THE LATEST "SOCIAL CONSERVATIVE REVIEW: THE INSIDER'S GUIDE TO PRO-FAMILY NEWS, FEBRUARY 17, 2011

These compilations from a variety of sources by the Family Research Council continue to offer interested people a gold mine.  A new edition appears every two weeks.  Readers will find in each a wealth of information not readily found elsewhere. For previous reviews I've posted, click here.   For a complete list of articles from this latest edition,  click "continue reading" below.

I would call particular attention to George Weigle's "Christian Number-Crunching" and Douglas Farrow's "Blurring Sexual Boundaries."   I also took a look at Mollie Hemingway's shock at Newsweek's incompetence, "Exegetical malpractice in - of all places, Newsweek."

Educatinal Freedom and Reform

Homeschooling

• "Homeschool bills introduced in Illinois and New Hampshire," Rebecca Millette, LifeSiteNews
• "Nanny State Trolls for Homeschooled Children in Illinois," Julie Schmidt, Big Government
• "Preferential treatment," Daniel James Devine, WORLD Magazine

Legislation and Policy Proposals

• "Arabic in Texas Schools?," Chris Gacek, Family Research Council
• "What Parents Don't Know about College Graduation Rates Can Hurt," Andrew P. Kelly and Mark Schneider, American Enterprise Institute
• "Sweden Is a Model for American School Choice Options," Odd Eigen, The Washington Examiner
• "Why Go To College?," Joe Carter, First Things
• "School defines Christians as 'oppressors'," Charlie Butts, OneNewsNow
• "Clueless Chris Moony Confuses Different Missions of Think Tanks and Universities," Wesley Smith, Secondhand Smoke

Government Reform

Regulation

• "GOP Attacks Internet Rules," Amy Schatz, The Wall Street Journal
• "Government Regulations: Do They Help Businesses?," Marc Davis, San Francisco Chronicle

Waste/Fraud/Abuse

• "CREW praises Boehner as 'ruthless' enforcer of congressional ethics," Steven Nelson, The Daily Caller
• "The Muppet Lobby," Sen. Jim DeMint
• "Republicans Seek to Defund Stimulus on Second Anniversary of Program," Fox News

Bureaucracy

• "Entitlements and the children," D.J. McGuire, The Right-Wing Liberal
• "Obama's godly government," D.C. Innes, WORLD Magazine

Health Care

Abstinence

• "US Government Funds Youth 'Sex Work' Programs," Tyler Ament, The Catholic Thing
• "Sexual Purity Before Marriage Grows Internationally for Eighth Annual Day of Purity," Liberty Counsel

Conscience Protection

• "Reps Tell HHS: Don't Refuse to Enforce Conscience Laws," Matt Bowman, Catholic Vote
• "Conscience Protection at Risk," William Saunders, The Catholic Thing

Health care reform: Political and Legislative efforts

• "The Contradictions of ObamaCare," John Hoff and John E. Calfee, The American
• "Why Small Business Wants Repeal of ObamaCare," Scott Shane, The American
• "ObamaCare and the Medicaid Mess," Peter Suderman, The Wall Street Journal
• "The Next Repeal Target," Editorial, The Wall Street Journal

Homosexuality

• "In Defense of Marriage, for All," Editorial, The New York Times
• "On gay rights, keep fighting or adapt?," Tom Krattenmaker, USA Today
• "France Destroys Marriage, Then Saves It?" Austin Ruse, The Catholic Thing
• "French High Court Affirms Traditional Marriage," Lauren Funk, The Catholic Thing
• "Hawaii Senate Passes Same-Sex Civil Unions Bill," Nathan Black, The Christian Post
• "Md. senators told to expect long week of same-sex marriage debate," John Wagner, The Washington Post
• "Santorum Talks About Longtime Google Problem," Steve Peoples, Roll Call
• "Blurring Sexual Boundaries," Douglas Farrow, First Things
• "Evangelicals fear for churches that refuse civil partnership ceremonies," Karen Peake, Christian Today

