One of the great movies of all time is the musical 1776. Fictional as some elements are (what true story does not get Hollywoodized?) it is still a lot of fun. Here is its terrific portrayal of Richard Henry Lee accepting the challenge to get Virginia’s General Assembly to agree to sponsor a resolution for Independence.

Here a Lee, there a Lee . . . I’m Richard Henry Lee, an FFV, from the First Colony of VIRGINIA!

Today is the day that John Adams wrote would be our national day. For good reason. Today was the day in 1776 that the Continental Congress passed a certain Virginian’s resolution declaring independence from Great Britain.

Not Thomas Jefferson. Richard Henry Lee. This resolution broke the bonds with the mother country. It was incorporated into the document that stated the reasons for our revolutionary break and our principles upon which the new country would stand — the Declaration of Independence.

The Lee Resolution said:

That these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown; and that all political connexion between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.

The Declaration, including this phrase, was adopted later that day, but not made official until signed by Congress’ president, John Hancock on July 4.

Today, as well as on the 4th, is a time for reflection on this country — its past and the blood spilled and toil to preserve it — and prayer in thanksgiving for the greatness that it has become, as well as for its future.

On behalf of The Family Foundation of Virginia, we wish everyone a safe, fun and patriotic Independence Day Weekend. 

In May, we noticed that none other than Right Wing Watch, the blog of the well known national liberal organization People For The American Way, had commented about us. In fact, it was concerned about the launch of our “Winning Matters” program, which engages pastors to lead their congregations into full participation into the public square.

We noted at the time that we must be doing something right if such a large, national organization and RWW were keeping their eyes on us, a lil’ ol’ state policy organization. So, imagine how we feel now that they’ve mentioned us again (see here), this time ridiculing Bishop Harry Jackson, Jr., for speaking at some of our pastors events around the commonwealth. Wearing this online red badge of courage, we thought we’d report on something they really could chew on.

People For The American Way and other liberal, secular progressives believe, given recent election trends, that the death of Christianity in America is near — or at least we’ve been minimized to the point of a curious, but irrelevant, nuisance. It’s apparent to the collective liberal institutional genius (media, academia, public education, special interest groups, unions, etc.), that many Americans finally are enlightened, no longer hold the traditional values that are the result of one’s faith in God, and that the country has reached the Rubiconof a mother state with no looking back (the flipping of conservative Virginia their prize possession).

Those of us who still dare live in the Stone Age are so few in number that we can be essentially forgotten by society and left to dwell in our caves. Finally the progressives can officially progress . . .  

But maybe not. In Roanoke last week, we hosted a pastors event in connection with the Winning Matters 2009 Campaign. Approximately 40 pastors from around the region filled the room and were encouraged, equipped and empowered to continue influencing their congregations and communities on traditional values issues. (For information on other pastor events around Virginia, click here.)

Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University’s School of Law, reminded them of their personal and congregational rights to speak freely on the issues of the day. Rick Scarborough, of Vision America, challenged them to speak truth to their communities and leaders, as he has done for many years with great success. Family Foundation staff offered practical steps to make their churches more effective voices, including:

» Preaching a citizenship sermon;
» Holding a voter registration drive;
» Distributing General Assembly Report Cards; and
» Distributing voter guides.

Each pastor there decided to stand up and be counted for the cause of Biblical values. They certainly didn’t look dead in their passion to make a difference. Besides, even if they were, secular progressives forget that we serve a God who raises the dead. That alone, should give Right Wing Watch plenty to blog about.

In a letter to his wife Abigail, John Adams told her of the actions of the Continental Congress on July 2, 1776. “The second day of July, 1776 [the actual day the Declaration was adopted], will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward forever.”

As we celebrate Independence Day, as John Adams so aptly predicted, we must not forget nor overlook the intense struggle our Founding Fathers faced. Their Christian faith played a critical role in an era that altered the history of the world.

There is not a better example of this seamless devotion to God and country than Samuel Adams. In his time, Sam was far more famous than his cousin, John. Sam was known as the last of the great Puritans and the father of the Revolution. It was Sam Adams who organized the Sons of Liberty and the Committees of Correspondence. (By the way, if you’re going out to a Tea Party on Saturday, historians believe that the first tea party, the one in Boston, was organized by Samuel Adams. It was that Boston Tea Party that lit the fuse of the American Revolution).

When Sam Adams was elected to that First Continental Congress and traveled to the gathering of leaders in Philadelphia, he thought the Continental Congress needed to begin its work on its knees — in prayer. But when the motion was made to call in a local clergyman to lead the worship, John Jay of New York and Edward Rutledge of South Carolina objected. We are too diverse, they said. We could never agree on whose prayers to say.

