Veritas Rex

U.N. Undermining U.S. Sovereignty and the Family

IFI, along with many other Family Policy Counsels across the country, is co-releasing a study entitled, "How U.N. Conventions on Women's and Children's Rights Undermine Family, Religion, and Sovereignty" with authors Patrick F. Fagan, William L. Saunders, Michael A. Fragoso of the Family Research Council.  

You can download the study here: Download CEDAW Paper from FRC May 4_2009 - Final. 

This study highlights activities with the United Nations that are undermining American sovereignty, undermining the sovereignty of the family unit and diminishing our ability to live according to the dictates of our faith.

Here are some of the arguments by the other side on this topic and our responses:

House Speaker Bauer Oversees Session Chaos

As Wednesday came and passed without a budget, we have to ask, “What is going on in the Indiana House of Representatives?”  I have to say that as I have worked with legislators this session on pro- family issues, they have consistently told me that this session has been the most frustrating of their career.  Whether it’s protecting marriage, protecting the safety of women and the lives of the unborn, education reform, tax reform or simply doing their constitutional duty of putting together a budget, their efforts have been thwarted by one man.  House Speaker Pat Bauer.  

Speaker Bauer has made it abundantly clear that no pro-life, pro-marriage, pro-family issues will see the light of day as long as he is Speaker.  He personally saw to it that Indiana’s Marriage Protection Amendment, authored by Representatives David Cheatham (D) and Eric Turner (R) never even received a hearing, even though it had been passed overwhelmingly when he was Minority Leader. 

After a promising start to pro-life SB 89, a patient safety bill aimed at protecting women from reckless abortion doctors, Speaker Bauer stabbed the Democrat author of the bill, pro-life champion Rep. David Cheatham, in the back by reneging on his promise to appoint Rep. Cheatham to the conference committee, dooming the bill to failure. 

For those of us who care about pro-family, pro-life issues and just plain old good public policy, Speaker Bauer has seen to it that this session has been a disappointment.  We’ll see what the special session brings, but it is unlikely that pro-family issues will be addressed.  Meanwhile, same-sex marriage is on the march while Indiana sticks out like a sore thumb, as 30 other states have already adopted constitutional amendments to protect marriage, over 10,000 unborn children are killed each year in our state, and women remain unprotected from the recklessness of the abortion industry. 

Parent-Child Relationship Tied to Religious Attendance and Family Structure

Want to have a quality relationship with your child?  Fight for your marriage and worship the Lord regularly.  Hmmm....I feel like I've read that advice in a book somewhere...(*smile*)

Here are the details of the study. 

Conservative Roadblocks Ahead!

It seems that liberal IU Law Professor and Obama nominee to head the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, Dawn Johnsen faces a tough road in the U.S. Senate. 

The McClatchy Newspaper reports:

"But Republicans and right-wing conservatives aren't the only ones who have reservations about Johnsen. At least one Democrat, Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, said he'd vote against her because of her writings on abortion.

When Johnsen worked at NARAL, she filed a brief with a footnote that said forcing a woman to bear a child when she didn't want to was "disturbingly suggestive of involuntary servitude."

More on Johnsen's radical background here.

It's amazing to me how radically liberal some of these nominees have been.   

Beauty Pageant Contestant Takes a Stand for Marriage

Thank you Miss California!

Speaker Bauer Turns A Deaf Ear To Iowa Warning

Below is the press release Rep. Eric Turner, the IN House author of the Marriage Amendment, put out regarding Iowa's Supreme Court decision redefining marriage. 

Rep. Turner is right on the money when he says:

"Speaker Bauer has said many times Indiana's statute is sufficient to protect the sanctity of marriage," Rep. Turner said. "If he believes in that sanctity, he needs to take the Defense of Marriage Amendment seriously."

There is overwhelming support for the Marriage Amendment within the Indiana House of Representatives.  There are many within Speaker Bauer's own caucus who support the Marriage Amendment, including co-author Rep. Dave Cheatham.  It's a shame that one man is holding back so many pro-marriage, pro-family, pro-life, pro-education, pro-limited government, pro-tax reform, etc. measures this year.

STATEHOUSE (April 3, 2009) - What happened in Iowa today is a perfect example of why Indiana needs the Defense of Marriage Amendment in the state constitution, Rep. Eric Turner (R-Marion) said.

