Yesterday, I gave you a preview of ProLifeCon 2012 and one of our speakers. ProLifeCon has more exciting speakers, and I am excited to hear each of them speak on January 23, 2012.

Lila Rose, President of LiveAction, will be one of the speakers at ProLifeCon, and there is no doubt that she will empower you through her experiences as pro-life activist. At the age of fifteen, Lila founded LiveAction, an organization that works to expose abuses in the abortion industry and advocate for human rights for the pre-born. Lila has led numerous undercover investigations through LiveAction, exposing corruption and illegal activity at Planned Parenthood. A graduate of UCLA, Lila has been featured on several nationally syndicated programs and her writings have appeared in several magazines and newspapers.

Below is an example of Lila’s work.

ProLifeCon has more exciting speakers who will be featured throughout the week. Click here to register today and learn how you can spread the pro-life message to others.

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This year’s ProLifeCon promises to be another exciting time to unite pro-life activists from across the country to become active online and bring awareness to the sanctity of life.  We have an exciting line-up of speakers, who will not only educate you on emerging technologies to help spread the message, but make you aware of the issues impacting the pro-life community in 2012.

We are grateful to have Ryan Bomberger, Chief Creative Officer of The Radiance Foundation as a speaker at this year’s ProLifeCon.  Ryan will no doubt inspire you with his story, as well as with his vast knowledge on utilizing the internet to educate the community on adoption.

Ryan’s story is also inspiring.  His biological mother was raped, but chose to continue her pregnancy and gave him life.  He was adopted as a baby and grew up in a loving Christian family.  Ryan has won an Emmy Award for his work.  He founded The Radiance Foundation, along with his wife, Bethany, and has been active with the pro-life community with the TooManyAborted.com billboard/web campaigns, which advocates for adoption within the black community.

You don’t want to miss ProLifeCon, as there are many more exciting speakers who will be featured throughout the week.  Click here to register today and learn how you can spread the pro-life message to others.

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While I was in the line at the grocery store recently, I happened to glance over at the magazine rack when I noticed the recent copy of Cosmopolitan Magazine.  The model on the cover looked young, and in fact, she did not look old enough to be on the cover.  It was Dakota Fanning, who is only 17 years of age, and the headings around the cover provided the usual standard of sex advice.

I was disgusted by this display.   I turned around only to see a little girl pick up a copy of the magazine only to run back to her mother and say how pretty the model was.  The mother of the girl also looked disgusted by the magazine and told the little girl to put back the magazine.

Fox News has focused on this recently, and they were shocked by this recent image as well.  In fact, Rachelle Friberg, a media expert who was interviewed by Fox, said:

Cosmopolitan is going overboard by putting an underage girl on its cover surrounded by such article titles. It is one thing to educate young women about sex and their bodies, but putting a young, underage girl on the cover of a magazine that had long been known to push the limits is sending the wrong message.

Cosmopolitan, of course, defended its decision to have Fanning as the magazine’s cover model.  Of course, their decision generated controversy, and there is no doubt that teenagers, who are fans of Fanning are lining up to buy the issue and being exposed to Cosmopolitan’s agenda of promoting immodest behaviors and promiscuity.

Today, I was glad to read that a former model is calling out Cosmopolitan for its practices and is calling for the magazine to be marketed as an adult-only publication, which would require the magazine to be sold in packaging that would not show the cover.  Nicole Weider is leading this effort and has a petition urging the FTC to help protect our youth from vulgarity.  The petition has almost 21,000 signatures, and there is no doubt that will garner more signatures from those who agree the magazine has gone too far.

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“When all government, domestic and foreign, in little as in great things, shall be drawn to Washington as the center of all power, it will render powerless the checks provided of one government on another. Thomas Jefferson, letter to Charles Hammond, August 18, 1821

Dear Friends:

The size and scope of the federal government continues to expand.  The larger government has become, the more constraints it has placed on the way we live our lives.

