The WorldView in 5 Minutes The WorldView in 5 Minutes

It’s Friday, May 17th, A.D. 2024. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
By Adam McManus
Muslims kill 11 Christians in Congo, Africa
At about 8 p.m. on Monday, May 13, members of the Allied Democratic Forces carried out a brutal attack in the Ituri Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Islamic extremist group killed 11 Christians, kidnapped several others, and set houses on fire, reports International Christian Concern.
A survivor said, “This horrific attack has left a trail of devastation and despair, with the loss of life and destruction of property reaching catastrophic proportions.”
German church holds blasphemous Taylor Swift-themed service
An historic German church in Heidelberg held a blasphemous Taylor Swift-themed worship service on Sunday, reports Christian Headlines.
According to the news website Deutsche Welle, The Church of the Holy Spirit, a well-known church in Heidelberg that meets in a 600-year-old building, put on a service titled "Anti-Hero — Taylor Swift Church Service" in an effort to draw young people into the church. More than 1,200 were in attendance, most of them young women, for the service.
Pastor Christof Ellsiepen said, "The Church of the Holy Spirit has always been a place of encounter and exchange. That's why a pop-music religious service fits so perfectly. With it, we are giving space to the questions and issues that occupy the younger generation."
The Christian Post reports that the pastor also said that the service focused on the seemingly Christian themes in Swift’s music to address contested topics including women's rights, racism, and gender equality.
However, Evangelical leaders have rightly expressed profound concern about Swift’s latest album, entitled The Tortured Poets Department, that mocks God and Christians alike.
Sadly, Pastor Vincenzo Petracca was tone deaf, claiming "Theologically speaking, [Taylor Swift] points to the justness of God.”
A pro-homosexual rainbow banner behind the church’s musicians stated that the church welcomes "all sizes, all [colors], all cultures, all sexes, all beliefs, all religions, all ages, all types, all people."
Last time I checked, there were only two sexes. Indeed, in Mark 10:6, Jesus said, "From the beginning of creation, God made them male and female."
Title IX rules threaten women’s safety and fairness
The Biden administration would have Americans believe that feelings trump biological reality by prioritizing someone’s self-ascribed “gender identity” over their sex, explains Alliance Defending Freedom.
But denying the truth that God made us male and female—different, yet equal—has harmful consequences.
Adaleia is a 15-year-old athlete from West Virginia, and she knows this all too well.
Because she was forced to compete against a male student who identifies as a female, she lost her spot to compete in a conference championship meet, reports Fox News.
But that’s not all. She had to change in the girls’ locker room in the presence of the male athlete while she endured the vulgar, sexual harassment that the student directed toward her.
Adaleia was made to suffer humiliation and indignity that no one should have to endure.
But, according to the Biden administration’s recent attempt to rewrite Title IX, women and girls must surrender their rights to safety, privacy, and fairness in places of education. And faculty and students must embrace lies by treating children as the opposite sex—boys as girls, and girls as boys.
Anti-Israel Duke protestors walk out of Seinfeld’s graduation speech
Dozens of students walked out of Duke University’s commencement ceremony this past Sunday because of their objection to the guest speaker, comedian Jerry Seinfeld, a Jew who has been supportive of Israel, reports The Guardian.
Figures in robes and caps, some waving Palestinian flags, filed out of crowds of graduates assembled on the grass in

