Secular Concerns Can Be Solved by Faith-Friendly Solutions

Two hands lifted up to the sky, cupping the sun from the perspective of the camera

By: Jim Daly

What if many of the problems and concerns most often raised by secularists these days were solved by solutions regularly championed by people of faith?

School districts around the country, including those in my home state of Colorado, are shutting down buildings and institutions because of a lack of enrollment. Where are the students going? In some cases, they’re attending private or home schools — but more often, they’re not going anywhere because the boys and girls simply don’t exist.

For a long time, progressives have advocated for robust public education, including lobbying for increased school budgets and the hiring of more teachers. But the declining birth rate in America hasn’t only slowed their charge, it’s also forced them to downsize, cutting both dollars and personnel. It’s a matter of declining supply and waning demand.

Here in Colorado, according to the 2020 Census, 43 of Colorado’s 64 counties saw a decline in the 18-and-under population. It’s a consistent trend across the nation. Fewer children equal fewer schools, teachers — and tax dollars to pay for it all.

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Celebrating the Cancer-Stricken Mom Who Refused to Kill Her Child to Help Save Her Own Life

By: Paul Batura

Tasha Kann was given a heartbreaking ultimatum: abort her baby or likely soon die herself.

At the time 20 weeks pregnant back in 2021, the 30-year-old Michigan mom was diagnosed with stage three anaplastic astrocytoma brain cancer. Chemotherapy and radiation were recommended, but first she’d need to deal with the developing baby within her womb. A three-doctor team recommended an immediate abortion.

The Kann family refused.

“Aborting my baby was never an option to me because it goes against God’s will,” she recently told Fox News Digital.

“I had many deep conversations with Jesus that week in the hospital,” she said. “And I knew that if I held onto the Lord and His promises, He would keep my baby safe.”

In fact, Tasha’s and her family’s prayers were answered. Gracey, Tasha and her husband Taylor’s second child, was born last October. She is now thriving, even as her mother continues to battle brain cancer.

“Every single day, I look at my beautiful baby and think about how easy it was for them to tell me to abort — like she was nothing,

“If I had listened — like most patients do, because they trust their doctors and don’t do their own research — my baby wouldn’t be here,” she reflected. “It’s a miracle from God that we are both here.”

Parade of mostly children with L G B T flags and transgender flags

California Parents Who Don’t Affirm a Child’s ‘Gender Identity’ Could Lose Custody Disputes

By: Jeff Johnston

The California State Assembly approved legislation requiring judges to consider parental affirmation of a child’s so-called “gender identity” and “gender expression” in custody decisions.

Parents not agreeing with their child’s “gender identity” would be seen as harming the “health, safety and welfare of the child” and lose custody or visitation rights. But the measure may have implications for all parents in the state.

The family law bill, AB 957, passed the Senate by a wide margin of 30-9 on September 6 and the House by another lopsided majority of 61-16 on September 8. Called by proponents the “Transgender, Gender-Diverse, and Intersex Youth Empowerment Act,” the measure now goes to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk, where he is expected to sign it.

Commenting on the legislation, Charlie Kirk posted on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter), “That’s right, if you are a parent in California that has traditional values or simply believes boys are boys and girls are girls, you might lose custody of your kids.”

“It is unconscionable that state legislators are trying to take children from parents who believe the sex of their children is a matter of biology and not feelings, or because they want to protect their children from sterilizing drugs and mutilating surgeries,” said Greg Burt, capitol director for the California Family Council, whose organization fights for parental rights and protecting children — and that God — in His infinite love and grace, will forgive our sins.

Old wooden barn with an American flag over the door

The Soul of America is Worth Fighting For

By: Zachary Mettler

It was June 4, 1940. World War II was already in its 10th month. Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg had fallen to German forces. Denmark had fallen in April after opposing Germany’s army for under two hours. Norway would surrender just six days later. And the brief six-week Battle of France was nearing its end — and France’s defeat.

The casualties were high. The outlook was grim. Hope was gone. And the world was at stake.

Enter Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

Churchill had helmed the British government for less than a month, taking over from Neville Chamberlain, now best known for his failed foreign policy of appeasement.

On June 4, the newly minted and sober minded prime minister went before the House of Commons of the Parliament to warn the British people of a looming German invasion.

In what is now widely regarded as one of the finest speeches of the 20th century, Churchill avowed: “Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end.

“We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.”

Large crowd of people lined up behind a barbed-wire fence

Familial DNA Testing on the Southern Border Shouldn’t Have Ended

By: Emily Washburn

San Diego county supervisor Jim Desmond asked the White House to reestablish familial DNA testing at the U.S-Mexico border in a letter last week, echoing some officials’ concern the program’s end will increase child trafficking.

Familial DNA testing is used to catch “fraudulent families” — smugglers, cartel members and desperate migrants claiming trafficked children as their own — trying to enter the country illegally.

U.S. immigration law can incentivize this behavior by making it significantly easier for families with children to enter the country illegally.

Children trapped in faked families are forced to brave the physical and environmental dangers of illegal immigration without guardians protecting them.

Some are “rented” out to migrants by their own families. Others are trafficked and “recycled” by child smuggling rings — forced to fly back to Central and South America after successfully crossing the border to complete the brutal journey again.

Children as young as six-months-old have been fraudulently ferried across the Rio Grande as natural offspring by migrants seeking to enter the country quickly.

Immigration officials implemented familial DNA testing at some illegal border crossing sites in May 2019 — a month after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told Congress they’d identified 3,000 fraudulent families in six months — to help immigration officials identify and save trafficked children.

What does the Bible say about gender? Find out with Lighthouse Voices by Focus on the Family and the Colson Center!

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