February 28th, 2023

Dear Friends,

That’s the New York Post headline, referring to COVID-19’s origins.  

That conclusion is the result of new intelligence analyzed by the U.S. Department of Energy which has revealed that the COVID-19 virus likely originated in a Chinese lab in Wuhan.

Why the Energy Department, you may ask? That department supervises the nation’s nuclear weapons arsenal and maintains a network of advanced research labs around the world.

When the virus arrived, the World Military Games were underway in Wuhan, which was likely a super-spreader event. But as news of the virus emerged, the political and media establishment, and Big Tech, went into overdrive to convince us that it came from a "wet-market", not the lab.

Another clue of Covid’s origins were China’s repeated lies and efforts to concern the global market on critical medical equipment which would be needed by the entire world.

China denied any involvement in the virus' release and was backed up by both the media and World Health Organization (WHO).

Common sense suggested it came from the lab, but top medical “experts,” like Dr. Anthony Fauci and former NIH Director Francis Collins worked overtime to disprove the lab leak theory and denounced anyone who suggested it originated there.

However, it has now come to light that Fauci and Collins were working with the lab and aware of the risk posed by the its research due to terrible safety standards, but still sanctioned its funding regardless.

Anyone who questioned the “scientific consensus” was attacked as a conspiracy theorist and accused of spreading misinformation. Kudos to Jon Stewart for skewering the “consensus” crowd.

It's unsurprising then that public trust of both government and media is so low after this episode and other instances where "scientific consensus" has been used as leverage for advancing particular narratives.

According to a recent study by the National Review, marriage rates in the United States have drastically declined over the past 50 years. In 1970, 72.2% of adults between 18 and 65 were married while today that number has dropped to an all-time low of 60%.

The reasons are wide-ranging, but the biggest factor appears to be cultural shifts in attitudes toward marriage. Young adults are far less likely to view marriage as “essential for their lives” as previous generations did. As the study’s author, Elizabeth Torrans, explains: "The decline in marriage ….can be accumulated to a variety of factors including; economic instability, delayed adulthood, and changing attitudes toward marriage among young adults."

The good news? There are a few bright spots. Individuals aged 25-34 today are actually more likely to be married than those of the same age range were 40 years ago (67% versus 63%).

LFF holds that marriage is a cornerstone upon which civilization & culture rest. God created marriage and entrusted it to men and women as a priceless gift. (See Malachi 2:15)

The ACLU of Missouri and two state library associations have filed a lawsuit against the state of Missouri for a law banning sexually explicit material from schools. This law includes school libraries. If librarians serve minors prohibited material, they face fines of $2,000 or a year in jail.

The ACLU argues that this law violates free speech of librarians and students. Missouri Senator Caleb Rowden (R) disagrees, telling the Springfield News-Leader that he believes it is not unreasonable to keep explicit content out of libraries and away from children in public spaces.

“How it gets defined obviously matters, but I think the general premise that keeping explicit content out of libraries and out of the view of minors and public spaces is a violation of the First Amendment is a pretty extreme view, in my opinion.”

Louisiana AG Jeff Landry supports changes to the library card system which restricts child access to sexually explicit material without parental consent.

LFF also believes parents should be given full control over the type of content their children are exposed to, and this should include books found in school libraries.

Friend,, Dr. Jay Johnston, the Family Research Council’s National Prayer Director, spent time at Asbury University this past week. This week he sat down with Tony Perkins to share what he experienced, and you don’t want to miss it!

"Those students have come to recognize that God is God. And that He loves them. He genuinely loves them and wants a relationship with them."

Will you pray for our nation's college students? God is working all around the country!

In His Service,

Gene Mills
President, Louisiana Family Forum