Our family pastor, Greg Hooper, sent me this blog from Kerby Anderson. It is excellent! Everyone should read it and I wanted you folks to see it. I have checked out the website and blog by Kerby Anderson and it has good stuff. Greg sends these every now and then when there is some really good stuff - like this one.
September 22, 2009
Marriage and Kids
by Kerby Anderson
Click on the image to view the video archive.
A strong marriage is good for kids. Conservative researchers have been saying this for decades. Perhaps the single best book to document this would be, The Case for Marriage: Why Married People are Happier, Healthier, and Better off Financially by Linda Waite and Maggie Gallagher. As the title indicates, married people benefit in so many significant ways. And of course their children benefit as well.
Not only are conservative writers saying this, but liberal ones are now joining the chorus of researchers who say that children do best in an intact, two-parent family. Writing in Time magazine, Caitlin Flanagan details “Why Marriage Matters.” She cites research that shows that: “Few things hamper a child as much as not having a father at home.”
Sociologist Maria Kefalas says: “As a feminist, I didn’t want to believe it.” She has co-authored a seminal book on low-income mothers. Women tell her all the time that they can be both father and mother to their children. She says that is not true. Growing up without a father has a deep psychological effect on the child. “The mom may not need that man,” Kefalas says, “but her children still do.”
This also turns out to be true for families at every income, though the greatest impact is on poor families. Sara McLanahan, a Princeton sociologist, has done ground-breaking research on the effects of divorce on children. She concluded that: “Children who grow up in a household with only one biological parent, are worse off, on average, than children who grow up in a household with both of their biological parents, regardless of the parents’ race or educational background.”
None of this should be too surprising. Some of the initial research on the impact of divorce goes back to the 1970s when Judith Wallerstein was tracking the impact of divorce on families and the children. But it is significant that academics and even newsmagazines like Time are publishing the same conclusion. I commend them for doing so. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Thanks to Those Who Follow and Read
Thank you to all of you who read and follow Greg-arious. It is becoming a real joy to write. I have even begun to think things like, "Oh, I need to put that on my blog." Sometimes I get more angry while I write. Sometimes I feel a sense of catharsis when I write.
I always feel a sense of joy when you comment, when you send an "attaboy" on Facebook, or when you tell me in person that you enjoy reading Greg-arious even when you disagree. All are great. Remember that you are free to do both. This is a discourse area! From my first post, I have said that this will be about communicating clearly.
Thank you for reading. Thank you for the feedback in whatever forum. Please continue to read. Please give more comments and opinions - that's why I'm here. Send the link to a friend. I will send you again very soon
I always feel a sense of joy when you comment, when you send an "attaboy" on Facebook, or when you tell me in person that you enjoy reading Greg-arious even when you disagree. All are great. Remember that you are free to do both. This is a discourse area! From my first post, I have said that this will be about communicating clearly.
Thank you for reading. Thank you for the feedback in whatever forum. Please continue to read. Please give more comments and opinions - that's why I'm here. Send the link to a friend. I will send you again very soon
I'm a Real American Despite What "Washingtonians" Think
There is much written and said about how "Washingtonians", "those inside the beltway", or whatever you want to call them, look down their collective noses at those who are "regular folks", "live in red states", live in "flyover states", etc. These terms are real descriptions of the culture war that exists in today's American society.
There is an excellent commentary referenced on Hugh Hewitt's blog from Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009. You all should read it. It describes in a nutshell what all of us feel. It is what we feel when "Beltway people' laud men such as Ted Kennedy as some kind of great man simply because he was a famous liberal from a liberal state on the East Coast/North. He would never have been elected in the South, and therefore, he would never have been a fixed picture of what is wrong about America. What is right about America is that in places like the South you must still at least pay lip service to personal morality. He was from the same area that elects John Kerry in a perennial farce of an election - despite the fact his son specifically denigrated the folks in America who shop and work at Walmart. They are icon examples of this culture war.
