Gay marriage cannot be an equal rights issue for the simple reason that no one has a right to get married. Marriage is a union freely entered into between two parties. Gay or straight, no one can be married unless another person freely agrees to enter into that union.

Consider all of the single people who are looking for a spouse but are coming up empty-they could claim that their rights were being violated, and could petition the government for redress of their grievance. And the government would have to provide redress - if marriage were a right.

How would that work? In Gideon v. Wainright (as highlighted in the book Gideon's Trumpet by Anthony Lewis), the court ruled that defendants in criminal cases have a right to an attorney. If they lack the means or the methods to have their own attorney, the government will provide one for them. more >>

In the early to late-mid nineteenth century, New York City was at the center of the abolitionist movement to abolish slavery and Christianity was at its epicenter. Today, a new abolitionist movement is emerging in the city, this time to abolish the global trade of women and children for sex, and committed Christians are still centrally involved key players.

Over 150 years ago, New Yorkers were motivated by outspoken religious leaders, religious groups, and organizations involved with the Underground Railroad. The fiery sermons of Brooklyn's anti-slavery preacher Henry Ward Beecher received international attention. His sister, Harriet Beecher Stowe, authored the best-selling novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, which became the longest running play at the time, rousing even those on the Bowery to participate in the abolitionist movement.

Today, there are more slaves than at any time in history – an estimated 27 million worldwide are trafficked for sex, the majority of whom are women; 2 million are children. Every hour 34 children are forced into prostitution in America. more >>

Governor Andrew Cuomo is vigorously pushing to legalize third-trimester abortion in New York. New York already leads the nation in abortion rates; 40 percent of all pregnancies in New York City end in abortion. Worse still, more New York City black babies are aborted than born. Pro-abortion extremists are still not satisfied and are working overtime to deregulate the industry throughout the state. If New Yorkers do not take a stand now, third-trimester abortion will become a reality in our communities, put our daughters' health in jeopardy and rob innocent human beings of their lives just weeks from birth.

Cuomo's abortion expansion bill, the "Women's Equality Act," is anything but protection for women. The key provision of the bill waters down the exception for third-trimester abortion to include the "health" of the mother, which has been broadly interpreted by the courts to encompass age, economic, social, and emotional factors – in other words, justifying any reason to have a late-term abortion. The bill also allows unqualified individuals to preform dangerous third-trimester abortions on vulnerable women. Furthermore, the law does not define what conditions constitute "viability" of the baby. Instead, determining the viability of the baby will be left entirely up to the abortionist -- who need not be a physician.

To understand what late-term abortion entails, one need only look at the practices of the Philadelphia abortionist Dr. Kermit Gosnell, who was convicted killing babies after they were born by snipping their spinal cords. He was also convicted for the involuntary manslaughter of Karnamaya Mongar, who died from the anesthethics necessary to preform an abortion. It was not just the heartless treatment of Mongar and her needless death that horrified Americans. The brutal nature of late-term abortion brought to light in graphic detail horrified Americans. more >>

There is an unfortunate reality sweeping across America. Homosexuals' "civil rights" are considered to be legally greater than a Christian's claim to religious liberty. As a result of exercising their faith, Christians are being punished legally and financially. Christians are called "bigots" for maintaining their convictions and their faith is marginalized, minimized, and mocked because they believe in the biblical view of marriage.

At stake is whether or not Christians will risk losing their livelihood and/or pay hefty fines for holding fast to their religious beliefs.

Consider the plight of bakers, photographers, florists and property owners, who are being sued and ostracized because of their faith. more >>

A Delaware pastor has dubbed a transgender rights bill that recently passed the state Senate "one of the most dangerous" pieces of legislation for Christians and families.

Senate Bill 97, which would expand anti-discrimination legislation to include "gender identity," passed the Delaware Senate Thursday in a vote of 11 yeas to 7 nays.

Rev. Mike Fox, pastor at The Trek Church and a certified marriage coach, testified at the Senate Hearing that took place at Legislative Hall in Dover in opposition to the proposed legislation. more >>

I recently returned from the World Congress of Families in Sydney, Australia, where my colleague Dr. Patrick Fagan, director of Family Research Council's Marriage and Religion Research Institute (MARRI), was a keynote speaker. Australia has been facing many of the same struggles over social issues as the United States, including an effort by homosexual activists to redefine marriage – and now, their own contribution to the debate over the well-being of children with homosexual parents.

Australian media sources, and pro-homosexual American bloggers, have just hit the web with breathless stories about an "interim report" on a new study of children with homosexual parents – "The Australian Study of Child Health in Same-Sex Families (ACHESS)." The day the stories came out, the actual "interim report" was not yet available online. Now it is, and even "interim" barely describes it – it consists of a single page in PDF format, with three columns: Introduction, Highlights, and Summary.

Aside from some background, information on the sample, and the highly generalized summary, the "interim report" included only one short paragraph of actual data: "On measures of general health and family cohesion children aged 5 to 17 years with same-sex attracted parents showed a significantly better score when compared to Australian children from all backgrounds and family contexts. For all other health measures there were no statistically significant differences." more >>