President Obama addressed the Human Rights Campaign's banquet in Washington, D.C., Oct. 10, 2009. HRC is a homosexual lobbying organization and has a $30+ million dollar annual budget.
President Barack Obama is sold out to the radical homosexual agenda. One needs no more proof than his most recent pro-homosexual gesture, recognizing homosexual partners raising children in the official White House Proclamation on Father's Day:
Nurturing families come in many forms, and children may be raised by a father and mother, a single father, two fathers, a step father, a grandfather, or caring guardian.
Yes, you read that right. The President of the United States of America went out of his way to pander to the homosexual community by recognizing two-daddy homes (read motherless) on Father's Day.
Obama also used this cherished American holiday honoring fathers and fatherhood to make a statement about his views of when life begins. In the first few words, the Obama proclamation declares a father-child bond commencing "from the first moments of life." In so doing, Obama refuses to acknowledge that life begins at the moment of conception, when a unique human life with unique human DNA, begins. Nor does he acknowledge the fact that millions of fathers view their unborn children in ultrasound pictures well before they are born.
Earlier this week, we sent you an article by Laurie Higgins regarding the controversial statement by Governor Mitch Daniel (R-IN) to the Weekly Standard that "'the next president, whoever he is, would have to call a truce on the so-called social issues. We're going to just have to agree to get along for a little while, until the economic issues are resolved." Laurie did a fantastic job pointing out the naivete and ignorance of such a proposal, and that our "progressive" friends on the radical Left will not observe such a truce. (See Weekly Standardarticle HERE.)
Unfortunately, this is not the first time a conservative leader has made such a statement, and the sentiment that the social issues are not important is shared by too many of our fiscally conservative friends. While I don't want to belabor the point, I think it is extremely important that we consider the fact that the social issues are inextricably woven into many of the economic issues. To ignore the social issues will only perpetuate the fiscal problems the states and nation face.
I grieve when I think that my children are growing up in a time when they will have an enormous burden of governmental debt and therefore enjoy less financial freedom than previous generations.
In recent weeks, I have had several conversations with friends regarding the relative importance of the social issues when making voting decisions. These conversations intensified following some statements made by Indiana governor and rumored presidential aspirant, Republican Mitch Daniels, who has called for a "truce" on the social issues.
Lest anyone think Daniels regrets his words or has reconsidered his position, Washington Examiner writer Mark Hemingway assures us that Daniels stands behind them:
I got a call this morning from Indiana Governor and rumored presidential candidate Mitch Daniels. In my column yesterday on his remarks about a "truce" on social issues, I left the door open to the possibility that the Governor's remarks may not have been a "rhetorical misstep."
...Daniels called me to say that he's dead serious about the need for the next president to declare a truce. "It wasn't something I just blurted out," he told me. "It's something I've been thinking about for a while."
He's emphasized the need to focus like a laser beam on the existential threats facing the country -- the two big issues he's previously identified being the war on terror and the country's precarious fiscal position.
According to a recent Gallup poll, three-quarters of Americans believe moral values in the U.S. are getting worse. Surveyors say Americans have never given U.S. morality a positive assessment, but the latest results are among the worst Gallup has measured in the last nine years.
Most commonly, respondents cited a lack of respect for other people and a more general decline in moral values and standards. Some blame the perceived decline on poor parenting or the poor examples of U.S. leaders in government and business who find themselves embroiled in ethical or moral scandals. Others cite larger societal factors, such as rising crime and violence, Americans turning away from God, church and religion, and the breakdown of the typical mother-father family.
This is part II of a two-part paper on The Objectivity of Truth (see Part I). You may be asking yourself, "What is the point of this discussion?" "Why are 'moral objective truths' important?" "Why can't we all just get along?" The answer is a simple one: "Moral objective truth" frames our view of the world, our view of humanity, it sets up boundaries for man's imagination, and it orders our steps.
Truth frames our view of the world
America could not have been founded and shaped to be the greatest country in the world without the framework of "moral objective truths" - truths that do not change with the passing of time, experiences, and circumstances. Truths that distinguish us from most nations. "When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, ... they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. " Thomas Jefferson goes on to tell the world why they must separate from England: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" (The Declaration of Independence). Again, our very foundation as a nation is built upon objective truths. Our founding fathers were compelled to risk their lives for the pursuit of what they believed to be true - a truth that was objective and real.
Pro-family hero Dr. James Dobson has officially launched his new radio ministry which is called "Family Talk." The first broadcast of the 30-minute program is scheduled to air on approximately 200 radio stations across the country.
Dobson will host the program along with his son, Ryan, and LuAnne Crane. They plan to address family-related topics and cultural issues similar to those on his previous program with Focus on the Family.
Dobson says he is airing "Family Talk" to continue his battle for righteousness in American culture. "Babies are dying, the very definition of marriage is under attack, the financial underpinnings of families are being destroyed by confiscatory taxation, and children of all ages are being taught wickedness and every form of godlessness."
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case (Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants) this fall regarding a California law banning the sale of violent video games to minors. The justices accepted the state's appeal and will decide whether the law is too restrictive in denying access by minors to often-graphic material.
Video-game makers say the ban goes too far. They say the existing voluntary ratings system is an adequate screen for parents to judge the appropriateness of computer games. The state says it has a legal obligation to protect children when the industry has failed to do so. At issue is how far constitutional protections of free speech and expression, as well as due process, can be applied to youngsters.
Editor's Note: IFI requested comments or clarifications on the AOL article from Focus on the Family. They did not respond.
There has been much speculation about why James Dobson left Focus on the Family (FOTF). The speculation is that he was, in effect, forced out because some in leadership hope to create a kindler, gentler face for FOTF, which seems strange in that it's hard to imagine someone kindler or gentler than James Dobson.
Pastor Ken Hutchersonwrites that "Focus does have a new focus; an image change designed to make them accepted and well-liked rather than standing for righteousness in an unrighteous society."
A recent AOL article about the shift in leadership at FOTF, although not providing proof for those rumors, does suggest they may be true.
Most, if not all of us, would readily agree that there are objective truths in the world. For instance, almost everyone would agree that Newton's Law of Gravity is an objective truth in that its truthfulness, is not dependent upon our acceptance of it as being true. Its authority over our lives exists whether we believe in it or not. Unfortunately, the voices of those who would designate these "objective truths" to Natural Law only, are increasing at an alarming rate in our society. Like those unwavering truths that exist in the natural order of creation, there are moral objective truths that are equally unfaltering and steadfast whether we deem them to be so or not. These moral objective truths are not reliant upon our feelings, our experiences, or the passing of time. They are unwavering and resolute in character.
For years we have been bombarded with the messages of "Tolerance", "Relativity", "Political Correctness", and a new one "Kindness" - it's the new tolerance message. The constant pounding of these messages over the years have had a penetrating effect on the minds, vocabulary, and behavior of the Christian and non-Christian alike. I am not concerned with what was desired, but with the paralyzing effect that these messages have had on our society.
On September 8, 2009, the Illinois Family Institute (IFI) published A Special Report which I authored titled, "Is DCFS Compounding A Tragedy? Agency Tells Mother of Murdered Daughter She May Never See Her Grandchildren Again" [http://www.illinoisfamily.org/news/contentview.asp?c=34534].
The story detailed how Don and Jean Cohoon were not only dealing with the tragic aftermath regarding the brutal murder of their 25-year-old daughter, MeLisa Cleary, but the Cohoon family was also being victimized by the actions of the Department of Children and Family Services ("DCFS").
You've got to shake your head a little at the exploding number of folks on the streets shouting and holding signs saying, "We're taxed enough already!" or "Smaller government, less taxes!" or the ever popular "Free markets, not socialism!"
It's not that they're not absolutely right to be angry and frustrated about how things are moving in America. They are. It's not that they shouldn't be out on the streets. They should be. The problem is most demonstrators offer no solutions, except to "Throw the bums out!"
Many Christians over many years have been beguiled by the Religious Left's use of the term "social justice." This is because Christians rightly love justice and hate injustice. But "social justice"-or, at least, how it's often used by liberal Christians-isn't necessarily biblical justice.
The standard of biblical justice is equal treatment by law: "Thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty" (Leviticus 19:15). Justice not only means that nobody is to be picked on because he is poor or favored because he is rich, but that (contrary to the doctrine of "social justice") nobody is to be picked on because he is rich or favored because he is poor. Everyone's rights deserve the same protection. Thus, nobody should be taxed at a higher rate than his neighbors, nor should anyone receive special government handouts.