We must realize it exists. We must realize that they have been fighting it for years. We must realize the America and the culture that we know and love will disappear if we do not win this fight.
By the way, I had a great American day yesterday. I took my son to the Razorback game. I wore a new Razorback hat that I loved - purchased at Walmart Mr. Kerry. It matched my Razorback shirt that I bought 2 years ago on sale at Walmart. My son and I had a great time at the game. And all the folks who work at Walmart in the Fayetteville area was very nice to us during our visit.
Beltway folks have a lot to learn from all of us flyover, Walmart shopping, football loving, regular Americans!
There is an excellent commentary referenced on Hugh Hewitt's blog from Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009. You all should read it. It describes in a nutshell what all of us feel. It is what we feel when "Beltway people' laud men such as Ted Kennedy as some kind of great man simply because he was a famous liberal from a liberal state on the East Coast/North. He would never have been elected in the South, and therefore, he would never have been a fixed picture of what is wrong about America. What is right about America is that in places like the South you must still at least pay lip service to personal morality. He was from the same area that elects John Kerry in a perennial farce of an election - despite the fact his son specifically denigrated the folks in America who shop and work at Walmart. They are icon examples of this culture war.
We must realize it exists. We must realize that they have been fighting it for years. We must realize the America and the culture that we know and love will disappear if we do not win this fight.
By the way, I had a great American day yesterday. I took my son to the Razorback game. I wore a new Razorback hat that I loved - purchased at Walmart Mr. Kerry. It matched my Razorback shirt that I bought 2 years ago on sale at Walmart. My son and I had a great time at the game. And all the folks who work at Walmart in the Fayetteville area was very nice to us during our visit.
Beltway folks have a lot to learn from all of us flyover, Walmart shopping, football loving, regular Americans!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Note to the Left: I am not a Racist or a Radical
As is typical, the left wingers, along with help from their news media sycophants, are now trying to do CPR on Obamacare by using their (in their view) electric shock paddles - calling opponents racists. This is how it goes. You might be a racist if ...
you oppose Obamacare
you attend a town hall meeting
attend a rally in Washington
give any outspoken response to anything Obama says, even when he is being blatantly disingenuous.
It is ridiculous and offensive. I am vehemently opposed to both Obama's left wing, socialist agenda and to racism in any form. In the mindset of liberals, being politically and/or socially conservative is tantamount to being a racist. They are dead wrong. Moreover, this position is morally reprehensible. It is arrogant, close-minded, judgmental in a juvenile fashion, and simply wrong. Then to slander normal Americans with this "wolf cry" is irresponsible and morally outrageous.
I am deeply conservative in my political views. Government is and has been out of control. Obama's view of government is way out of character with the clear understanding of our history, the U.S. Constitution, and the mainstream of America. These are political, philosopical, legal, and moral arguments - not racial arguments. I am not a radical and I am not a racist.
As a lawyer, I served on a legal team which represented the city of Memphis, Tennessee and defended the consent decrees which settled significant race discrimination lawsuits against the police and fire departments. Our law firm fought against racism and even for affirmative action efforts to repair the huge amount of damage done in those organizations by institutional racism for decades. I was active in conducting supervisor training and other corporate training seminars related to teaching proper employee management - not political correctness mind you. In those sessions, I regularly and strongly taught about racism and how to keep it out of your employee relations.
As a pastor, I was first in involved in Promise Keepers when I began my ministry in the late 1990s. Racial reconciliation was a major focus of the rally held in Memphis. I served on the leadership team of area pastors that helped organize and put on that rally. We designed and conducted a series of follow-up events in which men worshipped together in different congregations. We met alternatively in traditionally African-American and white or integrated churches, with alternating white and black preachers. They were powerful and deeply spiritual events and to this day remain some of my favorite times in ministry. I led in the prayer time at the conclusion of each event. It was a joy and an honor. As a staff and senior pastor, I have taught against racism as sin from a biblical perspective on numerous occasions and will continue to do so.
