FRC held a Family Policy Lecture yesterday featuring Pastor Steven Khoury, who offered his firsthand account of Christian ministry in Bethlehem and Jerusalem.  You can listen to Pastor Khoury’s remarks below.

Comments: - |

Persecution of self-identified Christians has become a pandemic in the developing world.  For Catholics, Evangelical Protestants, Copts and others, making the simple assertion that they follow Jesus Christ can lead to abuse, eviction, disfigurement, and – far too often – death.

Today at FRC, we heard a remarkable and very probing lecture by Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo, a profound theologian and himself a former Muslim, about the way the church is responding to the threat of radical Islam both abroad and here in the United States.

Dr. Sookhdeo drew a striking parallel between the church in Germany during the rise of Nazism and the way Christians should be responding to the Islamists who would undermine the very foundations of representative self-government and religious liberty.

Christians are called to love and minister to Muslims and also stand against an agenda which is inherently oppressive and even violent.  Dr. Sookhdeo offered wise counsel about how we can do both.  You can watch his lecture here.

In addition, there are excellent summaries of anti-Christian persecution worldwide in The Catholic Thing and the Voice of the Martyrs “newsroom.”

Comments: - |

ProLifeCon is only two days away.  Throughout this week, I have featured Ryan Bomberger, Lila Rose, Rep. Chris Smith, Michael Clancy, and Samuel Armas.  You can still register for ProLifeCon, and join other pro-life online activists throughout the country to hear our amazing lineup of speakers.

Collin Raye, country music superstar and spokesman for the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network, will be one of our featured speakers at ProLifeCon.  Raye has sold over eight million albums and has been nominated five times as country music’s Male Vocalist of the Year.  In 2001, he was presented with the Humanitarian of the Year award by country music legend, Clint Black.

Raye, in his role as spokesman for the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network, is focused on helping families and loved ones who are in the same situation as Terri Schiavo was in 2005.  Raye’s family has had their own experience with end-of-life issues, when his granddaughter died of an undiagnosed neurological condition in 2010.

There is no doubt that Raye will empower the audience with his story and the work of the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network.

Comments: - |

On Monday, ProLifeCon will be taking place at FRC. We have a pretty awesome lineup of speakers, and there is no doubt that you will not want to miss this event.  You can host ProLifeCon on your blog as well.  Just copy the code below the line, and you will be able to share ProLifeCon with your readers.

**The stream will be available on Monday, January 23rd beginning at 8:20 a.m. and the live stream will end at 11:30 a.m.**

Cut and paste everything below the line
_______________________________________________

<object classid=‘clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000’ width=‘460’ height=‘273’ id=‘single1’ name=‘single1’>
<param name=‘movie’ value=‘http://www.frc.org/player.swf’>
<param name=‘allowfullscreen’ value=‘true’>
<param name=‘allowscriptaccess’ value=‘always’>
<param name=‘wmode’ value=‘transparent’>
<param name=‘flashvars’ value=‘file=live2.flv&streamer=rtmp://fml.14CB.edgecastcdn.net/2014CB&rtmp.subscribe=true&image=http://www.frc.org/frc-flash-logo.jpg&skin=http://www.frc.org/simple.swf&plugins=madlytics-1&madlytics.callbacktype=url&madlytics.callbacktypemethod=GET&madlytics.callbacklistener=http://www.frc.org/item_dl.cfm?’>
<embed type=‘application/x-shockwave-flash’ id=‘single2’ name=‘single2’ src=‘http://www.frc.org/player.swf’ width=‘460’ height=‘273’ bgcolor=‘undefined’ allowscriptaccess=‘always’ allowfullscreen=‘true’ wmode=‘transparent’ flashvars=‘file=live2.flv&streamer=rtmp://fml.14CB.edgecastcdn.net/2014CB&rtmp.subscribe=true&image=http://www.frc.org/frc-flash-logo.jpg&skin=http://www.frc.org/simple.swf&plugins=madlytics-1&madlytics.callbacktype=url&madlytics.callbacktypemethod=GET&madlytics.callbacklistener=http://www.frc.org/item_dl.cfm?’ />
</object>

Comments: - |

ProLifeCon is only three days away.  Throughout this week, I have featured Ryan Bomberger, Lila Rose, Reps. Chris Smith and Vicky Hartzler.  You can still register for ProLifeCon, and join other pro-life online activists throughout the country to hear our amazing lineup of speakers.

We are fortunate to have Michael Clancy, photographer of the famous “Hand of Hope” picture, and the baby featured in that photo, Samuel Armas, who is now twelve years old, and his mother, Julie Armas.  The “Hand of Hope” picture was captured in 1999, during a spina bifida corrective surgical procedure.  Samuel Armas was only 21 weeks in utero during that picture.  While Clancy was documenting this surgery for a USA Today feature, he had the opportunity to capture Samuel Armas reach his hand out into the world from the womb.  It is a powerful picture that has stirred emotion all over the world.

