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Local perspectives on the Tuesday Presidential Debate, the first (and perhaps only) debate between current Vice President Kamala Harris and the 45th President Donald Trump.
Family Life’s Noon Report today sought insights and a preview from Elmira-based political commentator Steve Coleman.
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“Capital Connection” on Family Life
It’s the “season premiere”, as our roundtable with resident experts about the happenings in Albany and Harrisburg are back
The Capital Connection Crew is back and discussing politics, with just two months to go until the election.
Jason McGuire is the executive director of the New York Families Foundation [NewYorkFamilies.org]
Michael Geer is the founding president of the Pennsylvania Family Institute [PAFamily.org]
Among our topics today, they’re talking about a new initiative to get more people of faith to the polls on November 5.
Now that the summer break is over, Capital Connection resumes our Friday broadcasts during the Family Life Noon Report, on air, on app, and via multiple streaming platforms. We also podcast these conversations at FamilyLife.org/newspodcasts.
Resources, links and info about subjects covered in this podcast:
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A Christian leader, named Chris Leader, is on a 100-day countdown to encourage evangelical Christians to register to vote this fall.
The “separation of church and state” isn’t in the U.S. Constitution, not in that form anyway. But Chris Leader says many people of faith separate themselves from political and social involvement. His effort “Vote Your Faith” is trying to change that.
In this conversation with Family Life’s Greg Gillispie, Leader explains how some Christians are being intimidated, so they avoid voting, politicking, or even speaking out on the issues in the nation and in the local community. He points to Biblical motivation to get registered, plus how a better turnout of Christian voters could quickly solve many of the current problems in our culture.
Vote Your Faith offers inspiration, resources and tools to help improve the ratio of faithful Christians who participate in campaigns and elections. (Some surveys show that 25 to 33 percent of evangelicals stay away from the polls on Election Day).
As of the date of this Family Life Newsmaker Interview (9/05/2024), Chris Leader is about one-third of the way through his 100 Day Countdown to November 5th . He posts a new commentary each day.
Here are links to those (soon to be) 100 commentaries and the Vote Your Faith website.
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Zooming Out to Bigger Views of the Issues surrounding this Election
A Special Edition of the Family Life Noon Report
Labor Day – 9/02/2024
The proverbial “start” of the election season traditionally kicks in Labor Day Weekend. As American culture slides past the holiday and into the school year, voters are within a couple of months of Election Day. While much of the public has been plugged in to this year’s unique campaign, others are just now ready to begin to explore who and what will be on the ballot.
In this half-hour special from Family Life News, we zoom out beyond the daily and weekly twists and turns of the candidates and their campaign. Today, we delve into some of the bigger issues about the election:
Bob Price and Greg Gillispie have extended interviews with these expert guests:
Click/tap each photograph for additional interviews with these guests, plus their biographies, or scroll through additional podcasts at www.FamilyLife.org/newspodcasts.
All Family Life News podcasts are available for listening, subscribing, downloading and sharing. Go to FamilyLife.org or use the Family Life Now app.
An update: In the conversation about IRS regulations about churches which receive charitable contribution status, our guest mentioned the Johnson Amendment (starting at :19:37 in this recording). Now, the National Religious Broadcasters organization is leading other plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit against the IRS, contending those 1950’s-era regulations seek to place unconstitutional restrictions on free speech and freedom of religion. This new article from MinistryWatch.com explores the issues surrounding this complaint from the faith-based groups.
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Churches and Political Actions
A Family Life Interview with Kim Roberts
Many churches and denominations can be labeled as supportive of one side of the political spectrum or the other. Others avoid politics at all costs.
Part of the reason congregations avoid actions and speech related to electoral politics is fear of risking their non-profit status. However, federal law and IRS regulations do not silence Christian entities which want to promote voting and motivate their people into political action.
Family Life News asked reporter Kim Roberts to detail her research into what is and isn’t allowed when churches and campaigns overlap. Christian individuals can always be active with promoting or opposing a candidate, but when it comes to 501(c)3 organizations, they have to stay non-partisan about candidates. Yet churches and other religious ministries are free to speak out on public issues that weigh on the ballot box. There are no IRS consequences for churches to hold candidate forums, carry out voter registration or get-out-the-vote efforts, or offer rides to the polls. In fact, as you will hear in this conversation, the Church throughout history has been vibrant and vocal in the political and social issues around them.
