The first two podcasts of talks given at this year’s summer student conference are up on the podcast page for your listening pleasure. There will be around 10 talks when all of them are podcasted (categorized under “ITAF 2010″). Thanks to everyone who was a part of “It Takes a Family.”
Something submitted by one of our blog friends:
Here is an interesting dialog in the electronic world of the NY Times that you might be interested in.
Sorry that you will be subjected to a commercial to watch it.
Two gay strategists are arguing over making a pitch to religious people to alleviate their concerns. The second strategist says, in effect, we could do that, but that would be a lie.
You know what can happen when we declare sex to be a “human right”?
This.
I admit surprise at this one.
THE GIST: Contrary to popular belief, relationship woes bother men more than they bother women.
THE SOURCE: “Nonmarital Romantic Relationships and Mental Health in Early Adulthood: Does the Association Differ for Women and Men?” The Journal of Health and Social Behavior, June 2010. Read more…
Book outlines stark divisions
By Cheryl Wetzstein, The Washington Times
Young parents Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston may have gotten engaged again recently, but they are still a quintessential “red” family trying to swim against the tide of family change, say two family law professors who have launched a debate about “red” and “blue” American families.
The 2004 and 2008 elections showed a divided America — and that division extends even to families, Naomi Cahn and June Carbone write in their book, “Red Families v. Blue Families: Legal Polarization and the Creation of Culture.” Read more…
Dr Jennifer Roback Morse, Foundress and President of the Ruth Institute, lamented the overturn of Proposition 8 by openly gay Judge Vaughn Walker, who is widely reported to be gay. “Judge Walker’s reasoning today in overturning Prop 8 illustrates that he does not understand the essential public purpose of marriage, which is to attach mothers and fathers to their children and to one another. He replaces this public purpose with private purposes of adults’ feelings and desires.”
Dr. Morse continued: “by the time Judge Walker and his ilk are finished, there will be nothing left of marriage but a government registry of friendships. The essential problem of attaching children to the mothers and fathers will be pushed aside, and will have to be solved some other way.”
Read more…
Science has been abused for political purposes for centuries. However, it seems that the abuse of science for political ends is lately on the rise.
This article discuses the matter:
To see if our suspicions were correct, we decided to do a bit of informal research, checking Lexis Nexis for growth in the use of what we would categorize as “authoritarian” phrasing when it comes to scientific findings. We searched Nexis for the following phrases to see how their use has changed over the last 30 years: “science says we must,” “science says we should,” “science tells us we must,” “science tells us we should,” “science commands,” “science requires,” “science dictates,” and “science compels.” Read more…
People with wrong ideas
Participating in the same sex marriage debate has forced me to confront this question: what shall I call the people on the opposite side of this issue? I try not to call people my opponents or my enemies. When I am writing, I can put in the whole description: “those who oppose natural marriage” or “people who advocate same sex marriage,” or depending on the issue, “sex law radicals.” But these are long and awkward locutions, not easy to use in ordinary conversation.
While I was on the Summer for Marriage Bus Tour, I encountered some of these folks who came to oppose us. As I was watching the counter-rallies marching toward us in Albany, NY and especially in Providence, RI, the term that came to mind was simply: The Bad Guys. But that’s a term from a grade B Hollywood movie, unworthy of a Christian mind. Read more…
I have been saying that the Reformation is coming to an end: the orthodox believers of all denominations have more in common with each other than with the more “progressive” members of their own traditions. The need to work together for life and natural marriage is breaking down 500 years worth of historic mistrust and hostilities.
Now, comes this report, that maybe even the 1,000 year old separation between the Eastern and Western Churches may be healing.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, praised Pope Benedict and blasted Protestant bodies that have accepted women’s ordination and caved in to the secular culture on homosexuality. Read more…
Still going on strong, NOM’s Summer Marriage Tour was in Trenton, New Jersey yesterday (July 20). During her 10-minute talk, she addressed the question “Why not privatize marriage?” This is something a lot of libertarians like in principle, but as you’ll hear, Dr J gives examples of why it won’t be sustainable. Listen here or on our podcast page.
