February 2009 Archives

What happens to the culture of a nation when households no longer include children? Send me your thoughts and I will post the most interesting comments.

In the meantime, consider the USA Today story about the declining number of households in the U.S. with children:

The percentage of American households with children under 18 living at home last year hit the lowest point — 46% — in half a century, government data reported Wednesday.

The trend reflects the aging of the Baby Boom generation and younger women having fewer children, demographers say.

“Baby Boomers have been a big force in driving a lot of different population dynamics,” says Rose Kreider, a family demographer at the Census Bureau, which released the data.

In 2008, about 35.7 million families (46%) had children under 18 at home, the Census figures show, down from 52% in 1950. The percentage peaked in 1963, when about 57% of families had children under 18 at home.

Click here to read the rest of the story.

Posted by Doug Phillips on February 26, 2009 | Permalink

Lifenews.com has the story about President Obama’s appointment for Assistant Attorney General:

With his appointment of Dawn Johnsen, a former NARAL attorney, as the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of the Legal Counsel, pro-life advocates already know they are getting an abortion advocate in the position. But, Johnsen goes further and views pregnancy as slavery.

Johnsen is a professor at the Indiana University School of Law, but she is also a longtime abortion advocate and worked for one of the leading abortion advocacy groups.

Johnsen was the Legal Director for NARAL from 1988-1993.

In an article at National Review, Andrew McCarthy describes the importance of the Office of Legal Counsel.

“OLC, a critically important agency, is the administration’s lawyers’ lawyer,” he says. “It authoritatively interprets the law for the attorney general and, in doing so, drives administration legal policy.”

“OLC’s credibility is derived from its reputation for apolitical, academic discipline — its commitment to informing policymakers of what the law is, rather than what staffers believe the law should be. Johnsen is, for that reason, a poor fit: She is an ideologue, and an unabashed one,” he explains.

McCarthy says that Johnsen’s view of pregnancy as slavery wasn’t just an off-the-cuff remark.

“It was her considered position in a 1989 brief filed in the Supreme Court,” he explains, and the legal papers she filed concerned a Missouri law banning taxpayer funding of abortions.

In the papers, Johnsen said that any restriction that makes abortion less accessible is, in her view, tantamount to “involuntary servitude” because it “requires a woman to provide continuous physical service to the fetus in order to further the state’s asserted interest [in the life of the unborn].”

In effect, a woman “is constantly aware for nine months that her body is not her own: the state has conscripted her body for its own ends.” Such “forced pregnancy,” she contends, violates the Thirteenth Amendment, which prohibits slavery.

“The Court rejected this farcical theory, just as it has rejected other instantiations of Johnsen’s extremism,” McCarthy explains in his National Review column.

“In reputable private law offices and U.S. attorney’s offices throughout the country, adult supervision would prevent such a lunatic analogy from finding its way into a letter to a lower-court judge, much less into a Supreme Court brief,” he added. “Obama, however, is proposing that Johnsen be the adult supervision at Justice. He would fill a position calling for dispassionate rigor with a crusader for whom strident excess is habitual.”

Click here to read the rest of the article.

Posted by Doug Phillips on February 26, 2009 | Permalink

Join Dr. Voddie Baucham, Doug Phillips, Scott Brown, Geoff Botkin, and a panel of visionary young ladies for the father and daughter event of the year!

The reports are coming in, and they are not good.

The average father in America spends less than ten minutes a day with his daughter. He knows little about her life or her heart. He can quote detailed sports statistics and daily gas prices, but he has little or nothing to say of eternal value to his little girl when the two of them are alone — which is almost never. Is it any wonder that the average daughter is emotionally and spiritually disconnected from her father? She invests her own time in the pursuit of fantasy, peers, boys — anything that will fill the gaping hole created by the absence of godly, fatherly manhood in her life.

This father-daughter deficit has helped to place our nation in a cultural depression so great that we are suffering from the most significant family crisis in the history of our country. But that is only half the story.

Here is the other half: Christian families are in the business of defying popular trends and statistics. Spurred on by the Scripture’s discipleship directives, more and more fathers are setting aside the distractions of the world and are pursuing their daughters’ hearts. And when God turns the hearts of fathers to their daughters and daughters to their fathers, He is “mak[ing] ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:17).

Why They Are Coming

That is why hundreds of fathers and daughters will be coming to the world-famous Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia, March 27-29 for the 2009 Vision Forum Ministries Father and Daughter Retreat.

