Daily Headlines | Monday November 8, 2021

Good Morning! 

Oliver Wendell Holmes, who served as an associate justice on the United States Supreme Court for thirty years, once remarked: 

“Have the courage to act instead of react.” 

Well over two-thousand years earlier, the Greek statesman Pericles, stated: 

“Freedom is the sure possession of those alone who have the courage to defend it.” 

We begin with news of those who are acting and defending with great conviction: 

Federal Appeals Court Blocks OSHA Vaccine Mandate, Cites ‘Grave’ Constitutional Issues 

From The Daily Citizen: 

The Biden Administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate issued this week by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) hit a major roadblock almost immediately at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, which has stayed (stopped) the effect of the mandate pending a further hearing. 

Responding to a petition from the states of Texas, Mississippi, Utah, South Carolina and Louisiana, joined by dozens of private and faith-based businesses, a three-judge panel from the 5th Circuit issued a brief order on Saturday, November 6, stopping the mandate in its tracks, while scheduling an expedited hearing within the next few days. 

“Before the court is the petitioners’ emergency motion to stay enforcement of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s November 5, 2021 Emergency Temporary Standard (the “Mandate”) pending expedited judicial review,” the order states. “Because the petitions give cause to believe there are grave statutory and constitutional issues with the Mandate, the Mandate is hereby STAYED pending further action by this court.” 

The court then sets a schedule for an expedited hearing. 

RELATED: This One Mandate Would Truly Save Lives (The Daily Citizen) 

Let’s mandate ultrasound screenings for abortion-minded pregnant women. Since more than half of abortion-minded women change their mind when they see their baby on a screen, that mandate alone will save upwards of a half-million lives each year. 

It’s human nature to want to compel someone to action. Mandates aren’t all bad, but they’re tools that have historically been used very sparingly and for good reason. That’s because sometimes the very worst thing you can do is to mandate someone do something you want them to do since all too often such aggression leads them to do the exact opposite. 

2.   House Republicans Blast Fellow GOP Members for Supporting $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure Bill 

From CBN: 

Congress passed President Biden’s $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill late Friday night after months of negotiations among Democrats over a different measure- President Biden’s massive social spending and climate change bill. 

The infrastructure bill had already been approved by a bipartisan majority in the Senate. It’s intended to provide funding for the nation’s aging roads and bridges, along with broadband internet and public transit. Now that it’s passed the House, it heads to the president’s desk for final approval. 

In a 228-206 vote, 13 Republicans, mostly moderates, supported the legislation while six progressive Democrats voted against it.  

Critics have argued that less than half of the bill actually goes to real infrastructure, like roads and bridges, with the rest going to other Democratic priorities, like environmental actions. The Congressional Budget Office has projected it will add $256 billion to the national debt over 10 years. 

3.   A Simple First Step for Youngkin to Stop Leftist Tyranny 

From the Wall Street Journal: 

Glenn Youngkin was elected Virginia’s governor in large part because of the uproar over extremist ideologies that promote racial division under the guise of “antiracism.” But what can he do about the problem? The first step is simple: Prohibit the use of “diversity, equity and inclusion” statements in any state government or government-funded agency. 

The anger about critical race theory in schools reflects a larger frustration. In the past two years, the diversity regime has hardened. Its proponents have adopted more-strident rhetoric. Some speak openly of quotas. The range of permitted opinion has narrowed. 

If private companies want to empower unpopular radicals to hector their employees, ruin the careers of dissenters, and hire in accord with strict ideological standards, then so be it. If advocates of critical race theory and other unpopular notions want to run for public office, they should by all means do so. But there is nothing in the U.S. Constitution that gives radicals a right to capture public and publicly funded institutions. This capture, if unchecked, will undermine freedom. 

It is already doing so. DEI statements are a powerful tool for imposing an ideological agenda hostile to the interests and convictions of most Americans. 

With victory comes responsibility. Mr. Youngkin was elected with a mandate to stop progressive tyranny. Prohibiting the use of DEI statements is a place to start. 