The Iowa Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling today finding that the state's same-sex-marriage ban violates the constitutional rights of homosexual couples. Iowa now joins Massachusetts and Connecticut in permitting same-sex marriage.

"Indiana has a statute prohibiting same-sex marriage, but as we can see from Iowa's example, it is not safe," Rep. Turner said. "This decision comes from the Midwest, the country's heartland. It didn't come from one of the liberal coasts. The assault on family values is moving inland."

The Expendable Child

This article was written by a friend, Phillip Stutts.  I quote it here in its entirety because it's just that good.

Eight years ago, I had a life-changing moment. So great was this moment that it became the foundation of my personal and professional life. I rarely discuss it with others and I am very hesitant to write about it publicly. But I feel that my story may help shed a different light on a terrible situation occurring in Washington, D.C. right now.
 
Since 2001, I have served as a “Big Brother” in Washington, D.C. and Maryland. My two “littles” come from rough backgrounds. They’ve never had a relationship with their biological parents. Their parents chose alcohol, prostitution, drugs and jail over love, nurturing and responsibility. It’s heartbreaking.
 
My youngest, Tre’von, lives in Maryland, and was adopted by his foster mom—a wonderful woman who does her best for Tre’von and two other adopted children, but life is a struggle for this family.
 
Tre and I have a special relationship. I’m the only male in his life and I love him like a son. I’ve preached to him to fight for a better future—one that breaks the vicious cycle of children growing up without parents. We talk about it every week.

Historian and Author David Barton to Speak in Cicero

The American Family Association of Indiana, led by Veritas Rex contributor Micah Clark, announced that David Barton of Wallbuilders will be speaking at a free event for AFA-IN on Monday, April 20th at 6PM.    David is set to speak at Harbour Shores Church on the North side of Noblesville, (8011 E. 216th Street, Cicero).  Mark your calendars and make plans to join us for this rare chance to hear David live and in person in Central Indiana. 

Great Sex God's Way

I think Pastor Jerry from Alabama has a great idea, though it has stirred up a lot of controversy.  Daystar Church has a website www.greatsexgodsway.com.  Pastor Jerry has seen the reality that the public conversation on sex is one sided.  Those who ignore and/or denigrate boundaries for sexuality are all we hear from on TV, at the movies, etc.  As Pastor Jerry says, do we really want Satan's message for sexuality to be all people hear or should the Church step up and give the other side of the story?  Check out his creative series on Great Sex God's Way.  It is the right message that followers of Christ should emulate.   

A call for blue-dog Republicans?

Democrats for Life, a pro-life caucus loyal to the Democratic Party, is calling on pro-life DNC Chairman Tim Kaine to invite “disaffected pro-life Republicans” into the Democratic party. The call comes on the heel of comments by the RNC’s new chairman, Michael Steele, who announced that he is “pro-choice” and expressed other liberal beliefs that are making conservatives squirm and/or call for his resignation.

While I have admired the work of Kristin Day, who has bravely headed up this lonely insurgency amidst precious little appreciation from Democrat party leaders, I’ve never found this political strategy particularly compelling. Why not simply go with the party that happens to have the most resources to get the pro-life job done?

Ms. Day doesn’t find my appeal compelling either, and she continues, in my opinion, to push her string up a hill. So, while I don’t encourage Republicans to jump ship and go Democrat, and while I’ve found it frustrating that a significant minority of my fellow evangelical, right-of-center brethren voted for Obama last year, I confess that I sense something good, or positive, or fill-in-the-right adjective, about this phenomenon.

I kind of like the prospect of a certain part of the evangelical demographic appearing to be “crazy as a fox” and willing to switch allegiances at a moment’s notice if a candidate (or party) blinks on an important issue(s). Could voting for full-octane liberalism instead of the Republican’s current half-octane liberalism offer the hope that social conservatives are looking for? Seems to me like a bizarre recipe for hope.

On the other hand, what do I know? Democrats for Life, it turns out, has a chapter in all but 11 states. It even turns out that Indiana has one of the more better-staffed chapters, nestled, no less, right here in my back yard here in Fort Wayne.

GOP..................are you listening?