They are coming to celebrate the father and daughter relationship. They are coming to reconnect their spiritual batteries so that their vision is recharged. They are coming to receive much-needed encouragement as they stand with like-minded men and women who are committed to a biblical vision for family life.

My husband and daughter were immensely blessed by the event, and I am enjoying the “side effects.” My heart has been filled to overflowing! —Past Participant

... I’ve witnessed my daddy be encouraged as he soaked up the teaching of godly men, and my sister and I have been renewed through the fellowship and the righteous example of like-hearted girls. —Anna C.

A Time of Celebration

The Father and Daughter Retreat is a time of learning and fellowship, but it is also a time for celebration. Fathers and daughters can enjoy the world famous Callaway Butterfly Gardens; they will have time to enjoy long, meaningful walks; and, they will participate in our Father and Daughter Unity Games.

A favorite part of this celebration has always been our signature “high tea.” Fathers and Daughters come dressed in their best as they enjoy a beautifully catered event, complete with assorted fine English teas, scones, tarts, cucumber sandwiches, and pastries. Each attendee is given their very own porcelain teacup to take home as a memento of this special occasion.

‘What He Must Be... If He Wants to Marry My Daughter’

This is the title of Dr. Voddie Baucham’s new book from which he will be drawing his messages at this year’s retreat. He is joined by Doug Phillips, Geoff Botkin, and Scott Brown for the most powerful line-up of messages in the history of this event. Young ladies in attendance at this year’s retreat will also hear the testimonies of visionary daughters: Jasmine Baucham, as well as Anna Sophia and Elizabeth Botkin (authors of So Much More, and hosts of The Return of the Daughters).

How to Talk to Your Daughter

At this year’s Father and Daughter Retreat, men will learn how to really speak to their daughters—to their hearts and to their minds. They will learn what it means to speak meaningful words, how to avoid crushing the spirit of a daughter, and how to cast vision for a daughter of destiny.

Fundamental questions will be addressed: How can daughters stand against the destructive tidal wave of feminism? How can daughters encourage and bless their fathers? What does it mean to be beautiful? To be virtuous? How can wise fathers safeguard and protect their daughters? Is putting off marriage for “ministry” a good idea? How do new covenant fathers apply old covenant principles? How do biblical principles of femininity and womanhood impact the education and training of our daughters?

How to Teach Our Daughters to Combat the Feministic Messages Given to Them by Hollywood

Geoff Botkin will help fathers learn how to interpret pop culture for their daughters and how to equip daughters to be wise, discerning interpreters of culture themselves. Daughters will learn the difference between a true biblical heroine and a phony princess. They will be exposed to some of the great women of history and will learn what their legacies and messages are for the daughters of the twenty-first century.

Register Now — Space is Limited!

The Father and Daughter Retreat has been one of Vision Forum Ministries’ most popular and well-attended events in the past and sells out every year. Space for the 2009 retreat is limited and registration will probably close soon. If you would like to attend the 2009 event, we would encourage you to register now to secure your space.

Sign Up for the 2009 Father and Daughter Retreat

Posted by Doug Phillips on February 25, 2009 | Permalink

MoneySavingMom.com offers insights to moms on how to save money and even how to get great product for free. Today, MoneySavingMom.com is highlighting Vision Forum’s Entrepreneurial Bootcamp audio album. Visit their site to see how you can receive this timely and practical product for free.

Posted by Doug Phillips on February 24, 2009 | Permalink

God is in fact mortified at the human race’s arrogance and callous disregard for the rights of all His non-human creations. WE have overpopulated the earth, taking over space once the domain of non-humans, and it is time we started to make ammends. Have you looked at a human population growth curve lately?Pray that you may see the reality of His dissapointment in us. Thank you.

Dick Bozung

Posted by Doug Phillips on February 24, 2009 | Permalink

“But most of all, if Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he’d want me to say to all of the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told that they are less than by their churches, by the government or by their families, that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you and that very soon, I promise you, you will have equal rights federally, across this great nation of ours. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you, God, for giving us Harvey Milk.” Homosexual Activist Dustin Lance Black Accepting the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Milk

The distinction between Hollywood’s toxic culture of death and the burgeoning Christian film movement of life was highlighted in bold this weekend.

Millions of viewers tuned into the 81st Academy Awards where they watched Sean Penn receive the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of homosexual activist Harvey Milk, and Kate Winslet receive the Best Female Actor Oscar for her performance in The Reader, a pornographic story about a female Nazi war criminal seducing a 15-year-old boy. They also watched award-winners use their platform to push homosexual political activism and to encourage teenagers to pursue a homosexual lifestyle.

