Free Republic

Senior congressional Democrats want a report on the ouster of Honduran president Manuel Zelaya to be retracted. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.) made the demand in a letter dated Tuesday to James Billington, the Librarian of Congress. They asked the Law Library of Congress to withdraw and correct the August 2009 report titled “Honduras: Constitutional Issues.” “The report, which has contributed to the political crisis that still wracks Honduras, contains factual errors and is based on a flawed legal analysis that has been refuted by experts from the United States, the Organization of American States, and...

FRC Action PAC Endorses Chris Christie for New Jersey Governor Date: October 9, 2009 - Friday Washington, D.C. - Today FRC Action PAC, the political action committee connected to Family Research Council, is endorsing Chris Christie for New Jersey Governor. "Chris Christie will bring real change for New Jersey families. As a U.S. Attorney he was unapologetic in busting corrupt politicians," said Connie Mackey, President of FRC Action PAC. "As New Jersey's next governor he will continue to hold political leaders accountable." "He is a true friend to New Jersey's families, advocating school vouchers, smaller government, and pro-life legislation. New...

Conservatives Bring it Back to the Constitution by: Sarah Carlsruh, September 21, 2009 Conservative Americans are finally uniting in what appears to be a peaceful revolt against big government. Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council (FRC), addressed a packed Bloggers Briefing this Tuesday to talk about this increasing frustration with government intervention in the economy. Briefing attendees asked Perkins questions about hot topics such as health care reform and abortion. Using health care reform as a prime example, Perkins pointed to the disconnect between what Washington hears and what Americans are actually saying, calling it a sign that...

Author Joel Rosenberg spoke tonight at the Family Research Council’s Values Voter Summit in Washington D.C. Rosenberg is the author of several best-selling fiction novels about intrigue in the Middle East (I’ve read all but the last one) and several non-fiction books about the Middle East. Rush Limbaugh highly recommends Rosenberg’s works, and his first fiction book (The Last Jihad) was somewhat prescient of the Iraq War. His father is Jewish and his mother is Gentile, by the way, and by his writings he seems to be a genuine Christian…with a LOT of knowledge of Jewish history. Rosenberg said these...

"A National Townhall on Health Care Reform" examines the moral, ethical, and financial dangers of President Obama's health care plan. Join our stellar lineup of Congressional leaders and policy experts as they dissect the dangers inherent in the President's proposed plan, and answer your questions on the President's plan and some alternative approaches.

Mike Huckabee may have won the straw poll at the Family Research Council's Values Voter Summit, but Tim Pawlenty may have done himself the most good. I saw the major contenders give their speeches and thought, like Mark Hemingway of NRO, that Pawlenty showed he had the goods. Pawlenty's presentation of his own record as a budget-balancer in MN was impressive and he sounded like the kind of conservative candidate who knows how to handle himself in a debate. The Minnesota governor came off as smart, tough, and ready for prime time. If he keeps making the rounds speaking the...

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on Saturday won a 2012 presidential preference straw poll of social and religious conservative activists from 49 states gathered in Washington, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said at an afternoon press briefing at the Omni Shoreham Hotel. It was sweet revenge for Mr. Huckabee, who narrowly lost a similar poll in 2007 to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Only in-person voting was permitted in this vote -- Mr. Romney had won with combined Internet and in-person voting. On Saturday Mr. Huckabee took 28.48 percent of the vote, while Mr. Romney was in a four-way...

(WASHINGTON, DC – C-FAM) Patrick Fagan, family scholar at the Family Research Council, told the World Congress of Families last week in Amsterdam that there are two competing cultures of sexual morality and that both have a profound effect on culture and public policy. Fagan called one culture “monogamous” and the other “polymorphous” and he warned that one is “snatching” children from the other. Fagan told the audience that “the culture of the traditional family is now in intense competition with a very different culture. The defining difference between the two is the sexual ideal embraced [by each].” He described...

Someone is right and someone is wrong. There is no middle ground on this one. The truth must be revealed and shouted from the Housetops. In fact, it really is a matter of life and death. It will frame our action and response as Pro-Life people. It must be the determining factor as to whether faithful Catholics, other faithful Christians, Pro-Life people of faith and people of good will who recognize the truth concerning the personhood of our first neighbors in the womb can participate in any Health care Plan which funds the taking of innocent human life in the...

