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.

I found an image of the book cover

Here is an image of the cover of Women, Sex and the Church, edited by Erika Bachiochi, which chapters by Cassandra Hough, Laura Garcia, Angela Franks, Katie Elrod, Sister Sara Butler and Elizabeth Schiltz. along with Yours Truly.

Legislative Facts and other facts

I’m not a lawyer, so I never knew what “legislative facts” were. But it seems that “legislative facts” are the kind of facts relevant to a trial like the Prop 8 trial. What is the significance of this? People (including Judge Walker) chide the Prop 8 legal defense team for not bringing enough “expert witnesses.” […]

Something else Judge Walker didn’t talk about

He didn’t say a word about the origins of same sex attraction. There was not a single witness who provided scientific evidence for the claim that same sex attraction is a genetically determined, immutable trait. Instead, he relied on reports of personal experiences to suggest (but not prove) that “gays and lesbians are the type […]

Red Families v Blue Families

I didn’t much care for this book. The essence of the Cahn and Carbone’s version of class difference, which they wrongly attribute to “red states” and “blue states”, is delayed age at first marriage. Later marriage allows women to complete their education and enter into high-income, high-status jobs before beginning families. These high status women […]

What Judge Walker didn’t talk about

Sherlock Holmes once famously said, “Watson, I call to your attention the curious fact of the dog barking in the night.” “But Holmes, there was no dog barking in the night.” “That is the curious fact.” It is a curious fact that Judge Walker did not discuss any of the previous cases that deal with […]

Chuck Cooper is not an idiot

Far from it. Chuck Cooper is the lead attorney defending Prop 8. Judge Walker’s opinion created the impression that the Prop 8 defense team had not presented any evidence and had basically done a rotten job. The MSM, naturally, has continued to dutifully carry this message to the public, to the point that even supporters […]

Brutally Honest: Judging the Judge’s Judgment

A guy calling himself BroKen writes this about Judge Walker’s ruling: Are you religious? Then you should be offended by the federal ruling on California’s Proposition 8. Maybe you’re not very religious. But do you believe in morality? That is, do you believe that some things are wrong and some things are right? If you […]

Rejecting Industrialized Sex

Great post today over at the First Things blog. It is odd that simply because of its “sexual freedom” our time should be considered extraordinarily physical. In fact, our “sexual revolution” is mostly an industrial phenomenon, in which the body is used as a idea of pleasure or a pleasure machine with the aim of […]

Ed Whelan on Judge Walker’s Lawlessness

Ed Whelan at the NRO Bench Memos provides the best analysis of Judge Walker’s overreach in his overturn of Prop 8. Today, Ed discusses the significance of the Ninth Circuit’s Stay order in the case. In case you missed the news, Judge Walker had originally ordered that same sex marriages begin immediately. The Proponents of […]

Fox News Poll on the Prop 8 Overturn

Fox News has a poll on the Prop 8 Overturn. It is worded in an odd way, to give opponents two ways to answer, thus possibly skewing the results. Still, this very non-scientific poll creates the impression that no one cares about the Overturn and that same sex marriage is inevitable. Go take it. suggest […]

David Blankenhorn didn’t mess up in the Prop 8 Trial

I have been reading lots of disappointed commentary about the defense of Prop 8. “If only we had a better defense team, more witnesses, better witnesses, etc.” I have had people contact me telling me they wish I had testified. Others write to volunteer their services in Public Relations, Advertizing or even Lawyering. What I […]

The End of Men

The End of Men recently published in the Atlantic, can’t decide whether the marginalization of men from the family, the economy and the academy, is a nightmare or a dream come true. Steve Baskerville takes on the questions no one else will and says what no one else will say. The End of Men is […]

Early Puberty for girls

MSNBC had this article on the lowering age of sexual maturity among girls. This article tracks an overall decline in the age of breast development. It reminded me of a series of papers I’ve read about the declining age of first menstruation. This MSNBC article doesn’t report on this, and the factors may be somewhat […]

Did the Prop 8 Defense Team Fumble the Ball?

