The Daily Briefing highlights the news of the day and research that reveals the spirit of the day.
The Daily Briefing is a newsletter sent straight to your inbox every morning that provides biblical insight on today's news.
Top News
6. Zohran Mamdani allies sweep NYC's primary races (CNN)
“Democratic socialist candidates swept key primary races in New York Tuesday, accelerating their rise within the Democratic Party while more traditional center-left candidates and moderates backed by corporate interests prevailed in other contests. Results of primaries across four states Tuesday cemented the growing influence of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s brand of progressive populism while demonstrating its potential limits outside of large East Coast cities.
“New York City voters nominated three left-wing U.S. House candidates endorsed by Mamdani, boosting his clout as a political kingmaker and ousting two incumbents in the process. Comparatively moderate Democrats prevailed in other primaries, including in Maryland and Utah. The results also shook the foundations of the Democratic Party far beyond the five boroughs. When they are certified, Mr. Mamdani, 34, and his movement will be on track to double the number of socialists in Congress from two to four. The outcome will also force a Democratic Party, already searching for its identity, to reckon with its ascendant, unapologetic left.”
Socialism is having a moment, but is the invisible foot lurking in the background? In his book The Innovation Decision in Soviet Industry, Joseph Berliner coined the concept of the “invisible foot.” While Adam Smith’s invisible hand described the unseen forces that drive a market economy, the foot, Berliner writes, needs to be “applied vigorously to the backsides of enterprises that would otherwise have been quite content to go on producing the same products in the same ways, and at a reasonable profit, if they could only be protected from the intrusion of competition.”
Pass the bread? Loren Graham, in his book Lonely Ideas, writes about a famous novel depicting a failure of socialism. In Not By Bread Alone, Vladimir Dudintsev writes about an engineer who developed a superior method of making metal pipes. He repeatedly attempted to share his innovation with business leaders, but to no avail. He discovered that Soviet administrators were more interested in output than improvement, unwilling to temporarily stop production and cause disruption while new equipment was installed.
It is better to give than to receive… and far better than being forced to give. We know that God loves a cheerful giver, not a forced one. In Acts 2-5, we see a beautiful picture of the joy of generosity. While some assert this passage serves as a primer for socialism, they fail to see the forest for the trees, according to RC Sproul. He observed that they are reading too much into the passage, forcing their political beliefs into the text instead of letting the text speak for itself. While it is important and good to meet needs, we continually see throughout history that socialism creates more needs than it solves.
5. Nancy Guthrie ransom notes likely came from abductor who said she died, investigators believe (CBS News)
“Authorities believe two ransom notes addressed to Nancy Guthrie's family days after her disappearance — including a note that said she had died — were likely sent by the person or group of people who abducted her, according to investigators familiar with the case. Investigators believe the same person or people sent both notes and that both were likely sent from the same computer IP address.
“The first note demanded millions in bitcoin for Nancy Guthrie's release. In the second note, sent a few days later, the apparent abductors revealed that Nancy Guthrie had died. The note indicated that they did not mean for her to die, according to sources who reviewed the notes.
"I love you guys and I love this place,” Guthrie told her cohosts during yesterday's episode of Today, while growing emotional. “This is unusual and unprecedented to say the least to be sitting here. But I don’t have any comment on this story and I’m not involved in our coverage—but I can’t pretend I’m not here. And so, since I am, I wanted to take the opportunity to ask people to, to beg people to come forward, somebody knows something.”
The Puritan Thomas Watson noted that God would never permit any evil if he could not bring good out of it. Stories like this, involving an elderly mother and a wicked man, remind us of the depravity of man, the power of God, and the brokenness of this world. One study found that the vast majority (80 percent) of kidnappings are carried out by unaffiliated criminals, with armed groups (14 percent) far behind.
There are at least 5 different types of kidnapping: kidnap for ransom (criminal leverages hostage in order to receive payment); tiger kidnapping (hostage is coerced into performing a desired action, like unlocking a vault, in order to earn their freedom back); express kidnapping (common in Latin America and parts of Africa, victim is taken to an ATM to withdraw money); political kidnapping (criminal uses victim for their political or ideological impact); and finally virtual kidnapping (more of a scam, criminal attempts to gain payment in the heat of the moment by claiming they have targeted a family or loved one).
