You know that feeling after you’ve read a really great book? The one that makes you want to tell everyone to read it, too? Sometimes you buy it for others, and pass it along. You want everyone to absorb the content and take as much away from it as you did. Well, that’s how I feel about the band for King & Country, and it’s for more than just their unique talent.

Joel and Luke Smallbone aren’t just a couple of brothers whose music is topping the charts; they are men whose morals and convictions lead them to influence the culture with an encouraging message. In a society that panders to those who sell out for their shot at the big leagues, these men are becoming successful while espousing a truth that women and men in this generation desperately need.

Through their “Penny Culture” campaign, Joel and Luke are addressing the modern worldview head on by posing a question: “Can you put a dollar amount on your worth?”  Of course not, because you’re “priceless,” right?  And yet, “actions speak louder than words.” And if we say we’re priceless, but live according to the dictates of a culture saturated with promiscuous, brazen, and indifferent people, we wind up selling our priceless selves for little more than a penny.

We see it every day. From movies to billboards, the reoccurring theme is the same: sex, and not sex that costs you something, like a lifetime commitment.  We’re talking about plain, old, gratuitous, “I didn’t even ask her what her name was” sex.

We live in a world that encourages women to “liberate” themselves, but our view of “liberation” is skewed. Cultural feminism defines the “problem” in terms of men who want to oppress women by lowering their self-worth — getting the price as cheap as they can.  But instead of empowering women to demand the highest price (love, lifelong commitment, respect, honor, etc.), the culture surrounds them with hypersexualized imagery and tells them that the road to empowerment lies in selling themselves short.  In other words, it’s like buying filet mignon at ground beef prices while convincing the beef that it was empowered to set the price.

Wearing a penny on a necklace, Joel and Luke reject the culture’s view of women. “How about we start a revolution of people that treat the opposite sex with respect & honor?” they ask. They remind the teens and college folk who attend their concerts that every man and woman is priceless, regardless of the low price the culture would lay on them.

And I think that’s refreshing. I’ve grown up in this “Penny Culture,” and it’s easy to fall prey to the lifestyle it produces. Those with graceful, sophisticated, old-fashion values — the real class acts of our generation — are hard to find, while the “progressive modernizers” of our society are frighteningly front and center, clawing their way to the top in order to be the ill-fitted role models for our youth.

The world wants you to settle — to sell yourself for infinitely less than you’re worth. Think about it long and hard. There has to be more. You’re worth more, aren’t you? (If you just read this and said, “No,” then think again. That’s the culture talking.)

We need more men like Joel and Luke, real men who will take a stand against the Penny Culture and loudly proclaim that the lifestyle it pushes is wrong, and that you — yes, you — are worth more than a mere penny. Joel says, “At every fK&C performance, we take a moment to pass on our position regarding a woman’s incredible worth — as well as call out us men! It’s time for us to step up and stand out, and treat you ladies as you deserve to be treated. Chivalry is not dead!”

Here, here! Chivalry certainly isn’t dead! Ladies, the men you read about in books — the ones who will fight for you because you’re worth fighting for — exist! Don’t give up, and don’t settle for less than you’re worth.

“If we could leave you ladies with one thought,” said Joel, “it’d be this: Don’t let any man disrespect you in relationships. So often society suggests for women to talk, dress, and act like you’re worth nothing more than a penny, but it’s our belief that there’s a God who says you’re priceless!”

Well said, Joel.

Joel Smallbone on the Penny Culture

for King & Country: Let Your Love Be the Proof

So you did it again … Mouthed off to the ol’ boyfriend and “POW!!!”  Now you’ve got a great big shiner to show for it.  You roll your eyes — well, at least the one that isn’t black and blue — and wonder how you’re going to answer all those uncomfortable questions.

Enter Planned Parenthood, who recently posted a video on their Facebook page that instructs teenage girls on how to hide the evidence of abuse with makeup.  After all, why report the scumbag?  You deserved it, didn’t you?  It’s not your boyfriend’s fault that he’s a pathetic excuse for a man who can only win an argument with his fists.  This isn’t a problem for police.  No.  This is a job for Covergirl.

