Family Research Council

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Dear Friends,

Orthodox Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein has written a startling column on Patheos.com called, "Are Christians the New Jews?" Consider these words:

Even where Jews were tolerated, they were treated as the refuse of mankind ... Today, Christians--especially those who take their faith most seriously--report that they feel like a scorned stepchild within general culture. They are mocked and derided, and treated as intellectual pygmies who have nothing to offer the better, more enlightened people around them.

The Rabbi's perceptive comments reflect the growing sense among many American Christians that the collaboration of social and governmental forces working to diminish religious liberty is becoming stronger and more purposeful. We are not facing the physical persecution so many believers experience around the world, but rather its precursors: cultural isolation, political marginalization, and a general stereotyping that would be unacceptable were it directed toward virtually any other self-identified community.

Where does this leave us? Do we retreat into the quiet precincts of home and church, reducing our faith to an innocuous pietism, hoping that the forces that disdain us will leave us alone if only we keep to ourselves? Or do we face the reality that aggressive evil has an all-consuming appetite, and continue to labor "with grace and truth," both, for our God-given rights and hard won liberties, not only for ourselves but for all of our fellow citizens?

Readers of The Social Conservative Review know what my answer to that question is, as it reflects their own. Cowardice and complacency are not part of the Gospel. Thanks for standing, bravely and for right.

Sincerely,

Rob Schwarzwalder
Senior Vice President
Family Research Council

P.S. Be sure to sign FRC's petition to the Boy Scouts of America in which we urge the Scouts to "show character and courage in the face of adversity."

Educational Freedom and Reform
Homeschooling

• "German Homeschool Case May Impact U.S. Homeschool Freedom," Home School Legal Defense Association
• "Protecting Homeschooling = Fighting for Liberty & Battling Indoctrination," Smart Girl Politics Action
• "Conn. Bill to Require Homeschoolers to Undergo Behavioral Health Assessments," The Christian Post

Legislation and Policy Proposals

• "Indiana Senate Passes Anti-Common Core Bill," The Truth in American Education
• "A brief defense of school vouchers," AEIdeas.org
• "School Choice in the Time of Calvin Coolidge," The Foundry
• "A head start on another federal failure," The Tribune-Review
• "Putting Charter School Conspiracy Theories to Rest," EducationNext
• "Busting Bureaucracy and the Beginner's Mind," Education Week
• "The Arcane Rules That Keep Low-Income Kids Out of College," The Atlantic

College Debt

• "The Ph.D Bust: America's Awful Market for Young Scientists--in 7 Charts," The Atlantic
• "More wiggle room for student-loan debt?," Market Watch
• "The End of the University as We Know It," The American Interest
• "College Students In Danger of Credit Debt," The News Record

Government Reform
Regulation

• "Why All Your Impressions of Detroit Are Wrong," This is Our City
• "California: A High-Revenue, Low-Services State," Bloomberg
• "Salt Lake County Legalizes Kids' Lemonade Stands and Eliminates Dozens of Silly Licensing Restrictions," Institute for Justice
• "Is America the Federal Government?," The Acton Institute
• "The California tax that terrifies tech," CNN

Waste/Fraud/Abuse

• "Insolvency, U.S.A.," The American Spectator
• "The Spendaholics' Offensive," The Center for Vision and Values
• "A Business Perspective on the Federal Debt," The American

Health Care
Abstinence

• "College Hosts Sex, Masturbation Tutorial - Inside A Church," The College Fix
• "God Didn't Make Our Bodies Only for Sex," her.meneutics
• "Rural Teens at High Risk for Pregnancy," Religion Today

Health care reform: Political and Legislative efforts

• "Fewer Americans Getting Health Insurance From Employer," Gallup
• "5 ways to improve Obamacare," AEIdeas.org
• "A Mandate Update," The Catholic Thing
• "Why We Can't Just "Lighten Up" Over the HHS Mandate," The Public Discourse
• "Study: Young adults will pay more for insurance under health reform," Insurance & Financial Advisor
• "Yale Considers Covering Sex Change Surgery," The College Fix
• "Obamacare's Grave Threat to Labor Unions," The Washington Examiner

Homosexuality

• "The Southern Poverty Law Center and Violent Bullying," The Christian Post
• ""The Time To Act Is Now" On LGBT Job Bias Order, Liberal Groups Tell Obama," BuzzFeed.com
• "Marriage Equality Is a Conservative Cause," The American Conservative
• "Hundreds of thousands march in Puerto Rico against gay rights," RT.com
• "G. K. Chesterton: It's Not Gay, and It's Not Marriage," Crisis Magazine
• "Morning Bell: Obama Administration vs. the Law on Same-Sex Marriage," The Heritage Foundation

Human Life and Bioethics
Abortion

• "Putting Fat on the Bones: Good News From the States," Religion Today
• "Two More Iowa Planned Parenthood Locations to CLOSE!," Caffeinated Thoughts
• "The Truth (About Abortion) Will Set You Free," DesiringGod
• "Aggressive Incrementalism: A Winning Strategy for Pro-Lifers," First Things
• "Abortion: Fear of Life as a Pretense of Wisdom," Intercollegiate Review
• "Use of Morning-After Pill Is Rising, Report Says," New York Times
• "Direct Killing as Intentional Killing," The Public Discourse
• "Aggressive Incrementalism: A Winning Strategy for Pro-Lifers," First Things
• "Abortion On Demand Violates European Human Rights Convention, Expert Says," Turtle Bay and Beyond

Bioethics and Biotechnology

• "Who Am I? The Building of Bionic Man," The Public Discourse
• "An awful loss, a beautiful life, a daunting task," The Washington Examiner

Euthanasia and End of Life Issues

• "Death Panel Advocacy on This Week," National Review Online
• "Belgium debates euthanasia for minors," Business Standard
• "Euthanasia's Euphemisms," First Things

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.