But just over twenty-four hours earlier, National Public Radio broadcast a seven-minute feature on a very different type of film movement and awards ceremony to a listening audience of more than six million.

“As Hollywood crowns its favorite movies and actors at the Oscars on Sunday, another group is trying to create a rival movie industry. Fed up with sex and violence in mainstream entertainment, conservative Christians are turning out their own films. And they’ve made surprising inroads.”

NPR Religion correspondent Barbara Bradley Hagerty reported on the 2009 San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival in her feature report “Christian Filmmakers Creating an Industry of Faith.” She began her story with this telling question:

“What was the biggest grossing independent film in 2008? No, not Slumdog Millionaire. Not Milk. It was a movie you’ve probably never heard of...” Click here to listen to the report which includes interviews with Kirk Cameron, Steven Kendrick, and some of the more than 2,400 people in attendance at the event.

Posted by Doug Phillips on February 23, 2009 | Permalink

Posted by Doug Phillips on February 23, 2009 | Permalink

No one should have been surprised when Hollywood gave its highest honor to an actor portraying radical homosexual activist Harvey Milk. Nor should anyone have been surprised when Sean Penn accepted his award by declaring: “You commie, homo-loving sons of guns.” Upon accepting the best actor award for his portrayal of the slain San Francisco supervisor and gay rights leader Harvey Milk.

Each year millions of viewers tune it to see the glitz, the glamour, and the best that Hollywood has to offer. And each year — without fail — the Oscars are turned into an advertisement for sodomy.

Penn used his platform to declare “shame” on those who defended marriage by voting for Proposition 8 in California: “For those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight, I think that it is a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect and anticipate their great shame and the shame in their grandchildren’s eyes if they continue that way of support. We’ve got to have equal rights for everyone.”

Posted by Doug Phillips on February 23, 2009 | Permalink

Posted by Doug Phillips on February 19, 2009 | Permalink

If you believe that education is neutral; that it is the role of the state to train and disciple our children; that the youth culture of the modern school is healthy for children; and that the children of Christian parents should be immersed in the religious worldview of evolutionism, secularism, and humanism; then government education may be a very viable option for you.

For those of us who reject the above presuppositions, government education is not merely a disaster — a testimony to much of what is wrong with modern America — but in its foundations, methodologies, and track-record, it represents the antithesis of the biblical vision for education. This is why we firmly believe that parents who are serious about raising up a Christ-honoring generation of biblically-minded Christians will flee government education.

The team at Exodus Mandate agrees. And now Worldnetdaily.com is reporting on the work of my friend E. Ray Moore and Exodus Mandate regarding their recent report card grading several pro-family ministries on issues pertaining to their support for government education vs. Christian education alternatives:

At last week’s National Religious Broadcasters convention, Exodus Mandate released its report card, grading nine national ministries such as Focus on the Family and Wall Builders on their support of Exodus Mandate’s principles.

Retired Army Reserve Chaplain E. Ray Moore, Jr., director of Exodus Mandate, praised the graded ministries for “valiantly fighting the culture war” and promoting a Christian worldview, but he also criticized them for advocating public education reform and legislative remedies as paths to reversing “the moral and cultural slide” in America.

“It’s time for these ministries to revisit their methodology,” Moore said, “and ask themselves if there is a biblical model for spiritual and cultural renewal.”

According to Exodus Mandate, the biblical model for renewal is the discipling of young minds and training of the next generation through Christian - and not secular government - education.

David d’Escoto is author of “The Little Book of Big Reasons to Homeschool” and one of six people who sat on the panel that graded the ministries.

“Some of these ministries continue to labor under the error that K-12 public education is an acceptable practice for Christian children and that the public schools can be reformed,” d’Escoto said. “This is folly.”

Click here to read the rest of the article.

Posted by Doug Phillips on February 18, 2009 | Permalink

Posted by Doug Phillips on February 18, 2009 | Permalink

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the average age of women having their first child has fallen for the first time in 40 years:

For nearly 40 years, women have been delaying childbirth longer and longer, partly to launch careers. Now, this trend may be ending.

For the first time since government records have been kept, the average age at which women have their first babies posted a decline — according to newly released data from the National Center for Health Statistics. Mothers’ mean age at their first childbirth fell to 25.0 years in 2006, the most recent figures available, from 25.2 in 2005. Women ages 20 to 24 led the shift, with a 5% increase in the rate of first births.