Sharon Slater, a mother of seven, innocently walked into a panel sponsored by the Girl Scouts USA at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women a few weeks ago. Almost immediately she was asked to leave. All non-Scout adults were kicked out of the room, which was packed with adolescent girls.
Her curiosity piqued, Slater lingered by the door and when the panel ended she went immediately back inside to look around. What she found has shocked her and shocked Girl Scout moms around the country. Slater found a stack of brochures produced by Planned Parenthood called "Healthy, Happy and Hot" that among other things explained to the girls, "Some people have sex when they have been drinking or using drugs. That is your choice." But it gets worse.
On January 4, 2010 the Illinois Family Institute posted an exclusive report titled: Obama Administration's "Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan" Actually Putting Homeowners In Default or Foreclosure. The story detailed how a central Illinois family was told they were eligible for a program which was designed to give financial relief to homeowners in the state, many of whom were either in default or going through the process of foreclosure. However, the Illinois Family Institute (IFI) report revealed some families--who were informed by their mortgage lenders that they were eligible for the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan even though they were not in arrears on their monthly payments to their lenders-- were instructed months later they did not qualify for this program.
An estimated one in five mortgage holders in America have lost their homes to foreclosure. The mortgage relief plan was originally created to head off more foreclosures in Illinois and across the nation. The IFI exclusive report revealed that possibly hundreds, if not thousands, of Illinois homeowners--whose mortgages were not in default or foreclosure--were later to learn the program actually put them in danger of losing their homes.
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's son Paul Scalia is an ordained Roman Catholic priest. Here is an excerpt from a blog post by Hadley Arkes, Ney Professor of Jurisprudence at Amherst College, writing about one of Father Scalia's homilies:
The Rev. Paul Scalia focused...his homily, on the moment when Pontius Pilate confronted Jesus:
Did he affect really to be the King of the Jews? Jesus would not affirm that account rendered by another. He answered obliquely that his kingdom was not "of this world," that he had come to "bear witness to the truth." To which Pilate responded, "What is truth?"
Fr. Scalia took Pilate to reflect the...relativism in our own day: the eroding conviction that reason [can] grasp moral truths, because we increasingly doubt our faculty for knowing truths of any kind.
But in the moral domain, the erosion [is] devastating: Held back in doubt, people...recede from judgment--and from facing their responsibility to judge. And doubt soon...beget[s] cowardice, as it begot, in Pilate, the willingness to wash his hands and let the responsibility for judging fall to someone else.
But then...Fr. Scalia completed the story:
It falls now to the "body of the Church," for those assembled here, and in the vast reach of this communion, to stand in place of Jesus in taking on the mission. The body of the Church must bear "witness to the truth."
What truth? In our own day, most pressingly, the truth about marriage, set against the wave moving toward same-sex marriage, and the truth of "the human person," set against the culture of death and the denigration of life, nascent and aged.
The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, one of the nation's leading institutions devoted to research about health-care issues and their impact on the public sphere, this week released its new study Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds. The study found that, on average, children and teens ages 8-18 spend more than 53 hours a week using entertainment media -- but because most of that time is spent using more than one form of media at once (simultaneously watching TV, listening to music, looking at a MySpace page online, and sending text messages to friends, for example), they actually use more than 75 hours a week with entertainment media -- almost double the time they spend in school!
This increase in media use by children and teens is largely caused by the availability of mobile devices like cell phones and iPods. Today, 66 percent of 8- to 18-year-olds have their own cell phones, compared to 39 percent five years ago. And 76 percent of children have their own iPods or other MP3 players. Young people now spend more time listening to music, playing games, and watching TV on their cell phones than they spend talking on them. Online activities also contribute to increased media time, with teens involved in gaming, social networking, and looking at online video. Three-quarters of all 7th-12th graders say they have a profile on a social networking site like MySpace. And African-American and Hispanic children are especially hard-hit by media; the Kaiser study found that children in these groups consume nearly 4.5 hours more media daily than do whites, with African-American children watching almost twice as much TV per day as do white children.
The New Jersey State Senate chose to defend natural marriage last Thursday when a vote was taken on a bill to legalize homosexual so-called "marriage." The 20-14 vote defeating the measure continues a growing string of victories in defense of traditional marriage, including the defeat of a similar bill in New York and the veto by the people of a homosexual so-called "marriage" bill in Maine last November. Same-sex "marriage" activists plan to take their fight to the courts where they hope to find an activist judge. Unfortunately, this route has been the most successful for them.
Some government officials have been pushing towns and cities to adopt daytime curfews.
Regardless of how they may be worded, all daytime curfews must be opposed because they limit the simple freedom of moving about. Our young people should be able to enjoy the freedom of normal movement without fear of being challenged by a police officer. So-called "exceptions" for homeschoolers don't cure the problem. The result would be the same: our kids will be stopped and questioned by police for doing nothing wrong.
The alert citizens of Salem, Illinois, spotted a daytime curfew in the works and jumped in to oppose it. And that battle continues. But we suspect other towns may be in the same position as Salem.
1/12/2010 2:15:00 PM By Deacon Keith Fournier
-Catholic Online
This tragic custody case sets up a conflict of laws issue as a part of a homosexual advocacy agenda.
Lisa Miller lived in Virginia. She had a troubled childhood. Her mother suffered from mental illness and there was abuse in the home. She was deeply affected by a traumatic divorce between her parents. She had a series of substance addictions which began at the age of seven. She sought escape in an ill advised marriage. That relationship ended in divorce. It was that painful experience which finally thrust her into a deep depression with accompanying suicidal thoughts. It was during that period that she was hospitalized for "therapy."
It was during "therapy" that Lisa claims she was first exposed to the prospect of being a lesbian. In a candid interview with LifeSite news in October of 2008 she told a sad and troubling story of what amounts to recruitment into what many are pushing as an alternative lifestyle. She maintained that she was encouraged in counseling sessions to try lesbian relationships. This happened not just once, but twice; both times within the context of "therapy" as she tried to free herself from the pain and wounds of a difficult life.
I apologize for the lurid title, but this is a lurid story.
Every divorced father, every non-custodial parent, and every decent, fair, compassionate person should both tremble and be outraged by the recent feckless court decision of activist Illinois judge, John R. Kennedy.
The now-lesbian ex-wife of Mr. Taro Iwata took him to court in Urbana, Illinois in a successful attempt to take their two young children, with whom Mr. Iwata is very close, to Eugene, Oregon to live with her and her lesbian partner.
Eugene, Oregon--a stone's throw from the lesbian mecca of Portland, Oregon--is 1,800 miles away from Champaign, IL where both Mr. Iwata and his children currently live.
His ex-wife Karen Kelsky is a tenured associate professor of East Asian Languages and Culture and Anthropology at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) who has decided that her self-serving and disordered desire to live with a lesbian lover across the country trumps her husband's natural and legitimate desire to be deeply and regularly involved in his children's lives and trumps her children's needs, desires, and rights to be deeply and regularly involved with their father.
In a way, the following story is not breaking news. There have been reports in the media regarding problems with the Obama administration's plan designed to assist homeowners. The "Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan" was implemented to give relief to those who have mortgages. The program was created to provide encouragement to individuals who found themselves in danger of losing their homes due to the economic crisis resulting from the falling housing market and the rash of foreclosures--which finds at least one out of every five mortgage holders in default or in foreclosure across America.
The current economic crisis--which plunged the nation into the deepest recession since the Great Depression of the 1930's--was created because of reckless lending practices. Government-subsidized institutions, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, were helping to provide mortgages to many who could not afford them. Indeed, members of Congress, including U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts) and U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut) led the way in their support of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which between them guarantees one in every two home loans in the United States. There have been allegations that both Frank and Dodd profited from kickbacks related to their promotion of Fannie and Freddie. But, to date, a Democratic-dominated Congress has been reluctant to pursue these allegations.
It seems as though the joyous "Merry Christmas" greeting is beating out the politically correct and generic "Happy Holidays" slogan this year. In recent years public pressure has been applied to stores that refused to acknowledge that the holiday season was about Christmas.
Like many of you, I decided to boycott stores that ignore or disparage Christmas, and boldly wished store clerks a very "Merry Christmas!" with a big smile. Taking a stand on this issue at this time of the year really isn't that difficult.
