Daily Headlines | Thursday December 9, 2021

Good Morning! 

Writing in their book, Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline, Canadian researchers, Darrell Bricker and John Ibbitson, warned: 

“The great defining event of the twenty-first century—one of the great defining events in human history—will occur in three decades, give or take, when the global population starts to decline. Once that decline begins, it will never end. We do not face the challenge of a population bomb, but of a population bust—a relentless, generation-after-generation culling of the human herd.” 

We begin this morning with a similar, startling warning few in the elite circles seem to be taking seriously – and which even many Christians appear to be ignoring: 

  1. Elon Musk says civilization will ‘crumble’ if people don’t have more kids 

From the NY Post: 

Tesla CEO Elon Musk believes the biggest threat to humanity is the declining birthrate, warning that civilization will “crumble” if people don’t start having more kids. 

“I think one of the biggest risks to civilization is the low birthrate and the rapidly declining birthrate,” the father of six said at the Wall Street Journal’s annual CEO Council Monday evening. 

“And yet, so many people, including smart people, think that there are too many people in the world and think that the population is growing out of control,” Musk continued. 

“It’s completely the opposite. Please look at the numbers — if people don’t have more children, civilization is going to crumble, mark my words.” 

2.     Supreme Court signals support of public tuition for religious schools in Maine case 

From The Press Herald: 

The U.S. Supreme Court has signaled that it could side with Maine parents who want to use public funds to send their children to religious schools. 

The justices heard oral arguments Wednesday in a legal challenge that could have nationwide implications for school choice programs

Maine allows students in towns with no public high schools to put taxpayer money toward the cost of an outside school, public or private. But the law bars them from using those funds at schools that teach a specific religion. The families who filed this lawsuit want to do away with that rule. 

The conservative majority on the Supreme Court seemed sympathetic to the idea that Maine’s existing program discriminates against people based on their religious beliefs. Justice Brett Kavanaugh used the example of two neighboring families: one family uses the benefit to send a child to a secular private school at no cost, while the other is not eligible for the benefit and therefore pays for a child to attend a religious private school. 

“That’s just discrimination on the basis of religion right there at the neighborhood level,” Kavanaugh said. 

  1. If the Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade 

From the Wall Street Journal: 

If in its decision next summer the Supreme Court sends the setting of abortion policy back to the states, it could put in motion a process of rethinking this 50-year relationship between federal authority and the states. 

Overturning Roe would erode the foundations not only of abortion but of an entire philosophy of American governance. Liberals abhor federalism. They don’t trust the states on abortion, voting or anything else. What they trust and want is single-authority government. 

It’s a good question whether Washington’s ability to legislate has become hopeless with respect to these claims for an immutable political reality—in part because of gerrymandered House seats but more importantly because the permanent bureaucracies are by now well left of center and determined to obstruct change. 

Would a Supreme Court decision sending abortion policy back to the states disrupt American politics? Yes, though its effect on abortion itself would likely be less than the apocalypse the left purports. The greater good would come from using the country’s longest political war to prove to the American people that change is possible, if not in Washington, then in the states where they choose to live. 

RELATED:  

California to become ‘sanctuary state’ for abortions 

From the Post Millennial: 

In light of the case before the Supreme Court that could force a ruling on Roe v Wade, California has announced that it will be a “sanctuary state” for abortion seekers and providers. 

“We’ll be a sanctuary,” Governor Gavin Newsom said, saying that he anticipates that women will visit California for abortion access. “We are looking at ways to support that inevitability and looking at ways to expand our protections.” 

Newsom is fully on board with these plans, and told the AP that portions of these plans revealed in the report would be in his January budget proposal. 

California already provides the most abortions in the country. As part of this “sanctuary state” initiative, California may “give scholarships to medical students who pledge to offer abortion services in rural areas, help them pay off their student loans and assist with their monthly liability insurance premiums.” 

  1. Virginia Library Places Gender Theory Books Next To Bible In Display, Removes After Backlash 

From the Daily Wire: 

The Dolley Madison Library in Fairfax County, Virginia, came under fire earlier this week after displaying gender-theory books next to the Bible. They have since removed the display. 

The display featured three gnomes each with either the Bible, “Lawn Boy,” or “Gender Queer.” 

“The gnomes with ‘Lawn Boy’ and ‘Gender Queer’ had bees on their stocking-hats, while the gnome with the Bible had a rainbow-colored hat, along with other rainbow paraphernalia,” Fox News reported.  

According to Fox News, “‘Lawn Boy,’ by Jonathan Evison, includes long sections of a boy reminiscing about explicit experiences he had at 10 years old. 

5.   Canadian ‘Conversion Therapy’ Ban Criminalizes Help for People With Unwanted Homosexuality and Gender Confusion 

From The Daily Citizen: 

The Canadian Parliament passed Bill C-4, an act criminalizing help for those with unwanted homosexual attractions, behavior or identity. The legislation also makes it a criminal offence to help those struggling with gender identity issues to embrace their bodily reality. 

Anyone who helps someone leave homosexuality or transgenderism could be imprisoned for up to five years. This includes parents who take a child out of Canada to see a therapist for help with their child’s gender confusion. 

The new law also prohibits “an advertisement for conversion therapy,” lumping this together with other criminal offenses such as publishing written materials and recordings that are “obscene, child pornography, a voyeuristic recording, an intimate image, [or] an advertisement of sexual services.” 

