← The World and Everything In It
The World and Everything In It
2.12.26 Revisiting EPA climate guidelines, Congress looks at Sharia, and Petra’s new album
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- [00:06]
Mary Reichert
Good morning. Republicans in Congress sound the alarm about Islamic political influence. What does it mean for First Amendment protections?
- [00:14]
Kent Covington
Principles of Sharia are at odds with the Constitution and the laws of the United States.
- [00:18]
Myrna Brown
That's ahead. Also, a change in climate policies and the ban that helped define Christian rock returns with a new album after 20 years. And world commentator Hunter Baker on the high cost of benchmark markets.
- [00:40]
Mary Reichert
It's Thursday, February 12th. This is the world and everything in it from listeners supported World Radio. I'm Mary Reichert.
- [00:47]
Myrna Brown
And I'm Erna Brown. Good morning.
- [00:51]
Mary Reichert
Up next, Kent Covington has today's news.
- [00:55]
Kent Covington
Many in Washington are bracing for another partial government shutdown with funding set to expire for the Department of Homeland Security tomorrow night. Democrats are holding up funding as they demand changes to immigration enforcement. But DHS also oversees things like TSA, airport security and the Coast Guard. And on Capitol Hill, acting TSA Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeil pleaded with lawmakers.
- [01:19]
Mary Reichert
Twelve weeks later, some are just recovering from the financial impact of the 43 day shutdown. Many are still reeling from it. We cannot put them through another such experience. It would be unconscionable.
- [01:31]
Kent Covington
Many TSA employees are deemed essential and were expected to continue working through last year's record long shutdown, with paychecks delayed. And Coast Guard Admiral Thomas Allen told a House panel that a DHS shutdown would hurt morale among the guard's roughly 56,000 members.
- [01:49]
Philip Rossetti
The uncertainty of missing paychecks negatively impacts.
- [01:52]
Kent Covington
Readiness and creates a significant financial hardship.
- [01:56]
Philip Rossetti
For service members and their families.
- [01:58]
Kent Covington
He added that the Coast Guard would have to halt most of its work and focus only on missions tied to national security or saving lives. The latest US Job numbers may indicate that after a softer stretch last year, the job market may be picking back up. World's Mary Munsey has more.
- [02:15]
Mary Reichert
The Labor Department says employers added about 170,000 jobs in January, stronger than economists expected and well above December's softer gain. Healthcare, construction and professional services led the way. Manufacturing posted modest growth. The unemployment rate edged down to around 4.3% and wages rose around 3.7% compared to a year ago. That follows a weaker report last week that showed slower hiring late last year, which had raised concerns about cooling momentum. Some analysts say January's rebound suggests the labor market remains steady, even if it's not booming. For world I'm Mary Muncie.
- [03:04]
Kent Covington
A very good meeting. That's how President Trump described his sit down with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Wednesday. Netanyahu's mission was reportedly to ask Trump to pressure Iran not only on its nuclear program but also on its ballistic missiles. US Diplomats have been holding indirect nuclear talks with Tehran in recent days, and Trump has threatened military action if Iran does not cooperate. The White House says Tehran is much better off making a deal. Vice President JD Vance well, look, the president's told his entire senior team that we should be trying to cut a deal that ensures the Iranians don't have a nuclear weapon. But if we can't cut that deal, then there's another option on the table. So I think the president is going to continue to preserve his options. He's going to have a lot of options because we have the most powerful military in the world. Trump also alluded to Operation Midnight Hammer, the US Military action last summer that struck three Iranian nuclear sites. Iran's foreign minister yesterday said limitations on the country's ballistic missile program are not on the table. All flights briefly stopped over El Paso, Texas yesterday after federal authorities ordered a sudden closure of airspace over the border city. The FAA lifted the restriction after a few hours, saying that there was no ongoing danger to aviation and flights could resume. But El Paso Mayor Reynard Johnson was not happy, saying the closure occurred without.
- [04:26]
Arsenio Orteza
Coordinating with the city, the airport, the hospitals, the community leadership that failure to communicate is unacceptable.
