Townhall.com The Blogspot for Political, Conservative and Republican Blogs and Bloggers

Planned Parenthood, one of the nation’s most strident supporters of abortion on demand, is offering a novel Christmas present for its supporters this year: gift certificates for “reproductive services” – including abortion. The Indiana branch of the national organization suggests that families should buy generous credits to cover contraception of every kind, including abortion, and then present these certificates under the tree to grateful daughters, sisters or even wives. Can you imagine the reaction of a family member who holds a brand new abortion certificate, and chortles: “I’ve always wanted one of these!”

It’s ironic that Planned Parenthood wants to associate these services with a sacred holiday that focuses on a miraculous birth—not a termination of pregnancy. The secular left remains hopelessly out of touch with the American people and their most cherished traditions.

I, FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate and set aside Thursday, the twentieth day of November, 1941, as a day to be observed in giving thanks to the Heavenly Source of our earthly blessings.

Our beloved country is free and strong. Our moral and physical defenses against the forces of threatened aggression are mounting daily in magnitude and effectiveness.

In the interest of our own future, we are sending succor at increasing pace to those peoples abroad who are bravely defending their homes and their precious liberties against annihilation.

We have not lost our faith in the spiritual dignity of man, our proud belief in the right of all people to live out their lives in freedom and with equal treatment. The love of democracy still burns brightly in our hearts.

We are grateful to the Father of us all for the innumerable daily manifestations of His beneficent mercy in affairs both public and private, for the bounties of the harvest, for opportunities to labor and to serve, and for the continuance of those homely joys and satisfactions which enrich our lives.

Let us ask the Divine Blessing on our decision and determination to protect our way of life against the forces of evil and slavery which seek in these days to encompass us.

On the day appointed for this purpose, let us reflect at our homes or places of worship on the goodness of God and, in giving thanks, let us pray for a speedy end to strife and the establishment on earth of freedom, brotherhood, and justice for enduring time.

One Reassurring Election Result

The good news in an otherwise disheartening slate of returns was that voters in California, where I was born, raised and lived until moving to the Northwest a dozen years ago, confirmed their previous declaration that marriage can only be defined as one man, one woman.

After four-and-a-half months of gay marriage, sanctioned by only a one-judge margin (4-3) in a case negating the citizens' 2000 ballot initiative and a law that defined marriage traditionally, a majority inserted the time-honored definition into the state constitution, where it cannot be dislodged.

Though this may tear asunder the use of a particular word for gay couples, it does nothing to change their practical status, as California law already gives those in civil unions complete parity of rights with married couples.

And of course, gays always had an equal right to marry, the same right as any other adult, to choose one of the opposite gender. All that's happened is something linguistic, but deeply significant. It is a message that there are indeed gender differences that must be recognized, and even more importantly, that there is one combining of those differences that we hold as the highest, and for most, God-sanctified means of building connections, raising children, and creating a stable society.

This is extremely meaningful for me, as my husband had suggested I put my work on hold pending California's vote. I'm doing a book explaining the importance of marriage as the uniting of opposites; if Proposition 8 had failed, it would have opened the door for national gay marriage and symbolized Americans' indifference toward my subject. With Barack Obama's pledge to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, nothing could have stopped state reciprocity and the generalizing and devaluing of the institution. Now, I'll write with greater urgency.

And what about those same-sex couples who thought they'd married? There's no way to know how many people this affects, since shortly after the mid-May ruling, wedding licenses in California began listing "Party A" and "Party B" for "bride" and "groom." A study released last month by UCLA's Williams Institute looked at the differences in marriage rates between pre-and post-gay marriage rulings at the same times of year, and assumed any increase was gays. Using that questionable standard, they announced that 11,000 gay marriages had been performed. Williams' Gary Gates says many of these are couples who traveled to California for the ceremony, since the bulk of the weddings occurred at top tourist destinations.