I asked Judie Brown, president of American Life League, to comment on the latest media release from the Obama-loving, vomit-inducing Catholics United calling on the Family Research Council and the Stop the Abortion Mandate campaign to "suspend these efforts immediately," with CU's executive director Chris Korzen asserting that said efforts "pose perhaps the single greatest threat to the passage of health care reform." Judie Brown's response: 'Catholics United has verbally excoriated the Family Research Council's factual campaign to expose the sordid pro-death underbelly of the Obama health care plan. By doing this Catholics United has united itself to those who...

The Episcopal Church in the United States took another major step toward ensuring its own demise last week, by adopting a resolution endorsing the ordination of homosexuals as clergy and bishops. The resolution, adopted at the denomination’s General Convention, said that “gay and lesbian persons . . . have responded to God’s call and have exercised various ministries,” and declared that “God has called and may call such individuals, to any ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church.” The resolution was widely interpreted as abandoning a moratorium on the ordination of homosexual bishops that was adopted after the furor surrounding the...

Date:Tuesday, June 9, 2009 Time:10:30am - 12:30pm Location:East Steps, State Capitol City/Town:Albany, NY Join the expected thousands of concerned citizens standing for the traditional definition of marriage. Scheduled to attend are Sen. Rev. Ruben Diaz, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, Bishop Harry Jackson, Jr. of the High Impact Leadership Coalition, State Conservative Party Chairman Michael Long, and many pro-family legislators. All are welcome – including children. It is important that we remind legislators that marriage is about the needs of children, and not just the preferences of adults. Please feel free to bring your own signs with statements...

Nineteen years on the U.S. Supreme Court and David Souter retires like Rodney Dangerfield: He gets no respect. When the liberal press does praise him, it’s for his logic. Really? Let’s parse the premier sample of his logic. He’s credited with the co-authorship of what has been termed the “Mystery of Life” passage in the 1992 ruling in Planned Parenthood v. Casey: “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.” Justice Scalia has made wicked sport of this passage. “Ah, the...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fir2JM5HByM

The religious right, which vehemently opposed Rudy Giuliani’s 2008 bid for the Republican presidential nomination, is rallying to the former New York mayor’s defense against attacks from gay rights groups. The skirmish began when Giuliani in an interview with the New York Post opposed New York Gov. David Paterson's proposed gay marriage bill and asserted it would spark a backlash against Democrats. ....[S]ocial conservatives are applauding him for his stance on an issue over which they have often been at odds with him. SNIP Even Tony Perkins, president of the influential Family Research Council and an outspoken critic of Giuliani’s...

BREAKING NEWS... Kansas Gov. Kathleen Seblelius has won approval from a divided Senate panel to become secretary of Health and Human Services in the Obama administration ... The head of the Family Research Council says he hopes the latest revelation about the "blood money" Health and Human Services secretary nominee Kathleen Sebelius received from Kansas abortionist George Tiller will cause senators like Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts to reconsider their support for her appointment. Family Research Council (FRC) and other pro-life groups have obtained a copy of a 2002 letter [PDF] in which notorious late-term abortionist George Tiller claims that...

Family Research Council recognizes and respects the inherent dignity of every human life from conception (whether by natural or artificial means) until death. FRC desires to help build a culture of life, holding that all human life is a gift to be treasured. The life of every human being is an intrinsic good, not something whose value is conditional upon its usefulness to others or to the state.Threats to human life include abortion, euthanasia, and many new forms of biotechnology. However, human beings need not prove their moral worth by demonstrating sentience, or self-awareness, or a certain level of cognitive...

Adult Stem Cell Success Stories - 2006 The political battles raging in Congress and in state legislatures over whether to destroy human embryos in order to get embryonic stem cells have obscured an important fact. There is one kind of human stem cell research that everyone can and should support--that involving adult stem cells. Many scientists feel that adult stem cells, which can be found throughout the human body, even in infants, are the real hope for the future. James Sherley, associate professor of biological engineering at MIT, notes: "Adult stem cell research is predicted to beat the pants...

As the reader will see from our prior publication, "Adult Stem Cell Success Stories - 2006," [1] adult stem cell research had an impressive track record as of 2006-over 1100 FDA approved clinical trials in the United States for 72 different illnesses and disabilities. 2007 has seen further advances in adult stem cell research and therapy. Currently, peer-reviewed studies have documented 73 different conditions in humans where patient health has been improved through adult stem cell therapy,[2] and over 1400 FDA approved trials are ongoing.[3]Adult stem cells are found throughout the human body from birth onward, in placentas, and in...

