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. Platner's campaign confirms he sent sexual texts to women while married (Politico)
“Graham Platner exchanged sexually explicit texts with multiple women while married to his wife, Amy Gertner, his campaign confirmed to POLITICO on Saturday, the latest scandal he has faced since launching his Maine Senate campaign last year. Platner has recently faced disclosures about controversial posts from his now deleted Reddit account. They have included comments from his account playing down sexual assault and crude posts about sex workers and masturbation. Platner has already admitted to having covered up a Nazi-linked tattoo.
“I confided deeply personal details about my marriage to someone I considered a friend,” she said. “In the months since, I have had to watch as she spread malicious gossip to anyone who would take her call. I trusted this person with the most private chapter of our lives — the early days of our marriage before any campaign was on our mind — and I am deeply hurt by her betrayal and the invasion of our privacy.”
A government of the people… Graham Planter isn’t the only candidate running this cycle who has faced this issue. Here in Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxon, who is running for Senate, is currently in the midst of a divorce, with his wife citing biblical grounds for the separation. Allegations have swirled for years regarding Paxton’s infidelity.
Are we defining deviancy down? This term was popularized by the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan. This describes behavior that once was deviant (whether by law or social more) but now has been redefined as acceptable because our correcting mechanisms are overloaded. Last week, Gallup reported that a record-high 56 percent of Americans rate moral values in the US as “poor,” and 80 percent say moral values are “getting worse.”
Paging William Wilberforce…. While most know Wilberforce for his efforts relative to the slave trade, he was also committed to the Reformation of Manners. His time was characterized by rampant drunkenness, frequent duels, corrupt clergy, and bribery among elected officials. There was a great need for selfless men like Boaz, who didn’t prey on women but served them (Ruth 2). Today, we can debate which side is worse, but I think we can all agree that it impacts both sides. Call me crazy, but we the people need someone who doesn't just champion values with their words but also with their actions. We need leaders who will be accountable, and maybe more, voters who will hold them so. As Wilberforce noted: “You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know.”
5. Trump to headline Great American State Fair after music acts cancel (WaPo)
“President Donald Trump will headline an opening ceremony for the Great American State Fair on the National Mall next month after many of the musical performers slated for the event canceled, citing the event’s associations with him. The Great American State Fair — organized by Freedom 250, a Trump-aligned entity he created by executive order to plan semiquincentennial events — this week announced a lineup of performers. More than half canceled shortly thereafter, including Martina McBride and Bret Michaels, claiming they had not known about the organizing group’s connections to the president.
“After Trump said on his Truth Social platform Saturday that he understood “Artists are getting ‘the yips’” about performing and suggested headlining the event himself, Danielle Alvarez, an adviser to Freedom 250, confirmed to The Washington Post that Trump will now kick off an opening event for the fair. “As the visionary behind the Great American State Fair, we are excited to announce that President Trump will personally kick off this historic celebration on Wednesday, June 24 in an opening ceremony celebrating America’s 250th birthday,” Alvarez said in a statement first shared with The Post."
Should I Stay Or Should I Go – The Clash sang it, and some answered all of the above to it. The inability to commit points to this current reality known as liquid modernity…
Coined by Polish philosopher Zygmunt Bauman, liquid modernity describes how we rarely want to commit to any one identity, place, or community, so we remain like liquid, able to adapt to any future shape. And this doesn’t just pertain to us – the world around us remains liquid too, with shifting institutions and ideas.
What accounts for our inability to commit? 3 fears: regret, association, and missing out, according to Pete Davis in his book Dedicated. “First, we have a fear of regret: we worry that if we commit to something, we will later regret having not committed to something else. Second, we have a fear of association: we think that if we commit to something, we will be vulnerable to the chaos that commitment brings to our identity, our reputation, and our sense of control. Third, we have a fear of missing out: we feel that if we commit to something, the responsibilities that come with it will prevent us from being everything, everywhere, to everyone.”
