at risk of missing the “golden part-time labor. hour” for treatment after a major medi- Harvey believes cal incident, such as a stroke or heart if more people had attack. understood the real “It’s obvious to anyone working in e ects of the law, healthcare that the healthcare delivery the legislation system needs to be changed,” Roadcap would likely have said. “How it needs to be changed is a never passed. He’s whole di erent question.” not alone: Jonathan Today’s system still relies heavily on Gruber, a employment, and that’s another area Massachusetts where Obamacare is wreaking havoc. Institute of Companies are making choices to cut Technology profes- `4

hours, cut the workforce, and in some sor and Obamacare 1: DOMINICK REUTER/LANDOV • 3 & 4: DAVID LEESON/GENESISCHAVEZ/SEIU/AP MICHAEL 2:

56 WORLD DECEMBER 27, 2014

26 OBAMACARE.indd 56 12/9/14 10:33 PM architect, sparked a public relations Heritage’s Ed Haislmaier, who was nightmare in November when videos part of a panel discussion with Gruber WORLD and surfaced showing him crediting secrecy earlier this year, said the professor’s and the “stupidity of the American voter” attitude in the videos is typical: “There’s Obamacare for getting the law through Congress. In plenty of folks in health policy on the left WORLD News Group employs 58 Dec. testimony before a House panel, who believe the same way.” individuals full time as of Dec. 1. The All this has left Aff ordable Care Act requires all Obamacare’s companies with more than 50 approval ratings in employees to provide health the tank, forcing insurance or pay an annual fi ne— even some senior $3,000 per employee for off ering Democrats to dis- substandard coverage or $2,000 tance themselves. per employee above 30 employees Following big GOP for off ering no coverage at all. gains last month, WORLD has for many years Sen. Chuck provided health insurance to its Schumer, D-N.Y., employees, but the ACA has made it who faces reelection increasingly diff icult to fi nd plans in , said that are aff ordable and come with- Democrats “blew the out coverage for abortions and opportunity the abortion-inducing drugs. Since it American people has become virtually impossible to `2 gave them” after the predict and control costs, WORLD is election and moving its staff to a healthcare `3 shouldn’t have put their energy into sharing ministry (see “Growing in a passing Obamacare. Schumer’s com- loophole,” June 1, 2013) beginning in ments were more about political January. The new arrangement will strategy—he still supports the health satisfy the requirements of the law—but it was a stunning admission individual mandate for employees, from the Senate’s No. Democrat. but it will not satisfy the require- Retiring Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, ments of the employer mandate. went after the substance of the law in a Although WORLD may have to pay Dec. interview with The Hill, saying the as much as $56,000 in fi nes, it will law is too complicated and doesn’t lower be able to lower costs, predict costs. “We should have either done it the costs, and still provide ethical correct way or not done anything at all,” coverage to its employees. said Harkin, who helped author the bill as “We are stewards of both the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, fi nancial resources God provides Labor, and Pensions Committee. through our members and the indi- Harvey told me he thinks “people viduals and families He places from both sides would entertain a reex- under our care as employees,” said amination with a clean slate.” They may WORLD CEO Kevin Martin. “The ACA get that chance. In November the U.S. has made those two responsibilities Supreme Court agreed to hear a case mutually exclusive. We believe our challenging the subsidies the federal (1) Gruber. (2) People wait to enroll for health move to a healthcare sharing minis- insurance in Los Angeles on Nov. 15. (3) Carla government is giving to lower-income try will best enable us to fulfi ll our Roadcap. (4) The Good Shepherd Medical enrollees in the states that didn’t set responsibilities to our members and Center in Linden, Texas, which closed in April. up their own exchanges. The law says tax our employees.” —J.C.D. credits are available through market- places “established by the state,” but the Gruber issued a blanket apology for his administration in made them weeks after the end of the second open “insulting and mean comments” but available in all states. enrollment period. If enrollment defended the law and claimed it was The implications are huge: About four barely grows, Haislmaier said, “then the passed in a transparent way. “My fl aws out of fi ve enrollees receive a subsidy and argument that I and others make is just as a private citizen should not refl ect on many of them likely couldn’t a ord the to scrap this complicated system with a any process by which the ACA was coverage without it. That means the law much more straightforward subsidy for

1: DOMINICK REUTER/LANDOV • 3 & 4: DAVID LEESON/GENESISCHAVEZ/SEIU/AP MICHAEL 2: passed, or any success of that law.” could be in tatters as early as next June, people to go on the open market.” A

