Good Morning!
Nobel laureate writer and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel once observed:
“One person of integrity can make all the difference.”
We celebrate the diversified team of dedicated law enforcement officials who have liberated the innocent:
FBI Rescues Over 200 Trafficking Victims, Including 84 Children, in ‘Operation Cross Country’
From the Daily Citizen:
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has rescued more than 200 victims of human trafficking as a part of a coordinated law enforcement operation.
According to a press release from the FBI, Operation Cross Country spanned the first two weeks of August, and led to 84 minor victims of child sex trafficking being located, along with 37 children who were missing. In addition, 141 adult victims were rescued. The youngest victim was 11 years old.
The FBI said that agents and investigators working on Operation Cross Country identified or arrested 85 suspects with child sexual exploitation and human trafficking offenses.
The operation involved the FBI, other federal agencies, state and local police, and various social services agencies.
Judge declines request to block Georgia’s fetal heartbeat law that bans some abortions
From JTN:
A Fulton County Superior Court judge declined a request to block Georgia’s fetal heartbeat law that bans most abortions after six weeks.
Georgia lawmakers passed House Bill 481, the Living Infants Fairness Equality Act, in 2019. However, a federal judge initially blocked the law, commonly called the “Heartbeat Bill,” because the U.S. Supreme Court had previously upheld the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling.
After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Georgia officials asked the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse the district court decision, and a federal appeals judge ruled the law could take effect. The move officials prompted a group of pro-abortion doctors and advocates to file a lawsuit in Fulton County Superior Court.
“The court’s decision today declining to block the abortion ban is extremely disappointing and leaves in place a law that severely compromises the quality of women’s healthcare in the state of Georgia,” Andrea Young, executive director of the ACLU of Georgia, said in an announcement. “Ultimately, the power is with Georgia voters to affirm our right to privacy and to make personal, private and intimate decisions without government interference.”
RELATED:
Coach Jim Harbaugh Again Speaks Up for Preborn Babies
From the Daily Citizen:
Coach Jim Harbaugh is, once again, speaking up for preborn babies.
“Someone should not have the right to deliberately choose abortion and end the life of an unborn human,” the coach said.
Coach Harbaugh told Robertson that he has been pro-life for practically his entire life, after first hearing at age five how some societies would leave unwanted, newborn babies outside to die from exposure.
At age nine, Harbaugh said he remembers hearing a reporter talking on the news of a baby who was found after being left in a dumpster.
“At [age] 10, [in] 1973 abortion was legalized in the United States in Roe v. Wade. To me, in my mind, that was no different than a barbaric culture or a baby that was killed at birth.”
The coach added, “Without [the right to life], there are no other rights.”
3. TikTok’s Targeting of Conservative, Pro-life Accounts Fans China Worries
From the Washington Times:
TikTok’s recent silencing of conservative and pro-life voices is raising questions about whether the tech industry’s woke political culture is to blame — or whether the Chinese-owned company is doing the bidding of Beijing.
The latest target: Live Action President and founder Lila Rose, who said this month that her TikTok account was permanently banned without an explanation, mirroring the experiences of The Babylon Bee, Students for Life of America and Media Research Center TV.
The rash of cancellations has contributed to the unease surrounding TikTok, the short-video platform owned by Beijing-based ByteDance that has fueled national security and privacy concerns over China’s potential access to data on the app’s 1 billion users worldwide.
Gordon G. Chang, a distinguished senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute, said the Chinese Communist Party “uses TikTok to spread its propaganda narratives.”
“TikTok’s suspension of several conservative-leaning sites is undoubtedly the result of a decision in the Chinese capital. It cannot be random,”Mr. Chang, author of “The Coming Collapse of China,” told The Washington Times.
4. The Call to Foster Care
From World Magazine:
Foster care agencies from Washington state to Pennsylvania have seen shortages of foster families, sometimes even going back years. In some states, including the Ryels’ home state of Kansas, children entering the system sometimes stay in hotel rooms or even staff members’ offices because there are no other options.
But will the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson, which allows states to regulate abortion, make the problem worse? That’s hard to say.
SOBOLIK: It’s too early to tell. And the reason being is because, you know, we don’t we don’t know yet what decisions women will make.
There aren’t numbers or data that can point to definite increase yet, but some experts also point out that as more children are protected from abortion, some of those children will likely be born into families dealing with difficult situations. Jedd Medefind is president of the Christian Alliance for Orphans, or CAFO.
MEDEFIND: In those cases, in particular, we can expect that many of those children will have a special risk of going into the foster system, of experiencing the abuse, or perhaps the serious neglect that ultimately landed a child in the foster system.
But whether or not more children enter the foster care system, Medefind points out that Christians have a unique calling to help.
MEDEFIND: All throughout history, Christians at their best have been known for caring for children that the world has forgotten. But what we’ve really seen over the past couple of decades is, I think, a resurgence or a reawakening to this historic role in the American church.
5.Biden signs $739 billion Inflation Reduction Act into law, slams GOP for voting against the tax, climate deal
From Fox News:
President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law on Tuesday, saying “the American people won, and the special interests lost” with the new legislation and touting Democratic support while slamming Republicans for not backing the bill.
The president returned to the White House after a week-long vacation in Kiawah Island, South Carolina. Biden was joined by House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer during an event in the State Dining Room at the White House.
“With this law, the American people won, and the special interests lost,” Biden said Tuesday. “This administration began amid a dark time in America … a once-in-a-century pandemic, devastating joblessness, clear and present threats to democracy and the rule of law, doubts about America’s future itself — and yet we’ve not wavered, we’ve not flinched, and we’ve not given in.”