Sexually-transmitted disease

• "Boston Students Want More Sex Ed," Sam Blumenfeld, The New American
• "Bill would require Neb. schools to provide sex ed," Associated Press
• "CDC: Hundreds of Patients May Have Been Misdiagnosed With Syphilis," Fox News

Human Life and Bioethics

Abortion

• "Getting taxpayers out of the abortion business ," Rep. Mike Pence and Tony Perkins, The Daily Caller
• "Truth, Love, and Live Action," Christopher O. Tollefsen, The Public Discourse
• "Not dead yet," Alicia Constant, WORLD Magazine
• "The 'Unbortion': Chicago Hospital Persuades Women to Halt Abortions," Bonnie Rochman, Time
• "Life and Truth," Robert P. George, Mirror of Justice
• "Lying for a good cause?," Pia de Solenni, Catholic Vote
• "Pregnant mother who held off cancer treatment rather than abort baby celebrates daughter's birth," The Daily Mail
• "The Abortion Capital of America," George Marlin, The Catholic Thing
• "Moments to Be Seized, Work to Be Done ," Hadley Arkes, The Catholic Thing
• "Thomas More Society Provides Legal Support for Investigative Journalists Who Expose Planned Parenthood's Involvement with Sex Traffickers," Thomas More Society

Bioethics and Biotechnology

• "Prenatal surgery improves conditions for children with spina bifida, study finds," Thomas H. Maugh II, Los Angeles Times
• "Only breed smart babies: Ethicist," Brigid O'Connell, The Herald Sun

Euthanasia and End of Life Issues

• "On the edge," Les Sillars, WORLD Magazine
• "Euthanasia: the clergy and religious politicians are wrong," David Swanton, On Line Opinion

Stem Cell Research

• "Skin Gun Sprays Healing Adult Stem Cells," Dr. David Prentice, Family Research Council
• "Second Chance at Life for Adult Stem Cell Transplant Patient," Dr. David Prentice, Family Research Council
• "Stem cells: The crusader," Meredith Wadman, Nature

Women's Health

• "Forty Years of Title X Is Enough: The Folly of the McNamara Approach to Family Planning ," Robert W. Patterson, The Family in America

Marriage and Family
Adoption

In May, the Christian Alliance for Orphans will be holding its national summit meeting in Louisville. Learn more about this important event by clicking here.

• "U.S. Department of State Releases Annual Adoption Report," Jedd Medefind, The Christian Alliance
• "The Global Orphan Crisis and the Priority of the Who Question," Dan Cruver, Together for Adoption
• "Rivendell and the Good News of Adoption," Dan Cruver, Together for Adoption

Family Economics

• "Let the Hustlers Hustle," Anthony B. Bradley, The Acton Institute
• "The Immateriality of Wealth," Jay Richards, The American
• "Betting against Bernanke," Editorial, New York Sun
• "Death Tax Ambush," Editorial, The Wall Street Journal

Family Structure

• "Re-Discovering Marriage," Chad Glazener, The Examined Life
• "Marriage ranks dwindle, but many couples still believe," Eric Adler, The Kansas City Star
• "Let's copulate?," Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Get Religion

Parental Rights

• "New Bill Introduced to Protect Integrity of Parent Relationships," Krystle Weeks, The Cloakroom
• "Liberty Counsel Advocates for Parental Rights at U.S. Supreme Court," Liberty Counsel

Media

Pornography

• "U.S. Anti-Child Pornography Operation Accidentally Shuts Down 84,000 Sites," Amy Lee, The Huffington Post
• "Rep. Jim Matheson aims to protect kids from pornography," Jamshid Ghazi Askar, Deseret News