As we focus in our hearts, homes and churches on Savior's birth and the wonderful story of God's amazing love this Christmas, let's not forget to spread the Good News beyond our Christian circles to the public square. The campaign to keep Christmas in the public square is not merely a political statement; it is a valiant effort to protect our right to proclaim Christ and the story of the Gospel to a world that is quite literally dying to hear the Good News.
Leah Ward Sears, former Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court wrote an opinion piece for CNN recently entitled "Stay Married if You Want Kids."
Justice Sears notes the number of cases that came before her as a judge that were related to family breakdown. She witnessed on a daily basis the tremendous toll on society caused by indifference to marriage and rising out-of-wedlock births. Her recommendations for addressing this problem include stopping the "glorification" of single parenthood, respecting the role of men as husbands and fathers, revisiting state no-fault divorce laws, and offering children a reality check regarding the demands of raising a child.
Cook County Judge Daniel Riley Issues a Temporary Restraining Order Against Illinois' Parental Noticication Law
How radical is the ACLU? Well, they and their allies at Planned Parenthood are frantic to stop any parent from being notified that their minor daughter is considering an abortion. (This law does not require consent.)
ACLU attorneys filed suit on behalf of abortionists claiming that parents knowing about their minor daughter's crisis pregnancy, and therefore the availability of parental counsel would place "vulnerable teens" in a position where they suffer the possibility of irreparable harm. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, Cook County Judge Daniel Riley agreed with the radical ACLU.
The Right Hook delivers a knockout already and its not even on store shelves yet...
The Right Hook: From The Ring To The Culture War is a selection of Matt Barber's greatest hits: incisive and deeply thoughtful culture war commentaries he's penned over the past few years (www.righthookbook.com). And, as an added bonus, the book also recounts the fascinating series of events that launched Matt as one of America's rising conservative stars after he got dismissed from a fortune 100 company for simply writing a letter to the editor for a conservative publication.
Barber, a former undefeated professional boxer and current Liberty Counsel attorney, pulls no punches. His thought provoking and hysterically funny writing style tends to delight those who agree and infuriate those who do not. In fact, liberal activists are so determined to keep Barber's no-holds-barred message from getting out that they've launched an orchestrated campaign to dissuade people from reading The Right Hook. "Its not surprising," commented Matt Barber. "This is the left's strategy du jour. When they can't win on the merits they resort to underhanded tactics and name calling. And now we're seeing the Obama administration employ the same strategy in its attempts to marginalize Fox News. As usual, it's blowing-up in their face. My book tells it like it is and the left hates me for it. That's good. It's proof positive that I'm exactly on track."
Gov. Mike Huckabee, the keynote speaker at the Illinois Family Institute banquet on October 6th, was interviewed by Julie Roys for Chicago's Moody Radio (WMBI 90.1). The good folks at WMBI have been wonderful partners of the Illinois Family Institute and are a tremendous blessing to Chicago area Christian listeners.
The interview aired in two parts on two different days last week. If you missed one or both of those interviews, don't fret -- you can listen to both parts right here!
Gov. Huckabee and Julie had a wide-ranging discussion from his intentions regarding the 2012 Presidential race; the young "evangelical left"; GOP strategies to win more of the minority vote; and the dangers of making Christianity partisan.
A recent national survey of religious affiliations of Americans should give both church and pro-family leaders much to ponder regarding the possible future moral and spiritual condition of our nation.
The new study, titled "American Nones: The Profile of the No Religion Population," has found that the number of Americans who now claim no religious affiliation whatsoever has more than doubled since 1990, growing from 14 million to 34 million in 2008. Those "nones," as they are often described, now make up 16 percent of the US population.
Statistically, the "nones" are most likely to be young males with 60 percent being male and 30 percent under the age of 30. They are also more likely to live in the West. Though not actual atheists, (7 percent) only 27 percent of "nones" profess some sort of belief in a personal God, compared to over 70 percent of the US population.
Family, Faith and Freedom Banquet a Smashing Success!
During my life, I have learned God answers prayers in a number of ways. He can either say yes, no, not now or not your way. The Lord answered my prayers and those of many others regarding IFI's Fall Banquet. The event was an overwhelming success and I give praise to the Lord and thanks to those who supported IFI by attending the fundraiser featuring Governor Mike Huckabee last Tuesday in Rosemont, Illinois.
Well over 800 good folks attended the dinner, including faithful supporters, pastors, priests and elected officials and candidates seeking various elected offices.
Marissa Zeppieri is a journalist with "The Good News of Florida" who is appalled that women aren't being warned about the link between abortion and increased breast cancer risk. Her story, "Is there a link between abortion and breast cancer?" is featured on the front page of the October issue of the newspaper during Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
The newspaper boasts that it has 90,000 copies in circulation every month, so thanks to Ms. Zeppieri and her editors, Florida may be among the few states in the nation where women are not kept in the dark about the facts during Breast Cancer Exploitation (I mean, "Awareness") Month.
Did anyone catch exactly when the rhetoric went from "saving Medicare" to overhauling the entire American healthcare industry?
Throughout most of our married lives we have had health insurance. We enjoyed excellent care (despite the rumors to the contrary) while my husband, Mike, was in the military. We had two children born in military hospitals, one was born overseas. When we left the military Mike went to work in a factory; he held a union job and had full healthcare benefits.
We have also been on the other side. We've seen life threatening illness while uninsured.
In 2003, my husband worked for a small police department; a move that took a cut in pay and health insurance, but had promise of quick promotion. It was a gamble. The hope was that if we buckled down and made some sacrifices, it would pay off in the long run. We didn't win the bet. After two years we faced a major health crisis uninsured.
It started with a knee injury. We paid out of pocket as much as we could afford. The first doctor had him off work and off his feet for several weeks. At the time we had no idea how dangerous this was. Read more...
Scripture teaches in Genesis that when God created man in His image, He created us male and female. The implication is that God's character spans the full spectrum of masculine and feminine qualities. This attribute is also revealed in the person of Jesus, born as a male, but manifesting both masculinity and femininity in His actions. When exhibiting feminine qualities, Jesus was more nurturing and relationship-oriented than any woman. When exhibiting masculinity, Jesus was more forceful and results-oriented than any man.
Unfortunately, the modern American church, along with the majority of its leaders, has rejected masculinity in favor of an effeminate Christianity. Too many (though by no means all) of today's pastors, priests, deacons and elders shrink timidly from the challenge of the world, more interested in decorating the interior of their church buildings than in doing cultural and political battle with the enemies of God. Ravening lions rage unchecked throughout the land, while church leaders hold potlucks and retreats.
Where is the masculine Jesus of the Bible in the life of today's church? The Jesus who threw down the tables of the moneychangers and drove them out of the temple with a whip? The Jesus who faced down and tamed the Gerasene demoniac? The Jesus who, to their faces, excoriated the cultural and political leaders of the day as a "brood of vipers," and "whitewashed sepulchers full of dead men's bones?" This masculine Jesus has been ejected from the American church. In His place is a false and emasculated Christ, as submissive and fearful of controversy as the men who now lead His flock. Read more...
On September 12, 2009 something phenomenal happened in Washington, DC. Hundreds of thousands of taxpayers marched up to the White House to let their government know they have had enough. It was a rare spectacle indeed; Americans off the sidelines and in the game.
As you might guess the mainstream media has all but ignored them, and the radical left has taken their usual posture of denial and belittling.
By all first hand accounts, the crowd was civil, respectful, and orderly. Not a small aside when you consider crowd estimates range from 350,000 to 1.5 million. Whatever the actual count, the plaza could not hold the crowd, and the march had to start early just to make room for everyone coming in. Still, there were no stories of pushing or obscenities. One account contrasted this march to the inauguration, which was comparable in size, yet left their mark in trash.
If you can see clearly, you will notice that there are no visible high profile leaders in this movement; they are not coming to hear someone speak. They want to be heard, they want the powers-that-be to shut-up and listen.
According to CBS News, Dr. Diane Harper, one of the lead researchers for the HPV vaccine Gardasil, says young girls and their parents should receive more complete warnings about the vaccine's risks and long-term effectiveness. Dr. Harper expressed concern that the CDC's recommendation that girls receive the vaccine at age 11 would "put them at harm from side effects, small but real, for no benefit. The benefit to public health is nothing, there is no reduction in cervical cancers, they are just postponed." There is no data indicating Gardasil is effective for more than five years.
Dr. Harper also expressed concern that patients are not being informed that the risks and side effects of Gardasil could occur "more often than cervical cancer itself."
