Ruth Institute Blog

Meet our ITAF Gala keynote speaker, Tim Clemente. Tim will be discussing the state of Love in Hollywood! More info on our site, here.

by Patrick F. Fagan

Family, church, and school are the three basic people-forming institutions, and they produce the best results when they cooperate.

Even if all the market reforms of the Washington think tanks, the Wall Street Journal, and Forbes Magazine were enacted, we’d still need to kiss the Great American Economy goodbye. Below the level of economic policy lies a society that is producing fewer people capable of hard work, especially married men with children. As the retreat from marriage continues apace, there are fewer and fewer of these men, resulting in a slowly, permanently decelerating economy. Read more…

Our very own Jennifer Thieme was on the Taylor Baldwin show yesterday! The show was broadcast live from the San Diego Union Tribune television studios. Jennifer represented the pro-marriage side, and gay activist Sean Sala represented the gay marriage side.

Jennifer led off by asking a few questions:

what is marriage?
what purpose does marriage serve in society?
why did marriage arise in the first place?

She pointed out that what is at stake amounts to a “quid pro quo transaction”–in other words, a trade–between allowing gays to marry, and the fundamental presumption that children are entitled to a mother and a father. Read more…

No, the turnout in San Diego for Pro Marriage demonstrators was not nearly what it was in DC. Nonetheless, approx. 100 turned out to show their support for Natural Marriage; as against perhaps 3 or 4 people from ‘other side’ — guess who the media wanted to interview? You guessed it……

by Barbara Ray

One in two mothers in America is now having a baby then marrying later, if at all.

A profound shift is happening in America. Somewhere around 2000, the country quietly reached a tipping point: women, in a trend driven largely by “middle-American” women, collectively began putting the baby carriage before marriage.

In fact, for women on the whole, the age of first birth is now 25.7 while the age at first marriage is 26.5.

Let that sink in a moment. Read more…

by  Patrick Fagan

This article was first published at The Public Discourse on March 11, 2013.

This year, the Supreme Court will render judgment on the institution of marriage. Though most of us don’t realize it, the Court first did so forty-one years ago in Eisenstadt v. Baird, a decision that gravely wounded marriage and set the nation on a course of gradual debilitation by ruling that states could not restrict the sale of contraceptives to unmarried people. Read more…

By Ryan T. Anderson at www.heritage.org.

“Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio will follow in the steps of Pope Benedict XVI and provide a consistent and strong voice in support of marriage and children.”

– Brian Brown, NOM president –

Washington, D.C. – Today, Brian Brown, National Organization for Marriage president, released the following statement regarding the selection of Pope Francis: Read more…

by Tamara Rajakariar

Ah, the question of the joint account. To have, or not to have?

It’s a subject that has been discussed over and over again, and one which couples must broach when heading towards marriage. But it looks like current newlyweds are generally content to stick with their personal bank accounts, according to a Sydney Morning Herald article. Read more…