Internet

• "Some Thoughts on Social Media and Publishing," Jordan J. Ballor, The Acton Institute
• "Washington's Techno-Confusion ," Nick Schulz, American Enterprise Institute
• "Religion 2.0: Timothy Dalrymple," Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Christianity Today
• "What Can Confession Mean Now?" Chris Lehmann, The Awl
• "Network news," Alissa Wilkinson, WORLD Magazine

Religion and Public Policy

Religious Liberty

• "Christian Number-Crunching," George Weigel, First Things
• "Christians Are Not Opressors, Say UC Davis Believers," Stephanie Samuel, The Christian Post
• "My Heroes Have Always Been Hebrews," Joe Carter, First Things

Religion in American Public Life

• "Doing God's Work--At the Office," Rob Moll, The Wall Street Journal
• "Where Have All the Presbyterians Gone?" Russell D. Moore, The Wall Street Journal
• "Conceding Good Faith," Justin Paulette, First Things
• "Eisenhower's Religion" Mark Tooley, The American Spectator
• "Praying with President Obama," Cameron Strang, Relevant Magazine
• "Exegetical malpractice in -- of all places -- Newsweek ," Mollie Hemingway, Get Religion

Secularism

• "Freedom: secularism's gift to the world," Tom Flynn, The Washington Post
• "Durham students asked not to "brush off" Jesus Christ," Thomas Welch, BBC News
• "Two Giles Co. families come forward to sue school system for posting of Ten Commandments," WDBJ News

International

Israel

• "Egypt, Israel, and the Muslim Brotherhood," Jerry Weinberger, The American
• "Mubarak Refuses to Step Down, But His Imminent Fall Will Deeply Affect Middle East," Michael Rubin, American Enterprise Institute
• "Sen. Rand Paul: End 'Welfare' to Israel," Jennifer LeClaire, Charisma
• "Why the Global Glass is Half Full," Romesh Ratnesar, Time

Religious Persecution

• "No Christians Need Apply?," Alissa Harris, Crosswalk
• "Report: Crimes Against U.S. Churches Rising" Jennifer LeClaire, Charisma
• "'Religicide' in Iraq," Dale Gavlak, Christianity Today

Sharia law -- U.S., foreign

• "The Muslim Brotherhood and the Gospel of Christ," Bob Kubinec, Christianity Today
• "'Multiculturalism' a failing proposition," Chad Groening, OneNewsNow

The Courts

Constitutional Issues

• "Huck Finn and the Constitution," David Foster, The Ashbrook Center
• "James Madison and the Dilemmas of Democracy," Myron Magnet, City Journal
• "Judicial Statecraft -- and Myopia," Hadley Arkes, The Catholic Thing
• "Do We Know How to Reverse Roe?," Peter Brown, The Catholic Thing

Judicial Activism

• "Foiled FOIAs: Politicized Justice Department Skirts the Law," Editorial, The Washington Times

Other News of Note

• "Our Gettysburg," Christopher M. Gacek, The Washington Times
• "Dietrich Bonhoeffer's 105th Birthday," Jordan J. Ballor, The Acton Institute
• "Social Scientist Finds Liberal Bias Within His Field," The Federalist Society
• "The Roots of Ronald Reagan's Ambition," John Fund, The Wall Street Journal
• " Every Pilgrim's Story, by John Bunyan," Dan Graves, Christianity.com

Book reviews

• "Race and Liberty in America, Jonathan Bean," Kyle Forti, Family Research Council
• "Evangelicalism: What's In a Name?," Sarah J. Flashing, Evangel
• "Countering Extremists on the Internet," Joshua Sinai, The Washington Times
• "Book Review: Beaver Street: A History of Modern Pornography by Robert Rosen," David Comfort, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
• "Evangelical vs. Liberal: A Report from the Pacific Northwest," Matthew Sutton, Christianity Today