Local news coverage of the event available here and here (13:42 or headline “gay marriage”).
I am paying more attention to the gay blogosphere than I usually do. I guess that’s because they are paying more attention to me. One thing I notice about many of them: they are short on arguments and ideas, and long on ridicule and name-calling. Some of these people are mean. I was going to post links, but thought better of it. I don’t want to circulate their taunts.
Alot of the comments about the NOM bus tour are just juvenille. When you see some of this stuff, ask yourself whether this is normal behavior for adult men and women.
I don’t understand why responsible adults take these people seriously.
I found this Buzzflash Blog report on Ruth Institute while doing my daily googles. (Gayapolis News also linked to the piece.)
Looks like we’re still making the right kind of enemies, but for the record, RI is not “anti-gay,” just anti-gay marriage.
My favorite line from the review: “…Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, also known on the website as Dr. J (unless she can dunk with balletic grace like NBA great Julius Erving, she’s no Dr. J!)…”
Well I have a news-flash for the author of that line: Our Dr. J does intellectual slam-dunks with “balletic grace” as a matter of routine.
The New Contraceptive World Order holds these tenets: Sex is a sterile recreational activity. “Safe” sex (meaning sex with a condom) has no significant negative consequences. Marriage is not necessary for either sexual activity or childbearing. And unlimited sexual activity is an entitlement for everyone old enough to give meaningful consent.
But there is a serpent in this man-made paradise: All of these tenets are false. Read more…
When defending studies that defy common sense and common observation, our opponents usually wave the term “peer review” around like a magical talisman that will make their wishes come true.
This type of prestidigitation does not sucker the sophisticated. Here’s Megan Mcardle on peer review. (Emphasis added).
Lowe is talking about chemistry, but the observation is widely applicable. Especially for papers that rely on empirical work with painstakingly assembled datasets, the only way for peer reviewers to do the kind of thorough vetting that many commentators seem to imagine is implied by the words “peer review” would be to . . . well, go back and re-do the whole thing. Obviously, this is not what happens. Peer reviewers check for obvious anomalies, originality, and broad methodological weakness. They don’t replicate the work themselves. Which means that there is immense space for things to go wrong–intentionally or not. Read more…
As part of its Newly Wed In America series, National Public Radio today aired a segment titled Kids First, Marriage Later — If Ever.
A couple of quotes:
“Many of these parents are children of divorce… Today, these parents say they’d rather raise a child alone or with multiple partners than risk putting that child through a divorce.”
“As to what kind of consequences this new concept of marriage will have for the next generation… Experts say it’s too soon to say what the effects will be. We’ll have to ask these children in 20 years.”
I’ve seen many blog comments with the writer stating “I wish I could edit my comment,” following a string of corrections to his or her previous post. May I simply suggest to everyone that you proofread your post before submitting it? This will make life easier for both you and your readers.
Thanks,
Management 
I’ll be talking about this story on my Issues Etc interview in a few minutes. Free condoms to children of all ages? Don’t tell the parents? School population declining? could there be a connection?
Singer said she wanted the policy to apply to the Veterans Memorial Elementary School so that fifth- and sixth-graders could get condoms. There were 17 students in those grades this year, according to state data; there were 69 students in preschool through fourth grade at Veterans.
The policy was approved as the school system contends with a dramatic drop in enrollment — down from 500 students in 1980 to 152 this year. The School Committee recently announced that the high school will close in 2013. The school had 66 students this year; 36 are enrolled for this fall.
According to sources in MA, Provincetown has become such a gay mecca, that straight tourists don’t feel welcome there, with their kids. Parents are referred to as “breeders.” Could that attitude have something to do with the decline in the school-aged population?
Just a thought.
This LifeSiteNews article describes how a recent ruling by the IRS means that in some cases same-sex domestic partners in California (and a couple of other states) could get a better deal on their taxes than a comparable heterosexual couple would have available to them. Most tax experts seem to think this new regulation is a clear violation of the Defense Of Marriage Act (DOMA).
This is just one more example of how impractical it is to attempt to degender marriage, and how it will require the government to intervene in ways that actually disadvantage traditional family structures.
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