Ruth Institute Blog

Keep checking the podcast page for more lectures from “It Takes a Family.”  The most recent one up is Dr. Robert Gagnon’s talk, entitled “Jesus and Sex.”  He’s a professor from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, and he discussed what Jesus taught about sex–including marriage, homosexuality, and divorce–and how His teachings related to the Mosaic law and the mores of the culture.

Jesus and Sex @ ITAF

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…

By Todd Starnes

A federal judge has ruled in favor of a public university that removed a Christian student from its graduate program in school counseling over her belief that homosexuality is morally wrong. Monday’s ruling, according to Julea Ward’s attorneys, could result in Christian students across the country being expelled from public university for similar views.

“It’s a very dangerous precedent,” Jeremy Tedesco, legal counsel for the conservative Alliance Defense Fund, told FOX News Radio. “The ruling doesn’t say that explicitly, but that’s what is going to happen.” Read more…

Dr J is on NOM’s Summer Marriage Tour for the next several days–she’ll be traveling down the Eastern seaboard, meeting new people, and giving short talks in each city at which the bus stops.  These talks are also available on our podcast page.

In this 10-minute talk (delivered July 15 in Manchester, New Hampshire), Dr J answers the question “Is it true that same-sex marriage affects everyone?”
Click here to listen!

Manchester, New Hampshire

Clinton’s “first concern for Africa is how LGBT persons are treated on the continent. . . it is fortunate that the US does not have an embassy in Mogadishu, because if the word got round that THIS was the African priority for the present US administration, there would be a repetition of Black Hawk Down.” For reals! I think they’d probably just laugh, and be disappointed. “Crazy Americans!” they’d say. Read more…

by Walter R Schumm

Research showing the risks of lesbian and gay parenting is ignored in the race to make a political case.

There is an inherent risk that anyone who has anything to say about gay male or lesbian parenting, no matter how cautious, will be misunderstood at best and vilified at worst. Nevertheless, the mission of a university professor includes seeking new ways to look at old issues, to resist all forms of intimidation, and to ensure that multiple sides of controversial issues are considered. Since there are more voices promoting the virtues of parenting by people defining themselves as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender (GLBT), I will present here an alternative, possibly minority, view that focuses on some of the possible risks associated with gay and lesbian parenting. Read more…

By Stephen Baskerville

It may be no accident that Dale McAlpine, the Christian arrested for street preaching in England, was nabbed for his views on homosexuality. As Melanie Phillips points out in the Daily Mail, the preponderance of cases in what she calls Britain’s “attempt to stamp out Christianity” involve homosexuality. Read more…

by David Schaengold

Another reason the analogy between same-sex marriage and interracial marriage fails.

Recently in Public Discourse, Francis Beckwith argued that the frequently invoked analogy between same-sex marriage and interracial marriage is flawed, and should not be used by advocates for the legal recognition of same-sex unions. As Beckwith wrote, this analogy is freighted with enormous moral and intellectual force, but it does not withstand examination. Bans on interracial marriage are not relevantly similar to current marriage law with respect to homosexuality. Read more…

New podcast!  Drew Mariani interviews Dr J on his radio show about Fathers’ Day, the president’s speech commemorating same, homosexual parenting, and the oft-mentioned Pediatrics study championing lesbian parenting.  Listen here.

Fathers’ Day and Homosexual Parenting

Troubling, indeed, to think that three and four-year-olds calling “kissing crocs” one boy and one girl is “a problem.” I don’t call that a problem; I call it normal! Let them be normal. If that’s the way they’re thinking naturally, than it’s natural. Why try to mess with them?

by Carolyn Moynihan

Sexuality engineers may be coming to a childcare centre near you.

Let’s get one thing straight: are we against the sexualization of children or are we not? If we — adult, mainstream society — are against it, we had better start explaining to ourselves why there are people employed in public institutions who say openly that they do not believe in the sexual innocence of children and want to expose it as a myth. Read more…

According to Gallup’s recent Values and Beliefs survey, Americans are “sharply divided” on 4 issues: doctor-assisted suicide, homosexual relations, abortion, and out-of-wedlock childbearing.  Close to half of us perceive these activities in particular as “morally acceptable;” close to half disagree and find them “morally wrong.”  (The survey asked about 16 behaviors; these were the most evenly divided among those polled.)  Curious?  Listen in. (Click the POD icon.)

By Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse|Published Date: April 04, 2010 at The Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview.