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26 OBAMACARE.indd 57 12/9/14 10:33 PM 26 LIFESTYLE.indd 58 WORLD MOVERS,P.O.Box20002, wng.org/worldmovers. Or, dropacheckinthemailto: IF YOUHAVEN’T ALREADY, PLEASEDONATE TODAY TOHELPUSPUTMOREBOOTS ONTHEGROUND securely donate To quickly and Asheville, NC 28802 online, visit WORLD today? Will you consider supporting would’ve never dreamed possible. available to more peopleinways we distinctive Christian worldview reporting with your help, isto make WORLD’s Our mission inthecoming year, more readers, withrefreshing clarity. locations, delivering more stories to place additionalreporters instrategic With increased resources, WORLD can 12/8/14 10:29AM

HANDOUT NOTEBOOK LIFESTYLE / TECHNOLOGY / SCIENCE / HOUSES OF GOD / SPORTS / RELIGION

LIFESTYLE Where is she now? One year after a remarkable birth by Chelsea Kolz Boes

At Christmas we celebrate R one spectacularly unusual birth, but it’s also a good time to recognize babies like Madeleine Kara Lim. Her first year of life since her birth on Nov. 29, 2013, has been remarkably unremark- able. She loves to laugh, explore, and move—but she floated in liquid nitrogen for three years before the Lims adopted her. Madeleine, created through in vitro fertilization (IVF), owes her life to medical innovation along with an attempt to revive an ancient practice. When ancient Romans discarded babies, Christians rushed to scoop them up. Now, about 600,000 fertilized eggs sit frozen, embryo storage is costly, and parents often discard the frozen embryos they don’t want. “Most will die,” Madeleine’s adoptive dad, Paul Lim, says: “It’s the moral equivalent of throwing your child out into the field.” The Lims, with a 9- and 7-year-old born the usual way, handout

g Visit our website—wng.org—for breaking news and more December 27, 2014 WORLD 59

26 LIFESTYLE.indd 59 12/4/14 4:27 PM NOTEBOOK LIFESTYLE

only 100 cells big. 2008 to 2010, Paul had Avastin to stop extra blood The procedure worked as a surgeon and cell production and save took 30 minutes, Susan as a pediatrician in her vision—but she would and Susan spent an Ethiopian hospital, not be able to take Avastin the next day bed- correcting cleft palates— while pregnant, as it could bound in a hotel. but it turned out that new, harm the baby. Susan would Six weeks leaky, and fragile blood have to refuse the drug and after implanta- vessels were growing in her risk her sight. Once preg- tion, though, right eye, killing retinal nant, she began to see Susan’s first cells. divots when she read fine ultrasound The problem forced the print, but she refused to revealed just one family to move back to the treat the condition. chose to adopt Madeleine. beating heart. “Are you sure United States in 2010. By God’s mercy, Susan’s Doctors thawed her and there isn’t another one?” Susan needed regular eyesight grew no worse and placed her, along with a Susan asked. There wasn’t. injections of the drug she gave birth Nov. 29, 2013, sibling embryo, into the The Lims grieved. at 9:03 a.m. Mother and womb of Paul’s wife Susan. Throughout the unusual For a 2013 series about Paul 1-year-old are doing fine. A and Susan Lim’s decision to The babies were each about pregnancy, Susan faced —Chelsea Kolz Boes is an editorial adopt embryos, visit wng.org. the size of the head of a pin: another difficulty: From assistant for God’s World News

Where is he now? After more than three decades as a newspaper editor and publisher, I became this fall a farm hand. God, in His sovereignty, had allowed a corporate staffing realign- ment in which my position was eliminated. That end marked a new beginning, including a stint as a farm worker during the harvest season. Instead of stressing over budgets, news coverage, and personnel issues, my new job description was remarkably clear—get the crops safely from the field to the bin. My experience on the farm began when a longtime family friend needed a tractor driver to haul wagons of corn from his fields to the storage bins on his family’s farms. I jumped at the chance. I exchanged my button-down shirts and khaki pants for jeans, boots, and a John Deere cap. For six weeks starting Sept. 24 I was at the helm of a John Deere 8320, pulling dozens of wagons of golden corn down measuring 12 feet wide by 24 feet long r We have opportunities to praise the back roads of south-central Illinois. and sporting eight 6-foot-tall tires. God. The solitary nature of farm work

The days were long but satisfying, as I r Challenges are good. I’ve never gives ample time for ongoing prayer li Madeleine saw that: liked heights, but part of my job as I emp- conversations. The beauty of the r Small things done consistently add tied my wagons into storage bins was to sunsets and the varied topography in

up to big things. With about 1,500 acres monitor the grain level in those bins. That this part of the state also inspired me to m of corn, yielding close to 200 bushels per involved climbing ladders attached to praise God for His creative extrava- : handou acre, we harvested nearly 300,000 the outside of the 25-foot-tall bins and gance, and for His provision in times of

bushels. peering down through a door in the roof. I economic uncertainty. bell Jane t • bell: r It’s fun to try new things. I learned had to discipline myself to push through —Dave Bell; from 1988 to August 2014, to operate several tractors, including a the fear the first few trips up the ladder, Bell was editor and publisher of monstrous four-wheel-drive John Deere but it did get easier. The Leader-Union (Vandalia, Ill.)

