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What is the significance of Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally at the Lincoln Memorial on Aug. 28? You really had to be there (and I was) to fully appreciate the nature of the gathering. If I were pressed to describe it, I would say it best resembled a peculiar blend of church picnic and 4th of July block party.
Over 300,000 people gathered from across the nation in response to Beck’s call to come to a “Restoring Honor” rally in the nation’s capital. Why did they come?
They did not come because of politics. The rally and the crowd generated were not driven by politics. The deep concerns that brought them to Washington will be reflected in, but were not driven by politics. Their concerns are much deeper and broader than the political process. Their concerns are spiritual and cultural.
These were almost universally people of faith⎯Evangelical, Catholic, Orthodox, Jewish, Mormon, and Muslim (all of whom were represented in the program).
While they adhere to differing faiths, their common concern is a country they fervently believe has taken a drastically wrong turn spiritually and culturally. And, they don’t think the wrong turn occurred in 2008, but began much, much earlier in the tumultuous decade of the 1960s.
They acknowledge gladly that many good things happened in the ‘60s such as the Civil Rights movement. Every mention of Dr. King’s name elicited sustained applause at the rally. They do believe the ‘60s ushered in an era in which Americans began to emphasize their rights and privileges at the expense of their obligations and responsibilities. They further believe that the consequences of this change in emphasis have been catastrophic, especially for children. The meteoric rise in illegitimacy from five percent in the early ‘60s to 41 percent today is but one example to which they would point as illustrative of their lament.
Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally called for people to go back to their communities and allow their faith to make a difference in themselves, and how they live their lives in their families, and to make a difference in their churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples and to transform civil society one family, one place of worship, one community at a time.
Millions of Americans believe their God had impressed upon them a similar mission long before Glenn Beck began to articulate it on radio and television. For example, the vision statement of the Southern Baptists’ Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission is “An American society that affirms and practices Judeo-Christian values rooted in biblical authority.” The mission statement to achieve that vision is “To awaken, inform, energize, equip, and mobilize Christians to be the catalysts for the Biblically-based transformation of their families, churches, communities, and the nation.”
These mission and vision statements were adopted more than a decade ago and make no mention of government, or politics, but society as a whole. Increasingly, the people gathered at the mall and the tens of millions of people they represent understand that politics and government are lagging societal indicators. When the country changes, then the government will change in a system of government “of the people, by the people, for the people.”
As stated earlier, however, it will impact politics. When President Obama was running for president, he stated on several occasions that he wanted to “remake” America. The people gathered at the mall came to rally for restoring honor to America. They do not want to remake, but rather to restore an America where obligations and responsibilities and promises are honored and taken seriously. They have declared their intent to restore America, not remake it. Their vision, and the President’s vision, for America’s future differ greatly. That will impact the political process.
This article originally appeared online at The Hill.
The saga on stem cells took two important twists in recent days. One was from a court standing behind its decision two weeks earlier that sent the pro-life community cheering by halting taxpayer dollars to unethical embryonic stem cell research. The second was from opponents in Congress hoping to keep the money flowing. The now uncertain future course on stem cell research helps to make a clear case for taking a sensible step: prioritizing funding for research that is ethical and has demonstrated success.
The positive turn came Tuesday as federal Judge Royce Lamberth rejected a request by the Obama administration to stay, or put on hold, his court’s Aug. 23 decision to temporarily block taxpayer funding of embryonic stem cell research mandated by President Obama’s 2009 executive order while the case works its way through the appeals process.
“A stay would flout the will of Congress, as this court understands what Congress has enacted in the Dickey-Wicker Amendment,” Judge Lamberth wrote, referring to a law reauthorized each year since 1996 to bar federal funding of research in which human embryos are destroyed or harmed. “Congress has mandated that the public interest is served by preventing taxpayer funding of research that entails the destruction of human embryos. Congress remains perfectly free to amend or revise the statute.”
