Thursday, December 21st, in the year of our Lord 2017
By Adam McManus
Senate Passes Republican Tax Reform Bill
It’s a major Christmas gift from President Trump and the Republican Party as the U.S. Senate has passed a sweeping tax cut and tax reform bill.
House Speaker Paul Ryan was ecstatic.
“Something this big, something this generational, something this profound could not have been done without exquisite presidential leadership. Mr. President, thank you for getting us over the finish line. …
“The message to the hardworking taxpayers of America is: Your tax relief is on its way. The message to the families in America who’ve been struggling, paycheck to paycheck — your tax rates are going down and your paychecks are going up.
“This is the kind of relief that Americans deserve. This is the kind of tax reform and tax cuts that get our economy growing to reach its potential. This gets us better wages, bigger paychecks, a simpler tax system. This gets the American economy competitive in the global economy.”
According to Townhall.com, the new bill will cut taxes for more than 80 percent of Americans.
Starting next year, families making between $50,000 and $75,000 will get average tax cuts of $890, according to an analysis by the non-partisan Tax Policy Center. Families making between $100,000 and $200,000 would get average tax cuts of $2,260, while families making more than $1 million would get average tax cuts of nearly $70,000, reports the Associated Press.
The Senate used a post-midnight vote Wednesday morning to approve the measure on a party-line 51-48 tally. John McCain of Arizona, who is currently battling cancer, was not present.
Protesters interrupted with chants of, “Kill the bill, don’t kill us” and Vice President Mike Pence repeatedly called for order. Upon passage, Republicans cheered.
It repeals the individual mandate tax, which was an unpopular part of Obamacare, which required all Americans to have health insurance or pay a penalty.
In response to the tax cut, AT&T announced that it would give a $1,000 bonus to more than 200,000 of its U.S. employees as well as increase its capital spending budget here in America by $1 billion. Wells Fargo Bank said it would boost its minimum wage workers to $15/hour and invest $400 million through charitable donations.
In fact, CNBC reports that we should expect a stampede of companies handing out bonuses, raising pay, spending on capital projects and giving to charities, with the windfall from the massive corporate tax cuts passed yesterday.
Plus, they voted to open Alaska’s remote Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and natural gas drilling, enabling America to become energy independent.
Prince of Wales Urges UK Christians to Pray for Those Persecuted in the Middle East
The Prince of Wales has spoken of his heartbreak at Christian persecution in the Middle East as he called on believers in the UK to step up their response to the crisis.
In a moving speech on Tuesday, Prince Charles said Christians in Syria, Iraq and other countries in the Middle East face “troubled times and desperate trials” as he urged prayers for those “forced to leave their homes in the face of the most brutal persecution on account of their faith”.
In a service at St. Barnabas Church, Pimlico, His Royal Highness said, “As Christians we remember, of course, how Our Lord called upon us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute. But for those confronted with such hatred and oppression, I can only begin to imagine how incredibly hard it must be to follow Christ’s example.”
Barbie Dolls Now Promote Sexually Perverted Lifestyles
Barbie has lost her mind. The doll of choice for millions of impressionable minor girls across America has now affirmed sexually perverted lifestyles according to toymaker Mattel.
Sadly, the post on the official BarbieStyle Instagram has garnered 45,000 likes.
Perhaps Mattel should consider the sober warning found in Matthew 18:6. “If anyone causes one of these little ones–those who believe in me–to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.”
Study Shows Children Raised by Homosexuals at Greater Risk of Emotional Problems
Contrary to the narrative pushed by academia and the mainstream media, there is increasing evidence that homosexual parenting has negative effects on children, reports World Magazine.
An article published last month by Catholic University of America sociology professor Paul Sullins found children with homosexual parents suffer emotional problems two to three times as often as children raised by a father and a mother.
Some People Suffer Allergic Reactions from Real Christmas Trees
A warning this holiday season about something called “Christmas Tree Syndrome” where people get sick from being around a live tree, reports the CBS affiliate in Philadelphia.
Real trees can trigger an allergic reaction with symptoms that can include: wheezing, coughs, congestion, sore eyes and potentially life-threatening asthma attacks. One study found the mold count from a live Christmas tree rose to five times the normal level two weeks after the tree was brought indoors.
Two strategies to reduce the risk before you bring the tree inside. First, a good shake can get rid of some dust and pollen. Second, hose it down on your driveway and let it dry outside for a day.
Founder of Assisted Living Community Leaves $3,000 Tip at Diner
And finally, Dwayne Clark, founder of an assisted living community in Bellevue, Washington, stunned employees this weekend at the Brief Encounter restaurant when he left a $3,000 tip on a $39 breakfast check, reports SunnySkyz.com.
The staff initially thought the regular customer had made a mistake until they read his note on the back of the receipt.
The note said: “You guys do a great job! When I was 7, I washed dishes and my mom cooked in a diner like this. We were dirt poor and didn’t have money for Christmas. Hopefully, this will help all of you have a better Christmas.”
The 12-person staff will split the tip evenly, $250 each, as Clark requested.
Clark stressed that it wasn’t about the money in particular, but instead about the sentiment behind it. He said, “You don’t have to give money. You can write appreciative notes and say thank you. It would go a long way to nourish all of us.”
Who is the Lord leading you to encourage this Christmas with a note, a gift or some cash?
Colossians 3:12 says, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”
Please Prayerfully Consider Supporting The World View
As you know, The World View and Generations ministries are committed to bringing a Biblical worldview back to the news, to family life, and to the education of our children. We are grateful for your trust in the work we do.
As the Lord has blessed you this year, please consider blessing this ministry with a much-needed, year-end donation right now as we continue to declare Jesus as Lord over all. Go to www.TheWorldView.com/give. That’s www.TheWorldView.com/give.