The Social Conservative Review: The Insider's Guide to Pro-Family News--February 17, 2011 | Share with Friends Dear Friend, The early Christians lived in a culture that was aggressively hostile to the sanctity and dignity of human life. In Rome, for example, the abandonment of unwanted infants -- simply leaving them in the street to die -- was commonplace. Yet as theologian Michael Craven has written, it was those brave believers in Jesus who put their faith into unmistakable and very public action in rescuing unwanted little ones and the many other desperate and destitute people of ancient Rome: The early Christians, acting in obedience to Christ, began to care for the poor, the sick, and the marginalized. So alien were their charitable acts and self-sacrificial lives that the Romans referred to them as "the third race" ... They expressed their opposition to infanticide by rescuing the abandoned children of Rome and raising them as their own--an enormously self-sacrificial act at a time when resources were limited and survival was in doubt. Are we members of that "third race?" As we defend the unborn and stand with their mothers, support families and the institution of the family, and protect the religious liberty without which all other freedoms are in jeopardy, let's keep speaking, and doing, the truth in love (Ephesians 4:12) -- within the public arena. To abandon that arena would be an act of lovelessness, something we must never do. The early Christians were so effective that when the pagan Emperor Julian died in AD 363, his last words were a veiled tribute to the Man from Galilee , the Lord Jesus Christ: "Vicisti Galilaee " -- "You Galileans (Christians) have won!" Let's not forget the odds our early Christian brothers and sisters faced - persecution, famine, nakedness, danger and the sword, as Paul the Apostle wrote in Romans 8. Yet they kept on -- and so must we. After all, we know Who wins in the end. Sincerely, Rob Schwarzwalder Senior Vice President Family Research Council P.S. FRC's Government Affairs department has produced a thorough summary of what's happening across the country as courageous legislators, leaders and activists advance faith, family, and freedom in the states. Learn about these important battles, and consider how you can help, by clicking here. Educational Freedom and Reform Homeschooling "Homeschool bills introduced in Illinois and New Hampshire," Rebecca Millette, LifeSiteNews "Nanny State Trolls for Homeschooled Children in Illinois," Julie Schmidt, Big Government "Preferential treatment," Daniel James Devine, WORLD Magazine Legislation and Policy Proposals "Arabic in Texas Schools?," Chris Gacek, Family Research Council "What Parents Don't Know about College Graduation Rates Can Hurt," Andrew P. Kelly and Mark Schneider, American Enterprise Institute "Sweden Is a Model for American School Choice Options," Odd Eigen, The Washington Examiner "Why Go To College?," Joe Carter, First Things "School defines Christians as 'oppressors'," Charlie Butts, OneNewsNow "Clueless Chris Moony Confuses Different Missions of Think Tanks and Universities," Wesley Smith, Secondhand Smoke Government Reform Regulation "GOP Attacks Internet Rules," Amy Schatz, The Wall Street Journal "Government Regulations: Do They Help Businesses?," Marc Davis, San Francisco Chronicle Waste/Fraud/Abuse "CREW praises Boehner as 'ruthless' enforcer of congressional ethics," Steven Nelson, The Daily Caller "The Muppet Lobby," Sen. Jim DeMint "Republicans Seek to Defund Stimulus on Second Anniversary of Program," Fox News Bureaucracy "Entitlements and the children," D.J. McGuire, The Right-Wing Liberal "Obama's godly government," D.C. Innes, WORLD Magazine Health Care Abstinence "US Government Funds Youth 'Sex Work' Programs," Tyler Ament, The Catholic Thing "Sexual Purity Before Marriage Grows Internationally for Eighth Annual Day of Purity," Liberty Counsel Conscience Protection "Reps