The Social Conservative Review: June 5, 2014

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Dear Friends,

As summer approaches, our experts here at Family Research Council continue to produce valuable research on issues impacting faith, family and freedom. Here are some of our latest contributions to the public debate:

Marriage, Polygamy, and Religious Liberty: Peter Sprigg, FRC's Senior Fellow for Policy Studies, and Travis S. Weber, FRC's Director, Center for Religious Liberty, examine the "slippery slope" arguments used by conservatives on the redefinition of marriage as it relates to homosexual marriages and how it would further expand that definition.

FRC's Common Core Coalition Manager, Sarah Perry, has released three publications on the dangers of Common Core. Common Core State Standards examines FRC's position, which encompasses the lack of parental control over the quality of education, the impact of the costs on state and local governments, and the overreach by the Federal government. Additionally, we look at the impact of Common Core in Mathematics and English, Language Arts, and Literacy.

With the topic of legalizing marijuana being focused on in the media, FRC has released two publications examining the impact this would have on families. The Effects of Marijuana by Donal O' Mathuna looks at the impact marijuana usage has on the human body. My own Christian Faith and Marijuana Use looks at the impact of marijuana from a Judeo-Christian perspective.

Conservatives and the Constitution: The Political Imperative of Retaining our Allegiance to Constitutional Governance looks at how conservatism has been at the forefront of arguing for representative self-government and how it should be rooted in an accurate understanding of the Constitution.

Lastly, Arina Grossu, Director of FRC's Center for Human Dignity, provides insight on how unborn babies can feel pain by 20 weeks post-fertilization in her new publication, Fetal Pain.

Thank you for standing by FRC, as we continue to be in the frontlines of faith, family and freedom.

Sincerely,

Rob Schwarzwalder
Senior Vice President
Family Research Council

P.S. Don't miss our upcoming lectures in the month of June by visiting our events page. Join us here at FRC or watch online at no charge.

Human Dignity and the Sanctity of Life
Abortion

• "Toni Braxton Joins Ranks of Other Celebrities in Revealing Abortion," National Review Online
• "Potential Life Lost: America's Demographic Poverty," The Acton Institute
• "Arizona Abortion Restrictions to Remain Blocked," ABC News
• "Culture of Life on the Move in Louisiana," Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission

Euthanasia/End of Life Issues

• "Confusing bill describes euthanasia as end of life care," OneNewsNow
• "Premarital Sex, Euthanasia Up In 'Moral Acceptability'," Human Events
• "Starvation As The New 'Death With Dignity'," First Things
• "Oregon will Never Ration Assisted Suicide," National Review Online
• "Assisted suicide for the old but healthy," National Right to Life News

Stem Cells and Biotechnology

• "Can Science Tell Us When Life Begins?," The Public Discourse
• "Artificial blood made from human stem cells could plug the donations hole," Deutsche Welle
• "For the first time in the lab, researchers see stem cells take key step toward development," Phys.org

Marriage & Family
Common Core

• "Conservatives & higher ed," The New Criterion
• "In New Orleans, major school district closes traditional public schools for good," The Washington Post
• "The Common Core Curriculum Void," NPR

Family Life

• "What lentils and onions taught me about relationships," The Washington Post
• "A Marketplace Of Children: The Fertility Industry," The Acton Institute
• "Infidelity is the key to a stable marriage?," MercatorNet
• "The Family Crisis and Evangelization," Crisis Magazine

Human Sexuality

• "The birds and the bees: The gospel and your child's sexuality (Part 2)," Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission
• "An Open Letter to Male Virgins," Christianity Today
• "Why avoid sexual risk?," Family Research Council

Homosexuality and Same-Sex "Marriage"

• "There Is No 'Third Way' - Southern Baptists Face a Moment of Decision (and so will you)," AlbertMohler.com
• "Does Opposing Same-Sex Marriage Make Someone a Bigot?," The Atlantic
• "Sex, Gender, And Unreality," The American Conservative

Pornography

• "Six Truths About Pornography," The Blaze
• "Utah Governor Signs Anti-Pornography Legislation," Fox 13 News
• "Porn May Be Messing With Your Head," Reuters

Human trafficking

• "Fortune 100 Companies Begin To Tackle Human Trafficking," The Acton Institute
• "Texas campaign launched to stem human trafficking," Fort Worth Star-Telegram
• "Francis and the global crisis of human trafficking," MercatorNet
• "Prisoners of Sex," New York Times

Religious Liberty

• "Groups push military for more religious liberty," The Washington Times
• "Religion In America: Accommodation, Not Coercion," The Acton Institute
• "The Supreme Court on Prayer," The Public Discourse
• "The Controversial Cross at Ground Zero," National Review Online
• "Yes, You Can Talk About God at Graduation," Liberty Institute

Religion in Public Life

• "Jesus + Religion," First Things
• "Are Millennials Really Leaving the Church? Yes - but Mostly White Millennials," OnFaith
• "Humanist "Chaplain"? - Not all Worldviews are Religions," Family Research Council
• "The Question," DesiringGod
• "Celestial Teapots, Flying Spaghetti Monsters, And Other Silly Atheist Arguments," The Gospel Coalition

International Religious Liberty

• "Help Release Meriam Ibrahim: Sign FRC White House Petition," Family Research Council
• "North Korea Has Sentenced a Christian Missionary to Life in a Labor Camp," Relevant Magazine
• "25 years after Tiananmen Square, China tightens grip on religious freedom," CNN

Other important articles

• "Is Sen. Rubio Disqualified from the Presidency?," Aleteia
• "America and Poland: the Return of History?," Commentary Magazine
• "12 Ways the US Administration Has Failed Its Ally Israel," Times of Israel
• "China's Unbelievable Hacking Denials," American Thinker

Book Reviews

• "Reclaiming Madison," The New Criterion
• "Nader's Pitch for a Left-Right Convergence," The American
• "Long Overdue: A New Anthology of Pregnancy and Birth," Los Angeles Review of Books
• "Replant: How A Dying Church Can Grow Again," The Gospel Coalition