Ruth’s Real Aims
I am flattered by the attention from Daily Kos blogger, Dante Atkins. Sadly, this post is short on substance, and long on ad hominem attacks and innuendo. I will leave aside for now, his silly attack on our logo, of all things. I will ignore his mangling of the Biblical story of Ruth, except to […]
Racquel Welch on The Pill
For those of you who are too young to remember: Racquel Welch was a serious sex symbol in the seventies. Anyhow, here is her take on the anniversary of The Pill. I have to love her for her graciousness to her ex-husband: On the upside, by the early 60’s The Pill had made it easier […]
Welcome Daily Kos Readers!
We just learned that the Daily Kos has noticed little ole us, the Ruth Institute. On Sunday, they published this charming essay, called Ruthless. While we were celebrating Mother’s Day, our website had an unusual number of hits, and the Kos had over 200 comments. So, welcome to our site! We will be responding to […]
How will you feel in 20 Years?
Contrary to the new Washington Post writer on the “conservative beat,” I am confident that I will continue to be proud of my involvement in the movement for natural marriage. Oh, you hadn’t heard about this? It seems that the Washington Post chose one David Weigel to be their correspondent to cover the conservative movement. […]
Seton Hall and same sex marriage
This story caught my eye. Catholic University Seton Hall will be offering a course on same sex marriage next fall in the Women and Gender Studies Department. I doubt that the course would have even been noticed by the media, except that the Archbishop of Newark objected: Archbishop John J. Myers said news that Seton […]
Dear, Dear, Dear Abby
Yesterday’s Dear Abby column inadvertantly highlighted how far the Abortion Culture has advanced. As you read the column, reprinted below, keep these thoughts in mind: 1. An engaged couple of 30 year olds “terminated” a pregnancy. Remember how the “hard cases” of rape and incest were the justification for legalizing all abortions? So much for […]
Please Keep Your Eggs and Sperm inside the Ride…
Please keep your eggs and sperm inside the body until you are ready to use them. See what happens when you don’t? According to this article from the UK, errors in IVF clinics have doubled in the last year. Lest you think this is some ordinary error, listen to this: One couple were told by […]
Get the Government out of Sex Ed
Next up in our series on the Pill: how exaggerating the effectiveness of contraception causes serious problems. Read the statistics I quote in this column. If you don’t believe the stats I quote, you can go directly to the Alan Guttmacher articles where I first got them. Bottom line: contraception is least effective among women […]
Condomism
Next in our series, Fifty Years on the Pill, this article on the ideology of contraception. I call that ideology, “condomism:” The twentieth century witnessed so much blood-shed in the name of ideology, you might think people would be ready to give it a rest. But no, we have a new ideology whose adherents believe […]
Contra-Time magazine on the Pill: Fifty Years of Deception
Dr Janet Smith is well-known in Catholic circles as a critic of contraception. In this article, she lists some of the deceptions that have been part of the history of The Pill. Dr. Janet E. Smith holds the Father Michael J. McGivney Chair of Life Ethics at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, Mich. some […]
Contraception Conundrum
Contraception Conundrum by Political Science Professor Michael New, deals with this problem: contraception reduces the probability of pregnancy. So, if we want to reduce the number of abortions, we should increase the use of contraception. This argument in some form or another, is at the heart of the annual political crisis over federal funding of […]
Contra Contraception: Diversionary Tactics
First up in our series of contrarian articles on contraception: We need Penicillin, not condoms, in Central Africa. The diversion of health care dollars and medical personel from urgent matters like sanitation and into “family planning,” is something that deeply offends many African recipients of foreign aid. This article was written by an attorney in […]
Contra Time Magazine on Contraception
The Ruth Institute is collecting a series of articles with a different take on The Pill than the fawning account Time Magazine gave. The Time author assigns credit to The Pill for All Good Things, yet refuses to take the slightest responsibility for any negative consequences that may have come from the widespread use of […]
Judicial Corruption in the People’s Republic of Los Angeles
This chilling story at NRO shows how close corruption can come to home. On April 23, 2010, the Supreme Court of the United States denied the petition for “stay of execution” (of coercive confinement for civil contempt of court) by attorney Richard I. Fine in the case of Richard Fine v. Leroy Baca, Sheriff of […]
More on The Pill’s Deadly Affair with HIV AIDS
Betsy published a story by this name yesterday. Here is more on the link between hormonal contraception and risk factors for HIV/AIDS. The studies that demonstrate a connection between hormonal contraceptives and HIV/AIDS infection postulate a number of mechanisms at work. First, let’s review the basics. The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), is carried in warm […]