Actually, the video is from a legitimate organization in the U.K. that’s fighting domestic violence.  But Planned Parenthood — ever the friend of pimps, statutory rapists, and sex traffickers — has turned it on its head, posting the video with the simple headline: “How to look your best the morning after.”

Sick and twisted.  Defund Planned Parenthood now.

Today’s guest blogger is Christian Shelby, a volunteer with Concerned Women for America.

Warning: Pro-life advocates, or anyone who possess an ounce of compassion, will find the content of this blog post difficult to stomach.

It’s horrifying enough to have innocent children aborted inside their mother’s womb. But now we’ve learned United Kingdom National Health Service (NHS) hospitals have employed a post-birth abortion procedure called “death pathways” to dispose of sick, disabled, and simply unwanted newborn babies, as well as elderly patients, according to The UK Daily Mail.

To spare you the gruesome details, I will simply tell you that a newborn whose parents choose to place their child on a “death pathway” is essentially starved and dehydrated to death, either in neonatal units, a hospice center, or a family home. The starvation process typically lasts ten days before the child dies.

An anonymous U.K. doctor, who felt remorse after supervising over ten newborn deaths, blew the whistle on “death pathway’ procedures in the British Medical Journal, writing:

“Like other parents in this predicament, they are now plagued with a terrible type of wishful thinking that they could never have imagined. They wish for their child to die quickly once the feeding and fluids are stopped.

“They [parents] wish for their child to die quickly once the feeding and fluids are stopped. They wish for pneumonia. They wish for no suffering. They wish for no visible changes to their precious baby.”

“I know, as they cannot, the unique horror of witnessing a child become smaller and shrunken, as the only route out of a life that has become excruciating to the patient or to the parents who love their baby.”

U.K. Ministers have dubbed death pathways “controversial” and are launching an investigation. But we know there is nothing controversial about this homicidal scheme. “Death pathway” is another term for “infanticide” or “euthanasia.”  Folks, nationalized health care and government-sanctioned abortion have a ghastly dark side.  While Americans choose to ignore it, we are watching it play out in Great Britain.  And the bitter irony of a world that celebrates Kate Middleton’s pregnancy while quietly allowing the brutal, barbaric starvation and dehydration of children is not lost on those of us who fight daily against such atrocities.

In the United States, on January 25, 2013, Americans will gather in our nation’s capital to commemorate the 40^th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.  Forty years of innocent bloodshed — nearly 55 million lives — is 40 years too many.

Protect innocent life. Join with Concerned Women for America (CWA) this January to remember Roe and recommit to life.

Hey baby, you’re cool.  You’re hip.  And you’ve come a long way.  You deserve … a Grande.  At least, that’s what Starbucks would have us believe.  The liberal little coffee roasters have introduced their “Geisha” blend, and at seven bucks a cup, it is the thing to have in your hand as we hit the gas and drive straight for the fiscal cliff like Thelma and Louise.

Seriously, I can’t imagine why, during an economic downturn of epic proportions, Starbucks would float a new coffee blend that you had to pay for with your firstborn child.  My taste buds are just as discriminating as the next customer’s, although Starbucks pointedly avoids using that term.  We mustn’t discriminate.  That’s bad, bad, bad … and so very old, white, and Republican.  No, Starbucks has “loyal reserve customers who are interested in any opportunity to try something as rare and exquisite as the Geisha varietal.”  Well lull me into submission; that was so slick I almost reached for my credit card.

But I can’t.  Not at seven-dollars per Grande.  Nope.  Something must be done about this.  So let’s put on our thinking caps.  (Cue the Jeopardy music.)

A-ha!  I have it!  We’ll get it written into ObamaCare!  Don’t laugh yet.  If we can squeeze an HHS Mandate for birth control out of ObamaCare, why can’t we get one for coffee?  And now that the elections are over, we might even be able to get Sandra Fluke as our poster girl!

Follow the logic.  As a cash-strapped law student, Sandra Fluke already can’t afford Walmart’s nine-dollar-per-month contraception prices.  Hence the HHS Mandate.  Well, if she can’t afford nine dollars for birth control, then she certainly can’t afford seven dollars for a cup of coffee.

