Author: Ruth Institute

Is it ok to have sex with a robot?

by Jennifer Roback Morse  (and other questions you thought you’d never hear….)  So, the Christian Post asked me to comment on this question.  The sum total of my answer:  “I thought I had heard it all, but robot sex is too much, even for me,” Jennifer Roback Morse, founder and president of The Ruth Institute, responded. “You may […]

The Ruth Institute files a Friend of the Court brief

by Jennifer Roback Morse The Ruth Institute and I, filed a Friend of the Court brief to the US Supreme Court for the upcoming marriage cases, called Obergefell v Hodges.  We are not hopeful of a good outcome in this decision. Nonetheless, we filed a brief for these reasons:  To give the dissenters some ammunition.  To […]

Dear Heterosexual Community: Your Kids Are Hurting, Part 1

  by Jennifer Johnson, Associate Director for the Ruth Institute I am pleased to see that the community of natural marriage defenders is taking notice of kids in gay households: Dear Gay Community: Your Kids Are Hurting Wonderful! But what if I told you that it’s only a start? Consider this: kids in gay households […]

Dr J on "Beyond the Veil"

(March 24, 2015) Dr J is a guest of Father Thomas Loya on his radio program "Beyond the Veil.&quot, Today they talked about Dr J’s book, The Sexual Revolution and its Victims, where she takes on the prevailing narrative that nothing should inhibit anyone’s personal pleasure.

The Sexual Revolution and Its Victims: Summit Ministries

(March 11, 2015) Dr J delivered this talk at the Summit Adult Program in Colorado Springs. In it, she’s addressing 3 basic points: What is the sexual revolution? How does the marriage issue fit into its overall picture? What are we going to about it–how do we heal the culture in a lasting and Christlike way?

Dr J at Faith Lutheran Church

(March 2, 2015) Dr J speaks on The Sexual Revolution and its Victims to Faith Lutheran Church in Indiana. Marriage exists to ensure children know and have a relationship with their mother and father whenever possible–it’s a matter of basic social justice for the child.

Dr J at Grace Lutheran Church

(March 2, 2015) Dr J speaks on The Sexual Revolution and its Victims to Grace Lutheran Church in Indiana. Marriage exists to ensure children know and have a relationship with their mother and father whenever possible–it’s a matter of basic social justice for the child.

Ten Simple Steps to Keeping Romance Alive

by Betsy Kerekes This article was first published at aleteia.org on February 15, 2015. Anyone who tells you that kids won’t take a toll on romance in your marriage is a fool or someone desperate for grandkids. You do have to try harder to keep that courtship feeling alive when it seems that a needy […]

Hidden Pain

by c.a.w. Life growing up was never easy for me. Maybe it was my sensitive temperament. I was shy, and a bit of a tomboy. Consequently, I was never popular in school. It was hard, but at least I had my family to turn to, right? I always had my brother to play with, and […]

Rev. Walter Hoye at San Diego’s Walk for Life

(January 31, 2015) Rev Walter Hoye is one of the speakers at San Diego’s 3rd annual Walk for Life this year–you may remember him as a longtime friend of Ruth who went to jail after peacefully holding signs across the street from an Oakland abortion clinic. He gave a short talk as part of the event entitled "All Lives Matter."

Dr J at San Diego’s Walk for Life

(January 31, 2015) Dr J is one of the speakers at San Diego’s 3rd annual Walk for Life this year. She gave a short talk as part of the event about the dignity of human life and how the sexual state is often at odds with it.

San Diego’s Walk for Life

(January 29, 2015) Dr J is John Harper’s guest on Morning Air, where they discussed the Walk for Life coming up this weekend in San Diego. Dr J will be one of the speakers (along with Rev. Walter Hoye, whose ministry is very inspiring)–if you can get to the area, don’t miss it.

