Dear Friends,
A few weeks ago, an event occurred on my morning commute to work that has stuck with me ever since. As I was exiting the metro car at my station stop, I noticed a man standing to the side of the door outside of the car, waiting for myself and other passengers to exit before entering. His head was turned to his right, angrily glowering at a woman who was also outside of the car waiting to get on. As I stepped out of the car, I overhead the woman say in a low, even, and slightly nervous tone, “You heard me.” I instantly knew that she must have just uttered an insult, and was doubling down on it.
As I walked out of the metro station, I felt a churning clump in the pit of my stomach and a tinge of shame warming my cheeks. It was the same feeling I always get when I witness one person maltreating another, or right after I myself have wronged another person and immediately realize it. Think of those times when we observe a bitter argument, with insults and vilifications flying in every direction, or even in smaller disparagements that go unanswered but are no less cutting and hurtful. That bitterness seems to hang in the air, taking on a metaphysical reality that can be clearly sensed by our God-given consciences. Since our conscience is built in to our souls and delineated by our minds, and since our personhood is a union of mind and body, it makes perfect sense that our bodies react this way. When we witness the sins of others or commit sin ourselves, they physically manifest in our bodies, leaving a pit in our stomach and a bruise in our heart.
I say all this to emphasize an important principle of Christianity: nothing we do in life occurs in a vacuum. Every action has consequences. This reality is often ignored and rejected in our culture of individualism. Somehow, the idea of “victimless crimes” has become an accepted fact. This is wrong—our burning cheeks and sensitive souls tell us otherwise. The fact that we identify ourselves primarily through relationships (as a son, daughter, wife, husband, member of an organization, etc.) underscores how interconnected we are with one another and why our actions affect those around us so intimately. May we always remember that great adage that the character of Maximus instills in his soldiers in the film Gladiator: “What we do in life, echoes in eternity.”
Thank you for your prayers and for your continued support of FRC and the family.
Sincerely,
Dan Hart
Managing Editor for Publications
Family Research Council
FRC Articles
GOP religious freedom bill restores free speech, not 'dark money' – Mandi Ancalle
Counterpoint: Trump — Destroying the Johnson Amendment – Travis Weber
Motherhood is Life-Giving – Dan Hart
Questions Abound Regarding Air Force Academy Commandant Nominee – Peter Sprigg
Yes, Trump’s HHS Appointee Charmaine Yoest is Pro-Life. Deal With It – Dan Hart
Religious Liberty
"Free to Believe"
Geologist Denied Samples from Grand Canyon Because of His Faith – CBN News
Professor Tells Student to Stop Reading Bible – ToddStarnes.com
Christian Firefighter, Axed for Sharing His Faith, Now Heading to WA High Court – Mark Martin, CBN News
Victory! Teacher fired for giving student a Bible -- gets job back – Todd Starnes, Fox News
International Religious Freedom
Global Persecution Rises for First Time in Three Years – Medium
‘Under Caesar’s Sword’: A Project to Aid Persecuted Christians – Jim Graves, National Catholic Register
The Land Of Athanasius and Its Lessons – Charles J. Chaput, First Things
Persecution of Christians isn't rare – Franklin Graham, USA Today
Catholic School Faces LGBT Backlash for Canceling Gender Show for 5-year-olds – ToddStarnes.com
Sentencing is a stark reminder of the global Islamist threat – Mischel Yosick, American Islamic Forum for Democracy
Whoever Wins Iran's Election, Its Religious Minorities Lose – Kristina Arriaga, Wall Street Journal
Human rights lawyer unjustly tried for subversion in Hunan, pleads guilty after months of torture – ChinaAid
Military Religious Freedom
