There’s a new movie on the way, from the makers of Fireproof. And what Fireproof did for marriage, Courageous promises to do for fatherhood.
A reporter writes,
“Courageous,” which is expected to be released in 2011, is about four police officers in Albany, Ga., who while giving their best to their job are not putting in the same effort to being a father. Tragedy strikes one of the officers’ family that causes the others to unite around him and vow to be more committed fathers. Read more…
I wanted to revisit the article on Hume’s defense of marriage. There was some good stuff buried deep in the link:
Contrary to what some romantics may think, marital happiness and conjugal human love cannot be sustained by amorous or infatuating passions, Hume says, since they are by nature unstable and fleeting. “Amorous love,” he says, “is a restless and impatient passion, full of caprices and variations—arising in a moment from a feature, from an air, from nothing, and suddenly extinguishing after the same manner.” Whatever its value may be, no marriage can be sustained by it. Read more…
I have a personal interest in this parish, St. John Vianney, as it is the church my husband grew up in.
HACIENDA HEIGHTS (KTLA) — Services will continue in a parish hall after an intentional fire caused an estimated $8 million in damages at the Saint John Vianney Catholic Church overnight Saturday.
“The extensive structure fire at St. John Vianney Church in Hacienda Heights has been confirmed as an act of arson,” Sheriff’s Department officials said Saturday night.
The blaze started just after midnight, authorities said.
An estimated $8 million in damages was sustained.
Two priests and a seminarian were reportedly inside a rectory located next to the church at the time of the incident….
I have read many news articles today, and watched many TV news reports. Although they all call it arson, not a single one has mentioned the phrase “hate crime”. No reporter has speculated, “It is not known whether this might have been a hate crime.” No public official has said, “We are investigating this as a possible hate crime.”
My cynical side thinks that if this was a synagogue, anti-Semitism would immediately be suspected. If this was a mosque, it would probably be national news. But since it’s just a church, it’s just arson.
An Arkansas law that allows only a married man and woman to adopt or foster children was up for debate recently before the state Supreme Court.
The measure, designated as Act 1, was approved by 57 percent of voters in November 2008. It reads: “A minor may not be adopted or placed in a foster home if the individual seeking to adopt or to serve as a foster parent is cohabiting with a sexual partner outside of a marriage which is valid under the constitution and laws of this state. The prohibition of this section applies equally to cohabiting opposite-sex and same-sex individuals.”
The ACLU, however, challenged the law, claiming it discriminates against homosexuals — and a judge struck it down, ruling that the measure violated constitutional guarantees of due process and equal protection. At the recent oral arguments before the Arkansas Supreme Court, Byron Babione — senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) — explained the law is about protecting kids. Read more…
This video was made by the White Rose Project. Who are they? From their video description:
In 1942, a group of students from the University of Munich began a campaign to shine the light of truth in Nazi Germany. The White Rose was a movement to educate the citizens Germany and prick their conscious about the atrocities ravaging their country.
Though the danger was great, these students were determined to be a voice for victims of the Nazi Holocaust by educating the people of Germany. The White Rose believed the German people needed to know the truth and risked their lives to call them from apathy to action.
In 2011, a collection of American Pro-life Youth have come together in the face of the abortion holocaust that has been plaguing our nation. We have seen the need to shine the light of truth and activate the youth of America to rise up and take a stand. Read more…
Interesting survey. (Readers caution: different categories of “activity” are discussed–be advised.)
ATLANTA – Fewer teens and young adults are having sex, a government survey shows, and theories abound for why they’re doing it less. Experts say this generation may be more cautious than their predecessors, more aware of sexually spread diseases. Or perhaps emphasis on abstinence in the past decade has had some influence.
Or maybe they’re just too busy.