Dr. Scott Ratner, a physician, spoke to CBS News last year after one of his teenage daughters became seriously ill after her first dose. Dr. Ratner said she'd have been better off getting cervical cancer (often completely curable if detected early enough through tests such as a PAP smear). "My daughter went from a varsity lacrosse player at Choate to a chronically ill, steroid-dependent patient with autoimmune myofasciitis." Other physicians continue to express concern that the rate of serious adverse events, including death, associated with Gardasil is at least as high as the number of deaths each year from cervical cancer.
With each new generation of parents there comes a new generation of parenting books written by "experts" and "professionals" who purport to hold the key to successful parenting.
I can handle the onslaught of books and philosophies, but, personally, I bristle at the commercials with a young actor or actress extolling their parental virtue, "Talk to your child...he will listen," reading their profound advice from a cue card. Whoever hired these people must consider the average parent to have the intelligence of a sack of hammers.
First of all, Hollywood is not exactly known for producing stable adults, let alone well-adjusted children. It's as if they're selling something, using their name and familiar face to persuade us to be good parents. If we are that shallow, our children need more help than a 60-second public service announcement can produce.
Notice you never see some plump, white-haired woman on a commercial saying with a smile, "I have raised eight children. Two are politicians, but the rest are happy, well-adjusted, successful adults. Here's my advice..." Not even Dr. Phil can do that.
Other Senior Groups See Vast Increase in Membership
Founded in 1958, the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) has been the primary organization representing individuals over the age of 50. According to AARP, the group has a membership of 40 million and is listed as a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization. The AARP includes a Public Policy Institute which promotes legislation related to those over 50 years of age.
AARP's Mission Statement reads the group's goal is "to enhance the quality of life for all as we age, leading positive social change and delivering value to members through information, advocacy and service."
The AARP has come under criticism in the past for what many believe has been the endorsement of a liberal political agenda. More recently, the organization has suffered a public relations fiasco due to AARP's seeming support of President Barack Obama's plan to reform America 's health care system.
An AARP spokesman admitted more than 60,000 individuals have canceled their membership since July 1st of 2009. However, AARP's loss is good news for others.
When was the last time you heard someone say, "It's a free country, isn't it?" To many, freedom is now looked upon as a commodity, rather than a privilege, that may be exchanged for security or pleasure as lightly as one might trade in a Ford for a Chevy. Emma Lazarus' words "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. . . ." have struck a chord in American's hearts for over a century, but changes in our culture and recent election results give evidence that freedom is not valued as highly as it once was, and in fact, may be rather unpopular. Do we not recall the Founder who noted that anyone who would trade freedom for security would end up with neither? I am afraid that many Americans do not realize the rarity of true freedom. In maybe 10,000 years of human history no other nation has enjoyed the freedoms and opportunities that we have had for the 230 years of our existence.
'Unintended consequences or collateral damage' is fast becoming the legacy of the Obama administration.
After hearing about the unintended consequences of the cash for clunkers, a line out of the 2007 film Meet the Robinsons came to mind.
The Bowler Hat Guy says to the T-Rex, "Now, my slave, seize the boy!" When the T-Rex tries and fails, the Bowler Hat Guy asks, "What's going on? Why aren't you seizing the boy?" To which the T-Rex sheepishly replies, "I have a big head and little arms. I'm just not sure how well this plan was thought through--Master?"
The underestimated cost of the Cash for Clunkers program that ran out of money in a week should be an obvious warning sign about the accuracy of the administration's cost projections-- a scary thought considering they have their eye fixed our health care system.
Someone has defined insanity as continuing to use the same methods yet expecting different results. Whether this qualifies as a good definition of insanity or not, someone else will have to determine, but it is a good definition of foolishness. We are witnessing the wholesale collapse of corporations, financial institutions, and many foundational elements of our culture, and that collapse did not occur in a vacuum. It is the natural consequence of the decline in the acceptance of Christian principles and mores in America. After attacking the family, morality, Truth, integrity and character for 50 years, it is no surprise that liberalism has produced failing families, schools, businesses, and communities.
What is especially disconcerting, however, is that multitudes of churches have determined that success in ministry will only come by following the culture! If anyone should be able to see through the flim-flam of contemporary culture, it ought to be the churches of Jesus Christ! Yet, rather than maintaining a healthy distance from the hedonism and the glitz of our culture, many churches have embraced it. From the "Madison Avenue" advertising techniques to the music of rebellion, church methodology is often virtually indistinguishable from the world.
For two generations now, the historic Calvinistic theology which permeated the early American psyche has been denied. Calvinism, for those unfamiliar with the Reformer, teaches among other things, that the human race is "totally depraved," or without an inherent inclination to good. John Calvin believed that sin was the controlling factor in mankind and that all we do is for our own selfish reasons rather than out of a desire to please God. If you are looking for a rainbow after the storm of the last six months' economic catastrophe, these thoughts will not be it. However, if you wonder what really went wrong in 2008, read on.
I will attempt no apology for Calvin here, but merely point out that for the last 60 years his theology has been relegated to the same bin as the buggy whip. Rather, sociologists have operated from the view that mankind is essentially good and needs only to be adequately informed to make right choices. Thus the emphasis upon education and "rehabilitation."
When the culture wars first erupted across America in the 1960s, we were informed that it was judgmental to call premarital sex, pornography, homosexuality or divorce "immoral." We had arrived at a more "enlightened" day in America and judgments were not to be made on such issues. Today, it is undoubtedly true that there is no greater offense than to pass moral judgment against the behavior of another.
However, setting aside moral valuations for a moment, it would be wise of America to consider the consequences of overturning America's long held mores. Nearly every day in my work as a pastor I deal with or hear of people whose lives are in collapse or catastrophe. One cannot hear the pathetic cries of little children as they are traumatized by their parent's divorce without believing that a marriage license should be made very difficult to obtain and a divorce even more so. As I have witnessed single moms struggling to get by, I am angered by a society that allows children to have children and keep them regardless of the fact that those children will live not only in poverty, but often midst violence and crime.
There are some battles in which all Christians and all who are committed to truth are called to engage: all Christians should have opposed slavery; all Christians should have fought for the civil rights of blacks; all Christians are called to oppose abortion; and we are all called to oppose the rancorous, pernicious demands to affirm homosexual acts as moral. The question as to why so many Christians, particularly church leaders, refuse to engage in this battle is a vexing question. Leon Podles has provided the answer to that vexing question in the July 2009 issue of Touchstone magazine in an article entitled "Unhappy Fault: on the Integration of Anger into the Virtuous Life." Dr. Podles' article is of critical and urgent importance to both the life of the church and Amercan society.
In his book Kingdoms in Conflict, Chuck Colson writes about the failure of the church to oppose the extermination of Jews and the government usurpation of control of the church in Nazi Germany. Immediately following the naming of Hitler as Chancellor of Germany, the persecution of the church began in earnest. In response, a resistance movement sprang up headed by Martin Niemoller and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Initially, they had the support of the dominant Protestant group, the German Evangelical Church, but as the persecution increased, so did the cowardice and concomitant rationalization of cowardice on the parts of most church leaders. In Germany only a remnant, who came to call themselves the Confessing Church, remained standing courageously in the gap for truth.
The sad spectacle of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford continues to dominate the headlines as further revelations add one bizarre twist after another to the governor's tale of adultery, deceit, and the consequences of sin. With every passing day, pressure mounts for the governor to resign. As the revelations unfold, his leadership credibility is further destroyed. The people of South Carolina now look to their governor's mansion with a sense of dread and embarrassment.
Governor Sanford's admission of adultery came only after he was ambushed by the media after returning from a liaison in Argentina. In a rambling confession, the governor admitted to an ongoing relationship and an extramarital affair. While the media quickly turned to ask questions about money and the affairs of state, many others immediately thought of the governor's wife and four sons and the horrible pain and embarrassment they were now forced to bear.
In his original statement, Governor Sanford seemed to acknowledge the evil of his actions and, using biblical language, he appeared to understand the sinfulness of his adultery and betrayal. Yet, his statement was rambling and disconnected and, upon reflection, his words raised more questions than they answered. How did this affair happen? Was the relationship really over?
Have you noticed that the liberal left keeps someone in their cross hairs at all times? They are like the bully on the playground who always has to make a spectacle out of the kid least likely to fight back. Their tactics are the same; isolate, belittle, degrade.
