Gabrielle Giffords returned to the House of Representatives this evening for the first time since she was shot last January. When she stepped onto the floor, the House erupted in applause. It was a fantastic moment. The video is above.
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Perry Offers Clarification on Abortion and States Rights
The Houston Chronicle reports that Texas Governor Rick Perry has clarified his stance on abortion and states rights. This statement from his spokesperson is a step in the right direction. “Gov. Perry is proudly pro-life and successfully championed strong pro-life legislation in Texas including parental consent, this year’s sonogram bill and a budget that significantly defunds abortions in Texas. The governor has long supported overturning Roe v. Wade, and would support amending the U.S. Constitution, with the backing of Congress and the states, to protect innocent life.”
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Is the Family Research Council a Hate Group?
From James Kushiner at Touchstone: “The Southern Law Poverty Center has a hate map showing hate groups with a list of groups for each state available when you click on any state. For instance, under Washington, DC you will find, listed with the KKK, the Family Research Council. In Illinois, the Illinois Family Institute is listed as a hate group. If you do not approve of homosexual marriage or homosexual activity, you are hateful. Period. To be consistent should they list teetotaler groups as hateful against drinkers?”
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The State of Your Heart Is the State of Your Home
This paragraph from Rachel Jankovic’s book Loving the Little Years: Motherhood in the Trenches is a jewel: “It is no abstract thing—the state of your heart is the state of your home. You cannot harbor resentment secretly toward your children and expect their heart to be submissive and tender. You cannot be greedy with your time and expect them to share their toys. And perhaps most importantly, you cannot resist your opportunities to be corrected by God and expect them to receive correction from you” (pp. 14-15).
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Kristof Honors Stott and Evangelicals in NY Times
Don’t miss Nick Kristof’s generous tribute to John Stott in Sunday’s The New York Times. He sees Stott as a kind of kinder, gentler evangelical. Given their diametrically opposed worldviews, Kristof’s words come as a bit of a surprise (at least to me). It is not often that you hear a liberal columnist at a secular bulwark like The Times giving honor to an evangelical. But what is perhaps even more surprising about this article is Kristof’s generous tribute to evangelicals in general (at least some of them), which he bases on interactions that he has been having with them over the last several years. He writes:
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Right To Life vs. States Rights and Rick Perry
I wrote last week about Governor Rick Perry’s walk-back of his comments about gay marriage. At a recent fundraiser, he invoked the 10th amendment to argue that New York’s decision to legalize gay marriage was just “fine” with him. He later told Tony Perkins that he merely meant to express his belief in the right of individual states to decide such matters. Now Perry has done it again. A few days ago in remarks to reporters in Houston, Perry invoked the 10th amendment again to say that if Roe v. Wade were overturned, the matter should then be decided by the voters in each state. Presumably, then, just like with…
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Iranian Pastor Faces Execution for Christian Faith
The situation of Iranian pastor, Yousef Nadarkhani, is getting more dire. Right now, he is facing one of two outcomes. Either he must face execution or be forced to become a Muslim. Here’s the latest: A pastor in Iran found guilty of leaving Islam is awaiting the outcome of a judicial investigation into his spiritual background to see if he will be executed or forced to become a Muslim, according to Christian groups with ties in Iran… The court’s ruling, which took a month to reach Christian and human rights groups outside of Iran, said that according to Islamic Republic Criminal Law, the matter must be “further investigated to prove…
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Michele Bachmann and Wifely Submission
The Washington Post’s “On Faith” blog is hosting a discussion of Lisa Miller’s column on evangelical “feminism.” But don’t confuse this “feminism” with egalitarianism. Here’s what Miller means by “feminism” of the evangelical stripe: A “feminist” is a fiscally conservative, pro-life butt-kicker in public, a cooperative helpmate at home, and a Christian wife and mother, above all. Rep. Michele Bachmann is Exhibit A. With her relentless attacks on big government and a widely circulated 2006 video in which she credits her professional success to the submission of her will to Jesus and her husband, Bachmann represents “a new definition of feminism.” The roundtable discussion that follows includes three other women…
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Rick Perry’s Backtracking on Gay Marriage
With public opinion seeming to move in favor of gay marriage (see my previous post), I guess it should be no surprise that politicians would be trimming their sails to the prevailing winds as well. Still, I was unhappy to hear the news that Governor Rick Perry took a libertarianish stance on the issue in remarks made at a Republican fundraiser last week. Commenting on the legalization of gay marriage in New York, he said this:
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Majority of Americans Say Homosexuality Is Okay
From ChristianityToday.com: From 1973 to 2010, the General Social Survey (GSS) has asked Americans if they think sexual relations between same-sex couples are wrong. Up until 2008, a majority of Americans have answered that such behavior is ‘always wrong.’ But the latest GSS, conducted in 2010, finds that only 46 percent of Americans hold this position.