The Pill after 50 Years
There is a lot wrong with this Time article on the 50th Anniversary of The Pill. I will be talking about it on Friday at 2 PM Pacific Time on Issues Etc, the Lutheran Public Radio show I do every week. Just to give a heads up on my contrarian perspective on The Pill, go […]
More messages to my new friends from Berkeley
I talked to a couple of people involved in the helping professions. These individuals were concerned that they might be marginalized within their professions for their Christian beliefs. I mentioned to at least one of them, that a group of Christian therapists is forming in CA to advocate for religious liberty in the counseling profession. […]
Dr J On the Radio
I will be on Catholic Answers Live this afternoon, at 3 PM Pacific Time. Check your local listings here.
Messages to my new friends from the Christian World view conference
One of the wonderful aspects of my job is that I get to meet so many lovely people. One the frustrating aspects of my job is that I can’t always connect with them again! At this past weekend’s Christian Worldview conference, cosponsored by Gracepoint Church, I met a number of people who had needs I […]
Discrimination Goose and Gander
I just recieved this note from someone who heard me speak at last week’s Christian Worldview conference. I am a kitchen designer and I had a client who is a lesbian. Unfortunately, I let it slip that I am a Christian. She said that she couldn’t let me design the warmest room in the house […]
Marriage is a Bipartisan Issue
Ar excellent article in today’s Atlanta Journal Constitution, by Senator Sam Brownback and Hampton University Psychology Professor Linda Malone-Colon. A war over the family divided liberals and conservatives in the last several decades. Now is the time to end that war and come together for a nationally urgent and common cause. With 40 percent of […]
More from the CDC on risks to MSM
Ginny cited this article in a previous post. It is worth looking at this report from the CDC, as well as the commentary that Ginny cited. Here is what the CDC press release reported: The data, presented at CDC’s 2010 National STD Prevention Conference, finds that the rate of new HIV diagnoses among men who […]
A Prop 8 Trial Development I’m Not Sure I Like….
The No on 8 crowd is getting a taste of its own medicine. They are being ordered to turn documents over to the courts. I’m not sure I like it because it is a tit-for-tat move in the cat and mouse game between the parties. I don’t like the principle that political strategic plans should […]
Advocates for Life
A new group is forming for pro-life law students. Advocates for Life is sponsored by Americans United for Life, and hopes to have chapters in law schools across the country. I am proud to say that I am friends with Michael Healy, quoted in the story below. And founding member Jonathan Berry, was my host […]
Feminist regrets?
Evidently, some self-described feminists have no regrets about the hook-up culture, and are stressed out about the “back-lash” of a “new wave of anti-orgasmic sexual conservatism.” S.T. Karnick dissects their pity party. Oh wait. He didn’t call it that. I called it that. In any case, here is Karnick’s bottom line: I sympathize with Grose’s […]
Stories about the Culture Strong and Good
This speech by Orson Scott Card articulates the role of storytelling in creating and sustaining a Culture Strong and Good. Of course, Card is a professional storyteller, the author of numerous science fiction books. But he makes the case that fictional storytelling is one of the strongest, most important parts of culture formation and maintenance. […]
Research on Donor Conceived Persons
A professional journal reports on the experiences of Donor Conceived Persons searching for their anonymous dads, and/or half-siblings. One fact that I have been interested in for some time: how many people using Artificial Reproductive Technology are actually infertile, and how many have normal fertility, but do not have opposite sex partners? This study is […]
Kids Need Fathers
David Eggebeen is Associate Professor of Human Development in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Pennsylvania State University. His research focuses on aspects of the family. His interview with Mercator Net talks about how kids need fathers and how fathers make unique contributions to the welfare of their children. He also notes […]
More on Abortion Rates and State Policy
Evidently, the article Michael New was responding to originally appearred on the Law, Religion and Ethics blog. The discussion there is quite good, at a surprisingly high level of sophistication. The Leftys are still wrong however, as this deeply flawed analysis in the comments by June Carbone illustrates:
Abortion Rates and State Policy
Michael New is just the best at showing that state policy can have an impact on their abortion rates, even in the extremely hostile climate created by the Supreme Court and Roe. IN this article, he is refuting claims made in a book and a deeply pernicious book review that the culture of Red States […]
Why are so many young girls lesbians?