Take David Letterman for example, once a funny young man, now an obviously bitter old man trying to keep his ratings up with political jokes, by vilification of the President of the United States. With republicans out of office, thats no longer in vogue. So he looks around the playground and targets the new girl--Sarah Palin (and her daughter). The Letterman assault is a perfect example of how liberals attack and destroy-- with a smile.
At long last, after public outrage, last week Letterman issued his apology--and it is accepted. May I point out that it took two tries? The first round, Palin didnt buy it--and rightfully so. It was a sorry excuse for an apology. By deflecting criticism in saying that his joke was not about her 14 year-old daughter, but rather about her 18 year-old daughter shows he is completely oblivious to the fact that her daughters, at any age, should never be target of crude sexual jokes.
Emergent Church guru Tony Jones, the former national coordinator of Emergent Village, has been holding the issue of homosexuality "in abeyance" because "homosexuality is one issue that I don't want to get wrong." On November 23 he came out with his personal view on this hotly debated topic.
Drum roll please...... He's for it.
After years of pondering and praying, praying and pondering, he managed to come up with the wrong answer. How do I know this? Because his "revelation" doesn't line up with Scripture.
Evidently what the Bible teaches on sodomy made Tony feel uncomfortable, so he decided to hold back his opinion until he could come to terms with what he was "feeling." I say "feeling" because his conclusion doesn't comport with the written Word of God, which he professes a belief in, but decides things from his gut, I guess. Heaven forbid he should offend the "gay" community!
Prevent Child Abuse Illinois www.preventchildabuseillinois.org has launched their annual "April -- Child Abuse Prevention Month" and works with communities across the state to provide training, community presentations, resource tables at health fairs, mass transit advertising, literature and family support.
Their outreach includes the following programs:
"Healthy Families America" offers visitation programs and are highly effective at reducing child maltreatment, especially among high risk families.
"Don't Meth!" -- Effects of Methamphetamine on Children focuses on how this drug is affecting families and children.
Parents have a new tool to protect children from online predators on MySpace and Facebook.
Recently, social networking sites MySpace and Facebook terminated the accounts of nearly 100,000 registered child sex offenders. A new service known as YouDiligence allows parents to keep track of their child's use of such sites.
For a small monthly fee, the service scans a child's social networking profiles for inappropriate content and notifies parents by e-mail whenever such material is found. Kevin Long, president of YouDiligence, says many parents are not informed about social networking sites.
IFI has been warning you about the relatively new phenomenon of "sexting" and the fact that some local teenagers have been arrested on child pornography charges. While criminal charges are very serious business, one family's tragedy has resulted in a campaign to bring awareness and pass tougher laws.
An 18-year-old high school senior sent a nude cell phone picture to her boyfriend that was meant for his eyes only, but ended up being viewed by hundreds of teenagers across several neighboring school districts. The student was devastated as she was bombarded with taunts and harsh names through social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook and in person. Last July, Jessie Logan hanged herself in her bedroom, leaving her parents childless.
I'll begin with the major controversy - scandal is probably a better term - involving the University of Notre Dame's invitation to President Obama to deliver the commencement address on May 17 (click here for the story).
Catholic Web sites and blogs have been buzzing about this development in recent days, with many orthodox Catholics, including ND alumni, expressing their outrage.
Joe Scheidler, national director of the Pro-Life Action League and an alumnus of ND, said in a press release:
Parenting is a ministry that exists to inspire parents and grandparents to impress the hearts of their children with a love for God, and equips churches to develop dynamic and biblical family ministries. We are dedicated to helping parents and churches catch a biblical vision for the purpose of the family.
In this short video Rob shares about his journey as a father, and the heart of Visionary Parenting:
We have a toddler in the house. It has been twelve years since I have had to keep up with such a ball of energy bouncing around the house looking for something to get into.
Nothing in the house is safe or seemingly out of reach. All plants have been Googled for toxicity, waste paper baskets have magically transformed into treasure chests, and the bathroom door now bursts open the moment I sit down.
I should have known it would be this way. Every couple of years, since the late seventies to the mid-nineties, we would have a marauding toddler running around the house. It wouldn't take long before our little bundles of sweet smiles would soon be off and running, testing our grit. I should have known better than to invite a new one in, but we have always had a full house, and I missed it.
I thought they were adorable. Each one of our (then) eight children were dressed in matching outfits. The year was 1992, and the bright neon colors of the 1980s were still in full swing.
We were on our way to a parade. Not just to watch, but to participate. It was a gigantic world wide celebration; cities all over the world were hosting these parades called "March for Jesus."
I made each one of the girls an adorable short ruffled jumper. They had a black background with bright red, green, and yellow neon print of popcorn, hotdogs, and cotton candy. Each wore a different color of tee-shirt underneath, with matching anklet socks and ribbons streaming from their pigtails. My oldest daughter got into the spirit and made a matching hat and scarf for her dog out of our left over scraps of material. The boys, their father and I, all wore matching red tee-shirts; I imagine we were quite a sight.
Frankly, I have heard enough doom and gloom about the economy. I realize it's bad, but seriously, it has been worse. I haven't seen one gas line yet, we are not rationing tires, and the price of milk has really gone down.
When things get out of control, there are natural forces that correct it. It may not be comfortable enough for our liking, but there are always opportunities even in the most dire circumstances, and, in fact, it seems the best opportunities come out of dire circumstances.
I don't mean to sound crass or unfeeling. I'm going to miss stores like Circuit City and Linens 'N Things. Everyday, it seems, holds news of another store closing or more people being laid off.
In 1973 The Supreme Court said it was ok to kill unborn babies. Since then, we have killed more than the entire population of Canada. And it continues. A woman's choice? Half of those who have died in their mothers' wombs have been women. They didn't have a choice. It is called abortion.
Me? I go to church, the minister preaches, I go home. That's what Christians do now.
First it was in dingy, dirty theaters. Then, convenience stores. Then, grocery stores. Then on television. Now it is in the homes of millions via the Internet. It is called pornography.
Me? I go to church, the minister preaches, I go home. That's what Christians do now.
If you thought our corporate profiteers couldn't sink any lower than Abercrombie does in using soft-core porn images to lure teens, you're not imaginative enough. For some twisted reason, the retail clothing chain American Apparel, which sells clothing and accessories that appeal to teens and young adults, also sells in their stores an explicit Dutch homosexual magazine entitled Butt, which sells for a mere $8.95 per issue.
But we shouldn't worry our provincial, unenlightened, prudish heads because the considerate staff at American Apparel stash their porn in discreet corners of their stores, which are located in chi-chi shopping districts around the country.
And why are they selling this magazine? It can't possibly generate much profit. No, something far darker and more sinister must motivate them-something we must just keep "tolerating."
I didn't need a new federally funded research program to figure out that little boys think differently than little girls. Simply raising a few of each is all it takes to quickly see this in action.
If you tell a little girl that her mommy has a baby in her tummy, most will believe it without question, and some will even give a quick tummy kiss to the baby hiding within.
It was never as easy to explain the whole baby in the tummy thing to my boys when they were little. One particular child all but called me a liar and a thief.
For the last eight years we've been living with a bunch of children who don't seem to know the first thing about family, respect for authority, or some of the simplest manners.
I have to confess, this confounds me to exasperation at times. I wasn't raised like that. Granted, I was a belligerent kid at times. My mother often accused me of being a "smart-aleck" and yes, I was punished for it on a regular basis; eventually, even I got the message. (Though, it does still tend to seep out at times.)
Today, however, being a smart-aleck is considered a fine art. Hollywood has fine-tuned sarcasm, fed one-liners to the youngest child actors, and managed to make it sound cool coming from a grandma.
On January 13, a letter to the editor appeared in the online edition of the Daily Herald. Mary Stuhr of Addison, Illinois wrote: "As the inauguration of our new president occurs, a tidal wave of pro-life prayer should be sweeping the nation to make reparation for the sins against life committed by public officials, who are in favor of abortion." Her simple, one-sentence statement drew 187 comments from online readers.
While a large number of respondents engaged in a protracted debate on abortion, other posters blasted Ms. Stuhr for suggesting that prayer and faith have any place in the business of politics and government. One individual advised her to "keep your religion to yourself . . . [it's] not something to be screamed at others." Another writer encouraged her to "keep praying mary, (sic) and stay home on election day to pray please." Clearly, the idea of specific and concerted prayer for our nation and its leaders struck a nerve with these Daily Herald readers.
