Good Morning!
It was the great G. K. Chesterton who once quipped:
“Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions.”
Case in point:
1. House passes bill codifying same-sex marriage with significant GOP support
From the Washington Examiner:
The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill that would codify same-sex marriage into federal law on Tuesday, with large numbers of Republican lawmakers joining all Democrats in supporting the legislation.
Forty-seven Republicans joined all Democrats in voting for the bill, named the Respect for Marriage Act, after House GOP leadership announced that it would not be whipping rank-and-file lawmakers to oppose it. The final vote tally was 267-157, with all no votes coming from Republicans.
Democrats introduced the bill on Monday in response to concerns that the Supreme Court could revisit the right to same-sex marriage in light of the high court’s decision last month to overturn Roe v. Wade and return the ability to restrict abortion to the states.
If enacted, the Respect for Marriage Act would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, the 1996 law that defined marriage for federal purposes as a union between one man and one woman. While DOMA was struck down by the Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark 2015 ruling that established same-sex marriage as a constitutional right, it has never been repealed. The Respect for Marriage Act would also alter the federal definition of marriage to include same-sex unions and require states to allow same-sex marriages.
2. Why Don’t You Want to Provide Pregnant Women with True Choices, Senator Warren?
From the Daily Citizen:
When it comes to the issue of abortion, it turns out Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) isn’t really “pro-choice” after all.
“We need to shut [pregnancy resource centers] down here in Massachusetts, and we need to shut them down all around the country,” she said. “You should not be able to torture a pregnant person like that.”
By “torture,” Senator Warren is referring to the act of abortion-minded women calling on pregnancy resource centers – only to be told about life-affirming alternatives to killing their babies.
Sorry, Senator Warren, but the only person being “tortured” when it comes to abortion is the pre-born baby.
The Massachusetts senator says centers “fool people” – but since when did any woman inadvertently or mistakenly carry her baby to term? Is any woman deceived into a nine-month pregnancy? The mere suggestion is pure lunacy.
It’s not “fooling” – it’s called educating, informing, ministering, and serving.
Why does a self-proclaimed “pro-choice” person harbor so much fear and trepidation about providing women true and legitimate choices? After all, to be truly “pro-choice” is to support options – not hide or deceive women into thinking abortion is their only viable way forward.
Eliminate pregnancy resource centers and you take away critical, life-affirming services for tens of thousands of women each and every day. Today, over 2,800 of these facilities operate in the United States. By one estimate, they provide $266 million of medical services per year – at no cost to their clients. They serve women – and they save lives.
3. Michigan football’s Jim Harbaugh: Have the courage to let the unborn be born
From the Detroit Free-Press:
Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh lent his celebrity and his voice to an anti-abortion event on Sunday in Plymouth, sharing his reasoning why he’s against abortion.
According to the Detroit Catholic publication, Harbaugh and his wife, Sarah, were speakers at the Plymouth Right to Life event at the Inn at St. John’s, designed to raise money for several anti-abortion charities and programs in southeast Michigan.
“In God’s plan, each unborn human truly has a future filled with potential, talent, dreams and love,” Harbaugh said. “I have living proof in my family, my children, and the many thousands that I’ve coached that the unborn are amazing gifts from God to make this world a better place. To me, the right choice is to have the courage to let the unborn be born.”
The abortion debate has been reignited across the country after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision, sending the issue back to individual states.
4. AOC, Omar fake being handcuffed in abortion protest outside Supreme Court
From the Washington Times:
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pretended to be handcuffed Tuesday while U.S. Capitol Police arrested her and 16 other lawmakers during a [pro-abortion] protest outside of the Supreme Court.
Social media was abuzz with clips of the New York Democrat putting her hands behind her back as if she were handcuffed — despite the fact that she wasn’t.
The theatrics were short-lived. Roughly 10 seconds into her act, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez eventually raised her right fist to some onlookers.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pretended to be handcuffed Tuesday while U.S. Capitol Police arrested her and 16 other lawmakers during a pro-choice protest outside of the Supreme Court.
Social media was abuzz with clips of the New York Democrat putting her hands behind her back as if she were handcuffed — despite the fact that she wasn’t.
The theatrics were short-lived. Roughly 10 seconds into her act, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez eventually raised her right fist to some onlookers.
- The Epidemic Of Fatherless Boys Is Unraveling Our Society
Focus on the Family’s Tim Goeglein writes in The Federalist:
A recent research brief by Brad Wilcox and his colleagues at the Institute for Family Studies (IFS) on how the lack of an involved father impacts boys verifies the effects of that “dad-shaped” hole on boys.
In the brief, Wilcox reports that the percentage of boys living in homes without a biological father has almost doubled since 1960 – from 17 percent to 32 percent – resulting in an estimated 12 million boys growing up without a biological dad.
Wilcox writes, “Lacking the day-to-day involvement, guidance, and positive example of their father in the home, and the financial advantages associated with having him in the household, these boys are more likely to act up, lash out, flounder in school, and fail at work as they move into adolescence and adulthood.”
Thus, it quickly becomes evident how big that dad-sized hole can be and that hole can have lifelong implications, and often determines whether a boy will be a success or failure in life.
For example, Wilcox and his colleagues report that 35 percent of boys with a present biological father obtain a college degree, compared to just 14 percent of boys who do not have a present biological father.
While obtaining a college degree is not the only way to avoid poverty, a certain level of educational attainment is required if one wants to avoid poverty. But, according to the report, many fatherless boys are even struggling to achieve the most minimal level of educational attainment – a high school degree – which allows them to enter equipped for the workforce.
- Setting Fathers Against Sons
From the American Conservative:
Consider the Biden administration’s reaction to Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act, which is a completely benign piece of legislation that, if anything, does not go far enough. The bill includes a provision prohibiting school districts from adopting policies that prevent school personnel from disclosing “mental, emotional, or physical” health information to parents—policies meant to prevent “outing” a child to her parents.