Most particularly, to pay for its many programs, Washington has placed a substantial tax burden on citizens and the companies where they work. As a result, families are able to retain less of their incomes and not only become more reliant on government for benefits, but also have fewer resources to provide for their own daily needs.

Economic growth and family stability are interwoven.  The extensive data available on FRC’s Marriage and Religion Research Institute website prove it.  As the 2012 campaign season – for everything from President to county resource commission – begins in earnest, policymakers (including would-be ones) should come to understand this.

As FRC’s distinguished Senior Fellow for Family Empowerment, Ken Blackwell, wrote recently, “We who are pro-life and pro-marriage know that families need jobs. They need a growing economy. But economic conservatives need to recognize that stable married families having children are what drive economic growth.”

Family, growth, life, and hope – they’re all part of the same package.  And since it was designed by God, a wonderful package it is.

Sincerely,

Rob Schwarzwalder
Senior Vice President
Family Research Council

P.S. FRC began the new year with a bracing lecture by scholar Michael Brown on the homosexual social and political agenda and the need for Christians to stand for the truth about human sexuality in our culture.  Click here to watch.

Educational Freedom and Reform
Homeschooling

• “What the U.S. Census says about homeschool families,” Julie Mack, Mlive.com
• “Arlington Stumbles on Switch from Exemption to Notice of Intent,” Home School Legal Defense Association

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Dear Friends,

We at the Family Research Council hope you and yours have a Christmas season that is rewarding, memorable, and Christ-focused.

Perhaps few have captured the magnitude of the Incarnation better than poet Christina Rossetti. In the second verse of her poem, “In the Bleak Midwinter,” she writes:

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him
Nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away
When He comes to reign:
In the bleak mid-winter
A stable-place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

He came as a baby, and went on to grow “in wisdom and stature” (Luke 2:52). That growth began in the womb: As science documents, babies in the womb are capable of absorbing much information. In the words of science writer Annie Murphy Paul:

The fetus, we now know, is not an inert blob, but an active and dynamic creature, responding and adapting as it readies itself for life in the particular world it will soon enter … The recognition that learning actually begins before birth leads us to a striking new conception of the fetus, the pregnant woman and the relationship between them.

The Savior Who was virgin-born was unique: Fully God and fully man. Yet all infants share a remarkable commonality with Him–they are sacred to God. Whether in the womb or outside of it, they deserve protection in law and welcome in life. The Bible teaches it. Science proves it. The Incarnation vindicates it.

Merry Christmas,

Rob Schwarzwalder
Senior Vice President
Family Research Council

P.S. For a moving presentation on the sanctity and dignity of every person, watch FRC’s lecture, “Down Syndrome: Death Sentence or Divine Smile,” hosted by the Director of FRC’s Center for Human Dignity, Jeanne Monahan.

Educational Freedom and Reform
Homeschooling

• “Homeschool still a popular option,” Matt Sabo, The Daily Press

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Dear Friends,

The likeability of a presidential candidate is important to both political parties and to the American people. Some of us will vote less on the content of a candidate’s character and convictions than whether or not he seems “nice.”

The cover story of this week’s Time Magazine is titled, “Why They Don’t Like Mitt (Romney).” A Los Angeles Times poll last month found Newt Gingrich to be “one of the least likeable candidates.” And in a poll reported by the Des Moines Register, Michele Bachmann was rated as the “least likeable” of the Republican presidential candidates.

During one of the 2008 presidential debates, this exchange occurred between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama:

Then-Senator Hillary Clinton was asked about her deficit of “likeability” and joked that the question hurt her feelings but she would “try to go on.” The audience laughed and Clinton , looking over at fellow candidate for the Democratic nomination Barack Obama, admitted “he’s very likable – I agree with that.” “I don’t think I’m that bad,” Clinton said, smiling. Obama barely looked up from his notes. “You’re likeable enough, Hillary,” he said.

In one respect, these perceptions are meaningless: Many of us like people for whom we would not vote for President, and support presidential contenders we might not want for neighbors. Moreover, one person’s likeability is another’s distaste: Subjective impressions about likeability should be far down the list on our electoral criteria.