60 WORLD December 27, 2014  Download WORLD’s iPad app today; details at wng.org/iPad

26 LIFESTYLE.indd 60 g Visit our website—wng.org—for breaking news and12/8/14 more 10:38 AM  Download WORLD’s iPad app today; details at wng.org/iPad d Listen to WORLD on the radio at worldandeverything.com  Follow us on Facebook  Follow us on Twitter: @WORLD_mag TECHNOLOGY NOTEBOOK

Play stations New York City still has 6,400 coin-operated pay phones, most Words and actions of which languish, unused. But Computers are now ‘learning’ to describe what’s that may be about to change. happening in images Next year, the city embarks on by Michael Cochrane an elaborate plan to replace its aging and outdated pay phones Comedian Steve Such a capability could one focused on image with a network of 10,000 kiosks R Martin once quipped lead to far more efficient recognition and the other that will provide free, 150-foot- that his sentences bright- cataloging and searching on natural language radius high-speed wireless ened up once he started of billions of online processing. Next, they internet, free phone calls within using verbs. It was a joke, images and videos. presented thousands of the United States, a free charg- of course, but describing Current search engine different images and ing station for phones, and a reality is more than just technology relies on descriptions to the hybrid touchscreen tablet to access directions and city services. identifying objects, it’s human-generated written ANN, “training” it to The new system, called identifying what those language descriptions of recognize patterns in the “LinkNYC,” is a partnership objects are doing. Now, the image contents. picture/description pairs. between the mayor’s office and with recent advances in How does a computer They then gave the ANN a a consortium of technology, image recognition tech- learn to recognize multi- set of pictures it hadn’t manufacturing, and advertising nology, computers may be ple objects in an image, yet “seen” to determine companies. Although the project able to describe how well it had will cost about $200 million, reality as well learned. officials expect advertising as—or better “I was revenue from the kiosks to gen- than—humans. amazed that erate more than $500 million Last month, even with the over the next 12 years. researchers at small amount of Most New Yorkers won’t miss Stanford training data the old-school pay phones. “I’m that we were cool with it,” Miriam Dumlao, an University and East Village–based musician, told Google—each able to do so The Wall Street Journal. “Like, I group working well,” said Oriol don’t miss my tape player.” —M.C. independently— Vinyals, a announced the Google com- development of puter scientist artificial intelli- and a member gence software of the Google capable of not Brain project, to only identifying The New York objects in Times. “The field images, but what is just starting, those objects are and we will see doing. For exam- a lot of ple, an image increases.” described by a human as, what those objects are But while the technol- “A group of men playing doing, and then write an ogy is considered “artifi- out d Frisbee in the park,” was accurate description—all cial intelligence,” it’s still captioned by the com- on its own? The key is the merely highly sophisti- : han C Y cated pattern recognition.

N puter as, “A group of rapidly advancing tech-

ink nology of Artificial Neural “I don’t know that I would L young people playing a game of Frisbee.” Networks (ANN)—soft- say this is ‘understanding’ The researchers found ware programs inspired in the sense we want,” i/pa/ap • that the computer- by the architecture of the said IBM researcher John ipinsk

L generated descriptions human brain. R. Smith in the Times arti- were consistently accu- The Stanford and cle. “I think even the abil- rate compared with Google researchers com- ity to generate language human observations. bined two types of ANN, here is very limited.” google: Dominic

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26 TECHNOLOGY.indd 61 12/8/14 10:34 AM NOTEBOOK SCIENCE

Possible cure? Siberian scientists at the Vorozhtsov Gut-level response Institute of Organic Chemistry, in ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS Novosibirsk, may have found a cure for Parkinson’s disease. Animal trials MAY CAUSE GLUCOSE are complete, and the researchers INTOLERANCE IN SOME will begin human testing soon. If the PEOPLE by Julie Borg medication proves to be safe and eff ective, it could be available before 2019. Artifi cial sweeteners, The chemical is a derivative R long touted as of turpentine, a paint thinner aids to weight loss obtained by distilling resin from pine trees. “Our substance helps to and prevention of dia- restore the balance of neurotrans- betes, may actually help mitters and is mild and works without cause the very disorders they major side eff ects,” lead chemist were designed to prevent, according Konstantin Volcho told The Siberian to research recently conducted at the analyzed the Times. Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. volunteers’ Approximately 6,000 Americans

