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The World and Everything In It
5.14.26 Trump’s China challenge, antidepressants withdrawal, farmers’ fertilizer scramble, and applied theology
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- [00:06]
Myrna Brown
Good morning. The president in Beijing will talk with a China expert who says human rights have to be on the table.
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Chris Smith
And when the Straits of Hormuz closed, nitrogen prices went up $100 per ton.
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Nick Eicher
Surging prices leave farmers with tough choices. Also today, the risks and benefits of antidepressants. Later, we follow a Colson fellow through a year of intense worldview building.
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Michael Sobolic
The wheels were turn. And so I think it was probably one of the first times some of our kids had heard that.
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Nick Eicher
And world commentator David Claussen on government disfavored views.
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Myrna Brown
It's Thursday, May 14th. This is the world and everything in it from listener supported World Radio. I'm Myrna Brown.
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Nick Eicher
And I'm Nick Iger. Good morning.
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Myrna Brown
Up next, Kent Covington with today's news,
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Kent Covington
A military band in Beijing, part of a red carpet welcome for President Trump. Last night or this morning local time, that marked the start of Trump's two day visit to China, where leader Xi Jinping welcomed Trump inside the Great hall of the People. President Trump called Xi a friend and had kind words for the Chinese leader.
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Nick Eicher
We're going to have a fantastic future together.
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Michael Sobolic
Such respect for China, the job you've
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Nick Eicher
done, you're a great leader. I say it to everybody. You're a great leader.
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Kent Covington
Their high profile summit is expected to focus on trade, but will almost certainly also cover the Iran war technology and Taiwan. Trump hopes to iron out differences and increase China's import of American agriculture products and passenger planes. Though most analysts are not expecting major breakthroughs. The chief diplomat for President Trump's Board of Peace for Gaza says people are still dying in the war ravaged territory and progress has not come as quickly as hoped. Seven months after Israel signed a ceasefire with the Hamas terror group, Nikolai Mladenov says the blame lies squarely with Hamas.
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Nick Eicher
We have a ceasefire. It is holding. It is not perfect. It is far from perfect. There are violations every day and some of them are very serious.
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Kent Covington
He says Hamas still refuses to disarm, and in areas it still controls, it is consolidating its grip on power.
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Nick Eicher
It is taxing people in the street who have nothing left to give. It is blocking Palestinian workers and contractors approved by the Board of Peace from building temporary communities intended to build shelter. To what end? To squeeze better terms of a negotiation.
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Kent Covington
But Bladenov says there may be a future for Hamas if it is willing to lay down its arms and become part of the political process. But Israel's government believes lasting peace will only be possible after the terror group is completely destroyed. Kevin Warsh is the next chairman of the Federal Reserve after a Senate confirmation vote on Wednesday.
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Nick Eicher
The ayes are 54, the nays are 45. The nomination is confirmed.
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Kent Covington
President Trump wants Warsh to cut interest rates faster than the outgoing chair, Jerome Powell, did. Democrats criticized Warsh as a sock puppet for the president, warning that he will surrender the Fed's independence. Republicans rejected that claim and called him highly qualified, noting that he served on the Fed board previously from 2006 to 2011. Jerome Powell will stay on the Fed board as a governor, the first chair to do so since 1948. That denies Trump a chance to name another appointee. Anwarsh will chair his first policy meeting next month. On the heels of a new inflation bump, wholesale prices surged last month. The Labor Department just reported the biggest jump in more than three years. The Iran war is the main driver, pushing energy and fuel costs higher, but House Speaker Mike Johnson says it's only temporary.
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Michael Sobolic
The Strait of Hormuz is the big wild card here, and as soon as we get that done, I agree with the president. I think the prices come right back down to where they were.
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Kent Covington
Remember, the Democrats say Americans are paying the price for what they call a war of choice, but the White House says preventing a nuclear armed Iran was the only choice. The Federal Reserve was set to cut interest rates this year, but the war put those plans on hold. Republican led states continue to redraw their congressional district lines, potentially with big implications for November elections. World's Harrison Waters has more.