Character counts far more than likeability. A person can be winsome, charismatic, and funny, and also be a serial adulterer.  On the other hand, someone might be socially stiff and a bit awkward and be an exemplar of sterling virtues. Ideally, we want to be able to support someone both pleasant and principled. But should not principle triumph over a ready smile, if it comes to that?

“A vote is like a rifle,” wrote Theodore Roosevelt in his autobiography. “Its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.” As each of us thinks and prays about our vote in the 2012 primaries and general election, let’s bear in mind that our choices will reflect our own character as much as that of those for whom we vote.

Sincerely,

Rob Schwarzwalder
Senior Vice President
Family Research Council

P.S. It’s been two months since the military opened its doors to homosexuality.  Lt. Col. Bob Maginnis (USA-Ret.) was a member of the 1993 Pentagon team that wrote the so-called “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy. In his new paper Looking Back, Looking Forward: Homosexuality and Military Service, Maginnis details how America’s armed forces have become a cultural battleground for advancing the radical gay agenda.

Educational Freedom and Reform
Homeschooling

• “Public School Standards For Homeschoolers,” Home School Legal Defense Association
• “Home schooling: a growing trend in East Texas,” Jennifer Heathcock, KYTX

Legislation and Policy Proposals

• “Making sense of the whole “Are teachers overpaid?” thing,” Rick Hess, Education Week
• “Where are the Christians in Academia?,” Qideas
• “Graduation Rates Can Be Predicted More Precisely by Examining Student Characteristics, Report Says,” Jennifer Gonzalez, The Chronicle of Higher Education
• “A Plea to College Presidents: Exercise Your Moral Leadership,” Cathy N. Davidson, The Chronicle of Higher Education
• “Best and Worst in American Education, 2011,” The Hoover Institution
• “Christie makes education reform bills a priority for December,” Diane D’Amico, Press of Atlantic City
• “Jury still out on success of Teach for America,” Christine Armario, Associated Press
• “Want cheaper tuition? Find religion,” Blake Ellis, CNNMoney

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Recently, Hot Air reported that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi doesn’t understand why the U.S. Catholic bishops are against requiring insurance companies to cover contraceptives, including known abortifacients.  She belittles Catholics who object, conscientiously, to paying for or performing services that their church teaches are wrong.

Perhaps she should consider the Catholic Catechism, which says that “Moral conscience, present at the heart of the person, enjoins him at the appropriate moment to do good and to avoid evil.”  What could be more good than defending life?  And what could be more evil than to disregard it, or denigrate those who seek to uphold it.

Even though the former Speaker is Catholic, she seems to have long forgotten that Catholicism is unequivocal in support of the sanctity of human life, from conception onward.  This teaching is discussed throughout the Catechism, and there is even a section regarding the usage of abortifacients, and the Catholic Church’s stance against the use.

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Dear Friends:

November is National Adoption Awareness Month, which is why FRC was proud to host Ryan Bomberger last week for his lecture, “Adoption: Be the Hope.” Ryan was himself adopted and, with his wife, has adopted two children. You can watch his moving presentation here. To learn about the pro-life, pro-adoption ministry of Ryan’s Radiance Foundation, go to www.theradiancefoundation.org.

One of the most daunting obstacles to adoption is its up-front cost, which can be as much as $40,000 per child. Although the federal adoption tax credit is very helpful, it does not cover what can be, for families of ordinary means, a great financial challenge.

It’s for that reason that the adoption ministry Lifesong (a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability) has set-up a program to help churches develop adoption funds. An adoption fund is a designated line-item in a church’s budget that helps church members pay for their adoption costs, either through a direct financial gift or low-or no-interest loan. As the beneficiaries of one such fund, my wife and I are eternally grateful for the generosity and selflessness of God’s people in helping us adopt our three children.