The researchers discovered that glucose levels and gut are diagnosed with Parkinson’s each UNIVERSITY COMMONWEALTH VIRGINIA • HELMET: CHEMISTRY ORGANIC OF INSTITUTE VOROZHTSOV RESEARCH: • PARKINSON’S TAYLOR/FLICKR LAURA SWEETENERS: even though artifi cial sweeteners bacteria compositions. Many of the year, and 10 million people worldwide contain no sugar they may e ect gut volunteers had begun to develop suff er from it. Scientists are baff led bacteria and thereby inhibit the body’s glucose intolerance, but some did not. by its cause, but most suspect it is a ability to use glucose. The researchers discovered that combination of genetic and environ- Mice given water treated with the there are two di erent types of human mental factors. —J.B. three most common artifi cial sweet- gut bacteria and only one induces eners developed glucose intolerance glucose intolerance when exposed to while mice given sugar water did not. artifi cial sweeteners. “Our relation- In humans glucose intolerance is the ship with our own individual mix of fi rst step toward metabolic syndrome gut bacteria is a huge factor in deter- and Type diabetes. mining how the food we eat a ects The researchers asked a group of us,” Eran Elinav, lead researcher, said. volunteers who did not usually use The research is preliminary, and artifi cial sweeteners to consume any health recommendations must them for seven days, after which they await further studies.

Crash cushion Hundreds of thousands of football-related concussions occur every year. Raymond Colello, a neuroscientist at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, is devising a way to use the repulsive forces of palm-sized magnets embedded into the front and sides of football helmets to reduce the impact of head-to-head collisions, the cause of 60 percent of football-related concussions. The material packed inside traditional helmets reduces impact by deﬂ ecting some of the energy after a collision, but magnets pushing against each other could slow the collision down before it occurs. According to the Sports Concussion Institute, male football players have a 75 percent risk of sustaining a concussion. The average NFL player sustains over 600 helmet hits per season, ranging from 20 g’s of force to more than 150 g’s. Around 100 g’s will cause a concussion. During testing the magnetic inserts have reduced 140-g hits to 88 g’s. Although the magnetized helmets sound promising, they will only work in head-to-head collisions. Colello plans to begin testing with crash dummies by the Colello with end of the year. —J.B. his son, Ian BAC TO TRONG/THE DAILY NEWS/AP

62 WORLD DECEMBER 27, 2014 d Listen to WORLD on the radio at worldandeverything.com

26 SCIENCE and HOG.indd 62 g Visit our website—wng.org—for breaking news and12/10/14 more 9:02 AM  Download WORLD’s iPad app today; details at wng.org/iPad d Listen to WORLD on the radio at worldandeverything.com  Follow us on Facebook  Follow us on Twitter: @WORLD_mag HOUSES OF GOD NOTEBOOK SWEETENERS: LAURA TAYLOR/FLICKR • PARKINSON’S RESEARCH: VOROZHTSOV INSTITUTE OF ORGANIC CHEMISTRY • HELMET: VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY COMMONWEALTH VIRGINIA • HELMET: CHEMISTRY ORGANIC OF INSTITUTE VOROZHTSOV RESEARCH: • PARKINSON’S TAYLOR/FLICKR LAURA SWEETENERS:

GLASGOW, KY. Greg Cutcliﬀ plays the bagpipes Sunday, Nov. 23, during a Kirking of the Tartans service at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Glasgow, Ky. BAC TO TRONG/THE DAILY NEWS/AP

 Follow us on Twitter: @WORLD_mag DECEMBER 27, 2014 WORLD 63

26 SCIENCE and HOG.indd 63 12/9/14 10:24 AM 26 SPORTS and RELIGION.indd 64 R once, perhaps theoddest pension plansmore than changing itsstory trouble lastmonthafter sures tomake astatement. leagues took better domestic violence, and,for became thepublicfaceof Professional athletes spanking with atree branch. tions from aso-called son, who suffered lacera- Adrian Peterson’s 4-year-old surfaced of September.pictures Then his wife appeared in video of concluded by sports. caught up with professional viral videos andimages But in2014,theculture of the mediadidn’t cry meager Leagues handedoutmostly of domestic abuse was akind an elevator, disciplinefor dragging hisnow-wife from 64 pu S Viral hocking images ofhocking high-profile domes images foreign policy NOTEBOOK The NFL Ray

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schilling: Winslow Townson • warren: nick ut/ap RELIGION NOTEBOOK

