Men World 5.12.indd 1 4/5/12 2:03:48 PM Untitled-4 2 8/17/12 2:54 PM Contents , / , 34 Surviving by serving Aleppo, one of the oldest cities in the world, is the latest casualty in Syria’s civil war. While world leaders look to a jihadist-driven rebel agenda, the city’s Christian minority is fi nding purpose in its peril 42 Onward Christian workers 2012 Hope Award: Our international division winner provides biblical worldview teaching as the link—often missing—between evangelism and economic development 48 Sex, lies & 52 Teacher walkout television As conservative reforms gain Lawsuits momentum, teachers unions involving the fi nd themselves losing money world’s and members 5 News largest Home invasion: Union gains 14 Human Race Christian millions of dollars by forcing 16 Quotables broadcasting some parents caring for 18 Quick Takes network may children to “join” as hang by a fl ash drive healthcare workers 23 Movies & TV : // 23 26 Books 28 Q&A 30 Music 61 Lifestyle 63 Technology 64 Science 65 Houses of God 56 66 Sports 67 Money 68 Religion 3 Joel Belz 20 Janie B. Cheaney 32 Mindy Belz 56 Brian Brenberg 42 61 71 Mailbag 75 Andrée Seu Peterson . , , 76 Marvin Olasky WORLD (ISSN -X) (USPS -) is published biweekly ( issues) for . per year by God’s World Publications, (no mail) All Souls Crescent, Asheville, NC ; () -. Periodical postage paid at Asheville, NC, and additional mailing offi ces. Printed in the USA. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. © God’s World Publications. All rights reserved. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to WORLD, PO Box , Asheville, NC -. 18 CONTENTS.indd 1 8/21/12 3:39 PM “ e earth is the L’s and the fullness thereof; Health care for the world and those who dwell therein.” — : Editor in Chief Editor Managing Editor News Editor people Biblical of faith Senior Writers . • • • . • • Reporters • • Correspondents • • . • .. • • • . • • • • Mailbag Editor Executive Assistant c Editorial Assistants • Art Director . Associate Art Director . 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If you would prefer not to receive these promotions, please call customer service and ask to be placed on applied to health care our list. www.samaritanministries.org 18 JOEL.indd 2 8/20/12 3:13 PM Joel Belz Fatal decisions e ‘death panel’ issue isn’t dying T and even reprehensible about the Obamacare health plan being discussed every day during >> the current presidential campaign. But nothing is more objectionable than the aspect of the plan that vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin referred to in as its “death panels.” I know that big media have overwhelmingly tried to discredit the Palin charge. And you can argue if you want to be picky that Palin didn’t help her case by framing the charge the way she did, drawing a grisly picture of a panel of bureaucrats issuing a Solomonic thumbs-up or a thumbs-down on whether her Down syndrome son would be allowed to live. If you’re talking about a panel of cold-hearted men and women passing judgment on life. e evil is in relegating responsibility for those specifi c individuals, well then, yes—Palin’s picture choices to the federal government. is theoretically overdrawn. In real life, somebody indeed has to decide But, of course, that’s not what the debate is whether a -year-old should get a , heart about. e debate is about the Independent Payment transplant. Somebody indeed has to decide whether Advisory Board, a presidentially appointed group of and when to turn off a ventilator for someone who’s experts charged with suppressing the cost of been in a coma for three months. e question is: Medicare. Specifi cally, IPAB’s task is to hold costs to Who makes those hard decisions? It should be that the rate of infl ation—plus percent—in any given person, or that person’s family, or that person’s year. godly advisers, or God Himself—either through the To meet that goal, IPAB has to do what any man- working out of His actual providence or through agement team must do: decide what to include as trustworthy counsel. And maybe, just maybe, there allowable costs, and what to exclude. Appendicitis should also be room for a person to elect, on his gets included; a facelift doesn’t. Injuries from a car own volition, to allow the government to make the wreck or even a skiing accident are included; a later decisions for him. model pacemaker than the one you got last year But it should never be the government by unilat- may not be. It’s actually not that diff erent from any eral edict. typical insurance arrangement. You know full well To which some folks will say that the government that you can’t get everything you want. Someone makes all sorts of life-and-death decisions for its has to decide. people. Starting with the military, moving on to air e diff erence with IPAB is that it’s in eff ect the traffi c safety, to the oversight and control of drugs only insurance company in town. If you don’t like and medicine—aren’t life-and-death decisions the mix of coverage with IPAB, too bad. It sets the precisely what government does? standard. To come back to Sarah Palin, if a board To which we say: Too much so—already. But like IPAB says Down syndrome babies and the heart enough is enough. No government is smart and wise defects they frequently present aren’t covered, enough to do all that micromanaging well. We fully that’s the way it will be for the Palin family. No understand that no one’s proposing a panel that will panel of judges ever sees little Trig Palin, face-to- literally and personally evaluate Trig Palin—or any face. Trig never hears an individual death sentence. other American citizen. But when the president But a panel of “experts” may well say in advance appoints men and women to a commission that that someone with his condition just isn’t eligible decides which medical issues will be supported for coverage. at becomes the policy of little Trig under Obamacare, and which ones won’t, don’t be Palin’s government. surprised if little Trig—and his family—worry a bit BARRIE e evil in such an arrangement, mind you, isn’t about something that to everyone in his right mind KRIEG that somebody has to make those choices. at is sounds very much like a death panel. A Email: [email protected] SEPTEMBER 8, 2012 WORLD 18 JOEL.indd 3 8/20/12 8:34 PM CREDIT BethanyAcquisition-ad1-WorldMarketv3.indd 1 7/5/12 4:00 PM Untitled-5 4 8/17/12 2:56 PM DispatchesNews > Human Race > Quotables > Quick Takes Obama’s invitation was an olive branch to begin bipartisan talks on defi cit reduction.