The Social Conservative Review: March 28, 2013

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Dear Friends,

Christianity teaches that all of us are born with a natural bent to do wrong and defy the God Who made us. "Indeed, I was guilty when I was born," writes the Psalmist; "I was sinful when my mother conceived me" (51:5). It is the curse of the fall that renders us incapable of redeeming ourselves and makes us wholly reliant on salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

Anglican theologian J.I. Packer explains it this way:

The phrase total depravity ... signifies a corruption of our moral and spiritual nature that is total not in degree (for no one is as bad as he or she might be) but in extent. It declares that no part of us is untouched by sin ... We cannot earn God's favor, no matter what we do; unless grace saves us, we are lost.

Sounds pretty hopeless, except for a truth that can transform us: Through faith in Christ, God offers us new life and eternal hope. This Easter, may that hope be renewed as you consider a great, glorious fact: He is risen indeed!

Sincerely,

Rob Schwarzwalder
Senior Vice-President
Family Research Council

P.S. This week's historic Supreme Court hearings on same-sex "marriage" have been covered carefully by FRC's team of top legal and policy experts, some of whom were in the Court during oral arguments. Get their first-hand takes on what happened by going to FRC's Website, www.frc.org.

P.P.S. Download, at no cost, FRC's new brochure on the battle for the Boy Scouts, and learn both what the stakes are and how you can help.

Educational Freedom and Reform
Homeschooling

• "Homeschooling and the Attack on Religious Freedom," Family Research Council
• "Homeschoolers Help Stop Raytown Daytime Curfew," Home School Legal Defense Association
• "Americans Warned: Home Schoolers Stripped of Rights," CBN News

Legislation and Policy Proposals

• "Accelerated Learning Would Add Trillions of Dollars in Wealth," The American
• "After Persepolis: Graphic Novels Challenged in the Classroom," Education Week
• "Accountability Dilemmas," EducationNext
• "Why Changing The GED To Incorporate Common Core Worries Adult Educators," NPR

College Debt

• "Imagine No College Debt (It Isn't Hard to Do)," The Atlantic
• "No more student loan debt at College of the Ozarks," The Deseret News
• "Real World Impacts of Growing Student Loan Debt," Fox Business
• "How Do Schools Stack Up?," The Wall Street Journal
• "Student Loan Write-Offs Hit $3 Billion in First Two Months of 2013," The College Fix

Government Reform
Regulation

• "Has government regulation slowed the recovery?," Tampa Bay Times
• "Government by regulation," The Washington Times

Waste/Fraud/Abuse

• "Ridiculous government waste," The Hill
• "Fiscal hawks say government waste, unspent funds could offset sequester," Fox News
• "Kansas legislation would create redundant agency to cut government waste," KansasWatchdog.org

Health Care
Abstinence

• "Sex education 'should promote value of abstinence'," The Telegraph
• "Abstinence added to sex-ed legislation by State Senators; House needs to reconsider the bill," The Denver Channel
• "Hooking kids on sex: Start "saturation process" in kindergarten," The Washington Times

Health care reform: Political and Legislative efforts

• "'Not One Dime': Health Care Law Projected to Add $6.2 Trillion to U.S. Deficit," The American
• "Tennessee Gov. undecided on Medicaid expansion," The Galen Institute
• "Why Health Care Needs Attention from Republicans," The Houston Chronicle
• "Health Care and Republican Governors," National Review Online
• "Happy Birthday, Obamacare!," The Library of Law and Liberty

Homosexuality
With the Supreme Court deciding on same-sex "marriage," read FRC's Peter Sprigg's blog posts on Defining Marriage.

• "Employment Non-Discrimination Act threatens free markets," CNN
• "Don't Do It, for the Kids," U.S. News and World Report
• "Morning Bell: The Marriage Debate Through a Child's Eyes," The Heritage Foundation
• "'Gay Marriage' and Religious Freedom Are Not Compatible," RedState
• "Same-Sex Marriage: We're Playing Chess, Not Checkers," The Public Discourse
• "Getting The Marriage Conversation Right," Catholic Stand
• "Religious Liberty and the Same-Sex Marriage Cases: the Arguments," The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
• "Young Opponents of Same-Sex Marriage Undaunted," New York Times

Human Life and Bioethics
Abortion

• "Mind-Boggling Abortion Statistics from China," Family Research Council
• "Washington to Force Abortion Insurance?," National Review Online
• "Abortion in France Gives Ireland the Benefit of Hindsight," Turtle Bay and Beyond
• "Abortion Advocates Handcuffed By Previous Agreement," C-FAM
• "MD Board of Physicians Refuses to Accept Complaints from 5,000 Citizens," Students for Life of America
• "New bill could drastically reduce number of abortion facilities in Texas," Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
• "North Dakota passes slew of pro-life bills, including heartbeat bill, ban on abortions for Down's," LifeSiteNews.com
• "China Admits to the Greatest Slaughter in Human History," The Gospel Coalition
• "Kansas Becomes Third State This Year to Pass Sweeping Pro-Life Laws," Liberty Counsel

Bioethics and Biotechnology

• "Health risks to egg donors ignored in 'new eugenics' consumerism," The Washington Post
• "Bill Gates offering up to $1 million for 'next-generation' condom," Fox News

Euthanasia and End of Life Issues

• "NICE's end of life decision making scheme: impact on population health," BMJ
• "Liberal Euthanasia Activists Redfining Sedation Into Killing," LifeNews.com
• "Euthanasia should be option for humans, too," The Daily Athenaeum

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.

