The Social Conservative Review: May 23, 2013

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Dear Friends,

Earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to determine whether or not prayers can be offered at government meetings (local, state, and federal). The act of prayer being offered at the beginning of official government meetings is as old as the Republic, and as important as ever.

On January 8, 2013, FRC submitted an amicus brief on behalf of 49 Members of Congress supporting the Alliance Defending Freedom's petition to the U.S. Supreme Court in the case, Town of Greece v. Galloway. In Galloway, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that public prayer before town meetings in Greece, N.Y. was an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment. The Second Circuit court ruled this despite the town's highly inclusive policy that allowed even practicing Wiccans and atheists to offer civic prayers.

According to FRC's Ken Klukowski, "It is likely that the town of Greece will prevail before the U.S. Supreme Court in this case, and a victory for them will be a victory for all Americans of faith and for the Constitution itself."

Let's pray that Ken's prediction holds true: That God would work in the hearts and minds of our Justices such that one more ridiculous attack on our religious liberty will enter the dustbin of bad ideas, and that the right to pray to our Creator will not be diminished in an era so desperately needing His help.

Sincerely,

Rob Schwarzwalder
Senior Vice President
Family Research Council

P.S. Be sure to watch FRC's latest webcast, "Inhuman: Undercover in America's Late-term Abortion Industry."

Educational Freedom and Reform
Homeschooling

• "Homeschoolers Seen as Threat to the Nation," Touchstone Magazine
• "Appeals court denies homeschooling family's asylum claim," WORLD Magazine
• "Home schooling tripping up education reform," The Shreveport Times

Legislation and Policy Proposals

• "The Real Crisis in Higher Education," Qideas
• "Does Expanding School Choice Increase Segregation?," EducationNext
• "Digital Trends Shifting the Role of Teachers," Education Week
• "Utah Republicans Pass Anti-Common Core Resolution," The Truth in American Education
• "Choices and Challenges: Charter School Performance in Perspective," Thomas B. Fordham Institute

College Debt

• "Get Government Out of Student-Debt Business," The Center for Vision and Values
• "The Looming Student Loan Crisis," The American
• "Seeking solutions to the student aid mess," CBS News
• "Paying For College By Selling Yourself," The Acton Institute
• "Obama and Elizabeth Warren Feed the College Beast," Via Meadia

Government Reform
Regulation

• "Texas Remains Wary of Burdensome Regulation," Reason.com
• "Food Bans: Put Government Regulations on the Right Diet," The Christian Post
• "Cybersecurity: Government Regulations Can't Keep Up," The Heritage Foundation
• "Big Government Loses Control," The Wall Street Journal

Waste/Fraud/Abuse

• "Government waste adds up: 45,000 empty government-owned buildings, $800,000 on bottled water," NewsChannel 5
• "Government Should Run Like a Business--but Not in the Way You Think," The Atlantic
• "Fix IRS by shutting it 'once and for all'," The Washington Times
• "Multiculti U.," City Journal

Health Care
Abstinence

• "Shut Up, Or You'll Kill Eros," The American Conservative
• "Talking Abstinence With Your Teen," ThrivingFamily.com

Health care reform: Political and Legislative efforts

• "A Prescription for Medicaid," National Affairs
• "Was Jesus religious enough for HHS mandate?," Patheos.com
• "Applying for ObamaCare: Still Not Simple," The Galen Institute
• "Chicago-Area Ready-Mix Concrete Company Files Federal Lawsuit vs. Obamacare," Thomas More Society
• "More Labor Unions Bail on ObamaCare," Townhall.com
• "As Obamacare Draws Near, Lawsuits Against IRS May Exempt Millions," Forbes
• "Under ObamaCare, IRS Is Creating Chaos For Doctors, Patients," Investors Business Daily
• "An Early Sign of Obamacare's Impending Collapse?," Via Meadia

Homosexuality

• "Gay marriage could stop Christians becoming teachers or doctors - church leaders," The Telegraph
• "Engaging Gay Activists on Campus: A Primer," Intercollegiate Review
• "In Belize, Global "Gay" Movement's Legal Roadshow Comes to Town," Turtle Bay and Beyond
• "Same-Sex Marriage and the Inevitable Collapse of Culture," Religion Today
• "'I want gay marriage but I also think marriage shouldn't exist at all'," The Iona Institute
• "38,000 signatures against same sex 'marriage' delivered to Estonian parliament," LifeSiteNews

Human Life and Bioethics
Abortion

• "Unborn Victims of Violence Act Used in Tampa," Family Research Council
• "Can't afford an abortion? Lie to a friend or family member to get their money or take on credit card debt.," Family Research Council
• "Did They Believe in Birth Control?," Patheos.com
• "Kermit Gosnell: Epiphany for Birthers?," The Public Discourse
• "Planned Parenthood and Big Abortion: Unpretty in Pink," Alliance Defending Freedom
• "Congress Receives Irrefutable Evidence of IRS Harassment of Pro-Life Organizations," Thomas More Society
• "European court pursues a 'stealth' mission regarding abortion and euthanasia," The Iona Institute
• "Why Don't Women in the Developing World Use Contraceptives? It's Not Lack of Access," Turtle Bay and Beyond
• "The oxymoron of "safe" abortions," Live Action
• "Planned Parenthood Sees Record High Abortions, Taxpayer Funding," LifeNews.com
• "Dems look to crack down on anti-abortion 'crisis pregnancy centers'," The Hill

Bioethics and Biotechnology

• "Survival of Extremely Premature Infants Possible, Improving," Charlotte Lozier Institute
• "Ball State Will Investigate Course on 'Boundaries of Science'," Christianity Today
• "9 Things You Should Know About Human Cloning," The Gospel Coalition

Euthanasia and End of Life Issues

• "All the Lonely People," New York Times
• "Vermont Assisted Suicide Bill: Vermont Gives Euthanasia the Green Light," PolicyMic.com
• "How Not to Die," The Atlantic

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.

