Good Morning!
“God instituted marriage for the good of man (restraining and channeling his sexuality), for the protection and dignity of woman, and the flourishing of human society,” wrote the late Chuck Colson.
He then added, “Western civilization, the greatest ever, took this to heart, but forgets it now at its own peril.”
The societal amnesia continues:
- Call to Action: Contact Your U.S. Senator to Oppose Dangerous ‘Respect for Marriage Act’
From the Daily Citizen:
Your help is urgently needed to stop the dangerous and deceptively titled “Respect for Marriage Act.” It should be called the “Codify the Radical Redefinition of Marriage and Family Act.” Also known by its bill number, H.R. 8404, it just passed the U.S. House of Representatives and is headed for a quick vote – maybe even this week – in the U.S. Senate.
The bill is a trojan horse designed to undermine families, religious organizations and states that desire to protect marriage and religious faith. The Act is an assault on religious freedom and free speech.
Please call or email your U.S. senators and respectfully request that they oppose the bill, H.R. 8404, which attempts to enshrine same-sex marriage into federal law, disrespecting the wishes of millions of Christians and pro-family Americans who view marriage as a God-ordained union of one man and one woman and simply want to live their lives consistent with their deeply held beliefs.
Supporters of the bill claim that H.R. 8404 merely “codifies” the 2015 Obergefell same-sex marriage decision of the U.S. Supreme Court. But that’s a smokescreen for the bill’s real purposes, which threaten religious people, businesses, and organizations with costly, harassing lawsuits merely for practicing their faith.
Here’s a sample of what H.R. 8404 could do if it becomes law:
- The IRS could rely on it to strip nonprofit organizations of their tax-exempt status if they adhere to their belief that marriage is between a man and a woman.
- It would require the federal government to recognize any state’s definition of marriage, no matter how far-fetched. Some examples include plural marriages, polyamory, time-bound marriages, marriages involving a minor or relative, or any new definition a state may adopt. Such recognition would affect a myriad of federal laws and policies regarding marriage, its benefits, and parental rights.
- It would deputize activist groups to sue religious individuals, organizations and businesses with sincerely held religious beliefs that marriage is between one man and one woman. This could include:
- Faith-based foster care providers
- Religious social service organizations
- Religious organizations and businesses that contract with the federal government to provide services
- Any other persons or organizations that act “under color of state law”
Children deserve a married mom and dad, and studies show they are better off in such homes by every measure. H.R. 8404 violates the duty society has to our children, contributes to the breakdown of our nation’s families, and hands power to activists to go after people of faith.
A vote in the Senate could occur at any time. It is especially important to contact Republican senators to request that they stand up for marriage and defeat this dangerous bill.
To contact your senator, here are several options:
- If you know who your senators are, you can call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be transferred to their office so that you can speak to one of the senator’s staff members.
- If you don’t know who your senators are, go here and plug in your state to find their names and phone numbers.
- If you want to use a senator’s email or constituent website form to send your message, go here.
If you call, you will be connected to a staff person for your senator. Please be polite and simply ask them to relay the message that you want your senator to vote “NO” on H.R. 8404.
This is URGENT. Please contact your senators TODAY.
RELATED:
‘Sloppy Agape’ is to Blame for Wobbly Reaction to Same-Sex Marriage Bill
From the Daily Citizen:
Why would it be a “political liability” to support an institution that for thousands of years of recorded history has proven to be the very best thing for society – especially men, women and their children?
It seems that far too many people, even well-meaning individuals who hold to the Christian faith, believe it’s somehow mean-spirited or a bad witness to continue to hold fast to the one-man, one-woman definition of marriage. After all, we all know people who identify as homosexual or who have entered into same-sex marriages.
And it’s settled law, right? It’s time to move on. Stop talking about it. Don’t be so judgmental. Live and let live. Plus – and this is the real kicker – many suggest the very best way to win someone to the Lord is to just love them and let God sort it all out.