President-elect Barack Obama claims to desire to unify the country. In one of his notable speeches, he said, "So I ask you to walk with me, and march with me, and join your voice with mine, and together we will sing the song that tears down the walls that divide us, and lift up an America that is truly indivisible ... ."
And how does he seek to do this? He invites V. Gene Robinson, pivotal figure in the ongoing dramatic disunification of the Episcopal Church in America, "to deliver the invocation at a concert held at the Lincoln Memorial. The concert, which will be held on Sunday, January 18th, is the first inaugural event the president-elect will attend." (Source: http://www.hrc.org/11873.htm.)
1/9/2009 10:40:00 PM By Charlie Butts and Marty Cooper
-OneNewsNow
Two California homosexuals have won a federal lawsuit, allowing both their names to be on their adopted son's Louisiana birth certificate.
According to Chron.com, the state of Louisiana initially refused the request because homosexual adoption and same-sex "marriage" are illegal in that state. Oren Adar and Mickey Ray Smith then filed a lawsuit, which stated that leaving their names off the birth certificate "singles out unmarried same-sex couples and their adoptive children for the improper use of making them unequal to every one else."
Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel and dean of Liberty University's law school, comments.
1/8/2009 11:51:00 AM By Serena Gordon, HealthDay Reporter
-WashingtonPost.com
More than half of teens who use the social networking site MySpace have posted information about sexual behavior, substance abuse or violence, new research shows.
The good news, according to a second study from the same research group, is that a simple intervention -- in this case, an-e-mail from a physician -- made some of the teens change their risky behaviors.
"I was surprised, at least to some extent, at how clearly teens were discussing behaviors that we struggle to get out of them," said Dr. Megan Moreno, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9 NIV)
Modern-day liberals -- or "progressives" as they more discreetly prefer -- labor under an awkward misconception; namely, that there is anything remotely "progressive" about the fundamental canons of their blind, secular-humanist faith. In fact, today's liberalism is largely a sanitized retread of an antiquated mythology - one that significantly predates the only truly progressive movement: biblical Christianity.
Our good friends at the American Family Association (AFA) have compiled thier annual "Naughty or Nice?" list of top retailers and how they recognize Christmas.
Based on current advertising, the list features companies that avoid, ban or use the term "Christmas" in their advertising. AFA reviewed up to four areas to determine if a company was "Christmas-friendly" in their advertising: print media (newspaper inserts), broadcast media (radio/television), website and/or personal visits to the store. If a company uses the term "Christmas" on a regular basis, AFA considers that company Christmas-friendly.
Some of the companies that support Christmas are: Bed Bath & Beyond, Best Buy, Costco, Family Dollar, Home Depot, Kmart, Kohl's, Lowe's, Macy's, PetSmart, Rite Aid, Sears, Target, Walgreen and Wal-Mart.
Some of the "naughty" companies are: Barnes & Noble, CVS Pharmacy, GAP, Old Navy, Office Depot, and Staples. The website provides an explanation of the "naughty" companies, as well as contact information.
Here is an excerpt from a Tampa Bay Online article that articulates a truth that far too many Christians don't want to acknowledge:
"Twenty years ago no one was even saying the words 'gay' or 'lesbian,' and now here we are talking about gay marriage."
Kay, echoing the hopes of GaYbor District founder West, paints a bright picture."The younger generations, those in middle school and high schools, are far more open than their parents," said Kay, a mother of two.
"These older fanatic, right-wing generations need to pass on, and with the younger people will come greater acceptance and civil rights, even for us gay folks."
And with the acceptance of homosexuality mentioned in this excerpt necessarily comes a diminished respect for the authority of Scripture and a willingness to trade our religious and speech rights for perverted faux-marriages.
IFI challenges pastors, including youth pastors, to ask the members of their congregations and youth groups to share with them their honest feelings and thoughts about homosexuality. Church leaders should ask the following questions of those whom they are charged with leading:
On Saturday, November 29, at 11:00 AM Christian families will gather in Daley Plaza, at Dearborn and Washington Streets in downtown Chicago, to celebrate the annual dedication of the Chicago Nativity Scene.
"The Nativity Scene has been an annual tradition in Daley Plaza since l985 when a beautiful life size scene was first displayed," said Jim Finnegan, IFI board member and co-chair of the Nativity Scene Committee.
"This remains the sole religious expression of Christmas in the downtown area of Chicago," said Finnegan. "The God Squad, a group of volunteer tradesmen, erect the stable and install the lighting-- as they have for the past twenty-three years."
The Board of Directors and staff of the Illinois Family Institute thank God for your partnership with us in blessing and protecting families and marriages in Illinois.
In spite of all the negative economic news with which we have been bombarded this year, may we not lose sight of how blessed we truly are. The article below, by John Piper, is a good reminder of just how important it is to be grateful for the "excellency of the Giver!"
Have a blessed and safe Thanksgiving.
May God continue to bless you,
David E. Smith, Executive Director Illinois Family Institute
A while back, I put up a short post on my personal blog about the trials of life. After the election, this post seemed to take on a broader view to me. Let me share with you what I wrote, then explain what I mean.
I wrote about a young mother who stood up in church asking for prayer. She explained that she had been suffering with pain in her arm. She was just months away from graduating college and she feared a diagnosis that would not only force her to drop out of school, but possibly permanently disable her.
As she spoke of her circumstances and fought against them, my mind began to drift to my own struggles. The Lord seemed to answer my questions by painting this word picture deep in my spirit. Read more...
Below is an excerpt from an article about the recent meeting of the Baptist General Association of Virginia at which Tony Campolo spoke:
Campolo's remarks were notable for his criticism of the recently passed Proposition 8 in California which would amend the state constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
Interpreting the meeting's theme "Who Is My Neighbor?" Campolo said, "The Samaritans were those who were considered spiritually unclean, abominations in the eyes of God." Some of today's "Samaritans," he said, are the poor, Muslims, illegal immigrants and gays.
Campolo called himself "a conservative on the issue" of homosexuality, but said he opposed Proposition 8. Describing homosexual behavior "contrary to the teaching of God," he nonetheless questioned what was gained in passing the ballot initiative.
The elections are over and where will the church go? The greatest challenges and calls for us as pastors are our willingness to stand our ground according to the Word and equip the people of God to do the same. America's sovereignty, our security, our faith, our values, and an entire generation are caught in the crosshairs of the liberal agenda. So much of the moral failure in this nation is directly related to the lack of spiritual hunger, as well as a weakness in many of the churches to confront the moral relativism that has grasped this generation.
But before I go further, I first want to thank every pastor and church that have decided that the gospel of Jesus Christ will not be sold or compromised. I salute you for your servant's heart that causes you to serve a cause greater than yourself. I encourage every one of you pastors to keep up the fight of faith.
As you can imagine, I am extremely disappointed with the results of the national elections. I can't understand how so many of my fellow Americans failed to look beyond the shallow rhetoric of "change" to see the extremely liberal nature of the changes that President-elect Barack Obama was proposing.
Now that America has voted for "change," we will have to wait and see exactly how that "change" plays out. With liberal leadership and majorities in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, Barack Obama will have free rein to implement his agenda -- at least for the first two years of his administration. Those of us who uphold the sanctity of life, the importance of marriage and family, and religious freedom, the prospect of even two years of virtually unfettered control of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government is deeply troubling.
Every election cycle we hear citizens state that they will vote for a third party candidate because the individuals nominated to the top of the two major tickets simply fail to meet their standards. Some evangelicals have been most vocal in this. Understandably, the principles of Scripture are perfect, and every one of us who hold to God's Word as the standard would like to see politicians who also agree to those principles elected to office.
The reality is, however, that it is rare indeed that anyone who holds to a truly biblical position in every regard is even running for high office no less gets the nomination. We are therefore left, as some say, holding our noses while voting for the "lesser of two evils."
Unless you've been on the back side of the Moon, you are aware that America is encountering the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Not that breadlines and poverty necessarily follow, but, there are serious bumps in the road ahead.
However, of far greater concern even than the financial hardships many may see as their retirements or even businesses go under, is the inability or unwillingness of Americans to come to terms with the underlying causes for the collapse. Listening to the news I have repeatedly heard the accepted mantra that the collapse was due to "deregulation" and a "lack of oversight." This is akin to saying that banks are robbed simply because they don't have enough guards. This assumption is so universally accepted, apparently, that I have yet to hear it questioned or even explained.