Consider before you commit. As people who are to be known by our love, we should be the most committed creatures in our communities. David Brooks was right: "Making a commitment simply means falling in love with something, and then building a structure of behavior around it that will carry you through when your love falters." (Lk. 14, Jn. 13)
4. Judge temporarily freezes payments from Trump administration's 'Anti-Weaponization Fund' (ABC News)
“A federal judge in Virginia on Friday ordered a temporary freeze on any payments coming from the Trump administration's "Anti-Weaponization Fund" as she considers arguments in a lawsuit brought by a former Jan. 6 prosecutor to block the fund permanently.
“The order from U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema specifically bars the administration "from taking any further action pursuant to the creation or operation of the Anti-Weaponization Fund," including transfers of money or consideration of claims from individuals who may argue they are victims of political persecution. The $1.776 billion fund, announced last week, was established by the Justice Department to compensate those who allege they were wrongly targeted under the Biden administration.
“Also on Friday, a different federal judge blocked a separate effort to add Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper said in a 94-page ruling, “The Kennedy Center’s organic statute makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board’s unilateral say-so. Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.”
Pres. Trump made the decision for the fund, but was it a good one? In his book Distancing: How Great Leaders Reframe to Make Better Decisions, David Marquet asserts that the “farther you are from the decision, the more your brain sees what matters most.” Our default mental state is the “me-here-and-now” mode, centered behind our own eyes and keenly aware of our own concerns. In this mode, we cherry-pick evidence that supports past actions and maintains our self-concept. Under stress, we suffer from tunnel vision, miss critical cues, and make reactive decisions.
There are 3 ways to distance: self-distancing (pretending to be someone else), spatial distancing (stepping onto a “balcony” and seeing yourself from afar, just as another person who is part of the larger context), and temporal distancing (imagining that you are your future self).
Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you have to… When Solomon first became King, God answered his prayer by giving him wisdom beyond his years… and then offered him a chance to exercise it with the classic tale regarding the 2 mothers. Instead of actually using power to resolve the situation, Solomon highlighted his power to bring about a resolution. In this particular moment, Pres. Trump appears to have the power, but is it wise to use the power? CH Spurgeon put it well, noting that wisdom “is not a matter of simply telling the difference between right and wrong; rather it is telling the difference between right and almost right.” (1 Kings 3)
Cultural News
3. The New Career Odyssey Waiting for Today’s College Grads (WSJ)
“College graduates have never been guaranteed predictability, but the current cohort is notable for the degree of disruption it is likely to face. LinkedIn projects people entering the workforce now will have twice as many jobs over the course of their careers as those who started out 15 years ago.
“This is partly because careers keep stretching longer. You’re bound to experience more change if you work for 50 or 60 years than if you retire after a 40-year run. It’s also more common to work a job that is disconnected from your undergraduate major. About 42% of recent college grads, ages 22 to 27, have jobs that don’t require degrees at all, never mind ones in the fields they studied. This is up from about 38% in early 2023, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.”
You have heard of doomscrolling, but what about doomjobbing? The former involves going down a rabbit trail of content on a social media, strengthening your negative perceptions of the world. The latter concerns scrolling through digital job listings, being inundated with jobs that aren’t suitable to you for a variety of reasons (low pay, not enough experience, unqualified, etc.).
New job or new perspective? A fascinating study focused on hospital custodial workers. They were asked to define their job. Some said cleaning the floor; others described creating a safe environment for patients. The latter were happier and found more meaning in their job, despite doing the same work.
Similar to a farmer, we have all been given a plot of land to cultivate, dating back to Genesis. Some cultivate young minds in the classroom to brighten our future, and others work diligently in the lab to produce work that benefits the larger world. Though we may all cycle through more jobs in the future, we will all still ultimately work for one boss. (Gen. 3, Col. 3:23, 1 Cor. 10:31, Ps. 147:4)
News You Can Use
2. Meet 12-year-old Samuel and his viral bird calls
Watch it here. “Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; they sing among the branches.” (Ps. 104:12)
1. A dog's journey after being left at a Texas firehouse
Watch it here. “Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.” (Ps. 37:3)
