Marriage and the Seinfeld Effect – An interesting note by Matt Kaufman explaining why there appears to be support for same-sex “marriage” when, in reality, there really isn’t.  The whole article – for fans of Seinfeld or not – is really worth reading.  Here’s a teaser:

What we’re seeing, the authors say, is what social scientists call the “spiral of silence.” One side’s reluctant to speak up, the other gets increasingly aggressive, and wins by default. The hard core will defend marriage, but they’re increasingly isolated.

Russell More Takes on Glenn Beck – Dr. Russell Moore of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary provides a much-needed call to evangelicals to return to the Gospel, warning, in the process, that Glenn Beck’s Gospel is not the same.  I can’t think of much of anything I disagree with in Dr. Moore’s critique.  It’s what he didn’t say that causes me some concern.  Look for a post on that later.  Incidentally, it is Dr. Moore’s concern that initially motivated our conference next week.  Sign up today!

Bullying the Bullied – Candi Cushman of Focus on the Family made an excellent appearance on Anderson Cooper 360 last night.  The topic was that of bullying and how same-sex activists are using such laws to press their agenda on our most impressionable.  Learn more about Focus’ project at www.TrueTolerance.org.  Here’s the vid:

Related posts:

1. The Engaging Essentials
2. The Engaging Essentials
3. The Engaging Essentials . . . Prop 8 Edition

1. The Engage Family Minute – September 1
2. The Engage Family Minute – September 2
3. The Engage Family Minute – September 3

Just a friendly reminder to be sure to register for our conference on September 10.  Don’t worry, if you have tickets to the Marshall v. WVU game, you’ll have plenty of time to attend the conference from 9-2 and then get to the game at 7:00.

Registration is just $32 and for that fee you will receive:

• Wayne Grudem’s, Politics According to the Bible
• Greg Gilbert’s, What is the Gospel?
• Alan Sears’ novel, In Justice
• Alan Sears and Craig Osten’s, The Homosexual Agenda

Plus, you’ll hear from speakers including Dr. Wayne Grudem, Greg Gilber, Wayne Barnard, and Erik Stanley!

Be sure to visit www.FamilyPolicyWV.com/conference and register today!

Related posts:

1. Conference Announced – Politics According to the Bible: Social Justice in an Unjust World
2. Finally, the Truth about Tax-Exempt Organizations in Politics…from the IRS!
3. Does the Bible Support Same-Sex Marriage: Part 2

Parents in Alaska now have to be notified before their underage daughter can have an abortion.

 Martinsburg, WV – I couldn’t help but notice the irony in four articles I read back to back…to back to back. All relating to teenage pregnancy and abortion, it’s almost an eerie indication of where we are headed if we don’t push harder to defund death merchant Planned Parenthood. Admittedly I was excited to see how soundly pro-abortion groups lost their fight in Alaska, despite an overwhelming amount of money spent. This brings me to the first article.

Alaska Voters Pass Measure for Parental Notification Before Teen Abortions

According to Lifenews.com the measure passed by a resounding 55 to 44 percent. The new law will require “abortion practitioners to notify a parent of a minor girl 48 hours before performing an abortion on her.” This is certainly refreshing news in the abortion fights. My first thought, however, is that 44 percent of Alaskans, many of them parents no doubt, voted against this measure!? Are there really parents out there that don’t want to know before a doctor performs a potentially damaging, even deadly, procedure on their daughter?

At least one parent in Alaska is grateful for the new law, even if it came too late to save her granddaughter. (Click here to read this heart-wrenching story.)

Commenting on the passage of Measure 2, Joel Davidson of the Catholic Anchor said, “Supporters say the measure will benefit minor girls by involving her parents in a critical moment in her life. They also point to the fact that those who sexually abuse minors will be brought to justice more readily if parents are notified before their minor daughter undergoes an abortion.”

Again, are there really parents in Alaska that don’t want to know when their daughters are being abused, or about to have a life-changing procedure? Well, good for the many concerned parents in Alaska that see the value in being involved and engaged in their daughters’ lives; even during the tough times.