“It’s not even on my radar,” said 17-year-old Abbey King of Hinsdale, Ill., a competitive swimmer who starts her day at 5 a.m. and falls into bed at 10:30 p.m. after swimming, school, weight lifting, running, more swimming, homework and a volunteer gig working with service dogs for the disabled. Read more…
February 26th, 2011
Ginny
WASHINGTON—The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued the following from its Office of General Counsel:
“Marriage has been understood for millennia and across cultures as the union of one man and one woman. Today, the President has instructed the Department of Justice to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act, a federal law reiterating that definition of marriage, passed by a Republican Congress and signed by a Democratic President just fifteen years ago. The principal basis for today’s decision is that the President considers the law a form of impermissible sexual orientation discrimination. Read more…
September 19th, 2010
Ginny
Does this sound familiar? “My husband drives me crazy! How hard can it be to pick up a sock and put it in the laundry? I mean, it’s not like he’s actually busy–he hasn’t fixed the leaky sink that I mentioned two months ago, or mowed the lawn, or cleaned up that mess in the garage. And now that football has started, I never see him…”
I used to join in with this sort of talk. I considered it “casual complaining”–nothing serious, certainly. Sometimes I would even trot out my husband’s faults in an effort to sympathetically let a girlfriend know that her husband isn’t all that bad–all husbands “do stuff like that”. I hoped it would make her see that it really wasn’t worth complaining about. But that probably wasn’t the effect; my “complaining” ended up justifying her complaining.
Then something I heard (on the radio? at a seminar?) made me think about what I was doing to my husband. Read more…
A new marriage resource is available, promoting the unique importance of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. The video, Marriage: Unique for a Reason, is the first of an eventual set of five videos. The second video, set for release by end of summer, will be about the good of children and the important role of mothers and fathers. The next two English language videos will discuss the good of society and the false claim of discrimination; and the impact on religious liberty. A fifth, Spanish-language video will address issues particular to a Latino/a audience.
Go take a look at this beautiful, 12-minute video!
(Note: though this material is produced by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the video itself is non-denominational; it is meant to “be of assistance to all those who seek to understand the truth and beauty of marriage.”)
Finally, some good news from a family court:
A Wisconsin court has told a lesbian that legal adoption, not merely nurturing a child, determines parental rights.
A lesbian identified as Liz K. and her former partner Wendy M. adopted two children from Guatamala. The couple decided that since Liz was a practicing attorney and could add the children to her health insurance, she should be the legal adoptive parent.
But after the couple’s relationship ended, Liz’z former partner sued for parental rights, saying she had a relationship with the children also. Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel believes the court made the right decision in refusing to grant guardianship status to Wendy. Read more…
And now, what you’ve all been waiting for—the last in a continuing series of tips from Dennis Prager, helping men to remain faithful in marriage. Ladies, this one applies to you, too, so listen up! (For background, see the original post here.)
Tip #7: When men are free to talk with their wives about their sexual nature (with all of its battles and temptations), it lifts a huge burden and helps them stay faithful.
Here is the sixth in a continuing series of tips from Dennis Prager, helping men to remain faithful in marriage. (For background, see the original post here.)
Tip #6: Have good men as your male friends. Men take their cues (learn how to behave) from other men. If you have guys around you who are fooling around, that’s not going to help your chances of being faithful.
…to be continued… (only one more tip left!)
Here is the fifth in a continuing series of tips from Dennis Prager, helping men to remain faithful in marriage. (For background, see the original post here.)
Tip #5: One of the reasons that men will have an affair (other than the sex itself) is the excitement of it. Therefore, have excitement in other ways. (This could be sports, hobbies, etc.)
…to be continued…
Here is the fourth in a continuing series of tips from Dennis Prager, helping men to remain faithful in marriage. (For background, see the original post here.)
Tip #4: Use your brain and avoid temptation. If you’re on a business trip, it’s not a good idea to sit in the bar at the hotel. The more time you spend with someone you find attractive, the greater the chances of something happening.
…to be continued…
Here is the third in a continuing series of tips from Dennis Prager, helping men to remain faithful in marriage. (For background, see the original post here.)
