The Daily Briefing highlights the news of the day and research that reveals the spirit of the day.
The Daily Briefing is a newsletter sent straight to your inbox every morning that provides biblical insight on today's news.
Top News
6. Government shutdown begins with no end in sight (WaPo)
“The government shut down on Wednesday morning at 12:01 a.m., amid a bitter spending deadlock between President Trump and Democrats in Congress that will disrupt federal services and leave many federal workers furloughed.
“It was the first federal shutdown since 2019, when parts of the government were shuttered for 35 days in a standoff between congressional Democrats and Mr. Trump over the president’s demand to fund a wall at the southern border.
“This time, the dispute is over Democrats’ demand that the president agree to extend expiring health care subsidies and restore Medicaid cuts enacted over the summer as part of Mr. Trump’s marquee tax cut and domestic policy law.”
Blame it on the Boogie? Not so much, Jackson 5. A new polling memo found that 34 percent of registered voters said they blame Democrats for a shutdown, compared to 27 percent who blame Republicans. However, another 8 percent of voters said they blame the White House.
Blame shouts while praise whispers? Known as the amplified blame hypothesis, this refers to how we assign greater blame for negative behavior than praise for positive behavior. This is fueled by the self-serving bias, which describes our propensity to quickly take credit for the good things, but lay the blame on others when things go bad.
There is no clear winner in the blame game… Dating back to Adam, this game centers on pointing the finger, but was dealt a crushing blow with Jesus and his nail-scarred hands. In John 8, Jesus encounters a woman who was about to be stoned to death by her community because she was caught in the act of adultery. Rather than joining in on the stoning, Jesus served as a model for forgiveness – pointing to the future over the past. Instead of picking up a stone, he picked up his cross. He invited us to give more attention to solutions rather than focusing on the problem.
5. Hegseth rails against 'woke,' lays out standards in speech to top generals, admirals (ABC News)
“Hundreds of the U.S. military’s top leaders listened in silence to highly partisan addresses from President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday, with each harshly criticizing their predecessors and hyping their political objectives during a summit that was extraordinary in nature but ultimately broke little new ground. "The era of politically correct, overly sensitive, don't-hurt-anyone's-feelings leadership ends right now," Hegseth said at the gathering at a Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia -- a secure site an hour south of the nation's capital.
“Hegseth called for "no more division, distraction or gender delusions" in an extraordinarily blunt speech on the importance of the "warrior ethos," a term he uses to describe the spirit that makes combat units effective… Hegseth issued new directives that will raise physical standards for everyone in uniform to a "male level," toughen grooming standards, lift restrictions on rules of engagement, do away with racial quotas, and end restrictions on hazing for boot camp recruits. "Simply put, if you do not meet the male level physical standards for combat positions, cannot pass a PT test or don't want to shave and look professional, it's time for a new position or a new profession."
Paula Abdul isn’t the only one interested in being Straight Up… A fascinating study identified 4 styles of providing feedback, mapping them onto the axes of caring (vertical) and challenging (horizontal). You can fall into one of 4 quadrants: radical candor, obnoxious aggression, manipulative insincerity, and ruinous empathy.
When it comes to radical candor, this type of feedback cares greatly and challenges significantly, to the extent of being willing to endure temporary discomfort for long-term health. Then there is obnoxious aggression, which lacks care for the person but does offer challenging words. This is more hurtful and helpful, less sharpening them, and more like you have an ax to grind with them. Relative to manipulative insincerity, this type of feedback shows no genuine care for the person and also offers vague, if any, direct feedback. Instead of stabbing them in the front (obnoxious aggression), it stabs them in the back. Finally, there is ruinous empathy, which consists of a high level of care but a low level of challenge.
Call the tone police? Recently, some have emphasized speaking the truth over doing so with grace, suggesting that sharing the truth is of utmost importance and gracious in itself. And for those who question their tactics, they are designated the tone police. As someone often labeled as such, count me, ironically, guilty as charged. In this internet age, there is no shortage of truth, but in my opinion, there is a drought of grace. As Christians, we have competing demands: truth and grace. To share the truth without grace isn’t bold but rather incomplete, less about winning the person and more about winning the moment. And to show grace without sharing the truth is unloving, failing to invite someone to experience the fullness of life that has been offered. Bill Buckley put it well: “Truth is a demure lady, much too ladylike to knock you on your head and drag you to her cave. She is there, but people must want her, and seek her out.” (Col. 4, Eph. 4)
4. Des Moines superintendent to resign after being detained by ICE, lawyer says (ABC News)
“An Iowa superintendent who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents last week will resign, his attorney said Tuesday. Ian Roberts, 54, announced his immediate resignation as superintendent of the Des Moines Public Schools in a letter released through his attorney on Tuesday. "Out of concern for his 30,000 students, Dr. Roberts does not want to distract the Board, educators, and staff from focusing on educating DMPS's students," the letter to the Des Moines School Board stated.