A one-year reversal doesn’t make a trend, of course. But the study lends weight to anecdotal evidence that young women are tuning in more closely to their biological clocks. “It’s the first time it’s ever gone down, and certainly that’s noteworthy,” says Brady Hamilton, co-author of the study.

Posted by Doug Phillips on February 18, 2009 | Permalink

Dear Vision Forum:

I want to let you and yours know how God has used you in my family’s life. There is no other place I know of where I can find materials like yours. Living in the Northwest, we are surrounded by liberal thought. My daughters and I have enjoyed learning more about feminity through books, CDs, and DVDs. I’ve been encouraged in parenting by the Bradricks’, “The Family Table,” “How to Bless your Husband’s Vision,” “How to Evaluate a Suitor,” and many more have presented us with information we’ve NEVER heard before. Oh, and I am loving “Being Married to a Difficult Man.” We have truly been enriched by your materials and by your teachings. Thank you for your work I pray God would pour out his continual grace on you as you have strengthened many like us.

With appreciation,

Leslee Dunn

Posted by Doug Phillips on February 18, 2009 | Permalink

For more than a decade, the Vision Forum Faith and Freedom Tour has traveled America (and even the world) taking families to those great historical sites where they can stand by the landmarks to our liberties and study the faith of our fathers. On many occasions we have traveled to New England and to the Virginia regions, but only once has our tour taken us to the middle states. The Philadelphia Faith and Freedom Tour brought us from the battlefields of Brandywine to the Constitutional Convention of Philadelphia. Our journey began with the causes for colonization and the founding of the “City of Brotherly Love” and took us to the early cradle of the American Republic. We studied the theology of colonial American and federal time period architecture, the military strategies of the British invaders, and stood with Washington on the banks of the Delaware for his midnight crossing. Painting, warfare, pulpit preaching, and of course, the principles of constitutional government which were articulated and defended by the Founding Fathers, were all the subjects of our week-long pilgrimage into America’s patriotic past.

Footnote: The most recent edition of Newsweek magazine is entitled “We Are All Socialists Now.” It argues that the debate over free markets and Christian values are over. Darwin has won. Malthus has won. The anti-life vision of the contraceptive planners has won — I disagree! If Christians will be faithful to the Lord, if fathers will turn their hearts to their families, and if parents will be diligent in raising up a generation of Christ-loving, hope-filled, biblically-trained, historically-informed children of vision who will love the Lord with all their heart, we can have more hope for the mercy and grace of God on America than were we to even have fundamental political change. In short, if the remnant legions of Christians will be faithful, we can have great hope for this very special plot of earth which has been uniquely blessed of the Lord.

I am firmly convinced that one component of the necessary strategy for training our children is to teach them providential history. They need to understand the progress of the Church, the sacrifices of our spiritual fathers, and the best arguments and ideas which advanced the cause of liberty. They need to understand where they came from and how God brought them here. They need to understand what makes their own nation of America special — how it reflects a unique investment on the part of the Lord into His people, and the significant duties we have as a result of that investment. They need a form of perspective that only comes from studying the hand of God in history. More than ever it is important that Christian families understand the theological roots of the American Republic

That is why we have decided to release for the first time Let Freedom Ring: The Philadelphia Faith and Freedom Tour, a very special teaching tool which provides a dynamic, inspirational overview of one part of the story of God’s providential hand over our land. These are great messages to incorporate into your home education curriculum, or to listen in the car on the way to work.

Posted by Doug Phillips on February 17, 2009 | Permalink

Posted by Doug Phillips on February 17, 2009 | Permalink

Here are two of the pro-Darwin “Dear Doug” notes we received yesterday:

Happy Birthday Charles Darwin! I’m an American with Freedom of thoughts and beliefs. I do not wish to own a God that my children I have to fear.Take me off your mailing list.

K. McKenzie

Yes, he studied to be an Anglican Priest. However, does this mean he had a conversion to “Godlessness”, his life and writings would indicate otherwise. How any rational person cannot find a rational/religious connection between Darwinism and Scripture is a bigot.

Tom

Posted by Doug Phillips on February 14, 2009 | Permalink

Today is the bicentennial of Charles Darwin’s birth.

What shall we tell our children about this great man?

