Category: Ruth Speaks Out

This blog is maintained by the Ruth Institute. It provides a place for our Circle of Experts to express themselves. This is where the scholars, experts, students and followers of the Ruth Institute engage in constructive dialogue about the issues surrounding the Sexual Revolution. We discuss public policy, social practices, legal doctrines and much more.

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 […]

No more husbands and wives

Under California law, there are no longer husbands and wives. Only spouses. I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. I have been saying this in debates for some time. A few years ago, I was in a debate at UCLA, with Prof Gary Gates of the Williams Institute. He […]

Did you know? The Pill increases stroke risks as much as smoking.

The Sexual Revolutionaries are in an uproar over the Hobby Lobby decision. The idea that anyone anywhere objects to paying for someone else’s contraception for any reason whatsoever is all it takes to be labeled “anti-woman.” Let’s take a sober-minded look at a serious question: Are contraceptive drugs really pro-woman? A 2012 study[1] of 1.6 […]

Take the Challenge: Remove Sarcasm, Win Prize!

Dr J’s One Week Challenge began on Sunday, July 6! How are you doing with eliminating the Sarcasm from your life?  Is it harder than you thought? Easier than you thought? Share the challenge with others.  I win send you a prize at the end of the week! All you have to do is tell […]

Take Dr. J’s One Week Challenge: Perform a Sarcasm-ectomy

I hear more stories of messed up families than you can imagine. A lot of pain in the family can be traced back to trivialities that add up:  misbehavior or indifference or selfishness. The bad news is that families destroy themselves over trivialities. The good news is that trivialities can be changed! By whom? By […]

Hobby Lobby and The War Among Women

This article was also published at Christianpost.com here. You have no doubt heard that the men of the US Supreme Court are making war on the interests of American women. You may, however, have some doubt as to which interests of which women. I maintain that there has been a War Among Women for the past 50 years or so. And most of the time, the Elite Women prevail over Everywoman. But not this time. Everywoman: embedded within the family / Elite Woman: alone at the top Let me tell you about a friend of mine named Katie. She is a brilliant attorney, who works part-time for a non-profit public interest legal organization. Katie has nine children, whom she homeschools. She lives out in the country in coastal California. By any reasonable reckoning, Katie, is “having it all:” big family, country living in one of the most beautiful places on earth, and meaningful, intellectually challenging work. However, it is safe to say that Katie is highly unlikely to ever be appointed to the Supreme Court. She has other concerns. She does not have the single-minded focus on her legal career that would allow her to be a serious contender. I too, have had a wonderful advantaged life: meaningful work, good family life. But I never chaired an economics department. I never sat on any prestigious commissions. I wasn’t given any political appointment as my childless or male peers have done. Which brings me back to the subject at hand: whose interests do the women on the Supreme Court actually represent? Ruth Bader Ginsburg came of age in the short window of time when women could still get married, have kids, go to law school, and have a career after child-bearing. Her two children were born when she was 22 and 32. Thanks to radical feminism, highly educated women have a much more difficult time doing these things. They can go to law school and have a career alright. But getting married and having children sometime before menopause, not so much. Justice Ginsburg had the lifelong support of her husband in her career aspirations. Thanks to

Did You Know? The Pill Doubles the Risk of Glaucoma  

The long-term use of oral contraception doubles a woman’s risk of glaucoma and other eye diseases. You never heard this before? Listen to this press releasefrom the American Academy of Ophthalmology: NEW ORLEANS – Nov. 18, 2013 – Research presented today, at the 117th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology in New Orleans, […]

Dr J on Relevant Radio on Tuesday

I will be discussing this story tomorrow on Relevant Radio with Drew Mariani, at 12:15 Pacific Time. More than half of millennial women aged 26 to 31 who have babies are either unmarried or single instead of part of a married couple, according to a recent  study from Johns Hopkins University.  Fifty-seven percent of children […]

