Jim Daly

The “Blessing” of Abortion

Just when I thought I’d heard every positive spin used to justify the practice of aborting babies, I cracked open this week’s edition of WORLD magazine. Marvin Olasky’s article, “The ‘Blessing’ of Abortion,” left me speechless. Olasky presented several excerpts from a speech given by Rev. Katherine Hancock Ragsdale in Alabama. I think you’ll agree Ms. Ragsdale is about as far to the political left of the spectrum as is humanly possible.

For starters, Ragsdale doesn’t agree with Hillary Clinton’s popular pro-choice worldview that believes abortion should be “safe, legal, and rare.” Far from it.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: pro-life

Hope in a Box

Food and hope go together.

That perspective dawned on me last weekend while speaking at a Children’s Hunger Fund charitable dinner at the Reagan Library. Based on my personal experience and what I’ve observed in my travels, I’d say this insight is especially true for children. Hunger has a way of devouring their hope and robbing their dreams. Conversely, even in the wake of a natural disaster, if there’s food on the table there’s hope that tomorrow might just be better.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: church, events, kids

Miss USA Judge: A Case of Religious Persecution

When celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hilton—an intolerant Miss USA pageant judge with an ax to grind—asked Miss California about her views on same-sex marriage, Carrie Prejean didn’t back down or compromise her beliefs. Even though she knew her response might just cost her the crown, she did the right thing. Her answer came from a place of deep conviction . . . and just happens to represent the prevailing viewpoint of the Californians she represents.

Perez asked the politically-charged question, “Vermont recently became the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriage.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: events, homosexuality, marriage, pop culture

Have We Gone Crazy?

Here’s a headline that stunned me earlier this month: Vermont Considers Legalizing Teen “Sexting.” No, that’s not a typo. Just as “texting”—sending a text message between cell phones—has become a vital part of communication, the practice known as “sexting” is a growing trend among young people. In short, sexting is an exchange of photos, usually sexually explicit, between cell phone users. Sexting sometimes involves sending a pornographic video to the recepient. Upwards of 20% of teens admit sexting.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: intimacy, kids, parenting, policy, sex

A Supermodel’s Pro-life Journey

Last weekend, I was in Memphis speaking to a group of 1,200 attendees at the LifeChoices Banquet. LifeChoices has been helping women in the greater Memphis area facing a crisis pregnancy since 1986. In 1987, LifeChoices became a state-licensed child-placing agency that has found loving homes for children who would have otherwise been aborted.

Two years ago, they added a number of medical services, including ultrasound and diagnostic pregnancy testing and, more recently, opened a counseling center and medical clinic minutes from three abortion clinics.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: policy, pro-life

Never Forget

Last year I blogged about a father who, while walking to McDonald’s with his four-year-old daughter, observed the erratic driving of an oncoming car. As the vehicle barreled down on them, with the impact just seconds away, this father instinctively knew what he had to do. Giving no thought to persevering his own life, he grabbed his daughter and held her above his head. His quick action prevented her from being crushed by several thousand pounds of steel.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith

Giving the Shirt Off Their Back

Last April, we invited our Clubhouse Jr. readers to help us collect tank tops for African orphans. The response was inspiring. From yard sales to bake sales, pizza parties to birthday celebrations, an army of little hands eagerly accepted the challenge. Pooling their creativity and resources, they engaged their families, neighborhoods, churches and schools. When the deadline arrived last July, children as young as 2-years-old from around the country flooded us with tank tops in all shapes, sizes, and colors.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: kids, parenting

Christians Under Fire In Iraq

About a month after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, two of us at Focus on the Family traveled to Baghdad, the capital of Iraq. Our goal was to determine whether or not open doors existed for Focus to minister to Iraqi families in that war-torn country. At 4:30 a.m., we piled into two GMC Suburbans and departed from Amman, Jordan for the 10-hour drive to Baghdad. Keep in mind, although the war had ended, Iraq was still very much a hotbed of violence.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: events, faith, religious liberty

Should Uncle Sam Raise Your Children?

Truth is stranger than fiction.

Take the case of a West Virginia mother who was ordered by a local circuit judge and a family court judge to share custody of her four-year-old girl—not with her ex-husband or other relative, but with two babysitters! It gets worse. These justices, who viewed the babysitters as “psychological co-parents”, also granted them full custody. The mother, in turn, was told she could only visit her daughter four times a week at McDonalds.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: events, parenting, policy, relationships

Deficit of Family Values Impacts Financial Markets

If you are like most Americans, you’ve watched your retirement savings shrink with the plunging stock market. You might be one of the hundreds of thousands without work searching for a job as unemployment soars. And the forecast out of Washington, D.C. these days says we’re in for tough times. America isn’t the only country rocked by such economic turbulence. Countries around the world are in the same boat.

Which is why the current global economic crisis was the hot topic at last week’s G-20 summit of world leaders in London.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: church, faith, family, finances