Giving Trump credit for the ceasefire in Gaza. Sexual discrimination vs. gender identity discrimination. And signs of a cultural shift towards religion.
Giving Trump Credit for the Ceasefire in Gaza
Israel and Hamas finally signed a cease-fire, in which the hostages will be released, Israel will pull out of Gaza, and a plan for a permanent peace will be put into effect.
This is basically the same plan the Biden administration has been pushing, but to no avail. Israeli hard-liners opposed it, since it would stop the war short of the complete annihilation of Hamas and it would free Palestinian prisoners of war to possibly strike again. But now the Netanyahu administration is accepting the terms.
Why? Jamie Dettmer of Politico (no supporter of Republicans) wrote an article entitled Trump was ‘the closer’ on Gaza cease-fire deal.
The catalyst for the deal, he says, was Trump’s re-election followed by Trump’s threat: “All hell will break out. If those hostages aren’t back, I don’t want to hurt your negotiation, if they’re not back by the time I get into office, all hell will break out in the Middle East.”
Says Detmer:
At the time, most commentators took the warning to be directed at Hamas and scoffed at the threat. After all, what more could Trump do against Hamas that Netanyahu hadn’t done already? The Palestinian militant group lost its top military commanders, including Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar, and its ranks have been devastated.
But it wasn’t really Hamas that Trump was addressing.
“It wasn’t a warning to Hamas. It was a warning to Netanyahu. To Bibi,” Steve Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist, told POLITICO. A senior Israeli official, who asked to remain anonymous as they aren’t authorized to talk with the media, agreed that was how Netanyahu read it as well.
And when asked by POLITICO why the Israeli prime minister now appeared ready to agree to a deal he’d dismissed before, [former Israeli prime minister Ehud] Olmert simply said:“Because he’s afraid of Trump.”
Next up: Stop the war between Russia and Ukraine. If Trump can pull that off too, wouldn’t you say–whatever you think of him–that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize?
Sexual Discrimination vs. Gender Identity Discrimination
Title IX of the Civil Rights Act forbids “discrimination on the basis of sex” in any school or college that receives federal funding. The Biden administration’s Department of Education had issued a ruling that the word “sex” in the statute also includes “gender identity” and “sexual orientation.” That interpretation would make being transgendered or homosexual protected categories, on a par with race and religion.
A federal court, though, has thrown out that interpretation. As reported by Natalie Schwartz,
U.S. District Court Chief Judge Danny Reeves said expanding Title IX’s sex-based protections to include gender identity turns the federal law “on its head.”
“The entire point of Title IX is to prevent discrimination based on sex — throwing gender identity into the mix eviscerates the statute and renders it largely meaningless,” wrote Reeves, a George W. Bush-era appointee.
Reeves also asserted that the Title IX rule violated the First Amendment by requiring teachers to use students’ preferred pronouns.
“The First Amendment does not permit the government to chill speech or compel affirmance of a belief with which the speaker disagrees in this manner,” Reeves wrote.
See also this legal analysis of the court’s decision.
Signs of a Cultural Shift Towards Religion
Religious affiliation is way down, as we have been hearing. But some observers are seeing signs of a shift.
In 2021, only a quarter of people aged 18 to 25 say they believe more than doubt the existence of a higher power. In 2023, only two years later, that number had risen to one-third.
That detail was mentioned by Amanda Prestigiacomo in a Daily Wire story entitled The Christian Content Takeover. The occasion is the debut of Rosary in a Year by Father Mark-Mary Ames taking the top spot on Apple Podcasts, displacing The Joe Rogan Experience.
Prestigiacomo notes other Christian podcasts, YouTube channels, and apps that have become big hits online. Many of them are Catholic. Among those she mentions are the Catholic meditation and prayer app “Hallow” and Bishop Robert Barron’s “The Word on Fire.”
She notes that Joe Rogan himself used to mock Christianity, but he now seems to be taking it seriously, often hosting Christian guests who talk about their faith. She also cites the openly Christian, G-rated comedian Nate Bargatze, who, she says, is “arguably the most popular comedian in the mainstream right now.”
Top charts vary by the day, of course, so Joe Rogan is now back to number one, though Rosary in a Year still tops the “Religion and Spirituality” category.
That data about the shift among people aged 18-25 comes from a Springtide Research Institute study that also found Generation Z to be highly interested in “sacred experience” and a “sacred sensibility.” They aren’t looking to church for that, though. Rather, they are “experiencing moments that evoke a sense of wonder, awe, and connection” in nature, relationships, and even online.
To be sure, this experience-seeking lacks content and belief, so it falls short of religion and certainly of Christianity. But this thirst for the “sacred” is something to build on. It’s telling that so much of this online Christian content is Catholic, which does cultivate a sense of the “sacred,” while also leading to doctrinal and moral content.
If there is a “vibe shift” in the direction of religion, I wonder if it will not be towards contemporary evangelical Christianity as we have known it–which often conveys little sense of the sacred–but towards the types of Christianity that are liturgical and sacramental. Of course, pursuing the sacred apart from sacred truth will not accomplish much. But if there is such a shift, it should bode well for us Lutherans.
Towards that end, we should note the Lutheran online content that lifts up both Word and Sacrament, such as Issues, Etc., Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller’s World-Wide Bible Class, the In Prayer app from CPH, which includes the Treasury of Daily Prayer, Flame’s The Study, Hans Fiene’s Lutheran Satire, and. . . .List your favorites.