“Roberts was detained on Friday, with ICE saying he is in the country illegally from Guyana and was working as a superintendent despite having "a final order of removal and no work authorization." Roberts entered the U.S. on a student visa in 1999 and a judge gave him a "final order of removal" in May 2024, ICE said in a statement. Roberts joined the Des Moines district in July 2023 and had previously held leadership positions in school districts across the U.S. for 20 years, according to school board chair Jackie Norris.”
Dr. Roberts illuminates a larger reality: the often invisible, yet significant, role illegal immigrants play in our communities. For example, in 2022, undocumented immigrants paid a total of about $96.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes. In 40 states, they paid state and local income taxes at a higher rate than almost anyone else, largely because they aren’t eligible for most tax credits.
Consider Social Security – they pay into the program but have limited access to it. For example, a 2023 report projected that the Social Security Trust Fund reserves would be depleted by 2034. Removing thousands of immigrants who, on average, pay more in Social Security taxes than they receive in benefits will only quicken this fast-approaching benefits cliff.
It has been said that if you do the crime, you have to pay the time. But in this instance, Dr. Roberts isn’t the only one paying for his actions. Years of inaction involving a variety of leaders prove to be costly, just look at King Joash. He initiated extensive repairs to the temple after years of damage and neglect under the reign of his father, Ahaziah, and grandmother, Athaliah. He instructed the priests to collect money from the people for the project, restoring the temple to its former state. But in this instance, Dr. Roberts was distinct: he may have been tearing down the figurative law by failing to abide by the rules, but he was literally contributing to his community, like so many other illegal immigrants, in seen and unseen ways. I'm not excusing his illegal actions, but hopefully illuminating the implications of them. (2 Kings 12, 2 Chron. 24)
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Cultural News
3. ‘Go woke, go broke’? New study challenges claims progressive films flop at the box office (The Guardian)
“Film data analyst Stephen Follows, an adviser to Guinness World Records and author of The Horror Movie Report, has published research on how audiences actually respond to “woke-adjacent” content in current cinema. First presented at the Zurich film festival on Saturday, Follows’ research suggests that there is no blanket rule for the success or otherwise of progressive-themed mainstream cinema, and adds that for some genres – horror, sports and music films in particular – diverse casting and identity-driven stories can have a substantially positive effect on commercial success.
“Conversely, however, Follows concludes that big-budget blockbusters face considerable risks if they indulge in “heavy-handed politics”, incurring a backlash if “audiences feel political messaging overrides story or character”. Moreover, weakening well-established characters or narratives – in films such as the James Bond series – carries what Follows describes as a “massive financial risk”. He claims: “Rewriting legacy canon or characters is one of the strongest negative signals for commercial performance.”
Kelly Clarkson isn’t the only one who is Breaking Away in order to make a point… There are 2 concepts that illuminate the go woke, go broke line of thinking: didacticism and egoistic castle-building. Also understood as being preachy, didacticism sacrifices storytelling for the sake of truth-telling. This type of film prioritizes teaching or instructing its audience over telling a compelling and engaging story. Instead of showing, this type of film prefers telling…
Then there is egoistic castle-building. Coined by CS Lewis in An Experiment in Criticism, this refers to when a group of people project themselves “into the most enviable or most admirable character . . . [thus] reading takes them least out of themselves, confirms them in an indulgence which they already use too much, and turns them away from most of what is most worth having both in books and life.” Essentially, they are the hero of the story, assuming the viewer is in need of rescue… from their own thinking.
Movies are thin places, according to Andrei Tarkovsky. At the movies, we escape a chaotic reality to see how all things will eventually be made right -- at least according to the director. They provide viewers with glimpses of a subjective eternity. The director is telling you a story, but God is inviting you into his story. (Phil. 3:1, 1:6, Mt. 28:20). The former tells you a fairy tale, but the latter adopts you into something better than you can imagine.
News You Can Use
2. Selling Anything on Facebook Marketplace
Watch it here. “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Cor. 9:7)
1. How Kathrine Switzer and 261 has inspired a global movement of women in running
Watch it here. “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope…” (Rom. 5:3-4)