Clancy is the author of “Hand of Hope:  The Story Behind the Picture,” which will be available for purchase and signing at ProLifeCon.

Comments: - |

ProLifeCon is only five days away.  We have an exciting lineup of speakers, and one of the goals is to empower online activists to bring awareness to the policies impacting the pro-life community in Washington.

We are excited to have Rep. Chris Smith from New Jersey as one of our speakers.  As co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, Rep. Smith has been instrumental in advocating for pro-life legislation in the House of Representatives.  Rep. Smith has also been a strong voice against human trafficking, and as co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Human Trafficking, he has successfully written and passed into law The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.

Rep. Vicky Hartzler from Missouri will also be joining ProLifeCon as a featured speaker.  Rep. Hartzler was elected to serve the Fourth District of Missouri in 2010, and she has been a tireless advocate for pro-life issues.  She supported H.R. 3, No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, which was sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith.  Rep. Hartzler is also a member of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus and Congressional Caucus on Human Trafficking.

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

Comments: - |

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.

Comments: - |

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.

Comments: - |

In Saturday’s New York Times, Columbia professor Jeffrey D. Sachs made the rather audacious claim, that “[t]he young people in Zuccotti Park and more than 1,000 cities have started America on a path to renewal.” [emphasis added]

To give Sachs and the entire Occupy movement the benefit of the doubt, we might try to view the chaos, mayhem, rape, murder, and general slovenliness as unfortunate distractions from this intended renewal.

Hypothetically, Ivy League professors, Occupyers, and conservative policy makers should be able to agree on a few points: Our great country needs renewal. We can tangibly mark American renewal or decline by measuring things like high school graduation rates and childhood poverty.

But our suggested paths towards renewal differ. Sachs calls for a vast influx of spending on education and other domestic programs. Occupiers held up a myriad of signs calling for jobs, justice, education… and weed.

But the facts seem to lead us down a different path—a path that values family stability, over government-funded programs. The FRC’s Marriage & Religion Research Institute is poised to release its Second Annual Index of Family Belonging and Rejection, this Thursday. The Index delves into the statistical details behind the bold claim that family structure actually matters to a child’s education and success.

Robert Frost once wrote about two paths in a yellow wood. Our paths towards “renewal” obviously diverge. At the moment, the path toward family stability is the one “less traveled by.” Taking it could make all the difference.

To attend Thursday’s event, please register here.

Comments: - |

Is American higher education soon to be federalized?  We know that diversity of choice in higher education is lacking? One independent study of the Social Science division at the University of Oregon found one registered Republican on the Faculty.  Join us for a Family Policy Lecture on Wednesday, May 11, 2011, as we focus on the destructive potential of new “state authorization” regulations that are key aspects of the Obama Administration’s higher education reforms. What else is likely to be imposed on American higher education? And what will the GOP’s response be? Is doing nothing better than something?

The featured speakers include:

• Dr. Richard J. Bishirijan, President, Yorktown University
• Dr. C. Ronald Kimberling, President, Argosy University, Nashville, Tenn.
• Dr. Peter Wood, President, National Association of Scholars
• Dr. Richard Vedder, Founder, Center for Educational Affordability and Productivity

This event will take place at our headquarters in Washington, DC, and lunch will be provided.

Click here for more information or to register.

Comments: - |

On April 11, 2011, Family Research Council will be hosting a Family Policy Lecture about how socialists are reshaping Spain. Ignacio Arsuaga will be the featured speaker, and will also be releasing his new book, The Zapatero Project: Chronicle of an attack on society. This lecture should be particularly interesting, considering Arsuaga’s work in defending human rights through his work as President of HazteOir.org.

You can register for this lecture, which will also be available by webcast, by clicking here.

Comments: - |

Last week, FRC hosted a Family Policy Lecture:  Young Evangelicals–Are They a Lost Cause in the Culture Wars, featuring John Stonestreet, Executive Director of Summit Ministries.  You can watch the lecture here. After the lecture, we had a chance to interview Mr. Stonestreet for more insight on the next generation of evangelicals.

Comments: - |

Last month, FRC hosted a Family Policy Lecture:  Can Freedom Last Forever?  The Founders’ Forgotten Question and Where the U.S. is Today, featuring Os Guinness.  You can watch the lecture here. After the lecture, we interviewed Dr. Guinness about freedom and where our country is headed in the future.

Comments: - |

If you missed today’s Family Policy Lecture, then you missed a great speaker.  John Stonestreet, Executive Director, of Summit Ministries discussed the perceived divide between the older generation and new generation of evangelicals and provided ideas on how to unite them on meaningful causes.

You can watch the lecture by clicking on the player below.

Comments: - |

We are less than a week away from ProLifeCon, and I am excited by the number of speakers who will be at this year’s event.  If you haven’t already, register for ProLifeCon today.