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Harrison Waters
The U.S. supreme Court ruled last month that states cannot draw district lines primarily based on race, and that has many red states scurrying to redraw the lines in hopes of picking up more Republican seats in Congress. Missouri's state Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that the state's new election map passes constitutional muster and can be used in this year's May midterms. Republicans could pick up one more seat there. Meanwhile, in South Carolina, a plan to redraw the congressional map has stalled. The Senate majority leader joined Democrats Tuesday to block a vote. Governor Henry McMaster called a special session after the Supreme Court tossed Louisiana's gerrymandered map. Primaries are June 9 and a new map would mean another election in August. Lawmakers have until tonight to act. Reporting for world, I'm Harrison Waters.
- [05:29]
Kent Covington
And I'm Kent Covington. Coming up, fertilizer choices leave farmers with tough choices. Plus why religious liberty matters no matter who is in office. This is the world and everything in it.
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Nick Eicher
It's Thursday 14th May. Glad to have you along for today's edition of the world and everything in it. Good morning. I'm Nick Eicher.
- [06:08]
Myrna Brown
And I'm Myrna Brown. First up on the world and everything in it, the U.S. china summit. President Trump is in Beijing for a high stakes summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. He brought key cabinet officials, defense and trade advisors, and a long list of CEOs. The stated agenda includes trade, investment, Iran and other matters. But the deeper question is whether Trump arrives with leverage or whether Xi sees an opening.
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Nick Eicher
Michael Sobolic is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. His specialty is U. S. China relations and great power competition. He's author of the book Countering China's Great A Strategy for American Dominance. Michael, thank you for making some time for us. I know it's a busy time for a China analyst. Good morning to you.
- [06:59]
Michael Sobolic
Good morning. Glad to be here. Thanks for having me on.
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Nick Eicher
Well, you said on one of these many recent podcasts you've been on that Xi Jinping in advance of the summit has a pretty extensive Christmas wish list. What is at the top?
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Michael Sobolic
Taiwan is at the very top. And honestly, Taiwan has been at the top of the Chinese Communist Party's wish list for decades now when it comes to the United States. When Richard Nixon went to China in 1972, the top of his list was getting America out of Vietnam quickly and safely. At the top of Mao Zedong's list. Mao, one of the famous butchers of the 20th century with the number of people he and the communist ideology killed inside of China. At the top of Mao's list was Taiwan. And it's been that way ever since. The Chinese Communist Party views an independent Taiwan as an ideological challenge, as a civilizational affront to China and maybe like a geopolitical embarrassment because from their perspective, it's a divided China that they need to reunite. From many people in Taiwan's perspective, and I feel like I can say this with some confidence because I was in Taiwan within the past month for a week long series of meetings on a delegation. The Taiwanese people quite like their freedom. They quite like their democracy, generally speaking. They love the United States and they're very grateful for the military support that we afford them and for the diplomatic relationship, even though it's unofficial, the diplomatic relationship that we have had with Taiwan for decades now. So Xi Jinping is going to be looking to create daylight between the United States and Taiwan and something that President Trump knows is coming. And he's going to need to be able to handle that situation well when Xi Jinping brings it up.
- [08:54]
Myrna Brown
A piece you wrote for your Think Tank argues President Trump's best leverage is human rights, especially political prisoners such as Jimmy Lai and Pastor Ezra Jen Ming Lee. You say those cases hit Beijing's deepest vulnerability, fear of its own people. Do you think it's likely President Trump will raise human rights? I mean, even if he does it privately?
- [09:23]
Michael Sobolic
This, I think, is going to be the most important question, Myrna. And yes, I do think he's going to raise it, and I hope he does even more than that. I hope he leans in and really puts some political heft and capital behind this ask. Right now with the summit, you basically have a tale of two lists. The list that's gotten a lot of attention is the list of CEOs that are going to China with President Trump. My fear is that the president is going to walk into a trap, because it seems like he's going to try to do what a lot of his predecessors have tried to do, which is crack open the China market so US Businesses can get a fair shake and compete fairly inside of China. On paper, that's great. In reality, the Chinese Communist Party has never really been that interested in treating American companies fairly. They're interested in acquiring intellectual property by hook or by crook, which they have done. And usually they will use that to prop up Chinese competitors that have historically run some American businesses off of the playing field completely. So there's a second list that I think is going to be a lot more, not just morally important for the President to raise, but I think could actually have more geopolitical benefit for the president to raise. And that's the list of political prisoners that he has mentioned. And for these political prisoners, you mentioned a couple of them. Myrna, you mentioned Jimmy Lai. You also mentioned Pastor Ezra Jin. President Trump has committed to raising both of these cases. This is where the CCP is the weakest. They're terrified of their own people, and that's why they censor them and it's why they imprison them. This is the intersection of the right thing to do and the strategic thing to do, which in foreign policy, you usually don't get those things overlapping. But in this situation, you do. And let's face it, any promises that Xi makes for market access, he's probably gonna break in a few years. But if we can get these prisoners home, that would actually be a material gain.