Rising to his feet, Sam Adams spoke: “I am no bigot,” he said, “I can hear the prayer of any man of piety and virtue who is a friend to his country.” Deeply moved, the delegates voted to approve Sam Adams’ idea. The next morning, amid reports of the British moving against the people of his hometown of Boston, Sam knelt in prayer with his fellow delegates, as the Rev. Jacob Duch? prayed. “Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me, and fight against them that fight against me.”

That inspired move by Sam Adams did much to overcome suspicions among the delegates. Joseph Reed of Philadelphia called that prayer “a masterly stroke.” Those Founding Fathers could now work together for liberty.

Soon, Sam Adams would sign the Declaration of Independence. Alongside Sam Adams’ name you can find that of Charles Carroll, a delegate from Maryland. Carroll was the richest man in Congress and the only Roman Catholic. Nowhere else on earth in 1776 could you find an Evangelical like Sam Adams pledge “his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor” alongside a Catholic like Charles Carroll. They both risked death by hanging for signing that great Declaration. But they served the King of Kings and had no fear of King George III.

In our efforts to maintain the freedoms won by our forefathers we must be like them — people of action and prayer. We must never sever our personal faith from our public stand for faith, family and freedom.

After we celebrate our independence as a nation on Saturday, I invite you to join thousands of Christians from across the nation on Sunday as they fall on their knees in prayer as a part of FRC’s Call2Fall, declaring their dependence upon God, just like our Founding Fathers.

Yesterday we commented on the Family Life Education reforms passed by the General Assembly last winter and signed into law by Governor Tim Kaine. Of course, there are some out there who, undoubtedly, don’t think these new laws are necessary.

To those, I provide this: The National Education Association, at its national convention in San Diego this week, is considering a resolution offering its full support of homosexual “marriage.”

Educator and conservative activist Jeralee Smith, co-founder of the National Education Association Conservative Educators Caucus,  told OneNewsNow.com today:

. . . that the executive council has approved language that will throw the full support of the NEA behind same-gender marriage, homosexual adoption, and other issues surrounding the homosexual agenda.

Not exactly what most parents expect from teachers. Most expect them to educate their children. Not indoctrinate them. If, in fact, the NEA goes on record supporting this nonsense, we will watch with a very interested eye as to how its Virginia members treat the new FLE marriage curriculum and whether the  administration enforces its implementation as the law now says.

The NEA and its Virginia affiliate, the VEA, are among the biggest roadblocks to public education reform. They and their educrat allies would rather public education completely fail than change; indoctrinate rather than teach. Remember what we wrote yesterday — these FLE improvements are more reforms than laws. Now you know why they were needed.

During the last General Assembly, thanks to your faithful help, we were very proud to see the General Assembly pass, and Governor Tim Kaine sign, two common sense laws concerning Virginia’s Family Life Education curriculum. The bipartisan support for these and other bills that became law proves The Family Foundation’s legislative agenda is practical, common sense and broadly supported by the public.

But just as the Choose Life license plates law is less “law” than practical, problem solving tool, these FLE “laws” are more much needed education reforms — either something that went awry and needed correction, or something that never was and should have always been. 

One of the two FLE reforms that went into effect today adds the value and benefits of marriage to the FLE guidelines for Virginia’s public schools. Shockingly, prior to today, there was no positive reference to marriage in these guidelines! Now, this modest change, suggested by our Marriage Commission, will allow the current and future generations to become educated in, and to take the first step toward, healthy marriages and families. Beginning this fall, local schools that teach Family Life Education should be prepared to talk about the value and benefits of marriage to students. 

The second law in this realm requires local school boards to better notify parents regarding what is being taught in Family Life Education so that parents can make a more informed decision about whether their children should participate. Schools now will be required to send parents a detailed summary of the materials that are to be taught. This not only is a much needed reform of Virginia’s education system, it is a much needed restoration of parental rights.

Armed with these two recently passed Family Life Education reforms, parents should feel empowered come fall to inquire about what is being taught in FLE and ensure that the value and benefits of marriage are taught in their children’s FLE classes. That means accepting the responsibility to insist they are not ignored as idle “laws on the books,” but emphatically used as the much needed improvements they are.

As mentioned in the News Stand today, bills passed by the General Assembly and signed by Governor Tim Kaine earlier this year now are in effect. Many generate headlines, some well out of proportion to their importance. Others are given little attention despite their worthiness. That’s the media, after all, especially during the slowwww weeks of summer. However, there are three new, significant, pro-family laws we take pride in bringing to the public’s attention, all of which The Family Foundation diligently supported during the General Assembly.

The most visible of the three (see recap), and the one that received the most attention in the legislature (see Senate debate video), is the Choose Life license plates law. Techincally, it’s a law. But, really, it’s a great and much needed tool.

It allows for a portion of the proceeds of the sale of these new specialty plates to be distributed to pregnancy resource centers — and they go on sale tomorrow! The pre-sale of the Choose Life plates are by far the most popular of the six new plates created this past General Assembly.

