Articles and Videos – Page 684

Three Home Schoolers From Arkansas Named National Merit Scholar Semifinalists

Sep 20, 2021Jerry CoxHome SchoolHome School

Recently the National Merit Scholarships named 141 high school students from Arkansas as National Merit Scholar Semifinalists.

Of those students, three were home schoolers:

Margaret Stiritz from Russellville
Josiah Linderman from Searcy
Christian Wilson from Sherwood

To be named as a National Merit Scholar Semifinalist is a tremendous honor.

Students vying for the National Merit Scholarships apply by taking the PSAT exam.

The Arkansas Department of Education has taken steps this year to increase home schoolers’ access to the PSAT.

Please join us in congratulating these students on their achievement!

Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash

When Parents Aren’t Enough

Sep 20, 2021John StonestreetFamilyParents and Family

*John Stonestreet, Radio Host and Director of the Colson Center*

According to a recent article in the Atlantic, a growing number of parents wish they’d never had kids. Citing surveys of parents from America, Germany, and Poland, the article points to various reasons for the regret, but Polish researcher Konrad Piotrowski says that the overriding cause is feelings of inadequacy. Or, as a researcher from Belgium put it, “They don’t want to be a parent, because they are not able to be the perfect parent.”

Parenting on social media is one source of that pressure, along with the fact that for many families, the state has taken the place of core institutions (namely, churches) that once provided essential support to parents.

Theologian Abraham Kuyper suggested that God created various spheres of culture, like government and family, church and education, with specific roles and responsibilities. When one or more of these roles and responsibilities are either abandoned or bloated, it puts undue pressure on the other spheres.

Individuals and families are feeling this pressure, and unsustainable. It’s also an incredible opportunity for the church to take the lead in a better way.

National Abortion Federation Brags About Helping Texas Woman Travel to Arkansas for Abortion

Sep 20, 2021Jerry CoxAbortionAbortion, Life, Pro-life, Sanctity of Human Life

On Friday the National Abortion Federation posted a tweet bragging about helping a woman travel from Texas to Arkansas for an abortion.

The tweet reads,

This week we talked to a person who had an appt at a clinic in TX at the end of August but couldn’t find childcare for her 4 children so she had to miss it. When she called to reschedule, SB8 was in effect. We covered the cost for her to travel to Arkansas to get an abortion.
— NAF (@NatAbortionFed) September 17, 2021

Thanks to S.B. 8, abortions in Texas generally have stopped. However, women now are travelling to surrounding states like Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Arkansas for abortions.

Last week the Family Council staff spoke with one of the volunteers who prays outside the abortion facilities in Little Rock. Pro-life volunteers say they are seeing more out-of-state license plates at the facilities.

Arkansas enacted a long list of pro-life laws this year, but it’s important for our state to continue passing pro-life measures. Without a pro-life law like the one in Texas, Arkansas quickly could find itself exporting abortions to other states.