The Family

“[That] surveys show Facebook being cited more and more in divorce cases should make spouses think twice before ‘friending’ someone of the opposite sex, experts say.”

Read the full story here.

I would think we Christians could embrace the solutions and common-sense precautions offered in this piece.

“The scandal and heartache of teen pregnancy has been exploited by producers of popular prime-time TV, who have made stories of 16-year-olds stumbling through accelerated adolescence into marketable drama. Likewise, news media have scrutinized the teen birth phenomenon for some time.

“The truly shocking and underreported story, however, is that of unmarried 20-something parents. While 21 percent of children born outside of marriage are to teen mothers, more than 60 percent of unwed births occur to women in their 20s”

Read more: http://blog.heritage.org/2011/03/08/familyfacts-org-over-60-percent-of-unwed-births-occur-to-20-somethings/

CITY JOURNAL has published a must-read column on teen pregnancy. The writer says:

“Within my lifetime, single parenthood has been transformed from shame to saintliness. In our society, perversely, we celebrate the unwed mother as a heroic figure, like a fireman or a police officer. During the last presidential election, much was made of Obama’s mother, who was a single parent. Movie stars and pop singers flaunt their daddy-less babies like fishing trophies.”

“None of this is lost on my students. In today’s urban high school, there is no shame or social ostracism when girls become pregnant.”

Read the full column here: http://city-journal.org/2011/21_1_teen-pregnancy.html

Beyond the normal 2010 election headlines you’ll read, there are a couple of social conservatives wins we want you to see:

3 Justices Booted in Iowa after Same-sex ‘Marriage’ Ruling

and

California Rejects Marijuana Initiative

This is huge. The American College of Pediatricians is warning against same-sex families. Read more here.

The other month, we lauded Steve Jobs for taking a stand against pornography. Today, I tip my hat to Google for this step in the right direction:

“When you’re searching on Google, we think you should have the choice to keep adult content out of your search results. That’s why we developed SafeSearch, a feature that lets you filter sexually explicit web sites and images from your search results. While no filter is 100% accurate, SafeSearch helps you avoid content you may prefer not to see or would rather your children did not stumble across. We think it works pretty well, but we’re always looking for ways to improve the feature.”

I wish to add my voice to “a conservative group that monitors the entertainment industry [now] applauding Apple CEO Steve Jobs for his pledge to keep porn applications off the iPhone.”

“Jobs took a stance against porn when the iPhone was released in 2007 and has reiterated that stance at least three times during the past month while also taking a dig at a competitor, Google’s Android phone.”

Read more here.

One of my favorite public intellectuals, Dr. Allan Carlson, does it again with this masterpiece:

Eighteen months of severe recession have brought to the surface old truths that many chose to forget when times seemed to be good: the business cycle has not been eliminated; finance capitalism is by its nature unstable; politically-connected corporations commonly escape market discipline; and there is nothing conservative about the “creative destruction” of a capitalist economy.

Indeed, a curious aspect of political labeling in America has been the conflation of the word “conservative” with the interests of the great corporations. The problem is an old one. As one commentator noted in the mid 1930’s, the label “conservative” had then been thoroughly “discredited,” twisted by the “apostles of plutocracy” into a defense of “gamblers and promoters.”

Read more about third ways and a family-centered economy here.

Hat tip: JR

Jenny Sanford released a statement to the media today, regarding her husband South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford’s public admittance to an affair.

There are some great words and phrases used in her remarks — forgiveness, reconciliation, repentance, institutions of marriage and family. I don’t know Mrs. Sanford, but I admire what she had to say.

“Forgiveness opens the door for Mark to begin to work privately, humbly and respectfully toward reconciliation with me. However, to achieve true reconciliation will take time, involve repentance, and will not be easy,” she said.

There is great truth and wisdom in her statement. She is correct that his actions were a violation of trust and a disgrace to the sanctity of marriage. She also is gracious and wise to recognize that saving their marriage is a process that will take time, but it is not beyond restoration.

I also appreciate Mrs. Sanford’s awareness of the need to privately restore their marriage. I only wish a certain reality TV couple would have been aware of this need.

Last year, I posted a blog about the show Jon & Kate Plus 8. Like many who are up on Jon and Kate’s recent marital problem, I do feel for the Gosselins, including their twins and sextuplets.

What I believe to be the best thing for the reality TV couple to do is cancel the show. Many will disagree with me or give a negative response, knowing they won’t cancel, especially after the recent season premiere scored a rating of 10 million viewers. That would be all the more reason for this media mayhem to end. There is too much attention and not enough support to help them heal and restore their marriage. That can only happen in private.

I know this won’t happen overnight. It would be a long process to get out of public viewing, but it can start if they will allow it.

Lynn Roush also gives a solid Christian perspective about the Gosselins, their show and healing their marriage.

by Morris H. Chapman

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)– I am truly amazed at the excellence of many of our Christian colleges and universities. I serve as a trustee of Union University in Jackson, Tenn., and we have remarkable students from around the world and a first-class faculty to train them. Several times throughout the year we send out graduates who will elevate the professionalism in their respective fields but also who will transform the world with the message of the Gospel.

But in celebrating accomplishments like these, I now wonder if our focus in the evangelical community should shift at least in part from training our children during the transition to adulthood to placing greater emphasis on training up a child in the way he should go. I’m not advocating the neglect of what we have already established in higher education, but simply a course correction in an area that seems to have suffered neglect — the protection and nurturing of the spiritual health and growth of children and adolescents. In far too many public schools throughout the country our children are being bombarded with secular reasoning, situational ethics and moral erosion.

Read the rest here.

First Things has an important read on how to create a family-center economy in America today. Let’s just say the Cato Institute would not agree with their touting the policy planks proposed by the likes of Ramesh Ponnuru, Ross Douthat, and Reihan Salamsuch.

Here was the crescendo moment of the piece:

The conservative movement today seems weaker than at any time since Lyndon Johnson defeated Barry Goldwater. There are no free-marketeers in the foxholes, and it is hard to find an economist of any stripe who does not believe that the government must provide some kind of economic stimulus and rescue the financial system.

But the present crisis also might present the conservative movement with the greatest opportunity it has had since Ronald Reagan took office.