Family Research Council

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Dear Friend,

On this day in 1931, the Star-Spangled Banner was formally adopted as our national anthem.

Most of us are familiar with the wonderful story of how Francis Scott Key, a prisoner on a British ship in Baltimore's Inner Harbor, rejoiced at seeing the Stars and Stripes "yet waving" over Ft. McHenry despite a ferocious assault of "bombs bursting" from John Bull's men-of-war.

The final stanza of America's song is especially relevant for our time: It encourages "free men" to "stand," and "Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation." It reminds us that "In God is our trust."

Nearly two centuries after Mr. Key saw Old Glory still flying, we are, with you, still standing -- for liberty and the Constitution, for faith and family, for our children and their future. And since God remains our trust, we always will.

Sincerely,

Rob Schwarzwalder

Senior Vice President

Family Research Council

P.S. Pat Fagan, Ph.D., the distinguished Director of FRC's Marriage and Religion Research Institute (MARRI), recently has published a massive study of what's really happening in families across the country. The "Annual Report on Family Trends 2011" is designed to "inform the reader about the American family in its current state, including its behaviors in the five major institutions ... of society: family, church, school, marketplace, and government." A superb resource for educators, students, political and civic leaders, and concerned citizens, you can download it free by clicking here.

Educational Freedom and Reform

Homeschooling

• "Nanny State Spanked by Homeschooling Parents in Illinois," Julie Schmidt, Champion News
• "HOMESCHOOLING: Prosecution is waged abroad; troubling trends abound in US," Erin Roach, Baptist Press

Legislation and Policy Proposals

• "National Institute for Civil Discourse," Justin Paulette, The Ashbrook Center
• "Collective Bargaining and School Performance," John Moser, The Ashbrook Center
• "Teachers Who Changed Us," Peter David Gross, The Examined Life
• "Call for Universal Preschool Misguided," Jonathan Witt, The Acton Institute
• "Fix Education Now!," Brad Fregger, The American Thinker

Government Reform

Regulation

• "More Equity, Less Government: Rethinking Bank Regulation," Mark J. Perry and Robert Dell, The American
• "Rallying for States' Rights, G.O.P. Legislators Tell Washington to Go Away," Kirk Johnson, New York Times
• "Ruled by Regulation," Ed Feulner, Townhall

Waste/Fraud/Abuse

• "What's Lost in the House Budget Cuts," Thomas Donnelly, The Washington Post
• "The Public Worker Gravy Train," Andrew G. Biggs and Jason Richwine, The Wall Street Journal
• "Finding Morality in the Federal Budget," Louie Glinzak, The Acton Institute
• "When the Budget Axe Cuts Close to Home," Chuck Colson, Crosswalk
• "Rethinking Redistribution," Jeffrey Miron, National Affairs

Bureaucracy

• "Why the Bureaucracy Won't Reform Old Age Welfare," Stephen Harner, Forbes
• "The Debt Crisis and Cynicism," Stan Guthrie, Breakpoint

Health Care

Abstinence

• "Talking to your kids about sex," Rob Driscoll, The Washington Post
• "What the Puberty Talk Can Teach Us About Discipleship," Russell Moore, Moore to the Point
• "Sexual Slavery: Shattering the Sacred," Lindy Havens, Boundless
• ""Schools need to teach about orgasms" says NEA to UN," Lauren Funk, C-FAM

Conscience Protection

• "Conscience Protection At Risk," William Saunders, The Catholic Thing
• "Repelling the Attack On Conscience," Helen Alvare, The Public Discourse
• "A step backward," Edward Lee Pitts, WORLD Magazine

Health care reform: Political and Legislative efforts

• "Free Universal Health Care is Expensive, Tricky," John Couretas, The Acton Institute
• "Obamacare Repeal: POTUS Pushed Back a Step," Wesley J. Smith, Secondhand Smoke
• "Judges' agreement on healthcare penalties not being a tax is key," Jason Millman, The Hill
• "ObamaCare's Destructive Impact Already Being Felt," The Galen Institute
• "Negative Consequences of Health Law Force Health Insurers to Withdraw from Markets Across the Country," Grace-Marie Turner, The Galen Institute
• "ObamaCare Repudiated?," Tevi Troy, Commentary Magazine

Homosexuality

Earlier this week, FRC President Tony Perkins sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice requesting records of communications between the Obama Justice Department and various legal groups seeking to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Why? Because the President has now said federal attorneys would no longer defend DOMA in court. In Tony's words, "The President's failure to defend DOMA is also a failure to fulfill his oath to 'faithfully execute the office of President of the United States.' What will be the next law that he will choose not to enforce or uphold?" We are looking forward to Attorney General Holder's response to FRC's letter.