• "Despite No Cures, Scientists Still Hype Embryonic Stem Cells," LifeNews.com
• "Stem cells use signal orientation to guide division, study shows," Phys.org

Human Trafficking

• "New Jersey's Human Trafficking Act Establishes Comprehensive Measures to Support Survivors and Stop Traffickers," The Polaris Project
• "Why the game's up for Sweden's sex trade," The Independent

Marriage and Family
Adoption

• "How Can a Lemonade Stand Change Someone's Life?," Bethany Christian Services
• "Adoption an elusive dream," Reading Eagle

Family Economics

• "What Tocqueville Knew," The Wall Street Journal
• "The Secret to Success for Social Entrepreneurs: Innovative Obedience?," Values and Capitalism
• "What Economics Can't Explain," The Acton Institute
• "What Principles Are Important for Human Flourishing?," Institute for Faith, Work, and Economics
• "The Trader Joe's Lesson: How to Pay a Living Wage and Still Make Money in Retail," The Atlantic
• "The Broken Trust of Money," New York Sun
• "Why do economists recommend college for its benefits but not marriage?," The Iona Institute

Family Structure

• "What I Stand For," Townhall.com
• "New Report: 48 Percent of First Children Born to Unwed Mothers," CNSNews.com
• "After Steubenville: 25 Things Our Sons need to know about Manhood," A Holy Experience
• "Holy Matrimony: The Unexpected Connection Between Religion & Sexual Fulfillment," Salvo Magazine
• "The Case for Getting Married Young," The Atlantic
• "We Don't Need to Redefine Marriage to Fix Policy Problems," The Public Discourse
• "Give working families a rest," The Briefing

Media
Pornography

• "Iceland, Pornography, and What Liberty Doesn't Mean," Evangelical Outpost
• "Kids are Victims in Our Culture of Pornography," PornHarms.com

Internet

• "The Touch-Screen Generation," The Atlantic
• "Facebook Turns Red as SCOTUS Marriage Equality Hearings Begin," Mashable

Religion and Public Policy
Religious Liberty

• "Professor Makes Students "Stomp on Jesus"," Fox News
• "Behind the Campaign to Smear the Pope," The Wall Street Journal
• "Our First Right: Religious Liberty," The Public Discourse
• "Two Cases Illustrate The Discriminations Facing People of Faith Today," Alliance Defending Freedom
• "Law Expanding Religious Liberty in Kentucky Gets Vetoed," Christianity Today
• "Liberty Institute Submits Public Comment About Growing Religious Hostility Trend to U.S. Civil Rights Commission," Liberty Institute

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.

• "Did Mainline Christianity Win in the End?," First Things
• "John F. Kerry's State Department Gets Religion," Touchstone Magazine
• "The Christian Fantasy," Intercollegiate Review
• "History Channel's 'Bible' Series Actually Teaching People--Especially Non-Christians," Christianity Today
• "What Shames Us," Challies.com
• "Why Christians Should Read Fiction," Moore to the Point

International
Israel

• "Obama's Middle East policy in tatters," USA Today
• "Regarding Israel's Aplogy to Turkey," FrontPageMag.com

International Economy and Family

• "Measuring Freedom around the World," The American
• "MF Global and the Cypriot Banking Crisis," The Center for Vision and Values

Religious Persecution

• "Seeking Refuge: Where Do The Persecuted Go?," Liberty Magazine
• "As crisis worsens, 4 million in Syria need humanitarian relief," Baptist Press

The Courts
Constitutional Issues

• "The Supreme Court v. Love and Marriage," Family Research Council
• "Property and the Regulatory State at the Supreme Court," The Public Discourse

Judicial Activism

• "Reforming the Law," The American
• "New York Times Tells Supreme Court Liberals to Go Narrow on Gay Marriage," American Thinker

Other News of Note

• "Diplomatic whirl," The Economist
• "Libertarianism for Social Conservatives," The American Conservative
• "True Happiness," The Center for Vision and Values

Book reviews

• "The Problem of Evil," The Gospel Coalition
• "The Wealth of Nations," Claremont Review of Books
• "Best Commentaries on John," Challies.com
• "On 'Radical' Christianity: My Latest for Christianity Today," Mere Orthodoxy