Tell HHS: Don't Refuse to Enforce Conscience Laws," Matt Bowman, Catholic Vote "Conscience Protection at Risk," William Saunders, The Catholic Thing Health care reform: Political and Legislative efforts "The Contradictions of ObamaCare," John Hoff and John E. Calfee, The American "Why Small Business Wants Repeal of ObamaCare," Scott Shane, The American "ObamaCare and the Medicaid Mess," Peter Suderman, The Wall Street Journal "The Next Repeal Target," Editorial, The Wall Street Journal Homosexuality "In Defense of Marriage, for All," Editorial, The New York Times "On gay rights, keep fighting or adapt?," Tom Krattenmaker, USA Today "France Destroys Marriage, Then Saves It?" Austin Ruse, The Catholic Thing "French High Court Affirms Traditional Marriage," Lauren Funk, The Catholic Thing "Hawaii Senate Passes Same-Sex Civil Unions Bill," Nathan Black, The Christian Post "Md. senators told to expect long week of same-sex marriage debate," John Wagner, The Washington Post "Santorum Talks About Longtime Google Problem," Steve Peoples, Roll Call "Blurring Sexual Boundaries," Douglas Farrow, First Things "Evangelicals fear for churches that refuse civil partnership ceremonies," Karen Peake, Christian Today Sexually-transmitted disease "Boston Students Want More Sex Ed," Sam Blumenfeld, The New American "Bill would require Neb. schools to provide sex ed," Associated Press "CDC: Hundreds of Patients May Have Been Misdiagnosed With Syphilis," Fox News Human Life and Bioethics Abortion "Getting taxpayers out of the abortion business ," Rep. Mike Pence and Tony Perkins, The Daily Caller "Truth, Love, and Live Action," Christopher O. Tollefsen, The Public Discourse "Not dead yet," Alicia Constant, WORLD Magazine "The 'Unbortion': Chicago Hospital Persuades Women to Halt Abortions," Bonnie Rochman, Time "Life and Truth," Robert P. George, Mirror of Justice "Lying for a good cause?," Pia de Solenni, Catholic Vote "Pregnant mother who held off cancer treatment rather than abort baby celebrates daughter's birth," The Daily Mail "The Abortion Capital of America," George Marlin, The Catholic Thing "Moments to Be Seized, Work to Be Done ," Hadley Arkes, The Catholic Thing "Thomas More Society Provides Legal Support for Investigative Journalists Who Expose Planned Parenthood's Involvement with Sex Traffickers," Thomas More Society Bioethics and Biotechnology "Prenatal surgery improves conditions for children with spina bifida, study finds," Thomas H. Maugh II, Los Angeles Times "Only breed smart babies: Ethicist," Brigid O'Connell, The Herald Sun Euthanasia and End of Life Issues "On the edge," Les Sillars, WORLD Magazine "Euthanasia: the clergy and religious politicians are wrong," David Swanton, On Line Opinion Stem Cell Research "Skin Gun Sprays Healing Adult Stem Cells," Dr. David Prentice, Family Research Council "Second Chance at Life for Adult Stem Cell Transplant Patient," Dr. David Prentice, Family Research Council "Stem cells: The crusader," Meredith Wadman, Nature Women's Health "Forty Years of Title X Is Enough: The Folly of the McNamara Approach to Family Planning ," Robert W. Patterson, The Family in America Marriage and Family Adoption In May, the Christian Alliance for Orphans will be holding its national summit meeting in Louisville. Learn more about this important event by clicking here. "U.S. Department of State Releases Annual Adoption Report," Jedd Medefind, The Christian Alliance "The Global Orphan Crisis and the Priority of the Who Question," Dan Cruver, Together for Adoption "Rivendell and the Good News of Adoption," Dan Cruver, Together for Adoption Family Economics "Let the Hustlers Hustle," Anthony B. Bradley, The Acton Institute "The Immateriality of Wealth," Jay Richards, The American "Betting against Bernanke," Editorial, New York Sun "Death Tax Ambush," Editorial, The Wall Street Journal Family Structure "Re-Discovering Marriage," Chad Glazener, The Examined Life "Marriage