It’s Wednesday, November 29th, A.D. 2023. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)

By Jonathan Clark

Ukraine targeting Orthodox Church with raids and arrests

A human rights division of the United Nations is warning about religious freedom violations in Ukraine.

The U.N. has documented 10 cases of violence between different Orthodox communities in the country since last February, noting Ukrainian law enforcement officials have not protected church members.

Ukraine is also considering legislation to dissolve religious organizations with ties to countries like Russia. Leaders of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church accuse Ukraine of trying to annihilate it for its previous connection to Russian church bodies.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine last year, Ukraine has targeted the Ukrainian Orthodox Church with hundreds of raids and investigations as well as house arrests.

Russia restricting abortion

Speaking of Russia, the country is moving to restrict abortion in recent months. 

Two Russian regions now have laws against influencing women to have abortions. Authorities are also restricting the sale of abortion drugs. However, abortion is still broadly legal and accessible in the country. 

Calls by the government and the Russian Orthodox Church to curtail abortion come as the country faces demographic decline.

Russia, under the Soviet Union, was the first country in the world to legalize abortion in 1920.

Pope strips conservative cardinal of salary and housing

The Roman Catholic pope continues to crack down on his conservative critics.

Last week, Pope Francis announced he is stripping Cardinal Raymond Burke of his Vatican-subsidized housing and salary. Burke was known for opposing sexually perverted lifestyles and abortion.

He is the second American clergy member to face removal by the pope recently. Earlier this month, Francis removed Bishop Joseph Strickland of Texas. Like Burke, Strickland is considered a conservative critic of the pope.

Biden’s foster care rule targets Christians

Eighteen Republican attorneys general in the U.S. are calling out the Biden administration for a new foster care rule that targets Christians.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has proposed a rule to prohibit families who oppose sexually perverted lifestyles from participating in the foster care system.

The attorneys general sent a letter to the department on Monday. One of them is Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall. He said, “Since the first century, Christians across the globe have answered the call to provide a home and a family to children who had neither. Alabama boasts a particularly strong faith-based foster care and adoption community, and I will fight this Administration for them every step of the way.”

James 1:27 says, “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.”

Disney wishes “Wish” wasn’t a flop

Disney films continue to flop at the box office.

The company’s latest offering, Wish, brought in only $31.7 million last week. That’s well below the $45 to $50 million pre-release expectations.

Wish joins other flops this year like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, The Little Mermaid, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, and Secret Invasion. Those four releases cost Disney a billion dollars.

The losses also come as Disney waded into the cultural wars in support of sexually perverted lifestyles. 

Amazon’s biggest delivery business

Amazon is now the biggest delivery business in the U.S.

Last year, the company delivered more parcels than UPS. It had already outpaced FedEx in 2020. 

Amazon’s edge is only projected to grow this year as it expects to ship a total of 5.9 billion packages.

The U.S. Postal Service remains the biggest parcel service which handles packages for all three companies. 

Largest iceberg is 1,500 square miles in size

And finally, Earth’s biggest iceberg is on the move after being stuck to the ocean floor for over 30 years.

Known as A23a, the iceberg is about 1,500 square miles in area and over 1,000 feet thick! It split from the Antarctic coast in 1986 before becoming grounded in the Weddell Sea. For years, A23a became what the BBC described as an “ice island.”

Scientists aren’t sure exactly why it’s moving again. But nearby currents will likely send the iceberg into the South Atlantic. Loose icebergs are more than melting chunks of ice. The BBC notes they’re also important sources of mineral nutrients for ocean life.

God asks in Job 38:29-30, “From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the frost of heaven? The waters become hard like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.”

Close

And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Wednesday, November 29th in the year of our Lord 2023. Subscribe by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com. Or get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I’m Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.