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. No Kings protests fill streets at over 3,300 rallies in all 50 states, a record number (WaPo)
“Protesters filled the streets Saturday at more than 3,300 rallies across all 50 states for No Kings, a movement that bills itself as nonviolent opposition to what organizers view as authoritarian rulers in the White House and beyond. U.S. organizers had estimated that the first two rounds of No Kings rallies drew more than 5 million people in June and 7 million in October. On Saturday, they estimated that at least 8 million participants took part.
“The swell of marches marked the third major collective action for the grassroots campaign, which began as an outlet for those infuriated by the Trump administration. The theme of the day was executive overreach, with no one issue singled out as the raison d’être. But like many political uprisings, the meaning of No Kings varies from protester to protester. Some showed up eager to defend what they cast as lofty ideals. Others just don’t like President Donald Trump.”
No Scrubs? More like No Kings, TLC. Dating back to the Founding, there has been a strong anti-king posture here in the US. A Philadelphia newspaper, when delegates were crafting the Constitution, reported on the negotiations. One delegate said: “Tho’ we cannot, affirmatively, tell you what we are doing, we can, negatively, tell you what we are not doing—we never once thought of a king.”
In 1776, Thomas Paine penned Common Sense, writing: “For as in absolute governments the King is law, so in free countries the law ought to be king; and there ought to be no other.” Why? Among many reasons, John Adam wrote that a monarchy “never lasts long… It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet, that did not commit suicide. It is in vain to say that democracy is less vain, less proud, less selfish, less ambitious, or less avaricious than aristocracy or monarchy.”
Do they really want no king… or just a different one? With the theme being executive overreach, I’m curious as to whether these individuals protested during the Biden administration. Specifically when then Pres. Biden confirmed repeatedly that he did not possess the constitutional authority to extend the moratorium, despite going ahead and attempting to do so. Then there was the student loan forgiveness initiative, which Mr. Biden admitted was unconstitutional in a 60 Minutes interview, but nevertheless attempted to do so.
Similar to the Israelites, this is less about a king and more about desires, namely, imitation and ideology. While protests over the weekend centered on not wanting a king, protests back in 1 Sam. 8 were animated by a desire for a king. Related to imitation, the Israelites explicitly stated they wanted a king "such as all the other nations have." And regarding ideology, they sought a leader who would "go out before us and fight our battles." Like the founders, protesters don’t want a king but do want preferred policies enshrined. And thankfully, because we have no king, they can both protest with many in the present and freely vote for their polices in the future.
5. Iran warns U.S. against ground invasion as Israel announces it will expand its operation in Lebanon (CBS News)
“Iran said Sunday it is ready to face U.S. troops on the ground, accusing Washington of secretly planning an assault while seeking negotiations to end the war. U.S. President Donald Trump said he could “take the oil in Iran” and seize Iran’s export hub of Kharg Island, as hostilities in the Middle East continued into its fifth week. Trump said in a post to social media that the U.S. struck "many long sought after targets" in Iran on Sunday. "Big day in Iran. Many long sought after targets have been taken out and destroyed by our GREAT MILITARY, the finest and most lethal in the World," Trump wrote. Earlier on Sunday, Trump reportedly told the Financial Times that the U.S. has about "3,000 targets left -- we've bombed 13,000 targets."
“Trump told the Financial Times on Sunday that his “preference would be to take the oil,” comparing it to the U.S. military operation in Venezuela earlier this year where the U.S. effectively gained control of the Latin American country’s oil industry, following the capture of its leader Nicolas Maduro. The Trump administration has weighed sending ground forces to the Kharg Island, according to Reuters, with one of its sources warning or such an operation being “very risky.” Tehran has the ability to reach the island with missiles and drones. In the FT interview, Trump said that “my favourite thing is to take the oil in Iran but some stupid people back in the U.S. say: ‘why are you doing that?’ But they’re stupid people.”
Lay down your palms… and weapons. Yesterday, on Palm Sunday, Pope Leo XIV rejected the claims that God justifies war during Mass in St. Peter’s Square. He insisted that God is the “king of peace” who rejects violence and comforts those who are oppressed. “Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war.”
At least 2 factors are animating the Pope’s thinking: Augustine and Dorothy Day. Augustine largely coined the Just War Theory, a moral and legal framework defining when and how war can be justly fought. There are largely 5 components: just cause (self-defense against an attempted or actual invasion, or the protection of innocent life), legitimate authority (declared by those who have true responsibility for the common good), right intention (a just purpose—such as the restoration of peace), last resort (all other means have been exhausted or shown to be impractical), and probability of success. In this instance, I imagine Leo rejects the idea this is just because there is more he believes that could have been done…
What more could be done? Enter Dorothy Day. Founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, Day practiced "evangelical pacifism," refusing to support any war effort and advocating for radical non-violence as the only true Christian path. “Instead of gearing ourselves in this country for a gigantic production of death-dealing bombers and men trained to kill, we should be producing food, medical supplies, ambulances, doctors and nurses for the works of mercy, to heal and rebuild a shattered world.”