Did You Know?  British women hoping to sue Big Pharma over contraception

The Sexual Revolutionaries are predictably upset by the recent Supreme Court decision in the Hobby Lobby.  So this is a good time to consider the question of whether contraception really is health care in any meaningful sense.  Hormonal contraception interrupts a perfectly natural process in perfectly healthy women. Pregnancy is not an illness or injury […]

The Sexual State: Waiting for the Hobby Lobby ruling

As we await the Supreme Court’s decision on the Hobby Lobby case and the Mt. Soledad Cross case, we should recall the purpose of our government. Ah, you supposed that the purpose of the government was to protect people from force or fraud?  Maybe you thought the purpose of the government was form a more […]

Against religious liberty (arguments)      

I like religious liberty just fine, thank you very much. But I must say, I am tired of hearing the pro-family movement making religious liberty their primary argument against the Sexual Revolution. Too many of us have done this with the HHS Mandate (which amounts to creating a Contraceptive State) and Gay Marriage (which amounts […]

Gay Parenting: A whole new batch of Victims of the Sexual Revolution

Every stage of the Sexual Revolution has produced victims. No-fault divorce produced children scarred in ways no one predicted in 1968.  “Kids are resilient: they will be fine as long as their parents are happy.”  No-fault divorce also produced The Reluctantly Divorced: those millions of unseen and unacknowledged souls who wanted to stay married, but […]

The New Class Warfare: "All we want to do…"

Allow me to point out a pattern in the promotion of the Sexual Revolution: All we want to do is lower the cost of divorce to the handful of people whose marriages have irretrievably broken down. All we want to do is allow abortion for cases of rape and incest. All we want to do is allow […]

Philippine Phertility Phacts

In my last post, I asked, “Where are the libertarians when we need them?” (Metaphorically, by asking about Libertarian icon, Murray Rothbard.) I was looking at the truly appalling Reproductive Health Bill, foisted on the people of the Republic of the Philippines, by the United Nations Population Fund, aided and abetted by the United States government. When the government is taking such a heavy-handed approach to “reproductive health” as to insist on a “Certificate of Compliance” before couples can get married, or to mandate “age-appropriate” sex education, one naturally wonders: what is the problem this legislation is designed to solve? Is there an over-population crisis in the Philippines? The Philippine Archipelago What are the facts? In the Philippines, the Total Fertility Rate is (are you sitting down? Are you ready for this shocking over-breeding? Drum roll…..) 3.06 births per woman. In the US, the TFR is 2.01 births per woman, considered to be exactly “replacement” fertility. Let’s take some additional factors into account. The typical “demographic transition” works like this. In pre-modern societies, families have children to help on the farm and care for parents in their old age. People tend to give birth to more children than they may ultimately want, because they expect some of those children to not survive until adulthood. When the infant and child mortality rates decline due to better health care, people begin having fewer children. Somehow, women and their families figured this out, some centuries ago, even without hormonal contraception, and even without the UN Population Fund looking over their shoulders. So, what is the infant mortality rate in the Philippines? Within the first year of life, 17.64 children die per 1,000 live births. For the sake of comparison, the infant mortality rate in the United States is a mere 6. 17 deaths per thousand live births. In the Philippine flag, blue stands for peace and justice, red symbolizes courage, the white equal-sided triangle represents equality. Where are

Where is Murray Rothbard when we need him?

