White House’s Family Program Overlooks Importance of Marriage

Family,

Last February, President Obama announced a new initiative “designed to determine what works to help young people stay on track to reach their full potential.”

The initiative is called “My Brother’s Keeper.” Its stated goal is to create and expand opportunities for young minorities. The president’s memo, talking-points, and official report on the program all identify poverty, poor education, and other issues as problems that need to be addressed.

President Obama wrote,

“Specifically, the Task Force [for My Brother’s Keeper] shall focus on the following issues, among others: access to early childhood supports; grade school literacy; pathways to college and a career, including issues arising from school disciplinary action; access to mentoring services and support networks; and interactions with the criminal justice system and violent crime.”

Despite My Brother’s Keeper being an effort to rebuild communities and strengthen families, we could not find one instance of the word “marriage” being used anywhere in the White House’s documents on the program. The reports talk about parents, children, mothers, and fathers, but not about marriage.

Here is why that is so significant: (more…)

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“Irreplaceable” Family Coming to Theaters May 6

Family,

Focus on the Family has produced a feature-length documentary called “Irreplaceable.”

The film highlights the importance of the traditional family–a mom and dad committed to one another and their children for a lifetime–and opens in 700 theaters nationwide on May 6.

Backlash against the film ahead of its release has been surprisingly sharp. Opponents are denouncing the documentary as “hateful,” and many are pressuring theaters not to show the film.

Eric Metaxas, one of the speakers featured in “Irreplaceable,” has recorded a few comments about the controversy in his Breakpoint segment at the Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Listen below.

[audio:http://bit.ly/Se4wvF|titles=”Irreplaceable” Coming to Theaters May 6]

We have also included the trailer for the movie below. Watch it for yourself, and let us know what you think.

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Is It the End of Thanksgiving as We Know It?

1 CommentThanksgiving,

Some of us are old enough to remember a time when people got off work for Washington’s Birthday—the holiday we now call Presidents’ Day.

Up until the 1980s, many businesses closed for Washington’s Birthday. It was a lot like Labor Day or Memorial Day, in that respect. So what changed?

There were a lot of factors, but one theory is in the 1980s, stores began staying open on Presidents’ Day to offer big sales and attract shoppers. As stores stayed open, other businesses had reason to do so as well. As a result, Presidents’ Day is a lot like Columbus Day: The banks and Post Office close; stores offer big sales; but that’s about the extent of the holiday. So I have to ask: Could the same thing happen to Thanksgiving?

This year stores like Kmart are staying open all day on Thanksgiving. Walmart will unveil its Black Friday sales Thursday, letting shoppers peruse their shelves Thanksgiving night and on into Friday morning. Best Buy, Target, J.C. Penny, Kohl’s, Macy’s, Sears, Toys R Us, and others plan to do the same.

Some people say as the economy rebounds, stores may not make a habit of opening on Thanksgiving in the future. I doubt it.

If more stores open on Thanksgiving, other businesses will likely find reason to follow suit. It happened with George Washington’s Birthday; there’s no reason to think Thanksgiving is too sacred for the same to happen to it.

I imagine people will always pause to eat turkey together the last weekend of November, but it bothers me that what was intended to be a day spent with family, giving thanks to God for the many blessings we enjoy might devolve into nothing more than “Black Friday Eve.”

I’ve never seen a Norman Rockwell painting of a family spending Thanksgiving in the checkout line of a big-box store. This week, I hope you and your family will take a break from the hustle and bustle to enjoy quality time together.

Whether it’s playing football in the backyard or listing your blessings around the dinner table, take a few hours to celebrate and have a happy Thanksgiving!

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