- [04:38]
Kent Covington
He said that all aviation operations were grounded, including emergency flights, and called it a disruption not seen since 9 11. Officials initially said the closure was in response to cartel drone activity near the U. S. Mexico border, but it was unclear if the closure was in response to an immediate drone incursion or if it was part of longer range planning. It was initially announced that the closure would last for more than a week, as heard here from one air traffic control tower in El Paso, the Fitbais.
- [05:06]
Philip Rossetti
I guess there's a CFR switch into.
- [05:08]
Myrna Brown
Effect for Sassadons or Fosworth and Everybody.
- [05:10]
Philip Rossetti
Else at 0 fixed 30s for the.
- [05:12]
Kent Covington
Next 10 days were the Pentagon had been planning to test a laser system aimed at disabling cartel drones. Authorities said the concern is now resolved, but lawmakers and local leaders are demanding answers about the abrupt ground stop. For the first time in nearly a year, FDA Commissioner Marty Makari addressed concerns from lawmakers about an abortion drug at a closed door briefing. World Carolina Lumeta has more from the nation's capital. Pro life lawmakers left the meeting with more questions than answers about the abortion drug mifepristone.
- [05:46]
Mary Reichert
Republican Senator Josh Hawley I'll just be honest with you.
- [05:49]
Kent Covington
I was very disappointed by that last.
- [05:51]
Mary Reichert
Year, Makary promised to start an independent.
- [05:54]
Kent Covington
Safety review into the abortion drug. But Hawley says it now looks like.
- [05:57]
Mary Reichert
Past reports that Makary was slow rolling.
- [06:00]
Kent Covington
That study may in fact be true.
- [06:02]
Philip Rossetti
He added that it's now up to.
- [06:04]
Mary Reichert
Congress to step in.
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Kent Covington
We've got to think about how do we stop the flow of mifepresstone into these states, particularly states where mifeprostone Preston was banned. But it's coming anyway. We've got more abortions now than we had when Roe was the law of the land. And I don't sense any urgency at all from the FDA about this.
- [06:21]
Mary Reichert
None.
- [06:22]
Kent Covington
Zilch. Reporting for WORLD I'm Carolina Lumeta in Washington. Police in Arizona have released a man that they detained for questioning in the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Today show co host Savannah Guthrie. Police detained Carlos Pazuelos during a traffic stop on Tuesday, hours after investigators released recovered surveillance footage of a person in a ski mask tampering with Guthrie's doorbell camera. Bos said police questioned him and searched his home for hours before releasing him on Wednesday.
- [06:52]
Mary Reichert
I didn't do anything.
- [06:53]
Kent Covington
I mean, I hope they get the.
- [06:54]
Mary Reichert
Suspect because I'm not it.
- [06:56]
Philip Rossetti
They better do their job and find.
- [06:57]
Mary Reichert
The suspect that did it so they.
- [06:58]
Arsenio Orteza
Can clear my name.
- [06:59]
Kent Covington
Bozuelos said he had never heard of Guthrie before police stopped him. Saturday will mark two weeks since the 83 year old Guthrie was apparently taken from her Tucson home. I'm Kent Covington. And still ahead, Republicans in Congress sound the alarm about Islamic political influence and later, a shift in climate policy. This is the World and everything in It.
- [07:38]
Mary Reichert
It's Thursday 12th February. So glad to have along for today's edition of the WORLD and Everything In It. Good morning. I'm Mary Reichert.
- [07:46]
Myrna Brown
And I'm Myrna Brown. Up first, rejecting the logic of climate alarmism, In July, the EPA announced it would retract a study from 2009 used to justify emissions standards in the U.S. the agency is now in the final stages of rescinding the greenhouse gas endangerment finding that was the legal foundation for those standards. What does the policy change mean for everyday Americans?
- [08:20]
Mary Reichert
Joining us now to talk about it is Philip Rossetti. He's an energy policy researcher at the R Street Institute, a free market think tank in Washington. He previously advised members of Congress on the Select Subcommittee on the Climate Crisis. Philip, good morning.