I am hearing this question alot. I don’t think they did, for this reason: they thought the issue was whether the constitution requires same sex marriage. The other side acted as if the issue was whether same sex marriage is good public policy. The Protect Marriage Lawyers thought all that stuff that took up so […]

UC Davis Law Dean Vikram Amar on the future of Prop 8

Associate dean and professor at the UC Davis School of Law, Vikram Amar, predicts that Prop 8 will ultimately be decided in the Ninth Circuit, not at the Supreme Court: If the Ninth Circuit reverses Judge Walker’s ruling and upholds Prop. 8, I think it improbable that the Supreme Court would grant the plaintiffs’ request […]

We the People

Pastor Jim Garlow’s personal and public statement on the Prop 8 Overturn includes this gem: We would have wished the judge would have looked at the first three words of the U.S. Constitution, “We the People.” There’s a reason why that document does not begin with the words, “I the Judge.” Whether you think same […]

Using the mind well

Before I sign off for the night, I have to quote my friend Fr. James Schall, prof of govt at Georgetown University, lo these many years. He has a marvelous essay on a recent conversation Pope Benedict had with a group of students. “You asked me questions with great frankness and at the same time […]

Judge Walker’s Alternative Purpose of Marriage

You will recall that I claimed in my AOL News article that the Essential Public Purpose of Marriage is to attach mothers and fathers to their children and to one another. Some people dispute this by pointing to alternative purposes of marriage, or by discovering groups of individuals who seem not to be participating in […]

Common Questions about the essential public purpose of marriage

A reader posted my AOL New article on her facebookpage and got this response from a friend: I see multiple problems with her argument, 1. She does not mention divorce, which has already ‘redefined marriage.’ Divorce rates in our nation have been hovering around 50% for quite some time, and divorce can be very detrimental […]

Cardinal Mahoney: Judge Walker got it Wrong

I am pleasantly surprised by this statement from Cardinal Mahoney of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Cardinal Mahoney is not usually known for making strong statements on what are usually considered “social conservative” issues. “Social justice” issues, yes. But life and marriage– not as much. So listen to this: Today it was announced that U.S. […]

The fraudulent principle of “liberal neutrality:” from Prof Ed Feser

Philosophy professor and prolific author Dr. Ed Feser has a lenghthy post on the Prop 8 overturn. I’m just picking out some highlights. I suggest you read the whole thing. The dialogue in the comments is worth looking at also. 1. Judge Walker’s decision, he tells us, is based on the principle that the state […]

Maggie Gallagher’s take on the Prop 8 overturn

Maggie Gallagher writes in the San Fran Chronicle: Judge Walker’s ruling proves that the American people were and are right to fear that too many powerful judges do not respect their views, or the proper limits of judicial authority. … Judge Walker has added insult to injury by suggesting that support for marriage is somehow […]

My piece on AOL News: “The Institution Formerly Known as Marriage”

AOL News was looking for someone on the natural marriage side of the argument to comment on Judge Walker’s overturn of Prop 8. They found me. Here is the link to the article. Here is a reprint. Forward to your friends! Go over to AOL and join in the comments section. RRR’s will see the […]

So What About Judge Walker’s Sexual Orientation, (or anybody else’s?)

I just posted a correction to my press release from yesterday, changing the modifier on Judge Walker from “openly gay,” to “widely reported to be gay.” As I noted, he has never denied the report, nor has he ever described himself as “gay.” I am willing to respect his self-understanding, and his privacy. Hence my […]

Dr J’s Amended Statement Lamenting the Overturn of Prop 8

Dr Jennifer Roback Morse, Foundress and President of the Ruth Institute, lamented the overturn of Proposition 8 by openly gay Judge Vaughn Walker, who is widely reported to be gay. “Judge Walker’s reasoning today in overturning Prop 8 illustrates that he does not understand the essential public purpose of marriage, which is to attach mothers […]

Judge Walker’s sexual orientation

In my news release yesterday, I described Judge Vaughn Walker as “openly gay.” An AP reporter called me out (privately and politely: thx!) about that description. His question: “What is the attribution for that? I wasn’t aware that Walker had ever commented publicly on his sexual orientation.” I clearly recall the San Francisco Chronicle reporting […]

Ruth Institute President Laments Overturn of Proposition 8

Dr Jennifer Roback Morse, Foundress and President of the Ruth Institute, lamented the overturn of Proposition 8 by openly gay Judge Vaughn Walker. “Judge Walker’s reasoning today in overturning Prop 8 illustrates that he does not understand the essential public purpose of marriage, which is to attach mothers and fathers to their children and to […]

Black Marriage Crisis

My Acton Institute friend Anthony Bradley has this in World magazine today, on the Black Marriage Crisis. Read it and weep. In the black community, the institution of marriage is essentially dead. While marriage in Western developed nations is declining in general, the black community and black women are being disproportionately affected. Unless marriage and […]

Prop 8 Ruling Due Today

The Prop 8 ruling is going to be handed down today. there is a local TV station on its way over here to interview me about it. Pray for me, and for all of California. You can get the actual text eventually of Judge Walker’s opinion, at this site.