Trump’s Army Secretary nominee: The left trying to ‘paint me as a hater’ for my Christian views – Peter LaBarbera, LifeSiteNews
Religious Liberty in the Public Square
Religious Liberty and the Common Good – Gerard V. Bradley, Public Discourse
Gay couple can sue Kim Davis for damages, appeals court rules – Lianne Laurence, LifeSiteNews
Christians Fight for Freedom of Conscience in Indiana – Peter Heck, The Christian Post
Bible club for 1st-, 2nd-graders shut down by school district after complaint – Dave Urbanski, TheBlaze
‘Catholic’ college bans Chick-fil-A over gay students’ complaints – Peter LaBarbera, LifeSiteNews
Life
Abortion
The Problem With Linking Abortion and Economics – Lori Szala, The New York Times
Left Wants To Make Abortion An Economic Issue To Sideline Its Atrocities – Cullen Herout, The Federalist
The Real Life of the Pro-Life Home – Rachel Jankovic, Desiring God
Thaddeus was almost aborted because of a rare disorder. His parents chose life, and saw a miracle – Doug Mainwaring, LifeSiteNews
Adoption
Children Before Politics – Kevin D. Williamson, National Review
Bill protecting the religious freedom of Alabama faith-based adoption agencies officially becomes law – Jordan LaPorta, Yellowhammer
Emotional Video of Adopted Man Thanking His Birth Mother Goes Viral – Steven Ertelt, Life News
Bioethics
Sex Scandal: The Drive to Abolish Male and Female—and Childbearing – Alastair Roberts, The Gospel Coalition
The Embryo Orphanage: A Cautionary Tale – Ana Maria Dumitru, Public Discourse
Physician-Assisted Suicide Tells People Like Me That Our Lives Are No Longer Worth Living – Zachary D. Schmoll, Public Discourse
Canada Considering Proposal to Allow Euthanizing Mentally Ill Patients – Eric Metaxas, Life News
International furor erupts over embryo jewelry business – Samantha Gobba, WORLD
Obamacare
Aetna to exit Obamacare exchanges in 2 remaining states – Reuters
The House Has Passed Its Health Care Bill. Here’s What Senate Republicans Are Up To. – Sen. Mike Lee, The Daily Signal
Family
Economics/Education
The Decline of Mobility and the Decline of the Family – Robert VerBruggen, Family Studies
The Men Who Take 'Women's' Jobs – Alana Semuels, The Atlantic
Hidden horror of school sex assaults revealed by AP – Associated Press
Marriage
The Norm of Marital Monogamy Is Not Crumbling – Alan J. Hawkins, Family Studies
Stuffing Emotions is a False Way to Keep the Peace in Your Marriage – Lysa TerKeurst, Focus on the Family
What Makes Motherhood Worthwhile? – Rhonda Kruse Nordin, Family Studies
Video: Reclaiming Fatherhood Promotes Equality – The Wheatley Institution
The Brain Boosting Power of Motherhood – Ashley McGuire, Family Studies
What our stay-at-home mom taught us about human dignity – Jill Waggoner and Allison Hucks, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission
Faith/Character/Culture
Breaking Free From Identity Politics – Stephen Adubato, Ethika Politika
The real tragedy in the shooting of Jordan Edwards – Jemar Tisby, CNN
Historian George Marsden revisits C.S. Lewis’s remarkable case for 'Mere Christianity' – Richard Ostling, GetReligion
How to Take Every Thought Captive – Rob Schwarzwalder, The Stream
Human Sexuality
4 Really good reasons ‘hooking up’ is a bad idea – Chloe Mooradian, Aleteia
How Can You Live Without Sex? – Ed Shaw, The Gospel Coalition
Democrats introduce bill to ban LGBT ‘conversion’ therapy – Steve Weatherbe, LifeSiteNews
Sharing Dinner and Jesus with Strippers – Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra, The Gospel Coalition
How Conversion Therapy Bans Will Trap Transgender Children – Marcus Gregory, The Federalist
Too young to cross a street but old enough for a sex change – Julie Borg, WORLD
Researchers Identify 6,500 Genes That Are Expressed Differently in Men and Women – Weizmann Wonder Wander
Pornography
4 Dozen Millennials Were Asked If They’d Watch Porn With Their Partner—Here’s What They Said – Fight the New Drug
Is Porn OK If It’s Made by Women? – Chelsea Samelson, Acculturated
