November 10th, 2011
Betsy
by Alan F. H. Wisdom
In ancient times, there was an option for a man who desired a regular sex partner but did not wish to marry her. He could take a low-status woman as a concubine. He could enjoy her company as long as it pleased him, and he could dismiss her at any time. The man made no promises and signed no contract; consequently, the concubine had few legal protections. Any children that she bore would have an inferior legal status. Read more…
by Charles Capps, Stanford alumnus and co-founder of the Anscombe Society at Stanford University
November 9, 2011
Last weekend, a group of students and young professionals converged on Provo, Utah, for the second annual Strengthening the Family conference, put on by Students for the Family. The conference planners selected a timely theme—“Engaging Issues with Courage and Civility.” Anyone who reads the news knows that, when it comes to current debates about marriage and the family, civility is in short supply. This makes courage in speaking the truth about these issues difficult but crucial. [Editor's note: The Ruth Institute was one of the sponsors for this conference.] Read more…
W. Bradford Wilcox, who consults on U.S. demographics, is the director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia.
The long-term fortunes of the modern economy depend in part on the strength and sustainability of the family, both in relation to fertility trends and to marriage trends. This basic, but often overlooked, principle is now at work in the current global economic crisis. Read more…
by Jim Tonkowich, Oxford House Research
ene Simmons, lead singer of the rock group KISS, recently married former Playboy model Shannon Tweed. It was billed as “the rock-and-roll wedding of the year” and the climax of the couple’s reality television show, “Gene Simmons Family Jewels.” (Wedding merchandise is available here.) Simmons and Tweed tied the knot and went off on their honeymoon after cohabitating for 28 years and raising two children, Nick (age 22) and Sophie (age 19). Read more…
by Maggie Gallagher
October 20, 2011 http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2011/10/4164
The decline of manhood and norms around sex, marriage, and family produces for young women what may in fact have to be endured. But it shouldn’t be celebrated.
In the cover story of the November Atlantic magazine, Kate Bolick declares her liberation from marriage: “It’s time to embrace new ideas about romance and family–and to acknowledge the end of ‘traditional’ marriage as society’s highest ideal.” Read more…
by Carolyn Moynihan
Divorce, a major contributor to unhappiness and social disorder, is happening much more than it ought to — much more than even the spouses involved even want — according to a new report from the Institute for American Values.
Some 40 per cent of US couples already well into the divorce process say that one or both of them are interested in the possibility of reconciliation. Read more…
by Laurie deRose
Gobal data shows majority support for the traditional family, despite some erosion.
In the last section of the Sustainable Demographic Development report Laurie deRose surveys global statistical evidence on international family strcuture, children’s trends, family culture, and family economic wellbeing. Here MercatorNet reproduces his findings on family culture, which are generally positive. The third and last in this series. Read more…
By Taylor Pettit
A group of individuals have come together on campus with the intent of reminding Eastern of what they said is a forgotten value: marriage between a man and a woman.
The group, Love and Truth, was approved by Student Life two weeks ago and immediately began advertising and recruiting around campus several planned events this year. Read more…
WASHINGTON, September 1, 2011– R&B Pop Superstar Beyonce Knowles’ recently announced pregnancy has ignited lots of interest but also social debate about controversial issues like the high rate of out-of-wedlock births in urban cities. Read more…
Consultants brought to Topeka by Gov. Sam Brownback to help outline a new pro-marriage initiative considered development of a “family preparatory” curriculum for high school students and elimination of financial penalties suffered by couples who marry while on public assistance. Read more…
by Carolyn Moynihan
Programmes in the United States that promote marriage or fatherhood have received a new round of funding from the federal government — nearly $120 million, all up. The funding was begun by President George W Bush. Read more…
by Christopher White
Based on projections from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), world population will reach seven billion by the end of this month. According to Hania Zlotnik, director of DESA’s Population Division, “It is very important for the future of humanity that the young people of today have on average fewer children than their parents did.” Read more…
by Carolyn Moynihan
Have you read the latest on the Greek bailout? Last I heard people who were lucky enough to have government jobs are on strike because they are about to lose them, thanks to austerity measures being forced on the country by the EU and the IMF. Read more…
by Peter Jon Mitchell
So the sexual avant garde would have us believe. It’s the oldest trick in the book.
Secret infidelity within marriage is dishonest. On that, there is widespread agreement. But the prevailing question in our culture today seems to be whether monogamy itself is dishonest about human desire and personal fulfilment. Read more…
Admit you were wrong. Owning up to your own imperfection allows you to be human. Your spouse has an opportunity to forgive you, and to connect with you, as one frail, fragile, imperfect, blundering human being to another. Read more…
The 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth shows that adults who grew up in intact families and currently attended weekly religious services are least likely to “ever assault someone.”
This article comes from the Marriage and Religion Research Institute. Read more…
September 30th, 2011
Betsy
This is really, really distressing. Let the downward spiral of marriage begin!
Reform would allow couples to decide on the length of their commitment
MEXICO CITY — Mexico City lawmakers want to help newlyweds avoid the hassle of divorce by giving them an easy exit strategy: temporary marriage licenses. Read more…
September 21st, 2011
Betsy
By: Jim Tonkowich
“Treat yourself,” my friend said. “It will be a shot in the arm for your marriage.” He was encouraging me to read Pius XI’s December 1930 encyclical, Casti Connubii (Chaste Marriage). As it turns out, it’s more than a treat. It’s strong medicine for what ails marriage more than eighty years after it was penned. Read more…
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