Daly Focus Blog
Are you feeling jaded about the election in just two weeks? No doubt this has been one of the ugliest and most peculiar political seasons any of us have witnessed. Some of you may even be thinking of not casting a vote on Nov. 8.
I hope to change your mind.
Even when our choices aren’t as clear as we’d like, elections are a God-given opportunity. Asked whether God’s people should pay taxes to a pagan, corrupt government, Jesus referenced a Roman coin.
Many of my conservative friends don’t see eye-to-eye on this year’s election, and I suspect I’m not alone.
Scroll through social media, go to churches across the country – goodness, go to a family dinner table! – and you might see good, sincere Christians with differing opinions on who to elect for president and how to think through the voting process.
For some evangelicals, it might be the first time they’ve faced this level of disagreement with their family or church community over a presidential election.
By the end of Sunday night’s presidential debate, I was struck, like most people, by the sad and sordid spectacle of what has become one of the most acrimonious and distasteful campaigns in contemporary American politics.
On one side of the hall stood the Republican nominee attempting to dismiss his recorded claims of sexual assault on a woman as mere “locker room talk.”
In reality, the actions described in those tapes from 2005 were not just lewd and crude banter.
A new study puts a dollar value on faith in the United States – and it turns out religion is good for the economy. $1.2 trillion good.
Father-and-daughter researchers Brian Grim and Melissa Grim examined how much of an economic contribution religion makes in America, and provided conservative, mid-range and high estimates.
On the low end, looking only at the revenues of faith-based organizations, the figure adds up to $378 billion annually.
That’s a bigger amount than the global annual revenues of tech giants Apple and Microsoft – combined.
Earlier this week the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) – the group that oversees about 460,000 student-athletes and more than 1,000 colleges and universities – announced it was relocating “all seven previously awarded championship events from North Carolina for the 2016-2017 academic year” due to its commitment to “fairness and inclusion” over the state’s bathroom bill.
The moving is sweeping in its scope, though not surprising given our culture’s desire to be viewed by the world as “inclusive” – not “homophobic.”
But the NCAA’s move is intellectually perplexing.
This Sunday the nation will commemorate the 15th anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attacks that took the lives of almost 3,000 people and forever changed our history.
For those of us who watched that day unfold, each anniversary quickly brings to mind the horror and fear we witnessed.
Yet, for many of our children who weren’t even born when 9-11 happened, the day is just event in history.
A news story this week examines how teachers go about teaching today’s generation about an event that feels like “ancient history” to them.
A few months ago, I asked American Christians to urge the State Department to help Middle East Christians under persecution. I did so because the situation there is dire. As I wrote:
“[ISIS] has made clear its intentions to terrorize, kill and destroy anyone who doesn’t adhere to the tenets of Islamic fundamentalism.
“Christians remain a key target of ISIS. The widespread and vicious persecution of believers in Iraq and Syria, is tragedy of staggering proportions… Christians who refuse to renounce their faith face almost unimaginable consequences—kidnapping, rape, torture, and slavery for those who survive.
Do you have any Labor Day plans?
If you don’t, you might be in for treat this weekend.
Let me explain why.
Some weeks ago, the Wall St. Journal ran an interesting piece, “The Rewards of a Spontaneous Family Adventure.” I’m a big fan of impromptu events, so I appreciated the premise:
“So much of parenting is about structure and setting limits, and all of this is important. Sometimes, though, it’s good to say, ‘What the heck’ and break out of what we normally do,’ says William Doherty, a professor of family social science at the University of Minnesota and author of ‘The Intentional Family.’”
The piece makes the case for throwing caution to the wind every now and then and having a “bit over the top” spur-of-the-moment family event that will give you memories for years to come.
A heartbreaking yet beautiful story out of earthquake-ravished central Italy deeply moved me, and I’d like to share it with you.
About 15 hours after last week’s 4.7 magnitude earthquake struck the town of Ascoli Piceno, firefighters were desperately searching for survivors among the ruins. Suddenly, a rescue dog signaled that he smelled something.
Rescuers soon found a doll … and two young sisters caught in a life-saving embrace.
Bishop Giovanni D’Ercole shared the story of Giulia and Giorgia during a funeral Mass for 35 of the 290 people killed in the earthquake.
If your teenage son or daughter forgot something they needed for school, would you bring it to them?
Well, if your child attends a Catholic High School for Boys in Little Rock, Arkansas, you can forget it.
When the school’s administrators posted a picture of a sign that’s taped to a door in their building, they probably didn’t expect it to go viral – but it did.
Here it is:
It reads, “If you are dropping off your son’s forgotten lunch, books, homework, equipment, etc., please TURN AROUND and exit the building.
Jim Daly is a husband, father and President of Focus on the Family and host of its National Radio Hall of Fame broadcast. His blog, Daly Focus, is full of timely commentary and wisdom designed to help you navigate and understand today’s culture. His latest book is Marriage Done Right.