Quick: what are the legitimate activities of government, according to libertarians? Usually, libertarians will mention a short like including things like national defense, criminal justice, protection of property rights. Some, such as Murray Rothbard, are anarcho-capitalists and believe even these traditional functions of government could and should be handled by the private sector. Where, then were the libertarians when the United States supported efforts to impose the “Reproductive Health Bill”on the Republic of the Philippines? This bill mandates that all school children receive Age- and Development-Appropriate Reproductive Health Education. – The State shall provide age- and development-appropriate reproductive health education to adolescents which shall be taught by adequately trained teachers informal and nonformal educational system and integrated in relevant subjects such as, but not limited to, values formation; knowledge and skills in self-protection against discrimination; sexual abuse and violence against women and children and other forms of gender based violence and teen pregnancy; physical, social and emotional changes in adolescents; women’s rights and children’s rights; responsible teenage behavior; gender and development; and responsible parenthood. How did Sex Ed make it on the Short List of acceptable and mandated governmental activities? The bill continues: No marriage license shall be issued by the Local Civil Registrar unless the applicants present a Certificate of Compliance issued for free by the local Family Planning Office certifying that they had duly received adequate instructions and information on responsible parenthood, family planning, breastfeeding and infant nutrition. The State must explain the Facts of Life, and how modern contraception can subvert said Facts of Life, before people are allowed to get married. Hummm. Doesn’t sound like the Night Watchman State to me…. An earlier versionof the bill mandated that The State shall assist couples, parents and individuals to achiev

Let’s listen to the Children of Divorce

“I’m so glad you are doing this, Jenny. But I cannot write about my experience. It is still too painful.” “This” refers to the Ruth Institute’s Kids Divorce Stories initiative. This completely free and open feature gives people a chance to talk about their childhood experiences going through their parents’ divorces.  People talk about what […]

A Right to a Father: In honor of Father’s Day.

It is Father’s Day. For me, this is a day to be grateful for my father, for all he did for me, my mother and my brothers and sisters.  I am grateful for how he went to work every day, came home every night, and stayed married to my mother for a lifetime. Most of […]

Evacuation from Dunkirk: a continuation of my open letter to San Diego Social Conservatives

My first letter drew some discussion on my Facebook page. That is great. I am glad. Kirk Jorgenson is not the subject of discussion here. I like Kirk. He ran a good and honorable campaign. A lot of you worked hard for him. I respect that. Evacuation at Dunkirk June 1940 But now that particular battle is over. We have metaphorically evacuated from Dunkirk. We are safely in the British Isles. Let us regroup and think about our next move.

Come Follow Who?

A few years ago, I was asked to give the commencement address at Providence Academy High School in Plymouth MN.  I wanted to support the young people in their individuality, as well as in their following Jesus. This is a short excerpt from what I said those high school seniors.   “Have you ever noticed […]

After the Party: An Open Letter to Social Conservatives in San Diego and Beyond

On June 3, 2014, Kirk Jorgenson, came in third in a run-off style primary election for the 52nd Congressional District. He obtained 17% of the vote. Jorgenson had been the favorite of the Social Conservative community in San Diego. OK, San Diego Cultural Conservatives. Kirk Jorgenson lost his runoff race for the 52nd Congressional District. Can we talk now?

Spiritual Mothers and Fathers

A few years ago, I was asked to give the commencement address at Providence Academy High School in Plymouth MN.  I wanted to support the young men and women in their maleness and femaleness. This is a short excerpt from what I said to those high school seniors.  “The first thing I know about you […]

Taylor Swift: Another Victim of the Sexual Revolution

The Entertainment Media Establishment, Gossip Division, is reporting that Taylor Swift gave her virginity to a man she thought was going to marry her.  Three months later, she had a party for herself, and he didn’t show up. This took place at Christmastime of 2010. I don’t know exactly why The Entertainment Media Establishment, Gossip Division […]

Dissecting Sexual Revolutionary Propaganda

As I have said many times in my speeches (available at the Ruth Institute podcast page), the Sexual Revolution is irrational and its goals are impossible.  Therefore, those committed to the Sexual Revolution must also commit themselves to a steady stream of propaganda to over-write the basic facts of reality. This sometimes includes the subtle […]

Did You Know?

Did you know that about 45% of women who had abortions in the US in 2010, had already had at least one prior abortion?  Look it up here.   Table 19.  55% of women had zero prior abortions.  100%-55%= 45% of women had one or more prior abortions. Just thought you’d want to know.