It’s Thursday, May 16th, A.D. 2024. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
By Jonathan Clark
Rising persecution of Latin America Christians
International Christian Concern reports that churches in Latin America are facing increasing levels of persecution. 
Thousands of Christians face attacks for their faith in countries like Cuba, Haiti, Mexico, and Nicaragua. These attacks often come from communist regimes, drug cartels, and violent gangs.
For example, Cuba passed a law last year, putting restrictions on religious expression that criticizes the government. Pastors who speak out for religious freedom in Nicaragua face arrest. And Christians in Mexico and Haiti are facing more oppression with the rise of the drug cartels as well as gang violence.
British pro-lifers march against birthday abortions
Yesterday, hundreds of pro-lifers rallied outside Parliament in London.
Lawmakers are considering two pro-life amendments as well as two pro-abortion amendments. The latter two would allow abortion up to birth.
Lynda Rose, head of Voice for Justice UK, said, “A nation that indiscriminately and without cause seeks to kill its unborn up to birth is destroying itself. … With our callous disregard of the right to life, the United Kingdom is rapidly becoming a kingdom of death. For the future wellbeing of all, these evil amendments must be defeated.”
Pro-life protestors are imprisoned
In the United States, judges are handing out prison sentences for pro-lifers targeted by the Biden administration. 
On Tuesday, a federal judge sentenced Lauren Handy to nearly five years in prison for peacefully blocking access to an abortion mill. Yesterday, the judge sentenced Jonathan Darnel to nearly three years in prison for his participation.
A total of five activists have faced trial for the 2020 blockade in Washington, D.C.
The pro-lifers’ defendants are fighting back. Steve Crampton with the Thomas More Society said, “We eagerly look forward to appealing for [their] freedom, so that the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act can never again be weaponized by the Department of Justice against its ideological opponents.”
Proverbs 17:15 says, “He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD.”
George teachers banned students from sharing Bible verses
Public school teachers in Georgia banned students from sharing Bible verses. Two nine-year-old students were planning on sharing Easter eggs that contained the verses earlier this year.
In response to the ban, the American Center for Law and Justice stepped in to defend the students. The Christian legal group reports they have now achieved victory for the students. They said, “The school has agreed to recognize our clients’ constitutional rights to distribute religious materials, such as Easter eggs, candy canes, and anything else – even Bible verses.”
Trump and Biden to debate on Thursday, June 27th
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are set to debate each other ahead of the presidential election this year.
Both agreed to a debate invitation from CNN for Thursday, June 27. They also agreed to an invitation from ABC for September 10th.
If Biden and Trump follow through on this debate in June, it will be the earliest debate between general election candidates on record.
Inflation down slightly
Inflation cooled down slightly last month.
Consumer prices rose 0.3% percent from March to April, down from 0.4% the previous month. Year-over-year, inflation fell from 3.5% to 3.4% last month, the first decline this year.
Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com, said, “The fight against inflation is not yet over, but the worsening trend observed in the first quarter of 2024 may have ended.”
Drug overdose deaths dropped 3%
Preliminary data suggests that drug overdose deaths in the U.S. fell for the first ti

It’s Wednesday, May 15th, A.D. 2024. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
By Jonathan Clark
New Zealand churches might lose tax-exempt status
Churches have enjoyed tax-exempt status in New Zealand for hundreds of years.
However, the country’s government is considering a plan to revoke the tax exempt status of churches. Not surprisingly, churches provide many forms of social and spiritual support to their communities for free. Removing their tax-exempt status would result in fewer people receiving help.
International Christian Concern is circulating a petition to keep the church in New Zealand tax free. You can sign it through a link in our transcript today at TheWorldview.com. 
76 million displaced people
The Internal Displacement Monitoring Center reports more and more people are facing displacement in their own country.
Conflicts and natural disasters led to 76 million internally displaced people last year. Violence caused 90% of the displacements, and over half of them were in sub-Saharan Africa.
The number of internally displaced people increased by 50% over the last five years. And, over the last 10 years, the number has roughly doubled. 
Brazilian flooding kills 143 people
Speaking of displacement, flooding in Brazil has triggered landslides and flash floods, displacing over half a million people and killing 143 people. Electricity has been cut off to more than 1.4 million Brazilians.
The flooding came after torrential rains at the end of last month in the country’s southern state of Rio Grande do Sul.
Churches across Brazil are providing shelter and care for those affected by the flooding. U.S.-based aid groups are also stepping in to help.
On Sunday morning, May 12th, a DC-8 aircraft, funded by Samaritan’s Purse, departed the Greensboro Airlift Response Center in North Carolina bound for Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil in a second airlift transporting relief to the flood-ravaged region. The flight carried shelter tarp and other relief supplies. Also on board were relief staff deploying to the area.
Onboard the May 11th Samaritan’s Purse flight were personal water filtration systems, hygiene kits, blankets, and solar lights. They also supplied ten community water filtration systems, each capable of supplying clean drinking water for up to 10,000 people per day.
Franklin Graham, President of Samaritan’s Purse said, “Please continue praying for all those whose lives have been devastated by this flooding as even more heavy rains are on the way.”
You can make an on-line donation through Samaritan’s Purse to help the people in flood-ravaged Brazil through a special link in our transcript today at www.TheWorldview.com.
California school district agrees to pay FCA $6 million
A California school district agreed to a nearly $6 million settlement with a Christian high school student group recently.
A Fellowship of Christian Athletes student group had been operating at Pioneer High School in San Jose. The group required leaders to agree with its statement of faith which included saying that marriage is between one man and one woman. The high school stripped the FCA group of its official status. 
Now, after years of litigation, Christian students are free to operate the group according to their beliefs. 
Biden puts pro-abortion spin on Pregnant Workers Act
Congress passed the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act back in 2022. Now, the Biden administration is trying to make the law pro-abortion.
Last week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced a new rule that would require employers to make accommodations for abortion.
Multiple attorneys general from states across America are already challenging the rule. Louisiana’s Republican Attorney General Liz Murrill said, “This new action ... is another example of bureaucrats rewriting acts of Congress to their own liking, and it’s unconstitutional. We will c