When the bill was first advanced, Biden called it “hateful” and told “every member of the LGBTQI+ community,” including “the kids,” that his “Administration will continue to fight for the protections and safety you deserve.”
But whom, exactly, does the Biden administration intend to “protect” the children from? Certainly not the school counselors who would circumvent parental authority and tell a confused boy that he is, in fact, a girl, and certainly not the teachers who use their positions of power to push queer theory in the classroom.
When Health Secretary Admiral Levine says the Biden administration wants to “empower” young people to “get gender-affirmation treatment,” it is not only a promise, but also a threat. Yes, the administration opposes state bans on Medicaid-funded transgender surgery for minors. That is bad enough. But it also promotes services like Q Chat with the goal of liberating “trans youth” from their “non-affirming” family members, and undermining the family unit in the process.
7. Postmortem Sperm Retrieval Is Turning Dead Men Into Fathers
From Bloomberg:
In some countries—Germany, Italy, and Sweden, among others—the procedure is banned. In the US, regulations vary by state; the practice is reserved mostly for widows who can attest that their husbands wanted kids this way. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine adopted guidelines that include that stipulation and a one-year waiting period before the sperm can be used. One of the more famous cases occurred in 2014, when New York City police officer Wenjian Liu was killed. His widow, Sanny, had his sperm retrieved and gave birth to a daughter, Angelina, in 2017. A Pentagon spokesperson says the US military doesn’t cover the procedure under its health benefits and declined to say whether the armed forces follow the society’s guidelines.
A company called PMSR Network—it uses the initials for postmortem sperm retrieval—began offering services last year in California. Mel Cohen, the chief operating officer, says it plans to expand nationally next year. It has 27 physicians who can get to a body at a moment’s notice and are trained in the procedure.
Peter Schlegel, a professor of urology and reproductive medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City and one of the leading experts in the field, estimates that several dozen children have been born in the US this way. “We turn down most requests, because they don’t fit our guidelines,” he says. “The biggest issue is intent—evidence that the man would want children in this way.”
8. Merriam-Webster Changes the Definition of ‘Female’
From National Review:
Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary has caved to the trans agenda. In order to appease woke activists, the dictionary publisher has added a secondary definition of “female” that defines the term as “having a gender identity that is the opposite of male.” The key term here is “gender identity,” which demonstrates that Merriam-Webster maintains that gender is not directly connected to sex. A female is a woman. Trans-identifying males are not female. However, according to trans activists, men can be women.
This is not the only part of the definition that has changed in the online edition of Merriam-Webster. Notice the primary definition of female: “Of, relating to, or being the sex that typically has the capacity to bear young or produce eggs.” In Merriam-Webster’s tenth edition, the dictionary defines the noun female as “of, relating to, or being the sex that bears young or produces eggs.” The change in the online edition to include the phrase, “typically has the capacity” shows Merriam-Webster’s attempt to include trans-identifying males in the definition of female. While this phrase may refer to women who cannot bear children due to infertility, given their nod to “gender identity” in defining the word “female,” it is most likely another way to appease the trans community.
Ironically, the “kids definition” of the adjective “female” in the online edition remains the original one: “of, relating to, or being the sex that bears young or lays eggs.” We are at a point when the children’s definition of a word is the real definition while the adult definition is politicized nonsense.
9. Sadie Robertson Huff encourages all Christians to be social media influencers: ‘Lead your followers’
From the Christian Post:
Sadie Robertson Huff of “Duck Dynasty” fame recently told young adults at a Washington, D.C. church on Sunday that “everyone is an influencer” and that all believers should “lead your followers” on social media.
Robertson Huff and her husband, Chris Huff, were guest speakers at Passion City Church in Washington, D.C., where they discussed topics related to social media.
“Jesus speaks to the things that we’re facing when it comes to social media. And it was just kind of funny that Jesus literally used the verbiage when He talks to His disciples to ‘follow Him.’ And I was like, that’s funny because we follow each other all the time,” the 25-year-old Robertson Huff said.
“Obviously, it looks so different to follow Jesus then to follow someone on social media. But, I thought maybe if we can incorporate some of the principles and what it looks like to follow Jesus in our life on social media, it would be great.”
LOOKING BACK – 53 Years Ago Today
10.Men Walk On Moon; Astronauts Land On Plain; Collect Rocks, Plant Flag; A Powdery Surface Is Closely Explored
From The New York Times:
Men have landed and walked on the moon.
Two Americans, astronauts of Apollo 11, steered their fragile four-legged lunar module safely and smoothly to the historic landing yesterday at 4:17:40 P.M., Eastern daylight time.
Neil A. Armstrong, the 38-year-old civilian commander, radioed to earth and the mission control room here:
“Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.”
The first men to reach the moon–Mr. Armstrong and his co-pilot, Col. Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr. of the Air Force–brought their ship to rest on a level, rock-strewn plain near the southwestern shore of the arid Sea of Tranquility.
About six and a half hours later, Mr. Armstrong opened the landing craft’s hatch, stepped slowly down the ladder and declared as he planted the first human footprint on the lunar crust:
“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
His first step on the moon came at 10:56:20 P.M., as a television camera outside the craft transmitted his every move to an awed and excited audience of hundreds of millions of people on earth.
Ancient Dream Fulfilled
It was man’s first landing on another world, the realization of centuries of dreams, the fulfillment of a decade of striving, a triumph of modern technology and personal courage, the most dramatic demonstration of what man can do if he applies his mind and resources with single-minded determination.
The moon, long the symbol of the impossible and the inaccessible, was now within man’s reach, the first port of call in this new age of spacefaring.