Why Get Divorced? Just Stay Separated.

I will be doing today’s broadcast on Issues Etc. on this revolting story from the NYT. It is revolting because: 1. it is about upper middle class New Yorkers, which seems to be the only kind of people that enters the collective mind of the NYT. 2. it takes divorce and separation for granted, and […]

Dr Ken Howell reinstated at U of Illinois

Dr Ken Howell has been reinstated to his adjunct positiion at the University of Illinois. I have not been posting on this story, but I think it is significant because it shows that people’s protests can be effective. The facebook group supporting Dr Ken had 2,600 members. That is not a huge number in this […]

Red and Blue Families

Washington Times Columnist Cheryl Wetzstein interviewed me for this article on the new book Red Families v. Blue Families: Legal Polarization and the Creation of Culture. Cheryl ably summarizes the basic premise of the book: In blue states, families tend to be well-educated, have high-paying jobs, be tolerant of diversity and be politically liberal. They […]

Revisiting the Iowa case, for the benefit of G-A-Y

Welcome readers from the Good As You site.I just wanted to clarify for all of you the fact that I have indeed read the Iowa decision, Varnum v Brien. I believe it was wrongly decided and poorly argued. I have written about it in two separate places, which are now posted on the Ruth Institute […]

Welcome to Peepwis

People with wrong ideas Participating in the same sex marriage debate has forced me to confront this question: what shall I call the people on the opposite side of this issue? I try not to call people my opponents or my enemies. When I am writing, I can put in the whole description: “those who […]

Christian Unity

I have been saying that the Reformation is coming to an end: the orthodox believers of all denominations have more in common with each other than with the more “progressive” members of their own traditions. The need to work together for life and natural marriage is breaking down 500 years worth of historic mistrust and […]

My approximate remarks in Annapolis

This is the gist of what I said in annapolis on Wednesday: The gay lobby and their sex radical friends want you to believe that the only issue in the same sex marriage debate is equality. That is all they talk about. That is all they want you to think about. All the shouting, and […]

Escape from Rhode Island

A mother of young children wrote this story about what happened to her during the NOM rally yesterday in Providence. Did you ever see that scene in one of the Narnia movies, where a battle is about to start and preparations are being made – when off in the distance there is a faint chanting […]

The face of intolerance: photo from RI

The woman in this photo is right in Brian Brown’s face. He is standing behind the podium. We had a permit for this event, to exercise our First Amendment rights to speak and assemble. You can see two other heads in the photo, who are also disrupting our peaceful demonstration. Intimidation. Bullying. While the police […]

Remember: Keep Holy the Sabbath

I usually don’t even turn on my computer on Sunday when I am at home. I’m only making an exception for this very busy travel day. But to all of you who have comments pending: we haven’t forgotten you. Betsy isn’t supposed to work on Sunday. None of us are. Except Ari. He isn’t supposed […]

Small state, high tournout rally. Low class, loud decible counter-rally

OK, I am finally in a position to do more than post a picture and type a few characters. I’ve been uploading photos to my facebook page all day. Now, I’m on an Amtrack train, from Providence to DC, for a day off from the Summer for Marriage Tour. (I still have tyo figure out […]

The ambuiguities and complications of the Donor Conceived Person

Alana S, who blogs at the Family Scholars blog offers this testimony about some of the ambiguities, complications and stresses of being a conceived through anonymous sperm donation: I decided to tell my mom about my blogging. I decided to explain to her how extensively I plan on combating commercial conception.

