It’s Friday, December 16th, A.D. 2022. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus.
By Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
Columbian Christian teen & family threatened
Valentina, a 15-year-old Colombian, was moved to a safe house by Open Doors after experiencing persecution at the hands of a local anti-Christian indigenous people group, reports The Christian Post. She says she fears for her family’s safety amid threats of violence
The Páez community largely follows a faith that’s a mixture of traditional shamanistic practices and Roman Catholicism. Shamanism is a form of witchcraft that includes the practice of divination and sometimes the foretelling of future events.
Leviticus 19:26 says, “You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor practice divination or soothsaying.”
According to Open Doors, some in the Páez community are tied to guerrilla groups and the drug industry, seeking to recruit young people to help them hold territory in these autonomous regions.
Christians who do not follow their brand of indigenous faith are targeted for persecution and oppression. Like other Christian students, Valentina was discriminated against at school, which gives instruction in rituals that go against her faith.
A group of Christians in the village, including her father, asked for an exemption from the non-Christian instruction for Valentina or permission to start a new school. However, the permission was denied, and horrific threats were issued to the family by local guerrilla groups.
Watch a 3-minute video about Valentina in Columbia through a special link in our transcript today at www.TheWorldview.com.
GOP report ties COVID origins to China’s bioweapons program
A report by Republicans on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence concludes there are “indications” the COVID-19 pandemic is tied to China’s biological weapons research program at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which the lawmakers believe was engineered at the lab, “spilled over” to the general human population during an incident, the minority staff report says, according to Fox News Digital.
Hillary Clinton, when she was secretary of state, warned in a cable to French officials that research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology could lead to a “biological weapons proliferation concern.”
The Republican lawmakers say they have “not seen any credible indication that the virus was intentionally, rather than accidentally, released.”
But they claim they have “a smoking gun that definitively resolves the question of the origins of COVID-19 beyond all doubt.”
59% of Democrats do not want Biden in 2024; 62% of Republicans don’t want Trump
Even though First Lady Jill Biden is allegedly enthusiastic now about her husband running for re-election in 2024, buoyed by the fairly disastrous mid-term elections results of the Republicans, recent polling suggests a large swath of the Democratic Party may not be eager to see the president run again.
A new CNN poll shows 59% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say they’d like to see someone other than Joe Biden at the top of the ticket in 2024. Similarly, on the other side of the aisle, 62% of Republicans and Republican-leaners say they’d prefer to see their party nominate someone other than former President Donald Trump.
Pence: Trump is not THE Republican Party leader
CBN reporter David Brody interviewed former Vice President Mike Pence at the Museum of the Bible about his new book entitled So Help Me God. Brody asked if former President Donald Trump is the leader of the Republican Party.
Listen to the exchange.
PENCE: “I think the former president is a leader in the party.”
BRODY: “A leader — okay”
PENCE: “an important voice in the party. But I have great confidence that Republican primary voters are going to do like they’ve done so many times before. As we go into the next two years, they’re going to choose the right standard bearer for this moment in our history.”
Pence lauded Trump’s 2016 victory over Hillary Clinton.
PENCE: “I hold the view that no one could have defeated Hillary Clinton other than Donald Trump in 2016. I was in that campaign. I came to that conclusion, slowly. I, Indiana primary, I was actually supporting another candidate. And you can imagine my surprise when I got a phone call to ask to be considered for the ticket. And I was grateful for it. But I think we’re living in a different time in the life of our nation.”
But Pence differentiated himself from Trump on having civility.
PENCE: “As I’ve traveled around the country in the last two years, what I’ve heard over and over again from people is they want to get back to the conservative principles that we advanced at home and abroad that created prosperity and security for the American people. But I sense people long for the kind of leadership that could unite the American people around our highest ideals including civility and respect.”
McCarthy not a shoe-in for House Speaker
Kevin McCarthy wants to be the next Speaker of the House. Really badly.
But some conservative Republicans believe he is too “establishment.” So now, the imperiled speakership bid is threatening to incapacitate Republicans during a crucial planning period, virtually guaranteeing a sluggish start for the new House majority, reports Politico.com.
Axios reports that Republican Congressmen Andy Biggs of Arizona, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Matt Rosendale of Montana, and Bob Good of Virginia are serious about voting as a unit against McCarthy on January 3rd which could derail the GOP leader’s path to the top job.
Former VA superintendent indicted in trans bathroom rape cover-up
Disgraced former Loudoun County Public Schools superintendent Scott Ziegler has been indicted on three misdemeanor counts for his handling of a school rape case that had been kept quiet allegedly to avoid reflecting badly on LHBT education policy, reports LifeSiteNews.com.
In Exodus 20:16, the Ninth Commandment warns “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”
The Washington Examiner reports that a grand jury impaneled by the Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares returned charges against Ziegler of misdemeanor false publication, misdemeanor prohibited conduct, and misdemeanor penalizing an employee for a court appearance, potentially carrying up to one year of prison time.
Close
And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Friday, December 16th, in the year of our Lord 2022. 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.