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Daniel Herbster
reporting
I had the opportunity
to interview Rick Schatz, the President and CEO of the National Coalition for the Protection
of Children & Families, about his work protecting families. Here is my interview with Rick.
DH: What is the
mission of the National Coalition? Are
you primarily concerned with local or national issues?
RS: Our mission
at the National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families is to move the people of God to embrace, live
out, preserve and advance the truth of biblical sexuality. We address and
are concerned about pornography, the sexualized messages of the culture,
premarital sex among teens and young adults, marriage and the redefinition of
marriage, and the homosexual political agenda.
We are concerned with both national and local issues. On the national level, we work with
denominations, major corporations, the Department of Justice, Federal
Communications Commission, and CTIA – The Wireless Association. Locally, we work with churches, Christian
schools, para-church ministries and individual believers and their families
through our regional offices located in Atlanta,
Charlotte, Columbus,
Kansas City, New England, Seattle,
St. Louis and here in Cincinnati where our corporate headquarters are located.
DH: How did it get started?
RS: Jerry Kirk was senior pastor of College Hill
Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati.
Through his counseling he recognized pornography and the sexualized culture
were having a devastating impact on marriages and especially young people. He formed the National Coalition in 1983 and
then left the pastorate at College Hill in 1986 to be full time with the National
Coalition.
DH: What are some of your greatest achievements
as an organization?
RS: From a national perspective, we have
encouraged the development, passage and implementation of some of the strongest
legislation in our nation’s history focused on illegal pornography and sex tourism. We have encouraged law enforcement efforts of
the Justice Department and FCC, and have challenged corporations such as
Abercrombie & Fitch, AT&T and General Motors to leave the pornography
business and reduce the sexual content of their marketing efforts.
We have developed some powerful materials, both written and
visual, educating pastors, Christian leaders, parents and young people about
the threat of pornography and the sexualized culture in which we live. In addition, we have brought together the
broadest range of the faith community in the history of our country to address
pornography by forming the Religious Alliance Against Pornography (RAAP) in
1986. RAAP has been used to meet with
two Presidents and five Attorneys General over the years and has played a major
role in educating the faith community in the United States.
Through our regional offices, we have worked with hundreds
of churches and Christian schools across the country through the distribution
of materials, speaking engagements, conferences and retreats. Our website and media and public relations
efforts have reached millions of Americans with the message of the National
Coalition and have encouraged parents to talk to their children about sexuality
and the threats of our culture.
DH: How can people make a difference in their
communities for families and against pornography? What are some practical steps they could take
to make their communities safer and cleaner?
 AdvanceUSA applauds the courage and leadership displayed by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and others in holding Senate leadership accountable for their broken promises and lack of progress in giving the president’s judicial nominations hearings or fair up-or-down votes. Appointing judges to the bench who understand the limits of their authority and who will respect and uphold the Constitution is one of the most crucial issues facing our nation and we cannot allow partisan politics to distort the judicial nomination process. The Committee for Justice reports.
Sandy Froman also comments on the situation at Townhall.com and provides some helpful historical and constitutional perspective. Excerpt:
The Constitution gives the president the authority to nominate judges, and the Senate the power to confirm them. The Founding Fathers made it clear that the president’s appointment power was broad and the Senate’s role was limited. The Senate was only to ensure that the president’s nominee was a person of fit character. As Alexander Hamilton explained in The Federalist No. 76, the Senate should rarely withhold approval and only when there are extreme reasons, such as the nomination of an unqualified friend or family member.
For 200 years that was usually the way it worked. The Senate only denied confirmation if there were problems with a nominee’s education, experience, or integrity. Otherwise nominees were confirmed regardless of their political beliefs. That’s why conservative Antonin Scalia was confirmed to the Supreme Court 98-0, and liberal Ruth Bader Ginsburg was confirmed 96-3. They were top graduates from top law schools, with stellar careers as federal appellate judges and good character.
But things have gone badly astray...
 According to new scientific research
it appears that Parkinson’s disease, one of the maladies often cited by
proponents of unethical embryonic stem cell research as sure to be cured if
only we spend tax dollars to destroy innocent human embryos, might soon be
treated with adult nasal stem cells instead.
Physorg.com
reports. Excerpt:
Research released today provides evidence
that a cure for Parkinson's disease could lie just inside the nose of patients
themselves.
The Griffith University study published
today in the journal Stem Cells found that adult stem cells harvested from the
noses of Parkinson's patients gave rise to dopamine-producing brain cells when
transplanted into the brain of a rat.