Closing Line
And that’s The World View in 5 Minutes on this Thursday, December 21st in the year of our Lord 2017. Subscribe by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. Seize the day for Jesus Christ.
Print stories
Seven Christians Granted Bail in India
Seven Indian Christians were granted bail on December 19th, after being arrested for allegedly hurting the religious feelings of Hindus 15 days earlier. The group, which included two pastors, was praying at a house in the northern Uttar Pradesh state when about 25 Hindus burst in on them, reports UCANews.com.
The attackers reportedly accused those present of using words that were offensive to Hindu gods.
C. Michael, a Christian leader, said the angry mob had expressed a willingness to set the building on fire with the Christians still inside.
Quebec Mandates Sex Education Starting in Kindergarten
The Canadian province of Quebec has become the latest to make sex education mandatory for children in all stages of school, starting in kindergarten, reports CBC News.
Starting in September 2018, children as young as 5 “will get a brief explanation of the steps involved in making a baby” including scientific terms for body parts.
Kids as young as 8 or 9 will be informed about different forms of assault, from contact and touching, to being exposed to indecent images.
Hundreds of parents kept their children out of school to protest Ontario’s decision to use the mandatory sex ed curriculum back in 2015, warning that teaching sex organs to children in the first grade, for instance, is “too much too soon.”
Pro-Life Group in Northern Ireland Wins UK-Wide Award for Billboard Campaign
Both Lives Matter, a pro-life group based in Northern Ireland, has won a UK-wide award for its creative billboard, reports Life News.
It says, “100,000 people are alive today because of our laws on abortion. Why change that? Stand with us. www.BothLivesMatter.org”
Not surprisingly, abortion providers were not happy that a pro-life group was even a finalist, much less the winner of the award. Francis Ingham, the Director of Public, saying that “the judges consider only the ingenuity and effectiveness of the campaigning work itself.”
Abortion Mill Closures Greatly Exceeded New Facilities in 2017
There’s reason to celebrate.
As abortion businesses attempted to expand in America this year, the actual number of abortion facilities decreased by 27 clinics over 2016 totals, reports Life News.
Closures far outpaced newly opened abortion facilities in 2017. In all, 49 abortion facilities — 35 surgical and 14 medication only clinics — closed or halted abortion services. Only eight new surgical abortion facilities were opened, along with eleven new medication abortion facilities.
That’s according to an annual survey of abortion mills conducted by Operation Rescue staff, this year with the assistance of Abortion Free New Mexico.
Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Block Order to Facilitate Abortion for Illegal Minor
On Monday night, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to temporarily block an emergency order that they facilitate the abortion for an unaccompanied illegal minor, referred to as Jane Roe, reports Life News.
Solicitor General Noel Francisco writes that the case “concerns the question whether the government must facilitate an abortion procedure that is not necessary to preserve the life or health of an unaccompanied minor who unlawfully entered the country and thus is in the government’s custody.
“The answer to that question is no. Under this Court’s case law, the government may make decisions favoring life over abortion; it is not obligated to facilitate Ms. Roe’s procedure.”
Researchers Develop Lie-Detecting AI
The Artificial Intelligence system called Deception Analysis and Reasoning Engine or DARE can determine if someone is lying, reports The Daily Mail.
It’s based on five micro-expressions known to indicate that someone is lying – frowning, eyebrows raising, lip corners turning up, lips protruded, and head side turn.
To develop DARE, the researchers trained the system using videos of people in the courtroom. After watching 15 videos from courtrooms, DARE was then tested on whether it could tell if someone was lying in a final video.
Results showed that DARE managed to spot 92 percent of the micro-expressions.
40 Percent of U.S. Births Occur Outside of Wedlock
Shockingly, 40 percent of births in the United States now occur outside of wedlock. And what are known as “shotgun” marriages are largely a thing of the past. That’s when, a generation or two ago, the woman’s father enforced the social norm of marriage by threatening to shoot the guy who impregnated his daughter.
Plus, The Christian Post reports that the fertility rate of married couples plummeted by about a third in the 1960s and early 1970s, thanks to the introduction of the Pill.
Poll Shows 80 Percent of Americans Feel Stressed
In a new Gallup Poll about eight in 10 Americans say they frequently (44%) or sometimes (35%) encounter stress in their daily lives. Just 17% say they rarely feel stressed, while 4% say they never do.
Relatedly, being short on time and feeling stressed are much more common experiences among employed Americans and parents of children under 18 than among adults without these significant obligations in their lives.
Indiana Hotel Allegedly Charged $350 Fee for Leaving Negative Reviews
A customer at an Indiana hotel is claiming that she was charged $350 and threatened with a lawsuit in retaliation for the negative review that she posted online, reports WTVR.
After staying at the Abbey Inn & Suites in March of 2016, Katrina Arthur and her husband wrote, “It was a nightmare. The room was unkempt, and it looked like it hadn’t been cleaned since the last people stayed there. We checked the sheets and I found hairs and dirt.”
After their stay, Arthur posted her review, resulting in the hotel slapping the $350 fee on Arthur’s debit card and sending her a letter promising to sue for the comments they claim, “disparages us in any public manner.”
Arthur said, “That scared me to death. I feel like they were punishing me for being truthful and I don’t think that’s fair.” Nonetheless, she deleted her review out of fear the hotel would continue to threaten her.
The state’s top law enforcement office not only filed a lawsuit against the Abbey Inn on Dec. 15, but accuses the business of violating Indiana’s Deceptive Consumer Sales Act.
Home Sales Reach Highest Level in Almost 11 Years
U.S. home sales increased more than expected in November, hitting their highest level in nearly 11 years, the latest indication that housing was regaining momentum after almost stalling this year, reports Reuters.