“We may kill if necessary, but we must not hate and enjoy it,” according to CS Lewis. Citing the soldiers approaching John the Baptist and the Roman soldier meeting with Jesus, Lewis knew there was a need for war, but cautioned against the tragedies that occur in war. While the brokenness of the world is evident through the wars across the world, this week, we are reminded that the final war has already been fought and won. (Lk. 3, Mt. 8)
4. Fellow Dems call for Cherfilus-McCormick to resign or be expelled (Axios)
“A growing number of House Democrats are calling on Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) to resign after the House Ethics Committee found her guilty of dozens of charges, including serious financial misconduct. The House Ethics Committee found Friday that Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida had committed numerous violations of House rules and ethics standards, a ruling that could add weight to Republicans’ push to expel her from Congress.
“After meeting for over seven hours Thursday night, an ethics panel composed of four Democrats and four Republicans found that Cherfilus-McCormick had committed 25 ethics violations. The panel said it would recommend a punishment in the coming weeks.
“The allegations center around her receipt of millions of dollars from her family’s health care business after the state of Florida made an overpayment of roughly $5 million in disaster relief funds. Cherfilus-McCormick is accused of using that money to fund her 2022 congressional campaign through a network of businesses and family members.”
Why is it so hard to hold your side accountable? Though it doesn’t apply to this situation, there are 2 concepts that often hinder our ability to hold our own side to account: cognitive hubris and radical ignorance.
Cognitive hubris consists of believing that our map of the world is more accurate than reality. We understand our side and the motivations of the other side as well. David McRaney goes further and calls this asymmetric insight: we believe we understand other people better than others understand themselves.
Then there is radical ignorance, which refers to how certain issues render our maps highly inaccurate. Daniel Kahneman put it like this: “Our comforting conviction that the world makes sense rests on a secure foundation: our almost unlimited ability to ignore our ignorance.” In this instance, we often exaggerate the threat of the other side to rationalize errors on our side.
While character isn’t the only thing that matters, it still matters. By downplaying or rationalizing immorality for the sake of political victories, you reveal your priorities regarding the political state and the image-bearing soul. I am grateful for political victories that make his kingdom come here on Earth, and I am hopeful for personal victories when politicians (and everyone for that matter) make his will be done in their personal lives. Our values aren’t weapons to wield but ideals to hold. (Pro. 14:34)
Cultural News
3. Seeking a Sounding Board? Beware the Eager-to-Please Chatbot. (NY Times)
“The researchers found that nearly a dozen leading models were highly sycophantic, taking the users’ side in interpersonal conflicts 49 percent more often than humans did — even when the user described situations in which they broke the law, hurt someone or lied.
“Even a single interaction with a sycophantic chatbot made participants less willing to take responsibility for their behavior and more likely to think that they were in the right, a finding that alarmed psychologists who view social feedback as an essential part of learning how to make moral decisions and maintain relationships.
“The most surprising and concerning thing is just how much of a strong negative impact it has on people’s attitudes and judgments,” said Myra Cheng, the lead author of the paper and a Ph.D. student at Stanford University. “Even worse, people seem to really trust and prefer it.”
Are you familiar with the orthogonality thesis? This refers to the idea that artificial intelligence (AI) can possess any level of intelligence—from low to superintelligent—while pursuing any arbitrary goal. In this instance, is the goal to make the customer happy or to provide the customer with what they want to hear?
We ask for narrow answers, but we need wider horizons, according to Ryan Holiday. “The essential skill of our time isn’t prompt engineering or coding—it’s having a finely tuned bull* detector. It’s knowing enough about how humans actually think and write to spot bull*. It’s having read widely enough to recognize when an answer is hollow, even when it’s dressed up in confident prose. It’s understanding your domain well enough to know what questions to ask and, more importantly, which answers to reject.”
To trust everything is unwise and to trust nothing is lonely. As Christians, we are to be wise as serpents, innocent as doves, and marked by love. Such love doesn’t keep a record of wrongs, but discernment does require us to carefully distinguish truth from falsehood. Discernment is likened to an ornament of grace around your neck, signifying the value it holds and the power it can bear. Personally, I treat AI like a gifted intern: really fast, occasionally brilliant, but definitely not the person you let sign the legal documents. (Pro. 3:21-24, Rom. 12:9, Ecc. 12:13)
News You Can Use
2. Why it pays to be bored
Watch it here. “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Phil. 4:8)
1. Youngest Godfather I’ve ever seen.
Watch it here. “Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.” (1 Tim. 4:13)