To learn more about adoption and related ministries, go to FRC’s www.RealCompassion.org, through which you can link to many organizations helping children at home and abroad.

Sincerely,

Rob Schwarzwalder
Senior Vice President
Family Research Council

P.S. Dr. Pat Fagan, Director of FRC’s Marriage and Religion Research Institute (MARRI), has just released the second annual “Index of Belonging and Rejection.” The Index rank-orders the states and the 25 largest cities by the strength of belonging in their family, showing that less than 50 percent of American children reach adulthood having grown up in an intact married family. Click here to download the report.

Educational Freedom and Reform
Homeschooling

• “When Hippies Were the Ones Homeschooling,” Erik Hayden, The Atlantic
• “For home-school parents, classroom design is the subject du jour,” Kavita Daswani, Los Angeles Times

Legislation and Policy Proposals

• “Is the Prestige Worth It?,” Krystle Weeks, Family Research Council
• “Congrats, 2010 Grads! Your Debt Load Is the Heaviest,” Allison Linn, MSNBC
• “Wanted: 10 Million Skilled Workers,” Michael G. Morris, The Washington Times
• “Georgia schools cut Bible classes to pay bills,” Alicia Constant, WORLD Magazine
• “School Choice Programs Snowball,” Sheryl Blunt, Christianity Today
• “What Happened to Data-Driven Education Reform?,” Andrew G. Biggs, Lindsay Burke, and Jason Richwine, The Huffington Post
• “Capitalism on Campus: What Are Students Learning? What Should They Know?,” The Manhattan Institute

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On Tuesday, an interesting article appeared in my news feed from The Wall Street Journal, which showed that more students are choosing to attend public universities over Ivy League institutions.  Why, you may ask?  Students do not want to be saddled by the excessive loan debt.

An average Ivy League student is expected to pay approximately $55,000 per year in tuition, room, board, fees, etc.  Upon graduation, a student would be saddled with over $220,000 in college loan debt.  Pair the debt with the fact that employment offers are hard to come by in this economy, and this could easily factor into the reason why many students are making the decision to attend public universities.

Is the huge debt worth it in the long run?  While these schools may offer a large alumni network, the overall debt should leave one to question their decision.  Higher education is expensive, but the same opportunities are available at state colleges and universities.

When I graduated from high school in 2000, I chose to attend a small four-year college near my hometown in Maryland.  While I had some scholarships, I still had to contribute through student loans.  The opportunities I was presented were similar to the ones my friends experienced at Ivy League universities, but I ended up with less student loan debt.  I do not regret the decision to attend my college, and in fact, I consider myself lucky to have saved for the same experiences.

While the students in the Wall Street Journal piece may be questioning why they didn’t attend Boston College, Stanford University, and Cornell University, they will learn in the long run that opportunities present themselves on merit and the connections they will make in the real world.

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Dear Friends,

Harry Truman once said that a “statesman is a politician who’s been dead for 15 years.” In other words, our view of the nobility and wisdom of our political leaders grows the further we get from their public service. Remember that the next time you see a bumper sticker with a photo of George W. Bush, bearing the legend, “Miss him yet?”

If we want a virtuous and just society, we cannot afford to concede that statesmanship is a lost art. As King’s College professor David C. Innes notes, politics “politics is more than just good intentions. It requires knowledge, judgment and an ability to move people so that they want to follow you. Essentially it requires statesmanship. Statesmanship is the just, prudent and persuasive exercise of authority.”

As statesmanship declines, public life becomes more tawdry. The personal corruption of political leaders deepens our cynicism, and the unwillingness of many officials to make tough but necessary policy choices seems more animated by their chances for re-election than the best interests of the country.

Speaking of the American Revolution, Queen Elizabeth II said, “We lost the American colonies because we lacked the statesmanship to know the right time and the manner of yielding what is impossible to keep.” Statesmanship, or the lack thereof, can have profound consequences for the moral health of the nation and for the very existence of the political and social order.