• "The President's Unconstitutional Two-for-One," Rob Schwarzwalder, Family Research Council
• "Evolutionary Law," Cal Thomas, The Patriot Post
• "DOMA move helps President Obama with gays," Josh Gerstein, The Politico
• "President Obama's DOMA Outrage Will Backfire," Maggie Gallagher, National Catholic Register
• "Obama's Past Tells the Truth," Stanley Kurtz, Ricochet
• "The Conversation Our Culture Cannot Have, But Must Anyway," Matthew Lee Anderson, Mere Orthodoxy
• "Why do so many Americans support same-sex 'marriage'," R. Albert Mohler, Jr., Baptist Press
• "Obama's Unreasonable Abandonment of DOMA," Gerard V. Bradley, The Public Discourse

Human Life and Bioethics

Abortion

• "A Different Take on Black History Month in the Big Apple," Jeanne Monahan, Family Research Council
• "Response to New York Times Erroneous Editorials on Women and Babies," Jeanne Monahan, Family Research Council
• "Dr. Bernard Nathanson and the Power of Love," Robert Morrison, Family Research Council
• "Now is the Time to End Taxpayer Funding of Abortion," Doug Johnson, The Public Discourse
• "CDC: Abortions Declined in 2007, Black Women Have Highest Rate," Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com
• "Roe to the Rescue?," Mark Rienzi, The Public Discourse
• "A "Truce" on Abortion and Marriage?," Hadley Arkes, The Catholic Thing
• "Abortion Developments: Two Views," Austin Ruse and Dorothy Warner, The Catholic Thing
• "A New Way to be Pro-Life," Eric Hurtgen, RELEVANT
• "Bernard N. Nathanson, M.D., & 'the Radiance of Truth,'" Kathryn Jean Lopez, Catholic Vote

Bioethics and Biotechnology

• "Human Breast Milk Ice Cream a Sign of Coup de Culture," Wesley J. Smith, Secondhand Smoke
• "Unethical Patent for Human Embryo Manipulation," Dr. David Prentice, Family Research Council
• "Combined molecular study techniques reveal more about DNA proteins," Physorg.com
• "'Savior Siblings' Start Us Down Harrowing Ethical Path," Wesley J. Smith, Secondhand Smoke

Cloning

• "Cloning Gadhafi?," Dr. David Prentice, Family Research Council
• "Cloner: Nuclear Transfer Cloning of No Practical Relevance," Dr. David Prentice, Family Research Council

Euthanasia and End of Life Issues

• "There's no reset button on state-sanctioned killing," Peter Stockland, The Calgary Herald
• "Many "Locked In" People Happy," Wesley J. Smith, Secondhand Smoke

Stem Cell Research

• "First Horse iPS Cells," Dr. David Prentice, Family Research Council
• "Adult Stem Cells Heal Burns, Hearts," Dr. David Prentice, Family Research Council

Women's Health

• "Women lured by cash for eggs often pay high cost to health," Cheryl Wetzstein, The Washington Times
• "Making the Connection: UNICEF and UNFPA," Lauren Funk, Turtle Bay and Beyond
• "Blurring Sexual Boundaries," Douglas Farrow, First Things

Marriage and Family

Adoption

• "Opening the books on adoption," Kim Ode, Minneapolis Star Tribune
• "A Healthy Reminder: Adopted People Are Americans Too," Adam Pertman, The Huffington Post
• "Arizona bill giving married couples priority in adoptions gets preliminary approval," Howard Fischer, East Valley Tribune

Family Economics

• "Fire Sales and the Financial Crisis," Vincent Reinhart, The American
• "On Income Inequality and the Question of Justice," Hunter Baker
• "Leveling Justice: Tax Code as Moral Code," Hunter Baker, The Acton Institute
• "The revival of localism," Marvin Olasky, WORLD Magazine
• "It's Never Just the Economy, Stupid," Brian T. Kennedy, Imprimis

Family Structure

• "A Rerum Novarum for Our Time," Patrick Fagan, Ph.D., The Catholic Thing
• "Crisis in the Black Community," Ken Blackwell and Robert Morrison, The Christian Post
• "Re:Discovering Marriage," Chad Glazener, The Examined Life
• "Nobody Gets Married Any More, Mister," Gerry Garibaldi, City Journal
• "What's the Point of Marriage?," Kevin and Karen Miller, RELEVANT
• "President Abandons Marriage," Editorial, The Washington Times
• "Polygamists Make their Move," Peter Heck, The American Thinker