It’s Tuesday, May 14th, A.D. 2024,. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
By Kevin Swanson
Myanmar military’s martial law forbids church
The Myanmar military junta has placed seven townships in the Chin State under martial law, forbidding church gatherings in this Christian-majority area of the country.
Military authorities are also requiring pastors to submit lists of church congregants. Pray for persecuted believers in Myanmar.
Pakistani court annulled forced marriage of Christian girl to Muslim man
Good news! A Pakistani court has annulled a forced marriage of a Christian girl who was abducted on her way home from school in 2019. Reeha Saleem was forced into a marriage by her Muslim abductor.
She has forthrightly denied conversion to the Islamic faith, and still holds to the Christian faith, according to Alliance Defending Freedom International, which supported her case.
U.K.’s growing Chinese Christian community
The Chinese Christian community is the fastest-growing church in the United Kingdom, according to a report published by the Bible Society.
The community has grown by 25,000, or 28%, over the last three years, largely driven by immigration from Hong Kong into the United Kingdom. The report stated that these believers have a much higher view of the Bible than other groups.

Church of England’s plummeting attendance
Church of England attendance has fallen to 654,000 as of last year. By these numbers, the Chinese church-attending population makes up a full 15% of the total attendees of the Church of England services.   
Another survey found that people of color constitute 14% of the United Kingdom’s population, and yet they make up 25% of the practicing Christians there.

In the words of Psalm 22:27, “All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before You.”
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. affirms abortion on demand
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the independent candidate for President of the United States, affirmed his stand for abortion. He opposed the reversal of Roe v. Wade, and supported the federal legalization of abortion up to full term.
He stated his position last Wednesday on the Sage Steele podcast.
Steele asked Kennedy if he preferred leaving abortion “up to the states.”
STEELE: “Keeping it as is, with Roe v. Wade having been overturned, and leaving it up to the states to determine if and when a woman can have an abortion?”
KENNEDY: “No, I wouldn’t leave it to the states.”
STEELE: “You wouldn’t? Right.”
KENNEDY: “We should leave it to the woman. We shouldn’t have government involved.”
STEELE: “Even if it’s full-term?”
KENNEDY: “Even if it’s full-term.”
STEELE: “I know there is no simple answer. As a Catholic, it would be okay to allow a woman to do that.” (inaudible)
KENNEDY: “I don’t think it’s ever okay.”
STEELE: “It would be allowed. It would be allowed.”
KENNEDY: “I think we have to leave it to the woman, rather than the state.”
Subsequently, Kennedy tweeted that he learned that “Sometimes, women abort healthy, viable late-term fetuses. These cases of purely ‘elective’ late-term abortion are very upsetting. Once the baby is viable outside the womb, it should have rights and it deserves society’s protection. …
“I support the emerging consensus that abortion should be unrestricted up until a certain point. I believe that point should be when the baby is viable outside the womb. Therefore, I would allow appropriate restrictions on abortion in the final months of pregnancy.”

In recent polls for the 2024 presidential election, Kennedy is holding anywhere from 8-11% of the vote. 
America’s low-level commitment to unborn babies
The American electorate’s commitment to the pro-life vote is still low.
Only 10% of Americans call themselves pro-life AND would avoid voting for a pro-abortion ca