Image borrowed from Global Outreach Campus Ministries

Since we have confirmed a good number of speakers, I am particularly excited to hear from Dean Nelson, who is the Vice President of Underserved Outreach at Care Net. Dean was a campus minister for years, and is a graduate of the University of Virginia. Dean leads Care Net’s efforts to train urban leaders and churches in developing pregnancy centers in underserved communities. It will be great to hear Dean discuss how he uses technology to reach out to the underserved communities.

Comments: - |

On January 19, FRC will be holding a Family Policy Lecture: Can Freedom Last Forever?–The Founders’ Forgotten Question, and Where the U.S. is today with Os Guinness.

Os Guinness is an expert on faith, public policy, and international relations. He worked as a freelance journalist for the BBC and as a scholar at the Brookings Institute and the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Affairs. He has written and edited more than 25 books including The American Hour (1993), The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose for Your Life (1998), Invitation to the Classics (1998), Unspeakable: Facing Up to Evil in an Age of Genocide and Terror (2005), and The Case for Civility: And Why Our Future Depends on It (2008).

Register today for Can Freedom Last Forever with Os Guinness

Comments: - |

On January 24, FRC will be holding ProLifeCon.  We have several amazing speakers lined up to discuss the issues impacting the pro-life online community.

Lila Rose, President of LiveAction, is one of our featured speakers, and I am excited to hear about her experiences exposing corruption and illegal activity within Planned Parenthood. Lila is also a recipient of a Life Prize from the Gerard Health Foundation and Young Leader Award from the Susan B. Anthony List.

Lila is a graduate of UCLA. When Lila was 15, she founded Live Action, which uses new media to educate and mobilize people from across the country to demand accountability from the abortion industry and human rights for the unborn. Since Live Action was founded, Lila has gone undercover to expose the illegal activity occurring within Planned Parenthood through the Mona Lisa Project. With many of her videos surfacing, several state investigations have occurred and Tennessee passed legislation to stop funding Planned Parenthood. Below is one of Lila’s videos from the Rosa Acuna project:

Comments: - |

ProLifeCon is right around the corner on January 24.  I hope you will be able to join us at ProLifeCon and hear from some amazing speakers.  Not to mention that this event will allow you to meet other pro-life internet activists throughout the country as well.

Image originally from JillStanek.com

Jill Stanek, who runs JillStanek.com, is one of our featured speakers and emcee at ProLifeCon.  I’m excited to see and hear Jill speak again, as she is enthusiastic about pro-life causes.  Jill is also a 2008 recipient of a Life Prizes award.

Jill served as a registered nurse in the Labor and Delivery Department at Christ Hospital in Illinois, and it was her commitment to her faith that led her to risk her job, reputation, and friendships to stop the practices of abortion.  While as a nurse at Christ Hospital, Jill discovered that abortions were being committed at the hospital and babies were being aborted alive to die without medical care.  After the hospital refused to stop the practice of abortion, Jill exposed the hospital’s practices and became a national figure to protect the unborn.  Since then, Jill has testified before the Judiciary Constitution Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Comments: - |

Come join other pro-life internet activists at ProLifeCon, the premier conference for the online pro-life community. On January 24, 2011, ProLifeCon will take place at the Family Research Council headquarters and will feature experts and legislators to inform you about the issues impacting the pro-life movement and give you ways to make a difference on blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and the rest of the online world.

Confirmed speakers include:

• Jill Stanek, JillStanek.com
• Lila Rose, LiveAction
• Abby Johnson, AbbyJohnson.org
• More to come…

Register today by clicking here.

Comments: - |

Below is video for panel held today at FRC headquarters with Ross Douthat, Lawrence Reed, and Bob Patterson:

Below is the lowdown, and you can find embed code for the video and an audio download here:

Are social and economic conservatism at odds? According to political journalists Jonathan Martin and Ben Smith, … the battles over morality-based cultural issues such as gay rights, abortion and illegal drugs that did so much to drive the conservative movement and dominated the political conversation for more than 30 years have abated, giving way not just to broad economic anxiety but to a new set of emotionally charged issues. (Politico, August 20, 2010 )

Are they right? To answer that question, Family Research Council is hosting an important symposium on the relationship between economic and social conservatism featuring three of the nation’s leading observers of the political scene.

New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, formerly a senior editor at The Atlantic, has written extensively about religion, family, and public life. Douthat is the co-author, with Reihan Salam, of Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream (Doubleday, 2008).

Lawrence Reed is president of the Foundation for Economic Education and formerly led the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Under his leadership, the Mackinac Center emerged as the largest and one of the most effective and prolific of over 40 state-based free market-oriented think tanks in the country.

Bob Patterson is a adjunct research fellow at the Howard Center for Family, Religion & Society of Rockford, Ill. and editor of The Family in America, which recently published his important article, “Fiscal Conservatism is Not Enough: What Social Conservatives Offer the Party of Lincoln.”

Comments: 1 |