By comparison, Massachusetts, the only other state legalizing gay unions, records 10,385 such couplings in four years --since May, 2004, according to a recent LA Times article.

The big fear was that Californians, like the proverbial frog boiled in slowly-heated water, had grown used to the idea of gay marriage, and, given big donors to the No on 8 campaign like the Service Employees International Union ($500,000) and the California Teachers Assn. ($250,000), would roll over and accept it. This outcome reassures us that no matter who's at the helm of the political wheel, our basic values will keep our nation turning the right direction.

Diane Medved's blog: www.brightlightsearch.blogspot.com

Last November, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) announced an investigation of six major evangelical ministries. Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, wanted to probe the finances of several churches to see if they were misusing donations to pay for their leaders’ opulent lifestyles. Even back then, the whole operation seemed a little sketchy, but now it’s really starting to stink.

Apparently, one of the lead investigators on Grassley’s staff (hired last May) is a man by the name of Paul Thacker. Why is the relevant? Well, Mr. Thacker seems to have both a liberal record and a grudge against Evangelicalism. A source familiar with the investigation tells me that Thacker is a “left wing pit bull” and was overheard at a cocktail party "bragging about how much he hates evangelicals and what a great job he has now.”

Mr. Thacker, an investigative reporter, does have a record of publicly criticizing the Bush Administration on environmental issues. He has also written for liberal publications such as The New Republic and contributed left-leaning articles to Environmental Science and Technology.  So, while I don’t want to leap to too many conclusions, I do think it is a little weird that this guy is being paid tens of thousands of dollars by a Republican Senator. Perhaps it has something to do with a shared distaste for certain denominations of Christianity?   

This type of zealous investigation being pushed by Sen. Grassley against … his own team so to speak … is just one reason why conservative leaders are now discussing his removal as ranking GOP member of the Senate Finance committee.

Update:  As I noted above, a reliable source confirms that Paul Thacker was overheard recently at a cocktail party bragging about his job and his dislike of Evangelicals.  It should also be noted that Sen. Grassley's office contacted me today to dispute the notion that Thacker was involved in this particular investigation.  

Here is their statement -- you decide who's right:

"... the tax-exempt oversight and investigations are handled at the staff level by Senator Grassley’s tax counsel Theresa Pattara.  Before her it was Dean Zerbe, another tax counsel.  Paul Thacker has never been involved in the investigations of the ministries or other tax-exempt organizations.

In addition, there is no basis for labeling Paul Thacker as “a left-winger.”  In fact, his current work for Senator Grassley is focused on the National Institutes of Health failing to safeguard $24 billion in federal research dollars it grants each year, which is pretty important work, as you can tell by the news over the weekend."

- Jill Kozeny, spokeswoman for Senator Grassley

Monetary donations- The Bank of Elk River is accepting monetary donations. Please make checks payable to "ER Fire Victims." You may also mail your donations to Hope Filled Hands, PO Box 150, Elk River, MN 55330. The Red Cross is also accepting donations.

Food donations - CAER is in high need for food donations. You may drop them off at 19279 Watson Street NW, Elk River. You may also drop off food donations at Alliance Church, between the hours of 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. The church is located at 829 School Street, Elk River.

According to a new Baylor University survey on religion, 55% of all adults say they’ve been “protected from harm by a guardian angel.”  

This number surprised the study’s authors, and  includes 66% of evangelical Protestants, 57% of Catholics, 49% of “other religions” and even 20% of those who say they have “no religion"!  Among American Jews, however, only 10% cited angelic protection. That’s  an odd finding considering that religious Jewish homes everywhere greet each Sabbath singing a beloved hymn welcoming “angels of peace” to guard the home on the holy day.  

At a time of communal self reflection with the approach of the Jewish New Year, it’s appropriate to wonder why so many Jews remain disconnected from our own tradition – and in the process also stand apart from the spirituality and reverence that continue to characterize the nation at large.