I deeply resent everyone of these accusations thrown out for cheap political gain by left-wingers. I do take these accusations personally because I have been hearing them from left-wing politicians my entire life. Immoral men such as U.S. Representative Harold Ford and current U.S. Representative Steve Cohen from Memphis, not to mention national politicians too numerous to name. I take them seriously and so should you. I take them personally because I am exactly the person they are aimed at - a christian, caucasion, male, bible believing, politically and socially consrevative person.
These accusations are slanderous. They are as sinful and shameful as racism itself because it is the flip-side of the same coin. It cheapens the true moral outrage of real racial prejudice. It disrespects in a fundamental and offensive manner the real sacrifices men and women of both colors made to fight racism. It dishonors the progress normal, regular, "fly-over" Americans have made over decades of working towards the goal of seeing people for the "content of their character and not the color of their skin." The person who makes this claim is using race as a tool for political (and in a politician's usage personal) gain. How clearly can it be stated that this behavior is immoral and wrong?
Such behavior slanders the vast majority of men and women in America who are not racists and do not abide racism in any form. That is you and me. It is yet another example that America must fight without tiring the immoral, left-wing politicians, pundits from the "drive by" media, Hollywood, etc. They are the radicals.
you oppose Obamacare
you attend a town hall meeting
attend a rally in Washington
give any outspoken response to anything Obama says, even when he is being blatantly disingenuous.
It is ridiculous and offensive. I am vehemently opposed to both Obama's left wing, socialist agenda and to racism in any form. In the mindset of liberals, being politically and/or socially conservative is tantamount to being a racist. They are dead wrong. Moreover, this position is morally reprehensible. It is arrogant, close-minded, judgmental in a juvenile fashion, and simply wrong. Then to slander normal Americans with this "wolf cry" is irresponsible and morally outrageous.
I am deeply conservative in my political views. Government is and has been out of control. Obama's view of government is way out of character with the clear understanding of our history, the U.S. Constitution, and the mainstream of America. These are political, philosopical, legal, and moral arguments - not racial arguments. I am not a radical and I am not a racist.
As a lawyer, I served on a legal team which represented the city of Memphis, Tennessee and defended the consent decrees which settled significant race discrimination lawsuits against the police and fire departments. Our law firm fought against racism and even for affirmative action efforts to repair the huge amount of damage done in those organizations by institutional racism for decades. I was active in conducting supervisor training and other corporate training seminars related to teaching proper employee management - not political correctness mind you. In those sessions, I regularly and strongly taught about racism and how to keep it out of your employee relations.
As a pastor, I was first in involved in Promise Keepers when I began my ministry in the late 1990s. Racial reconciliation was a major focus of the rally held in Memphis. I served on the leadership team of area pastors that helped organize and put on that rally. We designed and conducted a series of follow-up events in which men worshipped together in different congregations. We met alternatively in traditionally African-American and white or integrated churches, with alternating white and black preachers. They were powerful and deeply spiritual events and to this day remain some of my favorite times in ministry. I led in the prayer time at the conclusion of each event. It was a joy and an honor. As a staff and senior pastor, I have taught against racism as sin from a biblical perspective on numerous occasions and will continue to do so.
I deeply resent everyone of these accusations thrown out for cheap political gain by left-wingers. I do take these accusations personally because I have been hearing them from left-wing politicians my entire life. Immoral men such as U.S. Representative Harold Ford and current U.S. Representative Steve Cohen from Memphis, not to mention national politicians too numerous to name. I take them seriously and so should you. I take them personally because I am exactly the person they are aimed at - a christian, caucasion, male, bible believing, politically and socially consrevative person.
