Christianity Today has assembled a thoughtful collection of observations by Evangelical leaders on the tragic death of Eric Garner. Take a few moments and read through it. Probably no one will agree with everything each of the contributors has written, but surely we can all agree that the Body of Christ must more actively pursue racial reconciliation.
Paul the apostle teaches us that God “made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth” (Acts 17:26). Faithful Christians believe this, and at FRC we have long affirmed it; most Christians I know practice it. At my racially diverse suburban church, I’ve seen wonderful evidence of how people of “every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” (Revelation 7:9) can serve the living King together with joy.
But the pain of the African-American community concerning the deaths of Eric Garner and, earlier, Michael Brown, is palpable. The wise words of Lifeway’s Ed Stetzer capture the point well: “I wasn't in the grand jury room, and I don't know the evidence, but many godly African American leaders are hurting and they are explaining why. I think we should listen to them.”
Sincerely,
Rob Schwarzwalder
Senior Vice-President
Family Research Council
P.S. Listen to FRC President Tony Perkins’ interview with Bishop Harry Jackson, Senior Pastor at Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Maryland on the Bishop’s meetings and experience on the ground before and after the Ferguson Grand Jury decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson, and check out the racial roundtable dialogs hosted by Pastor Darrin Patrick (of The Journey church in St. Louis) for some probing thoughts about the church, race and reconciliation.
Education
- Legislation Lets States Cut Ties Between Common Core and Federal Grants – Daily Signal
- Common Core Has Significant Conflicts with Mission of Catholic Schools, Says Education Leader – Breitbart.com
- Analysis: Top 5 Reasons Common Core Has Been a Disaster – Christian Post
Human Dignity and the Sanctity of Life
Abortion
- Pro-life: Right policy. Good - and imperative – politics – LifeSiteNews.com
- Pro-life wave washes over midterms - Washington Times
- Unborn Black Lives Matter, Too - Crisis Magazine
- St. Louis Planned Parenthood Botches 27 Abortions in 5 Years, Another Woman Rushed to Hospital – LifeNews.com
- The Right to Life and a Culture of Marriage- National Review Online
- Map Tells Whether Obamacare Makes You Pay for Abortions in Your State - Daily Signal
- Controversial Oklahoma City-area abortion doctor is arrested after undercover investigation - The Oklahoman
- Rate Down: Pro-Abortion Types Will be Unhappy - National Review
Bioethics
- Sperm Donor, Life Partner – The Atlantic
- Bioengineering study finds two-cell mouse embryos already talking about their future - Physorg.com
- Shades of grey in the ethics of designer babies, Financial Times
- Egg Freezing and the Indentured Woman - Townhall
- Time for Commercially-Assisted Suicide?- National Review
- Fatherhood by Conscription: Nonconsensual Insemination and the Duty of Child Support - Georgia Law Review
Euthanasia
- Time for Commercially-Assisted Suicide? – National Review
- Euthanasia Doctors Tour the Inspiring Venue of Auschwitz - LifeNews
- Pope condemns euthanasia, calls for a new “human ecology” - Bioedge
Marriage & Family
Marriage
- Time to Challenge No Fault Divorce – First Things
- Good News About Relationships in America: Findings from a New, Large, Nationwide Survey – Public Discourse
- Rick Warren at the Vatican: “Be Winsome Under Attack” – RickWarren.org
- Does Marriage Make You Healthier? - Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
- Understanding the Effects of Marriage and Divorce of Financial Investments: The Role of Background Risk Sharing - Economic Inquiry
- Breaking Up is Hard to Do, Unless Everyone Else is Doing it Too: Social Network Effects on Divorce in a Longitudinal Sample – Social Forces
- Women and the Myth of Marriage Declining – American Thinker
- The Effects of Teenage Fatherhood on Young Adult Outcomes – Social science research
Homosexuality and Gender Issues
- Covenant and Conflict at Gordon College: College's president says the issues go deeper than "homosexual practice" – Christianity Today
- Don’t Say Gender When You Mean Sex - Crisis
- Why do we wildly over-estimate the proportion of gays and lesbians? - Conjugality
- Seven Things I Wish My Pastor Knew About My Homosexuality - Public Discourse
- Toys are more divided by gender now than they were 50 years ago – The Atlantic
Human Trafficking
- 5 Facts About Modern Slavery – ERLC
- Human Trafficking and Global Efforts to Abolish Slavery – Acton Institute
Pornography
- How the Normalization of Pornography Fuels the Rape Culture – The Gospel Coalition
- Pornography and Criminal Behavior and Attitudes Research – Porn Harms
- Are Pornography and Marriage Substitutes for Young Men? - Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
Religious Liberty
Domestic
- What’s at Stake in the Little Sisters of the Poor Case Against Obamacare – Breitbart
- ADF to 13,000+ school districts: First Amendment protects Christmas expression, Alliance Defending Freedom
- Legal Group: Repeal of D.C. Amendment Will Have ‘Severe Impact on Religious Liberty’, Christian News
- 10th Circuit to hear Christian universities’ challenge to abortion-pill mandate, Alliance Defending Freedom
- 3 Reasons Washington State Shouldn’t Come After Barronelle Stutzman’s Personal Assets, Alliance Defending Freedom
- Case against Richland florist who wouldn't provide flowers for gay wedding moves ahead, Puget Sound Business Journal
- In Defense of Religious Mediocrity – The Spectator
International
- Religious Hostilities Reach Six-Year High – Pew Research
- Four Iraqi Christian Kids Beheaded After Refusing to Convert to Islam, Telling ISIS Militants 'No, We Love Jesus' – Christian Post
- 9 Things I Wish Everyone Knew About the Persecution of Christians – On Faith
Other important articles
- Why I Left Feminism (Or, How Feminism Left Me) – The Federalist
- Poverty, the Rule of Law, and Human Flourishing – Public Discourse
- Adding to the Lies Obamacare Supporters have told Us – Spectator
- Culture and Achievement – City Journal
- In the Name of Progress – City Journal
- The Disaster of the Welfare State – Claremont
- A CRB (Claremont Review of Books) Discussion of Modern Liberalism's Origins – Claremont
- Why Religion Matters: The Impact of Religious Practice on Social Stability – Heritage.org