This story is SOOO interesting for SOOO many reasons. 1. Dr Sax shows that sexual orientation is different for women than for men, disturbing the common theory that sex differences are completely socially constructed, and that men and women are completely interchangeable. 2. Dr. Sax shows that sexual orientation is much more fluid for women […]
Unbelievable: Sweden abducts homeschooled child
I can hardly believe this story. Homeschooling in Sweden is legal. Why has the state removed this child from his parents? Failure to vaccinate? Is this really the Swedish liberal utopia? The HSLDA documented that the child was removed “without a warrant or reasonable cause to believe that he was being harmed. “Their reasoning? Dominic […]
Sex Not Necessary for Infertility Coverage
Continuing the social trend of separating sex from procreation, we are taking the next logical step after having sex without babies, (which many people thought would be great fun.) We now are entitled to have babies without having sex, (which I’m pretty sure is not as much fun.) The Illinois Dept of Insurance has declared […]
Arkansas strikes down gay adoption ban
Read it here.
Mandated Reporters?
Should colleges handle rape allegations interally? That’s the question. posed by this post over at NRO. In this case, the young man had absolutely no due process whatsoever, after being hounded out of school by an allegation that was never substantiated. Here is another twist on this question: if an criminal act (rape) is alleged, […]
The Pro-life Youth Movement
The pro-choice lobby is finally catching on to the fact that their membership is aging and not replacing itself. We noticed it when we went to the West Coast Walk for Life: the average age was really young. lots and lots of teenagers, college students and babies in strollers (the Under 1 Demographic really lowers […]
“A Landmark Gay Custody Case”
I don’t know why the MSM is so enthused about these “landmark gay custody cases,” which are supposedly “bringing us into the 21st century.” These cases, unfortunately, illustrate I am completely justified in my concerns about the direction of family law, under the tutelage of the gay lobby and the influence of same sex marriage. […]
The Wall Street Journal carries water for Planned Parenthood
Melinda Beck, in this article in the Wall Street Journal, tries to answer this question: why is it, 50 years after the Pill, that there are over 3 million “unplanned” pregnancies per year? Her answer is some variation on the Planned Parenthood theme: people don’t use enough contraception, often enough, correctly enough. They need more […]
Gay Divorce in Texas
I will be talking about this article this afternoon in my regular Issues Etc show. It will be running a bit earlier than usual: 1:45 Pacific Time, instead of my usual 2 PM slot. BTW, to all my new friends in Dallas: I mentioned to some of you that Same Sex Marriage could be coming […]
Sexual Integrity, Not Hooking Up
This article from CNN quotes favorably our friends at the Love and Fidelity Network, based at Princeton. Evidently, students from a number of schools are trying to start nonreligious pro-abstinence clubs. This is a favorable report, because they are describing the students in their own terms, rather than putting scare quotes around them, or implicitly […]
Teen Births or Out of Wedlock Births?
Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation, takes the MSM to task for its flippant and irresponsible reporting on the CDC’s figures on teen births. The press has rushed to report a minuscule drop in “teen births” based on data released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). As usual, the mainstream media are focusing […]
Hypocrisy is the tribute vice pays to virtue
Samuel Johnson supposedly said something like that. One of my readers will straighten me out, I’m sure. Anyhow, that quote came to mind when I read this mindless post at the Huffington Post: A few years ago, I applied for a teaching position at a Catholic University’s law school. Although the faculty eventually voted to […]
The Superfluous Man
This hard-hitting editorial makes many of the points I’ve been making: the combination of feminism and the welfare state is making fathers a thing of the past. The UK is further along this path than we are, but we could go this route, if we aren’t careful. Men from the employable and educated classes are […]
An Over the Top Wedding
My daughter has many Indian classmates at Berkeley. From her, I learned that many Indian girls fantasize about either the bride or groom arriving by elephant, the way American girls dream of a limo ride. So I wasn’t entirely surprised by this articlein the San Diego paper: “Oh, my God,” gasped Maryam Rahimian.
More on Porn: All men watch it…
Responding to the NRO story on pornography, Dr. Helen Smith seems to be missing the point. She quotes a single and truly lame news article claiming that porn isn’t so bad. Funny thing about this “study:” it is a series of subjective interviews with 20 heterosexual males. “We started our research seeking men in their […]
I dont’ even want to think about the incentive effects of this ruling…
A Wisconsin judge just ruled that denying prison inmates hormonal therapy constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. That is, the taxpayers are required to pay for hormonal therapy for inmates with gender identity disorder. As is their custom, the ACLU treats this potentially expensive entitlement as “common sense” and minimizes the potential cost and scope of […]
ON pornography
NRO has a very interesting anonymous article on the devastating impact of pornography on marriage. Even more interesting is the whole series of e-mail responses that KayLo posted here. The comments run the gamut from the obviously self-serving to the painfully poignant. Our panel discussion on pornography at last summer’s conferencewas one of the most […]
Good News on the Religious Freedom and Free Speech front
Over at NRO, David French reports a favorable ruling on the case of Julea Ward, a Eastern Michigan University graduate student in counseling. She was expelled from her graduate program because she felt she could not counsel a person with same sex attraction regarding relationship difficulties. She referred this individual to another counselor, in accordance […]
Obamacare and the Family
What else is buried in The Tomb of the Unknown Health Care Bill? Over at NRO, John Graham points out one of the implications for the family. Commenting on the fact that health insurers are now required to cover subscribers’ children until they turn 26: The idea of a 26-year old “child” is curious in […]
The Face of the Tea Party is Female
I’m waiting for someone in the MSM to get the message that the face of the pro-life, pro-marriage movement is female. But, hey, at least someone is noticing that conservative women are capable of running a grassroots movement: Politico has gotten the message that the Tea Party grassroots movement is largely female. “Most of the […]
WaPo article on Gays’ mixed feelings about marriage
The Washington Post reports on the reluctance of some gay couples to get married, even though it is now legal. On the same day, the Post reports on how the new law recognizing same sex marriage has been costly to others in the District of Columbia, including Catholic Charities, and the people they serve. So […]
Would Jesus Defend Marriage?
That’s the question Colleen Carroll Campbell asks. in reference to the recent story about a Catholic school in Colorado that denied readmission to the child of a lesbian couple. As she put it: Boulder’s vociferous gay-rights activists mobilized to protest the priest, the parish and the Archdiocese of Denver, brandishing signs outside the church that […]
California Human Rights Amendment
The California Human Rights Amendment would define personhood to include everyone, “no matter how small.” The spiritual dynamo behind this amendment is pro-life hero, Rev. Walter Hoye. An African American pastor in Oakland, Rev. Hoye spent time in jail, because he violated the Oakland City Council’s draconian “clinic bubble law.” Rev. Hoye makes the connection […]
Better Courts Now
San Diego County residents will have the chance to vote in better judges, meaning judges who will interpret the Constitution, rather than make up law as they go along. Visit Better Courts Now to find out how you can be involved. If you don’t live in San Diego County, forward this to someone who does! […]
Race and Abortion
Race and Abortion: a series of billboards in the Atlanta area call attention to the connection between abortion and race. I talk about those billboards in this interview on Issues Etc, on Lutheran Public Radio.
