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Dear Friends,

Despite his claim of finding a “compromise” on requiring religious organizations that offer health insurance to include contraception and abortifacients, President Obama has only superficially cost-shifted the burden of payment.

Religious leaders across the spectrum understand the threat: If Uncle Sam can mandate that they violate their consciences through an obvious fiscal sleight-of-hand, religious liberty and the free exercise of conscience experience erosion not easily repaired and all too easily exploited. Such respected scholars as Harvard’s Mary Ann Glendon and Princeton’s Robert George – and FRC’s own Dr. Pat Fagan – have published an open letter stating, in part:

“The simple fact is that the Obama administration is compelling religious people and institutions who are employers to purchase a health insurance contract that provides abortion-inducing drugs, contraception, and sterilization. This is a grave violation of religious freedom and cannot stand. It is an insult to the intelligence of Catholics, Protestants, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Jews, Muslims, and other people of faith and conscience.”

Last week, FRC President Tony Perkins hosted a distinguished panel of leaders from across the theological, educational, and political spectrum to discuss the grave implications of this threat. You can view a video of the webcast, titled “Healthcare Mandate: Violating the Separation of Church and State,” here.

FRC also urges you to sign the Manhattan Declaration’s “Mr. President, I Still Believe” to let Mr. Obama know that social conservatives will not accept the diaphanous and condescending coverlet of faux accommodation. Are you prepared to take action – at the least, to write, speak out, and pray – to retain our precious liberties of religion and conscience?

Sincerely,

Rob Schwarzwalder
Senior Vice President
Family Research Council

P.S. February is the month when we celebrate Valentine’s Day – which is the latest publication of FRC’s Marriage and Religion Research Institute, “162 Reasons to Marry,” is so timely. You can download a copy for free here.

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Educational Freedom and Reform
Homeschooling

• “Education a la Carte,” Rod Dreher, The American Conservative
• “HSLDA to Appeal Criminal Conviction for Homeschool Family,” Home School Legal Defense Association

Legislation and Policy Proposals

• “Why we shouldn’t oversell the benefit of having more students in ‘advanced’ classes,” Frederick M. Hess, The American
• “Universities are bringing Occupy into the classroom,” Natalie DiBlasio, USA Today
• “Ariz. Bill to Help Conservative College Professors in Hiring Process,” Napp Nazworth, The Christian Post
• “Technology May Reform Education After All,” Naomi Decter, Commentary Magazine
• “Court Upholds Indiana School Choice Program,” Gregory S. Baylor, Alliance Defense Fund
• “Obama’s War on School Vouchers,” Jason L. Riley, The Wall Street Journal
• “Schools Attach ‘Fat Monitors’ to Students,” Emily Johnston, The Heartlander
• “Obama Administration Waives ‘No Child’ for Ten States,” Joy Pullmann, The Heartlander

Government Reform
Regulation

• “Red Tape and Pink Slips: Obama’s Imaginary Regulatory Reform,” Henry I. Miller, The American
• “Global Evidence on Taxes and Economic Growth: Payroll Taxes Have No Effect,” William McBride, The Tax Foundation
• “The Heartland Tax Rebellion,” The Wall Street Journal
• “California’s Demographic Revolution,” Heather MacDonald, City Journal
• “It’s Working in Walker’s Wisconsin,” Christian Schneider, City Journal

Waste/Fraud/Abuse

• “The Amazing Obama Budget,” Opinion, The Wall Street Journal
• “The Do-Nothing Senate,” William McGurn, The Wall Street Journal

Health Care
Abstinence

• “A Different Take on Valentine’s Day: Would you Die for Her?,” Pat Fagan and Julia Kiewit, Townhall
• “Sex-Maniac Nation,” Lisa Fabrizio, The American Spectator

Conscience Protection

• “Tony Perkins Responds to Pseudo-Compromise of Conscience Rights Mandate,” FRC Press Office
• “Contraception Mandate a Profound Violation of Religious Freedom,” Jeanne Monahan, U.S. News and World Report
• “Obamacare vs the Catholic Bishops,” Kishore Jayabalan, The Acton Institute
• “Failing to Connect the Dots on Contraception,” Howard P. Kainz, First Things
• “It’s Not Only About the Bishops,” Rod Dreher, The American Conservative
• “Morals and Mandates,” Sherif Girgis and Robert P. George, The Public Discourse
• “The Gospel According to Obama,” Charles Krauthammer, National Review Online
• “Obama imposes will in contraception compromise,” Debra J. Saunders, San Francisco Chronicle
• “United We Stand for Religious Freedom,” Donald Wuerl, Charles Colson and Meir Y. Soloveichik, The Wall Street Journal