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Nick Eicher
So President Trump arrives with the Iran war still very much unresolved. Talks stalled, Iran's blockade, pressure continues, US Israeli objectives still out of reach. You made the point in the free press, Michael, that asking China for Help on IR could repeat a mistake President Biden made. Former President Biden before Russia invaded Ukraine and Beijing ended up helping Moscow and not Washington. Now, President Trump may want or need President Xi's help with pressuring Iran, but surely he doesn't want to come off looking like Joe Biden. Is the lesson there not even to try, or is there a better way to try to leverage China against Iran?
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Michael Sobolic
The best thing we can do with China is instead of asking them for help, to hold them accountable where they're breaking our sanctions, where they're making the problem worse, we should expect China to stop sending weapon components to Iran, and they've continued to do this. A number of weeks ago, President Trump said publicly that any nation sending Iran weapons would be hit immediately with a 50% tariff. Not that long after there was a weapons shipment from China where there were some drone components and some weapons precursors that were intercepted, nothing happened. There were no tariffs employed. There were no sanctions levied, at least as far as I can tell what the United States has been doing. And this is good as far as it goes. They have been sanctioning individual companies doing bad things. That's fine. But listen, China is really good at evading sanctions. What we really need to be doing is changing the cost calculus to make the pain of supporting Iran greater than the benefit of supporting Iran for China. Part of that, I think, needs to be following through on some threats that the administration has made toward Chinese banks that are allowing and facilitating financial transactions for Iranian entities. If President Trump expects Xi Jinping to help him, I think he's in for a rude awakening because Xi Jinping is not our friend. But having that clarity of no matter what promises or assurances she makes, they're probably going to be broken, you need to go in there willing to change that cost benefit calculation for China.
- [13:47]
Myrna Brown
Michael Sobolic is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. We will be watching. Michael, thank you.
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Michael Sobolic
Thank you so much.
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Nick Eicher
Coming next on the world and everything in it, rethinking antidepressants. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Says doctors need to do more to warn patients about the risks of stopping certain antidepressants. The number of Americans using them has increased by the millions since the 1990s.
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Myrna Brown
One in six American adults now takes an antidepressant daily, as does roughly 1 in 10American children. And while many in the medical community say the drugs are safe and effective, a growing number of critics are calling attention to the possibility of severe side effects.
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Nick Eicher
Now Kennedy's HHS is pushing new guidance on how Those drugs are prescribed and how patients come off of them. World's Josh Schumacher reports from Washington.
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Josh Schumacher
When Morgan Stewart was 26, a doctor put her on Prozac. It's a drug commonly used to treat depression, obsessive compulsive disorder and anxiety. But Stewart says those labels didn't really fit her situation. She was just going through a hard time.
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Shannon Yarros
I had a sick family member. It was just kind of like a tough time. And I was given an SSRI for that.
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Josh Schumacher
Prozac is an SSRI or a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. SSRIs elevate mood by increasing the hormone serotonin in the brain and preventing brain tissue from reabsorbing that serotonin. Stuart was on Prozac for nine years, and in that time she met her husband and started a family.
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Shannon Yarros
And so life looked very different. So, Yeah, I was 35 when I got off and it was wild time.
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Josh Schumacher
Stewart says she started experiencing what she called otherworldly symptoms.
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Shannon Yarros
My withdrawal. It kind of started with really bad insomnia. I had vesiculations up and down my body or twitches.
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Josh Schumacher
Then it got mental.