Bitter tweets Two faiths collided last month on Twitter. Retired pitcher Curt Schilling, a professed Christian who vowed a decade ago never to hide his beliefs (see “Never hide,” March 19, 2005), tweeted a series of comments critical of macro- evoution, including, “Show me the fossils that became human” and “Where are the fossils?” ESPN’s Keith Law showed his faith in Charles Darwin by responding, “There are hundreds of transitional fossils on record, Curt,” and offered as evidence a Wikipedia “list of transitional Rick Warren fossils.” That list, though, is based on cladistic analysis, which assumes that species have a common lineage, so if they have a similar anatomical character Good counsel they are related: Thus, birds are Tragedies help ignite a Christian counseling the descendants of two-legged dinosaurs. Critics of cladism, explosion by Dave Swavely & Marvin Olasky though, say birds may not have evolved that way, or God may have created them. Family tragedies have prompted In another sign of the times, the The evolution debate contin- R two evangelical leaders to pro- American Association of Christian ues to be a clash not of religion mote improvements in Christian Counselors, a broad organization that vs. science but faith vs. faith and counseling for the mentally ill—and does not certify counselors, has science vs. science: As man gains one venerable group has changed its almost 50,000 members. Meanwhile, greater knowledge of cell struc- name. a certifying organization founded in ture but no greater knowledge of After Melissa Page Strange, the 1976, the National Association of transitional fossils, the 32-year-old daughter of Frank Page, Nouthetic Counselors, has changed its holes in Darwinism committed suicide, her dad—presi- name to the Association of Certified become more dent and CEO of the executive Biblical Counselors. apparent. Yet the committee of the Southern Baptist ACBC, which has 1,200 certified hostile tweets Convention—appointed a mental members, was originally the brain- Schilling received have a very low health advisory group. That group child of Jay E. Adams, the Westminster common denomina- last month proposed that churches, Seminary professor whose 1970 book tor: Faithful evolution- seminaries, and Christian colleges Competent to Counsel emphasized the ists believe any criticism of their improve preparation and education importance of biblical counseling. dogma is evidence of stupidity. regarding mental health problems. Adams, 85, has not served on the The Center for Science and Last year Matthew Warren, son of organization’s board in recent years. Culture website (discovery.org/id) Saddleback Church pastor and author He told WORLD, “I’ve been very sick. /ap t has at least 25 articles explaining Rick Warren, also committed suicide, At one point everyone thought I was why fossils that purportedly ick u and this spring a Saddleback confer- going to die. … My wife even gave away show how birds, horses, whales, ence on faith and mental illness drew my socks.” tetrapods, and humans evolved

arren: n 2,000 attendees. Rick Warren is now Adams said he hopes ACBC will

w show nothing of the kind. You can speaking often about mental health “become very selective about whom it see that list, which includes

nson • items like “Human origins and the treatment, and last month Saddleback certifies. The membership should w hosted a meeting for family members include only those who really subscribe To fossil record” or “Fact-checking w Wikipedia,” and read the clear of those who have killed themselves. to doing biblical counseling exclusively. articles by going to wng.org and Suicide is the extreme sadness, but I suspect that there will be influences searching for “Schilling.” —M.O. many Christians who are not mentally trying to broaden out the membership CRED ill, just weary, find counseling helpful. qualifications. … Time will tell.” I T schilling: Winslo

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26 SPORTS and RELIGION.indd 65 12/9/14 10:32 AM

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NOVEMBER 15 g Wow. Thank you for the reminder that God works and uses us in mysterious ways. ‘Going viral’ XMASTOMATO ON WNG.ORG  What an educational article on the g I totally loved this column and am Ebola crisis and the great works sending it to a friend whose parents Christians are doing on the forefront are unbelievers. Her heart is for them to know the Lord, but I trust this will to ﬁ ght the disease. encourage her to let God be God. EVELYN SCHICKER VOLZ ON FACEBOOK CHERYLQUILTS ON WNG.ORG ‘Radical turn’  These youths joining radical Islam g My children’s pediatrician just can corral the Holy Spirit.” How true know not what they are doing until it is returned from a volunteer stint in and, to my shame, how quickly I too late. We all do dumb things in our West Africa. Who would not go to help forget. God did it all, so why does my youth, and all parents fear that their if they were able? heart rev itself to an unnatural speed? kids will do something so dumb that NEVERTHELESS ON WNG.ORG And oh, the churning in my stomach. there is no saving them from it. Sad. Great reading. May God open the eyes of our youth! ‘The new photos’ BGB ON WNG.ORG BETH YODIS ON FACEBOOK , Andrée Seu Peterson’s new photo is beautiful. Five years have given her an g I believe that many of these disaf- exquisite elegance. Kemembe, Rwanda fected young people see our modern DENISE TOW / EASLEY, S.C. submitted by society as lacking strength and virility. Berry Stubbs They think it has little purpose, honor, , Men too can be vain. Once for a publicity event I tried to sub- stitute a nice photo of me for one that made me look old and feeble, but after reading this column I now feel guilty about that. Sigh. BRUCE WOLLENBERG / MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.