Health care reform: Political and Legislative efforts

• “Is U.S. Health Spending on Another Planet?,” Christopher J. Conover, The American
• “Report: Economic experts blast revised HHS mandate,” John Couretas, The Acton Institute
• “Primary concerns,” Lynde Langdon, WORLD Magazine
• “Obamacare: Brussels Here We Come!,” Wesley J. Smith, Secondhand Smoke
• “Why Obamacare is Unconstitutional, and What Conservatives Should Do About It,” Grace-Marie Turner, The Heartlander
• “Single Payer Advocates Who Want the Individual Mandate to be Struck Down,” Ilya Somin, The Volokh Conspiracy

Homosexuality

• “Ninth Circuit Marriage Decision: “Take This Joke-Please.”,” Peter Sprigg, Family Research Council
• “The Reversal of Proposition 8: A Dangerous Precedent,” Hunter Baker, The Acton Institute
• “Rationality and the Gay MarriageQuestion,” Hunter Baker
• “The Ninth Circuit’s Desperate Targeting of Justice Kennedy,” Matthew J. Franck, The Public Discourse
• “Appeals Court ruled ban on gay marriage unconstitutional, scolding Californians,” Bold Report
• “Washington gov signs gay marriage bill into law,” Rachel La Corte, Associated Press
• “Will NJ Gay Marriage Battle Come Down to Christie’s Veto, Senate’s Override?,” Stephanie Samuel, The Christian Post

Human Life and Bioethics
Abortion

• “A Tip of the Hat to Planned Parenthood,” Austin Ruse, The Catholic Thing
• “Did Early Christians Practice Birth Control?,” Will Oremus, Slate
• “On Komen controversy, media told half the story,” Mollie Ziegler Hemingway, CNN
• “A Muslim View on Respecting Life,” Suzy Ismail, The Public Discourse
• “Planned Parenthood’s Hostages,” Robert P. George and O. Carter Snead, The Wall Street Journal
• “WA House OKs bill tying abortion to maternity care,” The Olympian
• “Va House GOP muscles abortion restrictions to passage over passionate Democratic protests,” Associated Press
• “UNESCO official calls for national registry of doctors who object to abortion: Spain,” Jeanne Smits, LifeSiteNews
• “Justice Ginsburg Questions Timing of Roe v. Wade,” Justin Shubow, FedSoc Blog
• “Va. House passes “personhood” abortion bill,” CBS News
• “Abortions available through vending machine,” Bold Report
• “Orchestrated uproar:A Planned Parenthood ‘win’ carries the seeds of its own destruction,” Marvin Olasky, WORLD Magazine
• “Cutting through the pink fog,” Barbara Curtis, WORLD Magazine

Bioethics and Biotechnology

• “Creationism Bill Dies in Indiana House,” Paul Stanley, The Christian Post

Euthanasia and End of Life Issues

• “When Life is Intolerable,” Damiano Rondelli, The Catholic Thing
• “Archbishop Decries Possible Legalization of Euthanasia in UK,” Clara Morris, The Christian Post

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.

• “Barry’s Blessing,” Stem Cell Research Facts
• “Stem cells could potentially fix ‘broken hearts’,” John Roberts, Fox News
• “Study aims to see if stem cells could aid stroke recovery,” Tom Corwin, The Augusta Chronicle

Human Trafficking

• “The CNN Freedom Project shines the spotlight on human trafficking in Vietnam,” CNN
• “Indiana passes human trafficking law in time for Super Bowl,” Elizabeth Prann, Fox News
• “WA Senate Passes New Bill to Fight Child Sex Trafficking,” Shared Hope International
• “”The Life”: What Circumstances Walked Leah and her Sister into this Living Terror?,” Taryn Mastrean, Shared Hope International

Marriage and Family
Adoption

• “A Passion to Serve,” Family Research Council
• “Social Media Makes Adoption Easier,” Rebecca Hagelin, Townhall

Family Economics

• “Small is Beautiful (Except When it Isn’t),” Jordan Ballor, Comment Magazine
• “The Forgotten Man of the Tax Debate,” Blake Hurst, The American
• “Living on SNAP: Can a person eat well on a food stamp budget?,” Marvin Olasky, WORLD Magazine

Family Structure

• “Five myths about white people,” Charles Murray, The Washington Post
• “Epiphany, Mission & Motherhood,” Kate Harris, The Washington Institute for Faith, Vocation & Culture
• “What Boosts Risk of Divorce/Marital Success?,” Glenn Stanton, Boundless
• “To love and to cherish till WHEN?,” Bobby Ross, Jr., GetReligion
• “Why Fight Same-Sex Marriage?,” Douglas Farrow, Touchstone Magazine