It’s Monday, May 13th, A.D. 2024. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
By Adam McManus
Imprisoned Chinese leaders face serious illnesses
Since two leaders of the Ganquan Church in Hefei, Anhui Province in China were arrested last fall, their wives and members of their church family have pleaded for their release. Those pleas have grown more urgent after the two leaders developed serious health problems while in prison, reports International Christian Concern.
In November 2023, Communist authorities detained Pastor Zhou Songlin, Elder Ding Zhongfu, and 14 other members of the house church. Pastor Zhou and Elder Ding are the only church members who remain in prison. 
Pastor Zhou is suffering from an unspecified “serious illness” that his doctors say cannot be properly treated while he is incarcerated. And Elder Ding is experiencing high blood pressure, chest pain, dizziness, and insomnia. 
The Ganquan Church is an underground church that refuses to come under the state-controlled Three-Self Patriotic Movement which is China’s only legal church. As a result, Ganquan is considered illegal and cannot purchase property.
That’s why Pastor Zhou and Elder Ding used church funds to purchase two properties in their own names to secure property for worship and other church activities.
Biden gets pushback over claim “We leave no one behind.”
President Joe Biden faced a wave of pushback from GOP lawmakers in response to a post on the @POTUS X account that said, "On my watch, when we make promises, we keep them. And we leave no one behind."
Blaze.com reports that multiple Republicans challenged the president's claim.
Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan tweeted, "Afghanistan. Israel. Haiti. All Joe Biden does is leave Americans behind,"
And Rep. Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin tweeted, "This would be hilarious if it was not tragic. Biden has abandoned Americans around the world and wants you to forget about them. I never will. Remember in November."
Stephanie Clifford took stand in Trump’s “hush money” trial
Last Tuesday, Stormy Daniels, a disreputable actress whose real name is Stephanie Clifford,  took the stand in the so-called “hush money” trial of former President Donald Trump, reports The Epoch Times. 
She claimed that she had a tryst with Trump in 2006 at which time he had been married to his third wife, Melania, since January 22, 2005. NBC News noted that Clifford, who was 27 at the time, boosted her credibility by describing the flooring of the hotel suite.
Trump has categorically denied the encounter ever took place.
Prosecutors say that President Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid $130,000 to Clifford during the 2016 campaign in a bid to buy her silence about the alleged affair. At issue is the nature of the payments. They have argued that the payments should have been marked as campaign-related expenses since her silence helped assure his election.
The former president has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records in the case. He has argued that the trial is merely an attempt to keep him off the 2024 campaign trail.
In Clifford’s testimony, she recalled that the former president told her in the hotel room that she “should go on his television show,” referring to the “Celebrity Apprentice” program that he hosted and starred in. She claimed she asked him. “What if I lose on the first episode?”
She also made claims about visiting Trump to break the Seventh Commandment at his hotel in Lake Tahoe, California, during a golf tournament.
Exodus 20:17 says, “You shall not commit adultery.”
Top 10 most dangerous states
While the violent crime rate in America fell for two years in a row after an increase in 2020, property crime – which covers infractions such as vehicle theft and burglary – appeared to increase in 2022 for the first time in two decades.
Here is a list of the top 10 most dan

It’s Friday, May 10th, A.D. 2024. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)
By Adam McManus
Muslims attacked praying Catholic students
On Sunday, May 5th, two young women were slightly wounded when a mob of Muslims assaulted a group of 15 Catholic students who were praying at a rented house in Banten Province, on the Indonesian island of Java, reports Morning Star News.
Enraged at the Catholic group praying in a home rather than in a church building, the local neighborhood head incited area Muslims to break up the meeting and injure the two female students in a suburb of Jakarta at about 7:30 p.m.
Some of the assailants were reportedly armed with long machetes, sickles, knives, and blocks. One of the young women suffered a slight wound near her nose while another sustained a minor wound in the stomach, in spite of efforts by some local Muslims to protect them.
The conflict began when the leader, identified as Diding, peeped into the house where the students were praying, and then intruded in, confronting the students for prayer, and ultimately dispersing them.
Chicago Teachers Union demanding abortion coverage, gender-neutral bathrooms
The Chicago Teachers Union is demanding $50 billion in its contract negotiations to pay for a 9% wage increase, abortions, illegal immigrant services and "gender-neutral bathrooms" for every school district, according to leaked documents, reports The Christian Post.
Earlier this year, local news outlet WLS reported that Chicago teachers requested $2,000 for each of the 5,000 illegal immigrant students recently enrolled in the district, including more bilingual teachers and full tuition coverage for teachers to obtain a bilingual certificate.
The list of demands also included a series of sexual perversion provisions, with the Chicago Teachers Union calling for every school in the district to have at least one "gender-neutral restroom" and annual homosexual/transgender training for educators.
No wonder the number of homeschooled children continues to skyrocket.
Student newspaper: "Hitler's got some good ideas."
The student newspaper at McClatchy High School in Sacramento, California is facing a big time controversy.
The Prospector student newspaper published an anonymous quote in the most recent edition praising Adolf Hitler.  A student said, “Hitler’s got some good ideas.” It was part of a story about “weird things” overheard in the school’s hallways, reports CBS News.
The student staff later posted a statement saying the quote did not reflect their ideals or beliefs. But they were glad it sparked a conversation on how students choose their words.
The principal fired off a message to families saying the newspaper’s actions were “deeply offensive.”
And the newspaper’s faculty adviser has been placed on paid leave, which angered journalists across the state. Steve O’Donoghue, director of the California Scholastic Journalism Initiative, said, “They have the right to print it. They’re not advocating for it, they’re just quoting what a student said.”
Christian talk show host Todd Starnes wrote, “It’s worth noting that a recent survey showed that 63 percent of Millennials and Generation Z did not know that 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust. That’s what happens when public schools whitewash history. The kids are ignorant of great atrocities in world history and the next thing you know – the McClatchy High School student newspaper is singing Hitler’s praises.”
Ultra-processed food leads to weight gain, heart issues, & depression
Research published in The British Medical Journal shows that eating a lot of ultra-processed foods such as sugary cereals, frozen meals, and sodas has been linked to poor mental health and a greater risk of dying from heart issues, reports The Telegraph.
Ultra-processed foods are usually higher in fat, sugar and salt and contain chemicals, colorings, s