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Shannon Yarros
I had violent intrusive thoughts that I had never had before prior to the medication. On the medication of harming myself, harming other people. They were very bizarre.
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Josh Schumacher
She says she even admitted herself to a psychiatric hospital during that time. Once she got back on her feet following her withdrawal, Stewart founded an organization that raises awareness about the possible negative effects of SSRIs. She was at the conference where Secretary Kennedy made his announcement.
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Nick Eicher
Patients must understand the benefits, the risks and the consequences of long term use before they start, will they continue and when they consider stopping.
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Josh Schumacher
Kennedy also said HHS would train doctors on how to taper their patients off antidepressants and incentivize them to do it.
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Nick Eicher
The center for Medicaid and Medicare Services is issuing billing guidance that allows clinicians to get paid for deprescribing work for the first time. Care plans. They'll be paid for care planning, for monitoring withdrawal, for coordinating treatment, and for tracking outcomes.
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Josh Schumacher
Both Kennedy and the APA, the American Psychiatric association, agree that SSRIs had been important and even life saving for many people. But the organization criticized Kennedy's assessment that there's an over medicalization or over prescription crisis in the mental health industry. They said that was an oversimplification. The APA also said that psychiatric medications like antidepressants shouldn't be stigmatized. The organization says patient by patient treatment plans are important. And Dr. Shannon Yarros a professor of pharmacy practice at Cedarville University, agrees. She says everyone interacts with antidepressants differently.
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Shannon Yarros
Some people have had success using antidepressants and SSRIs and, you know, maybe with very little side effects and it has worked well for them. And again, there's been other people I've talked to, they haven't worked as well
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Chris Smith
for them, or maybe not to the
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Shannon Yarros
extent that they were really hoping.
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Josh Schumacher
Yarrow said she appreciated the way Kennedy's new posture on SSRIs focuses on informed decisions rather than a one size fits all approach.
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Shannon Yarros
You know, your health care provider, your
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Chris Smith
doctor knows you personally and they know what you need and they want to
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Shannon Yarros
make that shared decision with you. What would be best for you.
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Josh Schumacher
Morgan Stewart says the public at large needs to become aware of what they could be getting into by taking antidepressants.
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Shannon Yarros
I think if they knew how serious withdrawal could be and they could make an accurate, informed risk benefit assessment, I think they would opt out.
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Josh Schumacher
This summer, HHS plans to host seminars to train doctors and patients to better understand the possible risks of SSRIs. Reporting for World I'm Josh Schumacher in Washington, D.C.
- [19:30]
Kent Covington
Additional support comes from Dort University, whose online MBA and MPA program programs prepare leaders for lasting impact. Dort University until all is made new from St. Dunstan's, inviting young men into the building arts and the adventure of holiness on a Blue ridge Mountain Farm. Stdunstonsacademy.org and from Water's Edge, most churches aren't ready if their bookkeeper left tomorrow. Water's Edge Ministry accounting is watersedge.com accounting.
- [20:12]
Myrna Brown
Today is Thursday, May 14th. Good morning. This is the World and everything in it from listener supported World Radio. I'm Myrna Brown.
- [20:21]
Nick Eicher
And I'm Nick Eicher. Next up, the rising cost of growing food. Farmers depend on nitrogen fertilizer, which is produced using natural gas. Turmoil in the Middle east is pushing prices sharply higher. That's leaving many growers scrambling to adapt before crops go into the ground. World's Emma Eicher reports.
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Emma Eicher
Lorenda Overman's family has been farming the same land in North Carolina for almost 200 years. This spring, their input costs are the highest they've ever recorded the result of conflict in Iran. Overman spoke in an April 14 virtual meeting on fertilizer pricing and stability with the American Farm Bureau Federation.
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Chris Smith
So last year for nitrogen and fertilizer, we spent $139 an acre. This year it's going to be $217 an acre just for those two products.
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Emma Eicher
These increased costs are tied in part to higher prices of natural gas and supply disruptions. The Strait of Hormuz is central to fertilizer transport. Iran holds some of the world's largest natural gas reserves, and the Gulf plays a big role in global fertilizer and energy markets. Natural gas is a key component in producing fertilizer, and this year an estimated 70% of American farmers say they cannot afford what they need for spring planting. Fertilizer prices operate on a global market, so any disruptions will have a ripple effect. Nitrogen fertilizer prices spiked within the first days of conflict in the Gulf.