The Equality Battering Ram

Brendan Eich has just resigned as CEO of Mozilla, maker of one of the most popular web browsers. He made a $1,000 donation to Proposition 8, back in 2008, an insubstantial sum really, to a campaign that is 6 years old. The Gay Lobby, the current shock troops of the Sexual Revolution,  demanded his resignation, […]

"Gay" is A Social Construct

So say the historians who have actually studied the concept.  Oh yes, same sex sexual activity has been around since antiquity. But the idea that someone would call themselves “gay” or  would see that as the primary basis of their identity: that is something new. “Scholars don’t think the ancient Greeks had a gay minority. […]

The Rich and Famous Love the Commercialization of Childbearing

Don’t believe me?  Check out this conference, to be held in a few days, at UCLA. Actress Elisabeth Rohm, “Guncles” Scout And Bill Masterson, Brenda Strong, Actor Jason Patric Share Journey To Parenthood Fertility Planit LA 2014 is the first event of its kind, helping people explore all of their options for having children and […]

Victims of the Sexual Revolution: Children in Poverty

The Christian Post reports  that 2 parent families offer the best hope of rising out of poverty. Referring to a major study produced by the Harvard Economics Department, poor children who live in communities with a large proportion of single parents are more likely to remain poor even when they are raised by their married […]

Finally, Justice for a Donor Conceived Child

The Craig’s List sperm donor has to pay child support.   I’ve been keeping an eye on this case for a while.  The facts are unusually crass. A lesbian “couple” wanted to have a baby.  They advertised on Craig’s List for a donor. (Pause. Let that sink in.  Gross, eh?)  Anyhow, the man replied to […]

Now that Republican Consultants are waking up to the marriage issue….

Now that the Republican Consultants are waking up and seeing that marriage matters, the “Progressives” are reacting precisely on cue, for instance, with this story: “Promoting marriage among single mothers: An ineffective weapon in the war on poverty?”   The Usual Suspects discover that urging people to get married won’t solve all their poverty problems.  But […]

Electric Dog Collars, Home Economics and the American Enterprise

Have you ever seen a dog race up to the boundary of a yard, and abruptly stop?  It looks very odd, until you realize that the dog is wearing a fancy collar.  You surmise that there is an invisible electric “fence” embedded in the yard. The dog has been shocked so often that it stops […]

Bestiality in Germany? Incest in Switzerland?

If you listen to Dr. Kuehne’s interview, you will hear him say that the are having debates in Germany over bestiality, and in Switzerland over incest. I asked him, on camera, for the links. Well, here are the links: on animal brothels in Germany: on consensual incest in Switzerland. No, I’m not putting up any […]

Christmas reflections on a Demographic Winter’s Night

Three vignettes about Christmas and the Demographic Winter Demographic Winter: The increased standard of living associated with lower fertility is short-lived. The next generation facing population decline may face lowered economic growth and lower standards of living. We Baby Boomers rationalized having fewer kids by saying we were Saving the Earth.  As luck would have […]

From the Virginia Tech Massacre

As I was thinking and praying about the people in Newtown, I recalled that I had written something about the Virginia Tech massacre, when it happened back in 2007.  Much of it is still relevant to this current mass killing.  We still don’t have all the facts about the Newtown killer.  As you read this […]

The Ruth Institute mourns the loss of life in Newtown, CT

Like the rest of the country, we at the Ruth Institute mourn the loss of innocent human life at the Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, CT.  At this time, no one really knows very much about the killer, his motives, or the stability of his mind.  We do know that his own mother is […]

Loren Marks’ critique of the APA’s extreme claims of "no difference"

In case you are interested, here is the full study, critiquing the American Psychological Association’s statement that “Not a single study has found children of lesbian or gay parents to be disadvantaged in any significant respect relative to children of heterosexual parents.” He finds the studies the APA relied on to be flawed because of: […]

Link to Regnerus study of same sex parenting

In case you want to find out for yourself what all the fuss is about,  here is the link to the study by Dr. Mark Regnerus of the University of Texas at Austin, challenging the claim that there is “no difference” between the children of same sex parents and others. Read it for yourself.