I have pondered this question for some time. Certainly there is much to say about the specifics of his theory, its pernicious influence on the world, and the shoddy scholarship that produced it. Perhaps there is even more to say about the god-like status attributed to him by his worshipers in the unbelieving world, or the deep faith in man, materialism, and process to which they cling.

But on a more fundamental level, there are just a few things I want my children to know about Darwin the man. These are the summaries of my lessons to my children:

Darwin was bitter.

Charles Darwin was once a student of theology preparing for the priesthood in the Anglican Church. His experiences in university, traveling, and through his studies contributed to his gradual rejection of the Bible over time. However, it was when he lost his beloved daughter, Annie, that Darwin began to grow bitter. Darwin allowed his bitterness over the death of his daughter to destroy his faith in God. This bitterness impacted Darwin’s entire worldview, and he turned to vain speculation and “the oppositions of science falsely so called” (I Timothy 6:21). Darwin became foolish because he said in his heart that there is no God (Psalm 14:1). He lacked knowledge because he refused to fear God (Proverbs 1:7). Because he was bitter at God, his reason was adversely affected, as explained in I Corinthians 2:14: “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

Darwin worshiped a false God.

All men are religious because all men have an object of worship. They either worship the Creator, or they worship the creature — but they worship something (Romans 1). Darwin’s bitterness directed him to a new form of religious zealotry. He exchanged faith in Christianity for a form of religious pantheism known as materialism. By faith he tenaciously clung to this belief system, exalting the vain speculations and reasoning of man over the infallible revelation of God. In the end, Darwin’s God was his mind, and his mind told him that truth could be found in the material world without reference to any higher authority like the God of the Bible.

Darwin was sloppy and he was not a scientist.

Darwin was a theology student. He was not a scientist. He was, however, able to talk his way into opportunities through which he hoped to present himself to others as a naturalist. Darwin allowed his new-formed faith in man, materialism, and process to justify irrationality, shoddy scholarship, and wild speculation.

Once in the field, his lack of training and his inability to draw reasonable conclusions from his observations became apparent. This is why many followers of his theory of evolution must ignore the actual research of Darwin during the voyage of the Beagle and elsewhere, since so much of his work in places like the Galapagos Islands has been discredited.

Darwin trained his children to hate the God of the Bible.

Every father leaves a legacy to his children. That legacy is defined by the battles he fought, the character he modeled, the lessons he left behind through word and deed. Darwin’s life legacy was the rejection of the faith of his fathers for a faith in the autonomous mind of man as the final and absolute court of appeal for all matters religious and scientific. Free from the bondage of divine revelation, Darwin believed man could finally come to truth.

Darwin’s progeny took the philosophy of their famous ancestor and used it to justify a bold and arrogant atheism. Darwin’s rejection of the faith of his own fathers and his embrace of the new theology of naturalistic materialism resulted in generations of God-haters in the Darwin family. Commenting on his own materialistic faith which negates the belief in God, Sir Charles Galton Darwin, grandson of the author of On The Origin of Species, wrote: “I am entirely lacking in the thing which so many people seem to regard as their mainstay in life, a mystical sense of religion. This I lack, and I am perfectly content to be without it.”

Darwin trained others to be hateful toward their fellow man.

Darwin introduced the world to a form of radical atheistic fundamentalism that is responsible for bigotry, hatred, and the death of untold numbers of humans. This religious fundamentalist worldview is also exclusive. By this I mean that the leaders of this faith cannot tolerate opposing views. In fact, the high priests of this new religion — men who populate universities around the world — demand that all individuals submit to the tenets of their faith or be excluded from both the discussion and the political franchise.

Darwin’s presuppositions included a form of racial bigotry, a belief that the world matures as the strong kill the weak, and the assumption that man can know truth apart from Jesus Christ — of whom the Bible says, He is “the way, the truth and the life.” Future followers of these principles that Darwin taught in moderation would take them to an extreme, applying them to social theory. It was the neo-Darwinian social theorists who gave us abortion, eugenics, Nazism, and a host of evils that plague the earth to this day.

Darwin’s legacy could be the legacy of anyone who worships the creature more than the Creator.

When men look to the creation, rather than the Creator, for ultimate answers, they begin the process of reprobation that leads to complete destruction. Romans 1 says this:

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves:Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

Apart from Jesus Christ, any of us — even you my children — could end up with the same miserable legacy as Charles Darwin. Here is the antidote: Ecclesiastes 12:13: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”

Posted by Doug Phillips on February 12, 2009 | Permalink

“Lads, don’t forget that tomorrow is the last day to save 30% on my eight new adventure novels.”