Our Founders understood this. Writing in 1789, James Madison observed, “If individuals be not influenced by moral principles, it is in vain to look for public virtue; it is, therefore, the duty of legislators to enforce, both by precept and example, the utility, as well as the necessity of a strict adherence to the rules of distributive justice.”

“Distributive justice,” to Madison and his colleagues, meant a government that ensured fairness and dignity for all its citizens – justice that would be distributed equally, without favoritism.

Christian statesmanship involves the prudent application of justice. It also means that Christians must pray for elected and appointed public servants, that they would make such an application with courage and consistency.

Prayed for our government’s leaders lately?

Sincerely,

Rob Schwarzwalder
Senior Vice-President
Family Research Council

P.S Be sure to watch FRC’s Webcast of our forum on international religious liberty, featuring five experts whose comments drew media coverage in The Washington Post.

Educational Freedom and Reform
Homeschooling

• “Parents in action: More parents homeschooling their children,” Deiah Riley, ABC Action News
• “Homeschool Dad Opens up About ‘Blind Spots’,” Jeff Schapiro, The Christian Post
• “Getting grace,” Susan Olasky, WORLD Magazine

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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

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

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Dear Friends,

We are made in the image and likeness of God. Since God is a moral actor, those bearing His image are responsible to act morally, as well. Christians are to be “conformed to the image” of Christ (Romans 8:29), but if government constrains religious liberty, the public expression of who we were made to be is repressed. This is a denial of our essential humanity.

Christians are called to worship their Lord in fellowship with one another. If a government disallows this, we cannot worship in the manner to which He calls us. Consequently, it is only prudent and, more importantly, honoring to God that we avail ourselves of the religious freedom our Constitution guarantees to live as He requires and also to use the liberties assured us to safeguard our ability to continue to enjoy them. Only through participation as conscientious citizens can we protect the liberties we need to fulfill the duties imposed on us by our Maker and Redeemer.

This applies also to non-Christians. As long as religious believers impose no threat on public order or security, they should be able to practice their faiths without government interference. Buddhists should be able to speak freely about their beliefs. Muslims should be able to worship in mosques undisturbed. New Agers should be able to contemplate the chrysanthemums in the local park without hindrance.

Why? Because God embedded the conscience and mandates the obligation of worship, not government. However inappropriately or unwisely one’s religious fidelity might be expressed, religious liberty is truly the “first freedom” and is grounded in the very nature of man and his relationship with his Creator. As Americans, let’s use our liberty to sustain and advance it, now and always.

Sincerely,

Rob Schwarzwalder
Senior Vice President
Family Research Council

P.S. The Director of FRC’s Center for Religious Liberty, Ken Klukowski, writes frequently about issues affecting faith and freedom. Learn more about FRC’s efforts to defend and strengthen religious liberty by clicking here.

Educational Freedom and Reform
Homeschooling

• “Home schooling,” Liberty Davidson, WORLD Magazine
• “Leaving Home: New Law Forces Home- schoolers to Fight or Flee Sweden,” Alex Newman, Liberty Magazine

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Terrorism works because some politicians will eventually accommodate terrorist behavior in the hopes that in so doing a “greater good” will emerge from their moral compromise. Police Officer Lance Eldridge

Compromise is a loaded term. Often, it connotes sleaziness, payoffs, moral cowardice, the breeding ground of cynicism and political corruption. Compromise with terrorists, for example, will lead only to greater acts of terrorism, as Officer Eldridge and many others have noted.

However, appropriate compromise is part of all facets of life. For vacation, you want to go to Civil War battle sites, your wife wants to go to Hawaii . You end up in Orlando . Without such compromise, marriages would fail even more than they already do.

In politics, wedding allegiance to principle with prudent good judgment is a daily struggle. Critical legislation is seldom drafted to anyone’s full satisfaction. That is why principled compromise is so important.

Wisdom, prudence and good judgment, combined with accurate information and a willingness to decide, are all necessary for the making of sound decisions. Political philosopher Bruce Frohnen observes, “Prudence is the necessary tool for the attainment of virtue … (it) is the practical wisdom necessary if one is to judge rightly how to respond to particular circumstances.”