, I was thinking sad thoughts about the new photos of WORLD’s writers, primarily that nobody is getting any younger, when this column smacked me in the face and reminded me to embrace getting older. We should live in reality rather than unreality. Thank you. JOSHUA BURBA / NASHVILLE, TENN. ‘Nothing but Him’ g Marvin Olasky notes that “No one

, Mail/email g Website  Facebook  Twitter DECEMBER 27, 2014 WORLD 67

26 MAILBAG.indd 67 12/4/14 4:00 PM MAILBAG

or prestige. They yearn for something single entity, in vital relationship with to the world and that they should “be more, but they are deceived into no one. The God of the Scriptures, like God in true righteousness.” looking in evil for what they think they however, is relational by His nature CHRISTINA NADENDLA / WINSOR, CALIF. want. and has many, many adopted children. RSPENDLOVE ON WNG.ORG As these Qatari officials learn the ‘Incident in Room 304’ truth, may they see the love of God , As a newly graduated nurse working ‘Who is confined?’ who crossed a universe to adopt us. a night shift in 1980, I was caring for a g The observation that liberals treat DEAN FROM OHIO ON WNG.ORG 92-year-old woman who had just been other views as mere prejudices is quite taken off a feeding tube. I heard her true. Christians should not respond ‘Adult children’ say, “I’m hungry,” and reported it, but with anger or resentment but with , Megan Basham’s review of Laggies the next night there was still no tube. reason. We Christians have a right to is perhaps the most insightful, inter- After I heard her say it again I made a an equal place in the public square esting, and educational review I’ve stink, her feeding tube was replaced, and, as Christ made clear, we have a ever read. She stated what many of us and she was soon in a chair and talking. responsibility for promoting the in the older generation can see and Not all interventions should be inflicted common good among all people. sense but have been unable to on the dying, but I cannot consider NITROBOB ON WNG.ORG verbalize. simple tube feeding an extraordinary JOHN C. SKINNER / CARLSBAD, N.M. measure. g Under persecution, the gospel of MARY JENSEN / MISSOURI CITY, TEXAS redemption looks better and better. As g I agree wholeheartedly with the the foundations of civilization are conclusion, although it’s regrettable October 4 undermined, soon more and more that these issues have to be dis- ‘T he poverty of pluralism’ people will be confronted with the cussed in the context of R-rated , Thanks for this insightful column. need for a Savior. movies. Also, the fact that parental I recently came across an article MIDWEST PREACHER ON WNG.ORG healthcare coverage is now allowed describing “No-Go” zones in Sweden up to age 26 gives young marrieds where Islamic mafia basically run the ‘Sent packing’ an economic incentive for continued area to protect its drug trade. The g Let the universities kick out the dependency. Swedes are responding with sensitivity Christians! It draws people to these JOE ON WNG.ORG and attempts to understand. It’s an groups. God is bigger than a university example of pluralism destroying a administration. ‘A priceless conversation’ culture. LOWFREQ ON WNG.ORG  Read this in my mag last night; BILL STIEFEL / LANSING, MICH. choked me up! , Given the “all-comers” policy DAVE DRESSNER ON FACEBOOK Corrections universities are adopting, why don’t The lawyer representing some Nevada Christian students join clubs that November 1 ranchers in land disputes is Karen oppose Christianity and be ambassa- ‘Fire and Fury’ Budd-Falen (“Long land battle,” Nov. dors for Christ? It would take a lot of , Megan Basham said Boyd’s faith is 29, p. 49). prayer, courage, and support. “deeper than superficial rule-keeping.” J.D. MOYERS / CENTENNIAL, COLO. I can appreciate that, but would point The person in the illustration out that profaning the name of Christ identified as Khadijah Dare is Aafia ‘A small beginning’ has become a small thing in Hollywood. Siddiqui (“Radical turn,” Nov. 15, , Mindy Belz’s accurate reporting on Movie scripts have both “good” and p. 54). the Middle East has brought to my “bad” characters treating the name of attention all the difficulty and hardship Christ profanely; is that a good thing? Christians in Mosul have to endure to Or is it, as Hollywood believes, a small LETTERS & PHOTOS worship God. It helps me realize how thing? , Email: [email protected] much I take our religious freedom for MICHAEL MALLIE / KALONA, IOWA , Mail: world Mailbag, PO Box 20002, granted in this country. Asheville, nc 28802-9998 CHRISTIAN BENDER / URBANA, OHIO , Basham said she’s glad the evangel- g Website: wng.org ical character smokes, drinks, and  Facebook: facebook.com/ ‘House divided’ swears, but this might “go down hard” wORLD.magazine g The article notes the Islamic with some readers. I am one of those  Twitter: @WORLD_mag prohibition on adoption. The Islamic readers. I try to instill in my two sons Please include full name and address. Letters concept of God portrays him as a the biblical principle of not conforming may be edited to yield brevity and clarity.

