OUR COLUMNISTS (Click on photos for archives) Are Pastors to Blame for the Divorce Epidemic? Commentary by Matt Friedeman We have a divorce epidemic in America today -- and I am wondering how much pastors are to blame. Too few of us pastors take seriously the words "holy matrimony." Where Have All the Christians Gone? Commentary by Joe Murray Christians have retreated from politics to the subculture and divided amongst themselves. Christians have not remained united in this cultural battle, but have resorted to bickering and infighting -- and in the process have divided our churches and diluted our votes. A Forest of One Tree Commentary by Jane Jimenez No issue this year looms larger than marriage and the fight to define what marriage will be for the next generation. Thousands of words are printed daily on the subject, but they fail to speak to the central point of marriage. No Losers Here Commentary by Brad Locke Boise State's upset of Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl vividly illustrated what I, and most people, view as more a nice sentiment than a hard and fast truth: It doesn't really matter if you win. Wanted: More Ministers Like Vincent Fields Commentary by Mark Creech Would that all of America's pastors were like Vincent Fields -- spiritual leaders who provide a moral compass for the nation; clergy who are bold enough to say with the prophets of old, "Thus saith the Lord."

...A former military aide to Bill Clinton believes that President Bush must do more than just send additional troops to Iraq. He feels Bush must allow those troops to "take the gloves off." Retired Air Froce Lt. Colonel Buzz Patterson is chief operating officer for the David Horowitz Freedom Center in Los Angeles. Patterson says he is okay with the president's plan to send an additional 21,000 troops to Iraq, though he believes the number should be twice that. And he says those troops must be allowed to do whatever it takes to win the war against radical Islam. "Take the gloves off of our troops; change the rules of engagement," he advises. "We've had one hand tied behind our back now since the beginning of this war and it's just not working. So it's going to take an overall regrouping on our part -- not just additional troops -- to get this thing won." And to do that, according to Patterson, there needs to be a change in the directives to those actually doing the fighting. "Right now the rules of engagement are so restrictive that our guys have to go through a series of questions in their mind before they pull the trigger," the military veteran explains. "That's why some of our guys are getting killed; that's why some of the bad guys are not getting killed -- and I think we've got to approach this now not with just an increased number of troops, but I think we've got to approach it with a different way of doing business." America must decide, he says, if it is in this battle to win. [Chad Groening]

…More pro-family leaders are calling attention to the first piece of legislation that has been brought before the new session of the U.S. Senate, saying the measure -- if passed -- would limit free speech. Echoing earlier comments by Dr. Don Wildmon of the American Family Association, both Dr. James Dobson (Focus on the Family Action) and Tony Perkins (Family Research Council) contend the provisions of Senate Bill 1 -- legislation intended to address lobbying reform in the wake of the Abramoff scandal -- could directly affect citizens' constitutional rights to "petition their government for a redress of grievances." According to the pro-family leaders, the bill would subject grassroots lobbying efforts targeting elected officials to stringent reporting requirements, and to hefty fines if they choose not to comply. Groups like Focus on the Family Action, American Family Association, and Family Research Council -- and others too numerous to mention -- regularly inform their supporters through e-mail alerts, for example, on pending legislation that affects them. Often, those alerts urge the recipients to contact their elected officials on Capitol Hill and express their approval or disapproval of the legislation. Such "lobbying" could be greatly curtailed if S.B. 1 should become law, say the family advocates. "Clearly, the objective here is to hide what goes on from the public," Dobson said during his radio broadcast on Wednesday, "and to punish and silence those of us who would talk about what the Congress is doing." Perkins suggests the restrictions could border on unconstitutional. "America was founded on the idea that elected officials should be held accountable to and accessible by its constituents," the FRC president says. "It's a right protected by the First Amendment …." S.B. 1 was authored by Senators Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Carl Levin (D-MI). [Jody Brown]

...Plans are in the works for a major meeting for Baptists distancing themselves from conservatives in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). Former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton joined the leaders of about 40 Baptist groups to make the announcement on Tuesday at the Carter Center in Atlanta. The meeting, scheduled for next year, is aimed at improving the public image of Baptists and broadening their agenda on social issues such as poverty, pollution, lack of health care, and global religious and racial conflict. The SBC has become the leading voice against homosexual "marriage" and abortion since coming under conservative control nearly 30 years ago. Carter says the goal is to demonstrate a "common commitment" to the goals of Jesus Christ. He left the convention in 2000, but stresses that Southern Baptists are invited to attend the meeting. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister, says he would be willing to take part in the gathering, provided its focus is on ministry and not politics. Huckabee, who is weighing a possible run for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, quips that "where two or more Baptists are gathered together, there's at least three different opinions," but says he hopes they will find ways to work together to meet people's needs. [AP]

