It's Friday, January 24, 2025. I'm Albert Moller, and this is the briefing, a daily analysis of news and events from a Christian worldview.

Most of us are drawn to at least a very significant interest in espionage and spycraft.

It is an absolutely thrilling part of the

human story precisely because it has so much to do with pressing against the dark side,

even by using at times what are referred to as the dark arts. It is, by its very nature,

a morally complex enterprise. One of the most interesting

questions from the Christian worldview is the extent to which Christians can be involved in that

kind of activity. But it's also very clear that for the good, a good many Christians have been

involved in that kind of activity. And frankly, much of the understanding of the meaning

and the ethics of espionage and spycraft that comes from an explicitly Christian worldview.

But it's also interesting that at times there's an angle that comes completely unexpectedly,

and that's what has happened just in recent days with a story that emerged in the

Washington Post about a proposed casino in suburban Washington, D.C. What's that got to do with spies?

Well, evidently, the fear is a very great deal. Okay, so now, as Christians, the worldview

interest just went up because you have the combination of espionage

and spycraft and gambling. Just think, James Bond in a casino, who would have thought?

The two reporters on this story, Laura Vosella and Teo Armas, tell us this, quote, forget what

you've seen in every James Bond movie,

spies and casinos don't mix, at least they shouldn't mix, according to real-life agents,

fighting a proposed Fairfax County Casino as a national security threat.

That's right. You have individuals in the leadership of America's spy agencies, and you have veteran

spies in the area who are warning that the establishment of a major casino this close to Washington,

...