- [08:35]
Philip Rossetti
Morning.
- [08:36]
Mary Reichert
Well, for our listeners who have not heard of it, what was this 2009 EPA study and why did it guide emissions rules under the Obama and B.
- [08:45]
Philip Rossetti
Biden administrations yeah, it's definitely something that doesn't come up in frequent conversation or everyday conversation. But basically rewinding a little bit further to 2007, there was a Supreme Court case, Massachusetts versus EPA, and that was the Bush administration's EPA. And obviously there was no greenhouse gas regulation at that time. And Massachusetts said, hey, greenhouse gases are pollutants, and therefore EPA should regulate it. And it was a 5, 4 split in favor of defining greenhouse gases as pollutants.
- [09:16]
Hunter Baker
Pollutants.
- [09:17]
Philip Rossetti
And that set up the basis for EPA to say, hey, do these pollutants endanger public health? And that's what 2009 was under the Obama administration. They said, yes, they do. And therefore EPA has the authority to regulate them. Every regulation that includes a climate benefit or says that it improves climate is contingent upon the endangered finding. And there are a lot of regulations that might include some climate benefits, but there's actually only a handful, like really serious climate regulations that have been proposed or even finalized, but they've never really taken effect because of legal challenges to them. So something that always comes up because there's this big vision of having a big climate regulation that never kind of comes through. And this is the Trump administration saying, hey, we're trying to put that to bed and not let any more attempts at a climate regulation happen.
- [10:08]
Mary Reichert
There's always litigation going on in the background that you have to take into consideration. Okay, so suppose the EPA drops a study as planned. Where might ordinary Americans first feel the effect? Say, in gas prices, electric bills, someplace else?
- [10:20]
Philip Rossetti
Interestingly enough, I don't think it's going to change much for the everyday American. And the reason I say that is because even though there have been these big regulations focused on climate, because of the legal challenges of when they go into effect, what they can regulate, they never really kind of got the industry to fully position before they were repealed. So the classic example is the clean power plan. That was 2015, and it would have required more renewable energy for the electric power sector. And ostensibly it would have increased electricity prices. That got stayed by the Supreme Court pretty much right after it was finalized. It never went into effect. And a few years Later, West Virginia vs EPA, Supreme Court decision said, hey, you can't actually do the clean power plan at all. So these sort of ideas that would be underpinned by the endangered finding have never really come to fruition. So it's more this theoretical debate. And ironically, I've actually seen some folks who are in favor of climate regulation coming out against the endangerment finding on the idea that they just don't see climate regulation as a very effective way of combating climate change.
- [11:28]
Mary Reichert
Well, you touched on this, but just to clarify, will this change affect only future EPA rules or is it going to roll back regul regulations that we're paying for right now?
- [11:38]
Philip Rossetti
So it would affect future regulations primarily, but current regulations that rely on a climate benefit would theoretically be impacted. But when we actually look at the breakdown of regulations that have climate benefits, climate benefits are usually only a small portion of their overall benefits. They're really looking at the public health benefits from mitigating other pollutants, which Americans.
- [12:03]
Mary Reichert
If any, are most likely to benefit from this shift and who might be worse off.
- [12:07]
Philip Rossetti
Anyone who drives a car, anyone who uses electricity would theoretically benefit from there being less regulation on that. But again, because those regulations didn't really go into effect, it's not like people are going to see a reduction in their bills. It's more just kind of, hey, you know, this potential opportunity for a future regulation that could have increased these costs is less likely to occur now. But this is a huge legal question about the EPA's authority to regulate it all and what a future regulation in the climate space could look like.
- [12:37]
Mary Reichert
So do you think that this change will mainly help big corporations and the benefits will then flow through to the consumer?
- [12:45]
Philip Rossetti
I don't think that you're going to see any corporations that get like a profit boost or something from this, you know, because that's just not the nature of how the current regulatory environment is. Right. There isn't a big regulation that is going to be reversed by unwinding the endangerment finding.