Adult Stem Cell Success Stories 2008 Update: January-JuneWe are pleased to present FRC's June update on advances in human treatments and research with adult stem cells.  This is the third report.  The prior ones were "Adult Stem Cell Success Stories - 2006"[2] and "Adult Stem Cell Success Stories-2007 Update".[3]   Every six months, we will present new cases of people being helped by adult stem cells, which are abundant throughout the human body and whose use does not pose the ethical dilemmas encountered with embryonic stem cell research.  Adult stem cells are already being used to treat over 73 different...

More than 3,000 people, including longtime Mormon critic James Dobson of Focus on the Family, have signed an online petition thanking the LDS Church for its efforts on behalf of California's traditional marriage initiative known as Proposition 8. "Anyone who participated in this process has come to admire the competence, diligence and moral courage that so many members of your faith community displayed as part of this coalition effort -- as Catholics, Evangelicals, Mormons and people of other faith communities all came together to fight this great battle for marriage," says the petition, which is addressed to LDS President Thomas...

As the dust settles on Washington following the Barack Obama earthquake, one group more than any other is expecting to be out in the cold. For the past eight years, the so-called Religious Right has enjoyed a warm reception at the centre of White House policy-making, and with the Republican coalition on Capitol Hill. Mainly white, "born again" evangelical Protestants, who adhere to a literal interpretation of the Bible - and oppose abortion rights above all - the Religious Right comprise around 40% of the Republican Party's support. "The Republican Party as it exists today could not exist without the...

The Family Research Council's (FRC) political arm ripped Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) Thursday for withdrawing ad spending on behalf of two endangered Republican candidates. FRC President Tony Perkins said in a letter to Cole, chairman of the National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC), that the committee "is abandoning social conservative candidates" by pulling ads from the reelection races of Reps. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.) and Michelle Bachmann (R-Minn.). Bachmann has come under fire recently for stating -- then denying -- her concern that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and other members of Congress hold "anti-American" views. Musgrave is considered to be a...

California Needs Help!!!

WASHINGTON, Oct 09, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Today, FRC Action decried comments made by Democrat Party Senate candidate Mark Warner. Warner, who served formerly as Governor of Virginia, was recently recorded speaking at a Democratic Party event. In his speech, Warner accused pro-lifers, homeschoolers, and members of the National Rifle Association, as threatening to "what it means to be an American." Warner said that "one of the things you're going to see is a coalition that has just about completely taken over the Republican Party in the state [Virginia] and if they have their way, it's going to take...

Several groups are beginning to release voter guides for the upcoming Presidential election. These can be printed and used in church bulletins, etc. National Right to Life: English version: http://nrlc.org/Election2008/comparison0909084c.pdf Spanish verson: http://nrlc.org/Election2008/comparisonHISPANIC.pdf Also, from American Family Association HTML version: http://www.afa.net/08VG/index.html PDF version: http://www.afa.net/pdfs/08VG_print.pdf

Today, Family Research Council released a study demonstrating which state level parental involvement laws are most effective in reducing abortions among minors. The study is the first comprehensive analysis of minor abortion data from nearly all 50 states between 1985 and 1999. Overall, the findings indicate that when a state enacts a parental involvement law, the abortion rate falls by an average of approximately 13.6 percent. The study is available on www.frc.org Family Research Council Fellow and study author Dr. Michael J. New, assistant professor of political science at the University of Alabama, had this to say: "This study is...

American Values president Gary Bauer announced his support for GOP presidential nominee John McCain at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, DC today. Eyeblast.tv has the video of the announcement here.

She's not in the news much this week, but Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's pregnant 17-year-old daughter Bristol is still the talk of conservative groups, especially family organizations. And while the buzz is still positive over her decision to have the baby and even marry the 18-year-old father, there's no sympathy for their out-of-wedlock sex that landed both of them in the headlines. The subject was addressed today by Family Research Council President Tony Perkins when he was asked during a media roundtable if he would have been so forgiving if one of Sen. Barack Obama's daughters were to get pregnant....

Anderson Cooper was talking last night about fundamentalist Christian attacks on Barack Obama with minister Al Sharpton, author Roland Martin and Family Research Council President Tony Perkins. The talk turned toward religious tolerance, and suddenly Sharpton was outing CNN's prettiest anchor as, gosh, some kind of sinner? "I might think what you do, Anderson, is going to put you in hell, but I'm going to defend your right to get there," Sharpton said. Then everyone laughed, because virulent, institutionalized homophobia is hilarious, and Anderson blushed and managed to say something dignified, while probably secretly wishing he was officially gay so...

