news Archives

Reaction to the Shooting at the Family Research Council

Our thoughts and prayers are with our friends at FRC. Senseless shootings like this are always tragic; but there’s an extra measure of sadness and disbelief when it hits so close to home. We are thankful that the heroic security guard who subdued his alleged shooter was not more seriously wounded.

Early indications are that FRC may have been targeted for its biblical views on social-policy issues. That is a chilling thought. No person or group of any ideological stripe – left, right or center — should have to fear physical violence for passionately articulating and acting on their deeply held convictions in the realm of public policy.

Topics: Current Events Tags: events, faith, news, policy, religious liberty August 15, 2012 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Will China Stop Forcing Abortions?

An article in last Wednesday’s USA Today chronicled in horrifying terms the forced abortion of 31-year-old Pan Chunyan’s baby. The only reason we know about the tragic ordeal, similar instances of which happen frequently in China, is because of the Internet and the explosion of social media users in that Communist-controlled country.

Ms. Chunyan was eight months pregnant with her third child, a violation of China’s one-child policy. She was told that she could keep her baby provided she pay a penalty, which was the equivalent of $8,640 U.S.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: kids, news, policy, pro-life July 30, 2012 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Think About this as the Summer Olympics Begin

In athletics, if you come up against a particular high hurdle that you have to jump, you take a longer run!

If you want to vault over it, you go further back. You do not try to lift yourself up over the high hurdle from which you are on the ground. The further back you go, the longer you run, and the momentum will carry you over.

That is a very valuable principle in the exposition of Scripture and the elucidation of some [of the] problem with which it presents us.

Topics: Current Events Tags: news July 27, 2012 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Real Cause of the Colorado Shooting

The mass murder earlier this morning of 13 people in a Denver suburban movie theater is a story that feels eerily familiar.

Horror isn’t supposed to strike up memories. But this one does, and many of our minds race back to the senseless shootings at Columbine High School in 1999.

At this stage of the tragedy, people want to know why, allegedly, a 24-year-old man named James Holmes did it.

So do I.

Details about the shooter will begin to emerge as the investigation continues.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: events, news July 20, 2012 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Tebow, Kardashian and Our Worship of Idols

All it takes is a 30-second perusal of the supermarket tabloids to confirm what you already know:

There is an excessive, if not obsessive, draw to celebrity in the culture. From Tim Tebow to Kate Middleton to Kim Kardashian, people are drawn to certain individuals, for any number of reasons.

But a fascination with the famous is by no means a new phenomenon. It manifests itself differently today than 50 years ago, but human nature is still the same.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: news, pop culture July 2, 2012 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

When Fire Forces You from Home

If you had only a few minutes to gather up a few select treasures of your life before fleeing a raging inferno, what would you take – and what would you leave behind?

Families in Colorado Springs were faced with this very question this past Tuesday. In just a matter of minutes, a wildfire that had been contained in canyons bordering the city swept down through the hillsides. The sky, which had been sunny, turned red.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: family, news June 28, 2012 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Bullied Bus Monitor Depicts Clash of Two Worlds

A heart-wrenching 10-minute video of 68-year-old bus monitor in upstate New York, Karen Klein, being bullied by middle school students has gone viral and is being played and replayed on cable news today.

In many ways, the video captures what is wrong with our culture. We see and hear students disrespecting an elder, hurling insults and horrible vulgarities. It is a microcosm of a broken system, of children running wild, at taxpayers’ expense, no less! We see Mrs.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: news June 21, 2012 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Marco Rubio’s Great Lesson

Florida Senator Marco Rubio’s memoir, An American Son, was released this week. Born to Cuban refugees, his story is an inspiring and candid one. There is much to talk about concerning this rising star in the Republican party, but for now one specific reference in the book is worth noting.

Upon arriving in the Senate in 2010, Mr. Rubio forged a friendship with Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont. The elder Leahy counseled him on balancing his work with his family responsibilities.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: news, religious liberty June 19, 2012 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

When it Comes to Immigration Reform, Numbers Have Names

Focus on the Family’s decision to endorse the National Association of Evangelical’s bipartisan proposal on immigration reform has ignited a spirited dialogue within Christendom. To be candid, this doesn’t surprise me.

Does it surprise you?

The issue is a complex one, especially when it comes to finding a practical solution to the stalemate over what to do with the 12 million plus individuals who are living without proper documentation within our country. It’s easy to reduce the issue to the numbers, but the numbers have names – and each name is a person created in the image and likeness of a loving God.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: news, policy June 19, 2012 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Gallup Reports Shift Toward Life

According to the Gallup polling organization more Americans are identifying themselves as “pro-life” and fewer as “pro-choice,” this year over last year.

As reported:

The 41% of Americans who now identify themselves as “pro-choice” is down from 47% last July and is one percentage point below the previous record low in Gallup trends, recorded in May 2009. Fifty percent now call themselves “pro-life,” one point shy of the record high, also from May 2009.

To be fair, these statistics have been bouncing around over the last decade, but when you consider that 56% of Americans qualified themselves as “pro-choice” in 1996, the trajectory toward a majority support of life is encouraging.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: news June 14, 2012 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura