The Daily Citizen Morning Headlines

Thursday November 2, 2023 Good Morning! “If I could do anything over, I'd have spent more time with my children,” said the golfer Lee Trevino. “I would have taken more quality time with them, for sure.” New research confirms that it’s marriage and parenthood that give purpose, significance and satisfaction to our lives: 1. If You’re a Parent with Children in the Home, These are the ‘Golden Years’ From the Daily Citizen: Writing for the Institute for Family Studies on Wednesday, Thomas O’Rourke highlights key findings from the American Time Use Survey — a measurement tool used by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that calculates how people spend their time across the day. O’Rourke, who is a policy researcher and writer studying social capital, economic mobility and anti-poverty policy, sets his sights on how much free time single people and married people have available to spend. Not surprisingly, single people have more time — one hour and ten minutes, on average. The survey also found that married people spend 90 minutes of their day caring for others compared to single people who spend just 7 minutes. How they spend their respective free time is also revealing. Those who are single and childless spend 63% alone while those who are married spend just 37% on solo activities. Apart from leisure availability, the data also reveals that married people spend more time on household chores and less time socializing and relaxing. Yet — and here is the kicker — despite a significant daily disparity in available free time, married people are almost twice as happy as single childless Americans. It seems the carefree lifestyle so regularly touted and championed in popular culture as a pathway and elixir to endless mirth and merriment is a myth. Mothers and fathers will resonate with these findings — or perhaps be reminded that even on challenging and exhausting days, pouring into a spouse and rearing children provides men and women with an incredible dose of meaning, purpose and satisfaction. 2. Ohio's Ballot Measure Is Personal in Protecting Life Focus on the Family’s Zachary Mettler writes for Townhall: The fate of Ohio’s Issue 1 on the ballot this November, titled the “Ohio Right to Make Reproductive Decisions Including Abortion,” is as evil as it is barbaric. If approved, it would permit the killing of preborn babies up until the moment of birth. And it’s not just a chilling law being considered in the Buckeye State. Other states are eyeing measures that would allow for the killing of preborn babies who are older and more developed than I was at birth — at just 29 weeks. When I was born 11 weeks premature, I weighed just 2 pounds, 15 ounces. Had a measure like the one Ohioans are voting on been in place … That’s right. I would not be alive to complete the previous sentence. Thankfully, after my mom arrived at the hospital, the doctors delayed my birth for two days to allow my lungs time to develop. Praise God for the miracle of modern medicine. Thankfully, I came out breathing on my own. Like many babies, I lost weight after I was born and soon dropped to just 2 pounds, 9 ounces. I needed a feeding tube because babies born so early don’t yet know how to suck. But after spending five weeks in the hospital, my parents brought me home happy and healthy — and still six weeks shy of my due date. Now, it’s a well-established medical fact that life begins at conception. But there’s something particularly pernicious about killing preborn babies who can survive outside their mother’s womb. These babies are young, small, and helpless — but fully and truly alive. If I could move, breath, blink, cry and kick when I was born at 29 weeks, surely babies who are older — babies who are 30 weeks, 32 weeks or 34 weeks old — deserve a chance at life too. One’s location does not determine their worth or their humanity. 3. The fight against abortion pill reversal World Magazine reports that “Pro-abortion states this year are pushing back on organizations that have helped women like Foley access abortion pill reversal treatment, claiming it is experimental and unsafe for women. A Kansas judge ruled on Monday that the state cannot enforce its new law requiring abortionists to tell patients about the possibility of reversing the effects of an abortion pill when prescribing drugs for a chemical abortion. In California, the government is suing groups that provide abortion pill reversal. Meanwhile, Colorado’s legislature this spring targeted abortion pill reversal through a law later made unenforceable by a recent court ruling. To pro-lifers, that ruling in Colorado signals hope for the future of the potentially life-saving treatment.” 4. Islamophobia Is a Phony Diagnosis Writing in today's Wall Street Journal, Matthew Hennessey cautions political cynics are trying to make normal human reactions to terror seem crazy or bigoted. “Islamophobia isn’t real,” he writes. “I defy anyone to prove its existence. Same goes for homophobia, transphobia and xenophobia. These political 'phobias' are all fictions. They are cynically potent neologisms designed to equate conservatism with mental illness. “Racism exists. So do sexism, alcoholism and many other bad isms. People can be cruel to each other — and to themselves — in classifiable ways. We have flaws rooted in humanity’s fallen nature that we should all try to overcome. But the phobias that politicians and journalists bandy about are phony. They exist only to stigmatize ordinary political thought and intimidate people into silence.” 5. The Ideology Behind Virulent Opposition to Israel (and the U.S.) on College Campuses Dr. Al Mohler opines: Let's look at what's going on right now on so many college campuses. Let's look at the intellectual left turning on Israel, and let's just answer the question, why could this be so right now? Because something had to happen a long time ago in order for these ideas to have germinated for so long only to leap onto the headlines right now. So we need to do something of an intellectual, say, examination; not an autopsy because these ideologies are very much alive, but still an understanding of what we're dealing with here. As you are looking at the left's opposition to Israel, understand that a part of this is just open antisemitism, but that's been hard to pull off in Western cultures for a long time. Instead, you have at least for recent decades, had much anti-Semitism redirected into what was claimed to be an anti-Israelism, you might say, against the political order in Israel, against in some cases Israel's existence as a state. And thus, even though there was some pretty clear anti-Semitism in the background, people could say, "No, this is a political argument I'm making." More from The Briefing. 6. Rand Paul Grills DHS, FBI Chiefs on Social-Media Censorship “Senator Rand Paul (R., Ky.) grilled DHS secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and FBI director Christopher Wray on whether their respective agencies are still colluding with social-media companies to censor Americans,” National Review reports. “The two officials struggled in answering the senator’s questions during the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on Tuesday, particularly those questions related to the censorship of speech related to the Covid pandemic and vaccine efficacy.” 7. The War on Poverty at Fifty: How to Craft Policy to Help America’s Poor “When President Lyndon B. Johnson delivered his famous ‘War on Poverty’ speech, his purpose was ‘not only to relieve the symptom of poverty, but to cure it and, above all, to prevent it,’” Rachel Sheffield writes in the Public Discourse. “Government may be able to provide material assistance, but it has failed to address the deeper causes of poverty. Worse, it has discouraged the most important defenses against poverty in America — work and marriage. “A half-century after Johnson’s call to arms, it is time to redirect the response. Welfare programs should be reformed to restore those in need to self-sufficiency, rather than locking them in dependence on government.” 8. A Georgia restaurant charges a $50 fee for 'adults unable to parent' unruly children USA Today reports that parents who fail to manage their children face a $50 surcharge at the Toccoa Riverside Restaurant in Georgia. "If you have children, absolutely avoid this place at all costs. Holy moly — the most disrespectful owner made a huge scene in front of the entire restaurant because our children were 'running through the restaurant' — they were down by the river ... we were told we need to 'go to Burger King and Walmart' and that we were bad parents," one review said. 9. The Many Layers of Coach Bobby Knight Former NBA player Kent Benson reportedly attempted to witness to Coach Bobby Knight about the Lord. Was he successful? Only the Lord now knows: "I never thought Christians were hypocrites," Knight said. "I think we can all be something in our own way. I may do it a little bit differently than Benson does. I've never advertised what I am. What I am, I don't need to go around telling people I'm a Christian or I'm this or I'm that. I know what I am and I know how good I've been and I know when I've screwed up a little bit, too. But, that's a very personal thing with me. So all you Christians just go ahead and keep advertising." For More: Bobby Knight, Basketball Coach Known for Trophies and Tantrums, Dies at 83 (The New York Times) 10. Matthew Perry, Chandler Bing and a Culture’s Timeless Craving for Community From the Daily Citizen: What Friends success confirms — and the reaction following Perry’s death highlights — is the need for community in life. Married, single, widowed, or divorced, most humans thrive best when part of community. That might be a church-related group (perhaps a home Bible study), a ladies’ coffee klatch on a weekday afternoon, a men’s barber shop bull session on Saturday mornings, an athletic team seeking a championship, or something far more serious, such as first-responders always at the ready, or a military unit in time of war. Jesus lived in community with twelve other men along a joint mission, although they failed to understand the true nature of the endeavor. One of His friends eventually betrayed Him, another denied Him, and the rest deserted Him. Let’s all hope we don’t have friends like that. But we know they all — well, all but one — came back around. Friends went off the air in 2004, but it’s never really gone away, reaching new generations in syndication on cable and pay television, often with as many as six episodes shown back-to-back on weekday afternoons or evenings. According to a report I once read, today’s viewers see Friends as anachronistic, noticing that there are no smart phones, ubiquitous sweat pants, or Uber rides to and from work. The six actually sat and talked while sipping their coffee, rather than staring at small devices neither they nor we could have imagined in 1994. Perhaps real life was better then, we actually talked and enjoyed one another’s company, sans distracting devices. We hope actor Matthew Perry found true peace with the Savior before his untimely death last weekend. But we know that thanks to reruns, Chandler Bing will never die. Focus on the Family 8605 Explorer Dr., Colorado Springs, CO 80920 1-800-A-FAMILY (232-6459) or if you do not want to receive this e-newsletter or any future emails from Focus on the Family. © 2023 Focus on the Family. Source Code: 855206