The John Piper video I recently posted led to significant discussion in various circles. In particular, some took Piper’s concern regarding Sarah Palin’s decision to pursue the Vice-Presidency in spite of having young children (including one with Down Syndrome) as an implicit endorsement of Senator Obama. However, we should recall that Piper has publicly stated that he would never vote for a pro-choice candidate. Today, he ads a few clarifications about his views on women, the Presidency, the role of law, and voting. He closed with this paragraph:

“A person with my view may very well vote for a woman to be President if the man running against her holds views and espouses policies that may, as far as we can see, do more harm to more people than we think would be done by electing a woman President and thus exalting a flawed pattern of womanhood. In my view, defending abortion is far worse sin for a man than serving as Vice President is for a woman.”

Definitely read the whole thing.

Maggie Gallagher is the President of the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy, and President of the National Organization for Marriage. Her most recent book, co-authored with University of Chicago Professor Linda Waite, is The Case for Marriage: Why Married People Are Happier, Healthier, and Better Off Financially. Today, Gallagher published an outstanding essay on the importance of marriage being defined as a male-female union.

Marriage between a man and a woman is rooted in our nature–”in biology, not bigotry”–sex between men and women makes babies, society needs babies, and babies need a father as well as a mother. But the proponents of same-sex marriage want the government to declare in law that there is no difference between same-sex and opposite-sex unions, and anyone who thinks otherwise is promoting bigotry. This will have major ramifications for those who believe in marriage in the traditional sense–especially religious citizens and organizations.

This matter is on the ballot this Tuesday, November 4 in California, Arizona, and Florida. The thrust of Gallaher’s argument:

Marriage as a universal human idea has deep roots in three enduring truths about human beings everywhere: Sex between men and women makes babies, society needs babies, and babies need a father as well as a mother.
Put it this way: When a baby is born, there is bound to be a mother somewhere close by. If we want fathers to be there both for their children and the mothers of their children, biology alone will not take us very far. Clearly we need a cultural mechanism for connecting fathers to the mother-child bond, and for communicating to the next generation of young people in the throes of erotic and romantic dramas that they have a serious obligation to act in ways that will protect the children their bodies make together.

Elsewhere she notes, “Marriage is civilization’s great effort to connect sex, love, money, babies, men and women, mothers and fathers.” She also explains the implications for religious liberties, and why the notion of a homosexual “right” to marriage is not comparable to the civil rights movement. The best way to articulate the latter is to look at interracial marriage bans:

Bans on interracial marriage, in other words, were about keeping two races separate so that one race could oppress the other–and that was bad. But marriage is about bringing together the two great halves of humanity–male and female–in part so that children can know and be known by, love and be loved by, their own mother and fathers–and that is a great and important good.

Read the whole thing.

Rasmussen:

After several weeks of John McCain’s campaign attacks on Barack Obama’s tax plan and idea of “spreading the wealth around”, the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds voters trust McCain more than Obama on taxes, 47% to 45%.
McCain also has gained ground as the candidate to trust on economic issues. Forty-eight percent (48%) now trust the Republican hopeful more than the Democrat while 47% hold the opposite view. This is the first time McCain has led on the issue that has hurt his campaign since September 17. One month ago, Obama held a nine-point advantage when it came to economic issues.

Alex and Brett Harris, co-authors of Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations, are interviewed from 4:57 to 8:10 in this ten-minute video made by PBS Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly as part of a study on young evangelicals and their political leanings (compared to those of their parents).