Click here for the Choose Life Virginia Web site for more information. Click here for the DMV site where you can order your plates.

Once 1,000 Choose Life license plate registrations are received, $15 of the $25-plate-fees will be given to qualifying pregnancy resource centers, which offer medical, spiritual and physical support to women and families in crisis pregnancies. This funding is a way to provide tangible support for the mothers and fathers facing unplanned pregnancies.

The Choose Life license plates are a common sense, practical, problem-solving tool to help deal with society’s most devastating problem. It should serve as an opportunity for those who support “choice” to find common ground in supporting women who choose to have their babies.

Happy New Year! You’re asking, “What?” Today, my friends, is Virginia’s New Year’s Day, when the budget for the fiscal year and new laws take effect.

Many headlines, predictably, are about the news laws. Not only are many of the 800-plus new laws mundane, but they overshadow what might be a huge campaign issue: What to do with VITA and Northrop Grumman? The Richmond Times-Dispatch today reports that state government has reversed itself and is calling for NG to do some ’splainin’ and demanded answers and remedies for serious breakdowns in its delivery of IT services to the commonwealth, and threatened legal action. This is becoming a bigger mess by the day, and will only morph from big to gigantic. The reader comments below the article are telling. One wonders if Governor Tim Kaine is aware or is he’s in Miami or Kansas City or Los Angeles working on his night job. 

Other than that, most of the news is out of state: Our neighbors to the north are giving homosexual couples a tax break, while our neighbors to the south are mum on a homosexual rape of a minor black boy by a male Duke professor. It is in stark contrast to the presumption of guilt by its administration toward four lacrosse players a few years ago when they were accused of raping a black woman. Another example of politically correct intolerance and corruption infesting our campuses.

Meanwhile, a black minister and former NFL star says there is “no truth” at all in the pandering speech President Barack Obama gave earlier this week to homosexual activists. Throwing yet another bone to the homosexual lobby, the president is not appealing a $500,000 discrimination ruling in favor of a transsexual against the Library of Congress. After all, it’s only tax money. More of that everywhere. As for the principle of it all. … What?

News:

State accuses Northrop Grumman of breach (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Many new state laws are in effect today (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

New Laws Tackle Land, Gun Rights (Harrisonburg Daily News-Record)

Prohibition On Texting By Drivers Starts in Va. (Washington Post)

National News:

New Md. tax law gives gay couples a break (Washington Times)

Term Saw High Court Move to The Right (Washington Post)

Duke’s homosexual rape case elicits silence (OneNewsNow.com)

‘No truth’ in Obama’s speech before homosexuals (OneNewsNow.com)

Obama White House not appealing transgender ruling (AP/OneNewsNow.com)

It’s official. We now have, thanks to Minnesota courts — which, similar to Iran’s government, refused to investigate that there were more votes than voters in certain precincts — a “comedian” U.S. Senator in the person of know-nothing, erratic, hyper-liberal, Al Franken. Losing to a clown like Franken must be pretty embarrassing to former incumbent Republican Norm Coleman. After all, he was a successful mayor of St. Paul and a distinguished senator.

It got me thinking, for the fun of it, this question:

These three jump out at us. Add your own answer and comment on any other U.S. Senate election result, or any campaign result you think is particularly embarrassing because of how, why or to whom the candidate lost.

I promise, I don’t go looking for scientific and medical advancements from adult stem cells. But they happen so often these days, you can’t avoid them. On the other hand, you can search far and wide and not find one discovery from embryonic stem cell research.  

The latest example: Looking around the FRC Blog today for something else, I found this post from May 20 by David Prentice (the words in bold are a link to a Reuters article):

Scientists at University College-London report that they have engineered adult stem cells to seek out and destroy cancer cells in mice. Mesenchymal stem cells, a type of adult stem cell found in bone marrow and connective tissue, have been shown to be good vectors to carry factors to different parts of the body, as well as seek out cancer cells throughout the body. The research team, led by Dr. Michael Loebinger, altered these adult stem cells to express the cancer-killing protein TRAIL (TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand), which causes the death only of cancer cells. In the lab, the cells were able to find and kill cells from lung, squamous, breast, and cervical cancer. They also injected the cells into mice with breast tumors and showed they were able to safely kill the tumors but leave healthy tissue intact. Results were presented at the American Thoracic Society’s 105th International Conference in San Diego.

Many place hope in the fool’s gold that is embryonic stem cell research or worse — politicians who pander to the extreme-left-abortion-at-all-cost crowd. But any objective, common sense thinking American clearly can see where our scientific goals and priorities should truly be. Any other options are purely political and not based on science or ethics, or else — with all the dozens of dramatic discoveries through adult stem cells — why wouldn’t embryonic stem cell advocates throw in the towel by now?