Posted by Doug Phillips on February 12, 2009 | Permalink

This album includes eight messages, with titles such as:

• Foundational Vision for Fathers & Daughters
• The Proverbs 31 Woman
• Transitions from Beautiful Girlhood to Noble Womanhood
• Beauty, What is it?
• Fathers, Daughters, and the Family: A Panel Discussion
• How to Prepare a Daughter for Marriage
• How Fathers Can Protect Their Daughters in a Defiling Age

Also, join hundreds of fathers and daughters in Callaway Garden, Georgia, as they renew their commitments one to another before the Lord, and chart a course for a vision of victory for daughterhood and fatherhood.

Posted by Doug Phillips on February 12, 2009 | Permalink

Have we come to the place that if a parent needs to discipline their child in a public place they may now be arrested for being a terrorist? It just might be if this public place happens to be an airplane. According to a story out of Oklahoma City a woman by the name of Tamera Jo Freeman:

”...was on a Frontier Airlines flight to Denver in 2007 when her two children began to quarrel over the window shade and then spilled a Bloody Mary into her lap.

She spanked each on the thigh three times. A flight attendant confronted Freeman, who responded by hurling a few profanities and throwing what remained of a can of tomato juice on the floor.

The incident ultimately led to Freeman’s arrest and conviction for a federal felony defined as an act of terrorism under the Patriot Act, the controversial federal law enacted after the 2001 attacks on New York’s World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

“I had no idea I was breaking the law,” said Freeman, 40, who spent three months in jail before pleading guilty.

Freeman is one of at least 200 passengers convicted under the amended law. In most cases, there was no evidence the passengers had attempted to hijack an airplane or physically attack flight crew members. Many involved raised voices, foul language and drunken behavior.

Some security experts say the use of the law by airlines has run amok, criminalizing incidents that did not start out as threats to public safety, much less acts of terrorism...

“We have gone completely berserk on this issue,” said Charles Slepian, a New York security consultant. “These are not threats to national security or threats to aircraft, but we use that as an excuse.”

Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd defended the prosecutions, saying they helped improve airline security. He said the department pursued prosecution only “when the facts and circumstances of a particular case warrant such action.”

The law has given airlines new flexibility to clamp down on unruly behavior. But the intent of the Patriot Act provisions was to catch terrorists in violation of the law before they could execute an actual takeover, said Nathan Sales, a law professor at George Mason University who helped write the Patriot Act when he served in the Justice Department.

Click here to read the rest of this outrageous report.

Posted by Doug Phillips on February 11, 2009 | Permalink

A message presented at the 2009 SAICFF. What do you think about this clip? Send your comments to blogcontest@visionforum.com.

(To view this video clip, you must have QuickTime 7 installed.)

Posted by Doug Phillips on February 9, 2009 | Permalink

Sign up here to attend the 2009 Father and Daughter Retreat.

Posted by Doug Phillips on February 6, 2009 | Permalink

Posted by Doug Phillips on February 6, 2009 | Permalink

“To be a true hero you must be a true Christian. To sum up then, heroism is largely based on two qualities- truthfulness and unselfishness, a readiness to put one’s own pleasures aside for that of others, to be courteous to all, kind to those younger than yourself, helpful to your parents, even if helpfulness demands some slight sacrifice of your own pleasure. . .you must remember that these two qualities are the signs of Christian heroism.” - G.A. Henty

Read more about G.A. Henty at ballantynethebrave.com.

Posted by Doug Phillips on February 6, 2009 | Permalink

Over the years we have received many tens of thousands of correspondences. The majority of them are precious letters of encouragement, testimonials, and honest questions, but we are not without our critics. Often, their letters are filled with spectacularly creative expressions of hatred and bigotry. Even these letters sometimes provide special opportunities, like this one taken by my dear bride Beall. Since we are focusing this week on the issue of demographic winter and the blessing of children, I thought it might be helpful to republish this response:

[Mr. Phillips] Your poor wife must be sick of popping out kids? Stop overpopulation! Use birthcontrol for (expletive deleted)! Pitiful. Stop adding “freaks” to our society. Abstain. God would want you to (sic).

Beall offered these thoughts in reply:

Dear _, God bless you. This is Doug’s “poor” wife here writing to assure you that “popping out” kids, though challenging, is among the most glorious gifts that the Lord bestows upon a redeemed woman. Prolific mothers are not “baby machines” (as both Margaret Sanger and some very confused professing Christians), but blessed vessels of life from which the Lord brings eternal souls into this earth and fulfills his own command that man “be fruitful and multiply.”