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Chris Smith
When the Straits of Hormuz closed, nitrogen prices went up $100 per ton in that first week.
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Emma Eicher
That translates to a double digit price increase for the main fertilizers used in the U.S. in one example, urea fertilizer went from around $600 per ton in late 2025 to $865 today. Faith Parham is a Farm Bureau economist specializing in agriculture.
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Shannon Yarros
And we're seeing a bleak picture in the farm economy.
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Emma Eicher
Many large farms pre book fertilizer in the spring this year. Those that pre booked locked in a lower price. Parham says small farms typically don't buy fertilizer ahead of time, so now they're the most vulnerable to the price hikes.
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Shannon Yarros
So our farmers who didn't pre book fertilizer are having to pay that higher rate, which means they're not able to afford as much as they would normally purchase.
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Emma Eicher
Canada is a major fertilizer supplier to the US but many other countries rely on the Middle east for natural gas imports and they're scrambling for alternatives. More demand will continue to drive up global prices, including in the U.S. farmers are responding by buying less fertilizer, which will mean less crop production. Overman says her farm is now growing soybeans, which don't need as much nitrogen as for the supplies they already have on hand.
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Chris Smith
We're also going to spread that fertilizer a little bit thinner. Farming is all about pivoting, and you have to pivot to stay alive.
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Emma Eicher
Tommy Salisbury is a farmer in Oklahoma. He's seen an even higher price increase there.
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Michael Sobolic
We had closer to about $150 a ton increase of urea fertilizer.
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Emma Eicher
He also had to pivot.
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Michael Sobolic
We're going to plant less acres of milo because we can't afford to try to put that higher input into the ground and make it work out.
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Emma Eicher
The milo he referred to is a grain sorghum. He plans the same strategic move as Overman. Swapping the sorghum for a hardier crop
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Michael Sobolic
transition to soybeans to try to try
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Nick Eicher
to make up that difference there.
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Emma Eicher
In March, the Farm Bureau Federation asked the Trump administration for help making fertilizer more available and affordable. On Tuesday, a Senate committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry held a hearing to discuss options. Trent Kubik is the president of the South Dakota Corn Growers Association. He raised concerns about the fertilizer industry's increased profits.
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Nick Eicher
Market power has allowed manufacturers to maintain higher prices at the expense of the
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Emma Eicher
US Farmer and said that leaves farmers struggling to keep up with the cost.
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Nick Eicher
The recent earning reports indicate record profits for fertilizer companies. When my input price goes up, my profit margin shrinks.
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Emma Eicher
Other discussions have proposed upping domestic production of phosphate and potash fertilizer. Earlier this month, President Donald Trump reiterated his commitment to ensuring safe passage for ships through the Strait of Hormuz. But control of the strait continues to be a sticking point in negotiations. Reporting for World I'm Emma Eicher.
- [25:09]
Nick Eicher
Well, here's another crime story for you. This one from Florida. Police say an 18 year old boy drove a riding lawnmower straight into a Target store while his 18 year old buddy shot video for social media and for giggles from the girls. Clearly they were hoping for viral attention. They got it and as well as mugshots and their names in the newspaper. The Internet, of course, is forever. They'll find that out and they'll find their future job interviews kind of lively. I bet police arrested both of them for criminal mischief and disorderly conduct. And as it turns out, chasing cliques can leave you bogged in the tall grass. It's the world and everything in it.
- [26:06]
Myrna Brown
Today is Thursday, May 14th. Thank you for turning to World Radio to help start your day. Good morning, I'm Myrna Brown.
- [26:14]
Nick Eicher
And I'm Nick Iker. Coming next on THE World and everything in it, part two of our story on Christians training to live out their biblical worldview. They're called Colson Fellows, named for Chuck Colson. The fellows spend nearly a year studying biblical theology and Christian worldview and then develop a personal plan of action to engage their communities.
