Daly Focus Blog
A news summary on issues that matter.
Christians continue to be martyred around the world
The horrific scene is all too familiar: Christian men walking blindfolded across a beach, held by Islamic State militants. A new video shows two groups of Ethiopian Christians being shot and beheaded at the hands of ISIS. This comes just days after Christians were thrown overboard on a ship, drowned at sea, “for praying to Jesus.”
Please continue to pray for the persecuted Church around the world.
Despite the perception one might get after browsing social media, the fact remains that millions of people in the U.S. support God’s design for marriage. After all, it’s common sense to understand that marriage serves an important purpose: to bring together the two halves of humanity — male and female — to form a family.
It can be frustrating, then, when it seems that our view is drowned out in the culture. But while Hollywood, academia and the media can try their best to muffle pleas for civil discourse on how we as a nation should define marriage, thanks to an amicus brief Focus on the Family and nearly 45 pro-family groups and scholars submitted to the U.S.
Do you or will you allow your children to walk to school or to the park alone?
If you said “yes” and happen to live in the state of Maryland, you could find yourself on the wrong side of the law.
Danielle and Alexander Meitiv of Silver Spring, Maryland, learned that the hard away.
Mr. and Mrs. Meitiv practice “free-range parenting,” a philosophy where moms and dads give their children a great degree of independence. So when they allowed their two children, Rafi and Dvora, ages 10 and 6, to walk home alone from the park, the police got involved.
It was ten years ago, on March 31, 2005, when Terri Schiavo drew her last breath. The nation followed her final days, which were marked by an army of people doing everything possible to preserve her life.
You likely remember the uproar.
Terri was not dying or terminally ill. She was not brain-dead or in a coma. She was a mentally disabled woman able to breathe on her own; her only dependency was on a feeding tube into her stomach for liquids and nourishment.
A news summary on issues that matter.
South Carolina Tragedy
The death of Walter Scott, an unarmed black man, earlier this week at the hands of a white North Charleston police officer has understandably reignited a national conversation on racial injustice and the conduct of law enforcement officials.
Caught on camera, Mr. Scott is seen running away from the officer, only to be shot numerous times in the back. Details of the case are still emerging, and so I don’t pretend to know all the facts.
We’ve all heard about sore losers.
But sore winners?
Kirsten Powers, who writes for USA Today and regularly appears as a guest commentator on FOX News, penned a provocative column yesterday lamenting the fallout from Indiana’s contentious religious freedom debate.
Kirsten and I don’t see eye to eye on everything, including the definition of marriage, but I’m grateful for the candor and honesty with which she writes. In fact, she’s often a breath of fresh air.
As our thoughts turn to the core realities of our faith this weekend, we have great cause to rejoice that we live in a country whose foundational principles let us stand firm in our beliefs.
But we also have reason to grieve, because laws that buttress that foundation have come under criticism. As Christians, we have a duty to tell the truth—and call on others to tell the truth—about religious liberty policy that has served our nation well for decades, policy that is one of our greatest resources to live together peaceably despite our deepest differences.
Here at Focus, and for Christians everywhere, this is a sacred weekend.
Today is Good Friday, and this Sunday is Easter.
It’s this weekend that we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago.
But let me ask you, do you think of Christ’s sacrifice more as historic fact or current reality?
In the day-to-day grind of life, it’s easy to forget that the God of history is also the God of today.
It’s been hard to ignore the firestorm that’s erupted since Indiana unveiled its Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). Since Governor Mike Pence signed it into law last week, the national news and social media have been consumed with debating this law.
Critics of the law raised concerns the legislation will give license and rise to discrimination – in other words, not serving homosexuals simply because of their orientation. For example, some are suggesting the act will allow restaurant owners to refuse service to homosexuals because they are gay.
This month’s issue of First Things magazine features a powerful argument for upholding and proclaiming the truth and beauty of God’s design for marriage.
“The Two Shall Become One Flesh: Reclaiming Marriage” is a product of Evangelicals and Catholics Together, a group founded 20 years ago by one of my heroes, the late Chuck Colson, and another highly regarded statesman of the faith, the late Fr. Richard John Neuhaus.
Several prominent Evangelical and Catholic leaders have endorsed the statement.
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.