For a Christian, having babies is not about birthing pains, changing diapers or baking cookies (though it includes all of these). Having babies is about transforming the world forever. This investment will last, not for thirty years, not for my lifetime, but f-o-r-e-v-e-r. The investment is realized on earth and pays dividends for eternity. On earth, we pray that these children will advance the very kingdom of God. But in heaven, the souls of every redeemed child will stand with me throughout eternity before the Lord Jesus. The pressures of today (be they financial, physical, etc.) that taunt Christians to self-consciously distort God’s fruitful purpose for the womb, and to separate life from love, will seem infinitesimally small as we look back upon this whisper of a life with our children beside us in eternity.

My children can have more far-reaching implications for society and posterity than anything else I can do. Having babies and training children for Jesus Christ means my life work will last forever. I hurt for you and those sad, misguided souls who would think of prolific motherhood as reducing women to the status of “baby machine.” I refuse to accept the minimizing, selfish, materialistic, and limited vision of womanhood dispensed by the apostles of modernity and relevancy in this generation. My dream is far greater. I reject the options which the world offers. I want something bigger.

Though I have been blessed with seven children who are the delight of my soul, Doug and I fervently pray for more. While I am not sure what you mean by “freaks,” I can assure you it is my goal to populate the world with “fools for Christ” who view children as a blessing, the womb as sacred, and the calling of helpmeet and mother as holy before our Lord Jesus.

I understand that you and I disagree on these points, but I want to let you know that I am glad that your mother gave you life. I don’t know you, but I would never wish that you were not born, nor would I presume that the world would be a better place without you. In fact, I would be happy if perhaps someday we can meet unified in Christ and as friends. And yes, with more babies on our laps.

Sincerely Yours, Beall Phillips

Posted by Doug Phillips on February 6, 2009 | Permalink

After more than fifteen hundred years, Japanese culture is on the verge of extinction. There are not enough children. And similar fates may be in store for France, Italy, and elsewhere. These nations and others are on the brink of a demographic implosion with far-reaching economic implications —and they know it! There are simply not enough babies being born to maintain their economies.

But something else is happening as well. The aging population for these nations is becoming increasingly top heavy. Now the younger generation—which was taught principles of selfishness and anti-family ethics by the older generation—is beginning to make the type of “practical” decisions which are necessary to survive. Sometimes it means just letting the elderly die.

This article describes the trend through the story of one man who died after being rejected for admission at 14 hospitals. Another woman in her 70s with a respiratory need was rejected by 49 hospitals. Why the rejections? There are just “too many elderly patients already clogging up” the hospitals.

Posted by Doug Phillips on February 6, 2009 | Permalink

Posted by Doug Phillips on February 6, 2009 | Permalink

The biblical vision for womanhood has never injured one woman. But hateful doctrines and worldviews do. They injure women—and men, too. Feminism is a doctrine of hatred. From its inception, feminism has always defined itself as what it is NOT. It is NOT the Christian vision for womanhood or manhood that presupposes the biblical doctrine of patriarchy. It IS an attack on the biblical model for the family, for womanhood and manhood. It is a philosophy of violence because it seeks to uproot and destroy. For this reason its vocal supporters tend to be violent and embittered in their writings. Take heed from the comments below of this woman who believed women could have it all, and now who just wishes she had children:

From the article: Madonna syndrome: I should have ditched feminism for love, children and baking

“I never thought I would be saying this, but being a free woman isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Is that the rustle of taffeta I hear as the suffragettes turn in their graves? Possibly. My mother was a hippy who kept a pile of (dusty) books by Germaine Greer and Erica Jong by her bed (like every good feminist, she didn’t see why she should do all the cleaning). She imbued me with the great values of choice, equality and sexual liberation. I fought with my older brother and won; at university I beat the rugby lads at drinking games. I was not to be messed with.

Now, nearly 37, those same values leave me feeling cold. I want love and children but they are nowhere to be seen. I feel like a UN inspector sent in to Iraq only to find that there never were any weapons of mass destruction. I was led to believe that women could “have it all” and, more to the point, that we wanted it all. To that end I have spent 20 years ruthlessly pursuing my dreams - to be a successful playwright. I have sacrificed all my womanly duties and laid it all at the altar of a career. And was it worth it? The answer has to be a resounding no.”

