A new study touting the “benefits” of cohabitation in place of marriage is based on deeply flawed ideas about human nature and fulfillment, according to a leading scholar on the social role of families. “It’s garbage-in, garbage out,” said Dr. Scott Yenor, a Boise State University political science professor. He also warns that conservative defenders of marriage have fallen into the trap of valuing marriage as primarily a source for the self-fulfillment of adults.

Read more here: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/scholar-punctures-illusions-of-pro-cohabitation-study

News of Indiana receiving a waiver of the federal No Child Left Behind education program sounds like a step toward freedom and local control.  Unfortunately, as the Heritage Foundation explains, just the opposite is true.  Indiana is walking headlong into a national education plan that could have a dramatic impact upon what Hoosier students are taught.  Indiana has signed onto a plan for “common core” standards that could spell trouble for students through federal testing and therefore, some say, federally driven curriculum content.

Read more about this concern here: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/02/09/no-child-left-behind-waivers-let-team-obama-seize-control-your-childs-education/#ixzz1lwOfWAmt

The influential Heritage Foundation weighs in on the decision of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals declaring that a constitutionally allowed, state certified vote of the people to preserve the importance of marriage for the next generation is somehow “unconstitutional.” 

Read more about this judicial activism and the flawed logic of the ruling here:

http://blog.heritage.org/2012/02/07/ninth-circuit-rules-against-marriage/?utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=culturewatch

Most people believe that Republicans are generally more pro-lfe and that Democrats are generally more pro-abortion on the issue of life.  Where do Libertarians stand on abortion?  Here is an interesting short article from Life News covering a debate between two Libertarian leaders each arguing the pro-life and pro-choice sides of the abortion debate from the Libertarian philosophical point of view.  The arguments and observations are quite interesting, but the question of which view is most consistent with the Libertarian worldview remains unclear even if the ultimate conclusion for a pro-life voter is not as difficult.

http://www.lifenews.com/2012/01/26/libertarianism-pro-life-philosophy-pro-abortion-movement/

Homosexual activists are celebrating Indiana becoming the first state in the nation to approve a pro-homosexual specialty automotive license plate.

Hear AFA of Indiana Executive Director Micah Clark on the Peter Heck Show in Kokomo as he discusses the state’s approval of a “gay” License Plate to help fund Homosexual Youth Recruitment Center and High School Clubs in Indiana.

http://pn.b5z.net/i/u/6136888/m/1.18.s6.mp3

Read AFA of Indiana’s News Release regarding the new license plate on ChristianWire: http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/2057218698.html

With Democrats showing up for work on Monday, the short session of the Indiana legislature is underway.  And while much attention will naturally be paid to the Republicans top priority – Right to Work legislation – there are a number of pro-family bills that they will be attempting to guide through into law.

Peter and Micah also talked through the state of the Republican presidential contest and the increasingly toxic environment that persists for families here in the United States.

Listen to the interview HERE!

To learn more about Peter Heck visit him at http://www.peterheck.com

From the January 2012, Indiana Family Voice, AFA-IN Newsletter

“Does pornography cause crime?” Our answer may surprise you. The research is somewhat mixed.  Many studies say “yes,” some (often funded by pro-porn organizations) say “no.”

What the research does show is that pornography usage changes people’s attitudes about sex, for the worse. It is a dangerous subtle addiction from the start, but one whose worst side effects are a progression into which not all users immediately fall.  Yet, nearly all child molestors use pornography regularly and extremely high percentages of convicted rapists used porn prior to their crime. Read more »

From the start of his administration, President George W. Bush attempted to encourage faith in the public square. They tried to welcome the positive, well documented roles religious entities play in terms of public charity, non-profit work, welfare ministry and these entities’ overall public good.  Whether that effort succeeded as originally envisioned before the 9/11 attack affected the administration’s goals is certainly debatable.  In stark contrast, the Obama administration is actively moving to harm the liberty and freedoms of private schools, hospitals, religious charities and non-profits.  Should the government now determine what constitutes religious freedom, religious belief or behavior?  Should this administration, (at a time when private charity is so vitally in demand) work against these longstanding 1st Amendment protections and harm these entities?   The Capitol Research Center has a policy paper which should concern pastors, private school boards, hospital administrators and non-profit leaders everywhere as more and more of their peers wind up in court fighting for the freedoms they always assumed they had, and would keep in America.

http://capitalresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/OT1211.pdf?9d7bd4

Christmas has passed, but it gives us time now to look back at the season and wonder, how did we fall this far from our founding heritage?  What does it say about America today when the traditions and values held by so many people, perhaps majorities, are under attack.   Whose country is it anyway?

Read more here: http://townhall.com/columnists/patbuchanan/2011/12/27/whose_country_is_it_anyway/page/full/

Late last month Michigan, with overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate (35-2) and House (88-18) approved precisely the type of anti-bullying bill to which AFA-Michigan has repeatedly stated it has no objection: an all-inclusive bill that equally protects allstudents from all bullying for all reasons, without segregating students into special “protected class” categories based on behavior.

Gary recently went on WCAR Detroit Radio’s “Bonds and Fisher Show” where the hosts were flabbergasted to hear the truth about Michigan’s new anti-bullying law.  Gary relentlessly explains an issue on which the state’s news media has for years repeatedly failed to simply report the facts.

This is an outstanding explaination of why Bullying Laws must be crafted carefully in order to protect ALL students equally.

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