Where did the Stimulus Money go? The World needs the Ruth Institute!
Sean Hannity reports that #100 on his list of wasted stimulus money” $219,000 on an academic study of female hook-up patterns at Syracuse University. Note that the professor/principle investigator explains that hooking up is a public health problem, or at the very least, correlated with public health problems. Why, then, do we not discourage hooking […]
Why the world needs the Ruth Institute
People sometimes ask me why I founded the Ruth Institute. I always reply that young people who want lifelong married love need and deserve accurate information and adult support. People sometimes have a hard time believing me when I try to convey just how crazy campus life can be. But now, I don’t need to […]
Blinded by Scientism
Ed Feser has a provocative article about scientism, which he defines this way: Scientism is the view that all real knowledge is scientific knowledge—that there is no rational, objective form of inquiry that is not a branch of science. His critique is that Despite its adherents’ pose of rationality, scientism has a serious problem: it […]
Weak Tea or Strong Tea?
Social critic Lee Harris scores great points in his analysis of the Tea Party movement. Though his analysis is indirect: he is critiquing David Brooks’ analysis. But, Harris leaves no doubt where he stands. Here we come to the most puzzling aspect of David Brooks’s column. Why did he feel the need to make his […]
Civil Rights and The Sexual Revolution
I recently asked a black pastor friend of mine to consider this hypothetical question: Where do you think the black community would be today, if the Sexual Revolution had not happened at the same time as the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s? Think about it: a functioning African American family, black men inside the […]
I’ll be in Houston
at the end of March. I will be speaking at Houston Baptist University. My topic will be “What happened to the culture of marriage in the West?” The talk is open to the public. Tell your friends in the Houston area.
The Impact of No-Fault Divorce
Here is an article about Prof. Doug Allen’s talk at the BYU Symposium. Divorce is important to study, because no one fully anticipated how much changing divorce rules would change many other areas of society. I posted on this lecture, from the conference itself. see here. Allen said, it’s safe to say between 10 percent […]
Student Essays Posted!
The winning essays from the Stand for the Family Symposium are already posted! Great job to Jamie and Betsy for getting those 18 essays up so quickly! There were three categories, with separate judging and prizes: Undergraduate essays, Graduate student essays, and Law student essays. They are all posted at the Marriage Library. Students, you […]
The War on Intimacy
I recommend the book, The War on Intimacy. The subtitle tells the story, “How Comprehensive Sex Ed Sabotages Committed Relationships and Our Nation’s Health.” I met the author, Richard Panzer, Ph.D. at a meeting of the Abstinence Clearing House last year. He pressed this book into my hands, and I read it on the plane. […]
should sexual orientation be a protected class?
I take up that question in this podcast from Issues Etc, my weekly Lutheran Public Radio program. What kind of legal category is sexual orientation? How does it differ from race? Listen to the whole thing here.
From the BYU Symposium, Stand for the Family
The BYU symposium generated a bit of local publicity. Here is an article about my opening talk that kicked off the conference. The author did a reasonable job of identifying the important points of my talk. Americans are being taught to believe they’re generic humans, that “we’re not men and woman, we’re generic parents, we’re […]
Highlights from Dr. Doug Allen on no-fault divorce
Dr. Doug Allen is lecturing on “No-Fault Divorce: Unexpected Consequences and Long-Term Prospects.” No-fault caused an increase in divorce by 10% to 20%, depending on the study, (contra Nancy Cott in the Prop 8 trial.) More women enter the workplace and work longer than they otherwise would, due to no-fault. In states that are more […]
Student Essay Contest Winners
I have been in the student presentation sessions at the BYU Stand for the Family conference. The Ruth Institute sponsored the Call for Papers. We arranged for the judging and awarding of prizes. We had over 150 papers entered in our essay contest. The first place winner for undergraduate papers was Alyssa Brown. Her paper […]