And let’s be frank, as a law student, she needs coffee more than she needs birth control.  Copious amounts of java are needed to keep a law student awake all night cramming for those finals.  If Fluke can’t get her coffee, she can’t score well on her exams.  And would you be able to sleep at night knowing that you deprived her of the ability to do her best in school?  I thought not.

So let’s rally the troops and get Sandra to get us some free, overly expensive coffee.  She may not be a slut or a prostitute, but in this case, maybe she wouldn’t mind being our Geisha girl.

Today’s guest blogger is Christian Shelby, a volunteer with Concerned Women for America from Virginia.

As the United States is about to go over its own fiscal cliff, EU nations are facing up to the realities of big government and bad policies. Carolyn Moynihan, deputy editor of MercatorNet, wrote recently about how Italians are turning to home for support in an increasingly inhospitable public culture.  In fact, two Italian market research organizations — Coldiretti and Censis — report that one-third of adult Italians (more than 60% of young adults — up from only 48% in 1990) live back home with their parents.  This sad development is especially affecting the 18- to 29-year-olds who haven’t been able to find work or can’t afford their own place on the low salaries of available jobs.

The Italians refer to the generation that had moved in with mom and dad as “big babies” or “mama’s boys” because they are not leaving the nest. The young adults, though, explain that they wish they could have their own places and be independent, but the unemployment rate for 20-somethings in Italy hovers at over 30 percent, and many of those with jobs are settling for part-time or low-pay jobs they wouldn’t have even considered in better economic times. Even well-trained, well-educated young adults are struggling to find good-paying jobs. One survey reported that fully a quarter of 30 to 40-year-olds in Italy still live with their parents. Sadly, such are the realities during a financial crisis where unemployment is rising and prices for basic commodities like food and fuel are too high.

Of course, Italy is not alone in facing the consequences of the fiscal crisis and bureaucratic expansion. A harsh reality is that “re-distributing the wealth” doesn’t stretch money very far.

The silver lining to the fiscal crisis is that hard financial times strengthen the family as a place of solace and succor to provide balance to the difficult times and financial crises. As the public aspects of people’s lives become unbearable, they retreat to their private and personal space — home and family — where they find relief from the stress.  In fact, the Coldiretti and Censis report was titled: “The economic crisis – living together, living better,” a title that recognizes the benefits of a family haven when there is no place else to turn, a place of solidarity and support, and a place of refuge where family members can repair and renew their spirits before they return to the demanding challenges they face in their professional and/or public lives.

Researchers are learning that the concepts of “home and family” have grown musty from misuse and lack of appreciation in the fast-track marketplace.  In New Zealand, the University of Waikato is sponsoring an upcoming conference to explore the “public-private nexus” of “home and identity.”  They are working with foundations to explore ways to bring academics and public policy experts into the discussion about the importance of home.

Other researchers are acknowledging the lack of understanding about the pivotal role of home.  Others decry the attention to “home” without a corresponding acknowledgement of the role of “family” in strengthening nations.  Still others want researchers and policymakers to appreciate the role and contribution of men to home and family.

As I’ve written in my latest book, Marriage Matters, the married mom-and-dad family — in addition to being important for the well-being of men and women and, especially, children — is the foundation of societies and nations.  Marriage has been recognized as a special institution across cultures and throughout history.  Perhaps these desperate economic times will remind us of the importance of marriage and family.

Ovulation is not a sexy topic.  But sometimes it’s an unavoidable discussion.  Especially when CNN publishes a study alleging that women tend to support President Barack Obama when they ovulate because — and yes, I quote — “they feel sexier.”

Like wildfire, this study spread across social media.  More than 2,100 mentions were posted on Twitter alone, according to The Daily Caller.  None of them were nice.  I can tell you that women don’t respond pleasantly to the kind of blatant sexism entrenched in CNN’s article.

“As if my ability to make decisions depends on my cycle!” tweeted one female reader.  Another woman wrote, “I think I am done with CNN.”

CNN responded to women’s outrage by deleting the study.  You can still visit the page, but in place of the study is a statement by CNN editors saying, “After further review it was determined that some elements of the story did not meet the editorial standards of CNN.  We thank you for your comments and feedback.”  No apology, no remorse, nothing.  But can we expect much more from the biased, Left-leaning news outlet?  Of course not!

This was just another bid by an Obama-supporting lapdog to secure women’s vote based on our ovaries.

