Brain Trust - Janice Shaw Crouse

Janice Shaw Crouse, columnist and senior fellow for the Beverly LaHaye Institute, joined the Brain Trust segment to share her perspective on recent cultural and political issues. Below are the "CliffsNotes" of her interview.

A new study says that evangelical youth are having sex almost as much as non-Christians. Has the Church done something wrong?

I think it's very obvious that we have. This goes hand in hand with the fact that we're losing our young people when they go to college.

It's absolutely appalling how difficult it is in college for Christian young people to do anything socially. Oftentimes the Christian groups are very shy; the meetings are not announced; it's just a small group of people who meet in the background. The prospects of a social life without sex are very dismal.

How do you hand your values down to your kids?

I think primarily parents do try to pass their values along to their kids. But what they don't understand is the overwhelming peer pressure, and the loneliness when you have to leave a party because you don't approve of the conduct there. Even in the classroom, they're getting professors who are making fun of their beliefs.

Young people face an uphill battle, and they've got to have support from their family. Many young people have gotten into situations that they are ill-prepared to handle.

What's your opinion on the presidential candidates?

Don't we have a really good slate of candidates? Everyone of them is pro-life, and against same-sex marriage. They all take the same stand publicly. That's a very unusual thing. I think we've got a number of great people on the GOP field.

It's going to be very interesting, because the race is really going to tighten up.