- [13:02]
Mary Reichert
All right, Philip, just one more question. Does this signal a broader change in how the EPA will justify major regulations going forward, you think?
- [13:12]
Philip Rossetti
Oh, I think so. You know, you look at the tactic of how to regulate, and under the first Trump administration, the approach was really getting back to the basics of what is good regulation, what is the appropriate rate at which you measure a pollutant, and who can effectively be regulated, and what's the lowest cost way of mitigating pollutants. That was the old way under the first Trump administration. And now the approach is more saying, hey, we don't think that there is a justification for these regulations, and therefore we, we shouldn't have them. So to that extent, instead of seeing kind of a more kind of like focused regulation on these issues, I think you're probably just going to see less regulation.
- [13:55]
Mary Reichert
Philip Rossetti researches energy policy at the R Street Institute. That's a free market think tank in Washington, D.C. philip appreciate thank you so much.
- [14:03]
Hunter Baker
You're welcome.
- [14:09]
Myrna Brown
Coming up next on the WORLD and everything in it, Islamic Law and the constitution since the 911 terror attacks, Americans have debated the boundaries between constitutional protections for religious freedom and identifying radical ideology before terrorists connect. Now some lawmakers say the US should ban Sharia. Islamic religious and political law supporters say.
- [14:35]
Mary Reichert
The US Needs to raise its guard against Islamic influence growing in Western Europe and in states like Texas. But critics say the Constitution is sufficient and warn that banning Sharia could violate the First Amendment.
- [14:48]
Kent Covington
The subcommittee will come to order.
- [14:50]
Mary Reichert
On Tuesday, Texas Congressman Chip Roy gaveled in the House Judiciary Subcommittee for the Constitution and Limited Government Principles of Sharia.
- [14:58]
Kent Covington
Are at odds with the Constitution and the laws of the United States. Sharia fails to include due process, treats non Muslims as second class citizens, and prescribes barbaric punishments.
- [15:07]
Myrna Brown
The subcommittee heard testimony about issues ranging from the unauthorized distribution of Islamic materials in a public high school last week to reports of honor killings and the subjugation of women. Krista Shield, with the activist nonprofit group Rise, Align, Ignite, Reclaim said that in.
- [15:27]
Mary Reichert
Texas we Now have over 330 mosques, at least 650 Islamic nonprofits channeling influence. Dozens of Islamic scholars and banks promoting Sharia compliance finance more than 4 billion in taxpayer funds routed to Islamic entities since 2017. Numbers aside, Democrats on the committee were skeptical about how Muslim communities affect other Americans. Ranking member Mary Scanlon of Pennsylvania addressed concerns about a Muslim encl under investigation in Texas. It seems the pretext for all this bluster is a proposed real estate development in the Dallas suburbs led by the area's growing Muslim population. But there's no evidence it has anything to do with imposing Sharia law on non believers of Islam.
- [16:17]
Myrna Brown
So what is Sharia exactly? Lawmakers and witnesses offered a variety of definitions.
- [16:23]
Mary Reichert
Sharia is concerned with guiding individual personal religious observance, not shaping national laws.
- [16:31]
Kent Covington
Numerous tenets of Sharia show bias against women, the LGBTQ community, non Muslims, former Muslims, and people designated as blasphemers. Almost all Muslims to some degree or another are Sharia law adherents.
- [16:45]
Arsenio Orteza
Because Sharia law is simply the religious.
- [16:47]
Myrna Brown
Precepts of Islam, Sharia doctrine demands subjugation of non Muslims. One reason definition vary is because there is no single source document called Sharia.
- [16:58]
Mary Reichert
Linguistically, the word Sharia refers to a straight path. As Ibrahim is professor of Islamic Studies at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a contributor to World Opinions. He says the straight path for Muslims comes from the whole of Islamic teaching in the Quran and the stories about the Prophet Muhammad, but it is not limited to moral guidelines for fasting and prayer. It is a political legal order designed to regulate society, governance, and law and power based on the model established by Muhammad as the prophet of Islam, not only as a religious figure, but as a lawgiver, judge, ruler.