Such principled compromise is a matter of both honor and judgment – of the wisdom and prudence articulated in Scripture, affirmed in the conscience, and demonstrated in daily life. As Jesus said, “Wisdom is vindicated by her deeds” (Matthew 11:19).

Genuine wisdom is grounded in truth – truth that teaches the sanctity of life, the dignity of marriage, the importance of religious liberty. Thanks for standing with Family Research Council as we apply that truth, with wisdom, in the public square.

Sincerely,

Rob Schwarzwalder
Senior Vice President
Family Research Council

P.S. FRC’s Values Voter Summit is coming up soon — it’s a “don’t want to miss” forum of presidential candidates and conservative leaders from across the country. Click here to register.

Educational Freedom and Reform
Homeschooling

• “Educational pioneers,” Tiffany Owens, WORLD Magazine
• “Homeschool Gets Better Report Card Than Public Schools,” R. Leigh Coleman, The Christian Post
• “Homeschooling Magnifies Family Problems (and That’s a Good Thing),” Jennifer Fulwiler, National Catholic Register
• “Homeschool Co-ops Tap Pooled Resources,” Jim Carlton, The Wall Street Journal
• “Entrepreneurial homeschooling co-ops,” Rod Dreher, The American Conservative

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Are children better off growing up in a healthier environment and a higher socioeconomic class?  This is all contingent on whom you ask.  According to a recent study commissioned by the Australian Christian Lobby, this might not be the case.

The study, “For Kid’s Sake:  Repairing the Social Environment for Australian Children and Young People,” noted that Australia ranks high on social development, education, and economic well being.  However, there is something underlying:  Increased reports of child abuse and neglect, as well as an increase in mental health disorders.  These reports encompass all socioeconomic levels.

Why has this been occurring?  According to the study’s author, Patrick Parkinson, the increase in child abuse reports and mental health disorders can be attributed to one key factor:  The breakdown of the family.

“Living in a family other than that of the two biological parents before the age of 16 is well-documented as being associated with a wide range of adverse results for children’s well-being.

Some people consider that the reason for this is that the adults who form stable marriages tend to be more well-adjusted and better off economically, so it is not so much the question of family structures but rather the personal characteristics of the parents that is the deciding factor.

Although this might be true to some extent the report quoted research that said studies using sophisticated statistical controls, including genetic factors, point in the direction of family breakdown being a significant cause of problems for children, rather than it just being the quality of the adults.”

There is no doubt that the breakdown of the family has been a key contributor to the rise in mental illness and child abuse cases.  Poor family relationships, marital unhappiness, and divorce all have negative impacts on a child’s well being.  The statistics are alarming, and children in the United States are experiencing the same effects as well.

What can be done to prevent the breakdown of the family?  Parkinson suggests stronger marriage preparation and implementing and providing greater support for organizations that help families.

However, Parkinson is also forgetting one important point:  Encouraging families to attend religious services.  According to FRC’s Marriage and Religion Research Institute (MARRI), children who attend religious services weekly tend to be less depressed and that marriages tend to be stronger and happier when couples attend church together.  Perhaps the greatest way to combat the breakdown of the family is through faith.

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It was a somber Sunday, as we looked back to the events that shattered our sense of security ten years ago yesterday.  In DC and across our nation, people gathered to remember the attacks of 9/11 and the lives lost.   For some, it was a relaxing Sunday and for others a chance to give back to our communities.  We are just as unified, as we were when we learned of these attacks.

However, when I was reading the New York Times this morning, I happened to come across Paul Krugman’s op-ed piece slamming the commemorations of 9/11 and slamming then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani and President George W. Bush for cashing in on the tragedy.  Krugman further accused them of using 9/11, as a cause to fight in Afghanistan and referring to it as “an occasion for shame.”