Only these people are guilty of “sloppy agape” – a tendency to prioritize “niceness” over truth and misapplying the “God is love” principle. They’ve elevated “niceness” to a scriptural virtue. Yet, ignoring a matter of scriptural principle and looking the other way when it comes to destructive behaviors and lifestyles is actually not very nice at all.
It’s true that same-sex marriage is the law of the land, but that doesn’t mean Christians should surrender the conversation out of fear of being called “mean.” There’s too much at stake – and too much going wrong in society to simply turn away from the great gift of God-honoring marriage.
It remains an open question how this bill will shake out in the United States Senate. As concerned citizens, we should be contacting our respective senators and urge them to vote “No.”
And whether it’s about marriage or some other hot-button societal issue, always say “no” to “sloppy agape.”
2. No Madame Vice President, Preborn Children Being Aborted is the Real Issue
From the Daily Citizen:
In an interview discussing the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Vice President Harris casually discussed pregnancy as if she was discussing some type of cancer.
“Listen, women are getting pregnant every day in America, and this is a real issue,” the vice president said.
“And we need to act with a sense of haste … and codifying Roe will be an important moment in terms of putting back in place protections for folks who are at risk.”
A real issue?
Folks who are at risk?
Since when did we begin discussing pregnancy as if it were a kind of disease?
You can tell her statement is problematic because if you remove the word “pregnant” from her sentence, and replace it with the word “cancer,” the sentence still makes sense.
Here’s the sentence with this change: “Listen, women are getting cancer every day in America, and this is a real issue.”
But pregnancy is no disease. It is the natural outcome of human sexual activity, and the result of the female human body acting with the male body as it was designed to.
- Wyoming Abortion Trigger Law Takes Effect this Week
From the Daily Citizen:
The Wyoming legislature passed a near-total ban on abortions last March based on the hope that the U.S. Supreme Court would overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey in the Dobbs case, which it did. The bill, known as a “trigger” law because its official status would be triggered by the demise of Roe and Casey, has been certified by Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon and goes into effect on July 26.
The law, also known as H.B. 92, prohibits abortion except in the case of rape, incest, or “when necessary to preserve the woman from a serious risk of death or of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function, not including any psychological or emotional conditions.” It also prohibits any taxpayer funds from being used to pay for abortion except in the latter instance of risk of death or impairment of a major bodily function.
H.B. 92 replaces the previous law that banned abortions after viability, with exceptions for the life and health of the mother.
Gov. Gordon tweeted: “I have certified HB 92 following the Attorney General’s analysis. I believe that the decision to regulate abortion is properly left to the states. As a pro-life Governor, my focus will continue to be on ensuring we are doing all we can to support mothers, children and families.”
4. Pro-Life Coffee Company Donates to Pregnancy Resource Centers
From the Daily Citizen:
His name is Anton Krecic, and one of his goals in life is to help lead a pro-life coffee movement – one sip at a time.
Yes, you read that correctly – a pro-life coffee movement.
Founder and owner of “Seven Weeks Coffee” – aptly named because a baby at seven weeks gestation is roughly the size of a coffee bean, Krecic says the company’s mission is “to promote Godly values, provide excellent coffee, and protect every beating heart.”
How does he plan to ensure the latter?
Anton and his team are donating ten percent of every sale to pregnancy resource centers – the same facilities domestic terrorists/abortion activists have been firebombing and Senator Elizabeth Warren wants banned.
Krecic calls pregnancy resource centers the “hands and feet of the pro-life movement” – and he’s right.
“I believe life is the greatest gift God has given us,” Krecic recently said. “He has a plan and purpose for each of us, and He loves every life no matter how small. If I can help protect even one life, I know I’m serving a greater purpose.”
In just over eight months of operation, Seven Weeks Coffee, which is based in a Washington D.C. suburb, has donated over $15,000. Committed to full transparency, you can click here to see how the financials break down and see the actual centers they’ve already contributed to so far.