ITAF 2012 grad announces VEEP candidacy!!

Ok, so I am slightly biased.  This is my daughter. But, in my defense: 1. she attended ITAF2010 2. she makes valid points about the anxiety of social conservatives about the Romney ticket and 3. this is pretty darn funny. Enjoy! Veep Watch By Anne Morse The rumors swirl around who Mitt Romney’s potential VP […]

Labor is Prior to Capital – Man/woman marriage is Prior to the State

I just saw this quote on a liberal facebook page that I follow: “Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.” ~Abraham Lincoln I like […]

Let’s Do an Aggie Wall

You gotta love the Aggies of Texas A&M.  Hearing that the vile Westboro Baptist (sic) Church (sic) was planning to protest a soldier’s funeral, Aggies swung into action. They formed a Maroon Wall around the Central Baptist Church, where the funeral was to be take place.  The wall prevented the Westboro Baptist people from having […]

Two kinds of libertarians

Last week on Public Discourse, Prof Justin Dyer offers a review of Jeffry Bell’s Why America Needs Social Conservatism.  He states: “What divides social conservatives from social liberals,” Bell claims, “is this: Most—not all—social conservatives believe the words in that sentence [from the Declaration] are literally true. Most—not all—opponents of social conservatism do not believe those […]

Do Kids Need a Mom and a Dad? The University of Chicago biz school study

In a previous post, I discussed a Life-Style Leftist blogman’s outraged responseto a perfectly reasonable statementabout a very sound study, and analyzed the rhetorical strategy of accusing your opponent of saying  something he didn’t say. In this post, I want to talk about the substance of the study, what it shows and what it doesn’t. […]

Left-wing rhetorical strategies: mischaracterize your opponents’ statements

This is one of our continuing series of posts on identifying the rhetorical tactics of the opponents of marriage. This strategy of mischaracterizing your opponents’ statements is extremely common, and takes several different forms.  Today we are going to deal with just one: being outraged over a statement you attribute to your opponent, but which […]

Equality Matters is Watching Me

Some of my Friends With Wrong Ideas (FrieWIs) keep a very close watch on me.  I don’t feel a need to respond to every post.  Every once in a while, however, they do me a favor.  Take this audio clip posted over at Equality Matters, for instance.   Posted with a breathless headline, “NOM’s Morse: Hate Crimes […]

As I was saying…

The Family Research Council has caught up with the Ruth Institute. I shouldn’t gloat, but the big DC-Beltway Think Tank has just discovered the Presumption of Paternity. Out here in San Diego, as far from the Beltway as you can get and still be in the Continental US, we have been saying this stuff, literally, for years: Same-sex […]

Two Moms: the triumph of the Will over Nature

I just saw this headline in the Des Moines Register: “Judge: Put both moms’ names on the birth certificate.”  “Both moms?!?!?!”  Yes, you read it right: “both moms.” Judges created same sex “marriage” in Iowa in a case called Varnum v Brien. So, now another judge rules that the spouse in a same sex marriage should […]

Privatizing Marriage is Not the Answer to the Same Sex Marriage Debate

And here is another article, this one from 2009, on why “privatizing marriage” will not live up to its promise. One proposed solution to the divisiveness of the same-sex marriage debate is to have the government get out of the marriage business altogether. This proposal is appealing because it seems to remove marriage from the […]

Marriage and the Limits of Contract

I have been writing an open letter to Ron Paul on why “privatizing marriage” or “getting the government out of the marriage business” is a really bad idea.  In the process, I went back to some of my old writings on this topic. I have been trying to get people to pay attention to the […]

“Marriage Equality” – What’s Love Got to do With It?