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Myrna Brown
I met Chris Smith last year at the 2025 Colson Fellows Commissioning Ceremony. She's a 70 year old grandmother of eight from Central California. She wanted to serve the middle school girls at her church teaching them. They are beautifully and wonderfully well. I asked the retired first grade teacher to keep an audio journal. Here are excerpts of her months long journey.
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Chris Smith
Saturday, August 2nd when we got back, I emailed the youth minister asked questions, etc. He was getting ready for the youth camp. No answer. I wanted the names of the kids before camp to pray for them. Didn't happen. I just prayed. Left message at church to call me on his voicemail. No response. I went to one youth activity that was calendared before they left for camp. Connected with a few kids, parents and the host of the activity. But no real response from Sam.
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Michael Sobolic
My name is Sam. I am the junior high pastor. We also have a high school overall youth pastor at our church. It's very confusing. His name is Sam as well.
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Chris Smith
Wednesday, August 13 I got Sam's phone number and found out the best way to reach him is by text. He always returns text. A very good thing to know. Tuesday, August 19th finally made it to the first evening of the fall program.
- [28:12]
Michael Sobolic
Like a regular white. For me right now I'd say I have 40 to 50 ish kids. 50 is usually on the higher end.
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Chris Smith
Observation. More boys than girls, lots of energy. When I was talking to Sam, I reminded him that I wanted I needed to do four lessons for the Colson Fellows for teaching the kids and didn't sound like it was going to happen this fall with what he had planned. So I asked him, I said what about January or February?
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Michael Sobolic
And I said yeah, I'd love to do that. And genuinely that was always my answer. I'd love to do that.
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Chris Smith
August 22nd it's Friday. Interesting. I got a text from Sam and he wants me to check the kids in. He's decided that could be a good job for me. Thursday, August 28th last night was youth group. We had again about 12 girls.
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Shannon Yarros
Girls.
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Chris Smith
I'm getting to know their names. Thursday, September 4th making connections and remembering prayer requests. We had 31 junior hires, 14 girls this week. Tuesday, September 16th what a week. Heard about Charlie Kirk last Wednesday. Was shocked. We had just heard him at a pro life rally in Visalia on Tuesday. The week before, while going to church, I found out a good friend of ours had died at 1:06am As I walked into youth group there were very few adults. Sam spoke to the kids and cautioned them to stay off of social media and not to watch the video. The assassination. He had inadvertently seen it and regretted it. And today we're meeting with my husband's cardiac thoracic surgeon up at Stanford to see if the cancer is all gone from six and a half years ago. God is good. Always. Tuesday, September 23 Saturday, September 29 Monday, October 2 Tuesday, October, October 14 I'm going to start checking in memory Verses next week. Stood there, tried to greet a few, wondering why God had me there and why am I here, Lord? Am I really necessary? I registered three kids. We had 10, 12 girls. It's getting more and more comfortable and I'm relating better to the kids and it's just going to take a while. This is Wednesday, October 15th. I'm going to tonight. Coughing and hacking would have been my last night before we leave. We leave for Ohio on Sunday, but anyways, I asked him to save all the prayer requests for me so I can pray for the girls while we're in Ohio for a month. January 15, 2026. I don't know what Sam was thinking, but he took me off the text list. So the next time I'm gone, I'm going to say, sam, keep me off. So if there's a prayer request shared, I can pray while I'm not with the kids.
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Michael Sobolic
Some people don't appreciate when people are squeaky wheels. I love people like Chris because I need that.
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Chris Smith
So February 18th, 25th, 4th and 11th of March, I'm going to be doing my four lessons for my Colson Fellow program. And I think I'm going to use. What would you say? Check, check.
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Michael Sobolic
Hey, Chris, do you mind talking into the microphone?
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Chris Smith
Can you hear me?
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Kent Covington
All right, guys, we're recording.
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Michael Sobolic
Chris has the floor.
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Chris Smith
The last statement was taken out of C.S. lewis's mere Christianity. You have three choices. Jesus said, I'm God. He's either a liar or he's a lunatic. He's crazy or he's God.
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Michael Sobolic
The wheels were turning. And so I think it was probably one of the first times some of our kids had hurt.