Enjoy coffee and feel led to support this worthy endeavor? Click here.
5. California Could Become Destination State for ‘Transgender’ Procedures for Children – Courts Instructed to Ignore Parental Rights
From the Daily Citizen:
A proposed California bill will allow courts to take away parents’ rights if their child comes to the state for what is euphemistically and deceptively called “gender-affirming health care.”
The bill would make California a destination state for “transgender” procedures for minors.
Dubbed “Trans Refuge Legislation” by state Senator Scott Weiner, SB107 “would empower California courts to take ‘temporary emergency jurisdiction’ of children if they come to California for trans-drugs, surgery, or mental healthcare,” said California Family Council (CFC) a Focus on the Family ally.
Should the legislation pass, adults could bring children and teens to California for experimental and damaging transgender medical interventions, without the knowledge or consent of their parents.
CFC says the bill instructs state courts “to ignore the fact that a child has been kidnapped from the parent or parents with legal custody, if the minor comes to the state for gender transitioning.”
RELATED:
‘Woke’ Crayola faces boycott after being accused of pushing transgender agenda to children: ‘Just let them be kids!’
From TheBlaze:
Crayola – the crayon company – is accused of pushing a transgender agenda to small children. The crayon company is now facing a potential boycott over the controversial content.
Crayola – which reportedly has a target market of ages 2-10 – shared images of a transgender model on its social media accounts. Crayola promoted Julian Gavino AKA The Disabled Hippie, on the crayon company’s Facebook and Instagram pages to celebrate “Disability Pride Month.”
“Julian Gavino, (he/him) is a fashion model, writer, and activist who identifies as a transgender man,” Crayola wrote. “He was born with a progressive neurological condition. Julian is passionate about advocating for his respective communities. As someone who grew up not seeing anyone who looked like him in the media, Julian is determined to normalize disabled and trans bodies in the fashion world.”
Gavino said he “felt out of control with what was happening to my body,” but when he “started pushing the boundaries on what I would usually wear,” it helped him “cope.”
6. Research Shows Wokeism at Work and School Dampens Mental Health
From the Daily Citizen:
Science is now recognizing what far too many citizens have already experienced in their lives: Constantly watching what you say at school and work in order to stay one step ahead of the ever-vigilant PC-police and wokesters takes its toll on the human psyche and bleeds into life at home. This is the finding of new research published in the Journal of Applied Psychology conducted by six scholars who conducted five different studies on the matter.
The study, properly entitled “Walking on Eggshells: A Self-Control Perspective on Workplace Political Correctness,” shows that the new politically correct regime of possibly losing one’s job or being socially ostracized by peers for uttering the most innocent comment is affecting mental health at work, school and home in measurable ways.
These scholars call such political correctness in public life “a double-edged sword” because it does cause us to be more mindful of what we say, but can also tend to haunt workers during and after work and school, leaving us all feeling more angry and withdrawn at home in our off hours.
- Pope Francis issues an historic apology for ‘devastating’ school abuses in Canada
From NPR:
Pope Francis issued a historic apology Monday for the Catholic Church’s cooperation with Canada’s “catastrophic” policy of Indigenous residential schools, saying the forced assimilation of Native peoples into Christian society destroyed their cultures, severed families and marginalized generations in ways still being felt today.
“I am sorry,” Francis said, to applause from school survivors and Indigenous community members gathered at a former residential school south of Edmonton, Alberta, the first event of Francis’ weeklong “penitential pilgrimage” to Canada.
- GOP lawmakers question constitutionality of State Department grants to spread atheism abroad
From Just the News:
Republican lawmakers are questioning the constitutionality of a Biden State Department program to fund the spread of atheism and humanism internationally.
At the end of June, a group of 15 Republican members of Congress wrote to President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken about a State Department funding program from April 2021 that “would award grants of up to $500,000 to organizations committed to the practice and spread of atheism and humanism, namely in South/Central Asia and in the Middle East/North Africa.”