OneLifeLA

(January 17, 2015) Dr J traveled up to Los Angeles, California, to participate in OneLifeLA, a walk and family festival celebrating the value of human life at all ages. While she was there, she was interviewed on the spot by Cyril Jones-Kellett and Joseph Nesta of Immaculate Heart Radio.

Recipes for Peace

Our Ruth Institute Recipes for Peace campaign is winding down. I want to thank everyone who participated by posting cute family photos and survival tips for the holidays! I had a lot of fun, and I can tell that all of you did as well. Let us remember that Jesus is the King of Peace. […]

Did the Christian god rape Mary?

This article was first published December 26, 2014, at ChristianPost.com. In the midst of all our preparations for our Christmas celebrations, something serious appeared on the horizon. A former Evangelical, Valerie Tarico, wrote an article on Salon called “Why rape is so intrinsic to religion.” With a title like that, the week before Christmas: one […]

Why the Ruth Institute cares what Marriage Data the Census collects

The Ruth Institute inspires and equips the Survivors of the Sexual Revolution to recover from their negative experiences and reach out to help the young. We move people from being Victims to Survivors to Advocates for positive change. Yesterday, I posted a story about the Census Bureau dropping questions about marriage, as well as a […]

Sample email to stop the Census from wiping out marriage

Dear Ms. Jessup I am concerned that the Census is considering removing the questions about changes in marital status in future American Community Surveys. Marriage is different from other relationships. The recent trends in marriage show that the institution is in decline. If you quit asking the questions, you will not be able to detect […]

Sneak Attack on Marriage by The Sexual State

The US Census Bureau is in the process of removing questions about marriage from its surveys. According to the Washington Examiner: Members of Congress and agencies rely on demographic data to shape policy. Marriage has been declining, and the presence of single mothers is among the largest factors in the growth of entitlement programs. But […]

More detailed information about the Census’ sneak attack on marriage

In a previous post, I described the Census Bureau’s proposal to eliminate questions about changes in marital status from future data collections. This post provides you with more detail, so you can examine this issue for yourself. Go here for more information on the Request for Comments. Go here for more information about the specific […]

Recipe for Peace: Overcoming Loneliness

Christmas is the saddest time of the year in which to feel lonely. We can feel alone in a crowded room, when we feel no one really knows or understands us. We can feel alone because we literally have no one around us. There are so many reasons today why people are estranged from their […]

Four Christmases: The Superstition of Divorce

A superstition is something we believe in spite of the evidence, because we like the way it makes us feel. For example: “I can solve all my problems if I could just divorce my spouse, and try again to find the Perfect Soulmate.” Do you remember the movie, Four Christmases, the Reese Witherspoon, Vince Vaughn […]

Recipe for Peace: Overcoming Despair

Hope is anticipating a positive future. During the Christmas season, sometimes reality does not live up to our expectations. We feel discouraged, which can cause despair. We give up thinking that our lives will ever work the way we want them to, or that our lives and struggles have meaning.  We need an antidote to […]

"No One Told Me It Was Wrong"

The California Catholic Daily picked up my MercatorNet article, with this new and I think, more appealing title. My husband and I traveled to St. Joachim’s parish in Madera, CA to participate in a marriage preparation/marriage enrichment weekend. This parish is manned by an order of priests, the Oblates of St. Joseph. They have been […]

Recipe for Peace: Overcoming Doubts

Christmas, the season of peace and joy, feelings which sometimes elude us. When our reality does not live up to our expectations, we feel disappointed. And that disappointment can cause us to doubt: doubt the love of our family for us, or doubt God’s love for us, or doubt ourselves and our worthiness. We need […]

A Recipe for Christmas Peace

Christmas, the season of peace and joy: sometimes, the peace and joy seem elusive. We have too much to do. Or we have old family wounds. Or we are dreading another year of non-stop driving from the afternoon of December 24th, and all day on Christmas. Going between all the broken and rebuilt families can […]

Gender Distinctions

(December 2, 2014) Dr J is once again a guest on Drew Mariani’s eponymous show where they discussed the vote coming up in Minnesota about removing gender differentiation in grade-school sports–and locker rooms.