ranks dwindle, but many couples still believe," Eric Adler, The Kansas City Star "Let's copulate?," Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Get Religion Parental Rights "New Bill Introduced to Protect Integrity of Parent Relationships," Krystle Weeks, The Cloakroom "Liberty Counsel Advocates for Parental Rights at U.S. Supreme Court," Liberty Counsel Media Pornography "U.S. Anti-Child Pornography Operation Accidentally Shuts Down 84,000 Sites," Amy Lee, The Huffington Post "Rep. Jim Matheson aims to protect kids from pornography," Jamshid Ghazi Askar, Deseret News Internet "Some Thoughts on Social Media and Publishing," Jordan J. Ballor, The Acton Institute "Washington's Techno-Confusion ," Nick Schulz, American Enterprise Institute "Religion 2.0: Timothy Dalrymple," Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Christianity Today "What Can Confession Mean Now?" Chris Lehmann, The Awl "Network news," Alissa Wilkinson, WORLD Magazine Religion and Public Policy Religious Liberty "Christian Number-Crunching," George Weigel, First Things "Christians Are Not Opressors, Say UC Davis Believers," Stephanie Samuel, The Christian Post "My Heroes Have Always Been Hebrews," Joe Carter, First Things Religion in American Public Life "Doing God's Work--At the Office," Rob Moll, The Wall Street Journal "Where Have All the Presbyterians Gone?" Russell D. Moore, The Wall Street Journal "Conceding Good Faith," Justin Paulette, First Things "Eisenhower's Religion" Mark Tooley, The American Spectator "Praying with President Obama," Cameron Strang, Relevant Magazine "Exegetical malpractice in -- of all places -- Newsweek ," Mollie Hemingway, Get Religion Secularism "Freedom: secularism's gift to the world," Tom Flynn, The Washington Post "Durham students asked not to "brush off" Jesus Christ," Thomas Welch, BBC News "Two Giles Co. families come forward to sue school system for posting of Ten Commandments," WDBJ News International Israel "Egypt, Israel, and the Muslim Brotherhood," Jerry Weinberger, The American "Mubarak Refuses to Step Down, But His Imminent Fall Will Deeply Affect Middle East," Michael Rubin, American Enterprise Institute "Sen. Rand Paul: End 'Welfare' to Israel," Jennifer LeClaire, Charisma "Why the Global Glass is Half Full," Romesh Ratnesar, Time Religious Persecution "No Christians Need Apply?," Alissa Harris, Crosswalk "Report: Crimes Against U.S. Churches Rising" Jennifer LeClaire, Charisma "'Religicide' in Iraq," Dale Gavlak, Christianity Today Sharia law -- U.S., foreign "The Muslim Brotherhood and the Gospel of Christ," Bob Kubinec, Christianity Today "'Multiculturalism' a failing proposition," Chad Groening, OneNewsNow The Courts Constitutional Issues "Huck Finn and the Constitution," David Foster, The Ashbrook Center "James Madison and the Dilemmas of Democracy," Myron Magnet, City Journal "Judicial Statecraft -- and Myopia," Hadley Arkes, The Catholic Thing "Do We Know How to Reverse Roe?," Peter Brown, The Catholic Thing Judicial Activism "Foiled FOIAs: Politicized Justice Department Skirts the Law," Editorial, The Washington Times Other News of Note "Our Gettysburg," Christopher M. Gacek, The Washington Times "Dietrich Bonhoeffer's 105th Birthday," Jordan J. Ballor, The Acton Institute "Social Scientist Finds Liberal Bias Within His Field," The Federalist Society "The Roots of Ronald Reagan's Ambition," John Fund, The Wall Street Journal " Every Pilgrim's Story, by John Bunyan," Dan Graves, Christianity.com Book reviews "Race and Liberty in America, Jonathan Bean," Kyle Forti, Family Research Council "Evangelicalism: What's In a Name?," Sarah J. Flashing, Evangel "Countering Extremists on the Internet," Joshua Sinai, The Washington Times "Book Review: Beaver Street: A History of Modern Pornography by Robert Rosen," David Comfort, Seattle Post-Intelligencer "Evangelical vs. Liberal: A Report from the Pacific Northwest," Matthew Sutton, Christianity Today