68 WORLD DECEMBER 27, 2014

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krieg barrie Andrée seu peterson Judah (Genesis 49:10); a descendant of King David (2 Samuel 7:12-13; Isaiah 9:7). Besides Bethlehem (Micah 5:2; Luke 2:4-6), He had to be somehow from Egypt (Hosea 11:1; Matthew 2:14-15), Nazareth (Isaiah 11:1; Matthew 2:23), and Galilee (Isaiah 9:1-2; Matthew 4:13-16). He needed a birthplace massacre (Jeremiah 31:15; Matthew 2:16-18) and a rich In the fullness man’s tomb (Isaiah 53:9; Matthew 27:57-60). He also needed a death following betrayal (Psalm 41:9; Zechariah 11:12-13; Luke 22:47- of time 48), the exchange of money (Zechariah 11:12- our seemingly random comings and 13; Matthew 27:9-10), false accusations (Psalm 35:11; Mark 14:57-58), spitting (Isaiah 50:6; goings carry a lot of importance Matthew 26:67), vinegar (Psalm 69:21), bound hands and feet (Psalm 22:16; John Since 1986 I have saved my kitchen calen- 20:25-27) but no broken bones (Exodus R dars, those unsentimental diaries of a life 12:46; Psalm 34:20; John 19:33-36), and of chauffeuring, car inspections, and returning a gambling game for garment spoils library books. Their tattered pages contain (Psalm 22:18; Luke 23:34). many cross-outs and reschedulings of events The man fitting this bill had to be that did not come to pass as I had planned. both regal (Psalm 45) and meek (Isaiah I often marvel that nothing in the future— 53:7; Matthew 26:63; 27:12-14); every even two or three days hence—is ever certain. inch a king (Psalm 2:6; John 18:37) yet All is subject to the unforeseen: Someone submitting to God (Psalm 40:7-8; Mark wanted to swap Sunday school duty so I pen- 10:45); ruler of the nations (Psalm 2:8- ciled through Feb. 23 and took the following 9) yet suffering servant (Isaiah 42:1); week. A May 27 doctor’s appointment with Imagine cut down in the prime of life (Psalm 89:45), yet Glassman: canceled, since Eun Kyung visited master of the timing (John 7:6). from Korea. Dina at Village Diner: X-ed out, and the perfect That’s only the beginning. My get-together underneath the hasty scrawl, “See Juliette.” coordination with Howard and Betsy has been bumped three In contrast to this, “When the fullness of of every times for circumstances beyond our control. time had come, God sent forth his Son” But God’s calendar date for the spread of the (Galatians 4:4). No postponements, nor bump- seemingly Messiah’s message is a flawless confluence of ing up the date due to a cancellation. The time random thousand-mile Roman road-building projects, of Messiah’s appearing is predicted by Daniel, molecule the Pax Romana, the religious vacuum following down to the year, 600 years before: “Know conquest, a universal linguistic delivery system therefore and understand that from the going under the sun in Koine Greek, a language unassociated with out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem required for imperialism yet capable of the necessary to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, the delivery subtlety. there shall be seven weeks” (Daniel 9:25). “Probably no period in the history of the Imagine the perfect coordination of every of a baby in world was better suited to receive the infant seemingly random molecule under the sun a barn in church than the first century A.D. … By the sec- required for the delivery of a baby in a barn in Bethlehem. ond century Christians … began to argue that it Bethlehem. Noah had to wield his hammer at was a divine providence which had prepared the right moment, Eli had to be in the temple the world for the advent of Christianity” the day Hannah was crying, Mordecai had to (Evangelism in the Early Church, Michael Green). overhear the plot of the king’s two eunuchs. All Nevertheless, “the fullness of time” would must be achieved using agents making choices be naught but a lovely daisy chain to be with authentic wills. admired from a distant outpost, far from God Beyond that, think of all the prophecies that and far from hope, had He not woven it still fur- Christ fulfilled: He had to be of the line of ther till it reached to you and took in all your Abraham (Genesis 12:3); proceeding through comings and your goings. Then the star that Isaac’s branch (Genesis 17:19); narrowing shone on Bethlehem did shine upon your soul,

barrie further through Jacob (Numbers 24:17) and and you were smitten by its light. A krieg