Equal, but…

“Kids Do as Well with Same Sex Parents,” the headlines screamed. I crossed swords with Judith Stacey, one of the authors of this most recent study, at a debate at Bowling Green State a few years ago. I asked her point blank if she believed men and women were completely interchangeable as parents. In front of that very friendly audience, she said absolutely: the gender of parents doesn’t matter. And so she says now, in this new article the media loved. But midway through the article, her argument shifts from a “no difference” argument to my favorite definition of feminism: men and women are identical, except women are better. Her article ends with an intimation that I believe tells strongly against same sex marriage. Redefining marriage will create a cultural climate that will drive men out of the family, and lead to the belief that the only good man is a gay man. Read more…

Dr J’s interview on Issues, Etc. this week deals with Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs survey.  According to their findings, Americans are most likely to disagree over four issues: physician-assisted suicide, gay/lesbian relations, abortion, and out-of-wedlock childbearing.  (The others on the list we’re more and more likely to agree on, culminating in condemnation of adultery.)

All of the findings are interesting, and some are surprising.  For example–many of us apparently think physician-assisted suicide is okay but suicide (without a physician) isn’t.  If I’m interpreting this correctly, that means that there’s a section of the populace who wouldn’t condone self-suicide but would be fine with a physician ending lives.  Did they assume the question included them, or were they applying it only to others?  Is this some sort of attempt at checks and balances?  It comes across as muddled thinking.

Also, when the respondents were grouped by gender, men tended to be more accepting [of these hot-button issues] than women.  However, there was one category where men were less accepting than women: out-of-wedlock childbearing.  More women viewed this as “morally acceptable” (55%) than did men (52%).

The interview is now up on our podcast page (and iTunes) for your listening pleasure.

Four Moral Issues

This one’s sure to earn some comments.

By: Chuck Colson

We’ve warned before that same-sex “marriage” will weaken the foundations of traditional marriage. New research shows us why.

Same-sex couples just want the right to be married like everyone else, or so the argument goes. They call it a civil right. You could hardly find a more innocuous argument, perfectly designed to appeal to all of us who believe in equal rights and fair play. Read more…

by Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse. Originally pubished at National Catholic Register, March 22,2010.

“Domestic partnerships make us second-class citizens. We want marriage, just like everyone else.”

This is the constant refrain of the marriage-redefinition advocates. Drawing a legal distinction, any legal distinction, between same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples is unfair and amounts to ill treatment of the same-sex couples. But does this argument really hold up? Read more…

A new data analysis from the Centers for Disease Control shows, once again, that homosexual intercourse is hazardous to the health:

The Centers for Disease Control recently released information from a data analysis regarding the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases.  Presented at the CDC’s National STD Prevention Conference, the data indicated that the rate of new HIV cases among men who have sex with men (referred to in shorthand as MSM) is over 44 times that of other men.

Has this resulted in loud warnings from the media? Read more…

I take up that question in this podcast from Issues Etc, my weekly Lutheran Public Radio program. What kind of legal category is sexual orientation? How does it differ from race? Listen to the whole thing here.

Now here’s something you just don’t normally hear about!

Charlie Butts – OneNewsNow -

The number of sexual harassment claims filed by men doubled over the last decade. Read more…

I have blogged about this Quebec Policy Against Homophobia when the document first appeared. I pointed out that the Quebec government has written itself a blank check: they plan to wipe out homophobia and heterosexism. Now, heterosexism is the view that heterosexuality is normal. News flash: heterosexuality is normal for our species. It is simply not possible to wipe out this view and all its manifestations. Hence, my claim that the Provincial govt has given itself permission to intervene in every aspect of civil society.
I was beginning to think that I was the only person who noticed or cared about this massive state power grab. But, now, I have discovered this hard-hitting essay by Prof Douglas Farrow of McGill University.

The Québec policy against homophobia was released in December with introductory fanfare Read more…

by Helen M. Alvaré, J.D., Senior Fellow in Law and Ruth Institute Advisory Board Member

Every presidential administration in Washington DC does some things that appear stupid in hindsight. It gets caught up in the moment, pandering to this or that political constituency, or reacting too precipitously to some big or newsworthy event. In our 24-hour-news-cycle world, and especially if we’re sophisticated news consumers, we simply discount the importance of poor presidential decisions and move on, even as we might grow incrementally more cynical over time about government in general. Read more…