Nov. 9, 2019: Gen Zers say church can't answer their questions; Netflix drops John Crist; Kanye West makes history
Daily Radio Script - Saturday, Nov. 9, 2019
Here are the latest headlines, brought to you by The Christian Post.
— Trump strips Cameroon of US trade benefits over human rights abuses
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President Trump has stripped trade benefits from Cameroon over accusations that its military has committed human rights abuses against civilians in the West African country’s two civil war-ridden Anglophone regions.
In a letter to U.S. Congress last week, Trump blasted the Cameroonian government’s “persistent gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.” The president said the French-speaking central government has failed to address concerns related to reports of extrajudicial killings, unlawful detentions, torture and other abuses committed by security forces against civilians and rebels.
Trump’s decision removes Cameroon as a beneficiary of the African Growth and Opportunity Act that gives countries in Subsaharan Africa privileged access to the U.S. market, such as being able to export goods to the U.S. duty-free. Cameroon’s AGOA beneficiary status will end on January 1, 2020. The civil conflict in Cameroon grew out of longstanding grievances of people in the two English-speaking regions of the country who felt underrepresented by the French-speaking central government.
— Netflix drops John Crist Thanksgiving comedy special
Netflix is mulling whether to cancel John Crist’s Thanksgiving Day comedy special amid multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against the popular Christian comedian. In an email to The Christian Post on Thursday, a Netflix spokesperson said the comedy special was being held off, and has already been pulled from Netflix’s calendar.
On Wednesday, Charisma News broke the story that five women have accused Crist of sexual misconduct, including sexting, having sexual relations with married women, and giving away show tickets in return for sexual favors. In a statement published by Charisma, Crist denied being “guilty of everything I've been accused of,” but he admitted to treating “relationships with women far too casually, in some cases even recklessly.”
— 'Jesus Is King' makes Billboard history: tops 5 charts, dominates top 10 Christian, Gospel lists
The new Kanye West album, Jesus Is King, made history on the Billboard Charts, ranking No. 1 on multiple charts as well as dominating the Top 10 slots on both the Hot Christian Songs and Hot Gospel Songs charts.
The rapper’s first faith-based album is a certified hit and debuted at No. 1 in five rankings on Billboard this week, including the all-genre Billboard 200, Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, Top Rap Albums charts and the Top Christian Albums and Top Gospel Albums. He is the first artist ever to monopolize the entire top 10 slots on the Hot Christian Songs and Hot Gospel Songs charts. The emcee actually dominates the top 11 on Hot Gospel Songs, featuring every song on the 27-minute album.
The newly born-again Chicago native beat out Christian notables Chris Tomlin, Jordan Smith, Casting Crowns, Mercy Me and Lecrae, who ranked in multiple charts in the past.
— Nearly half of young adults with ties to Christianity say church can’t answer their questions
Extensive new research from The Barna Group shows that nearly half of young adults worldwide who have a connection to Christianity feel that the Church can’t answer their questions. Barna, a California-based evangelical research firm, partnered with the leading international evangelical humanitarian organization World Vision to compile “The Connected Generation” study.
Published in a research report, the study is based on a survey of 15,369 young adults between the ages of 18 and 35 across 25 different countries and nine languages. The study analyzes the values that millennials and Generation Z adults are bringing with them into adulthood and what their relationship to faith is like. The research aims to equip pastors and church leaders to better understand the young adults of today.
Although young adults seem to be in tune to issues of poverty and conflict around the globe, the study indicates that a large portion of young adults today are experiencing weaker levels of connectivity with the society around them.
— Father outraged over school giving 7-year-old son flyer promoting free condoms, birth control
A father in Tennessee is outraged after his children’s elementary school distributed a flyer promoting a three-day clinic to access free condoms and contraception.
Richard Penkoski, a Christian activist who runs the online ministry Warriors for Christ and regularly protests against Drag Queen Story Hour events at public libraries nationwide, spoke out Thursday during a school board meeting in Sullivan County about a flyer that his 7-year-old son brought home last week from his second grade class at the Mary Hughes School in Piney Flats.
While one side of the flyer offered free dental, medical and vision services, the other side of the flyer advertised in big, bold letters “free birth control and pre-pregnancy services.”
Penkoski told The Christian Post in an interview that he felt the distribution of the flyer was a “direct attack” on the beliefs he teaches his children. Dale Walker, president of the Tennessee Pastor’s Network, who drove four hours to speak at the school board meeting on Thursday, said, “Christian families have the right to be upset about the flyer.”
To read more stories from a Christian perspective, visit christianpost.com.
