Jim Daly

Would You Take Your Son to a Brothel?

The late Norman Vincent Peale, senior pastor of New York City’s Marble Collegiate Church for over 50 years, grew up in Ohio, a preacher’s kid. His father, Clifford Peale, was a tremendously compassionate man. If there was a need within his congregation, he was determined to meet it.

Norman remembers the phone ringing in their parsonage one cold winter’s night. His mother answered, and passed the phone to his father. The woman on the other end of the line explained that she didn’t know any other preachers, but had one night slipped into Dr.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith, kids, parenting

The President Should Have Called The Pastors First

There’s a curious article in this morning’s New York Times detailing the evangelical fallout from President Obama’s decision last week affirming his support of same-sex marriage.

The headline reads:

After Obama’s Decision on Marriage, A Call to Pastors

The article described a presidential conference call two hours after Mr. Obama’s announcement with approximately eight African-American ministers, followed by additional phone conversations with several of his spiritual advisors. In each of the calls the president attempted to explain his rationale for the decision.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: faith, homosexuality, news

This is What Moms Really Want for Mother’s Day

According to the National Retail Federation, nearly $19 billion will be spent on moms this coming weekend. From flowers to cards to candy, a lot of people will dig deep into their wallets to try and express their love and appreciation for their mothers.

But according to a recent survey, it would appear that what many moms really want is something that money can’t buy:

They just want to go to church with the whole family.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: husband, kids, parenting, wife

Mother’s Day, Every Day

GUEST VOICE:

Finally being a mom on Mother’s Day was completely thrilling. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get there, and was deeply grateful for the grace and good doctors that saw me through tragedies on the way to that distinction.

Let the brunching begin!

But in the years to come I would try to create the ultimate Mom’s Day with fairly high expectations. Would it be a road trip with the kids? A day alone with a book?

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: husband, parenting, wife

Majority Support For Same-Sex Marriage is a Myth

Political consultant Frank Luntz calls it “poll-driven language” – the tendency to phrase a question in a way that will generate a desired answer. Operatives on both sides of the aisle have been doing this for years, but it’s especially blatant when it comes to the reporting of support/opposition to same-sex marriage.

Case in point, a recent New York Times story which was headlined, “Support for Gay Marriage Outweighs Opposition in Polls.” The report was based upon an average of various polling data which supposedly revealed that 50% of Americans support same-sex marriage while 45% oppose it.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: homosexuality, marriage, news, policy

Will Marriage Be a Major Issue in 2012 Election?

I’m obviously very pleased with the results of yesterday’s election in North Carolina, where voters passed a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.I am less pleased, as you might imagine, with President Obama’s announcement today that he has changed his position and now personally supports same-sex marriage.

To help put the vote and announcement in context, I’d like to share some comments and observations, which are excerpts from my recent Washington Post editorial on the subject.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: homosexuality, marriage, policy

Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?

In a recent article in The Atlantic, writer Stephen Marche serves up a provocative perspective on the impact of Facebook and other social network software on society:

We live in an accelerating contradiction: the more connected we become, the lonelier we are.

In the opening lines of the lengthy piece, Marche describes the defining moment of Social Network, the film that chronicled Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s life and career.

The film’s most indelible scene, the one that may well have earned it an Oscar, was the final, silent shot of an anomic Zuckerberg sending out a friend request to his ex-girlfriend, then waiting and clicking and waiting and clicking—a moment of superconnected loneliness preserved in amber.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: friendship, technology

How to Criticize – And Not Be Hated For It

When was the last time you read Dale Carnegie’s classic, How to Win Friends and Influence People? Although it’s sprinkled with time-dated illustrations, its core messages are timeless. For example, consider the following excerpt on how to correct a person without unduly offending them. As a husband and father, this lesson has broad reaching application:

Charles Schwab was passing through one of his steel mills one day at noon when he came across some of his employees smoking.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith, friendship

How I Will Vote in November

The following editorial was first published in The Washington Post on May 1, 2012:

A Chance to Vote Your Values — And Act On Them, Too

Jim Daly

With the withdrawal of Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich from the race, the Republican Party all but has its presidential nominee. That means our country’s major issues will be faced by former governor Mitt Romney or President Obama after the ballots are counted on Nov. 6. But before the ballots are cast, voters must first address two critical challenges.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: faith, policy

President Obama’s Prayer Proclamation

From the President of the United States:
2012 NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER PROCLAMATION

Prayer has always been a part of the American story, and today countless Americans rely on prayer for comfort, direction, and strength, praying not only for themselves, but for their communities, their country, and the world.

On this National Day of Prayer, we give thanks for our democracy that respects the beliefs and protects the religious freedom of all people to pray, worship, or abstain according to the dictates of their conscience.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: faith, news, religious liberty