"The family is the corner stone of our society. More than any other force it shapes the attitude, the hopes, the ambitions, and the values of the child. And when the family collapses it is the children that are usually damaged. When it happens on a massive scale the community itself is crippled. So, unless we work to strengthen the family, to create conditions under which most parents will stay together, all the rest-schools, playgrounds, and public assistance, and private concern-will never be enough." President Lyndon Johnson
During this election cycle, the country has heard its fair share of conversations about the war in Iraq, healthcare, poverty, tax policy, the decreasing value of the American dollar, gun violence and rising oil prices. The aforementioned are all issues that have been debated and discussed ad nauseam by our presidential candidates.
9/18/2008 12:45:00 PM By Jennifer Mesko, editor
-Citizenlink.com
Family advocates in Arkansas and Kentucky put children's needs first.
Two key decisions Tuesday likely will lead to more children being adopted into families with a married mom and dad.
In Arkansas, a liberal activist group has decided to let the voters decide on a ballot initiative that would reserve adoption for married, heterosexual couples. The dubiously titled group Arkansas Families First had threatened to sue to remove the issue from the ballot, but instead will focus on fighting the measure.
There have been several amazing things that have occurred in my garden this summer. We have had some downright strange things-- like the mysterious foam that appeared over night-- and some simply wondrous things-- like the swarm of dragonflies that visited us one Sunday morning and filled the air until nightfall. Yet, nothing has compared to what I saw out my window yesterday, and what is yet to come.
If you peek out of any of the upstairs bedroom windows, you have a beautiful view of our yard and my flower garden. Dividing the yard between where I want flowers to grow and children to play, is an island of old trees, bushes, and indestructible daylilies.
When you're pregnant, you notice all the pregnant women around you. They seem to be everywhere. It's so obvious that it makes you wonder why you never noticed them before. When you buy a different car, it's the same thing. All of a sudden the parking lots are filled with the same model car. Maybe that's just the way our minds work-- repeating patterns, colors, and thoughts. Or maybe we can be so lost in our own world, we only notice those things that directly apply to us.
If that's true, then I guess it shouldn't seem odd that I've begun to notice that death-- and suffering families-- are also all around us.
I read with interest an article concerning the city of Chicago's budget crisis, which warned of layoffs of city employees, possibly including police and fire. Of particular note was the item listed under revenue shortfalls that showed a drop of $4.5 million in the cigarette tax. How can this be? Didn't the city council recently raise the cigarette tax (again)? And gasoline tax revenue is down, too? Wasn't that tax raised as well?
Is there some mysterious economic principle at work here that is not understood by the powers that be in Chicago?
Years ago, when the dreaded "head tax" was imposed on businesses in Chicago, the major impact was not to increase revenue to the city coffers, but to drive business, as well as jobs, out of Chicago. Combined taxes have given the Chicago the dubious distinction of being the costliest city in the country for not only gasoline and tobacco, but for numerous other things as well.
I left you with dreadful news of our family's tragedy -- the accident that took my youngest son's life and left three other boys broken. While sifting through years of past columns and articles to reprint, I found something I hadn't seen before: a timeline of our family's life over the past five years.
Each column chronicled the news and events of the week: elections, school issues, and legislative moves-the things that caught my eye at the time. Granted, they were colored with my perspective, but that's my job.
Tucked in between my social commentary, I discovered a narrative of our family history:
In response to the current crisis involving our nation's financial institutions, some commentators are proclaiming that capitalism has failed. They are mistaken ... we are witnessing the consequences of the loss of values that were the substance of our culture, not the failure of capitalism.
Capitalism is an economic system that depends on the virtues of the people engaged in the system, i.e. their work ethic, discipline, moral and spiritual values. As with any system, capitalism is subject to human fallibility, or what Christians would refer to as fallen human nature. Therefore, in order for a capitalist - or free market - economic system to function properly, the culture must place a high value on personal virtue and undergird it with reasonable laws and regulations that provide additional restraints and protections against inevitable human failings.
Yesterday, Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby wrote about the compelling new documentary, "Demographic Winter: The Decline of the Human Family." The film, in which numerous experts are interviewed, explores "the causes and effects of one of what may be the most ominous reality of 21st-century life: the fall in human birth rates almost everywhere in the world."
Jacoby begins his column talking about Thomas Malthus, "The Population Bomb," and other items that for decades warned that the world's biggest problem would be overpopulation. However, time has proven the complete opposite.
"Human fertility has been dropping for years," writes Jacoby, "and is now below replacement levels -- the minimum required to prevent depopulation -- in scores of countries, including China, Japan, Canada, Brazil, Turkey, and all of Europe." In some countries, he continues, the collapse has already begun, citing that Russia is losing 700,000 people a year.
Listening to Oprah Winfrey's recent conversation with Eckhart Tolle regarding his views of Christianity was a little bit of "deją vu all over again," a Genesis 3 redeux. From the very beginning of time, we have sought cover for our rebellion against God and "rules," but it has always turned out to be nothing more than fig leaves. Regardless of its name, Tolle's and Oprah's message is the same ol' same ol' all over again. We don't need God, WE ARE GODS! We don't need a Savior, we are inherently good and capable of achieving deity if we just let go of archaic dogma and get in touch of the god which is in everything.
Concern over this nation's drift into economic chaos has been a frequent discussion topic in the blogosphere. I admit to spending a great deal of time over the past two to three weeks emailing everyone I know about the crisis over gasoline prices and illegal immigration. Yet, even though I know we are all quite rightly concerned over these and other issues, they are tragically only symptoms of a deeper problem.
They are symptoms of a nation that has lost its way; those issues and social ills are symptoms of a nation that has been at war with itself and at war against its Christian heritage. They are also symptoms of a deeper problem that lies embedded in the country's churches.
Leonard Ravenhill said well when he said, "The key to revival starts in the pulpit (Joel 1:13), then the pew (2 Chronicles 7:14)." Then he says again, "We'll have no broken hearted pews until we have broken hearted pulpits." (1)
He's tragically correct. There will be no revival in this land until those of us (and I am one of them) in the pulpits truly begin to weep over the tragic state of our sin-stained, lethargic, worldly-wise, churches.
Investigators have 'power of God,' can ruin life with stroke of pen
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services erroneously labeled 3,051 innocent people as child abusers by placing them on the state's official list.
According to a Belleville News-Democrat investigation, 11,473 people have appealed to strike their names from the state record. The list has a 27 percent error rate of parents falsely accused of abuse. Once on the list, people are required to remain there for a minimum of five years. Read more...
Awana co-founder Art Rorheim is celebrating his 90th birthday and is still keeping a heavy schedule. Although Rorheim stepped down as executive director in 1992 and president in 1999, he still reports to headquarters to work.
There are currently 59,000 Awana clubs in the United States, and Awana churches and clubs in 110 other countries. "This is Awana's 58th year and [down through the years] we just see the impact of the Word of God," shares Rorheim. "You see kids who have trusted Christ as their Savior, and now we see the fruit of it all around the world." Read more...
He may not have been thinking about it at the time, but Pope Benedict, in the course of his recent U.S. visit may have dealt a knockout blow to the liberal American Catholicism that has challenged Rome since the early 1960s. He did so by speaking frankly and forcefully of his "deep shame" during his meeting with victims of the Church's sex-abuse scandal. By demonstrating that he "gets" this most visceral of issues, the pontiff may have successfully mollified a good many alienated believers - and in the process, neutralized the last great rallying point for what was once a feisty and optimistic style of progressivism. Read more...
America trusts in the abiding power of prayer and asks for the wisdom to discern God's will in times of joy and of trial. As we observe this National Day of Prayer, we recognize our dependence on the Almighty, we thank Him for the many blessings He has bestowed upon us, and we put our country's future in His hands.
From our Nation's humble beginnings, prayer has guided our leaders and played a vital role in the life and history of the United States. Americans of many different faiths share the profound conviction that God listens to the voice of His children and pours His grace upon those who seek Him in prayer. By surrendering our lives to our loving Father, we learn to serve His eternal purposes, and we are strengthened, refreshed, and ready for all that may come.
First-Time Research Reveals Staggering Annual Taxpayer Costs for Divorce and Unwed Childbearing. Costs Taxpayers at Least $112 Billion a Year
In first-ever research, a new report quantifies a minimum $112 billion annual taxpayer cost from high rates of divorce and unmarried childbearing. It identifies national, state, and local costs which account for more than $1 trillion in the last decade. This landmark scholarly study, entitled "The Taxpayer Costs of Divorce and Unwed Childbearing: First-Ever Estimates for the Nation and All 50 States," was released on April 15th at the National Press Club.