- [17:44]
Myrna Brown
Ibrahim says if Sharia is applied directly, it makes legal and political claims that appear to contradict constitutional principles like due process and freedom of speech.
- [17:55]
Arsenio Orteza
Good afternoon and thank you for being here.
- [17:58]
Mary Reichert
Last week, Texas Congressman Keith Self joined Chip Roy and other House Republicans to introduce the newly formed Sharia Free America Caucus.
- [18:07]
Kent Covington
We've put forward legislation to pause immigration until we've had to have an immigration system that vets people for adherence to Sharia law.
- [18:13]
Mary Reichert
That bill would also allow the government to deport adherents of Sharia law, and it came under scrutiny during Tuesday's hearing. Here's Congresswoman Scanlon. This kind of government discrimination based purely.
- [18:25]
Myrna Brown
On a person's religious beliefs, not actions.
- [18:28]
Mary Reichert
Is a blatant violation of the First Amendment's free exercise and free speech guarantees.
- [18:34]
Myrna Brown
But others say it's possible to screen immigrants for specific concerns and not Islam in general. Here's Ilya Shapiro, director of Constitutional studies at the Manhattan Institution Institute.
- [18:46]
Kent Covington
The devil is in the details about what exactly is being targeted through immigration law. But it is legitimate through immigration law to say we don't want to admit people who disagree with these basic American precepts.
- [19:01]
Myrna Brown
That said, Shapiro is skeptical about the need to pass laws banning Sharia in the courts.
- [19:08]
Kent Covington
So already, under existing law, the Constitution, federal statutes, treaties are the supreme law of the land. No religious legal system, be it Islamic, you know, Jewish, Catholic, canon law, or anything else, can override that.
- [19:23]
Mary Reichert
For now, direct legal challenges to the Constitution are not on the table. Here's Congressman Tom McClintock II, a Republican from California.
- [19:32]
Arsenio Orteza
Are you aware of any proposals to enact laws that would assist in imposing.
- [19:37]
Philip Rossetti
Sharia law on others or giving it.
- [19:40]
Arsenio Orteza
Precedence over our own civil law? Anyone?
- [19:45]
Mary Reichert
Okay.
- [19:46]
Arsenio Orteza
Well, good.
- [19:46]
Mary Reichert
So far, 14 states have passed laws banning the use of foreign law that violates due process. Lawmakers in Congress have introduced similar legislation, though for now, it would take much more support to get it through both chambers and to the president's desk.
- [20:02]
Myrna Brown
For Professor Ibrahim at Southern Seminary, legislation is only part of the equation. While debating worldview in the public square is more foundational.
- [20:13]
Mary Reichert
Christians should clearly and confidently expose and oppose Islam's theological claims, teachings, and legal system where they contradict biblical truth and the moral foundations of Western civilization.
- [20:31]
Kent Covington
Without objection, this hearing is adjourned. Additional support comes from the Masters University equipping students for lives of faithfulness to the Master. Jesus Christ Masters. Edu from the Joshua program at St. Dunstan's Academy in the Blue Ridge Mountains Work, prayer and adventure for young men. St. Dunstansacademy.org and from watersedge competitive rates and supporting churches 4.55% APY on a 13 month term investment. Watersedge.com.
- [21:28]
Mary Reichert
Most of us spend winter trying not to fall down. Rich Ruinen makes a living off the ones who do. He's a personal injury attorney. Slip and fall cases. Oh yeah, now he's an alternate on the US Olympic curling team. The Wall Street Journal had some fun with that. A 51 year old lawyer who could become the oldest American winter Olympian. But but only if a teammate, you know, slips and falls. But here's the thing about curling. You strap a slick slider onto one shoe and deliberately launch yourself across a sheet of ice pushing a 44 pound granite stone. Now Rooinen gets the humor of his situation, but he's also honored to be there.
