The Social Conservative Review: May 22, 2014

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Dear Friends:

Revealed truth is not adaptable to the preferences of culture or the demands of the elites.

God has revealed what He has chosen about Himself, His plan, and His standards. He is not looking for human approval or a favorable editorial in a secular publication.

Quite the contrary: Of the nations of the earth, David writes, "But You, O Lord, laugh at them; You hold all the nations in derision" (Psalm 58:8).

Here is what Isaiah says God thinks of human endorsement of Who He is and What He declares:

Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,

And are accounted as the dust on the scales;

Behold, He takes up the coastlands like fine dust ...

All the nations are as nothing before Him,

They are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness ...

(He) brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness. (Isaiah 40:15, 17, 23)

This truth is not "adaptable." It does not conform itself to the spirit of the age and the expressions of that spirit in opinion polls or the arguments of the self-anointed.

None of the Bible's truths are malleable. We accept and submit to them or find ourselves under God's judgment.

Sound harsh? Take it up with Jesus: "Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets" (Luke 6:26). He loves us immeasurably, which is why He became "sin for us" on the cross, taking the eternal punishment we deserve on our behalf (II Corinthians 5:21). He also is imponderably holy, and His standards of right and wrong are not defined by democratic consensus.

When the Left calls on Christians to accommodate to evil, whether related to human sexuality, marriage, the destruction of unborn human life, the commodification of women, conscience-violating federal law or whatever else, faithful believers will graciously but firmly say "no." For this immovable stand, we invariably will face difficult if not painful consequences.

Jesus did. He told His disciples that "no servant is greater than His master" (John 13:16), and He was crucified. The path of discipleship is the way of the cross, whether that means the loss of social position, professional attainment, family approval, or physical persecution, even death. In the power of God's Spirit, Christians need to get ready.

Sincerely,

Rob Schwarzwalder
Senior Vice President
Family Research Council

P.S. Do chastity and marriage still matter? Be sure to read the latest from Dr. Pat Fagan, head of FRC's Marriage and Religion Research Institute, on "Chastity, Monogamy, and Later Divorce."

Human Dignity and the Sanctity of Life
Abortion

• "A Mother's Womb: The Most Dangerous Place In The World For A Baby With Down Syndrome," Noah's Dad
• "Marco Rubio: That Life Begins at Conception is 'Settled Science'," The Christian Post
• "Abortion, Slavery, and Constitutional Meaning," The Public Discourse
• "Public Outrage At Recent Abortion Controversies Points To Pro-Life Momentum," The Daily Caller
• "The Media's Abortion Problem," The Federalist
• "Prenatal Testing and Abortion," Crisis Magazine

Euthanasia/End of Life Issues

• "Should Doctors Take Care of Their Relatives?," Slate
• "Child Euthanasia in the UK?," National Review Online
• "Why would a euthanasia practitioner tour Auschwitz?," MercatorNet

Stem Cells and Biotechnology

• "New Stem Cell Finding Bodes Well for Future Medical Use in Humans," Scientific American
• "Stem Cells Help Herpes Kill Brain Tumors," Nature World News
• "First test of pluripotent stem cell therapy in monkeys is a success," Phys.org

Marriage & Family
Common Core

• "How Far School Choice Policies Have Come in Two Decades," The Foundry
• "Common Core: Obamacare for Education," The American Spectator
• "Jealous: 60 years later, education inequities remain," USA Today

Family Life

• "How the student loan debt bubble hurts the poor," Hot Air
• "Don't Let That Kid Out Of Your Sight: Taking Helicopter Parenting To A New Level," The Acton Institute
• "Focused on Kids, But Not on Marriage," Family Studies
• "A happy marriage is simple," MercatorNet

Human Sexuality

• "How Not to Talk to Your Kids About Sexuality," The Christian Post
• "The Trauma of Abuse and the Blessing of Repentance," The Gospel Coalition

Homosexuality and Same-Sex "Marriage"

• "Premature Talk of Surrender on Same-Sex Marriage," The Public Discourse
• "How to Win Millennials: Equality, Climate Change, and Gay Marriage," The Atlantic
• "On Gay Adoption, S.E. Cupp is Out to Lunch," The American Thinker

Pornography

• "'Pornland' Author: Pornography Is a 'Public Health Crisis'," The Christian Post
• "Coalition highlights harms of pornography," The Washington Times
• "The Truth Behind the Fantasy of Porn (From Former Porn Actress)," CBN

Human trafficking

• "Five Anti-Trafficking Bills Pass the House," Family Research Council
• "Tangled Immigration Laws Impede Help For Trafficking Victims," The Acton Institute
• "Sold into sex slavery: Lawmakers work to end underground sex trafficking," CNN

Religious Liberty

• "Religious freedom is a fundamental human right," National Catholic Reporter
• "On Religious Liberty, Ben Sasse Has All The Right People Scared," The Federalist
• "Religious Freedom and Economic Liberty: Truly Indivisible," The Acton Institute
• "Does Prayer Decision Point to Victory on Veterans Memorials?," The Liberty Institute
• "Twas a Famous Victory," The Catholic Thing
• "To My Fellow Millennials: Christian Persecution is a Social Justice Issue," Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission
• "Marriage and Witness: What's Going on at Notre Dame?," The Public Discourse

Religion in Public Life

• "The Devil Went Down to Harvard," The Public Discourse
• "How Jesus's Work Influenced His Teaching," Institute for Faith, Work & Economics
• ""Heaven is for Real" and the Gospel of Life," The Center for Vision and Values

International Religious Liberty

• "The 8 worst places in the world to be religious," CNN
• "Sudan judge sentences Christian woman to death," Sydney Morning Herald
• "Religious Persecution: Our Silence is Deafening," The Christian Post

Other important articles

• "The Good of Government," First Things
• "Who Owns America?," The American Conservative
• "When Judges Talk to Politicians," The Library of Law and Liberty

Book Reviews

• "Why is Mansfield Park Jane Austen's Best Book?," Wuthering Expectations
• "The Gaying of America," The Catholic Thing
• "God and the Gay Christian," The Gospel Coalition