Christianity without Christ

Jody Bottum’s new essay at The Weekly Standard explores the way religious themes are emerging in some of the most radically secularized movements of our time. He observes that “white privilege” has become the modern equivalent of original sin. Political correctness includes the “shunning” of sinners, akin to that practice by sects such as the […]

Tough Love is Still Love

My Latest, over at MercatorNet. November 19, 2014 The recent two-week-long synod on the family in the Vatican has been an on-going source of headlines around the world, and not just in Catholic media. After a year of reflection, it will resume next year. In the meantime, many critics are claiming that it is impossible to […]

Why Sandra Fluke is a household name and wait, who is that other lady?

In a recent article, Holly Griggs Spall observes that women on the Pill have many potential problems to deal with, including health concerns, problems with relationships, psychological side-effects and more. She complains that a lack of feminism is the problem. Why is it that we hear most about the side effects of the pill that […]

Thinking Strategically and Faithfully, about the Pope

I have received many responses to my somewhat tongue in cheek article last week, “Mom’s Home,” imploring my fellow Conservative Catholics to stop disrespecting the Pope. The responses were all over the map. I thought it would be well to offer a window into my strategic thinking. This post should help you understand what I’m […]

My prediction about the Vatican’s “Humanum” conference

According to the Catholic News Agency, “the Vatican is hosting a colloquium seeking to find ‘new and creative language to speak to people where they are.’ This is according to Helen Alvaré, professor of law at George Mason University, and communications liaison for the Humanum Colloquium, which will run from Nov. 17­-19 at the Vatican.” […]

Mom’s home: A word to Conservative Critics of Pope Francis

For purposes of this article, I set aside my Ph.D. degree: I am speaking strictly on the authority of my MOM degree.  Archbishop Kurtz’ contribution to the working group was wonderful! Did you read it?[/caption] Ok, everyone. I realize I have been out of the loop for a while. I have been trying to finish […]

6th Circuit decision to uphold marriage

Dr. Morse is quoted in this article on the 6th Circuit Court’s upholding of natural marriage: ““It lays out some places where the Supreme Court is going to have to rule,” said Jennifer Roback Morse, founder of the Ruth Institute. Sutton, she noted, calls attention to the fact that the high court already ruled that marriage […]

Mercy, Compassion and Orthodoxy

My husband I attended a marriage preparation retreat in a small town in central California a few weeks ago. We were by far the oldest people there. The retreat was developed by an order of priests who are very orthodox in their teaching about marriage, family and human sexuality. They do not soft-pedal anything. They […]

Wanted: Academic Freedom, (or even just a decent conversation)

My friend Robert Oscar Lopez has been writing about his on-going problem of being systematically harassed by the Gay Establishment.  One of the precipitating events was the “Bonds that Matter” conference, held in Simi Valley, CA, on October 3. My organization, the Ruth Institute, was proud to act as co-sponsor to that historic event.  The […]

Parental Alienation Syndrome

by Heather B. (Maryland) My Experiences with Parental Alienation Syndrome I still remember standing at the top of a sloping gravel driveway. My sister stood beside me; I was uncertain of the words we were trained to speak. As the black pick-up truck made its final ascent to our front door, I look at my […]

In celebration of Blessed Paul VI, Prophet and Pope

Pope Francis beatified Pope Paul VI at the close of the Synod on the Family.  This means two things. First, the Church officially recognizes the personal sanctity of Paul VI. Second, the Church has no intention of backing away from its ancient teachings on artificial contraception. For Paul VI is the author of the 1968 […]

Pope Still Catholic: Francis to Beatify Paul VI!

