September 3 - Funding the UNHCR and Dealing With the Crisis at Its Core; Hungary Warns Europe That Its "Christian" Future Is at Stake From Refugees; Kentucky Clerk, Acting on God's Authority, Is Jailed

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the tragic image of a Turkish police officer cradling the lifeless body of a 3 year old Syrian Kurdish boy found washed ashore after the rickety boat carrying his family to Greece capsized, drowning his 5 year old brother and mother as well. Jana Mason, the Senior Advisor for Government Relations and External Affairs at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Washington D.C. where she represents the agency’s interests with the U.S. government, joins us. We discuss how Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan have taken in over 4 million Syrian refugees so far but insufficient funding of the UNHCR by donor nations, particularly in Europe, has led to shortfalls in caring for the continuing outflow of Syrians fleeing the civil war, leading refugees to risk their lives in the hands of callous human traffickers as they cross the Mediterranean in unseaworthy boats to Europe.

Part 2

Then we speak with Daryl Grisgraber, who leads Refugees International’s research and advocacy related to the Middle East and North Africa, focusing mainly on the Syrian displacement crisis. She joins us to discuss efforts today in Brussels at an emergency meeting of European leaders to deal with the growing crisis, where Hungary’s right wing Prime Minister Viktor Urban warned that Europe’s “Christian” future is at stake as he blamed Germany for creating the migration crisis by offering asylum to refugees.

Part 3

Then finally we examine the sentencing today of a county clerk in Kentucky who, acting on God’s authority, has defied the Supreme Court by continuing to refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Carl Tobias, the Chair and Professor of Law at the University of Richmond who has tracked same-sex marriage litigation across the country, joins us to discuss whether jailing Rowan County’s Kim Davis instead of fining her will make her a “Christian” martyr soon to appear at a mega-church near you.