Posted by Doug Phillips on February 6, 2009 | Permalink

I’m so thankful you are carrying the Duggar book in your store. I love the book and the Duggar family. You are privileged to know them personally. They have been a tremendous blessing to my family, and are such an encouragement, even though we only get to see them on television! I’ve jokingly asked my children if they wanted to move to Arkansas to live near the Duggars. We would love to have a Christian homeschooling family such as theirs to spend time with. I love seeing a family like theirs, who strive to honor God with their lives, have this much popularity on television. When I feel discouraged I just sit for a bit and watch the video we recorded of their shows on TLC.

I also want to say that your ministry has been encouraging to our family as well. We’ve downloaded several items from Behemoth.com and have purchased several items from the Vision Forum catalog. The Jonathon Park audios are a huge hit with our children (and we greatly enjoy them too). We are all learning so much from them. Thank you for providing quality, Christ honoring books, audios, and videos to train and encourage families. May God richly bless you and your ministry in 2009.

Blessings, Missy

Posted by Doug Phillips on February 6, 2009 | Permalink

Posted by Doug Phillips on February 5, 2009 | Permalink

Should nations view children as a blessing or as a burden during economic hard times? What about families?

Within one day of taking office, the president gave his answer to the first question. He would use the anniversary of Roe v. Wade to lift the ban on overseas abortion funding.^[1] The message: In tough economic times, it is important for U.S. taxpayer dollars to be spent preventing more life from coming into this world.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was even more creative in her baby-banning agenda. In a national television interview, she made it clear that one important way to stimulate the economy was for people to stop having babies.

Pelosi defended her plan to make tax-payer subsidized child prevention an important part of the $825 billion economic stimulus package, explaining that “contraception will reduce the cost to the states and to the federal government...no apologies. No. We have to deal with the consequences of the downturn in our economy.”^[2]

Translation: We must control the population because children are a burden on the economy — especially children from lower class families. The less of these children, the less money the government will have to spend on schools and healthcare.

The same day Speaker Pelosi was urging her vision for anti-recession population control measures, a top adviser to the British government made the case that more abortion and contraception is needed to save the environment. Jonathan Porritt, the former advisor on the environment to Tony Blair and the chairman of Britain’s Sustainable Development Commission stated, “I think we will work our way towards a position that says that having more than two children is irresponsible.”^[3]

Ironically, the same day that both Speaker Pelosi’s and Chairman Porritt’s comments were circulating, a very different story was breaking on CNN: “Workers Urged: Go Home and Multiply.” ^[4]

CNN’s Kyung Lah reported, “Japan is in the midst of an unprecedented recession, so corporations are being asked to work toward fixing another major problem: the country’s low birthrate.”

After decades of social pressure to drastically limit family size, the Japanese economy is on the verge of implosion. With a birthrate of 1.34, they are an aging population without the labor force to maintain their own economy.

Lah writes: “Keidanren, Japan’s largest business group, with 1,300 major international corporations as members, has issued a plea to its members to let workers go home early to spend time with their families and help Japan with its pressing social problem.”

What then is the fundamental reason for the difference in rationale between the Japanese response to birthrate decline and the American response?

It would be easy to attribute the entire failure of the American liberal leadership to acknowledge the problem directly to their deeply held religious commitments. Years of worshipping Malthus and Darwin takes a toll. It is hard to recalibrate after decades of zealotry and blind loyalty to the feminist mantras of contraceptive freedom, reproductive rights, and liberation from domesticity. But I still think more is going on.

America has yet to really feel the pain.

Japan is beginning to feel the pain. And there is more pain a-coming from the economic and social infrastructure of this beautiful nation which has been characterized by devotion to capitalism at the expense of family life. (Footnote: They learned it from us and simply applied the principles with a vengeance.)

When Americans begin to feel the pain — when they taste more of the full implications of a childless culture, perhaps some will connect the dots. When armies of American elderly spend their final years alone and unloved because they did not want to burden themselves or the world with children; when the declining population of young workers finally refuses to support a Social Security system that will never serve them; when there are simply not enough new employees to replace the massive population of retirees — perhaps then.

And then again, maybe not. But at that point, it may not matter.

I am reminded of the words of Abraham responding to the rich man crying out from Hell, begging for more evidence to be sent to his living relatives:

“If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rises from the dead” (Luke 19:31).

Posted by Doug Phillips on February 3, 2009 | Permalink