Media
Pornography

• “Harvard Dorm Mother Advocates “Fair Trade Porn”,” Cathy Ruse, Family Research Council
• “Pornography Harms Women, Invades the Church,” Amanda Winkler, The Christian Post

Internet

• “Reddit Bans Sexual Content Relating to Minors,” Todd Wasserman, Mashable
• “Facebook and Twitter are more addictive than cigarettes or alcohol, study finds,” Zach Epstein, Fox News
• “DoJ Opinion May Clear Way for Online Gambling,” The Heartlander

Media

• “Why M.I.A. Matters,” Penny Nance, National Review Online

Religion and Public Policy
Religious Liberty

• “A Symposium on Threats to Our Religious Liberty,” Robert Royal, Michael Uhlmann, and Brad Miner, The Catholic Thing
• “What Compromise? This Policy Leaves Religious Liberty in Peril and Planned Parenthood Smiling,” R. Albert Mohler, AlbertMohler.com
• “Hey Times folks! Can you say “equal access”?,” tMatt, GetReligion.org
• “Vanderbilt’s Two-Stepping Town Hall,” Travis C. Barham, Alliance Defense Fund
• “United We Stand for Religious Freedom,” Donald Wuerl, Charles Colson and Meir Y. Soloveichik, The Wall Street Journal
• ““Under God” Battled in Massachusetts Court,” The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
• “Faith life and real life,” Janie B. Cheaney, WORLD Magazine
• “Atheist Couple Sues School District to Remove ‘Under God’ From Pledge of Allegiance,” Jeff Schapiro, The Christian Post

Religion in America

• “An Eternal Perspective on Cultural Disarray,” Rob Schwarzwalder, Family Research Council
• “Kylie Bisutti: Faith Clashed With Victoria’s Secret Career,” Sami K. Martin, The Christian Post
• “Sex and the Christian Worldview,” Adam R. Holz, Boundless
• “Churches go less formal to make people comfortable,” Elizabeth Crisp, USA Today
• “100 Questions Jesus Asked and You Ought to Answer,” Msgr. Charles Pope, Archdiocese of Washington

Secularism

• “The Anti-Christian Culture,” Rod Dreher, The American Conservative
• “The Audacity of Obama’s Secularism,” George Neumayr, The American Spectator
• “French Muslims and Clashes over Secularism and Feminism,” Cole Stangler, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, & World Affairs

International
Israel

• “Pushing Israel to War,” Jed Babbin, The American Spectator
• “Obama’s Rhetorical Storm,” Caroline Glick, The Jerusalem Post
• “Israeli Official: “We Have Every Intention of Defending Ourselves”,” Seth Mandel, Commentary Magazine
• “Iran presses Hamas to continue fight against Israel,” Bold Report

International Economy and Family

• “Exaggerating China’s economic power,” James Pethokoukis, The Enterprise Blog
• “Don’t Blindly Fund Post-Arab Spring Governments,” Michael Rubin, Commentary Magazine

Religious Persecution

• “The Global War on Christians,” Rob Schwarzwalder, Family Research Council
• “Burma: Christian Refugees In Peril,” Persecution.org

Sharia law — U.S., foreign

• “Arab League Calls for UN Peacekeepers in Syria,” Ivana Kvesic, The Christian Post
• “Iranian “Big New” Thing and Small Tragic Things,” Michael Avramovich, Mere Comments
• “Muslim Brotherhood Warns U.S. Aid Cut May Affect Egypt’s Peace Treaty With Israel,” Patrick Goodenough, CNSNews.com

The Courts
Constitutional Issues

• “Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Barack Obama v. the Founders,” Peter Wehner, Commentary Magazine
• “A Reasonable Limiting Principle for the Commerce Clause?,” Ammon Simon, National Review Online
• “Is the U.S. Constitution Losing Favor Worldwide?,” Justin Shubow, FedSoc Blog

Other News of Note

• “Tea Party 3.0,” Josh Eboch, Bearing Drift
• “A Monstrosity, Not a Monument,” Tom Bethell, The American Spectator
• “Republicans and Science,” David Klinghoffer, The American Spectator
• “Report: 1.8M dead registered to vote,” Mackenzie Weinger, Politico

Book reviews

• “Unnatural Selection, Part II: A Review,” Pat Fagan, MARRI
• “‘A Sympathiser with the Poor’: Charles Dickens at 200,” John Steele Gordon, The American
• “The Other Prodigal Son,” Carolyn Arends, Christianity Today
• “Measuring the Slant,” James Q. Wilson, Claremont Review of Books

Tags: Social Conservative Review

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