Top Stories

Vice Presidential Debate Talks Libya, Taxes, Life, and More

The Vice Presidential candidates squared off last night in Danville, KY, in their one and only debate. The topics were wide-ranging and the exchanges were lively. The candidates verbally jousted over issues such as the terrorist attack in Libya, Obamacare, taxes, and jobs. Towards the end, ABC News Correspondent Martha Raddatz—who moderated the evening—turned the focus towards faith and life. She asked the candidates to explain how their Catholic religion impacts their view of abortion. Congressman Ryan stated his firm belief in supporting the church’s position for life—that is he also is pro life. He told the story of seeing his daughter, for the first time, when she was still in the womb by way of an ultrasound. He said she looked like a bean and that “to this day our nickname for her is ‘bean.’” Vice President Biden said he personally agrees with the church’s pro-life position, but he will not impose that on women who disagree.

Psalm 139 has a lot to say about life, as well.

Nobel Peace Prize to EU

The European Union has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to promote peace and democracy in Europe, in the midst of the union's biggest crisis since its creation in the 1950s.

Firefox Pull Back

If you downloaded the latest version of the web browser Firefox this week, Mozilla says you might want to revert back to the previous version as they work to debug a security issue.

Tigers and Giants Advance

Congratulations to the Tigers and Giants, as they advance to their respective League Championship Series'.  Detroit won their American League Division Series over Oakland, while San Francisco beat Cincinnati in their National League Division Series. The Yankees and Orioles, and the Nationals and Cardinals play today to see who else moves on and who goes home.

Gallup Poll and American Values

Most Americans say the government should not support any particular set of values. This is the first time a majority of Americans—52 percent in this Gallup Poll—reflect the post-modern philosophy that holds no values are better than any others. The poll says 44 percent of Americans support traditional values.

Church Around the World

Religious Freedom Under Attack -- Even in the U.S.

According to a new report by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life, three in every four people in the world are facing high government or social restrictions on religion, up from 70 percent a year earlier. Read the full article here.

Faith

“Nones” And Faith And Election 2012

A new study out this week shows that Protestants are no longer the largest demographic in America, and there’s a growing number of what they call “nones” – people with no religious affiliation at all. A recent survey by the Barna Group labels these folks as skeptics, and according to David Kinnaman, they’re skeptical about everything. So what are the biggest issues to skeptics?  According to the Barna study, it’s health care, the environment and education.  Immigration and employment are on the bottom of the list.

Read more about it HERE. And Hear Dennis’ full interview with David Kinnaman with the link at right.

Family & Relationships

Mini Wheats Recall

You know the little Mini Wheats guys that talk to us in TV commercials? Well, they have apparently been joined in their cereal boxes by some unwanted bits of metal. Kelloggs announced a recall yesterday. Find out more here.

Misc 

Eyeball Washes up on Beach

A grapefruit-sized eyeball has washed up on Pompano Beach, near Ft Lauderdale.  The big blue eyeball was found on Wednesday, leaving scientists baffled about exactly where – and what - it came from. Well here’s one thing I know… a grapefruit-sized eyeball came from something rather large!

Base Jumper Survives 3000 Foot Fall

We’ve all seen he high bar routine that male gymnasts do in the Olympics. But I guess only being 9 or 10 feet up in the air wasn’t enough for BASE jumper Richard Henrickson, so he set up a high bar apparatus on the edge of a cliff for a TV stunt. He started swinging on the bar and… whole contraption collapsed and he went over the edge! He fell over 3000 feet, but miraculously managed to not hit the ciff wall before deploying his BASE jumping parachute. And, course, we all know that falling down a cliff is an automatic 2 point deduction from the judges.

Goat Pedicure

Two pranksters jumped over the fence of a San Diego Petting Zoo and stole a goat. The next day the thieves came back to the zoo and dropped off the goat. He was unharmed, BUT now had a nice, pink, pedicure! The zoo’s owner said the goat is typically very friendly and is a favorite at the zoo. He said he’ll probably not press charges, saying the thieves have probably already paid a steep price. He said, "Goats go to the bathroom a lot. And I can only imagine what their house looks like.”

Features

It's A Girl

You've heard of China's one-child policy. Well, The United Nations estimates that as many as 200 million girls are missing in the world today because of so-called "gendercide." That is, children are killed, aborted, or abandoned, simply because they are girls. Evan Grae Davis is doing something about it as the Director of a new film called "It's A Girl." He spoke with FLR's Steve Tanner about the film and the issue of gendercide.

The film is screening next week in Tucson with more screenings coming all across Family Life Nation, including perhaps, your church or theater. Davis hopes the exposure of the issue through this film will motivate people of faith all around the world to work to eradicate the horrific practice of gendercide.

Find out more about the issue of gendercide, this film, and your opportunity to see it at itsagirlmovie.com. And hear Steve's complete interview with Director Evan Grae Davis via the link at right.

How Much Impact Does Your Faith Have On Your Vote?

It’s the economy.  No, it’s social justice.  No, it’s the sanctity of life.  There is no shortage of opinion as to the top issues this election.  Earlier this year, the Barna Group did some research on those issues – and how much of a role faith plays in it.  Over the course of the next couple of weeks, we’ll look into the specifics of that survey with David Kinnaman of the Barna Group, who tells us they break people down into 5 faith segments: Evangelical Christians, Non-Evangelical Christians, Notional (or cultural) Christians, Non-Christians, and Skeptics (atheists and agnostics). Stay with us over the next several days as we delve deeper into that study from the Barna Group. And you can hear Dennis Hutchinson’s entire interview with David Kinnaman, president of Barna Research, by clicking the link to your right, on this page.

It’s the Economy, Voter!

This week we’ve been looking at the impact of faith in this year’s election with David Kinnaman of the Barna Group, who helped lead a study that breaks people into five different faith segments – but no matter where they land in terms of faith, the economy is still the biggest issue on their minds.  And health care and taxes are important, too, because they also impact economic policy. There are a lot of other factors influencing voters too.  For links and the full interview with David Kinnaman See the links on the right side of this page.

Gendercide All Around the World

“Gendercide” is taking the lives of millions of girls ever year, especially in China and India.  It’s the willful abortion of an unborn child, simply because it’s a girl, and a new documentary is exploring some of those stories. Evan Grae Davis is the Director of the documentary film “It’s A Girl.”  He says the reality of life as a girl in these countries is so devalued that girls are not only aborted, but often simply killed—after they are born—in order to accommodate their preference for boys. Dowry killings are another form of the abuse, whereby if a girl does not have an adequate dowry to present her husband, she is often found not fit to live. And families often prefer boys so they can RECEIVE the dowry from a worthy girl’s family. Screenings are coming to Family Life Nation over the next month or so, including Tucson next week. Find out more with the links to your right.