Daly Focus Blog
Several colleagues and I were in Washington D.C. last week for our Evangelicals for Life Conference along with the annual March for Life.
A few observations:
Last week’s massive March for Life rally on the Mall unfolded in familiar fashion. Just before noon, pro-life stalwarts from every state convened to stand in solidarity, many of them carrying signs declaring life as the better choice. It was the 45th consecutive gathering and the longest-running demonstration of its kind.
From the White House:
Today, we focus our attention on the love and protection each person, born and unborn, deserves regardless of disability, gender, appearance, or ethnicity. Much of the greatest suffering in our Nation’s history — and, indeed, our planet’s history — has been the result of disgracefully misguided attempts to dehumanize whole classes of people based on these immutable characteristics. We cannot let this shameful history repeat itself in new forms, and we must be particularly vigilant to safeguard the most vulnerable lives among us.
Two-hundred and thirty-two years ago yesterday – January 16, 1786 – the Virginia General Assembly passed the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom, legislation ensuring that no citizen would have to choose between their personal faith and the law of the land.
Prior to the American Revolution, Baptists were being harassed and arrested for worshipping in their own homes. Pastors were even being incarcerated.
It was amid this atmosphere that led Thomas Jefferson to pen, in part:
“All men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.”
Over two centuries later these foundational principles, which are enshrined in the First Amendment, are now tenuous and under assault.
I could have been aborted.
I was born in the ’60s prior to Roe v. Wade, but even then many people felt my mother would have been justified to abort me. She was the perfect candidate. She was 42 and in a high-risk pregnancy. My dad was an alcoholic, and I was the fifth child of a marriage that was already struggling to stay together. I was born into a household in turmoil.
I could have been aborted.
Joni Eareckson Tada says that suffering is “like a little splash-over of hell.”
Few people can talk about the intensity of suffering with more authority than Joni. A tragic accident fifty years ago left her a quadriplegic, requiring 24-hour care. She’s also survived a stage-3 breast cancer diagnosis, the removal of a 3-inch tumor, and months of chemotherapy that followed.
So when she talks about how to handle suffering in a way that enriches our lives and glorifies God, we all do well to listen.
Focus on the Family and The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) are once again co-hosting Evangelicals for Life, the only major prolife conference for evangelicals in conjunction with the March for Life, the flagship pro-life event.
The Evangelicals for Life event debuted in 2016, and was designed to help invigorate the evangelical pro-life community to greater service and involvement in the pro-life cause.
This year’s event will take place on Jan. 18–20 at the JW Marriott in Washington, D.C.
It’s a story that’s intertwining two contentious issues of our day: abortion and immigration.
I’m talking, of course, of the case out of Texas involving a pregnant 17-year-old girl being held in a federal detention center since crossing the border illegally in September. This unaccompanied minor, “Jane Doe,” is 15 weeks pregnant and is trying to get an abortion.
Her case ended up in the court system, with the government arguing in court that it does not have a duty to “facilitate” an abortion.
It’s not easy for a single mother to raise a son. It’s even more difficult when that son has autism.
Emily Colson can attest to that. Her husband walked out when their son Max was just 18-months-old, saying he couldn’t handle the stress.
And there was a lot of stress. Max’s autism was so severe that, for a time, Emily couldn’t leave home with him – not to the grocery store, not to friends’ houses, not to church.
News outlets and social media have been erupting over issues of racial inequality. There are protests online, protests in the streets, and symbolic protests during the national anthem at NFL games.
Benjamin Watson has a unique perspective on those matters. He’s an African-American, and he plays professional football. He was on our Focus on the Family Broadcast a few weeks ago challenging men to step up in their support of their wives and to be passionate about helping them to be great mothers.
I want to share two practical opportunities with you that are guaranteed to positively impact your family’s faith.
The first one will take place from Tuesday, Oct. 3, to Thursday, Oct. 5, at 7 p.m. each night at almost 800 theaters around the country – and that’s the debut of the movie “MULLY.”
As you may know, “MULLY” is the incredible true story of Charles Mully, who went from being an abandoned child living on the streets to a multi-millionaire businessman and entrepreneur – and who gave it all up to save more than 12,000 children who were living on the streets of Kenya.
Jim Daly is a husband, father and President of Focus on the Family and host of its National Radio Hall of Fame broadcast. His blog, Daly Focus, is full of timely commentary and wisdom designed to help you navigate and understand today’s culture. His latest book is Marriage Done Right.