 [email protected] DECEMBER 27, 2014 WORLD 71

26 SEU PETERSON.indd 71 12/9/14 10:39 PM MARVIN OLASKY cigarettes and chocolate and of course we gave them things in return.” The informal “Christmas truce,” with about 100,000 British and German soldiers ceasing to fight, began on the night before Christmas, when along miles of trenches Germans put up Christmas trees with hundreds of candles, and their bands serenaded the British with Christmas Terror and carols and “God Save the King.” Then as one British soldier wrote, “I was never more surprised in my life when daylight came to see grace in 1914 them all sitting on top of the trenches waving ‘Fancy shaking hands with the enemy’ their hands and singing to us.” British and German soldiers put down their rifles and came cautiously out of the trenches. One hundred years ago this month, Some had joint worship services and a few R millions of Europeans got a foretaste of even played soccer. Letters home from British quasi-hell, and some saw a moment of soldiers showed amazement: “Fancy shaking quasi-heaven. hands with the enemy! I suppose you will Most German, French, Austrian, and Russian hardly believe this, but it is the truth. … Who generals had all hoped and planned for quick would believe it if they did not see it with their victories as World War I began in August 1914. own eyes? It is hard enough for us to believe. … By December, the horrible new normal of the It seemed like a dream. … Now I am going to tell next four years was sinking in. As historian Max you something which you will think incredible Hastings put it, “Throughout history, armies Germans put but I give you my word that it is true. … I saw it had been accustomed to fight battles that most up Christmas but thought I was dreaming.” often lasted a single day, occasionally two or trees with For the generals, though, this dream was a three, but thereafter petered out. Now, how- nightmare: How would the soldiers start killing ever, the allies and Germans explored a terrible hundreds of each other again the next day? A British army new universe of continuous engagement. They candles, and order soon forbad “any rapprochement with accustomed themselves to killing and being their bands the enemy in the trenches. All acts contrary to killed for weeks on end.” this order will be punished in high treason.” Some individuals had predicted this. German serenaded the Other countries issued similar decrees, and Commander in Chief von Moltke told Kaiser British with soon one soldier could write to The Whitehaven Wilhelm, “The war will utterly exhaust our own Christmas News, “We’ve started scrapping again; and I can people even if we are victorious.” French writer tell you it is not very nice in the trenches up to André Gide spoke of entering “a long tunnel full carols and the knees in water.” of blood and darkness.” ‘God Save the Isaiah, in chapters three and four of his As battles went on for weeks without King.’ book, forecast God’s judgment on nations that respite, Bible-minded soldiers like Kresten had gone astray: “Your men shall fall by the Andresen of Germany saw how the dead piled sword and your mighty men in battle.” Civilians up but the living also felt cursed: “We are on will also suffer: “Instead of perfume there will our way into the jaws of Hell. … We’re hardly be rottenness … instead of a rich robe, a skirt of human any more, at most we are well-drilled sackcloth.” But misery creates pressure to automatons who perform every action without repent: Some suffering comes for reasons

any great reflection. O, Lord God, if only we beyond the ken of Job or the rest of us; but much Robson could become human again.” of the time, when God slaps us in the face, our

On Dec. 25, though, a bottom-up initiative in response should be, “Thanks, I needed that.” H a r

the trenches allowed many soldiers to become One hundred years ago, God gave the czar, old

human again for a day. As one British soldier the kaiser, and their counterparts who claimed B / I wrote to his hometown newspaper, The to be Christians an opportunity to admit that mpe r Bedfordshire Times and Independent, “There was their strategies for early victory had failed. Yet ial

no firing on Christmas Day and the Germans they did not confess their pridefulness and a r

were quite friendly with us. They even came kneel before God. Instead, they ignored His slap M useums over to our trenches and gave us cigars and and poured out more buckets of blood. A

72 WORLD decembeR 27, 2014  [email protected]  @MarvinOlasky

26 OLASKY.indd 72 12/8/14 1:16 PM April 17, 2015 People of Washington, DC Register today at the Land www.christiansandisrael.org A Twenty-First Century Case for Christian Zionism

an Christian Zionism be Cdefended in the twenty- first century? Theologically? Historically? Can it be Conference Topics defended in ways that are ◆ Theology and history consistent with Jewish and ◆ Theology and morality ◆ Theology and the Christian scriptures? Are its churches legal, moral, and political ◆ Theology and politics outworkings compatible ◆ Theology and the law with the ideals of the biblical ◆ Basic theological covenant? questions ◆ Theology in the New Come hear leading Testament Hosted by scholars and experts wrestle with these topics as they move beyond old assumptions and explore what may be one of the most profound questions facing the New Testament church: how do we as Christians respond to the fact that millions of Jews once

Sain scattered around the world s bury’ have returned to their ancient s

/ap homeland and established a modern nation-state?

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26 OLASKY.indd 4 12/8/14 10:46 AM