In the interest of real women, Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee conducted its own women’s study two weeks ago.  The number one issue was not abortion and birth control.  In fact, those issues were at the bottom of women’s laundry list of concerns.  Top issues important to women were economic growth, jobs, and the national debt.  Women of this country are looking for a leader who will lift us out of our current economic turmoil and keep us safe abroad.  Women are looking for leadership that we currently don’t have.

Political pundits are going to be shocked come November 6, when women vote with their lady smarts, not their lady parts.

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Update: The misogynistic Obama Campaign has released an obnoxious, double-entendre of a Web ad, featuring a woman who looks and acts like an overly immature, tattooed twelve-year-old.  Once again, Obama is reducing women to — do we have to say it again? — “lady parts.”   Well, the pimply faced adolescents over at Obama HQ need to grow up and realize that we think with our brains and act with our hearts — again, “Lady Smarts, Not Lady Parts.”  Obama’s good ‘ol boys may have their minds in the gutter, but our minds are on our pocketbooks.  In every sense of the phrase, “It’s the economy, stupid.”  Did they miss the headline about the “gender gap” between Obama and Romney disappearing?  Maybe it’s because we’re not  a bunch of cheap floozies, easily bought with condoms and free pills.

According to poll results tweeted by CNBC last night, 56 percent of viewers herald Paul Ryan as the winner of the first and only vice-presidential debate, and only 36 percent determined Biden the champ.  Yet, due to Vice President Biden’s rousing display of eccentric claims, this morning, mainstream media outlets are calling the debate a draw.

In truth, the winner of this debate depends on who you ask.

Women took note that in this debate a wide-range of issues important to us were brought to the table.  After last week’s presidential debate failed to focus on abortion or religious liberty, it was heartening to hear both Biden and Ryan respect the sanctity of life.  But it was Ryan who came across as steadfast on faith and the need to protect life, “Our faith informs us in everything we do.  My faith informs me about how to take care of the vulnerable, of how to make sure that people have a chance in life.  Now, you want to ask basically why I’m pro-life?  It’s not
simply because of my Catholic faith.  That’s a factor, of course.  But it’s also because of reason and science. … I believe life begins at conception.”

But the major sticking point for women in this debate had more to do with style than actual substance.  Vice President Biden’s unprecedented strategy called for 82 interruptions, eye-rolling, and laughing during serious discussion of the War Against Terror.  Not the type of behavior voters found flattering to America’s second in command.

Women were unconvinced by Biden’s over-the-top antics.  All of the women on a CNN post-debate panel criticized Biden’s rude behavior and condescending tone.  Though Ryan remained composed, he was not short of quips and snarky remarks, going so far as to say, “I know you are under duress to make up for lost ground, but I think people would be better served if we don’t interrupt each other.”

Undecided voters, too, found Biden’s tone unprofessional.  Every undecided women participating in a CNN focus-group panel criticized Biden for his distasteful manner.  One undecided woman commented, “I thought Paul Ryan … was trying to educate us, teach us, until Joe Biden would bumble in and tried to distort things by overriding him, talking, and being a buffoon in general.”  Another undecided North Carolina voter, Nella Stevens, commented, “I’m not totally decided, but the vice presidential debate has swayed me toward Romney/Ryan.”  When Stevens was asked how she graded the candidates, she answered, “C– for Biden , if for no other reason than rudeness and aggression; B+ for Ryan for poise, articulate answers, calmness and overall good sportsmanship.”

Overall, many believe Ryan could have aggressively tackled Biden’s points with potency, but his restrained attitude showed a humility and respect not normally seen in politicians.  Ryan’s strategy was simple.  Knowing his off-the-cuff attitude, Ryan let the truth shine through facts and statistics and sit back and allowed Biden to self-destruct.  American women and undecided voters needed to see steady, consistent leadership.

Apparently, those who saw the debate via split screen opined that Ryan won, while those who watched the debate without a split screen labeled the debate a draw.

Visiting New York’s National September 11 Memorial a few weeks ago, I was enormously touched by one small but radically bold design choice by the memorial committee.  Inscribed next to the name of each of the eleven pregnant mothers who died in the attacks on the World Trade Center was the phrase, “and her unborn child.”