Noting that both atheism and humanism “are official belief systems,” the GOP legislators wrote, “Any such program — for any religiously-identifiable group — in the United States would be unconstitutional.”
One of the lawmakers, Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wisc.), told the John Solomon Reports podcast on Thursday that the rest of the world looks up to the United States for various reasons, such as its freedoms and material wealth, and wonders what the secret is to America’s success.
9. What type of leader are you? It may depend on whether you’re an older or younger sibling, psychologist says
From CNBC:
Are certain siblings — quite literally — more born to lead than others? Not necessarily, says one psychologist.
There’s a stereotype, and even some supportive research, that older siblings develop stronger leadership traits than middle or younger siblings. But according to Laurie Kramer, a professor of applied psychology at Northeastern University, that’s not really true. Birth order can affect your leadership qualities, Kramer says, but attributes associated with younger and older siblings aren’t really better or worse — just different.
The first-born child in a family — including only children — can often grow up to be autonomous and confident, two vital leadership traits, Kramer says.
Inexperienced parents tend to be very attuned to the needs and feelings of their first-born, Kramer says: They’re still trying to navigate parenting, so they can end up showering a lot of attention on that child. “They’re trying to figure out what a cry means, how to tell when that child is hungry, and just want to respond to all of that very quickly,” she says.
The youngest child in a family is often interested in exploring a variety of interests, usually because they’re exposed to a wider array of experiences and knowledge than their siblings, Kramer says.
When a younger sibling arrives, parents sometimes exhaust themselves navigating the needs of multiple children, Kramer says. They tend to give their youngest child less time and attention than their previous children, feeling more confident that the kid can probably wait a few minutes and still “be just fine.”
Middle children’s strengths often lie in communication and forming good relationships with others, according to Kramer.
When a third child is born, the second child’s environment shifts dramatically, Kramer says: Now a middle child, they can almost feel “tossed aside” since their parents have to attend to their newborn sibling.
Kramer says middle children typically compete for attention from their parents, which sometimes involves a concept called “sibling deidentification,” where a child chooses to follow a strikingly different path from that of their siblings. Those children end up honing in on specific interests and strengths that set them apart, Kramer says.
10. The Secret to Happiness
From the Gospel Coalition:
Americans have grown less happy since the 1990s, with an even steeper decline since the 2000s. A global pandemic has made the trend even worse. According to a 2020 University of Chicago poll, Americans were the unhappiest they had ever been since conductors started collecting data in 1972.
How can we reverse the trend? How can we be happy?
Believe it or not, this isn’t a new question. Our cultural moment makes the problem feel acute, but the pursuit of happiness is a well-worn path.
The book of Psalms, written about 3,000 years ago, begins with this exact issue: “Blessed is the man” (Ps. 1:1). Another way to translate this word is “happy.” “Happy is the man.”
Do you want a happy life? Listen to the wisdom of this psalm; the answer may surprise you. Happy is the man whose “delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night” (Ps. 1:2).
Meditate on Scripture
The two lines of Psalm 1:2 are parallel. To delight in the law of the Lord is to meditate on it day and night. That’s quite the task! Do you have to become a monk to be happy? Do you need to spend all day studying God’s Word and doing nothing else?
Follow the Science
Interestingly, social science points us in the same direction. Studies show religious people are far happier than nonreligious people. They’re happier in their work, and they’re more emotionally (even physically) healthy.
One study looked specifically at church attendance. Of those who attend a church service “seldom or never,” only 26 percent report being “very happy.” Of those who attend monthly or less, 31 percent report being very happy—an improvement. And of those who attend weekly or more, 43 percent report being “very happy.” From 26 to 43 percent—that’s a big difference!
Look to Christ
Our culture says, “Follow your heart,” “You do you,” “Live your authentic life,” and so on. Such platitudes imply the key to happiness is found within. But Psalm 1 disagrees. The key to happiness isn’t inside of you; it’s outside of you. The key to happiness is found in God and his Word.
