by Jennifer Roback Morse, Ph.D.
“The Liberation of Lifelong Love: Church Teaching on Marriage” is the opening of my contribution to a new book called “Women, Sex & the Church: A Case for Catholic Teaching.” I realize that many of my readers are not Catholic. However, I still enthusiastically encourage you to consider purchasing this book. Many of the chapters contain valuable information from the social sciences that will be helpful to anyone from any faith tradition making the case for traditional sexual morality. Read more…
from Leo:
Dr. J. has previously pointed out that the theology and defense of marriage is uniting (http://www.ruthblog.org/2010/07/22/christian-unity/) the Orthodox and the Catholic traditions around a subject vital to both. The same issue has divided the Anglican (Episcopal) community. I would like to call your attention to some stories in the news about what is happening among the Lutherans.
The welcoming of seven openly gay and transgender pastors back to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) received warm attention in these articles in the New York Times and the Ms. Magazine newswire. Read more…
Robert George is on the Hugh Hewitt show right now, with Timothy George and Chuck Colson, talking about the Prop 8 Overturn and the Manhattan Declaration.
Push the “Listen Live” button.
the news coverage of the NOM rally in NH got my quote right, but got my name wrong. Oh well. I could have easily straightened him out, if he had asked.
Dr. Ruth Roback, who heads the NOM-financed Ruth Institute, challenged the view that same-sex marriage does not degrade the lives of heterosexual couples.
Once same-sex marriage is made legal, Roback claimed state governments through education, social policies and other means try to force different social mores on the public.
“Marriage is a natural, pre-political institution; same-sex marriage is entirely a creation of the state,” Roback said. “Same-sex marriage is a hostile takeover of civil society by the state.”
Ruth institute Advisory Board member Pat Fagan edits the Mapping America series for Family Research Council. In this month’s edition, he asks, “What increases the likelihood of a woman having two or more cohabitations in her lifetime?” Looking at two or more cohabitations is significant because this weeds out the couples who move in together right before getting married, and then staying married. All the research suggests that “serial cohabitation” is more risky than pre-marital cohabitation, and both of course, are more risky than not cohabiting at all. Read more…
by Pat Fagan of the Family Research Council
Women in always-intact marriages who worship at least weekly are more likely to have had fewer lifetime sexual partners than those in other family structures who never worship. According to the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), women in always-intact marriages who attend religious services at least weekly have had, on average, 2.42 lifetime sexual partners, followed by women in always-intact marriages who never worship (4.71), those in other family structures who worship at least weekly (5.51), and those in other family structures who never worship (9.07). Read more…
I listened to Dr. J’s debate with Objectivist Dr. Yaron Brook about capitalism. I have to say that the debate was quite one sided. Dr. J delivered a polite yet devastating drubbing to Dr. Brook.
Of course, being a fan of debate, especially those with religious/secular themes, I find it hard not to kibbitz. So, here are some comments.
Dr. J opened up with some definitions of capitalism. That definition (taken from “The Victory of Reason” and supplied to her by yours truly, I might add) included several elements of capitalism. She then discussed the Pope’s approval of those elements. At this point, Dr. J could have uttered the words Quod Erat Demonstrandum and walked off the podium. She was gracious enough to continue. Read more…
Richard John Neuhaus, late editor of First Things, claimed authorship of this law, “When Orthodoxy becomes optional, orthodoxy eventually becomes prohibited.” The ever-fractious Church of England gives us a glimpse at the next step after Neuhaus’ Law: When Orthodoxy becomes optional, heterodoxy becomes subsidized:
Bishops and senior clergy will debate at next month’s General Synod whether the Church should provide same-sex couples with the same financial benefits Read more…
Expanding the reach of the anti-discrimination law, is almost certainly a side effect of redefining marriage. The one and only argument for ssm is the equality argument. it’s crude form, which we saw during the Prop 8 campaign, is “you’re being mean to us. you’re hurting our feelings. it’s not fair.” incredibly enough, that is what we are now hearing in a federal courtroom. The legal argument is equal protection, but that’s just a dressed up version of the same thing. And, the plaintiffs have no shame about bringing sob stories into the courtroom. so, if we accept the equality argument for purposes of marriage, it will be that much easier to accept the equality argument for anti-discrimination purposes. So, contrary to some libertarians who woudl like to think that ssm represents a retreat of the state from civil society, the exact opposite is true. Read more…
This is not diversity. This is an excuse for the state to regulate and indoctrinate, and generally stick itself into the minds of small children.
In its indifference to objective knowledge, in its crusade to hallow cultural relativism and a strictly Charter-of-rights based identity, ÉCR stimulates heritage students’ detachment from their own cultural touchstones, and chills critical thinking in all students.
(I)n one instance students were invited to redesign the Quebec flag, replacing the cross with a more “inclusive” symbol, Read more…
I’ve already made it clear that I love this letter by the US Catholic Bishops. As I begin to write about this, a couple of notes. First, all page numbers refer to the internet version linked here.
Second, don’t let anyone tell you this document is about same sex unions. The internet version is 60 printed pages. Of these, less than 3 full pages deal directly with same sex unions. That is, less than 5% of the document deals with same sex unions. That is about the correct proportion.
Third, the bishops are hopelessly romantic: Read more…
is the name of the Catholic Bishops’ Pastoral Letter on Marriage. I will be writing about this in upcoming days. This document is really great and is not getting the attention it deserves. It is being upstage by the Manhattan Declaration, which is also good and worthwhile. Oddly enough, the Pastoral letter of the Catholic Bishops is actually more ecumenical than the Manhattan Declaration because the Declaration is specifically and emphatically Christian. Now, of course, the Bishops’ letter is too, not only Christian, but Catholic Christian. But I think that a Jewish person would have an easier time embracing the Bishops’ letter than the Manhattan Declaration. Maybe not. Jewish readers, what say you?
November 10th, 2009
Betsy
It has been discovered that the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) is using contribution money to fund abortions and other groups inconsistent with the Catholic faith: http://bellarmineveritasministry.org/campaigns/cchd/
If you’d like to let the CCHD know why you are no longer supporting them, here’s something to clip out for the Nov. 22nd collection, so don’t delay: http://bellarmineveritasministry.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/collection.pdf
If you are looking for an alternative ministry to donate to, instead of the CCHD, you can always consider the Ruth Institute!
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