One of the most common things I see in regards to the marriage debate has to do with love. Here are a couple common misconceptions I have seen across the internet. “When a gay couple marries, it is exactly the same as when a heterosexual couple marries. In other words, they are in love and […]

The Immaculate Conception and the culture of the Prop 8 trial

I just came from Mass in honor of the feast of the Immaculate Conception. I will soon head off to the airport to go to SF, for the Prop 8 trial.  It is fitting that this trial take place on this feast day.  I realize that many of my readers are not Catholic, and think […]

Prop 8 hearing today

I am going up to San Francisco this morning for the Prop 8 hearings this afternoon. I will be live-blogging on the NOM site and here on the Ruth Institute blog.

“Marriage Equality” Creates Equality for Whom?

The “marriage equality” movement is based on faulty logic and is not about creating “equal rights.” Leaders in the “marriage equality” movement either are not honest with their followers, or truly do not understand their own arguments. Whichever is the case, they need the concept of “marriage equality” to contain an element that is simultaneously […]

Parent 1 and Parent 2

Passports in the UK will no longer list Mother and Father on a child’s passport.  Only Parent 1 and Parent 2 will be listed. Documents seen by the Daily Mail suggest the change was made as a result of lobbying by the gay rights group Stonewall. The Home Office Diversity Strategy’ states: ‘IPS [the Identity and Passport […]

Why Everybody, Including Gays, Should Support Traditional Marriage

I think conservatives and libertarians err when they refer to “gay marriage” as such. They unwittingly concede a tremendous amount of ground when using that term. If I was on the left I would secretly be quite happy every time I saw a conservative or libertarian use it. But since I’m not on the left, […]

Regarding posts from Ari

We at the Ruth blog have decided to no longer allow Ari to have posting privileges over here.  His sarcasm has gone over the line and we don’t care to be associated with it.  Those who are interested in hearing what Ari has to say can find him at his own blog.  We will stick […]

IVF Industry’s Cavalier Attitude toward Children

Alana Stewart, Elizabeth Marquardt, Jennifer Lahl, call your offices! Check out this NPR interview with a representative of the IVF industry and Wendy Kramer, founder of one of the sibling donor registries. Listen to Sean Tipton, director of public affairs for the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, an organization of reproductive medicine practitioners. We think […]

IVF Industry’s Cavalier attitude toward women’s health

According to a  recent study of ovarian cancer “After 15 years of follow-up, they found that women who had undergone IVF were more than four times as likely those who had not to develop borderline ovarian cancer, a malignancy that is treatable and survivable.” Now, I would normally think that a four times greater risk of […]

Hollywood is looking for a few gay men

A friend sent me photos of street light posters he saw lining the streets of Hollywood. These posters were recruiting foster and adoptive parents in honor of National Adoption Month. What could be better than trying to recruit more foster and adoptive parents?  But my friend noticed something odd: there were absolutely no mothers in […]

What were they thinking? More reactions to the CA GOP

Based on what I saw and heard at this convention, I would have to conclude that the CA GOP doesn’t want to talk about social issues. Their general session featured report after report on everything but social issues. The workshops and panels: jobs, jobs, jobs.  Now, my free market credentials are certainly in order: I […]

Social Issues and the CA GOP

I spent the weekend at the CA GOP convention. I had heard that there was a move afoot by a wealthy “Republican” to strip the party platform of the pro-marriage and pro-life planks. Rumor was, that this gentleman, Charles Munger, paid people to support his watered down version of the platform.  Since I live in […]

Republican straw poll in CA

The Presidential Straw poll here at the convention is open until 5 PM. Based on the organized presence I see here, I predict the winner will be either Rick Perry or Roon Paul.  Lots of signs, t-shirts and enthusiasm for those two. No one else has a significant, organized presence. I’m just saying.

Michelle Bachmann at the CA Republican Convention

I am attending the CA Republican Convention at the relentlessly stylish J W Marriott Hotel at LA Live. (I’m not kidding: even the bathroom fixtures are funky!)  There is a movement afoot to change the Platform of the CA Republican Party, including removing the pro-life and pro-marriage language that has long been part of the […]