Media Matters Attacks Christian Conservatives

News website The Daily Caller reported in February that Media Matters, a politically progressive watchdog group that’s dedicated to “monitoring, analyzing and correcting conservative misinformation,” had accepted a $50,000 grant to “monitor and attack” religious news outlets like the Christian Broadcasting Network and Focus on the Family.

The grant was given by the Arca Foundation, a social equity and justice group. Media Matters, however, is a nonprofit, and IRS guidelines require that 501c non-profits refrain from adopting political stances.

National Religious Broadcasters officials are hoping the Internal Revenue Service will investigate whether or not this nonprofit violated its status by accepting money from this special interest group.

Interracial Marriage at All-Time High in U.S.

The Pew Research Center released a study that shows interracial marriages in the U.S. are now at 4.8 million, an all-time high. This means that one in 12 marriages is an interracial union.

The study used census data, as well as the 2008-2012 American Community Survey to formulate its results. Pew Research found that 8.4 percent of all U.S. marriages are interracial, up from 3.2 percent in 1980.

Pew offered additional data showing the great public acceptance of mixed marriage. Eighty-three percent of Americans say it’s “all right for blacks and whites to date each other,” up from 48 percent in 1987.

By mid-century, the Census Bureau estimates that blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and multiracial Americans will represent a majority of the U.S. population.

Youth Leading the Way in Online Piracy

Online piracy—the downloading of illegal movies, music, books, and software—is becoming a growing problem and, given the number of young adults who think it’s okay, experts expect to see a continued incline in this area.

A Columbia University survey found that 70 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds said they had purchased, copied, or downloaded unauthorized music, TV shows, or movies. Of this demographic, 27 percent get all of their media illegally.

Law enforcement has tried to enforce existing laws by fining or in some cases jailing perpetrators. Congress is even considering anti-piracy bills that would forbid search engines from linking to foreign websites accused of copyright infringement.

Still, even with these measures, the problem continues to grow.

Atheists Reward Teen for Removing Prayer Banner from School

A 16-year-old student from Rhode Island recently sued her public school and, as a result, a nearly 50-year-old Christian prayer banner was taken off display.

The banner was a gift from the school’s graduating class of 1963. It featured a moral declaration written by a student and began with “Our Heavenly Father” and ended with “Amen.”

A federal court ruled that the mural had to be removed, and the school board decided not to challenge the court ruling due to rising legal costs.

After hearing about the student who raised the lawsuit, an atheist blogger began an online scholarship for the girl and, as a result, he received more than $40,000 in donations from people across the country. The blogger will give the money to the American Humanist Association, which will hold onto the money in a trust fund until the student recipient is ready to go to college.

 Christy Barritt is an award-winning author, freelance writer, and speaker living in Chesapeake, Virginia. She and her husband Scott have two sons. 
www.christybarritt.com