Statewide figures for all 50 states are included in this national report. There is a huge percentage of female-headed households living in poverty-61.5 percent of the 1.3 million total households in poverty in Illinois, for example. Research indicates as the cautious assumption that if those female-headed households were to become married, 60 percent of them would be lifted out of poverty. This means that total poverty in Illinois would be reduced by 36.9 percent. This could lead to an annual savings for Illinois of $1,949,000,000.
An interesting conversation has been ongoing in my house over the last few days. It began early last week, when I was informed of a statement made by my youngest daughter. She had expounded on her political views. With all the confidence and experience that accompanies eleven year old wisdom, she announced, "Me and Megan don't think girls should be president!"
As a child of the sixties, I was absolutely positive this could not be MY daughter's own philosophy. This had to be the work of peer pressure-plain and simple. This was obviously her girlfriend's point of view; my daughter must have thought Megan-- being a couple years older-- was pretty smart and confident, and, therefore, right.
Feminists in the seventies coined the popular phrase, "I'm going to find myself." It was extremely useful for breakups, divorces, and rich kids wanting to drop out of college and hitch-hike across Europe.
I say if you really want to find yourself, all you have to do is clean out the attic.
I've discovered bits and pieces of our life strung throughout our dark attic and the deepest recesses of our closet. Both of which held secrets I've kept for years. From mementos too precious to throw away, (but too homely to hang on the wall), to broken promises; like the Teddy Bear all dressed up in a blue plaid dress with ribbons and bows. I found her all alone amid the neglected mending, not realizing her owner was all grown up; she sat waiting patiently for me to sew her head back on.
Faith-Based and Community Initiatives conference hosted in Zambia
The White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives today hosted a Conference on Health Initiatives in Lusaka, Zambia to highlight and expand the growing leadership of faith- based and community organizations in disease control, treatment and prevention efforts. White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives Director Jay Hein was joined by First Lady Maureen Mwanawasa, U.S. Ambassador Carmen Martinez and other government, private-sector and nonprofit leaders to explore innovative solutions to addressing human need and further advance the U.S. Government's battle against poverty, disease, and other ills in Zambia and across Africa. Following President Bush's visit to Africa last month, the conference furthered the President's vision for "compassion in action" across the continent and around the globe. Read more...
4/4/2008 9:36:00 AM By Devon Williams, associate editor
-Citizen Link
'Faith has a positive impact on marital health and durability.'
Evangelical Christians have a lower divorce rate than the general population, according to a recent study from The Barna Group.
A telephone survey of 3,792 adults found that 33 percent of those who had ever been married had experienced at least one divorce, while 26 percent of the evangelical group had been divorced.
Glenn Stanton, director of global family formation studies at Focus on the Family, said this is good news.
Living together before marriage actually increases rather than lowers the risk of eventual divorce.
More than two-thirds of cohabitating couples who marry eventually divorce, a rate significantly higher than couples who wait until marriage before living together. According to marriage researcher Mike McManus, no studies have ever shown cohabitation to benefit relationships. In fact, cohabitating couples are actually more likely to go through a "trial divorce" rather than a "trial marriage," as the majority of such couples break up before getting married at all.
A study released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds that at least one in four teens in the U.S. has a sexually transmitted disease (STD). "Current public health policies are clearly failing to reduce the spread of STDs among young women," stated Wendy Wright, President of Concerned Women for America. "Pushing kids to be sexually active, withholding medical screenings to deny parents information about their teens, and encouraging young women to skip screenings for STDs are irresponsible policies that have put teens' health at risk."
Poor Britney. Unfortunately, her breakdowns have become so commonplace they are hardly news anymore. The irony of it all is that she has at last become a real role model for her tween fans.
Let's examine this. What do kids admire? They admire beauty, fame, fun and parties, no responsibilities-the ideal life. Britney certainly had it all. Now, maybe once again, we need to define "it."
"It," by teen standards, is, as I said, to have a life of luxury. Fame of course is the ultimate. When you boil it down, fame is the "most popular kid in school" only bigger-"everybody" likes you. What else could a kid want?
Friends described him as a kind and caring individual. Professors described him as brilliant. Terrorized students described Steven Kazmierczak as an emotionless and methodical killer.
News reports compared him to other monsters who have turned schools into hunting grounds; a cold-blooded mass murderer dressed in black, shooting, killing, and reloading with a blank expressionless face.
So how does a caring, brilliant student majoring in social work with a desire to help others turn into a monster?
The Boy Scouts of America is praising Texas Governor Rick Perry for authoring a book supporting the Scouts and their values.
Perry's book is titled On My Honor: Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts Are Worth Fighting For. Bob Bork, Jr., a spokesman for the Boy Scouts of America, is pleased that the former Scout has taken such a public stance in defending the values of scouting. Perry also came to the defense of the Scout's policy that prohibits homosexuals from scouting or serving as Scout leaders.
"Since its inception in 1910, the Boy Scouts has believed that open homosexuality is inconsistent with the values it wants to communicate through its leaders," Bork notes. "Scouting parents and sponsoring organizations share that belief -- and the Boy Scouts of America has a constitutional right to provide a youth organization for families who share those values." (See Boy Scouts of America v. Dale, June 2000) Read more...
Valentine's Day -- it's a day that many of us associate with carefully crafted cards from our children, decadent chocolates, and long-stemmed red roses. Yet for far too many families, this Valentine's Day, February 14, 2008, was far different. A day that symbolizes love and promise to young and old alike became for these families a day of shock, disbelief, and immeasurable sorrow as the news unfolded of the shooting that had taken place on the campus of Northern Illinois University.
We watched as non-stop coverage detailed the horrifying events. Newscasters attempted to answer questions -- who, how, when, and most of all why. Why? Why did this happen? Why this particular place, this time, and most importantly of all, why did these young people die?
The skies of the pitch black night were filled with death and destruction. A swarm of Class 4 tornadoes were moving their way through Tennessee, carrying hell's fury with them. In their path sat a small private college in Jackson, Tennessee.
In the school's dormitories, students gathered in the safest places they could find, asking the Lord to save them. One survivor said, "I was thinking about my mom, and I was calling on Jesus."
As soon as it came, it was over. Union University, a school affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, was virtually wiped from the face of the earth. Nearly 80 percent of the structures on campus were destroyed. But in the midst of the mayhem came a miracle. Not one Union University student or faculty member perished. There were more than 50 people injured, some seriously, but the fact there were no fatalities meant that prayers were answered.
According to an exhaustive review by Swedish researchers, active father figures play a key role in reducing behavior problems in boys and psychological problems in young women.
Cognitive skills like intelligence, reasoning and language development are enhanced by regular positive paternal contact, and children who live with both a mother and a father have fewer behavioral problems than children living with a mother alone. Read more...
John Piper Pastor, Minneapolis Because God Almighty, whom we serve above all men, made human governments his way of running the world. "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God" Rom. 13:1. In a democratic republic like ours that means at least: VOTE.
Chuck Colson Prison Fellowship ... God has entrusted us as free citizens to be His agents. That's why we have such a sacred responsibility to vote: not to is disobedience to God.... Chose men and women of integrity whose ideas come closest to conforming to a biblical worldview. Be wise and discerning, voting not for selfish interest, but for God's good purposes.
Noah Webster Founding Father If a republican government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the divine commands, and elect bad men to make and administer the laws
On January 13, a letter to the editor appeared in the online edition of the Daily Herald. Mary Stuhr of Addison, Illinois wrote: "As the inauguration of our new president occurs, a tidal wave of pro-life prayer should be sweeping the nation to make reparation for the sins against life committed by public officials, who are in favor of abortion." Her simple, one-sentence statement drew 187 comments from online readers. 
I read with interest an article concerning the city of Chicago's budget crisis, which warned of layoffs of city employees, possibly including police and fire. Of particular note was the item listed under revenue shortfalls that showed a drop of $4.5 million in the cigarette tax. How can this be? Didn't the city council recently raise the cigarette tax (again)? And gasoline tax revenue is down, too? Wasn't that tax raised as well?
In response to the current crisis involving our nation's financial institutions, some commentators are proclaiming that capitalism has failed. They are mistaken ... we are witnessing the consequences of the loss of values that were the substance of our culture, not the failure of capitalism.