Residents in the UK however are seeing changes of a different nature. They are seeing the teen pregnancy and abortion rates skyrocket. Lifenews.com also carries this headline: British Pro-Life Group Saddened New Figures Show Teen Abortions Up in Wales

How high is too high? Lifenews.com editor Steven Ertelt reports that “figures show just under 60 percent of girls under 16 who become pregnant now have an abortion and 48 percent of girls under 18 do. That’s a rise from the 50 percent and 40 percent figures from one year ago for each category.”

With these shocking numbers, are lawmakers in the UK preparing to combat the rise with abstinence education and stricter abortion laws? Of course not, that would make too much sense. They are doing what all good liberal governments do, compounding the problem by pushing deficient policies. In fact, it’s reported that “the Assembly Government will soon push its Sexual Health and Wellbeing Action Plan for Wales 2010-2015 even though abortion rates are rising with the promotion of birth control.”

Paul Tully of the pro-life group SPUC said, “The figures also challenge the idea that women are freely deciding to have abortions. Teenage girls have been targeted by pro-abortion policies in recent years. Teenage girls are under increasing pressure firstly to become sexually active despite lacking the usual support needed to bear a child, and secondly to undergo abortions rather than give birth.”

This is a shocking admission, and unfortunately is most likely true. But what possible reason would cause a group and the government to pressure young girls to become sexually active before they are ready and then to choose abortion? There is only one logical answer: money.

Pro-abortion groups like Planned Parenthood and Marie Stopes funnel millions of dollars into candidates’ pockets each year. They death merchants and candidates don’t care at all for the young girls they are hurting or for the babies they are helping to kill. They simply care for their own bank accounts. Their bloody hands and bloody bank accounts have corrupted our innocent daughters, our families, and our society.

In light of these events I can’t help but wonder why the Obama administration sought to keep secret the outcome of a taxpayer- funded study on abstinence education. Considering that the administration has done all it can to defund abstinence education completely, it makes sense that they would not want the results of this study released to the public. Here are some of the preliminary results:

“70 percent of parents agreed with the statement: ‘It is against your values for your adolescents to have sexual intercourse before marriage.’
“70 percent of parents agreed with the statement: ‘Having sexual intercourse is something only married people should do.’
“Adolescents had similar responses for the two questions.”

Well, thankfully enough people complained that HHS finally released the study findings only to have their website jammed by the number of visitors interested in the results. The results were then posted online.

You really have to wonder about the mental capacity of lawmakers that would willingly place millions of students in harm’s way for political gain. When they turn a blind eye to the overwhelming success of abstinence education and the desires of parents to have it offered, I question their motives. But, if parents continue to pressure lawmakers to do what is in the best interest of kids we will continue to see victories like the Measure 2 in Alaska.

Related posts:

1. Chuck Colson: Proof That It Works
2. Analysis Shows 52 Million Abortions Since Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade Decision
3. Left Foot Out of Step with Majority

1. Engage Family Minute – August 3
2. Engage Family Minute – August 10
3. Engage Family Minute – August 12

Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, Joe Manchin (Credit: associated press)

GOP Nominee, John Raese (Credit: Raese for Senate Campaign)

Over the weekend, 12% of West Virginia’s registered voters cast their ballots in the special election for the United States Senate.  This primary election yielded nominations for Gov. Joe Manchin, for the Democratic Party, and John Raese, for the Republican Party.  Oh, and for good measure, Mountain Party candidate Jesse Johnson was nominated too.

So, what’s the fallout?  Rasmussen reports that the race is quite tight.  In fact, it has pushed at least one political reporter to requalify this race from “solid democrat” to “leaning democrat”.  From Rassmussen:

First, Joe Manchin is under investigation.  Sure, the people of West Virginia are “investigating” who to vote for, but that’s not what I mean.  The FBI, IRS, and other people who where their corporate initials on the back of their windbreakers are investigating the governor, his staff, and parts of his administration.  Here’s how the Washington Examiner put it last week:

West Virginia Democratic Gov. Joe Manchin, who built his own bridge to nowhere over the Shenandoah River eight miles north of Harpers Ferry, is currently running for the seat left vacant by the death of another world-class porkmeister, Democratic Sen. Robert C. Byrd.

