From the Family Research Council

The abortion issue came to the fore of the 2008 Presidential campaign at Saddleback Church last weekend, and the fire lit by Barack Obama and John McCain’s disparate answers on the question shows no sign of going out. McCain answered Pastor Rick Warren forthrightly when he said that human life begins at conception and that his would be a “pro-life administration.” Obama answered that the resolution of the issue was “above his pay grade,” a reply that earned him little praise in the following days, even from some of his strongest supporters. In my appearance on Anderson Cooper 360 Monday night with Tony Campolo, a liberal Evangelical who has advised the Democrats, Campolo indicated that he thought Obama needed to do better in replying to questions about abortion. Yesterday, in Lynchburg, Virginia, Obama tried. Speaking to an ABC News affiliate, he took another tack: “I don’t think this issue has to be resolved in terms of when life begins. That is a theological question or scientific question. I as a Christian have a belief that the potential for life is sacred at the moment of conception, but I also believe that it is not decisive in determining who makes the decision that difficult in questions like abortion.” Say again? What does it mean for “the potential for life is sacred”? Obama seems to be looking for a way to say something that sounds pro-life without conceding anything in the realm of public policy. If he wants an opportunity to try again, the invitation to him (and to Senator McCain) to speak at our Value Voter Summit September 12-14 in Washington, D.C. is still open.

From the Family Research Council

In the last two weeks, the Chinese have scored perfect marks from the media and athletes for their hospitality. The government’s act has even persuaded the likes of NBC to say that the Olympic Games are turning the tide of public opinion on China. For those who bought into China’s good behavior act, an incident this weekend should rouse them from their Beijing trance. According to reports, airport officials confiscated 315 Bibles from the baggage of representatives of an organization called Vision Beyond Borders. While China insists that Bibles aren’t banned from the Games, Chinese authorities said the missionaries could only have one Bible per person. “I heard that there’s freedom of religion in China, so why is there a problem for us to bring Bibles?” asked Vision’s Pat Klein.

Like most people, Klein is learning the hard way that China hasn’t experienced a change of heart after all; the regime is only hiding its true identity under the goodwill of the Games. While the Olympic hosts have radiated warmth and welcoming, there is no mistaking the deep hostility to Western values, rooted in Christianity, that still lies just beneath the surface. Try as it might, the government cannot maintain this benevolent facade if its oppressive policies are still in place.

Related Article: AP-China Confiscates Bibles from American Christians

It would be easier to turn away, focus my gaze upon the road ahead, and simply not look at the faces on the billboards. These are the faces of lives taken much too soon, each dead by the hand of a drunk driver. These are the faces that now live only in the memories of loved ones, and on billboards. But I have always slowed my vehicle, and taken a few seconds to study their smiles, note their ages, where they were from, and when their lives were so wantonly taken. With each one, my thoughts moved to wondering how their families are dealing with such a senseless tragedy. I wonder about their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, and their friends left to deal with the void that can never be filled.

I will now know one of those faces. On Monday, July 28, 2008, around 6 p.m., our friends, Tom and Lucy Hudson were traveling on Interstate 55 near Hammond, returning to Slidell from a reunion, when they were rear ended by a drunk driver. Lucy survived. Tom will be buried today. The news report is here.

My oldest son wrote a memorial to Tom. Please take a moment, and learn what a great guy he was to everyone who knew him.

And don’t just let it make you sad. Let it inspire you to get involved, become a court watcher, and help keep an eye on the prosecutorial system to help insure that justice is served, and that the dead are not forgotten.

Thanks to BossierWatch.com for sending out this public notice Paper Notices.pdf which recently appeared in the newspaper.

Poised to reap millions from the Haynesville Shale, why the Bossier School Board is even remotely considering a tax increase without the vote of the public is unfathomable.

Please call your School Board member today and express your views. List of members with contact info is HERE. If you don’t know the name of your School Board representative, call the School Board office at 549-5000.