It’s Valentine’s Day, Monday, February 14th, A.D. 2022. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
By Adam McManus
Nigerian Christian journalist released from prison
Last Thursday, Luka Binniyat, a Nigerian Christian journalist with the Epoch Times, was released on bail after his arrest and imprisonment last November 4, 2021, reports International Christian Concern.
He had written an article critical of the lack of government response to attacks made against Christians in Kaduna State, Nigeria. One such attack left thirty-eight Christian farmers dead.
Binniyat could well ask of the Nigerian government the question from Galatians 4:16. “Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?”
Ukrainian President to Biden: Is Russia going to invade on Wed?
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has demanded the U.S. share intelligence which suggests Russia is planning to invade his country on Wednesday, reports The Daily Mail.
On Saturday, President Biden told Russian President Vladmir Putin that an invasion would bring a decisive response, reports Reuters.
Chinese mother of Olympian Eileen Gu might have escaped one-child policy
(audio of Olympics theme)
Eileen Gu, an American-born 18-year-old, just won Olympic Gold in the women’s Big Air Freestyle skiing event on behalf of her Chinese mother’s homeland, reports NBC News.
ANNOUNCER 1: “Welcome to Big Air Shougang for the final of the women’s Big Air Freestyle Skiing at these Olympic Winter Games. This discipline of freestyle skiing is making its debut at Beijing 2022 after being added to the Olympic program four years ago. In this event, athletes execute their most difficult tricks by launching themselves off a large jump. Eileen Gu has come off the traps flying. 93.75. Hear the crowd. It is the lead for Ailing Eileen Gu.
“The 18-year-old from San Francisco, representing China, whom the Chinese have dubbed the ‘Snow Princess.’
“Here we go. The third and final run for Ailing Eileen Gu of China.”
ANNOUNCER 2: “Eileen going for that rotation of the 1620.” (inaudible). [The 1620 is a move in which skiers spin 4 1/2 times while rotating twice off-axis while 20-some feet in the air.]
ANNOUNCER 1: “This could be close. This could be bloody close. This could be in the mid-90s. This third and final run is 94.5. She has the lead.” (applause)
Edging out France’s 20-year-old Tess Ledeux by a difference of 0.75, Gu won gold with this pronouncement.
ANNOUNCER 1: China’s “Snow Princess is the Queen of Big Air. (applause) Ailing Eileen Gu is the gold medalist and the Olympic champion.”
Gu was born in San Francisco to an American-born father and a Chinese mother. She speaks fluent English and Mandarin Chinese.
In a controversial 2019 decision, Gu decided to represent China, not the USA, in the Olympics, reports the BBC.
In a press conference, Gu explained her love of both countries.
GU: “I definitely feel as though I am just as American as I am Chinese. I’ve been very outspoken about my gratitude to both the U.S. and China for making me the person who I am. My mission is to use sport as a force for unity.”
Most interestingly, Gu was born in America on September 3, 2003, during the time of Communist China’s one-child-per-family policy which began in 1980 and ended in 2016.
Her mother, Yan Gu, moved to the U.S. from China as a student and developed a passion for skiing while she earned an MBA from Stanford University. Her daughter will be attending her mother’s alma mater this fall.
For 35 years, from 1980-2015, China restricted families to only one child. It was strictly enforced with punishments including fines for violators and often forced abortions, reported the South China Morning Post.
Civil servants and employees of government-affiliated organizations, including universities, risked losing their jobs if they were found to have had more than one child.
If parents did not pay the fine, second children could not be registered in the national household system, meaning they did not exist legally and so would not have access to social services like health care and education. The policy led to sex-selective abortions or infanticide targeting girls, because of a centuries-old social preference for boys.
That’s what makes the very birth of Eileen Gu a virtual miracle in and of itself. No doubt, as soon as Yan Gu, her mother, discovered that she was pregnant with a girl, she quickly moved to America to seemingly spare her life because of the pressure to abort baby girls in Communist China.
In an attempt to cope with an aging population and shrinking workforce, China officially ended its one-child policy in January 2016, allowing families to have two children.
But when China’s fertility rate dropped to 1.3 children per woman in 2020, below the replacement level of 2.1 needed for a stable population, the country introduced a three-child policy in May 2021.
Germany & Norway have most gold medals
In the race for gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, Germany and Norway are tied for 8 each.
Tied for second place with 5 golds, are the United States, Netherlands, and Sweden. And tied for third place with 4 gold medals are Austria and China.
Justin Trudeau threatens freedom truckers with losing their licenses
On Friday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned and warned truckers demonstrating against tyrannical COVID mandates, reports RealClearPolitics.
TRUDEAU: “You are breaking laws. The consequences are becoming more and more severe. You don’t want to end up losing your license, end up with a criminal record — which will impact your job, your livelihood, even your ability to travel internationally, including to the U.S.
“We’ve heard your frustration with the measures that are there to keep people safe. We’ve heard you. It’s time to go home now.”
Trudeau’s rhetoric has not intimidated the freedom-loving Canadian truckers who shared their convictions with Fox News.
TRUCKER 1: “We’re not caving. We’re not moving. We’re not backing down.”
TRUCKER 2: “I don’t know what Mr. Trudeau is thinking, but we’re holding the line. Just lift up the mandates, and we’ll be out of here.”
TRUCKER 1: “Just know that every trucker out here, we’re willing to go to jail. We’re willing to lose our trucks.”
TRUCKER 3: “For us, to leave here is not an option unless he is going to drop all the mandates and set his people free!”
History of Valentine’s Day
And finally, did you ever wonder about the origin of Valentine’s Day?
Emperor Claudius II, called Claudius the Cruel, ruled the Roman Empire with an iron fist during the third century. He was having difficulty recruiting soldiers and believed Roman men were unwilling to leave their loved ones because soldiers were required to fight for at least 25 years. Therefore, Claudius banned all marriages and engagements.
That’s why Valentinus, a leader in the church who refused to worship the Roman gods, secretly married Christian couples in the woods at night until he was caught and arrested for both crimes against the state.
Valentinus was so gutsy, he even challenged Claudius the Cruel, to his face, to believe in Jesus as God incarnate and invited the emperor to believe in Him and be saved.
He prayed that God would restore the sight of his jailer’s blind daughter which led to her miraculous sight while awaiting his execution.
On the eve of his death, he wrote a note to the jailer’s daughter and signed it, “From your Valentine.”
In 496 A.D, more than 200 years after Valentinus was executed, a church leader marked February 14th as a celebration to honor Valentine’s courageous life.
And now you know the rest of the story.
1 Corinthians 16:13 says, “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.”
Close
And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Valentine’s Day, Monday, February 14th, in the year of our Lord 2022. Sixteen years ago today, I asked Amy Holzer to be my bride. Check out our roller-coaster love story at AdamsWedding.net. 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.