News-Medical.net also reports.
And
according to CitizenLink, a man’s back pain was successfully treated in the nation’s first
spinal disc surgery using adult stem cells.
Excerpt:
"Stem cells have shown great promise
over the past three years for treating back pain," Dr. Jeffrey Kleiner said.
"In combination with the dis[c]ectomy, we hope to offer patients long-term
relief from their back pain and to decrease their risk of needing additional
surgeries."
Adult stem cells have been injected into
patients' backs and joints to promote tissue growth, but this is the first time
stem cells have been injected during a spinal surgery, doctors said.
The bone-marrow cells used in the procedure
were harvested from the middle-aged man then brought to the laboratory, where
millions more were grown over three weeks using the patient's blood. Tens of
millions of the cells were then injected into the man's back during a
discectomy, a surgery to remove a herniated or bulging disk.
For
more exciting news on real results from ethical adult stem cell research check
out the AdvanceUSA adult
stem cell page.
CitizenLink
reports on this
potentially precedent-setting court case.
Excerpt:
Jennifer Siperko and Christine Stadter were
in a lesbian relationship when Siperko had a child through artificial
insemination. Stadter did not adopt the child, and more than a year after the
birth, the couple broke up. Stadter argued she should be considered a "de
facto" parent. The "de facto" parent doctrine has been used by
same-sex "marriage" activists to undermine marriage and weaken the
rights of parents.
Liberty Counsel represented Siperko.
"The decision by the Virginia Court of
Appeals is a model of judicial restraint," said Mat Staver, founder of
Liberty Counsel. "The court affirmed the fundamental right of parents and
recognized that third parties may not interfere with the rights of fit parents
to raise and educate their children.
CitizenLink reports,
concluding that “both candidates could do more for life, marriage, family.”
AdvanceUSA certainly hopes so. It appears Senate Republican Leader Mitch
McConnell (R-KY) is fed up with broken promises by Majority Leader Harry Reid
(D-NV). In remarks on the Senate floor today
McConnell promised that Senate “Democrats
will not be allowed to shirk their commitments on judicial nominations.” Sen. McConnell demonstrated his seriousness
by objecting to a common Senate parliamentary procedure which allows senators
to propose amendments without having the entire text read on the floor. McConnell’s move forced the Senate clerk to
read the entire 491 page document and hopefully was just a foretaste of measure
which will be taken to force action on judges.
We
encourage Sen. McConnell to take whatever legitimate means are necessary to
force the U.S. Senate to fulfill its constitutional duty to provide advice and
consent to the president on crucial judicial nominations.
For
more information on judicial nominations click
here.
 In a move the Alliance Defense Fund
describes as “a
vote for nationwide legal chaos” the California Supreme Court has rejected
the pleas of pro-family supporters and state attorneys general and will press
to quickly institute
its recent ruling mandating “gay marriage” despite the expressed will of the
people. The reason this decision means
chaos for other states is that many gay couples from other states will
certainly come to California to take advantage of the “gay marriage” ruling and
then return to their home state and sue for marriage privileges. Given the fact that liberal activist judges
occupy benches in many states, it is almost certain that we will see more
instances of court imposed same-sex marriage in the near future.
Clearly
our nation needs a Federal Marriage Protection Amendment to prevent unelected
judges from instituting “gay marriage” through judicial fiat. Call your
representative today and urge him or her to cosponsor and vote for the Marriage
Protection Amendment.
For
more information on protecting marriage in California check ProtectMarriage.com.
CitizenLink reports. Excerpt:
Researchers and doctors have used adult
stem cells to successfully treat 2-year-old Nate Liao, who had a rare, fatal
skin disease called recessive dystrophic epidermolysis.
In October, Nate received a cord-blood and
bone-marrow stem-cell transplant from his brother, Julian. Their mom said
Nate's skin is already stronger. Nate, who was never able to eat normal food,
is now eating pork chops and chips.
Although
clearly biased toward a pro-choice perspective-using terms such as “abortion
rights”-this AP report paints a stark contrast between the two
remaining major presidential candidates on abortion. Excerpt:
ABORTION
McCain: Opposes abortion rights. Has voted
for abortion restrictions permissible under Roe v. Wade, and now says he would
seek to overturn that guarantee of abortion rights. Would not seek
constitutional amendment to ban abortion.
Obama: Favors abortion rights.