4.   Forbidden to Advertise for a Christian Babysitter Because of New State Law, Virginia Parents Fight Back 

From The Daily Citizen: 

Scott and Jane Woodruff are Christians living in Loudoun County, Virginia. In 2015 they adopted a daughter with medical conditions that require the couple to hire babysitters to help with her care for several hours each week. A new Virginia law passed in July forbids them from advertising for Christians as babysitters for their child, contrary to their wishes, and the Woodruffs are fighting back. 

With the help from the Parental Rights Foundation (PRF), the Woodruffs are suing Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring (AG) in his official capacity, as the chief law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth, asking the court for a declaration that the new law substantially burdens their religious practice in violation of the Virginia Religious Freedom Restoration Act (VRFRA). They also want the court to issue an injunction prohibiting the AG and his agents and employees from enforcing the new law. 

Earlier this year, the Virginia General Assembly passed an amendment to the state’s Human Rights Act that forbids taking religion into account when hiring a babysitter. It also prohibits parents from including this preference in their advertisements, according to allegations contained in the Woodruff’s Complaint filed in the Circuit Court of Richmond City, Virginia. 

The Woodruffs, who prior to the law’s passage placed advertisements for a Christian babysitter on various caregiving websites, have a sincere religious belief that they need to find a like-minded babysitter who accepts their Christian faith. 

The new law not only prohibits them from advertising for a Christian babysitter or even taking religion into account in their hiring decision, it also carries penalties for violations, including up to $50,000 for a first violation, and up to $100,000 for subsequent violations. 

5.   Navy christens ship USNS Harvey Milk, named after gay rights activist 

China has developed a hypersonic missile – and the US makes this announcement. From USA Today: 

The Navy christened the USNS Harvey Milk, a fleet replenishment oiler named after a Navy veteran and one of the nation’s first openly gay elected officials. 

“This great ship honors #NavyDiver & #CivilRights activist Harvey Milk who was forced out of the service due to unfair policies,” the Office of the Navy Secretary tweeted Saturday. “Because of him, today our #LGBTQ #Sailors & #Marines serve honorably as their genuine selves.” 

Former Navy officer Paula Neira, clinical program director for the John Hopkins Center for Transgender Health, smashed a bottle of champagne on the ship’s bow before the launch Saturday into San Diego Bay.  

Please Stop Pressuring Kids to Join Social Media 

From the Wall Street Journal: 

It’s hard enough to keep kids off social media when their friends all have accounts. But when the pressure comes from school clubs, sports teams and even churches, parental efforts to delay the leap can feel futile. 

The convenience and popularity of group chats and social media have led many coaches, teachers, club supervisors and youth-group leaders to suggest kids join apps like Instagram, WhatsApp and Discord. It’s a tough situation when children become too old to have mom and dad handle every school and team communication, yet are still too young, in their parents’ eyes, for social media. Yet it’s not like kids are going to respond to email—or even read it. 

Cyndi Schmitt, a mother of four in Tampa, Fla., doesn’t allow her kids to be on Instagram. However, their church youth groups have used Instagram to post photos and updates about events. As a result, she said, “We missed out on a few things or were a little out of the loop at times.” 

She said that, while she would like it if the church continued putting events on websites as well as social feeds, she didn’t raise her concerns because she wanted the youth-group leaders to be able to reach the kids who were already on Instagram. “I’m super-excited that the church is reaching out to students where they are,” she said. 

One mother in a small town near Seattle told me that her daughter’s school band group joined Discord and that her 16-year-old ended up communicating with a stranger who solicited nude photos from her. 

“We can’t sacrifice privacy and safety and kids’ mental health just for the convenience that the ubiquity of these platforms offer,” said Bethany Robertson, co-director of ParentsTogether, a nonprofit family-advocacy group in Washington, D.C.  

