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Dear Friends,

Conservatism, it has been said, is not an ideology but a way of viewing the world. This is partially true: conservatives seek to impose no utopian vision upon an imperfectible humanity.

At the same time, conservatism presupposes both human dignity and fallenness, and argues that personal virtue must be the foundation of political self-governance. Conservatism is suspicious of schemes to change humanity through external constraints, or reshape human nature through insistent indoctrination.

At Independence Hall in 1861, Abraham Lincoln said, “The Declaration of Independence gave liberty not alone to the people of this country, but hope to all the world for all future time. It was that which gave promise that in due time the weights would be lifted from the shoulders of all men, and that all should have an equal chance.”

An equal chance because, as the Declaration says, all men are of equal merit in the sight of their Creator. This was not only Lincoln’s claim; it has been the principle claim of our Republic since its founding.

Despite its protestations to the contrary, the Left argues that most men are not, in fact, created equal: The “masses” are too reactionary to know what’s good for them, too benighted to recognize the obvious truths of political liberalism, too fearful of the bracing, brave new world that Godless men can create.

Most people understand, intuitively, that grand plans for social engineering and cultural transformation will collapse under the weight of human arrogance, incompetence, and elitism. They grasp that there are limits to human commitments and even love, which is why one man and one woman marry each other, and do not have multiple partners. It’s why each of us cares for his own children more than those of our neighbors. It’s why one can have only so many close friends: People are finite, and there’s only so much of each of us to go around.

This is not a cynical perspective, but it is not naïve either. It is conservative, taking and enjoying reality as it is. “Conservatism advocates that the wisdom of the past be used to create a promising future,” writes constitutional scholar Patrick Garry. “It does not seek to simply confer a basket of benefits in the present, without regard to whether those benefits will build a foundation for a more lasting and promising future” (Conservatism Redefined, pp. 153-154).

“A more lasting and promising future.” That’s the vision of Family Research Council for all Americans. Thank you for sharing in it with us.

Sincerely,

Rob Schwarzwalder
Senior Vice President
Family Research Council

P.S. FRC has just released five new publications, which can be downloaded at no charge by clicking on the links below:

• “Back on the Right Road: Policy Goals for 2012 & Beyond,” by FRC Policy staff
• “Debating Homosexuality: Understanding Two Views,” by Peter Sprigg
• “The Bible’s Teaching on Marriage and the Family,” by Andreas Kostenberger, Ph.D.
• “The Best Pro-Life Arguments for Secular Audiences,” by Cathy Cleaver Ruse , Esq., and Rob Schwarzwalder
• “I See You: Telling the ICU Mobile Story,” by Bob Morrison

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Educational Freedom and Reform
Homeschooling

• “Ending Discrimination against Homeschoolers,” Home School Legal Defense Association
• “Homeschoolers emerge as Republican foot soldiers,” Andy Sullivan, Reuters
• “Social services threaten homeschooling parents,” Bob Unruh, World Net Daily
• “Homeschool Parents to Lose Children Permanently,” Christian NewsWire

Legislation and Policy Proposals

• “OWSers, Radicalism, and Education Costs,” Chris Gacek, Family Research Council
• “Student loans outstanding will exceed $1 trillion this year,” Dennis Gauchon, USA Today
• “Fight Proposed Ban on Single-Sex Schools,” Christina Hoff Sommers, American Enterprise Institute
• “Cheap for Whom?,” Mark Schneider and Jorge Klor de Alva, American Enterprise Institute
• “Educators: Leading and Leaving,” Amanda Ruud, The Examined Life
• “Obama’s Waivers Plan: More Burdensome Mandates,” Joy Pullmann, The Heartland Institute

Government Reform
Regulation

• “Free Market Sweden, Social Democratic America,” Samuel Gregg, The Acton Institute
• “Class Warriors for Big Government,” Ray Nothstine, The Acton Institute
• “Important New Evidence on ‘Regime Uncertainty’ and Government Failure,” Robert Higgs, The Independent Institute

Waste/Fraud/Abuse

• “A New Spending Record,” Opinion, The Wall Street Journal
• “Start with fraud,” Jim Frogue, The Hill