Ok, everyone, listen up.  There is no longer any doubt: Pope Francis is definitely Catholic! And completely orthodox on sexual morality!  At the end of the Synod, he will beatify Pope Paul VI, author of Humanae Vitae.  This action leaves no doubt at all where the Holy Father stands.  He absolutely does not have to […]

Take Heart! The Church is Still Catholic! Cardinal Pell explains it all!

Take heart from this video interview with Cardinal Pell of Australia.  These 5 minutes will lower your blood-pressure if you are a supporter of the ancient Christian teachings on marriage, family and human sexuality.  Cardinal Pell is reacting to the “relatio post disceptationem” published midway through the Synod, the unofficial document touted by the media […]

George Weigel: a good article and missed opportunity

George Weigel has a good article on the Synod on NRO today. He correctly states that the Church will not change her teachings on marriage, the family and human sexuality.  However, he misses an opportunity in this paragraph. What the Catholic Church believes about the ethics of human love and about marriage is not a […]

A Modest Proposal to Regulate Sperm Banks

I suppose you have heard the dismay over the lesbian couple who ordered a white baby from a sperm bank and got a black baby.  They are suing the sperm bank for “Wrongful birth and breach of warranty.” Not surprising: it is after all, a commercial transaction.  Suing the business is what dissatisfied customers do. […]

Dr Morse quoted on LifeSite News

In an article on the Republican mega-donor Paul Singer and his attempts to steer the GOP away from the social issues, I am quoted thus: Dr. Jennifer Morse, who founded the Ruth Institute, agreed that if the Republican Party changes its formal views on marriage, “the millions of ordinary people of all ages, races, and religions […]

Divorce as a Children’s Rights Issue

(October 3, 2014) Dr J travels to California’s Simi Valley to participate in the International Children’s Rights Institute’s conference hosted by Robert Lopez–this is our podcast of her talk there, "Divorce as a Children’s Rights Issue."

Ruth Institute reacts to Supreme Court with Sorrow, but not Surprise

The Ruth Institute expresses sorrow but not surprise, at the Supreme Court’s decision to allow challenges to natural marriage to stand. And thanks allies who labored to defend marriage. Press Release from the Ruth Institute October 6, 2014 San Marcos CA—The Ruth Institute expresses its sorrow but not surprise, at the Supreme Court’s decision to […]

Building a Better Fatherhood

Our culture of individualism has trouble seeing the family, or understanding what it is seeing, when it does see the family.  Ruth Institute Circle of Experts member, Dr. Scott Yenor has an inspiring article, well worth sharing with the dads in your life. How is our culture’s emphasis on autonomous independence different from an attitude […]

Ayn Rand in the mind of an impressionable twenty-something

I went to see Atlas Shrugged Part III the night it opened. The evening led me to reflect on what had attracted me to Ayn Rand as a twenty-something graduate student in economics. And let it be said: I was very attracted to her ideas. I appreciated how she dramatized the evils of a centrally […]

Stand Up to Elites to Stand for Children

Why should we stand for the family, or for marriage, or for life or for any of the culturally-conservative issues? Living in California during the Proposition 8 debates, I had a front row seat watching the “elites” mangle the meaning of marriage. The judicial elites have handed down a disastrous series of federal court decisions, […]

Married Rugby Buddies and the Point of Marriage

Did you hear about the two young guys in New Zealand who got married to enter a contest to win rugby tickets? I wrote about them the other day. The contest was open to married couples. The two guys are not gay, but have been buddies since they were 6 years old.  They got married […]

Dealing with a Guilty Conscience: A Modest Proposal

We talk about some very sensitive issues at the Ruth Institute: sex, abortion, divorce. I have noticed that sometimes, peoples’ reactions are all out of proportion to what we actually said.  Many times, I have wondered to myself, “What accounts for this extreme reaction?” Without jumping to an overly broad conclusion, let me suggest that […]