Parental Rights

• "Abortion bill: Parents must be informed," John Distaso, The Union Leader
• "Planned Parenthood Attacks the Parental Rights Amendment," Michael Farris, Caffeinated Thoughts
• "Idaho lawmakers aim at Rights of Child pact," Jessie L. Bonner, Deseret News
• "Kansas House Committee OKs Abortion-Parental Rights Bill," Kathy Ostrowski, LifeNews.com

Media

Pornography

• "US appeals court upholds child porn sentence," Associated Press
• "US Administration's Complicity in Youth Prostitution Starts with Obama," Terrence McKeegan, Turtle Bay and Beyond

Internet

• "Artificial Intelligence and Agency," Jay Richards, The American
• "Technology, Politics, and War," Robinson O'Brien-Bours, The Ashbrook Center

Religion and Public Policy

Religious Liberty

• "Foster parent ban: 'no place' in the law for Christianity, High Court rules," Tim Ross, London Daily Telegraph
• "Religious freedom in America," David Briggs, Faith & Leadership

Religion in American Public Life

• "Catholic teaching's pro-union bias," Rev. Robert A. Sirico, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
• ""Napkin Theology" an Example of One Man Influencing Culture Creatively," Shawn McEvoy, Crosswalk
• "Q & A: Bobby Jindal on his Vision," Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Christianity Today
• "On Good and Evil," Dr. Glenn Sunshine, The Colson Center
• "Jim Wallis and the Dangers of Heresy ," Peter Wehner, Commentary Magazine
• "A New Manna," Brad Miner, The Catholic Thing
• "Religion in the Military," Peter Berger, The American Interest

Secularism

• "Forces of secularism stir in Que.: praying mayor served with cease-desist letter," Annie Mathieu, Winnipeg Free Press

International

Israel

• "U.S. Vetoes Anti-Israeli United Nations Resolution," Chris Gacek, Family Research Council
• "Goodbye to "Globalization"," Harold James and Matteo Albanese, Project Syndicate

Religious Persecution

• "Thriving Christianity ," Mark Tooley, The American Spectator
• "American Missionary from Bradenton Imprisoned in Haiti Since October," Bart Smelley, Charisma
• "Somali Pirates Kill Bible Distributors," Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Christianity Today

Sharia law -- U.S., foreign

• "Can Egypt Be Turkey?," Jenny White, 3QuarksDaily
• "Urban poverty and support for Islamist terror," Michael Mousseau, Journal of Peace Research
• "Tending a tinderbox," Mindy Belz, WORLD Magazine

The Courts

Constitutional Issues

• "Throwing in the Towel on the Constitution," Jonah Goldberg, National Review Online
• "An Originalist Congress?," Joel Alicea, National Affairs
• "Obama, DOMA, and Constitutional Responsibility," Matthew Franck, The Public Discourse
• "High Court Rules in Favor of Funeral Protesters," Brent Kendall, The Wall Street Journal
• "Regulating 'Mental Activity'," The Wall Street Journal

Judicial Activism

• "The Value of an Active Judiciary," Brian Garst, Big Government
• "Judicial Abdication, Not Activism, is the Real Problem in the Courts," Jason Adkins, Townhall
• "They're playing games, literally, in the Justice Department," Editorial, The Washington Examiner
• "Law School and Leftist Orthodoxy," Walter Olson, Commentary Magazine

Other News of Note

• "Staggering Level of Drug Violence in Mexico," Chris Gacek, Family Research Council
• "Fighting For The Right," Pete Spiliakos, The Ashbrook Center
• "Thucydides Hates "Realists"," Walter Russell Mead, Via Meadia
• "The Progressive Disdain for the Rule of Law," Andrew Thomas, The American Thinker
• "Free-market Beer Backfire: Lessons to Be Learned from Reagan-era Government Cuts," Gale A. Norton, The Washington Times
• "Christianity at the movies," Janie B. Cheaney, WORLD Magazine
• "The Original American Idol," John R. Miller, The Wall Street Journal
• "Aliens? Be Not Afraid," Joseph Wood, The Catholic Thing

Book reviews

• "The Limits of Renewal: The Hunger Games," Rebecca Card Hyatt, The Examined Life
• "Unions and Catholic Social Teaching," Louie Glinzak, The Acton Institute
• "God's Century: Resurgent Religion and Global Politics," G. John Ikenberry, Foreign Affairs
• "The American Cause," Theorist D, Crystal Clear Conservative
• "Live Free or Die," Arthur C. Brooks, Claremont Review of Books
• "Our Kind of Guy," Jonathan Alter, Claremont Review of Books