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Chris Smith
That Wednesday, February 25th, I gave my second lesson. I had two girls. All the rest were boys. Tonight's topic is going to be about the problem of evil. Next week ought to be really interesting. It'll be the heart. It'll be the question of suffering. My goal for the last session, which is going to be the one on freedom, I want more. Scripture in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. Who's the word, guys? Jesus. One of my goals was wanting to do gender talk with the girls. I wasn't able to do the gender talk. My talks were co ed. I didn't feel a failure.
- [32:53]
Myrna Brown
And according to Colson standards, Smith is hardly a failure. Michael Craven, dean of the Colson Fellows program.
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Chris Smith
Chuck.
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Nick Eicher
In fact, he had a placard on his desk that said faithfulness, not success. So what? We're driving people toward is to be faithful to their calling in Christ and trust the results to him. Well, it's a pattern of bias that many people suspected. But now a Justice Department task force says it has the proof. A new DOJ report labels anti Christian sentiment a recurring theme within the Biden administration. It wasn't just an attitude. It resulted in direct government action. Officials say they are moving to ensure it never happens again. But how did it start? Here is World Opinions commentator David Claussen.
- [33:48]
David Claussen
When the Justice Department released its report on anti Christian bias at the end of April, much of the attention focused on the past, on what federal agencies did during the Biden administration. But the more important question now is what comes next? Camille Varrone is deputy assistant attorney general and a member of the task force to eradicate anti Christian bias. She appeared on the Family Research Council's Washington Watch.
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Shannon Yarros
This is a first step. There is another year of the task force and there's also ongoing effort within all of our different agencies to continue to look at what happened, to try to figure out if there were further injustices.
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David Claussen
The task force says it found examples across multiple federal agencies where Christians face discrimination or unequal treatment, especially Christians holding traditional views on abortion, sexuality and gender. One major focus involved the Justice Department's use of the Face act against pro life demonstrators. According to the report, federal prosecutors sought significantly longer prison sentences for pro life defendants than for abortion rights activists accused of similar conduct. The report also describes coordination between federal prosecutors and abortion industry groups.
- [35:04]
Shannon Yarros
We found that within the Department of Justice, prosecutors and investigators were working hand in hand with these outside pro abortion non governmental organizations, particularly the National Abortion Federation and Planned Parenthood.
- [35:19]
David Claussen
Verone says those organizations compiled dossiers on pro life Americans, including social media activity, travel details and even information about their children.
- [35:30]
Shannon Yarros
They compiled all of this to give it to the Department of Justice in case something might happen that DOJ may view as a potential crime.
- [35:40]
David Claussen
The report also revisits the FBI memo linking so called radical traditionalist Catholics to possible extremism. And it cites pressure placed on Christian foster families and faith based agencies over gender and sexuality policies. At the task force launch, then Attorney General Pam Bondi said the administration viewed these cases not as isolated mistakes but but as evidence of a broader problem.
- [36:08]
Chris Smith
Protecting Christians from bias is not favoritism. It's upholding the rule of law and fulfilling the constitutional promise.
- [36:18]
David Claussen
The report runs nearly 200 pages, with hundreds more pages of exhibits and supporting documents. But the administration insists the goal is not merely retrospective. Todd Blanche is the acting attorney general.
- [36:32]
Michael Sobolic
This task force was created to make sure this never happens again in America. We will investigate what went wrong, uncover facts, and ultimately chart a path forward.
- [36:42]
David Claussen
You don't have to agree with every conclusion in the report to see the larger warning. Government power rarely stays confined to one administration or one ideology. A government capable of punishing disfavored religious beliefs today can punish different beliefs tomorrow. That's why religious liberty matters, not merely as a protection for Christians, but as a guardrail for all. For World, I'm David Claassen.
- [37:15]
Nick Eicher
Tomorrow, John Stonestreet will be along for Culture Friday and the 40th anniversary of an action film worth revisiting. Steve Limkeman will have a review of Time, that and more tomorrow. I'm Nick Iger.
- [37:29]
Myrna Brown
And I'm Myrna Brown. The world and everything in it comes to you from World Radio. World's mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates and inspires. The Bible records the words of Gamaliel. So in the present case, I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone. For if this plan or this undertaker is of man, it will fail. But if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God. So they took his advice. And when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus. Verses 38 through 42 of Acts, chapter 5. Go now in grace and peace.