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. Abdul El-Sayed wins Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary, notching a Midwest victory for the left (NBC News)
“Abdul El-Sayed has won Michigan’s slugfest of a Democratic Senate primary, NBC News projects, clinching the nomination in a close race over Rep. Haley Stevens and establishing a Midwest beachhead for a progressive left on the march this midterm cycle. El-Sayed overcame a nearly $65 million onslaught of outside money and an establishment that had rallied around Stevens. Popular Gov. Gretchen Whitmer endorsed Stevens late last month — a move seen as a last-ditch effort to stop a rising El-Sayed.
“Progressives are on track to win key races in Tuesday’s primaries in Michigan, although not as decisively as predicted — or hoped. A grass-roots organizer and climate activist prevailed in the Democratic primary for a battleground House district in Michigan on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press, scoring another victory for the party’s progressive wing in a district pivotal for the fight to control Congress. The organizer, William Lawrence, 35, a co-founder of the Sunrise Movement, a youth-led environmental group, defeated two more moderate candidates to advance to the general election against Representative Tom Barrett, a first-term Republican seen as one of the most vulnerable incumbents.”
Socialism is having a moment, but why? In their book It Didn’t Happen Here: Why Socialism Failed in the United States, Seymour Martin Lipset and Gary Marks explain that “socialism, with its emphasis on statism, socialization of the means of production, and equality through taxation, was at odds with the dominant values of American culture.” However, 25 years later, are those dominant values of American culture still strong?
Consider 2 factors that Marks and Lipset highlight: the strength of community and the prospects for the future. Lipset and Marks wrote that Americans are “far more likely to look to their own people than to a political movement for help with their immediate needs and long-term security.” Today, we find ourselves in a loneliness epidemic, looking less to other people because many don't have those people in their lives. Then there are the prospects for the future. Marks and Lipset noted that in the US, there was once a belief that you could rise regardless of political help, a belief that is shrinking in prevalence today. In socialist societies, those “toward the bottom of a society must rely on political power.”
The ballot box may be private, but your meeting with God won’t be. At the end of our days, we will stand before a loving Father and give an account of what we have done with our lives, including our votes. Our vote is a divine gift disguised as a civic duty. The voting booth serves as a place where you can love your neighbor. It isn’t the only place, but it is a place where you can bear witness that you are seeking the welfare of your city. Socialism is having a moment, but we will be accountable for our actions in every moment. (Jer. 29:7, Mk. 12:31)
5. Man charged with setting Spokane’s largest wildfire went to prison for killing his father (AP)
“A man who went to prison for killing his father in 2010 has been charged with intentionally setting the largest of the wildfires that have destroyed hundreds of buildings in and around Washington state’s second-largest city and forced tens of thousands of people from their homes.
“Aaron F. Farinacci, of Spokane, was arrested Monday and booked on suspicion of first-degree arson in connection with the Old Trails Fire, the biggest of the three blazes in and around the eastern Washington city, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office said. His bond was set at $1 million and he’s due in court later Tuesday.
“According to an affidavit, Farinacci denied under questioning by sheriff’s deputies that he set the fire and said he had matches and a lighter on him when he was detained because he smokes. Farinacci, then age 21, shot and killed his father in Mesa, Arizona, during a 2010 argument about washing dishes, police said. Farinacci also shot himself but survived. The fires, which hadn’t been contained at all as of Tuesday morning, have destroyed at least 700 buildings and forced about 67,000 people to evacuate. Authorities haven’t said what might have caused the other two blazes.”
The US is having one of its worst wildfire seasons in years. So far, there have been 44,722 fires, scorching nearly 5.2 million acres. It’s the country’s most active fire season in a decade by the number of blazes and the third worst since 2016 by acreage burned.
Was this about destruction or expression? Sigmund Freud viewed the compulsion to set fires not merely as destructiveness, but as a deeply repressed drive. To a certain degree, this is expressed in the character of Izzy in Little Fires Everywhere. “Sometimes you need to scorch everything to the ground, and start over. After the burning the soil is richer, and new things can grow. People are like that, too. They start over. They find a way.”
Researchers classify arsonists based on 2 primary dimensions: instrumental (fires set to achieve a tangible, practical goal) and expressive (fires set to convey internal emotion or distress). The single most common driver in adult arson is revenge/animosity, a form of expressive arson.