When considering why bad things happen to good people, RC Sproul noted that this only happened once and he volunteered for it. At the cross, notes Sproul, we saw bad things happen to a good man and, as a result, good things could continue to flow to all men because of this sacrifice. My heart breaks for the Guthrie family, yet it rests in the observation of John Wenham: “At the heart of the story stands the cross if Christ where evil did its worst and met its match.” (Rom. 8, Eph. 1)
4. Senate rebukes Trump by approving House-passed measure calling for end to Iran war (NBC News)
“The Senate on Tuesday approved a War Powers Resolution previously passed by the House that rebukes President Donald Trump by calling for an end to the U.S. war against Iran. The resolution passed 50-48, with four Senate Republicans joining almost all Democrats in support of the measure. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., opposed the resolution, and two Republicans did not vote.
“The nonbinding measure is the sharpest symbolic pushback on the war in Iran from Capitol Hill. The House voted this month to pass the same Democratic-led measure to end Trump’s war in Iran, offering a rare reprimand of Trump. The resolution “directs the President to remove U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities against Iran unless explicitly authorized by a declaration of war or a congressional authorization for use of military force against Iran.”
Our elected officials represent us, but they don’t always echo us. Edmund Burke put it well when he said that your “representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion.” However, in this instance, it appears our elected officials share the larger populace's opinion. 78 percent want to end the war, and a little over 30 percent think it was worth it, according to the latest CBS poll.
Agree to disagree? In his book American Covenant, Yuval Levin notes how our system was designed in such a way that unity doesn’t mean we agree on everything but we can disagree and still work together. The checks and balances built into the system allow us to engage with those who think differently than us, creating a type of unity that is “peace but not quiet.”
Rebukes are like broccoli: tough to swallow but good to eat. In Leviticus 19:17, we are commanded: “Rebuke your fellow, but incur no guilt on their account.” Essentially, what you say is just as important as how you say it. Moses demonstrated this when he rebuked the people of Israel, offering tough words to them but inviting a response from them, should they choose. The rebuke wasn’t meant to end the connection with people, but strengthen the connection to the people. GS Bhogal put it well: “Criticism suffers from inflation; the more one criticizes, the less their criticisms are worth.” (Deut. 1)
Cultural News
3. Science suggests cringeworthy dad jokes may serve a real purpose (WaPo)
“While there are few studies on dad jokes themselves, Silvia has been analyzing them to determine what makes some funnier than others. In a preprint of his study titled “What’s brown and sticky?” (hint: a stick), Silvia and a colleague analyzed more than 32,000 dad jokes from a subreddit, r/dadjokes, and identified three qualities that appeared to make up the best dad jokes — puns, literalization and pedantic humor, he said.
"Dad jokes tap into not only wit but also the social dimension of humor — what Sultanoff calls relational fusion. “Humor can be powerfully bonding,” said Sultanoff, a past president of the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor, an organization that promotes humor as therapy. And dad jokes may help strengthen the bond between fathers and their children in much the same way that the game peekaboo does for babies and their caregivers, he said.”
Dad jokes are like cheap coffee: warm, lacking in sophistication, but somehow get the job done. According to humor scholar Salvatore Attardo, humor appreciation requires a willingness to enter a “playful mode.” When people become passionate about an issue that affects them in a personal way, that issue activates a sort of threat response, and people stop being funny.
GK Chesterton noted: “Laughter has something in it in common with the ancient winds of faith and inspiration; it unfreezes pride and unwinds secrecy; it makes men forget themselves in the presence of something greater than themselves; something (as the common phrase goes about a joke) that they cannot resist.”
Jokes soften hearts and enlarge outlooks. According to Mark Twain, laughter is the only effective weapon we have against the world. Jesus epitomized this in Matt. 7:3-5. In a moment when so much is taken too seriously, perhaps dad jokes are a vaccine against this virus.
News You Can Use
2. Doctor goes above and beyond for her cancer patient, ending with a big surprise
Watch it here. “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” (1 Cor. 12:26)
1. Imprisoned fathers at Angola Prison spend Father's Day outside of prison with their sons, thanks to Christian organization 'God Behind Bars.'
Watch it here. “Remember the prisoners as if chained with them…” (Heb. 13:3)