Seriously. The bill equates helping a child accept and embrace his or her bodily reality to be the same as publishing child pornography or advertising for prostitution. 

“Conversion therapy” is a meaningless term, coined by those who oppose individuals finding freedom from homosexuality or transgenderism. It doesn’t define any specific therapeutic practice but is used to describe anything from parental opposition to healing prayer and from aversion therapy to talk therapies. 

In addition, the media has consistently conflated the phrase with coercive or abusive methods, which ethical counselors and religious support groups don’t engage in. 

  1. Young Dems more likely to despise the other party 

From Axios: 

Nearly a quarter of college students wouldn’t be friends with someone who voted for the other presidential candidate — with Democrats far more likely to dismiss people than Republicans — according to new Generation Lab/Axios polling

Partisan divides — as each side inhabits parallel political, cultural and media universes —make a future of discord and distrust in the U.S. all the more likely. 

5% of Republicans said they wouldn’t be friends with someone from the opposite party, compared to 37% of Democrats. 

71% of Democrats wouldn’t go on a date with someone with opposing views, versus 31% of Republicans. 

30% of Democrats — and 7% of Republicans — wouldn’t work for someone who voted differently from them. 

  1. The pandemic worsened young people’s mental health crisis. 

From The New York Times: 

The United States surgeon general on Tuesday warned that young people are facing “devastating” mental health effects as a result of the challenges experienced by their generation, including the coronavirus pandemic. 

The message came as part of a rare public advisory from the nation’s top physician, Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, in a 53-page report noting that the pandemic intensified mental health issues that were already widespread by the spring of 2020. 

The report cited significant increases in self-reports of depression, anxiety and emergency-room visits for mental health challenges. In the United States, emergency room visits for suicide attempts rose 51 percent for adolescent girls in early 2021 as compared with the same period in 2019. The figure rose 4 percent for boys. 

Globally, symptoms of anxiety and depression doubled during the pandemic, the report noted. But mental health issues were already on the rise in the United States, with emergency room visits related to depression, anxiety and related issues up 28 percent between 2011 and 2015. 

8.   Your Work is Worship – Not a Matter of Personal Convenience 

From The Daily Citizen: 

The pandemic-inspired employment revolution runs the risk of becoming increasingly self-centered and self-focused. Instead of asking what is good for the company or its customers, employees are focusing on what is good for themselves.  

When it comes to employment, our goal as believers is to take the gifts and talents we’re given by God and find a way to use them for the greater good. Yes, the worker is deserving of his wages (Luke 10:7), but we’re not just passing time to earn a paycheck. Our work matters. Whether white collar or blue, work has eternal consequences. 

The untold story of Focus on the Family at the end of 2021 is that we’re helping so many people because our founder, Dr. James Dobson, and our current president, Jim Daly, devoted decades of their respective lives to the ministry, and at great personal sacrifice.  

Each night, and especially on weekends, Dr. Dobson would bring home suitcases full of papers and reports. He’d review articles, memos and letters while walking on the treadmill. When his boys were young, Jim Daly would leave the office at 5 P.M. for dinner and time with his wife and family – and then often return after they were in bed, to make international calls or get a jump start on the next day. 

Workaholism? No. Both men and their teams did it because they didn’t see ministry as a job – but as a calling. There were marriages and families in trouble, children adrift – and innocent babies at risk. God entrusted them with their roles and responsibilities. They found time to rest, but helping others was more important than helping themselves. 

When you reduce employment to wages and the convenience and preference of working conditions, you run the risk of missing the greater purpose of the work itself. There may be good and worthy reasons for remote work and revisiting personal benefits – but we need to examine our hearts and motives when pressing for the revolution. 

It was the apostle Paul who wrote to early believers in Corinth, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). 

As Christians in this evolving economy, we must resist the urge to join in the chorus of demanding rights without first embracing our responsibilities and make sure that our work connects with God’s ways, bringing honor and glory to Him. 

  1. ‘Cheugy,’ ‘omicron’ among 2021′s most mispronounced words 

From the Associated Press: 

“Cheugy” is apparently a lot to chew on. Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Billie Eilish and Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce have something in common — broadcasters butcher their names. 

And virtually everyone is having trouble with “omicron.” 

All four made it onto this year’s list of most mispronounced words as compiled by the U.S. Captioning Company, which captions and subtitles real-time events on TV and in courtrooms. 

The list released Tuesday identifies the words that proved most challenging for newsreaders and people on television to pronounce this year. 

10. Dunkin’ employee surprised with fully furnished home from loyal customer 

From ABC News: 

A Dunkin’ Donuts employee received the surprise of a lifetime from one loyal customer: a fully furnished home. 

Three years ago, Ebony Johnson met customer Suzanne Burke in a Dunkin’ drive-thru. The two became close, talking every time Burke got her morning coffee. 

“I go every morning,” Burke said. “Ebony has worked the drive-thru for three years and really has provided amazing customer service.” 

Recently, though, Burke noticed her friend was not working her usual shift. She reached out to Johnson, learning the mother of three had fallen on hard times and had been evicted from her Mount Healthy home. 

With assistance from different organizations, Burke was able to find Johnson’s family a home — and furniture. 

“I just wanted to see if I could help her just improve her life and the life for her kids,” Burke said. “I wanted to make sure that they had stable housing, so that she could continue to provide the excellent service she does at Dunkin’.”