These accusations are slanderous. They are as sinful and shameful as racism itself because it is the flip-side of the same coin. It cheapens the true moral outrage of real racial prejudice. It disrespects in a fundamental and offensive manner the real sacrifices men and women of both colors made to fight racism. It dishonors the progress normal, regular, "fly-over" Americans have made over decades of working towards the goal of seeing people for the "content of their character and not the color of their skin." The person who makes this claim is using race as a tool for political (and in a politician's usage personal) gain. How clearly can it be stated that this behavior is immoral and wrong?
Such behavior slanders the vast majority of men and women in America who are not racists and do not abide racism in any form. That is you and me. It is yet another example that America must fight without tiring the immoral, left-wing politicians, pundits from the "drive by" media, Hollywood, etc. They are the radicals.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Speech Untruthful, Boring, More Lies
Frankly, I simply could not stomach watching all of it. I did however watch a large portion (no way waterboarding criminal activity if that was not) and added clips. There was nothing added to anything, other than more bloviating and the added irritation of Democratic applause, the view of a disgustingly smug Pelosi.
The ability to stand up and tell lies that give new meaning to "bald face" astounds me. There really was nothing new added with this speech. The danger is not that this changed any game at all, but simply the Deomcratic and liberal love for their liberal "groupthink." They are together egging each other on while they are safe from Senator Lincoln/Speaker Pelosi's "un-American" constituents.
There are some excellent analyses collected today at Hugh Hewitt's blog. The link is here in my "following these blogs" section.
While there, check out the artical from September 4, 2009 on the issue of tort reform and why it is left out of the healthcare debate by the Democrats. Obviously, last evening the President ignored his own statement about Republican ideas by throwing tort reform under the bus. Isn't that a tort? Good thing he has so many plaintiff lawyers in his camp.
The ability to stand up and tell lies that give new meaning to "bald face" astounds me. There really was nothing new added with this speech. The danger is not that this changed any game at all, but simply the Deomcratic and liberal love for their liberal "groupthink." They are together egging each other on while they are safe from Senator Lincoln/Speaker Pelosi's "un-American" constituents.
There are some excellent analyses collected today at Hugh Hewitt's blog. The link is here in my "following these blogs" section.
While there, check out the artical from September 4, 2009 on the issue of tort reform and why it is left out of the healthcare debate by the Democrats. Obviously, last evening the President ignored his own statement about Republican ideas by throwing tort reform under the bus. Isn't that a tort? Good thing he has so many plaintiff lawyers in his camp.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Recent Poll Shows Great Discontent with Senator Lincoln
Check out the article on another blog that reports on a poll by a national pollster reflecting a 36% approval rating for Senator Lincoln. In fact, the only political category of folks who do like her apparently are liberals - imagine that! Are you suprised? You should not be.
Check out the blog at Ryanjames.us. The post is from August 26, 2009.
Check out the blog at Ryanjames.us. The post is from August 26, 2009.
Do Not Forget How We Got to this Speech
Tonight it is all about the speech. But remember how we got here. We are at this point because the President tried to use his "rock star" status and strong arm political henchman to force a takeover of the healthcare past America before anyone could understand what was happening. It did not work- fortunately for us.
There is a great analysis of this in a blog at Hugh Hewitt's Townhall blog - the link is easy to find in my "links I follow." Look for the entry from Tuesday entitled "Another Good Question on Healthcare."
There is some excellent information out there, but remember it is up to us to read and be informed. Otherwise, we will be like some who will try to evaluate the President's "performance" tonight in a vacuum and be duped into shying away from the debate. DO not forget how and why we got to tonight.
There is a great analysis of this in a blog at Hugh Hewitt's Townhall blog - the link is easy to find in my "links I follow." Look for the entry from Tuesday entitled "Another Good Question on Healthcare."
There is some excellent information out there, but remember it is up to us to read and be informed. Otherwise, we will be like some who will try to evaluate the President's "performance" tonight in a vacuum and be duped into shying away from the debate. DO not forget how and why we got to tonight.
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