Tip #3: Male sexual nature is not satiated by an affair. The affair won’t satisfy your yearning to wander; the desire for variety will still exist. It won’t keep you from wanting other women in the future.
…to be continued…
From One News Now comes this article about a high school student who dared to wear a T-shirt to school that promoted….(gasp)…..abstinence!
A middle-school student in Minnesota has regained his right to wear at school a T-shirt bearing an abstinence message.
Officials at Hastings Middle School had initially prohibited seventh-grader Johnathon Kinney from wearing the T-shirt with the message “Virginity Rocks!” On April 26, two school teachers confronted Kinney about the shirt, informing him that it was offensive and should be covered up. School officials also warned Kinney against wearing the shirt again.
After contacting the principal about the incident — and finding he supported the teachers’ decision — Kinney’s parents contacted The Rutherford Institute. John Whitehead, Read more…
As promised, here is the next in a continuing series of tips from Dennis Prager, helping men to remain faithful in marriage. (For background, see the original post here.)
Tip #2: Use your head—your mind has to rule, and your mind knows the terrible price you will have to pay for an affair (whether you are caught or not caught; whether there is a divorce or not). Stop and ask, “Is this sexual excitement tonight worth the price I will pay?”
…to be continued…
Every Wednesday, the second hour of The Dennis Prager Radio Show is The Male/Female Hour, “dedicated to highlighting the many challenges between the sexes”. A recent show had as its topic “Advice to men on how to stay faithful”. (audio podcast here)
Prager discussed seven tips, “none of which involve religion or morality” (as he put it)—just practical, rational reasons for a man not to give in to his nature, whether on a business trip or on the internet. They are not in any particular order of importance; just some good advice. Here is the first in a series of posts on his advice to men:
Tip #1: If you do have an affair (or a one-night stand), you are then going to be hiding something from your wife. In general, the more you hide from your spouse, the less close you are. (This is true even in non-sexual matters.) You will spend a large amount of time and energy thinking about how you can avoid having her find out.
…to be continued…
Here’s more on the discussion from the post “Divorce Question.”
Over at Dante Atkins’ Daily Kos post, some commenters have said that no-fault divorce is necessary; without it, women would be stuck in abusive marriages. Everyone admits that there are some reasons why a woman (or man) might need to leave a marriage. And in the past, these were considered “grounds for divorce”—situations like:
- spousal abuse
- child abuse
- substance abuse
- addictive behaviors (addiction to gambling, pornography, spending, etc.)
- infidelity
But how many divorces are actually the result of these hard cases? And how many divorces are sought for much less threatening reasons? Reasons such as these:
- I met someone younger/richer/prettier.
- It’s just too much work.
- We don’t get along any more.
- I don’t want to deal with an ill spouse or child.
- The excitement is gone.
- I need to find myself.
- I’m bored.
- I’m not “in love” any more.
No-fault divorce allows one spouse to dump the other for even trivial reasons. “When the going gets tough, the tough get going—right out the door.” There are no incentives to stick together, to work it out, to invest in bettering the relationship.
Even worse, in cases on the first list, the badly behaved spouse likely will not be held accountable for their actions in the divorce proceedings. Many judges do not even want to hear about “marital fault” when they are deciding the division of property or child custody. That is just plain unjust. There is no penalty involved for acting in a way that breaks up the marriage; therefore, no incentive to avoid that behavior during the marriage.
Incentives matter—they affect people’s behavior. The incentives that are built in to “no-fault” divorce are completely wrong.
Over at Dante Atkins’ Daily Kos post, some commenters have said that no-fault divorce is necessary; without it, women would be stuck in abusive marriages, unable to prove fault. Everyone admits that there are some reasons why a woman (or man) might need to leave a marriage. These include situations like:
- spousal abuse
- child abuse
- substance abuse
- addictive behaviors (addiction to gambling, pornography, spending, etc.)
- infidelity
But what I am wondering is this—how many divorces are the result of these situations? And how many divorces are sought for much less threatening reasons? Reasons such as these: Read more…
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