And that’s exactly what some in Congress intend to do. In the second, albeit negative, turn on the stem cell front, Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO), one of Congress’ most vocal supporters of such research, asserted just days earlier that “the stars are pretty well aligned” to move forward on her bill to bypass the court, according to the Politico newspaper. While Rep. DeGette’s Stem Cell Research Advancement Act (H.R. 4808) would authorize taxpayer dollars for research involving the killing of human embryos, it goes much further. Human cloning would also become legitimate. Under a deceptively written definition, human cloning would be permitted as long as a clone is not implanted. Fittingly, many call it the clone and kill bill.
Yet the congressional tug-of-war on a preferred route to finding treatments to diseases and other ailments using stem cells helps to make the case for another bill, one that has lingered in Congress since its introduction. The Patients First Act (H.R. 877) would do exactly as its title suggests: put patients ahead of politics, making the treatment of patients—not the pursuit of what’s been dead-end, unethical research—of paramount concern. Introduced by Reps. Randy Forbes (R-VA) and Dan Lipinski (D-IL), the bill would “prioritize” research “in terms of potential for near-term clinical benefit in human patients.” In other words, it stands to pump the most money into the forms of stem cell research demonstrating the most success.
That includes the broad category of adult stem cells, which are taken from such sources as an individual’s fat, bone marrow, and umbilical cord blood. The number of people treated with this type of research is growing by the day. The research boasts more than 70 kinds of treatments in all—from cancers and heart disease to Type 1 Diabetes and spinal cord injuries—compared to zero treatments using embryo-destructive research. The bill also favors induced pluripotent stem cell research, in which adult skin cells are “walked” back to an embryonic-like state, a recent breakthrough that many scientists believe could make destructive research unnecessary. None of these methods harms or destroys human life.
Few, it might seem, could argue with such a sensible approach. What makes the Forbes-Lipinski measure even more attractive is that it forbids directing any of that funding pie to widely controversial forms of stem cell research, specifically those which involve the creation, harm, or destruction of human embryos.
But sensibility is in short supply in Washington. The Patients First Act, for all its benefits, has been given hardly a second thought by the power-wielding liberal congressional leadership. They instead favor Rep. DeGette’s “clone and kill” bill, similar versions of which were met with President Bush’s veto pen in 2006 and 2007.
The Patients First Act, in contrast, is a welcome antidote to the highly charged effort to continue federal funding of research that lacks both results and moral high ground. Patients should not have to needlessly await treatments that are already at researchers’ fingertips. Nor should taxpayers be forced to fund research that requires the destruction of innocent human lives.
If you agree, please tell your representative and senators to oppose the Stem Cell Research Advancement Act (H.R. 4808) and to support the Patients First Act (H.R. 877).
A Florida pastor’s plan to hold a large-scale burning of the Quran is “appalling” and does not represent the teachings of Christ, Southern Baptist ethicist Richard Land says.
The president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission made the comments Sept. 7 in reference to a Florida pastor’s plans to hold “International Burn a Koran Day” Sept. 11, the ninth anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks. The pastor, Terry Jones, leads Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla., a nondenominational church that reportedly runs approximately 30-50 people each Sunday.
Jones said the event — which has garnered worldwide attention and already led to at least one large overseas protest — is an “act of warning radical Islam.”
“The behavior of this church is not Christian,” Land said during an online chat on The Washington Post’s website. “I cannot imagine Christ burning any religious texts. This behavior is unfortunately one of the prices we pay for living in a free society with freedom of speech and freedom of expression, even when it is odious and reprehensible. I believe it is incumbent upon Christians across the country to denounce this action by this local church and its pastor to make it as clear as possible that they do not speak for any sizable portion of the Christian faith community in any way, shape or form.”
Land previously said the church’s planed actions are “appalling, disgusting and brainless” and that they “besmirch the reputation of our Savior, and that makes it blasphemy.”
The planned Quran burning has sparked a worldwide controversy, and hundreds of Muslims gathered in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sept. 6 to burn a cardboard image of Jones in effigy while chanting, “Long live Islam” and “Death to America,” according to the Associated Press. Although most Americans may ignore the pastor, the rest of the world won’t, warned Gen. David Petraus, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan.