• "Flipping the 'off' switch on cell growth," Phys.org
• "Parasitology: Rejuvenation through stem cells," Nature
• "Scientists Explore Stem Cells to Treat Diabetic Blindness," Voice of America
• "Senate panel passes stem cell legislation," The Capital Journal

Human Trafficking

• "Wyoming Human Trafficking Ban To Become Law Next Week," The Huffington Post
• "To Fight Sex Trafficking, Fight the Ideology That Creates It, Expert Says," The Christian Post
• "Anti-human-trafficking efforts gain momentum," USA Today

Marriage and Family
Adoption

• "A Heart for Adoption," Tabletalk Magazine
• "Adopting? Prepare to Be Surprised.," The Wall Street Journal
• "Adoption Law: New Rulings By The European Court Of Human Rights And The German Federal Constitutional Court," Turtle Bay and Beyond

Family Economics

• "A Christian Approach to Economic Uncertainty," The Institute for Faith, Work, and Economics
• "Socrates and the minimum wage," AEIdeas.org
• "The Image of God and the Dignity of Work," The Acton Institute
• "From Aid To Enterprise: How To Intelligently Cure Poverty," Forbes
• "Obscuring obvious overspending," WORLD Magazine
• "California Becoming Less Family-Friendly," New Geography

Family Structure

• "How to Stop the Bullies," The Atlantic
• "Conservatives and Obama agree on the value of fathers," The Star-Telegram
• "Where Have All the Babies Gone?," The Daily Beast
• "Check Your Blind Spot: What Is Marriage?," The Public Discourse
• "Black Marriage Matters," The Acton Institute
• "Why the Afterlife Bores Us," Moore to the Point
• ""Various Forms Of The Family" Unnecessary In UN Resolutions," Turtle Bay and Beyond

Media
Pornography

• "Study: Watching Pornography Increases Support for Adultery and Same-Sex Marriage," The Gospel Coalition
• "Tech Safety Tips: SNAPCHAT App Warning," PornHarms.com

Internet

• "Obama's Social-Media Gamble," The Daily Beast
• "A Social Media Heart Check," Challies.com

Religion and Public Policy
Religious Liberty

• "Obama Admin. 'Most Hostile' to Religious Freedom in US History, Says Expert," The Christian Post
• "NBC Declares War on Christians," Human Events
• "Arkansas House Passes Bible Electives Measure," Liberty News
• "Rick Warren advocates religious liberty for all," Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission
• "For-Profit Businesses Have Right to Religious Liberty Too, Lawmakers Tell Court in Hobby Lobby Case," RedAlertPolitics
• "In Many States, Opponents Are Ramping Up The Legal Assault On Children," Alliance Defending Freedom

Religion in America
Check out Dr. Kenyn Cureton's feature on Watchmen Pastors called "The Lost Episodes," featuring how religion has had an impact on our Founding Fathers.

• "The Differences (Or Lack Thereof) Between Young Protestant and Catholic Prodigals," Christianity Today
• "Evangelicals in Political Society," Values and Capitalism
• "WPost: Yes, we fear and loathe religious traditionalists," GetReligion
• "The Prisons of Scientology," The Catholic Thing
• "The God-Driven Family Vs. the Money-Driven Family," Patheos

Secularism

• "Scholars seek to reclaim a dirty word: secularism," Religion News Service
• "How pastors can inadvertently fuel the sacred/secular divide," Jeff Haanen
• "Atheist Group Formed at Christian University Seeking Official Recognition," Christian News Network

International
Israel

• "Israel: Iran closer than ever to nuclear bomb," France 24
• "Arab Filmmakers to Celebrate Genocide," Commentary Magazine
• "US government funding radical Israeli NGOs' information operations," Caroline Glick

International Economy and Family

• "The myth of disappearing Lebanese Christians," MercatorNet
• ""Talibans of Austerity"," Crisis Magazine
• "Euro-Zone Economy to Shrink in 2013," The Wall Street Journal
• "Is America Becoming Europe? A Whiteboard," The Acton Institute

Religious Persecution

• "What Will Kerry Do About Christian Persecution in China?," The Huffington Post
• "How China Plans to Wipe Out House Churches," Christianity Today
• "Religious Persecution and Safe Havens," Commentary Magazine

The Courts
Constitutional Issues

• "Why Clarence Thomas Uses Simple Words in His Opinions," The Atlantic
• "How the Supreme Court Found the Wall," First Things
• "Primer on Basic Constitutional Law for Some Police Superintendants," Touchstone Magazine

Other News of Note

• "Hurray for Washington!," The Independent Institute
• "Will President Obama Draft Julia?," Maggie Gallagher
• "Dangerous Liaisons: Sex and the Military in the Age of Obama," The American Thinker
• "The Fading Conservative Brand," The American Conservative
• "'The cavalry is not coming'," WORLD Magazine

Book Reviews

• "Five Take-Aways From Whole Foods CEO John Mackey's Surprising New Book," Values and Capitalism
• "The End Is Clear," Touchstone Magazine
• "Lancelot And The Art Of Love," The Examined Life
• "The Great Agnostic," The Gospel Coalition
• "Nature's God," Claremont Review of Books