Kim Roberts, a reporter for the Christian journalism organization Ministry Watch, also discusses how local, state and national candidates reach out to churches, in order to influence their members to vote a certain way. Also, political and culture-fight organizations are finding ways to motivate people of faith to elect certain candidates or stand for particular political issues.
Kim Robert’s detailed article “Church and Politics: What’s Allowed?” is available from www.MinistryWatch.com. She also has other reporting on many faith-based events and issues.
Among the resources for congregations and church leaders — and other groups — she mentions in this podcast:
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PA as a swing state, and a narrow slice of undecided voters – 8/26/2024
In this special Family Life Interview, political scientist Mark Caleb Smith analyzes how the two major political parties will need to focus on about 5% of eligible voters, and to push huge turnout among their own base voters — in order to win the presidential race, seats on Capitol Hill, and other November races.
Dr. Smith also gives his insights into Pennsylvania’s role as perhaps the most-signficant among a handful of “swing” states in this election battle, and why Gov. Josh Shapiro was not the running mate on the Democratic ticket.
Dr. Mark Caleb Smith is dean of the College of Arts and Humanities at Cedarville University, where he is also professor of political science.
Cedarville is a Christian university in southwestern Ohio.
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A Family Life Interview: Political Strategies, in Changeable Times — 7/29/2024
A week ago, Erie-based political scientist Jeff Bloodworth offered us analysis of how the Democratic Party is handling a quick conversion of its ticket for the presidential and vice-presidential campaign.
During today’s Family Life Noon Report, Professor Bloodworth surveys options and strategies available to the Republicans, in light of Joe Biden’s withdrawal from seeking reelection. During this conversation, he says the GOP has immediate opportunities to allow the Democrats to publicly try to sort out its winning ticket. The political history professor at Gannon University also zooms in on three Pennsylvanians with prominent roles heading into the 2024 general elections:
Dr. Bloodworth also gives us his current evaluation of how the 2024 results will shape up — two options, subject to potentially more week-by-week swings in political trends as have happened every week so far this summer.
FOR FURTHER LISTENING:
In addition to this interview about likely Republican strategies, a parallel conversation about Democratic strategies [online here] is also available from the “Family Life News” podcasts from the Family Life Now mobile app, most other podcast platforms, and on the NEWS tab at www.FamilyLife.org.
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A Family Life Interview – Local analysis of Democrats’ next steps, post-Biden
In these early days since President Biden released a statement that he was stepping away from his reelection campaign, attention has centered around Vice President Kamala Harris becoming the leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.
We get local analysis on these fast-changing political and governmental developments, with a Family Life Interview with Professor Jeff Bloodworth of Gannon University in Erie. Bloodworth gives his initial reactions to Biden’s withdrawal from the race, historical perspectives on this year’s political machinations, and his observations about steps Democrats should take next to strengthen their electoral prospects.
Among those considerations, recruiting Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro to be the vice-presidential nominee — or perhaps even the new presidential candidate.
Dr. Jeff Bloodworth is one of our commentators for Family Life News on politics and history. He teaches both of those subjects at Gannon University.
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Christian watchdogs Jason McGuire (who leads the New York Families Foundation) and Michael Geer (who leads the Pennsylvania Family Institute) discuss the weighty issues in the news each Friday on Family Life’s “Capital Connection“. Here’s what’s happening this week:
Followup:
Today’s conversation mentioned Chloe Cole, whose body was medically transformed when she was underaged — starting at 12 years old. Her personal dilemmas continued through her teen years, and as a young adult she underwent a “de-transitioning” in order to be a female. She talked about her life and her unique perspective on the so-called “gender-affirming” social movement at her Capitol Hill testimony in 2023. The August 2 Family Life News Feature offered highlights of her first-person presentation, and you can hear, share or download it from FamilyLife.org/newspodcasts.
For more information:
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School Layoffs
Paying Student Teachers
Deadline for School Board Candidates
Dr. Ralph Kerr with the Teaching and Learning Institute has a mission to encourage Christians to get involved with their local public schools. Here’s the latest on this week’s “Issues in Education” report.