6. Liz Cheney Loses to Trump-Backed Primary Challenger
From National Review:
Trump-backed Harriet Hageman defeated incumbent Representative Liz Cheney (R., Wyo.) in the Republican primary for Wyoming’s only U.S. House seat on Tuesday, according to projections by NBC News and CNN.
Cheney’s vocal criticism of former president Donald Trump — including her vote in favor of his impeachment over the Capitol riot and her role as vice-chair for the House committee investigating January 6 — unsurprisingly did not play well politically in a state that voted 70 percent for the former president in 2020.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Republican challenger Kelly Tshibaka advance to general election (Fox News)
Republican Mike Dunleavy, Democrat Les Gara, Indep. Bill Walker advance for Alaska’s governor race (Fox News)
7. 21 Quotable Quotes from Former Attorney General John Ashcroft’s Visit to Focus on the Family
From the Daily Citizen:
At 80 years of age, former Attorney General John Ashcroft could be forgiven for pursuing a life of ease and comfort.
Only that wouldn’t be his will – or his way.
“It’s great to retire,” he said on Tuesday. “But it’s bad to quit.”
In a wide-ranging meeting with ministry managers here at Focus on the Family, General Ashcroft took questions and shared thoughts on Christian leadership. At once dignified and down-to-earth, the Missourian mixed easily with staff, employing both humor and heart.
“I’m corny,” he explained. “I live my life very simply. If I wrote my life story, I’d use a crayon.”
As the son of a preacher and a strong Christian believer, Ashcroft says he still enjoys meeting and discussing things that matter – which is what brought him to Colorado Springs.
Traveling with his wife of 55 years, Janet, whom he met at the University of Chicago Law School, the former attorney general offered up sage wisdom, perspective and plenty of quotable quotes:
“Unity is not uniformity. Diversity is the friend of unity.”
“I like to focus on God’s purposes rather than man’s motives.
“A police state is not too many police. It’s too many laws.”
“The Word of God is the will of God.
“I once went to a church that handed out two bumper stickers. The first said, ‘It’s Never Too Late to Start Over’ and the second stated, ‘It’s Always Too Early to Quit.’”
“Bring your family into your mission. ‘Family stuff’ is not unrelated to your life mission.”
“I frequently awakened to the sound of my father praying.”
“Don’t train up a child that condemns the past.”
“Stop focusing on America’s imperfections.
“I wish we had a kinder spirit as a nation. But I would be angry if nobody was angry right now.”
“Our culture is in a very, very tender condition.”
8. Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Vogue photo shoot stands in contrast to Amy Coney Barrett’s treatment
From the Washington Examiner:
Vogue drew the ire of Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) for its uneven treatment of the Supreme Court‘s latest female justices, arguing, “The liberal media isn’t happy unless they are attacking conservative women.”
Blackburn’s remarks to the Washington Examiner come as Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was covered in a glowing magazine feature published in Vogue on Tuesday that stands in contrast with the media coverage granted to the justice who was confirmed two years prior, Amy Coney Barrett.
“The liberal media isn’t happy unless they are attacking conservative women, and their latest treatment of Supreme Court Justices is no exception. While Justice Jackson is glamorized by Vogue, Justice Barrett has endured seeing her entire family defamed in headlines. Democrats claim to ‘support women,’ but they really only care about supporting women who submit to their agenda,” said Blackburn, one of 22 members of the Senate Judiciary Committee who interviewed Jackson earlier this year ahead of her high court nomination.
9. God Still Isn’t Dead
Focus on the Family’s Tim Goeglein writes for The Daily Signal:
Religious institutions are one of the few remaining places where people gather to cultivate genuine relationships. People of faith—those who are connected to a religious institution—have a greater understanding of what true community looks like than many others do. That leads to stronger marriages, families, and respect for others.
This means we have a responsibility to the people in our neighborhoods, their workplaces, and their local areas to model that kind of community and care for others. As commentator Ben Shapiro, who is Jewish, has written that “we need more communal events—and that means going out of our way to engage with others.”
Thus, although it is encouraging to see that religious institutions are thriving despite the naysayers, it still is critically important for those of us who practice religious faith to do it outside our church walls as well.
That’s how we will begin to see the civil society that so many of us yearn for—a civility that comes only from those who understand that there is a higher purpose in life than just themselves.
If we live out our faith in this way, God and the institutions he uses will continue to be alive and well in America.
How One Uncool Youth Pastor Reached the World for Christ
From the Gospel Coalition:
I first saw E. G. Von Trutzschler from afar in the fall of 1971. I was a young man of 16 years, and my life in San Diego was all about surfing. One day while driving to the beach with three other guys whose lives were equally about surfing, I offered my best friend a hit on the joint I had lit up. He picked that time to tell me, “I don’t do that anymore. I became a Christian.”
I was stunned. But I couldn’t deny the difference I was seeing in him, and he began to relentlessly invite me to hear the Christian guy who was responsible for his changed life.
I was massively disappointed when my friend pointed to the man walking to the front and whispered to me, “That’s the guy.” Von, as we called him, was physically unimpressive, wearing thick glasses, and old (at least 40). There was nothing cool about him. I told myself he must really be funny, have great connection abilities—something—because his look wasn’t winning any points!
And then he opened his Bible, read a few verses, and started preaching God’s Word with a power and authority that made you sit still and listen. I heard of a God who punishes sin, sends people to hell, and doesn’t back off from his righteous demands. Von talked that way for about 15 minutes. Then he turned his biblical guns on the young men sitting there. (Von’s ability to draw young men was unique—well over half that group was male.)
I’d never had anyone talk to me like that. Von didn’t seem to care that he was obviously turning off a lot of people. The courage he showed was winsome to a kid who had too many adults pandering to him.
The post Daily Headlines | Wednesday August 17, 2022 appeared first on Daily Citizen.
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