Health Care
Abstinence

• “Does Sex Ed Undermine Parental Rights?,” Robert P. George and Melissa Moschella, New York Times
• “Bill would allow the return of abstinence-only sex education in schools,” Patrick Marley, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Conscience Protection

• “Healthcare, Conscience, and Religious Liberty: A Response to Linda Greenhouse,” Helen Alvare, The Public Discourse
• “Catholics Stand Against Obama for Pro-Life Conscience Rights,” Deirdre McQuade, LifeNews.com
• “What the Protect Life Act Means for America,” Michelle Bauman, National Catholic Register

Health care reform: Political and Legislative efforts

• “Rethinking Health Care Labor,” Robert Kocher and Nikhil Sahni, The Brookings Institution
• “Obamacare’s Unkept Promises,” Benjamin Domenech, The Heartland Institute
• “Health Choices and Jobs,” Grace-Marie Turner, The Galen Institute
• “ObamaCare Starts to Unravel,” The Wall Street Journal

Homosexuality

• “Poll Shows Little Support For Repealing Same-Sex Marriage,” WMUR.com
• “New Jersey Teacher in Hot Water for Telling Truth about Homosexuality on Facebook,” Bethany Hernandez, Christian Law Journal

Human Life and Bioethics
Abortion

• “Bills Helping Women Hear the Heartbeat Will Save Lives,” Cathy Ruse, LifeNews.com
• “Listen to My Heart Beat,” Cathy Ruse, Family Research Council
• “Commitment to the Sacredness of Life Should Unite All Christians,” Rob Schwarzwalder, Family Research Council
• “Secretary Sebelius to NARAL: Contraceptive Mandate a Victory,” Jeanne Monahan, Family Research Council
• “Sex-Selection Abortions Devalue Women, But Feminists Silent,” Rebecca Taylor, LifeNews.com
• “China: Woman Dies During Forced Abortion, Six Months Pregnant,” Reggie Littlejohn, Women’s Rights Without Frontiers
• “Putting abortion in the past, focusing on life,” Becky Yeh, OneNewsNow
• “Undercover Call Shows Medicaid Pays for $9000 Late-term Abortions In New Mexico,” Lisa Graas, LiveAction
• “Mississippi Voters May Change Abortion Debate,” Peter Roff, U.S. News and World Report
• “S.F. supes target antiabortion pregnancy centers,” Rachel Gordon, San Francisco Chronicle

Bioethics and Biotechnology

• “Who’s Allowed in the Public Square?,” Jennifer Lahl, Breakpoint
• “Down Syndrome Awareness Makes a Difference,” Mark Leach, The Public Discourse
• “The Scientific Revolution and Contemporary Ethics,” William Carroll, The Public Discourse

Euthanasia and End of Life Issues

• “The “Duty to Die” Advances,” Wesley J. Smith, The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network

Stem Cell Research

To read about the latest advances in ethical adult stem cell research, keep up with leading-edge reports from FRC’s Dr. David Prentice, click here.

• “Embryonic Stem-Cell Patents Infringe EU Law, Top Court Says,” Stephanie Bodoni, Bloomberg

Marriage and Family
Adoption

• “Don’t Adopt!,” Russell D. Moore, The Christian Post
• “Public weighs in on gay-adoption rules,” Richmond Times-Dispatch
• “How Adoption (and Steve Jobs) Changed Our World,” Nancy French, National Review Online

Family Economics

• ““Downward Mobility” and the Need for More People,” Rob Schwarzwalder, Family Research Council
• “The End of Comfortable Keynesianism,” Philip I. Levy, The American
• “Why the unemployment rate is headed higher,” James Pethokoukis, The Enterprise Blog
• “Modern Economics: ‘Rise and Fall’ with Nuclear Families, Study Says,” Cheryl Wetzstein, The Washington Times

Family Structure

• “Traditional Family Values,” Moriah Mosher, Population Research Institute
• “The ‘Big Love’ Strategy,” Chuck Colson and Timothy George, Christianity Today
• “Notes From a Dragon Mom,” Emily Rapp, New York Times
• “David Quinn and George Hook discuss the attack on motherhood and fatherhood,” The Iona Institute
• “Did marriage evolve because of economics or because of children?,” David Quinn, The Iona Institute
• “All the Single Ladies,” Kate Bolick, The Atlantic
• “Motherhood as Vocation,” Kate Harris, Qideas
• “From No-Fault Divorce to Same-Sex Marriage: The American Law Institute’s Role in Deconstructing the Family,” Ryan C. MacPherson, Ph.D., The Family in America

