Don’t Conform: Going Along to Get Along Will Only Make Matters Worse

A picture of earth from orbit, with the words: The Gospel is the antidote to the world's dysfunction.

By: Paul Batura

It’s an old adage: The more things change, the more they remain the same.

Writing in his diary in 1845, the French writer and politician Victor Hugo chronicled some advice he gave to Abel Francois Villemain, a teacher and fellow French public servant.

“You have enemies?” he asked him, somewhat rhetorically. “Why, it is the story of every man who has done a great deed or created a new idea. It is the cloud which thunders around everything which shines. Fame must have enemies, as light must have gnats.”

Winston Churchill famously echoed Hugo’s sentiment, once saying, “You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.”

It seems both the Old British Bulldog and the beloved author of Les Misérables ran up against, if for different reasons, the tension many Christians feel in today’s culture.

As believers in Jesus Christ, we strive to maintain a pleasant posture that lives up to the Apostle Paul’s admonition to believers in Rome to “if possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”

Read More ...

For more articles, follow The Daily Citizen on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube!

A man and a woman texting at a coffee shop.

The Decline of Marriage Rates and the Evolution of Mate Selection in America Today

By: Daily Citizen Staff

Earlier this year, the American Enterprise Institute and the Survey Center on American Life put out a new report on how men and women find and enter romantic relationships.

This topic is critical for those who care about the health of family because romantic attraction serves as the genesis of family formation for most people.

Surveying more than 5,000 American adults, the survey’s most striking finding was that younger adults today are more interested in dating people they already know rather than seeking a mate online, with twice as many 18-29-year-olds explaining they were friends with their spouse or partner before they started dating compared to their older peers. Only about one in four Americans have ever used an online dating service and just as many have had a positive experience doing so as have had a negative one.

More significantly though, the report explains, “No social change has altered the fabric of American life so profoundly as the decline of marriage.”

The U.S. Census Bureau has been reporting a steady and sustained decline in marriage rates over the last five decades.

Cohabitation has been increasing dramatically over the same time, where up to 76% of marriages taking place today have been preceded by some form of cohabitation.

VA Reverses Course, Won’t Force Doctors and Nurses to Perform Abortions

By: Zachary Mettler

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is doing an about face, announcing it will not force doctors and nurses to perform abortions that violate their religious views.

The news comes because of a lawsuit, filed by Stephanie Carter, who is a nurse practitioner at the Olin E. Teague Veterans’ Center in Temple, Texas.

On September 2, 2022, the VA issued a rule permitting pregnant veterans and their beneficiaries to get abortions in VA facilities.

The VA said it would perform abortions “when the life or health of a pregnant Veteran would be endangered if the pregnancy were carried to term, or when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.”

But Stephanie Carter, an Army veteran who works at a VA facility, could not in good conscience agree to assist, in any way, the performance of an abortion or abortion counseling. As a Christian, Carter believes in the sanctity of human life and sees every child — born and unborn — as made in the imago dei.

In an email to supporters, First Liberty, which helped Carter file her lawsuit against the VA, said that after the agency’s announcement of its abortion policy, Carter filed two requests for a religious accommodation.

Carter asked the VA to make sure she would not be required to participate in an abortion.

A doctor with a syringe and a sinister expression.

Four Brave Young Women File Lawsuits Alleging Harm from ‘Transgender’ Interventions

By: Jeff Johnston

Four young women have filed lawsuits against doctors and hospitals who damaged their bodies with “transgender” medical interventions like puberty blockers, hormone suppressants, opposite-sex hormones and surgeries.

Chloe Cole, Kayla Lovdahl, Prisha Mosley and Soren Aldaco have filed suits alleging they suffered physical and psychological harms from these treatments.

Each young woman struggled with mental and emotional issues in her adolescent years, was rushed into “transitioning” by medical professionals, and has been irreparably harmed by so-called “gender-affirming care.”

Chloe Cole was the first to file a lawsuit, earlier this year in California, alleging that Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, The Permanente Medical Group and three doctors had improperly treated her with chemical and surgical interventions, leaving her with “deep physical and emotional wounds, severe regrets, and distrust of the medical system.”

Cole wrestled with “a complex, multi-faceted array of mental health symptoms as a child and adolescent,” the lawsuit alleges. Like many young girls, she struggled with her femininity and appearance, had negative views of being a woman, and “naively thought she was not and could not ever be an attractive female.” Cole searched online for answers, where she discovered “LGBT activist groups and transgender influencers that praised and promoted individuals who identified as transgender.”

A happy family running through a field, with a daughter, who is on her father's shoulders, holding a kite.

Congresswoman Unveils Pro-Family, Pro-Life Bill to ‘Advance a Culture of Life’

By: Zachary Mettler

Congresswoman Ashley Hinson, Iowa, has introduced a comprehensive new bill that aims to support families and help women choose life for their preborn children.

Rep. Hinson introduced the Providing for Life Act in the House of Representatives, while Senator Marco Rubio, Florida, has introduced a companion bill in the U.S. Senate.

According to Rep. Hinson’s office, the bill advances a pro-family agenda on several fronts with the following actions.

Delivers tax breaks to working families by:

— Expanding the refundable Child Tax Credit (CTC) to up to $3,500 per child under the age of 18, and $4,500 per child under the age of six.

— Expanding the CTC to provide support for unborn babies during pregnancy.

— Making the Adoption Tax Credit fully refundable.

Supports new parents by:

— Enhancing paid parental leave and gives parents options and flexibility.

— Expanding eligibility for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) for postpartum women.

— Enacting multi-tiered child support reform.

— It incentivizes states to establish rules requiring the father to cover half of women’s pregnancy costs.

Focus on the Family presents: the July Live It Challenge. Click here to check out faith-building summer activities!

SHARE THIS EMAIL

Marriage | Parenting | Today's Broadcast | Family Store | Focus Careers

You are subscribed as [email protected]. We apologize if someone else has submitted your address without your permission. Make sure you receive Focus emails — add [email protected] to your address book.

This is the Daily Citizen e-newsletter.

Manage Preferences | Unsubscribe From All Focus Emails | Contact Us

© 2023 Focus on the Family, 8605 Explorer Dr Colorado Springs, CO, 80920-1051
1-800-A-FAMILY (232-6459)

Source Code: 1698404