“It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort in Afghanistan,” Petraus said in a statement.
Land agreed, saying there are “elements within Islam which will react violently.”
“This would feed a cycle of violence in which acts by Muslim extremists would become self-fulfilling prophecies,” he said.
Open Doors USA President Carl Moeller also condemned the planned event, saying it “violates the command of Jesus to love our neighbor” and “would likely cause Christians worldwide to be more vilified and persecuted.” Open Doors supports the persecuted church worldwide.
“The burning of Qurans will only confirm what many Muslims believe — that Christians hate Muslims,” Moeller said in a statement. “That is exactly the opposite message we as Christians want to send.”
Land and Moeller said they are praying Jones will change his mind and cancel the event.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called the church’s plan a “disrespectful, disgraceful act,” and Attorney General Eric Holder called it “idiotic and dangerous.”
Land, though, said the government should stay out of the way.
“The only thing more dangerous than what this pastor is doing would be to allow the government to interfere,” he said. “This would set a terrible precedent and would diminish all our First Amendment rights. The best way to combat this is to exercise our free speech right to condemn what he is doing in the simplest way and most direct terms.”
Jones and his church are not strangers to controversy. He has written a book, “Islam is of the Devil,” a phrase that is written on a series of signs on church property for passersby to see. The church’s website also lists 15 reasons to “burn a Koran.”
Jones appeared on CBS’ “The Early Show” Sept. 8 and agreed that Jesus said to “love your enemies.”
“I believe that this approach is not the normal approach,” Jones said. “But I believe that this approach is at this particular time in history very necessary. We also see times in the Bible where Jesus also got very upset. Jesus went into the temple and threw all the money changers out.”
This article is reprinted with permission from Baptist Press.
The state of Maryland has taken action against three abortion doctors after an investigation into a clinic resulted in the discovery of the bodies of or parts of 35 late-term, unborn children.
The Maryland Board of Physicians issued the following orders, the Philadelphia (Pa.) Inquirer reported Sept. 3:
Also in this edition: Record number of sites for next 40 Days for Life and Care Net, Heartbeat International upgrade joint website.
Elkton, Md., police launched an investigation into Brigham’s clinic in their town after a woman who was injured during an abortion there filed a complaint, according to the Inquirer. Riley sliced the vagina and bowel of the woman, 18 years of age and 21 weeks pregnant, during the Aug. 13 procedure. She declined to call an ambulance. Instead, Brigham and Riley took the woman to a hospital emergency room. The woman’s injuries required she be flown by helicopter to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md. Meanwhile, Riley returned to the Elkton clinic to do another abortion.
An Aug. 17 police raid of the Elkton clinic uncovered frozen aborted babies as much as 36 weeks gestation.
Police also raided Brigham’s clinic in Voorhees, N.J., which is near Philadelphia, Pa. For years, Brigham has been starting abortion procedures in the Voorhees clinic and sending women to one of his clinics in another state to complete them, the Inquirer reported. New Jersey bars his clinics in that state from providing abortions after 14 weeks because they fail its safety standards.
Brigham has a long history of run-ins with state authorities, according to the newspaper. He has surrendered his medical license or had it rescinded or temporarily suspended in five states during the last 18 years. In July, the Pennsylvania Department of Health canceled approval for him to own clinics in the state because of his repeated use of unlicensed health-care providers.
“Traditional means of discipline simply don’t work with this guy,” said Cheryl Sullenger of Operation Rescue. “He has found that he can get away with just about anything without much more than a slap on the wrist. The only way to protect women from Brigham’s predatory and unsafe abortion business is to criminally charge him and order all his mills closed.”
Record number of sites for next 40 Days for LifeThe latest 40 Days for Life campaign will begin Sept. 22 at the most locations in its short history.
The pro-life effort, which has occurred twice a year since the fall of 2007, consists of 40 days of prayer and fasting to end abortion, as well as community outreach and peaceful prayer vigils outside abortion clinics.