- [22:07]
Philip Rossetti
What the Olympics means is excellence, respect, friendship.
- [22:13]
Mary Reichert
And that's the twist. A man whose day job revolves revolves around accidents drawn to a sport where the whole point is precision. It's the World and Everything in It.
- [22:33]
Myrna Brown
Today is Thursday, February 12th. Thank you for turning to World Radio to help start your day.
- [22:40]
Mary Reichert
Good morning number and I'm Mary Reinkard. Coming next on the World and everything in It. Five Decades of Faith and Rock and Roll Petra is the longest running band in the history of Christian music. They've been at it since 1972. That's when four students at the Christian Training center in Fort Wayne, Indiana got together and formed the band.
- [23:03]
Myrna Brown
It was a group that would go on to sell over 10 million records and win multiple dub and Grammy awards. Now, more than 50 years and multip lineup changes later, Petra has a new album. According to World's music critic Arsenio Orteza, it does their legacy proud.
- [23:22]
Arsenio Orteza
Petra wasn't the first Christian rock band. The 1960s British combo the Pilgrims probably deserves that distinction. Petra wasn't even the first American Christian rock band. But Petra does go back pretty far. All the way to the days when most churches thought rock and Jesus shouldn't mix. So far, Petra is also the only Christian band still going half a century after its birth. True, the group retired in 2005, but it un retired in 2013 for a 40th anniversary tour. In 2022, it un retired again for a 50th anniversary tour. And the lineup that's touring Bob Hartman, John Schlitt, John Lawre, Greg Bailey and Christian Borneo has just released a new album, Hope. It's the first new Petra recording of original material since 2003. It's also among the band's best. This is Filthy Lucre, the new album's opening song.
- [24:32]
Philip Rossetti
Chains of Gold Finding Senses.
- [24:36]
Arsenio Orteza
Taking hold In typical Petra fashion, it combines hard rock with an overt and easily understood biblical message, in this case that the spiritually mature must not be lovers of money. Also, like the majority of Petra's songs, it was written by the band's guitarist Bob Hartman. Hartman founded Petra 54 years ago with the guitarist Greg Ho, the bassist John de Groff and the drummer Bill Glover. It was these guys who'd signed with Murr Records in 1973 and that recorded the group's first two albums Petra in 1974 and Come and Join Us in 1977. The latter album opened and closed with a song that would become associated with Petra, even though the group didn't write it. It was a cover of a UK hit written by the ex zombie Rod Argent for his band Argent. Petra would go on to record God Gave Rock and Roll to youo Again for its 1984 album Beat the System. The lead singer in both cases was Greg X voles, but the 1977 and 1984 versions sound very different, mainly because during that seven year period all of the original musicians except Hartman were replaced, sometimes more than once. The band also moved Voles from guest vocalist on albums two and three to full time member by album number four, Never say Die, Petra finally had a consistent and distinctive vocal identity.
- [26:16]
Mary Reichert
Blue is the color of a heart.
- [26:19]
Arsenio Orteza
So cold that will not bend when the Stories the group's revolving door membership policy would continue throughout most of the 80s, but its choice of producers and its apparent desire to blend in with the ever changing sounds of mainstream rock also affected the band's sound. The five albums that Petra recorded during the Voles years, for instance, were produced by Jonathan David Brown. They often sounded like a clever synthesis of Kansas, Journey and Toto. Then Brown was replaced behind the production console by John and Dino Elephante. Bowles himself left in 1986 and was replaced by John Schlitt. These changes resulted in the heaviest sounding Petra yet. John Schlitt was one well suited to late 80s Petra. He'd been the lead singer of the secular band Head east before getting fired in 1980 due to his addiction to drugs and booze. He eventually became a Christian, cleaned up and auditioned for Petra's lead vocal slot. The rest, as they say, is history. But no band can go from strength to strength forever. And by the late 80s, there were signs that Petra was treading water. There was a praise album of mostly other people's compositions, then a re recording of that album in Spanish. Another praise album followed in 1997, then an unplugged collection. At one point, Hartman even retired briefly, leaving the lineup with no original members. And yes, there was a third praise album. But if the 21st century found Petra coming to an end, it was doing so not with a whimper, but a bang. The 2003 album Jekyll and Hyde contained its most heavily metallic music ever. Nothing on the band's new album, Hope, sounds quite that hard. But coming from five guys who've only performed reunion tours during the last dozen years, it's confident and limber with something for almost everyone. Stylistically speaking, the song Oxygen even adds Jamaican rhythms to their palate. And why not? For a group that believes God gave rock and roll to you, the idea that he gave reggae to you as well isn't much of a stretch. I'm arsenio ortez.
