Abortion
Mexican Supreme Court overwhelmingly rejects proposal to legalize abortion nationwide by Matthew Cullinan Hoffman
Raped by a stranger, she rejected abortion—now she has no regrets by Libby Peters
Guns or Canes? – China’s Self-Inflicted Wound by Eric Metaxas – “Healthy economies need young workers. And thanks to its one-child policy, China is facing a less-than-rosy economic future. Here’s a lesson in demographics and worldview.”
Hollywood Legends Were Haunted by Their Abortions by Maria Gallagher
End-of-Life
Catholic Nursing Home Successfully Sued for Refusing Euthanasia by Wesley J. Smith
Devotional
“What’s Really Necessary?” by Rev Ken Klaus – “(Jesus said) ‘But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.’ Matthew 6:33”
“Freedom’s Price Has Been Paid … Serve It Forward” by Rev. Ken Klaus
Family Living
Baptize Them by Pastor Mark Jeske
12 Powerful Verses to Pray Over Our Children (with free printable) by Lisa
Are Boys and Girls Really Different? by Dr. James Dobson
Severely disabled Christian boy speaks up for the voiceless by Aaron James
Political
The Proper Response When All Outcomes Lead to Ruin by Steve Berman
Sexual Purity
You Can’t Have It Both Ways by Pastor Mark Jeske
Worldview and Culture
What Are We Celebrating? by Dr. Thomas Sowell
5 Reasons Why Teenagers Need Theology by Jaquelle Crowe
Heads Up, Pro-Lifers – The Last Twitchings of Flabby Liberalism by John Stonestreet – “The Supreme Court followed its decision on the Texas abortion law by refusing to hear a case on the religious freedom of pharmacists. Are you discouraged?”
Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s “Rationalia” Would Be A Terrible Country by G. Shane Morris – “Neil deGrasse Tyson says we need a new country called Rationalia. Based on whose rationality?”
I’m a millennial and my generation sucks by Johnny Oleksinski
The Soul of America by Ravi Zacharias
7 Incisive Clarence Thomas Quotes From 25 Years In Office by Romana Tausz – “Twenty-five years ago … Clarence Thomas was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court. What a quarter-century.”
3 reasons why God allows suffering – “Why would a loving God allow suffering? In his final article ahead of ‘Unbelievable? The Conference 2016,’ Justin Brierley presents three ways to respond to the hardest question of them all.”
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Freedom and the Vote by R. J. Rushdoony
(Source: Chalcedon Foundation email, 7/4/16)
Never in all of man’s history has a country gained freedom by voting it in. Freedom is not a product of the ballot box.
Tyranny has a long history, and the cruelties practiced by some tyrants over their subjects present sickening reading. No tyrant ever gave his subjects an opportunity to vote him out.
How then has the change been made? By revolution? The long history of revolutions indicates that almost invariably one tyrant is traded for another, usually a far more fearful one. How then does society change?
Society changes only as the members of society change, only as men and women are regenerated by Jesus Christ. Apart from regeneration, a society can have some material progress, but no real advantage or freedom for most men as a rule. The areas of freedom have been the areas of Christian faith, and, as that faith wanes, freedom wanes.
This leads to some very important conclusions. The ballot box has a very important function in a free society, but it can never be expected to do anything more than to reflect the character, the desires, and the will of the people. If the people who vote are of weak or bad character, if their desires are larcenous and envious, and if their will be perverse and evil, the election results will merely reflect their own nature on a broader scope.
This means too that people who expect to reform the state or country by means of the vote, by elections, are headed for failure and disillusionment. Reformation must begin in the lives of the people in order to show up in the ballot box.
Freedom has only come to a people, as they have become, one by one, free men in Jesus Christ. As a people advance into freedom in Christ, they move their society and country into that freedom, and as a people drift into unbelief and sin, their country declines into slavery.
Some years ago, the poet James Oppenheim summed up the issue of freedom in his poem “The Slave,” when he wrote in part:
They can only set men free …
And there is no need of that:
Free men set themselves free.
Is there a free man in your mirror?
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Recipe for a “Happy Child” a Simple One by John Rosemond
I recently enjoyed the privilege of seeing and hearing radio talk-show host Dennis Prager speak on the topic of happiness. He only spoke for twenty minutes, but said more in that short span than most talk-show people are able to say in two hours.
He was talking to an audience about how to be a happy person and have a happy marriage. His message, in a nutshell, was that no one makes you happy. You make yourself happy and if you don’t accept full responsibility for that, you’re going to be miserable a lot.
Nearly everything Prager said was relevant to proper parenting. For example, as I have said for years, the attempt by parents to make a child happy robs the child of the fundamental right to learn to pursue happiness on his or her own. Once upon a time, it was called, simply, “standing on your own two feet.”
Almost invariably, people who don’t understand that happiness is a decision, the act of taking full responsibility for one’s own emotional condition, end up characterizing themselves as victims of social, cultural, financial, familial, and biological forces beyond their control. They tend to view life as a drama, a soap opera in which they are casualties (or always on the edge of casualty). In that regard, it is relevant to note that many of today’s youth seem to embrace that worldview. (Can you say “micro-aggressions”?) It is also relevant to note that most parents, when I ask them what their parenting goals are, say, “I want my child to be happy” as either goal one or goal two, which is proof that good intentions do not proper parenting make.
Prager also talked about feelings, which have been a mainstay of our cultural conversation since psychology became our dominant philosophy in the 1960s. He had the strength of conviction to say that when all is said and done, it does not matter how someone feels; what matters is how that individual treats other people.
That’s a bingo, and dovetails with what I tell parents as often as the opportunity presents itself: Proper parenting is an act of love for one’s neighbor. It is the act of training a child such that the child will treat other people properly and make America a better place. Phooey on an accumulation of athletic trophies, high self-esteem, academic accolades, getting accepted by the “right” college, going to medical school, becoming a mover-and-shaker within the Beltway and other equally materialistic parenting purposes. In the final analysis, the only thing that matters is that a child grows up to be a good citizen, which is comprised of one-third self-responsibility, one-third compassion, and one-third the willingness to serve others.
The formula for raising said child is rather simple: Give to the child conservatively (gratefulness and unselfishness are inversely proportional to material acquisition). Assign the child household responsibilities, insist that they be done properly, and do not pay for said contributions (it’s called being a responsible family member as opposed to being an entitled family member). Love the child unconditionally and model love for others (the former without the latter turns the child into an idol). Discipline the child unequivocally (so that he learns self-discipline and can eventually appreciate the inestimable value of personal liberty).
As King Solomon wrote some 3000 years ago, train them up in the way they should go. How that is done proves something else Solomon wrote: There is nothing new under the sun.