Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse founded the Ruth Institute in the summer of 2008 because she has a passion for helping young people avoid the poisonous personal consequences of the Sexual Revolution. She saw the connection between the crazy behaviors encouraged on campuses, young people’s unwillingness to get married and ultimately, our cultural inability to stay married.
Her formidable body of knowledge led to her being invited to be part of various campaigns to strengthen the legal definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. That political and educational activity has been associated with the public’s image of the Ruth Institute. She is widely respected by many leaders of the family movement, including State Family Policy Councils and leaders in many religious organizations.
For the first five years of its existence, the Ruth Institute operated under the National Organization for Marriage Education Fund (NOMEF). Ruth’s primary mission was to promote lifelong married love to college students by creating an intellectual and social climate favorable to marriage. The Ruth Institute pursued this mission through conferences, lectures and publications, aimed at college students and those who work with them. The students who participated in these programs continue to have an impact on their campuses, and beyond.
In the summer of 2013, the Supreme Court’s decisions in the DOMA and Proposition 8 cases signaled a new level of governmental commitment to the Sexual Revolution. Dr. Morse and the team at the Ruth Institute concluded that the opponents of natural marriage hold a commanding position on the legal and political fronts. At that time, the Ruth Institute made a strategic decision to enter into the cultural and social fray in a new way.
The Sexual Revolutionaries have defined the terms of the debate. They have largely dictated the cultural narrative about sex, marriage and family. Yet the full story of the harms of the Sexual Revolution has never been honestly and completely told.
With Ruth’s renewed focus on the social and cultural arenas (as opposed to the political and legal arenas), Ruth and NOMEF concluded that their continued association was no longer mutually beneficial. As of November 1, 2013, the Ruth Institute has operated as an independent California corporation, and is now tax exempt with its own 501(c)(3) status.
Cultural conservatives have allowed themselves to be out-maneuvered by the Sexual Revolutionaries. The Sexual Revolutionaries have defined the terms of the debate. They have largely dictated the cultural narrative about sex, marriage and family. Yet the full story of the harms of the Sexual Revolution has never been honestly and completely told.
The Ruth Institute is working to create a new story, a new narrative. The Victims of the Sexual Revolution are largely invisible in society and voiceless in the cultural conversation.
The Ruth Institute is dedicated to inspiring the Victims of the Sexual Revolution, to become Survivors and ultimately Advocates for Positive Change. We believe giving voice to the Victims of the Sexual Revolution is due to them as a matter of justice. We also believe that their voices have unique potential to change the cultural narrative around family, marriage and human sexuality.