- [29:29]
Mary Reichert
Good morning. This is the world and everything in it from listeners supported World Radio. Mary I'm Mary Reichard.
- [29:35]
Myrna Brown
And I'm Myrna Brown. For most of American history, gambling lived at the margins of public life. Now it's everywhere. In stadiums, on our phones, and woven into the sports we love. World commentator Hunter Baker says this isn't just a business story, it's a moral one.
- [29:55]
Hunter Baker
As Olympic hockey ramps up and the NBA heads into All Star Weekend, the games aren't the only action. The betting markets are heating up, too. Before we go any further, Listen, miss my window.
- [30:08]
Kent Covington
You could get in on the action right now.
- [30:10]
Hunter Baker
Now.
- [30:11]
Kent Covington
Now. Deb's team has been out of it since week six. But in playoff mode, she's in on every drive. Only on FanDuel. Last call for football.
- [30:21]
Philip Rossetti
What the season has been to that.
- [30:24]
Kent Covington
33 point fourth quarter to the overs and the unders. No more points to the spreads. We covered. Three more points to the parlays. We hit.
- [30:32]
Philip Rossetti
One more catch, one more yard.
- [30:35]
Kent Covington
Here's the football. It's awesome.
- [30:38]
Hunter Baker
Did you catch that? It's not about the game anymore. It's about the wager layered up on top of it. One more catch, one more yard. Not for the team, for the ticket. Get in on the action right now. Not watch. Get in. The game becomes raw material for the bet. Twenty years ago, I went to a football game in New York. The outcome was clear before the final whistle, but a group of men near the railing were still shouting, as if everything depended on dawned on me. They weren't watching the game anymore. They were watching the point spread. Whether the team covered mattered more than whether they won. What used to be a sideshow is now the main attraction. There was a time when we understood gambling as dangerous, not because of killjoy moralism, but because people saw what it did. Paychecks disappeared, marriages cracked up, families absorbed the shock. Even Las Vegas functioned like a kind of quarantine. Keep it out in the desert, contain it. Now it lives in our pockets. The old casinos removed clocks so you would lose track of time. They comped cheap meals and drinks to keep you glued to your seat. Today, betting apps are tied directly to your credit card and powered by sophisticated psychological design. Engineered urgency, constant notifications, personalized prompts. Now, last chance. One more the house is not hoping to win. It is built to win. Plato warned that reason must govern appetite. CS Lewis urged the cultivation of virtue rather than impulse. Modern gambling does the opposite. It trains appetite. It monetizes impatience. It exploits weakness and calls it entertainment. The ads say get in on the action. But when appetite runs the show, it is not freedom, it is captivity. With better graphics. And despite the marketing, the odds were never in your favor. For world, I'm Hunter Baker.
- [33:05]
Myrna Brown
Tomorrow, Katie McCoy joins us for Culture Friday, and Colin Garberino reviews a new animated sports comedy in theaters. That and more tomorrow. I'm Myrna Brown.
- [33:17]
Mary Reichert
And I'm Mary Reichert. The world and everything in it comes to you from World Radio. World's mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates and inspires. Scripture records the appearance of the angel after the resurrection. His appearance was like lightning and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him, the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen. As he said. Come see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead. And behold, he he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him. See, I have told you. Verses 3 through 7 of Matthew 28. Go now in grace and peace.