Media
Pornography

• “After 60 years, Kinsey’s views still loom large,” Ed Vitagliano, OneNewsNow
• “Post-Kinsey: Is There Anything Normal About Pornography?,” Cassandra Hough, The Public Discourse
• “Pornography, Public Morality, and Constitutional Rights,” Robert P. George, The Public Discourse
• “In charging diocese, prosecutor takes rare step,” Dan Levine, Reuters

Internet

• “Technology for Worse, and Sometimes for Much, Much Better,” Carrie Lukas, National Review Online

Religion and Public Policy
Religious Liberty

• “The good guys win again: Faith and good works allowed to coexist in the Ninth Circuit,” Diana Verm, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
• “Settlement Reached in VA Discrimination Suit,” Juan A. Lozano, Associated Press
• “Strong Voices from Europe,” Virgil Nemoianu, The Catholic Thing

Religion in America

• “The church can end extreme poverty,” Scott C. Todd, CNN
• “New York Times: Red-State Evangelical Fundamentalism,” Andrew Walker, Mere Orthodoxy
• “Does reading the Bible really make you more liberal?,” Tony Woodlief, WORLD Magazine
• “Battling class envy,” Marvin Olasky, WORLD Magazine
• “Is Social Justice an Essential Part of the Mission of the Church?,” The Henry Center
• “There he goes again,” Marvin Olasky, WORLD Magazine
• “Will the Senate Quietly Kill the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom?,” Nina Shea, National Review Online

Secularism

• “With the Rise of Militant Secularism, Rome and Moscow Make Common Cause,” Johannes Jacobse, The Acton Institute
• “Secularism: The De Facto State Religion,” Nicholas Pandelidis, The Patriot Post

International
Israel

• “Between the Green Line and the Blue Line,” Michael J. Totten, City Journal
• “Turkey’s house of cards,” Caroline Glick, The Jerusalem Post
• “The Forgotten Christians of the East,” Caroline Glick, The Jerusalem Post

International Economy and Family

• ““Yes, we can!” Obama Goes to Greece,” Justin Paulette, The Ashbrook Center
• “The Cheetah Generation,” Elise Hilton, PovertyCure.org

Religious Persecution

• “Copts Face Persecution in Egypt; Other Christians in Danger,” Chris Gacek, Family Research Council
• “Foreign Policy and the First Freedom,” Joe Carter, First Things
• “The Arab Spring’s Forgotten Freedom,” Samuel Gregg, The American Spectator
• “Freedom in a Land without Churches?,” Kenneth Spence, The Acton Institute

Sharia law — U.S., foreign

• “Purging the Government of Anti-Islamists,” Chris Gacek, Family Research Council
• “Syria,” Robinson O’Brien-Bours, The Ashbrook Center

The Courts
Constitutional Issues

• “Thomas Marks Twenty Years on the Court,” Julie Ponzi, The Ashbrook Center
• “NPR Examines Clarence Thomas’ Influence on the Court,” Justin Shubow, The Federalist Society

Judicial Activism

• “Theology up for debate at SCOTUS?,” William P. Mumma, The Washington Post
• “This Day in Liberal Judicial Activism–October 12,” Ed Whelan, National Review Online

Other News of Note

• “Apples and Oranges,” Nicole Gelinas, City Journal
• “America’s Orwellian Liberalism,” Dr. Marvin Folkertsma, The Center for Vision and Values
• ” In Reagan’s Footsteps,” Edwin Meese III, The Hoover Institution
• “Transitional Humanity,” Gilbert Meilaender, The New Atlantis
• “The scapegoat strategy,” Charles Krauthammer, The Washington Post

Book reviews

• “Off the Bench, Into the Fray,” Adam J. White, The Wall Street Journal
• “Diane Ravitch Takes It All Back,” William Voegeli, Claremont Review of Books
• “Moderation in Pursuit of Democracy,” John Zvesper, Claremont Review of Books

Tags: The Social Conservative Review

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