Byrd, the one-time Ku Klux Klansman, was later dubbed the “King of Pork” by Citizens Against Government Waste for helping to secure more than $1 billion in pork that somehow never managed to trickle down to the average citizen. Of West Virginias 55 counties, 52 have not seen any economic growth since World War II.

Manchin’s $153 million bridge is 140 feet wide and as high as the Washington Monument, but it dead-ends at the state line in a 22-foot-wide, two-lane country road that the Virginia Department of Transportation has already determined will never be widened.

The governor’s experience in pushing through this useless political boondoggle in an impoverished state where 39 percent of existing bridges are functionally obsolete will no doubt be useful preparation for the Senate, where wasteful pork projects and back-room deals are the norm rather than the exception.

An ongoing federal investigation into bid-rigging for work done in the governors office and State Capitol in 2005 has already ensnared Charleston businessman Clark Diehl, who will be sentenced on Friday. Diehl pleaded guilty in January to income tax evasion and mail fraud for bypassing the states competitive bidding process.

via Barbara Hollingsworth: West Virginia: Last in everything but pork and corruption | Washington Examiner.

Yee-ouch!  How this investigation plays out, if at all, does not really matter.  Just ask outgoing Congressman Al Mollohan.  Mere fireless smoke may be sufficient to flip this seat.  Maybe.

Second, President Obama is President. Ok, not real shocker there, right, but this race will be John Raese v. Barack Obama.  It’s a proxy battle that Joe Manchin probably would like to avoid, but won’t be able to do so.  And that’s not just for Republicans to fight.  There are a mess of Democratic voters in West Virginia that are still wincing from Manchin’s endorsement of Obama, when West Virginia voters nominated Hillary Clinton!  In short, Manchin lost quite a few friends with that endorsement.

Finally, the pivotal question is which way the values voters in the State of West Virginia will vote. Though heavily Democratic in terms of voter registration, the people of West Virginia are a conservative people.  Ask the average voter what they think of Joe Manchin and part of their answer is likely to be, “Well, he’s for coal and he’s pro-life.”  But, we have to wonder about his commitment to both.  I’ll let our friends at the Coal Association answer any questions about his commitment to coal, but I will note here that we are the 35th most pro-life state in the Union.  In the time since Joe Manchin has been governor, I can think of only 2 pro-life bills – bills watered down at that – that have been signed into law by the governor.  Add that to Manchin’s endorsement of Obamacare and those aren’t overwhelming credentials I’d like to have on my side.

Of course, the issue of marriage can hang over the head of Joe Manchin too.  It’s clear that the need for an amendment that defines marriage as one man and one woman is going to make its way to the Federal level.  West Virginians overwhelmingly support that definition – more than 3/4’s!  They question Manchin must answer before I can personally get behind him is what has he done on the state level that leads me to believe he’ll be supportive of an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to define marriage as one man and one woman?

That answer is not much.

Earlier this year, we collected more than 6,230 petitions that said that letting voters settle the legal definition of marriage will be a decisive factor for them on Election Day.  In 2009, more than 150 churches throughout the state participated in “Stand4Marriage Sunday” organized by the FPCWV.  Prior to that, in the fall of 2008,124 pastors signed onto an open letter to Governor Manchin urging his action in defense of marriage.  In each instance, Gov. Manchin has sat in total silence.  He has simply refused to act.

As former senator Zell Miller once put it, when it comes to culture shaping issues like these, “Silence isn’t golden, it’s yellow.”

Over the next 9 weeks and 1 day, this election may be decided on multiple fronts.  Of course, the news now is about Manchin.  Whether Raese will be a friend to supporters of life, marriage, and religious freedom is for him to convince us of as well.

Regardless, the most key factor for this election is that of the values voter whose potential has not yet been realized – or even effectively tapped – in West Virginia.  We are working on a plan to identify and motivate more than 100,000 values voters to the polls on election day.  You can invest in that effort here.