A year and a half ago, James Spann questioned the money and the so-called scientific consensus pushing the idea that mankind is causing global warming. Today, he says it’s losing steam. Two imminent surveys of meteorologists may further complicate the climate debate. Spann, a broadcast meteorologist for ABC 33/40, an affiliate in Birmingham, Ala., downplayed the future of the global warming movement in a June 13 appearance. He was interviewed by Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council for its Washington Watch Weekly broadcast. Spann told Perkins: “[Y]ou know, there was some great power in that movement back in January...

Evangelical pastors, scientists and policymakers have launched a petition drive intended to spread the truth about global warming: That Christians should be good stewards of God's creation and that government policies and regulations based on "faulty science" will hurt people who should be helped. "The 'We Get It' declaration speaks for me, and I believe it speaks for the vast majority of evangelicals, who are as tired as I am of being misrepresented by people who don't bother to get their theology, their science or their economics right," said Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.). "Consequently, they put millions of the world's...

FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL ADVOCACY ARM ENDORSES MARSALL FOR SENATE May 6, 2008 Organization Cites ‘Clear, Significant Difference’ Between Marshall and Gilmore on Human Life FRC Action, the legislative advocacy arm of the Family Research Council founded by Dr. James Dobson in 1983 to promote marriage and family and the sanctity of human life in national policy, on Tuesday endorsed Del. Bob Marshall for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate. “Delegate Marshall is the conservative candidate in this race,” Connie Mackey, FRC Action’s senior vice president said in a statement released from its headquarters in Washington, D.C. “There is a...

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., faces enormous pressure from social conservatives to ignore his repeated commitment to change the GOP's platform on abortion. "If he were to change the party platform," to account for exceptions such as rape, incest or risk to the mother's life, "I think that would be political suicide," said Tony Perkins, the president of the conservative Family Research Council, to ABC News. "I think he would be aborting his own campaign because that is such a critical issue to so many Republican voters and the Republican brand is already in trouble." A senior Republican close to McCain...

One of Canada’s largest Christian ministries dedicated to caring for the disabled was fined $23,000 recently by the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario for allegedly discriminating against a former homosexual employee. Connie Heintz claimed discrimination against Christian Horizons after she said she was “subjected to a poisoned work environment” and pressured into quitting her job after she entered a homosexual relationship – which was in violation of her work contract back in 2000. In line with its Christian foundation and principles, the ministry requires that all its employees sign “morality statements” vowing to abstain from immoral behavior, including pornography, pre-marital,...

The American Family Outing, a gay-friendly outreach to mega-churches, responds to Family Research Council fund-raising letter.Austin, TX (PRWEB) April 10, 2008 -- On Thursday, April 3, 2008, The Gay City News reported on a Family Research Council (FRC) fundraising letter devoted to the American Family Outing, a project that aims to create dialogue between lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) families and members at six American mega-churches. The letter, dated March 2008 and signed by FRC President Tony Perkins, asks for $50,000 to create "Church Crisis Response Teams" to react to same-sex couples and their children who have expressed a desire...

Republican gridlock rekindles talk of third-party candidate WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON – Talk of a protracted nomination race or a brokered convention may excite political junkies and horse race aficionados, but it masks a grim reality for the U.S. Republican party.Three different winners in three presidential contests now provide evidence for what has been long suspected – the Republican coalition is fractured and there's no one to paste it back together. GOP gridlock is already sparking talk of a search for a saviour and rekindling talk of a third party bid, talk that has been a mainstay of American political chatter...

(NOTE: From FRC action E-MAIL; link is to their home page. I've broken it into paragraphs, and added emphasis): Washington is reeling from last night's Iowa caucuses. A loud and clear message was delivered, but whether it will be heard is yet to be seen. On the Republican side, Mike Huckabee's huge victory can be attributed to two primary reasons. First, he is real and his style reflects it. He is engaging and he talks with people, not at them. He is a great campaigner; he is the communicator in this presidential election cycle. Second, evangelicals, dispirited by Republican indifference...

(30-second ad followed by 4-minute segment) Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council talks about the Republican primaries.

As I have said in months past, the reports of the death of social conservatism within the Republican Party are greatly exaggerated. There isn't a candidate in the Republican Primaries that doesn't dream of the opportunity to get key endorsements from the social Right. Rudy Guiliani would even like to get a few more than just Pat Robertson-after all, Robertson has been discredited within the conservative movement for a very long time. On the other hand, the idea that pro-family social conservatives are in total control of the GOP is something that both the press and the Democrats have attempted...