Helping a Victim, without Implicating the Perpetrator

I recently got this message from a Facebook friend. Just so you know, I would “like” and “share” all the divorce stories that you’re posting- only it would compromise some family relationships I have that I am responsible for. God is good and has afforded much forgiveness and reconciliation- I do not want to challenge […]

Family Secrets and Embarrassment

A note from a Facebook friend prompted me to reflect on family secrets and their potentially toxic impact on relationships. I want you to know why I have not responded to your call to “share our stories.” I cannot tell the whole of my story until some in it are no longer living- I guess […]

Tip #3 from "101 Tips for a Happier Marriage"

Remain in solidarity with the other person, especially when he or she is suffering or struggling. Love sits by the bedside, even when it is painful to watch.  Be present and available to your spouse when they are going through a challenging time. It might be frustrating to listen to your spouse complain.  It might […]

Karen’s Story: Cohabiting with Regrets

I believe we are living under a brutal sexual regime. The Sexual Revolution routinely chews people up and spits them out. Let me tell you a story about a young woman whom I know by reputation, but have never met. I have inferred some parts of her story, based on my experiences that are in […]

Lifelong Grief: A Child’s Story of Divorce

lifelong grief

by Alysse E. (Raleigh, NC) Lifelong Grief My divorce story begins with an image of my father, curled up underneath my baby bed while I slept, whispering a tearful goodbye. Later that night, he would beg my mother, “Please, don’t take her away.” Because I was only two when my parents divorced, I have no […]

3rd times a charm

by Ashtin (Iowa) My dad My biological mother and father had only known each other 6 months when they had their shotgun wedding, which my mother was 5 months pregnant at. They were young, even though my mom had Curtis(6)( my brother from a previous marriage) already, Logan was born, then myself. But at the […]

World Health Organization: The Pill causes cancer in humans

My doctor won’t give me Hormone Replacement Therapy to help relieve my menopause symptoms. He says those hormones are associated with increased health risks. Yet, if I were 40 years younger and asked the doctor for oral contraception, he would prescribe it in a snap.  Even though hormone replacement therapy and oral contraceptives consist of […]

My prediction about the Princeton Professors…

Yesterday, I predicted that the debate between two Princeton professors would not broach what I consider to be the crucial questions on the marriage issue. The opening salvo by Professor Emeritus James Doig seemed more concerned with catching Professor Robert George in some inconsistency than in really exploring what the redefinition of marriage might ultimately mean. In […]

Asking the Right Questions about Marriage

Over at The Public Discourse, Professor Emeritus Jameson W. Doig of Princeton began a dialogue with Professor Robert George also of Princeton on the proper definition of marriage today. Professor Doig’s point appears to be that Professor George has not been consistent in his views. My point is not to defend Professor George: he is a […]

The Sexual State: The Purpose of our government

What is the purpose of government? Let us look around us to draw the conclusion. Based on what we observe our government doing, we would have to conclude: The real purpose of the government is to give people the sex lives they want, with a minimum of inconvenience. You want to have sex without having a baby? […]

Dear Bob: Letters to a Hopeful Marriage Apologist

Note: I get many letters from people asking for studies or quick answers to defend marriage to their friends. I get so many of these requests, I decided to put together a set of standard responses. I hope this series will be helpful for more people than those particular individuals who have written to me. […]

Transformational marriage

Very interesting article over at Ethika Politika, called “Choosing Transformational Marriage,”by a young lady named Elizabeth Stoker Bruening.  She makes the point that we are all so freaked out over whether we stay married or get divorced and how we feel, that we overlook the transformational nature of marriage itself.  She observes that the raft […]

Only 3 more days of Dr J’s Challenge to Improve your marriage

Remove all forms of sarcasm from your vocabulary.  “Sarcasm” comes from a Greek word meaning to tear flesh like dogs. There is never a good time to tear your spouse’s flesh.  So take my one week challenge and live without sarcasm until Sunday. Yes, if you started late, I will still allow you to participate […]