7.   John MacArthur rebukes pastors who plagiarize sermons: It’s ‘ministerial fraud’ 

From the Christian Post: 

Christian ministers who plagiarize sermons are “lazy, incompetent and unsanctified,” said Pastor John MacArthur in response to reports that two pastors had been plagiarizing their sermons. 

“Why does a pastor plagiarize? Why does he use someone else’s sermon? Why does that happen?” MacArthur was asked at a conference attended by students at The Master’s Seminary, where he serves as chancellor emeritus. 

“Because he’s lazy and incompetent,” the pastor replied. “Besides that?” MacArthur was then asked. “And, I’ve got a third point, unsanctified,” he said. 

“I think, you become a showman; you are an actor, you’re playing a part, playing a role,” MacArthur, pastor of Grace Community Church, continued. “You know, the one thing that expository preaching does that is apart from the congregation is it sanctifies the pastor … the relentless study of the Word of God is how God sanctifies and protects the pastor. When you’re just opening your iPad and reading somebody else’s sermon, you’ve never been exposed to the sanctifying work of the Word.” 

8.   NBC News star Tom Llamas on parenting: ‘With 3 kids, it’s always a party’ 

From NBC News: 

“Raising kids in the city is tough, but I will say, because of the way we live, we’re always together and we’re such a close family,” Llamas says. “I really hope that never changes.” 

I learn every day but I grew up with a certain set of values and I want to share that with my kids — that they have a loving home, they have two people who love them more than the world. I think that’s our driving force, and to always be supportive and talk to them. 

They bring so much happiness to me and my wife. We like to go on vacation together but we’re at the point where we want to take them along. Thankfully, we have all the grandparents who come in and help us out. But now, we just want to spend time with them and be together. 

You have this assumption that kids are going to be [just like you] but they’re their own person and it’s better that way. They’re their own people, completely. 

Courage For Normal Christians

From Desiring God: 

What is Christian boldness? For some, the phrase conjures images of bravado, machismo, and swagger. For others, the phrase signifies a vague sense of courage and conviction in the face of opposition. 

The fourth chapter of Acts provides an unusually clear picture of Christian boldness. The noun for boldness (parrēsia) appears three times in this one chapter (and only twice more in the rest of Acts) and here sets the context for Luke’s use of the verb speak boldly (parrēsiazomai) seven times in the coming chapters. He apparently intends for us to see the events of this chapter as a particularly poignant example of Christian boldness. By examining them, we can see not only what Christian boldness is, but where it comes from, and how we can cultivate it for ourselves. 

Where then does this boldness come from? Fundamentally, it comes from the Holy Spirit. Peter, “filled with the Holy Spirit” answers the Sanhedrin’s question (Acts 4:8). In the face of threats, the early Christians “were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31). Steven, “full of the Holy Spirit,” indicts the Jewish leaders who have arrested and falsely accused him (Acts 7:55). 

But not only the Holy Spirit. The Jewish leaders, in recognizing the apostolic boldness, recognized that Peter and John “had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). And while this no doubt refers to their engagement in Christ’s earthly ministry, it contains a word for us today. 

We too, if we wish to be bold, must be filled with the Spirit and abide with Jesus. And the book of Acts shows us not merely the ultimate source of Christian boldness, but also the means for growing in it.  

10. He always wanted a Ph.D. in physics. He finally earned it at 89 

From NPR: 

Manfred Steiner had a successful and productive career as a doctor, helping generations of medical students learn about hematology. But all along, he had a nagging feeling he should be doing something else: studying physics. At age 89, he has finally fulfilled that dream, earning his Ph.D. in physics from Brown University. 

“I am really on top of the world,” Steiner said in a news release from the college, as it announced his successful defense of his dissertation (title: “Corrections to the Geometrical Interpretation of Bosonization”). 

“I always had this dream: Gee, someday I would like to become a physicist,” Steiner told NPR. 

He also has some advice to offer: “All the young people, if they have a dream, follow that dream. Don’t give up on it.” If it doesn’t work out, he said, they can go into something else. 

“But first, follow your dream.”