Related posts:

1. Op-Ed: Jeremiah G. Dys – Marriage a Key Issue in Senate Race
2. PRESS RELEASE: Judges Make Marriage a Potential ‘Powder Keg’ for Special Election
3. PRESS RELEASE: Nearly Half of WV Senate Sponsors Marriage Protection Amendment

Using Embryonic Stem Cells for research destroys a human being.

 Martinsburg, WV – The Obama administration is being met with opposition for nearly everything it does. From the massive bailout of the auto and banking industries, to the confusing plan in Afghanistan, President Obama is finding fewer supporters – even among his own party. Now he can add Embryonic Stem Cell (ESC) research to the list.

Last week a judge ordered a halt to President Obama’s executive order for taxpayer-funded ESC research saying it violated a 1996 federal law prohibiting “the use of federal funds for stem cell research, regardless of whether the stage of research directly involves the destruction of an embryo.”

The article below by Politico.com details the injunction issued last week by Judge Royce Lamberth.

No Fed Cash for Stem Cell Research

A federal judge on Monday issued a temporary ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, sidetracking President Barack Obama’s executive order that had expanded federal funding for human stem cell research last year.

U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth ruled that the order, which Obama signed in March 2009, violated a federal law that prohibits the use of federal funds for research practices that result in the destruction of a human embryo. According to the ruling, the Dickey-Wicker Amendment, which Congress passed in 1996, clearly prohibits the use of federal funds for stem cell research, regardless of whether the stage of research directly involves the destruction of an embryo.

The judge also ruled that two adult stem cell researchers, Theresa Deisher of AVM Biotechnology and James Sherley of the Boston Biomedical Research Institute — among several parties who objected to the order in court — had the authority to sue the government. Lamberth had initially denied their request, but the case was sent back to his court on appeal.

“The language of the statute reflects the unambiguous intent of Congress to enact a broad prohibition of funding research in which a human embryo is destroyed,” Lamberth wrote in the decision. “This prohibition encompasses all research in which an embryo is destroyed, not just the ‘piece of research’ in which the embryo is destroyed.”

Advocates believe that embryonic stem cells, which can be manipulated to mimic other cells in the body, could lead to significant breakthroughs in the treatment of debilitating conditions or life-threatening diseases, including quadriplegia and Parkinson’s disease. Opponents say the research is unethical and depends on the taking of a fertilized embryo, which abortion opponents consider a viable human life. They also argue that scientists have found other adult cells that can be used for the research.

(Read the rest of the story here)

I reported on the waste that ESC is compared to Adult Stem Cell research. To date ESC has done absolutely nothing and helped no one; while Adult Stem Cell research has helped thousands. So it seems appropriate for a number of reasons that a judge would block federally funding of useless research. And even though the Obama administration still doesn’t get it, and plans to try and move forward I hope that we continue to see research done that is useful, has thousands of cases with positive results, and protects human life.

Related posts:

1. Associated Press Praises Adult Stem Cell Advances Over Embryonic
2. The Engaging Essentials
3. Jill Stanek: Top 10(-ish) Pro-Life Stories of 2009

The pragmatic arguments against the president’s proposal concerning unit morale, cohesion and readiness are well-known. Not so the following slippery slope. A “nondiscrimination” policy would surely mutate into approval and celebration of the “gay” lifestyle, followed by “affirmative action” recruitment of homosexuals, politically correct ideological indoctrination throughout the armed forces including family members, and, finally, active discrimination against — and persecution of — those who dare to express a dissenting opinion.

More Mehlman Fallout – Three stories following former GOP Chairman Ken Mehlman’s announcement that he is now living a homosexual lifestyle and advocating for the redefintion of marriage by any means necessary.  What are your thoughts on Mehlman?