Arson isn’t unique to the moment. Whether it was Samson torching the fields with foxes or Absalom setting fire to Joab’s barley field to set up a meeting, arson is often instrumental in nature and sinful in essence. Both Samson and Absalom saw arson as a way to achieve their ends, but not necessarily a wrong way, which was again epitomized with Izzy in Little Fires. “But the problem with rules... was that they implied a right way and a wrong way to do things. When, in fact, most of the time they were simply ways, none of them quite wrong or quite right, and nothing to tell you for sure what side of the line you stood on.” (Judges 15, 2 Sam. 14)
4. Rep. Chuck Edwards drops re-election bid after censure recommendation (Axios)
“Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.) dropped his re-election bid early Wednesday after the House Ethics Committee concluded he violated House rules over sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment and recommended his censure. "After much prayer and reflection, I've decided to withdraw from my re-election campaign. I will complete my current term," Edwards wrote in a 3:32 a.m. ET post on X.
“The ethics panel's findings corroborated several incidents first reported by Axios, of him singling out two young female staffers for special attention, including handwritten correspondence, personal gifts, drinking outings, and casino trips, and cited them as supporting evidence for its findings. Ethics found that Edwards violated House rules by "failing to adhere to the spirit of rules prohibiting sexual harassment of and unwanted advances to House staffers."
Sadly, Rep. Edwards isn’t alone… A 2025 report tracked sexual misconduct in statehouses and state executive offices, identifying 162 state-level officials accused of misconduct in 424 distinct incidents since 2013. At the federal level, researchers found that 30 members of Congress from 13 states and Guam have been accused of workplace sexual misconduct since 2006.
There are bad apples, but are there also bad barrels? In a fascinating article in The Atlantic, Caitlyn Flanagan highlights how HR may be contributing to the problem. Researchers have found that the single biggest predictor of sexual harassment on the job is how permissive an organization is of this conduct. Permissive organizations are those in which employees feel it is risky to report sexual harassment, think that their complaints won’t be taken seriously, and believe that perpetrators will face few to no consequences. Instead of protecting employees, HR departments can often emphasize protecting the company from liability.
Might doesn’t make right… In Genesis 34, we read about the exploits of Shechem. This prince of the Hivites became infatuated with Jacob's daughter Dinah. Driven by impulsive passion, power, and entitlement, he abducted her and raped her. He believed his status as a prince granted him immediate ownership over whatever he desired. While his strength could break the rules, it couldn’t shield him from the consequences.
Cultural News
3. Ella Langley’s ‘Choosin’ Texas’ makes Billboard Hot 100 history (WaPo)
“Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” has spent a 15th nonconsecutive week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, a history-making feat for the 27-year-old country star. “Choosin’ Texas” is now the longest-running No. 1 single by a solo woman, aside from Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” It surpassed the previous record-holders, “I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston and “We Belong Together” by Carey, which each notched 14 weeks at No. 1. It’s the seventh-longest-running No. 1 of all time.
“It’s also the one of the longest-running No. 1 country singles of all time, behind Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” and Shaboozy’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” Sporting a sterling lap steel part and a co-writing credit from Miranda Lambert, “Choosin’ Texas” is one of the biggest crossover country hits to be found in the genre’s imperial era.”
Ella is Choosin’ Texas, and others are choosin’ questionable arguments… Bennie Johnson, the right-wing political commentator, believes Ella’s song is proof that “American culture is winning.” He goes on: “Rap music has vanished from the top charts after USAID was defunded. Instead, country music has DOMINATED for 40 straight weeks.”
He commits at least 2 logical fallacies: false cause and No True Scotsman. Relative to Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc (False Cause), this assumes that because Event B happened after Event A, Event A must have caused Event B. In this instance, Johnson believes rap music dropped because USAID was defunded. In reality, these are 2 unrelated trends. Then there is the False Dilemma (No True Scotsman) fallacy, which is when you frame a situation as a binary choice or imply that only certain elements represent an authentic category. In this instance, country music topping the charts doesn’t mean American culture is winning – especially since rap as a genre began at block parties in NYC in the 1970s.
Build steel-men instead of straw-men. A straw-man is an argument that few, if any, actually believe, but is easy to dispute. Straw-man arguments are often tied to the practice of nutpicking, which is when you highlight outliers of a group and insinuate they represent the entirety of that group. In contrast, a steel-man argument is rooted in the principle of charity and truth. When you steel-man an argument, you formulate the strongest version of it. Contrary to Benny, we are to bear with our dissenting neighbor, not bear false witness against them. (Col. 3:13, Ex. 20:19)
News You Can Use
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Watch it here. “With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love…” (Eph. 4:2)