This fall’s campaign, which will end Oct. 31, will be at 238 sites. Those include locations in 46 states, six Canadian provinces, Australia, Denmark, England and Northern Ireland.
According to 40 Days for Life, here are some of the reported results from the six previous campaigns:
Locations for this fall’s 40 Days outreach may be found at
http://www.40daysforlife.com/location.cfm.
Care Net and Heartbeat International announced Sept. 1 an enhanced version of their jointly sponsored website to help women with unplanned pregnancies.
The website, known as Option Line, provides a new chat feature and simpler navigation for women who think they may be pregnant, are considering abortion or have questions about the “morning-after” pill. Women who access the site may contact a counselor by phone 24 hours a day, chat online or send an email. The site also provides them with the ability to search for nearby pregnancy help centers. In addition, it offers counsel for family members and friends of pregnant women.
The website may be accessed at http://www.optionline.org.
“When a young woman suspects she might be pregnant, she often goes online for help,” Care Net President Melinda Delahoyde said in a written statement. “We’ve designed our new Option Line website so that it’s one of the first places she visits. By putting her in touch with a local pregnancy center, Option Line is connecting her to life-saving support for her and her unborn child.”
Care Net has a network of more than 1,100 pregnancy help centers in North America, while Heartbeat International serves 1,100 pregnancy care centers, maternity homes and non-profit adoption agencies in all 50 states and 47 countries.
The Option Line has received more than one million contacts since it started in 2003.
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission works to protect the sanctity of human life. If you would like to learn more about this issue, additional resources are available here. Our free, downloadable Impact resource is also available online. If your church is interested in purchasing materials on the sanctity of human life, please visit our online bookstore and erlc.com
Have you ever experienced this humiliating scenario? In a public place, you answer a stranger’s question only to realize that person is not talking to you or, for that matter, anyone else in your immediate vicinity. You look closer and notice a cell phone, or one of those insidious jawbones perched on his ear. The person is oblivious to you, and engaged with another, an unseen voice in cellular space. You look around to see if anyone heard your mistake. Embarrassing.
Or you’re in line for coffee… a sandwich…to pay for groceries. The person whose turn it is… is trying to wind down a cell phone call before ordering. Everybody has to wait longer.
I think the practice of talking on cell phones when we’re out doing things makes us less social….not more. We have fewer polite surface conversations with strangers. On the other hand, we know way too much of some people’s business because THEY TALK ON THE PHONE ABOUT IT IN PUBLIC…LOUDLY.
Text messaging can be a good way to keep those cellular conversations between the concerned parties. But then there are those patience-testing situations when we’re in a conversation with someone who is periodically reading and answering text messages or checking email on their smart phone. Kinda makes you feel that what you have to say isn’t very important to them.
Technology helps us multitask, which can be efficient, but if we’re not careful, it can override in-person communication.
In an op ed for the Wall Street Journal, writer, Rachel Marsden, wondered, “Does anyone care that technology is destroying social graces and turning us into rude jerks.? She suggests a few rules: One is…..If the person on the other end of your ringing phone “…isn’t dying and you aren’t a heart surgeon,” let it go to voicemail. Another….
“When I set up a meeting with someone, they are the only person in the room.” Perhaps I could add to that. When you walk into a meeting or social engagement silence your phone and… that means all the beeps and alarms… and put it away.
If you must talk on the phone in a public place try to go to move out of earshot from the people around you. If you’re in line and must take or make a call, keep it short…and necessary: What kind of sandwich can I bring home? See you at 6:30. Bye. Be off the phone by the time it’s your turn to order.
Philippians 2:3 is a good verse to help keep us from becoming technology narcissists: “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, regard one another as more important than yourselves.”
Don’t you love being with people who treat you as if you’re the most important person in the world…and the only one on their mind at that moment. That’s a good principle for technology etiquette.
Penna Dexter is a conservative activist and frequent panelist on the “Point of View” syndicated radio program. Her weekly commentaries air on the Bott and Moody Radio Networks.