1. WaPo Flat Wrong – Jordan Lorence of the Alliance Defense Fund reveals some background exposing why the Washington Post, and by extension Mehlman, is wrong to suggest Bush/Rove orchestrated the 04 and 06 marriage amendment in 30-ish states.  It was not Rove, argues Lorence correctly, but grassroots advocates sick of judicial tyranny and intolerant efforts to redefine marriage that only tangentially benefitted the GOP.
2. Tony Perkins Response – My friend Tony Perkins at the Family Research Council offers a brief word of warning to the GOP as a reminder to them to not forsake social conservatives.
3. The Kens Predict Potential Disaster for the GOP – I am an independent partly because I am weary of the weak commitment to the social conservative values I view as essential for the stability of our families and nation.  I choose to vote for candidates of any party that clearly stand for life, marriage, and religious freedom – and against those who don’t.  Ken Blackwell and Ken Klukowski of the Family Research Council offer a stern warning to the GOP:  As the last party with a platform stating a commitment to social conservative values, if you want to avoid a party split, don’t abandon marriage as one man and one woman.  Here’s a clip, really the crux of their argument:

Social conservatives cannot be played as fools by the Republican Party. They are not “useful idiots.” If Republican leaders abandon social conservatives and the party platform, then they will face the same kind of disaster they could be facing if Tea Partiers abandon the GOP. — Millions of social conservatives will either stay home, or will vote for a third-party candidate who takes up the mantle of marriage, life, faith and family.

It Works! – School choice proving effective 10 years on in Florida.  Do you think it could work in WV?

Who’s My Daddy? – A rather sad and shocking article about the unregulated business of sperm donation.  As a word of warning, use discernment in choosing to read this article.  It is a tad on the graphic side, in a medical sort of way.  I can’t help but be saddened, as a Dad myself, that men are choosing to be callously separated from their children.  What do you think?

Related posts:

1. The Engaging Essentials
2. The Engaging Essentials
3. The Engaging Essentials

Rev. Richard Mahan refuses to waiver in his commitment to Scripture. (Photo Source: The Associated Press)

If you have spent 12 seconds with my good friend Richard Mahan, you have been encouraged by his joy and challenge by his commitment to sacred Scripture.

As the Charleston Gazette reports via the Associated Press, Pastor Mahan is again making news for his unflinching commitment to Scripture.  Please read the whole story and add Pastor Mahan and the St. Timothy Lutheran Church congregation to your prayers:

Richard Mahan and Anita Hill are both Lutheran pastors who were inside a Minneapolis convention hall last summer when delegates for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted to allow non-celibate gay and lesbian pastors.

Afterward, each cried for different reasons.

Mahan, lead pastor at St. Timothy Lutheran in Charleston, W.Va., said he cried because he realized he would likely leave the denomination in which he had invested 42 years of ministry. For Hill, the openly gay lead pastor at St. Paul-Reformation Lutheran in St. Paul, they were tears of “joy and relief.”

A year later, the ELCA is moving gay pastors into its fold — it's now the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S. to allow noncelibate gays into its ranks — even as the most visible dissidents strike out on their own.

Mahan and other critics of the decision plan to gather this week in Columbus, Ohio, for another Lutheran convention. Leaders of 18 former ELCA churches are expected to be among more than 1,000 Lutherans voting Friday to create a brand new Lutheran denomination that they claim will follow the Scriptures more faithfully: the North American Lutheran Church.

via New Lutheran group likely to rise from gay discord  – News – The Charleston Gazette – West Virginia News and Sports -.

Related posts:

1. Local Pastor, Church Stands for Marriage
2. Mark Dever: The Pastor and the Community (via Kevin DeYoung)
3. The Family Policy Council’s Pastor’s Briefing 2009

GOP Not Always Right – Stories like these confirm why we are a nonpartisan policy and advocacy organization.  We have friends and detractors in both major political parties and continue to press both parties to demonstrate their commitment to the truly conservative values of life, marriage, and religious liberty.

Is Your Doc an Athiest? – Might be worth asking.  Your life may depend on it.

Homosexual Eugenics – It’s easy to claim there is no ‘gay gene,’ but that hardly ends the debate.  As Exodus International points out, whether homosexual behavior is a genetically driven orientation is an irrelevant question.  I urge you to inform yourself on this critically important point.

APA Considers Sex Orientation Change – An important update from Family News in Focus.

Bonus Video – Kristin Tremba’s powerful testimony on the impossibility of squaring homosexual behavior with conformity to Christ:

Living Water: Labels from The Well on Vimeo.

Related posts:

1. The Engaging Essentials
2. The Engaging Essentials
3. The Engaging Essentials