9/11 is not an “occasion for shame” as Krugman states, rather it is a time to reflect and remember the events that unfolded ten years ago.  Families lost loved ones, our country became more unified and grieved together.  Our leaders did what they believed was right in terms of defending our nation from further attacks.

While Krugman has the right to publish whatever he wishes, he should really be ashamed of saying that 9/11 created opportunity for war.

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Dear Friends,

America’s Founders believed that unless public leaders are persons of high character, they will be motivated by self-interest. This fosters cynicism among citizens, who then become disengaged from the political sphere and all the more vulnerable to political abuse by those in power.

Theologian David Wells describes virtue as having both private and public dimensions: First, virtue is “the domain of character, the practice of private virtue, such as honesty, decency, the telling of truth, and all the other kinds of moral obligation.”

Second, says Wells, there is “the domain of public virtue, such as civic duty, social responsibility, philanthropy, the articulation of great ideals and good policies.”

The Founders of our country believed that “the domain of public virtue” was essential to the success of political self-government through representative democracy. Only if citizens are persons of virtue will they govern their own behavior with sufficient wisdom to live in a just and free society. And only if they possess personal virtue will they elect persons whose own moral caliber is sufficient to ensure that integrity and wisdom are applied to public policy decisions.

“Without virtue, there can be no political liberty,” wrote an aged John Adams to his friend Thomas Jefferson in 1819. That was true at the founding of our Republic, and is no less true today.

Sincerely,

Rob Schwarzwalder
Senior Vice President
Family Research Council

P.S. Urge retailers to resist pressure to discriminate against customers with a traditional and biblical view of marriage.

Educational Freedom and Reform
Homeschooling

• “Back in the home school classroom: First day of school,” Lynn R. Mitchell, SWAC Girl
• “Teen opts for home schooling to further education,” Sue Bero, The Times
• “Cardus Survey–The Rest of the Story,” Jeremiah Lorrig, Home School Legal Defense Association

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The central irony of Christian citizenship is that no country will find better citizens than those willing to defy its laws if those laws demand a loyalty to the state greater than that owed to the God of the Bible. As Declaration of Independence signer and Princeton president John Witherspoon put it,

Another reason why the servants of God are represented as troublesome is, because they will not, and dare not comply with the sinful commandments of men. In matters merely civil, good men are the most regular citizens and the most obedient subjects. But, as they have a Master in heaven, no earthly power can constrain them to deny his name or desert his cause.

In other words, to be good citizens in time, Christians must be ever mindful that they belong to an eternal kingdom.

Political engagement by Christians is, at a foundational level, unavoidable. If you pay taxes, if you serve in the military, if you get a driver’s license, if you sign a property deed, if you have medical or life insurance, if you turn on the shower or pay a heating bill, what you are doing is in some way touched by government regulation and law.

This engagement does not need to be consuming, of course.  Not everyone is called to be equally active in the public square. However, the other extremes — of passivity and pretending politics neither matter nor really exist, or of withdrawal and despair after one’s (false) expectations are dashed – are a matter of either an impoverished grasp of Scripture or, worse, mere religious pretense, not fidelity to the Bible. Never to vote, never to speak, never to defend those without a voice, the weak and powerless and helpless, is to accede to evil.

“Do good unto all men,” writes Paul the Apostle (Galatians 6:10). This is a charge with an active voice. Christians cannot fulfill this command unless, in the public arena, we stand for truth with a gracious but undauntable spirit. Our fellow citizens, and our country as a whole, deserve no less.

Sincerely,

Rob Schwarzwalder
Senior Vice President
Family Research Council

P.S. What is the status of conservatism in America?  Family Research Council’s Senior Fellow for Family Empowerment, Ken Blackwell, appeared on CNS News August 12, 2011 to discuss the conservative movement in our country today.

Educational Freedom and Reform

Homeschooling

• “DNPE Softens Impact of New Policy,” Home School Legal Defense Association
• “Why choose to homeschool?,” Kate Kerman, Sentinel Source
• “Home school students learn year round,” CBC News

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Dear Friends,

This week’s riots in Britain have reminded us that human nature is a volatile thing. As former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher once put it, “The veneer of civilization is very thin.”