Since the memorial’s mission is to “reaffirm respect for life,” this decision is entirely appropriate.  Making such a beautiful statement is not only refreshing in a society that so frequently dismisses the humanity of the unborn, but communicates an indispensable message to a watching world — every life is precious.  Indeed, remembering every single victim killed in the attacks — including the unborn — is the ultimate form of defiance against the pointless violence of our enemies. While the terrorists who attacked New York, the Pentagon, and Flight 93 were anxious to kill men, women, and children, the 9/11 memorial testifies that Americans as a whole are just as zealous to commemorate every human life lost.

Counting these precious unborn children among those who died on 9/11 elucidates in crystal-clear terms that America is principled in the belief that every person is valuable, no matter their size or age.

As a pro-life advocate, you would presume my head was swirling with a variety of thoughts including, “Is the commemorating family pro-life or pro-abortion?” or, “Does Mayor Michael Bloomberg realize his commitment to ‘reaffirm life’ is contradictory to his pro-abortion stance?” or, “What about the children who were born not knowing their parents lost in the attacks?” But no.

As I stood alongside the footprint of the South Twin Tower, staring down at the names of the victims and the recognition of their unborn children, I had only one overwhelming sentiment. I thanked God that I live in a country whose Biblically-based value of life and liberty permeates the core of every one of us.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced that only one last antibiotic is capable of fighting Gonorrhea.  That means Super Gonorrhea is just around the corner.  It is inevitable that once the current strain of gonorrhea becomes resistant to the last remaining treatment, it is only a matter of time until Super Gonorrhea arrives –– a new, more potent version of gonorrhea that will get into the bloodstream and be lethal.

In a recent Atlantic article, James Hamblin described the “ominous tones” of the CDC presenters at the telebriefing as they described the future “gonorrhea epidemic.”  As awful as that sounds, gonorrhea is currently pretty awful, too.  Few people seem to realize that gonorrhea can kill, and it is “tragically effective at making women infertile.”  Fortunately, we’ve had antibiotics that worked.  But the antibiotics that work are dwindling; over the past decades, one by one they have become ineffective against the power of gonorrhea.

Now there is only one, and it is an injection (not a simple pill) that has to be given along with other drugs.  Worse, for it to be effective, everyone who has had sex in the past 60 days with the person who has it must get tested and possibly treated, too.  This is no simple matter for today’s promiscuous young people.

Specifically, the CDC declared fluoroquinolones ineffective five years ago.  That left the oral treatment, cephalosporins.  Now, Hamblin reported, “injected ceftriaxone is the only recommended effective drug we have left.  And it has to be given along with either azithromycin or doxycycline.”

This is not a minor problem.  Every year, 64 million people worldwide get gonorrhea; 770,000 of those are Americans.  How many are going to follow directions when taking the medication, and how many will follow the recommended behavioral changes?  Based on history?  Not nearly enough.

Hamblin concluded his alarming summary of the CDC telebriefing with this perfunctory advice: get tested, and take the treatment exactly as prescribed and for the full duration of the prescription in order to avoid developing resistance to the antibiotic.  Then, he recommended — same old advice — use condoms and avoid having sex (with someone who has gonorrhea).

Amazingly, the Atlantic author then joked that his recommendation for not having sex was not a call for sex robots, but if it “lead to advancements in sex robot technology, well, so be it.”  (Seriously, he actually wrote that!)

Click here to see the full CDC Statement and here to see the gonorrhea FAQ.

According to the Washington Examiner, abortion activist Sandra Fluke’s bitter DNC Convention speech included this gem of a not-so-well-thought-out broadside against vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan, whom she said if elected would give us an America in which “you have a vice president who co-sponsored a bill that would allow pregnant women to die preventable deaths in our emergency rooms.”

What this political youngster failed to remember is that she’s stumping for the abortion president — a man who, as an Illinois senator, voted several times to allow the intentional deaths of infants who survived the abortion procedure.  Then-Senator Obama went so far as to argue that, while babies might be aborted alive, it would be a “burden” to a mother’s “original decision” to assess and treat them.

Oh no, Miss Fluke.  Copious blood has already been spilled.  However, it is not on Mr. Ryan’s record, nor is it on his hands.