• "Mapping a route to stem cell therapies," Phys.org
• "Beware of stem cell therapy claims," USA Today
• "Embryonic stem cells from cloned human embryos -- six reasons for caution," LifeSiteNews.com

Human Trafficking

• "Sex trafficking: Christians called to be modern-day abolitionists," Baptist Press
• "Backpage.com and Village Voice Call it Quits," Shared Hope International
• "Helping Victims of Human Trafficking Escape Abuse," Fox 40

Marriage and Family
Adoption

• "Adoption--A Beautiful Choice," Family Research Council
• "Orphans, families in agonizing limbo," The Los Angeles Times
• "Americans need to adopt new attitude toward adoption," The Kennebec Journal
• "Christian Adoption: Disavowals and Affirmations," Desiring God

Family Economics

• "Conservatives and the Non-Triumph of Capitalism," The Public Discourse
• "Recasting Conservative Economics," National Affairs
• "Study: Christians Who Tithe Have Healthier Finances," The Gospel Coalition
• "Rent and Regulations are a Household's Greatest Expenses," The Acton Institute
• "Respecting, Not Worshipping, Free Markets," Values and Capitalism
• "What Is Flourishing?," Institute for Faith, Work, and Economics
• "Why Suburban Poverty Is Less Visible and More Insidious," The Atlantic
• "Jobs Jobs Jobs," Via Meadia

Family Structure

• "Justice and the Marriage Debate," The Public Discourse
• "What's Wrong with "Family Values"," First Things
• "Why French Kids Don't Have ADHD," Psychology Today
• "Desperate for Their MRS. Degrees," Christianity Today
• "A Mom is a Mom (and Not a Dad)," The Gospel Coalition
• "Polygamy and DOMA," Salt Lake Tribune

Media
Pornography

• "Porn & A Culture Of Consent," The American Conservative
• "Pornography risks should be taught to children as young as five, say parents," The Guardian
• "The Ethics of Extreme Porn: Is Some Sex Wrong Even Among Consenting Adults?," The Atlantic

Internet

• "Search Me, O God," First Things
• "Technology, Decline, & Our Brains," The American Conservative

Religion and Public Policy
Religious Liberty

• "The Difference Between Evangelization and Proselytization," First Things
• "Freedom of the Church Without Romance," PrawfsBlawg
• "Supreme Court will rule on prayer at government meetings," USA Today
• "State Department Splits with USCIRF on New Religious Freedom Violators," Christianity Today
• "Oregon church wins appeal to build new sanctuary," The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
• "Religious Liberty Restored for Montana's Disabled Children of Faith," 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.

• "Salvation by Technique," First Things
• "How Missionaries Are Changing Medicine," Christianity Today
• "Why the Rising Social Awareness in the Church Should Encourage Us," The Gospel Coalition
• "Prayer as Politics?," Qideas
• ""How the West Really Lost God"," The Catholic Thing
• "Sticky faith," The Christian Century

Secularism

• "For Most Atheists, Atheism is a Lifestyle Choice," American Orthodox Institute
• "Want to Talk to Non-Christians? Six Tips from an Atheist," Qideas

International
Israel

• "Minister: France in talks with US, Israel to buy drones," YNetNews.com
• "The Iranian elections don't matter. Here's what does.," AEIdeas.org
• "Israel: Triumph of Resilience," The American Thinker
• "NGOs vs. those who serve Israel," CarolineGlick.com

International Economy and Family

• "Francis' Address to New Ambassadors," Zenit
• "Time to cherish all families of the nation equally," The Irish Times
• "President Obama, Bangladesh Has Faced Enough Tragedy, Don't Take Away Jobs, Too," The Heritage Foundation

Religious Persecution

• "The Precarious Position of Christians in the Holy Land," First Things
• "Nigeria Declares Emergency Rule as Christians Debate Amnesty for Boko Haram Islamists," Christianity Today
• "State Dept. Report Says Countries Have Repressed Religious Freedom With Laws," New York Times
• "Christianity in the Middle East on Brink of Extinction," Religion Today

The Courts
Constitutional Issues

• "Obama Administration Says Universities Must Implement Broad Speech Codes," The FedSoc Blog
• "Shutting down corporate speech in name of social justice?," The Tampa Tribune
• "Supreme Court to hear public prayer case," WORLD Magazine

Other News of Note

• "Catholic politicians and the (apparent) JFK defence," The Iona Institute
• "A Bumper Crop of Food Stamps," The Heritage Foundation
• "The Effort to Disappear Benghazi," National Review Online

Book reviews

• "Divine Rehab," Christianity Today
• "Reviewed: Edmund Burke: Philosopher, Politician, Prophet by Jesse Norman," The New Statesman
• "New Book Details How the Federalist Society Shifted the Legal and Policy Landscape of America," The FedSoc Blog
• "The Baby In The Well," The New Yorker
• "Courtiers," Claremont Review of Books
• "Serving Without Sinking," Challies.com