Man is a fallen being, yet capable of great nobility of character. The Bible’s teachings about man had an especially profound affect on the Founders as they considered how imperfect men could govern themselves.

Although they affirmed human fallenness, they also affirmed human dignity. If persons are made in God’s image and likeness, then they have value before Him which should be honored by those political powers He ordains to govern them.

“Through the Judeo-Christian tradition, human rights are rooted in the moral worth with which a loving Creator has endowed each human life,” writes scholar A. James Reichley, “and social authority is legitimized by making it answerable to transcendent moral law.”

This cannot be understated. Without a grounding in biblical revelation and natural law, which is itself reliant on a belief in communicated transcendent truth, we have no basis for proclaiming human uniqueness and dignity.

“Religious liberty is a divine right, immediately derived from the Supreme Being, without the intervention of any created authority,” New Hampshire preacher Israel Evans proclaimed in 1791. The same can be said for the rights to life and property, and the “pursuit of happiness,” as articulated in our Declaration of Independence.

At the Family Research Council, we work to strengthen the veneer of which Mrs. Thatcher spoke through advancing measures that encourage faith, family, and freedom. For the sake of civilization, we believe there can few more important works.

Sincerely,

Rob Schwarzwalder
Senior Vice President
Family Research Council

Educational Freedom and Reform
Homeschooling

• “Ranks of homeschooled kids in Arizona expected to rise,” Eugene Scott, The Tucson Citizen
• “School Board: Homeschooling Disorganized and Isolationist,” Home School Legal Defense Association

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Dear Friends,

As the White House and Congress continue to debate how to restrain spending and curtail the size and reach of the federal government, American families are concerned with the economy we will be leaving our children.

Family policy is tied directly to economic policy. A society in which the unborn are expendable means we will not have the quantity of workers we need to help our economy grow or the tax base necessary to sustain programs on which many have come to depend, let alone vital needs like national defense. FRC President Tony Perkins recently made this point at a conference here in Washington, DC — social, security, and economic policy are intertwined, and cannot be divorced from one another.

There’s a reason why the Psalmist reminds us that “children are a heritage from the Lord” (Psalm 127:3). It’s for the sake of that heritage that FRC continues to work in partnership with you for faith, family, and freedom.

Sincerely,

Rob Schwarzwalder
Senior Vice President
Family Research Council

Educational Freedom and Reform

Homeschooling

• “Different children, different educations,” Krissy Proctor, Knoxville News-Sentinel
• “Many options for parents who want to homeschool kids,” Monica James, The Lighthouse

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Our country is grounded on the proposition that God has made each of us and given every person the “right to life,” as stated in the Declaration of Independence. Yet human dignity is being diminished increasingly in our culture. Whether discussing the unborn, the disabled, or the elderly, utility and power too often trump respect and compassion.

Our bodies are precious to God. “You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made,” writes David in the 139^th Psalm. If the God of the universe took such tender care with each of us, should we not also care for the most vulnerable among us, and put that care into practical action?

In his new book, Earthen Vessels: Why Our Bodies Matter to Our Faith, Matthew Lee Anderson reminds us, “We cannot speak of the body without speaking of its mortality, for the God who became flesh did so in order that he might die. For Jesus, death was the precursor to the resurrection. For us, it is the power of Christ’s resurrection that allows us to stare death in the face” (p.165).

Staring death in the face, unflinching: That’s the power of the Gospel. Defending personhood, at all its stages: That’s fidelity to our Creator.

Sincerely,

Rob Schwarzwalder
Senior Vice President
Family Research Council

P.S. Next Thursday, join FRC and Liberty University at our DC headquarters or via Webcast as we host the Washington, DC book launch of Resurgent: How Constitutional Conservatism Can Save America, by FRC Senior Fellows Ken Blackwell and Ken Klukowski.

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