A Bad Hombre Does Bad Things

Show open from the Pathway Studios in Johnston

The episode opens with the produced intro and a host's live sign-on: 'Live from the Pathway Studios in Johnston proper. You are live from the path.' One host is absent tonight — 'Dan's also under the weather' — leaving three hosts in the room.

Tonight's lineup: pope-style advice, a missionary story, China's social credit

A host previews the night: one host has 'pope style advice' about being a kingdom of priests; they will discuss the American missionary killed on North Sentinel Island and the mixed public reaction to his death; and they will return to China's social-credit system, a topic they discussed roughly a year earlier.

The migrant caravan and the problem of media half-truths

An unplanned tangent: a host pitches his 'adopt a migrant' idea and the hosts spar over competing media narratives about a group of migrants heading toward the country — one side framing them as fleeing families, the other as criminals. They land on a shared point: it is hard to be a reasonable person when every source tells only a half version of the truth, and real fixes require telling the whole story.

'All humanity is related to a single couple' — the New York Post study

A host reads a November 24 New York Post article on a Rockefeller University / University of Basel study (published in the journal Human Evolution) finding that all humans descend from one man and one woman who lived 100,000–200,000 years ago after a near-extinction event. The hosts riff at length on evolution's explanatory gaps — fish sprouting legs, giraffes' necks, the absence of a 'will' in nature, and whether human emotions and self-destruction count as improvements.

China's social credit system — reading the report

A host reads a report on China's rollout of its social credit system: millions blocked from booking flights and high-speed trains, a plan to make it 'difficult to move' for the untrustworthy, points awarded for volunteer work and blood donation, penalties for smoking in non-smoking zones, buying too many video games, and posting fake news, plus possible loss of internet speed, school access, jobs, hotels, and pets.

Debating the social credit system — grace, corruption, and consequences

• Is China's social credit system defensible, and how should Christians think about it?

A long debate over China's social credit system. One host calls it an abomination to a Christ follower: a society without grace, where volunteer work must be reported for credit. Another argues the rating system itself is untrustworthy because corruptible people run it, citing a Black Mirror episode about social scoring. They spar over proportionality — one host argues severe penalties would deter crime, the others that punishments like barring a speeder's children from good schools are disproportionate. The thread resolves into the night's 'pope style advice': we give ourselves too much grace about obeying authority, and our outrage at consequences often means we just want no consequences. The segment closes with a comedy bit commissioning a song called 'The Slow Train to Shanghai.'

John Chau and North Sentinel Island — reading the report

• Was John Chau foolish to go to North Sentinel Island, or was his death a faithful sacrifice?

A host reads the account of 26-year-old American Christian missionary John Allen Chau, shot dead with arrows on North Sentinel Island in India's Andaman Islands: his kayak landing on November 15, an arrow striking the Bible he carried, his overnight journal entries, his letter to his parents asking them not to be angry at the tribe or at God if he was killed, and his return the next day from which he never came back.

Was Chau a fool? Martyrdom, effectiveness, and God's economy

The hosts wrestle with the core question: was John Chau an idiot, or a faithful martyr? They reject the 'he died so it failed' framing — he knew the islanders kill intruders and went willingly, writing that the tribe's eternal lives were at hand. They compare his costly action against shallow modern-church evangelism, weigh whether God works in human economies of efficiency (the shepherd going after the one), and brainstorm alternatives — leaflets, groups, daily fish drop-offs — conceding none is clearly better.

Kingdom citizenship, breaking man's law, and the parable of the sower

From Chau's illegal landing, the hosts discuss when Christians may break the law: they are citizens of the kingdom of Christ before citizens of the United States, and Christians under Rome accepted death rather than stop worshiping Jesus — while Americans fight to change laws so they never face consequences. A host closes with the parable of the sower: the sower scatters seed everywhere without plotting each one, and Sentinel Island is simply where these seeds were called to go.

Complaint line plug and Chau follow-ups

The hosts invite listener reactions on the John Chau question via the show's complaint line, (515) 517-0085, noting encouraging listener feedback lately. They share background on Chau — a master's in health and physical education from Oral Roberts, medical and soccer camps in refugee camps from South Africa to northern Iraq (which explains the football) — and one host confirms the Sentinelese language is essentially unknown, with no bilingual translators.

Dear LFTP: a worried mom, her son's Japan trip, and drinking with business partners

• A mother writes that her non-drinking son's bosses say the Japanese will not do business with him unless he drinks with them first — is that true, and what should he do?

Dear LFTP letter from a 'worried mom': her son, who doesn't drink by personal choice, is told by his bosses that the Japanese won't do business with him unless he drinks with them first. The hosts' verdict: leave the grown man alone, join in politely but say no when you want to — nobody blows a deal over a declined third round of rice wine. The 'Secular' answer quotes Erin Meyer's The Culture Map (karaoke or a spa trip as bonding alternatives). The letter spirals into stories of one host's mandatory call-center karaoke competition in the Philippines (a Michael Bublé song) and dancing with 'the Ethiopian Adam Levine.'

Dear LFTP: a veteran's widow, survivor benefits, and the will

• A woman married 14 years to a retired veteran learns his ex-wife gets his survivor benefits and she is not his beneficiary on anything — what should she do?

Dear LFTP letter from a woman married 14 years to a retired US veteran: his ex-wife receives his survivor benefits from the divorce settlement, and she just discovered she is not his beneficiary on anything. The hosts' unanimous advice: have the conversation — he probably never thought about it — then see an attorney about the will. The 'Secular' answer agrees, adding that the estate plan may predate the marriage. The discussion broadens into the hosts admitting their own wills and life-insurance beneficiaries are out of date.

Outro: get your will done; Kevin Lindgren next week

Closing exhortation: write down who gets the kids and who handles the estate — 'something is better than nothing' — then get it formalized. Next week Kevin Lindgren returns to the studio with a Kickstarter for a new album. Sign-off: 'be faithful in the means. God will handle the ends.'