Alan Sears, a former federal prosecutor in the Reagan Administration, is president and CEO of the Alliance Defending Freedom, a legal alliance employing a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family. http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears http://media.townhall.com/TownHall/icons/TH-feed-icon-128x128.gif http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears TownHall.com, Where your opinion counts. 128 Copyright (c) 2013 Townhall.com, A Salem Communications Web. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED jim.dearras@townhall.com (Jim De Arras) Fri, 14 Jun 2013 19:27:00 GMT Fri, 14 Jun 2013 19:27:00 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ If anything has been made clear in the ongoing Internal Revenue Service scandal, it's that this is bigger than the work of one or two partisans. Rather, it is indicative of a mindset within agencies which says, "We know... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2013/06/14/government-does-not-know-best-n1620448 f616a417-637f-4a58-a684-28e23a7d7def Fri, 14 Jun 2013 19:27:00 GMT The things we never outgrow. A friend of mine, a teacher, has been telling me about her efforts to ready her third, fourth, and fifth grade students for a pint-size production of The Music Man. Things aren't going... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2013/04/26/the-plays-the-thing-n1579680 26692d7e-7cce-4b06-ab93-aa34b991c30d Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:42:00 GMT "He is not a moral man," a friend of mine said, in reference to a prominent attorney of our mutual acquaintance. It took me aback for a moment. Not because I questioned the assessment. Rather, because it opens the door... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2013/02/22/the-quarrel-with-morals-n1517341 10101666-4107-4f19-9784-19b3cd39b567 Fri, 22 Feb 2013 05:01:00 GMT At the end of Camelot, a despondent King Arthur, on the eve of a terrible battle he is loathe to fight, encounters a cheerful young boy bent on joining his majesty's forces for the fray. Arthur is impressed with the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2013/01/22/silent-knights-n1494195 043d2255-5bd5-473c-8c30-2fcca920111f Tue, 22 Jan 2013 05:01:00 GMT When a society's laws recognizing marriage as the union of one man and one woman are changed to honor the unions of same-sex couples, it's not just the law that changes-it's also the society itself that changes. A... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2013/01/05/france-trades-free-speech-for-a-genderless-society-n1479161 5f7e7178-437a-4386-8a0b-06a61cf9f040 Sat, 05 Jan 2013 05:01:00 GMT In October 2010, the Alliance Defending Freedom was privileged to recognize Judge Robert H. Bork with the "Edwin Meese III Award for Originalism and Religious Liberty." At that time, we described him as, "one of the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2012/12/19/honoring-judge-robert-h-bork-n1470485 d9954713-8d96-47c0-86d5-7721e293e70b Wed, 19 Dec 2012 17:37:00 GMT In the wake of the U.S. elections, the onslaught of war in the Middle East, and the seemingly endless attacks on the family both here and abroad, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. And if we're not careful, it's then easy... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2012/11/28/why_the_battle_for_family_must_go_on ba766342-a6f8-4559-9e25-8b0a8ded8ef6 Wed, 28 Nov 2012 05:01:00 GMT Sometimes, I wonder if Halloween is supplanting the Fourth of July as our national holiday. Come summer, the flags will fly and the fireworks will pop, and bands will ring out "Stars And Stripes Forever." But these... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2012/10/31/a_scary_thought 8fab41d0-4e9c-47f2-83d2-573af37a071a Wed, 31 Oct 2012 04:01:00 GMT France plans to ban the words "mother" and "father" in legal language concerning marriage in that country. The goal is to further communicate the message that "marriage is a union of two people, of different or... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2012/10/10/lots_of_children_but_no_fathers_or_mothers 36b4e2e1-90e9-4036-a806-4bc2ff1cd13b Wed, 10 Oct 2012 04:01:00 GMT An intrinsic tension exists between religious freedom and the machinations of government. This is largely because neither men nor the governments men form are wholly free from evil. Thus James Madison's timeless... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2012/09/28/us_government_choosing_its_religion 2bb67843-e41b-4ba0-98dc-cc91263997a7 Fri, 28 Sep 2012 04:01:00 GMT America stands at a precipice. Never before have so many of our fundamental, God-given freedoms hung by so thin a thread here at home as they do now. This generation-you and I, our neighbors and co-workers, our... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2012/09/22/america_at_a_precipice_freedom_at_risk 525ffdbb-1eac-4ef0-a063-0cdc72b39e61 Sat, 22 Sep 2012 04:01:00 GMT On September 11, 2001, Americans were reminded of two things-the dangers of terrorism and the greatness of the United States. The dangers of terrorism were evident in the phone calls various passengers made to their... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2012/09/11/911_and_a_shining_city 4994b3ef-67f0-4fa5-b8ce-b0e890f5445c Tue, 11 Sep 2012 04:01:00 GMT Recently, I was going through an old box and found a picture of my father. As I held it in my hands, I remembered his life, and it was amazing how many emotions the picture communicated. I continued through other... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2012/07/18/pictures_of_life bd69686b-087e-4442-9dc7-271f8bf04782 Wed, 18 Jul 2012 16:08:00 GMT In nations where socialized medicine has been in force for some time, the elderly and infirm are being sacrificed (killed) for the comfort of the young and healthy. And with the Supreme Court's recent decision to uphold... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2012/07/12/the_fight_for_life_encompasses_the_beginning_and_the_end 6402fc7e-0654-4b49-9bb4-02c416da9be3 Thu, 12 Jul 2012 19:51:00 GMT Gold is valuable because of its singularity and its scarcity. It is singular in that it is gold and there's nothing like it, and of course it's scarce because of where it's located and the struggles that must be... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2012/06/26/like_gold_marriage_is_the_genuine_article 6994fee6-7cb4-40f1-b579-872d1f0043eb Tue, 26 Jun 2012 18:35:00 GMT For a while, advocates pushing for the redefinition of marriage did so from behind closed doors, and in a manner that all but guaranteed their efforts could not be traced back to them. In time, however, they began... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2012/06/24/even_the_pretense_of_tolerance_is_gone 5645131b-9ab0-404a-9d73-ac1354cb3daf Sun, 24 Jun 2012 04:01:00 GMT In this life, a number of relationships are of great significance, such as the relationship between a customer and his banker, a patient and his doctor, or even a congregant and his pastor. These are important... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2012/06/07/marriage_is_marriage__period fb364ad7-49cd-41c9-a48c-80350d36cf3f Thu, 07 Jun 2012 15:25:00 GMT As a nation, we are much like a train without a conductor, flying down the tracks in a scenic countryside. Because the ride was smooth at the start and the view out the windows was pleasant, we ignored the fact we've... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2012/06/04/where_we_are_and_where_were_headed 256a3418-dd1a-4804-ad45-daf2b3cd2762 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 15:17:00 GMT In a country as great as the United States of America, where even in hard times we are surrounded by plenty, it's easy to get comfortable. And in that lax condition, certain freedoms are taken for granted until they are... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2012/05/24/indecision_on_obama_mandate_is_the_same_as_deciding_not_to_fight 42a26603-f054-4da7-b5c2-a7d53ae93814 Thu, 24 May 2012 14:55:00 GMT In America, nearly one in three pregnancies end in abortion, which means there are "over 1.21 million abortions carried out every year in the United States." (Planned Parenthood carried out more than 320,000 in 2010... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2012/05/21/breaking_the_spiral_of_silence cf75ad82-66e0-4775-a866-7817a5e26101 Mon, 21 May 2012 19:09:00 GMT For good or for ill, when we hear someone talking about a "worthy life," our minds usually equate it with a successful life. We may think of examples of people who have contributed to the betterment of mankind via... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2012/05/16/the_fallacy_of_a_worthless_life 4924d3cd-648c-499b-acb3-54c0b22251a4 Wed, 16 May 2012 04:01:00 GMT Amid the busy nature of our 21st century society-with all the distractions that technology, advertising, and work often bring-it's easy to lose sight of what's foundational. This is true even for those who are watching... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2012/05/03/hope_in_the_midst_of_battle 54d826d5-82a1-47b5-8c59-7c9e25a2fb5d Thu, 03 May 2012 04:01:00 GMT When Congress passed ObamaCare in March 2010, then Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Cal.) admitted she didn’t know what was in the bill, but promised constituents and fellow politicians, “We’ll find out... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2012/04/29/with_obamacare_its_abortion_or_else 5f389659-3b92-4bce-9a77-63d9e82a4c24 Sun, 29 Apr 2012 04:01:00 GMT If there is a single defining feature of those on the political Left, it is their unswerving conviction that the best and most dependable antidote to any social ill is a healthy dose of government intervention. "Big... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2012/04/16/eliminating_the_competition e213ea8d-bfbd-4f6f-b027-6d7832dcfcba Mon, 16 Apr 2012 20:06:00 GMT When the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, i.e., ObamaCare, was being debated in public and in Congress during 2010, Americans who supported life were told again and again that the legislation would not cover... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2012/03/15/first_abortion_pills_for_all_now_surgical_abortions_too dda8c594-8028-41ac-833c-dcde520ee09d Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:32:00 GMT Although popular opinion has been turning steadily against Planned Parenthood and their allies over the course of the last 20 years, the culture of death continues to seek and proselytize new adherents in pervasive and... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2012/02/27/answering_planned_parenthoods_grand_deception 42410310-5b30-41b0-bd9a-7f27ac90e7c1 Mon, 27 Feb 2012 18:13:00 GMT It's the time of year when thoughts turn more concertedly to the ongoing tragedy - and travesty - of abortion. Activists count back to the January 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade and produce new calculations on how many... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2012/01/22/what_weve_lost 48e5fec4-1bcf-4412-9aab-dc593ff869ce Sun, 22 Jan 2012 05:01:00 GMT On December 6, President Barack Obama's support for the demands of the "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender" agenda rose to the next level when he issued a memorandum directing federal agencies abroad to "improve... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2012/01/18/blurring_the_lines_between_an_agenda_and_human_rights bab7d0ed-13bc-4c54-ad62-fb6333f18d4f Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:56:00 GMT Since 1973, generations have come and gone, 50 million abortions have been performed, and still the mantra is chanted-"not the church, not the state, only I'll decide my fate." It's a line in the sand and a warning to... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2011/12/11/chasing_death 80932c4a-a636-44ed-aa35-268238f1b12f Sun, 11 Dec 2011 05:01:00 GMT This week's decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to let stand a lower court ruling permitting the city of New York to block churches from meeting for worship services in empty public schools on weekends is profoundly... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2011/12/10/when_the_three_rs_stand_for_rescinding_the_rights_of_the_religious 708b7fae-86ef-4428-a901-4f4c7538004b Sat, 10 Dec 2011 05:01:00 GMT During the Christmas season, we actually tend to be more thankful for things that we more easily overlook at other times of the year. Things as foundational as family, friends, and a warm place to lay our heads at night... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2011/12/07/70th_anniversary_of_pearl_harbor_reminds_us_freedom_isnt_free de0c9c83-997a-45b9-af99-582aa4058c3a Wed, 07 Dec 2011 05:01:00 GMT Terri Schiavo would have been 48 this December 3 . not a major mile-marker among we, the living, but a cause for reflection for those who loved her, and for all those who fought so valiantly to save her, in those... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2011/11/25/schiavos_legacy_the_value_of_life_in_a_nation_that_cheapens_it 14833ad7-5a70-49d8-887d-ab3588001df7 Fri, 25 Nov 2011 05:01:00 GMT In late 1620, Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower reached the New World to found what would become Plymouth Colony. Governed by the Mayflower Compact-the representative government established through it-they thanked God for... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2011/11/24/give_thanks_america_god_shed_his_grace_on_thee 8f53ed41-2aaf-4a1a-8ed0-4c9565ed68cc Thu, 24 Nov 2011 05:01:00 GMT @font-face { font-family: "Calibri"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 10pt; line-height: 115%; font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }a:link, span.MsoHyperlink { color: http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2011/11/09/the_czar_system_undermines_federalism fbba091e-9d0f-447d-9dcb-68616824e9a7 Wed, 09 Nov 2011 16:35:00 GMT Ever wonder what the world look like if Planned Parenthood's dreams came true? If there were no Judeo-Christian pressures or legal limits, and abortion was viewed as just another amoral solution to some of this world's... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2011/10/27/chinas_one-child_policy_the_culture_of_death_on_steroids dd8ec6cc-ea05-417b-9bd2-0bd66aae446f Thu, 27 Oct 2011 04:01:00 GMT Over the course of the decades and years that have passed between the infamous Roe v. Wade decision (1973) and now, the demarcation between proponents of life and proponents of abortion has clearly proven to be a... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2011/10/16/a_grisly_tragedy_in_the_culture_of_death 0f53324f-ff33-45b8-9e33-331e7ee69138 Sun, 16 Oct 2011 04:01:00 GMT When crossing an ocean at the helm of a ship, navigational skills are of the utmost importance. When driving a car through the night or flying a plane through the sky, these skills are paramount as well. This is because... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2011/10/09/faulty_navigators_make_life_a_guessing_game 466204d5-5893-4f40-b8ca-a8d00d1629af Sun, 09 Oct 2011 04:01:00 GMT A Vanderbilt University policy prohibiting "discrimination on its campus against anyone because of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression" is drawing national attention because of the way it's being... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2011/10/06/freedom_under_fire_at_vanderbilt_university c080223d-b87e-4c0b-9ee5-96b9c495bfce Thu, 06 Oct 2011 04:01:00 GMT On Sunday, October 2, hundreds of pastors all over the country did something an astonishingly large number of their fellow Americans had forgotten they had the God-given right to do: namely, address political issues and... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2011/10/05/why_pastors_must_be_free_to_preach_on_politics 53db2c4c-a1f1-4f96-901f-97c4530f4e9a Wed, 05 Oct 2011 18:37:00 GMT Americans continue to pay a terrible, terrible toll for one of the longest (and most ill-conceived) wars in our nation's history. In this war, the casualty count keeps rising, day by day, year after year. Hundreds of... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2011/09/29/americans_are_still_reeling_from_a_revolution_that_failed e7c5d656-9879-4098-b7a7-5394f2a1583f Thu, 29 Sep 2011 04:01:00 GMT In China, human rights are not recognized as fixed or unalienable. Rather, they are a benevolence to be given or taken away in response to the mindset and behavior of individual Chinese citizens. Those who are "loyal to... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2011/09/22/the_philosophical_tyranny_of_the_homosexual_agenda 89adbaf1-d417-4982-bcc9-e6117948e10e Thu, 22 Sep 2011 04:05:00 GMT It’s sad to say, but freedom has been relegated to “flavor of the month” status for years now. Not freedom as our Founding Fathers thought it, but freedom as same-sex couples, pro-abortion... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2011/09/14/christians_face_a_freedom_gap_in_our_culture c255e233-6971-4246-be1b-a8a14574c9c9 Wed, 14 Sep 2011 04:01:00 GMT In our time, a lot of attention is paid to outward symbols of religion. Around the world, various governments and workplaces have disallowed the wearing of crosses, for example, often in an effort to avoid giving... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2011/09/06/keep_your_laws_off_my_conscience c26a3cb9-5cf2-4459-ba0c-f7cd74b77404 Tue, 06 Sep 2011 18:46:00 GMT I haven't been to the Wildflower Inn in Lyndonville, VT, but it sounds like a beautiful place. A glimpse at their website shows a near-definitive New England setting of clapboard buildings with panoramic views of... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2011/08/18/outing_the_wildflower_inn 6fbaa66d-a99a-435b-b3da-63151c7d4167 Thu, 18 Aug 2011 20:24:00 GMT Because the radical demands of groups like the American Civil Liberties Union run counter to common sense and the tenets of Western Civilization, they and their leftist allies and colleagues use fear, intimidation, and... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2011/08/12/in_lieu_of_well-reasoned_arguments,_the_left_relies_on_intimidation efafaf2d-88d5-4607-8963-b075d7f3c1ee Fri, 12 Aug 2011 04:01:00 GMT Ours is nation built on liberty, the ideals of Western Civilization, and prayer. It is also a nation under assault by people who wish to erase prayer from the list: this much was evident in the vitriol hurled at... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2011/08/06/prayer_and_the_fabric_of_america a0d8531a-4189-467e-98e6-f8928c5c5a6f Sat, 06 Aug 2011 04:01:00 GMT "Freedom" is a strange word in our day. It has been used in so many contexts at so many times that it's hard to pinpoint exactly what it means now to most speakers and advocates. More than not, however, it is safe to... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2011/08/05/because_of_limitless_abortion,_women_everywhere_face_a_freedom_gap fcc38a72-1926-463e-9eb3-edc779bf6f26 Fri, 05 Aug 2011 04:01:00 GMT What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet… -Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene 2 Shakespeare was always eloquent, but not always right. For proof, look no... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2011/07/15/marriage_fabricators_never_promised_anyone_a_rose_garden e5b45754-fc4e-42f7-bee4-ca39e59870c7 Fri, 15 Jul 2011 04:01:00 GMT Having just celebrated July 4, the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, it behooves us to consider the foundation upon which that document rests: a foundation that not only supports the words... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2011/07/05/the_foundation_of_our_independence 790013ed-3a53-422c-98e4-ec92a651687a Tue, 05 Jul 2011 16:17:00 GMT It was such a curious omission. Last September, in a speech at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute in Washington, D.C., President Barack Obama was taking his audience on a quick tour of early U.S. history when... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/AlanSears/2011/06/28/something_missing_from_our_fourth_of_july_celebrations ef2dff62-fa0f-4d70-9e67-c03ddf0c9af8 Tue, 28 Jun 2011 19:06:00 GMT