policy Archives

Will Christian Adoption Be Banned?

I want you to meet Eunice and Owen Johns.

Mrs. Johns, 62, and Mr. Johns, 65, live in the United Kingdom. They’ve raised four children and have been foster parents to a total of 15. By every measure they’ve done a terrific job. From the beginning of their fostering adventure, they’ve seen their noble calling rooted in Christian conviction. They have epitomized and embraced the words of James: “to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27).

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, homosexuality, news, policy March 2, 2011 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Is This Billboard Offensive?

Take a look at the picture of this billboard.

Do you find it offensive?

Not surprisingly, the Reverend Al Sharpton, a flashpoint figure and known agitator, does, saying it “demonizes women.” He demanded it be taken down. Planned Parenthood agreed, calling it a “condescending effort to stigmatize and shame African-American women.”

The controversy surrounding the billboard created a predictable circus like atmosphere in New York, with Reverend Sharpton threatening a protest in front of the building.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: news, policy, pro-life February 25, 2011 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

President Obama’s Refusal to Defend Marriage

The Obama Administration’s decision to no longer defend the federal Defense of Marriage Act, while not completely shocking, is still startling and significant on numerous levels.

Setting aside the president’s personal opposition to DOMA and the history of his contradictory positions on marriage over the years, yesterday’s announcement ostensibly reduces the legal interpretation and enforcement of the United States Constitution to but two people:

President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder.

In essence, the president and his AG have unilaterally determined that DOMA is unconstitutional.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: events, marriage, policy February 24, 2011 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Chick-fil-A Banned

Indiana University has banned Chick-fil-A from its South Bend campus.

Why?

It’s all because one of the popular company’s restaurants in Pennsylvania has announced plans to donate food to the Pennsylvania Family Institute and Family Life for The Art of Marriage: Getting to the Heart of God’s Design conference.

Translation: According to Indiana University, those who support (or even hint at supporting) traditional marriage are not welcome, and by association, neither are their chicken sandwiches, waffle fries or handspun milkshakes.

Topics: Current Events Tags: family, homosexuality, marriage, policy, pop culture January 28, 2011 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Thirty Years Ago Today

It was as if the day were scripted in Hollywood by the pen of Frank Capra, inclusive of pomp and pageantry, dreams and high drama, culminating at high noon, no less, all as the world watched.

In Washington, D.C., January 20, 1981, was cold and cloudy, but as Ronald Wilson Reagan took the oath, the overcast sky parted and a ray of sunshine fell upon the western front of our nation’s Capitol. Across the globe in Iran, 52 Americans hostages were loaded onto a plane and finally released following 444 days of captivity.

Topics: Current Events Tags: events, news, policy January 20, 2011 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Are Babies Better than Abortion?

Writing in today’s Wall Street Journal, William McGurn asks a serious question:

Are babies better than abortion?

Mr. McGurn is responding to a sobering new study recently released from the Chiaroscuro Foundation, a private nonprofit organization. He writes:

After crunching the latest statistics from New York City’s Health Department, the foundation reported that 41% of pregnancies (excluding miscarriage) in New York ended in abortion. That’s double the national rate.

As a society, does this figure say anything about the choice between a baby and abortion?

Topics: Current Events Tags: kids, policy, pro-life January 18, 2011 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Imago Dei

The beliefs of Dr. Peter Singer, an ethics professor at Princeton University, are anathema to those of us who believe in the sanctity of human life. Yet, unlike some in the abortion movement, Dr. Singer is, though offensive in speech and philosophy, honest and straightforward about what he believes and why he believes it.

When articulating his support for legalized abortion, Peter Singer admits his valuation of human life is based on a person’s capacities instead of it being measured on the Christian belief that life is made in God’s image, and thus worthy of protection.

Topics: Focus Events Tags: events, kids, policy, pro-life January 13, 2011 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

An Excess of Democracy?

Life is beginning to return to normal in the Daly house following Tuesday’s historic election.

By “normal” I mean it’s been three days since our home phone rang five times during dinner with candidate robo-calls and our mailbox was overstuffed with campaign flyers!

The pundits will continue to analyze Tuesday’s results and draw their subjective conclusions. I have mine; you have yours. At a Wednesday press conference, President Obama qualified the outcome as a “shellacking” – a candid admission by any measure.

Topics: Current Events Tags: events, faith, policy, pop culture November 5, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Day After

I’m on my way to California today. Tonight, I’ll be in Palm Desert speaking to a group at the Desert Springs Church. Tomorrow, I’ll be addressing a wonderful gathering of pro-life supporters at a pregnancy resource clinic banquet in Newport Beach. These are true stalwarts. One of their clinics (in Long Beach) is literally situated between two abortion providers. In this year alone the facility has saved 191 babies!

On a related note, results from last night’s mid-term elections are continuing to roll in.

Topics: Current Events Tags: faith, family, policy November 3, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Thoughts on Election Day 2010

Have you voted yet?

If not, why not?

If you have, what was the scene like at your polling place? Or did you vote early or by mail this year?

I was thinking the other day about the first time I ever voted. It was in 1980 and I was living in California. I was 19 years-old. I pulled the lever that year for Ronald Reagan. You might think that was an easy decision, but at the time, I was faced with something of a personal dilemma.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: events, faith, policy November 2, 2010 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura