2023
June
13
Tuesday

Monitor Daily Podcast

June 13, 2023
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Ken Makin
Cultural commentator

Oklahoma softball coach Patty Gasso clasped her hands together and bowed her head after her team clinched its third consecutive NCAA title last week at the Women’s College World Series. As it turned out, it wasn’t just a sigh of relief. It was a sign of routine.

The team’s testimony shined through some minutes later during their postgame interview, where Ms. Gasso’s players – the trio of Grace Lyons, Jayda Coleman, and Alyssa Brito – responded to a question about what it was like to play with the perpetual pressure of championship expectations.

“The only way you can have a joy that doesn’t fade away is from the Lord,” answered the aptly-named Ms. Lyons. “Any other type of joy is happiness that comes from circumstances and outcomes.”

“I think that’s why we’re so steady in what we do,” added Ms. Brito. “Our love for each other, our love for the game, is because we know this game is giving us an opportunity to glorify God.”

Certainly, spirituality in sports is not an unfamiliar dynamic. There are high-profile examples of faith on the field such as former and current Denver Broncos quarterbacks Tim Tebow and Russell Wilson. Character and conviction through faith can also inspire social justice conscience, as evidenced by Islamic icons Muhammad Ali, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf.

Entertainment drives much of what we do as a society, and its high-stakes nature through sport can consume us until we get lost in the pursuit of winning games. Moments of gravity, such as that Oklahoma press conference, remind us of higher ideals – and power – that do not eclipse sports, but enrich them. 

No matter our backgrounds or beliefs, such a beautiful expression of peace and priority can be an inspiration for all.


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Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

Not every case involving mishandled classified documents – even when someone knowingly takes them – gets prosecuted. The key factor in the Trump case seems to be the former president’s actions after the discovery.

Erika Page/The Christian Science Monitor
Ines Lamas (right) and other members of the San Miguel de Colorado Indigenous community take shelter from the sun while working at the Salinas Grandes salt flats, April 15, 2023.

Lithium is in high demand as the world moves toward green energy to meet climate targets. But the benefits of lithium are still up for debate in local mining communities.

Difference-maker

RASHID MARCEL/COURTESY OF BLACK MEN HEAL
Black Men Heal staff, including founder Tasnim Sulaiman (center, in black T-shirt), and participating therapists gather in Philadelphia in 2022 during one of the group's Kings Corner Tours.

Stigma and lack of affordability around mental health in vulnerable communities can hinder progress. A Philadelphia-area nonprofit seeks to help one segment of the population heal.

Ryan Lenora Brown
Galaletsang Mekgoe (center) runs in the 2023 Comrades Marathon in the town of Camperdown, South Africa.

The Comrades ultramarathon, the largest ultradistance in the world, opened to women and runners of color almost half a century ago. But Black women have struggled to marshal the resources and support to make the podium.


The Monitor's View

AP
The presumptive presidential candidate of the ruling Morena party, Mexico Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum (center) raises her arms during a June 11 news conference. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's MORENA party announced the rules to be followed by its candidates for the presidential elections of 2024.

The mayor of Mexico City, Claudia Sheinbaum, resigned this week in order to run for president. She is already the leading contender, which, if she wins next year, means Mexico would beat the United States in having its first female president. Yet as a trained physicist who says she looks for “root causes” in both science and politics, Ms. Sheinbaum might want to ask this: Why have the overall biases against women in Mexico – among both men and women – increased?

The latest United Nations data shows Mexico is in company with Russia, Chile, South Korea, and Kyrgyzstan in showing the largest decline in attitudes toward gender equality. Violence against women remains high. In particular, bias against Mexican women in politics jumped from 46.61% in 2010–2014 to 58.01% in 2017–2022.

Yet other facts reveal progress for Mexican women. Not only is Ms. Sheinbaum ahead in the polls to become head of Latin America’s second-largest economy, but also nearly a third of governorships in Mexico are held by women – more than in the U.S. (Ms. Sheinbaum became Mexico City’s first female mayor in 2018.)

She cites a survey by the national statistics agency showing that more than two-thirds of Mexicans back a woman becoming president. Last January, the Supreme Court elected its first female chief justice. These triumphs belie the image of a machista (sexist) culture. Just as Mexico shook off one-party rule a generation ago and renewed its democracy, it is now one of the most advanced countries in the participation of women in politics.

In the last 10 years, says Ms. Sheinbaum, being a female politician was a handicap. “Right now it is something positive,” she told The Associated Press. Her record as mayor includes making the city safer for women. Murder rates in general are down in the capital. “It’s time for women,” says a scientist who knows how to look for root causes that can impel progress.


A Christian Science Perspective

About this feature

Each weekday, the Monitor includes one clearly labeled religious article offering spiritual insight on contemporary issues, including the news. The publication – in its various forms – is produced for anyone who cares about the progress of the human endeavor around the world and seeks news reported with compassion, intelligence, and an essentially constructive lens. For many, that caring has religious roots. For many, it does not. The Monitor has always embraced both audiences. The Monitor is owned by a church – The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston – whose founder was concerned with both the state of the world and the quality of available news.

Recognizing that we are each created to express God-given qualities and talents in unique ways fosters peace of mind, compassion, and harmony in our interactions.


Viewfinder

Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Sports/NPSTrans/TopPic
Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray chokes up while being interviewed after winning the 2023 NBA Finals against the Miami Heat at Ball Arena in Denver. The team's center, Nikola Jokic (not pictured), was named Finals MVP and is the first player to have the most points, rebounds, and assists in a single postseason. Denver's celebration of the team's first championship was sadly marred by violence, with 10 people wounded, some critically, after an altercation broke out about a mile from the arena.
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Karen Norris. )

A look ahead

Thanks for joining us. Please come back tomorrow, so we can delight you with a story about the growing popularity of road tennis – a game in Barbados that literally began on roadways.

More issues

2023
June
13
Tuesday

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