Producer's Desk — June, 2008

From my latest post at the Washington Post/Newsweek On Faith blog:

“I found it impossible to narrow the books I would recommend to one or two; so here are just a few of the ones that have impacted me, in alphabetical order…”

Click to see the list…

The latest newsletter from the ERLC…

Inside:

• When will progress in Iraq be acknowledged as significant?
• ‘Unfairness’ Doctrine Down but Not Out
• Food parcels bring hope to Zimbabwe
• House drops provision to benefit Planned Parenthood
• Needed: Broken-Hearted Prophets

…and more…

• The Radical, Intellectual Roots of the Eugenics Movement - Malkin
  • Socialists made eugenics fashionable - National Post
• Israel on the Iran Brink
• Most Americans Believe in Higher Power, Poll Finds - Washington Post
  • The Pew study - Pew Forum on Religion

My latest post:

“My question for the critics of the war is this: What part of significant progress do you not understand?”

Read the rest here…

My latest post at Casting Stones:

“As late as the early 1960’s, when Tim Russert was in his early teens, only 2.3 percent of white children and 24 percent of black children were born to single mothers. Now, approximately 28 percent of our nation’s children live in a household without their fathers, up from 14 percent in 1970. The vast majority of such boys and girls see their fathers less than once a month if at all. For such children, Father’s Day is more of an illusion than reality…”

Read the rest…

Another post at Casting Stones:

“When Americans approve physician-assisted suicide in terminal patients by a 50% to 44% margin, it is clear that the morally relative “quality of life” ethic has made substantial progress in changing the hearts and minds of Americans away from the “sanctity of life” ethic upon which our nation was founded—”We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” “

Read the complete post…

My latest post at Casting Stones:

“The debate over same-sex marriage is certain to heat up again over the summer and into the fall election season. Why?”

Read the complete column…

The resolutions from the 2008 Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention may be found here.

Americans hold contradictory opinions on the issue of homosexuality, including whether homosexual behavior is sinful. A similar percentage of Americans consider homosexual behavior sinful to those who do not, and neither view gains a majority, according to a new study by LifeWay Research. The study also found that Americans’ views of homosexuality impacts their openness to participation in a church…

Read the full report from Lifeway Research…

From the June 1, 2008 Washington Post:

EXCERPT: Iraq passed a turning point last fall when the U.S. counterinsurgency campaign launched in early 2007 produced a dramatic drop in violence and quelled the incipient sectarian war between Sunnis and Shiites. Now, another tipping point may be near, one that sees the Iraqi government and army restoring order in almost all of the country, dispersing both rival militias and the Iranian-trained “special groups” that have used them as cover to wage war against Americans. It is — of course — too early to celebrate… Still, the rapidly improving conditions should allow U.S. commanders to make some welcome adjustments — and it ought to mandate an already-overdue rethinking by the “this-war-is-lost” caucus in Washington, including Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).