Leading Republican presidential candidates, all flawed in the eyes of influential social conservatives, sought Friday to convince the restive group they will carry the torch for the right flank — and Rudy Giuliani won't. "This is not the time to turn our back on the progress we've made on the issues that matter most," John McCain, the Arizona senator told a gathering of "values voters." Added Mitt Romney, in prepared remarks: "We're not going to beat Hillary Clinton by acting like Hillary Clinton." Without naming Giuliani, the two challenged the candidacy of the former New York mayor, their thrice-married GOP...

 Saturday I attended a private meeting of conservative leaders during the Family Research Council Washington Briefing, a Salt Lake City II if you will, to discuss dilemmas we face with the 2008 presidential candidates. Instructions were given not to speak to the media, and since I am the media, I took that to mean details discussed were off-the-record and, of course, I'll honor that. But speaking in generalities, two dilemmas were hashed: Which Republican primary candidate should pro-lifers rally behind? What if Rudy Giuliani ends up the nominee? Generalized outcomes of the meeting: Most in the room supported Mike Huckabee....

The Republican Party definitely has something the Democratic Party lacks: a deep ideological rift. This rift has been hidden in plain sight ever since Rudy Giuliani started topping the national polls for the Republican nomination for president. Giuliani is pro-choice in a party that has long been pro-life. And about 10 days ago, about 50 Christian conservative leaders met behind closed doors in Salt Lake City to discuss what they would do if Giuliani gets the Republican nod. Their decision? They would bolt the party. They understand that this may further marginalize them and their cause. But they say there...

Much like his NRA speech, I think that in terms of the arguments he put forth, Giuliani did about much good as he could do before a skeptical crowd. There were plenty of applause lines on the easy areas of agreement - but after a while, you hit a ceiling. I can easily see attendees thinking, "I like his cleaning up Times Square, I like his fight with the Brooklyn Museum, I like his work with faith-based organizations on welfare-to-work... but at the end of the day, I want a pro-life President." A roundup of other reactions: Erick Erickson of...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 20 — Rudolph W. Giuliani strolled into the maw of the religious conservative movement Saturday, and won applause from a crowd of over 2,000 with language of Christian inclusiveness and shared values. Mr. Giuliani made a litany of promises meant to convey that he would not be their enemy if elected president, but he was followed to the podium by Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and Baptist minister, who drew boisterous standing ovations. Mr. Huckabee’s speech, full of his trademark quips and red-meat declarations about faith and values, had the feel at times of a Pentecostal tent...

Two former governors, Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, shared the limelight on Saturday, handily winning the top two spots in a straw poll of "values voters" conducted by the conservative Family Research Council in Washington.

Based on the smattering of applause that Mr. Romney got when his name was announced as the top vote getter, with 1,595 votes or 27.6 percent, it is safe to say that many in the hall were surprised that he won, surpassing Mr. Huckabee by 30 votes... Things shake up differently when looking at only the votes that were made by those on-site. Of 952 votes cast on-site, Mr. Huckabee received 488, or 51 percent, a virtual runaway in such a crowded field. Mr. Romney had only 99 votes, or 10.4 percent; Mr. Thompson received 77 votes, or 8 percent;...

The first clue that there was something odd about the results of the straw poll at the “Values Voter Summit” was Ron Paul’s strong, third-place showing. Paul emphasized his opposition to abortion rights during his speech on Friday, but he also garnered a smattering of boos when describing his libertarian worldview. When the results were published, though, there was Paul with 15% support. How’d this happen? As it turns out, the straw poll wasn’t actually a straw poll — the event’s religious right organizers made it easy to stuff the ballot box by allowing online voting. The official tally, which...

In a speech to 2,000 conservative evangelicals at the Family Research Council's "Values Voters Summit" in Washington, Republican Fred Thompson made some headway with conservative Christians who've been left uninspired during the desultory days of his first month on the presidential campaign trail. Thompson used personal experience to court them, with references to his own plan to pray and to what he characterized as the life-changing experience of seeing a sonogram of his unborn daughter. Late in his speech, Thompson said he's been asked what he'd do in his first 100 days as president. His answer, he said, is "I...

Rudy Giuliani got trounced in a survey of religious voters yesterday just hours after delivering a speech in which he vowed to reduce abortions........."I come to you today as I would if I were your president, with an open mind and an open heart, and all I ask is that you do the same," Giuliani told the socially conservative Family Research Council in Washington..........Giuliani's running strong among Florida's Republican-leaning Cuban-American voters as well as transplanted northerners.