 
Congressman Paul Broun (R-GA) has
reintroduced the Federal Marriage Protection Amendment. The recent debacle in California demonstrates
the need to protect the institution of marriage from activist judges. The
Washington Blade reports (note:
this is a gay publication).
For
more information check the marriage
page.
LifeNews reports. Excerpt:
Just one day after South Carolina residents
received good news that Choose Life license plates are on the way, Gov. Mark
Sanford on Thursday signed a pro-life bill into law. The legislation allows
women a chance to see an ultrasound of their unborn child before the abortion.
When used in pregnancy centers, such
ultrasounds persuade as many as 70-80 percent of women to keep their baby
rather than follow through with an abortion.
Kevin
McCullough explains
this important distinction. Excerpt:
The sexual behavior that one chooses to
engage in, will never be equal to the status of a person's race. Confusing
these two truly different concepts is dishonest. And those who claim otherwise
do so for manipulated outcome to redesign society.
Normal people have understood this since
the beginning of time.
Daniel Herbster
reporting
 The American Association of
Christian Schools is “the oldest national voice for Christian school
education.” Their office in Washington,
DC works to ensure that the rights of parents to choose how to educate their
children are protected, and to keep Christian educators informed of important
issues facing our nation. AdvanceUSA has
worked closely with AACS on a number of occasions and it is a real pleasure to
interview my colleague and good friend Maureen Wiebe who is the Legislative
Director for AACS in Washington, DC.
DH: What is the
mission of AACS in general, and specifically in Washington, DC?
MW: Hi Dan.
Thanks for this opportunity to talk about AACS and what we do here in
our DC office.
In general, AACS is a
service organization, so our mission is to provide services to our Christian
schools to aid them in the great work they are doing. These services include educational materials
(journals, etc.), accreditation and certification for schools and teachers,
competitions for students, and legislative oversight. I think many people are most familiar with
AACS through our National Fine Arts Competition, but our scope of service is
actually much larger than that.
Specifically in Washington,
DC, we are responsible for the
legislative oversight aspect of the AACS services. Our goal here is to be a liaison between our
Christian schools and the federal government.
While we don't seek federal funds for our ministries, we want those in
the government to know we are here so our freedoms continue to be
protected. In addition, we strive to participate
in the process on other issues, particularly those social issues which we as
Christians would take a strong stand – i.e. marriage, family values, the life
issue.
DH: What is your
position at AACS and what kind of projects and responsibilities does it
involve?
MW: I serve as
the Legislative Director for AACS. My
job is to track legislation and keep our schools and ministries informed of what
is happening on Capitol Hill that might affect our schools. I also work to keep those in the government
aware of the issues that are important to the AACS ministries. This requires me to attend meetings, network
with other conservatives and staffers on the Hill, meet with Congressmen,
communicate with our schools through email letters and alerts, and do some
speaking at teacher conventions. In
addition, our office here sends out a weekly email newsletter called "The
Washington Flyer" which keeps people informed of current events that
affect our ministries.
DH: Why is it so
important that Christian education have an advocate in our nation’s capital?
It
appears the Colorado Legislature is trying to keep up with California for
nuttiness. As the Colorado Springs
Gazette reports, Gov. Ritter signed a bill into law which would allow
the “transgendered” to use whichever restroom they prefer and no private
business is allowed to prohibit this activity, all in the name of so-called “non-discrimination”
and “equality.” Excerpt:
One aspect of the law enables transgenders
- those who were born one gender but identify with the other - to use public
restrooms in which they feel most comfortable.
…
Focus founder James Dobson said Thursday:
"Who would believe that the Colorado
state Legislature and its governor would have made it legal for men to enter
and use women's restrooms and locker room facilities without notice or
explanation?
"Henceforth, every woman and little
girl will have to fear that a predator, bisexual, cross-dresser or even a
homosexual or heterosexual male might walk in and relieve himself in their
presence." Don’t
think this kind of legislation won’t be coming to a state near you in the near
future. Liberal activist are pushing for
similar legislation on the federal level such as ENDA and other items.
Keep
checking AdvanceUSA Blog for the latest news on these important issues.
The New York
Times reports. Excerpt:
Opponents of same-sex unions were pondering
a range of legal and legislative challenges to Gov. David A. Paterson’s new
policy of having state agencies honor same-sex marriages that have been
performed outside New York.
Denis
Boyles unravels the twisted tale of allegations of illegal abortions,
investigations, obstruction, cover-up, and other peculiar political
circumstances. This article is well
worth the read for any pro-lifer and perhaps could hopefully open many eyes to
the corruption
and deviousness of Planned Parenthood.