…A Christian media expert is taking Hollywood to task for the way it is treating an up-and-coming child actress. Dr. Ted Baehr, who monitors and reports on the cultural impact of the entertainment industry, blames Dakota Fanning's mother and the actress's agent for accepting a role for the young girl in the movie Hounddog in hopes it could bring her an Oscar -- even though the starring role portrays her as a sexually promiscuous child who is eventually raped. According to Baehr, a controversial "simulated" rape scene in the film, which premiers later this month, reportedly shows the girl's reaction during the violent act. But Baehr feels there is plenty of blame to go around. "Pimps and pedophiles," says the culture analyst, are corrupting the innocence of the almost-13-year-old actress. "This movie sets a new low for Hollywood," he says, "which has been increasingly making sympathetic movies about pedophiles …." He cites such films as Little Children, Kinsey, and The Woodsman. "These politically correct moral degenerates tolerate sexual promiscuity, including pedophilia," he continues. "They show no concern for protecting the innocence of children, much less the sexual purity of teenagers and young adults." In his opinion, he adds, the movie appears to be "a clear case of child abuse." Baehr, who is president of the Christian Film & Television Commission and publisher of MovieGuide.org, is urging all movie and video distributors to reject the movie -- and report the filmmakers to legal authorities. Fanning, who will be 13 in February, played the role of "Fern" in the recent release of Charlotte's Web. [Jody Brown]

…Tennessee pro-lifers are celebrating the fact that a state senator who values the sanctity of life has been elected as Speaker of the Tennessee State Senate, which also holds title of Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee. Ron Ramsey, a Republican senator representing the state's Second District, has consistently led efforts on the Senate floor to pass pro-life legislation, says Tennessee Right to Life. That group's president says Ramsey's ascendancy to the Speaker's post is an "enormous victory" for pro-life Tennesseans. "In the selection of Ron Ramsey to lead the Senate," says Brian Harris, "there is no question that the protection of life becomes priority rather than peripheral." Tennessee Right to Life finds irony in the fact that one of the deciding votes cast in favor of Ramsey came from State Senator Rosalind Kurita, who the group describes as "one of the Senate's staunchest pro-abortion activists." According to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, Ramsey name has been mentioned as a possible gubernatorial candidate for 2010. [Jody Brown]

…An immigration reform activist says he doesn't think it is wise for the Democrats to push forward with an immigration bill guaranteeing amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants. In a recent interview, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer predicted that an immigration bill will be passed this year, now that the Democrats are in control of Congress. President Bush said in November that he would have an easier time getting his "guest worker" plan passed with the Democrats running the show. But Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), says none of the amnesty advocates have studied the long-term effects of such a move. "We simply don't know … how many people are going to wind up getting amnesty," he says -- and there are other concerns, he adds: "How can [the government] possibly do background checks on that many people within their lifetimes; [and] how many relatives are going to follow?" Those are basic questions one would expect to be posed by "responsible" government officials, says Mehlman; but those questions have been neither asked nor answered. According to the FAIR spokesman, lawmakers appear not to care if an immigration reform bill is irresponsible. "It's very easy to pass an amnesty, [then] have the president sign it in a nice Rose Garden ceremony," he suggests; "but what happens after that? How do you plan for all the people who are going to come [into the U.S.] as a result of this?" Nobody in Washington has answered those questions for the American people, Mehlman asserts, adding that, in his opinion, it would "simply irresponsible for them to move forward without considering these things." [Chad Groening]

..A recent analysis of exit polling showed that seven out of ten Hispanic voters went for the Democratic Party during the November 2006 congressional elections. But one of the leaders of the Minuteman movement doesn't think Democrats can expect the same level of success in 2008. Al Garza, national executive director of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, believes Democrats will have a difficult time repeating their 2006 election successes among Hispanic voters if they push forward with an "open borders" agenda. Such "pandering," as he calls it, will not endear either party to Hispanics, claims Garza; politicians from both parties will suffer the consequences if they pursue a policy of appeasement to illegal aliens, he claims. The election analysis concluded that some Hispanics voted Democratic in 2006 in part because of dissatisfaction with President Bush, not necessarily because they were satisfied with the Democrats. Consequently, he says, Democrats should not take their election victory as a sign that they should just throw open the borders. His recommendation? "First, you close down the borders; and secondly, you deplete all the public services," he says, noting that those who are in the country illegally "obviously … have no right to vote," implying that how illegal immigrants might feel about those moves should not be a consideration. Otherwise, Garza contends, both parties "will suffer at the polls, absolutely; ultimately they will all suffer the consequences." [Chad Groening]

...Two prominent Republican senators are pushing legislation intended to rip the bureaucratic red tape out of American education. Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Jim DeMint of South Carolina marked the fifth anniversary of the signing of the No Child Left Behind Act by offering an alternative to the law Congress is getting ready to reauthorize. In a speech at the Heritage Foundation, the two discussed a bill they are sponsoring called "The A+ Act of 2007." Cornyn says the education reform measure will move decision-making power out of Washington and situate it closer to parents and teachers. "It will allow the states to choose the programs that best serve their students' needs," he says, "and it will empower parents and teachers with greater influence in what happens in classrooms across America every day." The Texas senator says it is time to restore to the states and to local communities "the freedom and responsibility to achieve desired results without the Washington-mandated baggage of the status quo." That, he says, "is where the responsibility belongs." According to Cornyn, since the federal government has been involved in K-12 education, it has consistently mandated larger and more intricate bureaucracy in the education system. [Jim Brown]

...The Episcopal bishop of Alaska has been named the Anglican Church of Canada's first national indigenous bishop. Rev. Mark MacDonald will oversee aboriginal parishioners in Canada starting March 1. The new position is not the norm in Anglican tradition -- appointing a bishop who is pastor to a group of people no matter where they live, rather than in a specific geographic area. But at a 2005 national gathering in Manitoba, indigenous Anglicans requested a national indigenous bishop. McDonald, who claims native ancestry on both sides of his family, says there are 220 Native Anglican congregations in Canada. [AP]

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