Ruth Institute Blog

by Catherine Palmer

John Blake’s recent CCN article, “Why Young Christians Aren’t Waiting Anymore,” sparked a flurry of thousands of responses. Released in September 2011, the piece cited an article in Relevant magazine entitled “(Almost) Everyone’s Doing It,” exploring the sexual activity of Christian singles. But one finding, in particular, stood out from the miscellany: According to a December 2009 study by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 80% of evangelical young adults (18 to 29) reported having had sex—just under the 88% statistic of unmarried adults overall. “Relevant theorizes about why it’s so hard for so many young Christians to wait, including the saturation of sex in popular culture, the prevalence of pornography and a popular ‘do what feels good philosophy,’” Blake writes. But are these listed sociocultural factors solely to blame? Or is there a concomitant reality at play here? Read more…

by Mariette Ulrich

In the 1980’s, my hopelessly outdated mom counselled me not to kiss a boy on the first date. I tell my daughters not to kiss (or, for that matter, date) anyone they wouldn’t be prepared to marry. As someone who espouses values possibly more old-fashioned than those held by my pre-sexual-revolution era parents, I found this Mail Online item worthy of note. Read more…

By Pat Hagan

It’s a bit of a cliche that women settle down for love, and men for regular sex.

But scientists are claiming it’s true. A study shows that women agree to cohabit because they view it as a stepping stone to marriage.

Yet men move in hoping for more sex and to ‘test drive’ the relationship to see if it is worth sticking around. Read more…

[This one was my personal favorite.]

http://www.youtube.com/user/RuthInstitute?tr=y&auid=7985290#p/c/5/7Ee2mIfJ-XI

(February 4, 2011) Thanks to the Son Rise Morning Show and Sacred Heart Radio for sharing their interview with Sister Jane Dominic of Aquinas College with our podcast.  She speaks on the college’s upcoming conference, Love & Life in the Divine Plan, on February 25th & 26th.

Sister Jane Dominic

Read more…

from The Heritage Foundation

Marriage in popular culture has experienced its share of ups and downs, mostly the latter, in recent years. The decline of marriage has even spread to middle America, once the bedrock of healthy relationships and stable families. Men and women now increasingly forego the benefits of marriage for unstable cohabiting relationships and increasing numbers of children are born outside marriage. Despite these daunting challenges to rekindling positive popular attitudes toward marriage, the fight to restore the honor and stability of lifelong, married love is far from over. Read more…

The Ruth Institute’s Video Contest Promotes Positive Messages About Marriage

Contact: Mary Beth Hutchins, 703-683-5004 ext 105 (DC); Jennifer Thieme, 760-295-9278 (CA)

SAN MARCOS, Calif., Jan. 14, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ — The Ruth Institute, a project of the National Organization for Marriage Education Fund, announces Amy Flammanio as the winner of the Early Bird Contest of its first annual Reel Love Challenge, a video contest for young adults around the country inviting them to share what lasting love in marriage looks like to them. Read more…

For 18-24 year olds. Tell the Ruth Institute what you believe Real Love is in a video, 30 seconds or less.

http://www.ruthinstitute.org/reellovechallenge/index.html

$2,000,  $1,500,  $1,000 prizes!!

by William C. Duncan, director of the Marriage Law Foundation, and a Ruth Institute Board Member.

Each November, our family puts up a blank poster board on which each member of the family can list the things they are grateful for. The list ranges from the confident handwriting of my wife to the shakier marks of the younger children who are tracing something written by an older sibling or parent (mine is closer to the latter). I have not see the phrase “lifelong love” on that poster, but it is always implicit—when “mom and dad” are listed or when my wife and I write each other’s names or when the brothers and sisters list each other. Our family is thankful for lifelong love. Read more…

RUTH INSTITUTE ANNOUNCES POSTER CONTEST AS PART OF

“REEL LOVE CHALLENGE”

Photo Contest Invites Creative Slogans

SAN MARCOS, CA – The Ruth Institute, a project of the National Organization for Marriage Education Fund, announced a one month poster contest as part of its first annual Reel Love Challenge, a video contest targeting college students around the country, and aimed at promoting a positive view of marriage and lasting love.

The poster contest, which runs through the month of October and will award a flip camera to the winner, invites contestants to submit a photo holding a sign that completes the phrase “Reel Love Is ­­____.”

The poster is available for download at the contest’s website, http://www.ruthinstitute.org/reellovechallenge/posterContest.

Submissions will be received until October 31, and a winner will be announced November 1.

The one month poster challenge is part of the Ruth Institute’s Reel Love Challenge, which invites college students around the country to submit 30 second videos to the contest website answering the question “How is lifelong love possible?” Video submissions will be accepted from September 20, 2010 until February 1, 2011, followed by an awards ceremony in San Diego where finalists’ videos will be viewed and winners will be determined by a panel of notable judges.

To schedule an interview with Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, founder of the Ruth Institute, contact Mary Beth Hutchins by e-mail at mhutchins@crcpublicrelations.com

Some of you may be familiar with our Reel Love Challenge contest for college students.  We’ve got some podcasts up for you to check out here.  The contest continues until February 14, 2011.

Dr J & Dr Gina

Jamie & Bill

We feel this song would be a good theme song for the Ruth Institute. What do you think?

Here are the lyrics: 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?

Carolyn Moynihan

When it comes to learning about sex, young people do not, on the whole, get this information from their parents. Surveys show that they more often get it from their friends, even though their preferred source is their parents. A study from the Philippines confirms this, and suggests that more should be done to improve parent-child communication in this area. Read more…