Excerpt:
Caleb Stegall, Kline’s lead attorney, saw
the case in simple terms. “Laws restricting and governing abortion are
worthless if they cannot be enforced,” he said, “and up until today, they have
not been enforced. Planned Parenthood wants to keep it that way. So the message
being sent by this case as a whole is if you try to enforce these laws, if you
even try to talk about enforcing these laws, we will bury you. This overriding
message has seeped into our body politic and threatens to corrupt some of our
most basic and cherished principles such as freedom of speech and political
debate, the rule of law, and the principle of equality before the law.”
 New York Governor David Paterson is
seeking to change state regulations in order to recognize same-sex marriages
from Canada and states like California and Massachusetts. As the assault on traditional marriage
continues the need for a Federal Marriage Protection Amendment becomes all the
more clear. The
New York Times reports. Excerpts:
Gov. David A. Paterson has directed all
state agencies to begin to revise their policies and regulations to recognize
same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions, like Massachusetts,
California and Canada.
…
Groups that oppose gay marriage said the
governor was essentially trying to circumvent the Legislature.
“It’s a perfect example of a governor
overstepping his authority and sidestepping the democratic process,” said Brian
Raum, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, a national
organization opposed to same-sex marriage. “It’s an issue of public policy that
should be decided by the voters.”
Sen.
Sam Brownback and David Blankenhorn write an enlightening piece about the destructive
incentives our government engenders toward the family through its tax
policy and welfare programs and what Congress should do to eliminate the “marriage
penalty.” Excerpt:
We believe that the time is ripe to
transcend the usual partisan politics and implement a plan to stop penalizing
lower-income couples who do the right thing — for themselves and their children
— and get married. That's something all of us, regardless of political
persuasion, should be able to agree on.
This
post
by newsUSA is a helpful reminder of the difference between ethical adult
stem cell research (which are already producing amazing results) and unethical
embryonic stem cell research.
Daniel
Herbster reporting
I had the
opportunity to interview Mark Tooley about his work with UMAction
at the Institute on Religion and Democracy. The following is my interview
with Mark.
DH: What is UMAction
and how would you sum up its mission? Do you see it as more of a
theological or political movement or both?
MT: UMAction
is the Methodist program of the IRD. Its goal is to foster accountability
and reform within United Methodism. We’re not political in the sense that
we endorse candidates or specific legislation in civil society. We are
political in that we are concerned about the church’s public policy witness. We
are theological in that we vigorously affirm the official, orthodox teachings
of our church. DH: I understand
that you were very active in the recent United
Methodist Church’s
global conference in Forth Worth, Texas.
Are you encouraged by what took place there?
MT: Yes,
I’m encouraged by the growing numbers and influence of the non-U.S. church,
especially in Africa. They are the hope of the church’s future.
But the church still faces many battles ahead.
DH: What kinds of
decisions were reached on pro-life issues?
MT: There
were some small, incremental steps supporting parental consent and affirming
the sacredness of unborn human life. We narrowly failed to remove church
agencies from the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. Had the
vote been NOT on the last day, when many of the Africans had left, we probably
would have won.
DH: What progress
was made in affirming the traditional definition of marriage and Biblical
teaching on sexual morality?
Zenit
reports on a new book citing evidence from experts which demonstrates that unborn children can feel
pain. Excerpt from article:
The contributions from the large number of
experts who contribute to the book agree in affirming that a fetus can feel
pain before birth, the two editors explain in their introductory essay.
"Recognizing human dignity and human suffering from life in the womb is a
clinical duty in the service of better treatment," they declare.
Evidence
like this shows the need for the Unborn
Children Pain Awareness Act now in Congress (check home page and scroll
down for more information on this important pro-life bill).
LifeNews
provides helpful commentary in
reading through euthanasia spin.
Excerpt:
Even the most despicable ideas can be made
palatable when euphemisms are used to spin them. That's why abortion advocates
call themselves "pro-choice" rather than "pro abortion."
It's also why they talk about "terminating a pregnancy" rather than
"killing a baby."
Controlling the language not only controls
the argument, it often determines the outcome of the argument.
Proponents of euthanasia understand the
power of language in shaping debate. Therefore, instead of using the term
"physician-assisted suicide" to describe the practice they advocate,
they use euphemisms like "death with dignity" and "end of life
choices" to sugar coat the reality of the killings they have in view.
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