The Gay Blogosphere

I am paying more attention to the gay blogosphere than I usually do. I guess that’s because they are paying more attention to me. One thing I notice about many of them: they are short on arguments and ideas, and long on ridicule and name-calling. Some of these people are mean. I was going to […]

News Coverage in NH

the news coverage of the NOM rally in NH got my quote right, but got my name wrong. Oh well. I could have easily straightened him out, if he had asked. Dr. Ruth Roback, who heads the NOM-financed Ruth Institute, challenged the view that same-sex marriage does not degrade the lives of heterosexual couples. Once […]

Argentines Rally for Marriage

This story in the Buenos Aires Herald reports on the groups rallying for natural marriage, but it doesn’t give an estimate of the crowd. We’ll have to rely on our friends on the ground there, to let us know their estimates of the numbers of people there. As in the US, this cause of natural […]

Government Neutrality in Marriage is (probably) Not Possible

I am responding to the inquiry of a student who wanted to know, in effect, whether it would be desirable to somehow get the government out of the marriage business altogether. Couldn’t we sidestep a lot of the conflict over marriage, by eliminating the default relationship contract currently known as marriage, and allowing any couple […]

The Outward Appeal of Privatizing Marriage

Before I go any further in my responses to my young friend who asked about privatizing marriage, I want to acknowledge one thing: this proposal is outwardly appealling. I recently received an e-mail from an earnest young man, who wanted my opinion of his proposal to essentially privatize marriage. His idea was to have government […]

Privatizing Marriage? Part 1. Marriage Equality is Impossible

Part 1. in a series of responses to a question posed by a student. No one contract can treat same sex couples and opposite sex couples identically. (Warning: this post is long! But Worth the effort if I do say so myself!) 1. If you believed that it is not possible for the government to […]

Our Broken Confirmation Process

Ralph Reed declares our Supreme Court Confirmation process to be broken and he is certainly correct. The question is why? The answer is one word: abortion. Actually, it is abortion and all its ill-begotten progeny, the entire sexual revolution. This is because the abortion rights fanatics are attempting to create something that simply cannot be: […]

A Libertarian View of Gay Marriage

No, I didn’t write it. Someone who calls herself Jane Galt wrote it. It is really, really good. I will just quote the beginning. You should really read the whole thing. Here goes: A really, really, really long post about gay marriage that does not, in the end, support one side or the otherUnlike most […]

Get the government out of the marriage business?

I hear this proposal frequently. “Get the government out of marriage” has become the new default position for alot of people. (I suspect for some folks, this position is really a way to get the same sex marriage issue to go away. I don’t think that will work, but that is another story.) I recently […]

Pro-life strategy

Marjorie Dannenfelser outlines her strategy for turning the ObamaCare fiasco into an opportunity for the pro-life movement. The core ideas: punish people who sell out (think Stupak), favor people who remain faithful (think Michelle Bachman), and build on the fact that the American people are growing in their opposition to federal funding for abortion, reaching […]

Sex and the Gross College Movie

Carol Iannone speculates on the connection between the truly gross college movies, and the rise of co-ed dorms: In the earlier film, (Revenge of the Nerds) when the sexes were still separate, there was perhaps a tinge of sweetness around the idea of the nerds’ longing to have their place on campus, and to have […]

Sex as a Sterile Activity

It is one thing for people to try to reduce the probability of pregnancy. It is entirely another to attempt to create a whole society around the premise that sex should be a sterile activity, with reproduction thrown in as an afterthought if you happen to like that sort of thing. This fundamental incoherence is […]

The New Sexual World Order

My article on the New Contraceptive World Order is now up on the National Catholic Register website. The 50th anniversary of the birth control pill — the Food and Drug Administration gave it final approval in 1960 — has been the occasion of much media fanfare, societal reflection — and what we might call Secular […]

Obama: Liar or Bigot?

Princeton University professor Robby George tells it like is today on NRO. It has become a matter of orthodoxy among progressives that those who believe that marriage is properly defined as the union of one man and one woman are guilty of bigotry. There is a problem, however: Barack Obama has assured voters that he […]

Dr Miriam Grossman to speak at the Ruth Institute gala in LA

We are getting excited about our Gala August 12 near LAX. Southern CA supporters of the Ruth Institute should be getting an invitation in the mail shortly after the July 4th weekend. If you don’t get one, let us know! Or, just go here to sign yourself up!

Sliding vs Deciding

I just found a really cool blog called Sliding vs Deciding, by social psychologist and relationship expert, Scott Stanley. Among the interesting topics, “Coasting and Drive-by Opportunities,” “Oxytocin: I Feel Your Pain,” and “What Drives Sacrificing for a Partner.” One theme that emerges throughout: men and women related differently, and part of the differences are […]

IVF and Birth Defects

Also right on cue, after noting how many women would be willing to freeze their eggs, comes this story on the risks of birth defects associated with IVF. Please note: these data are from IVF, and are almost certianly mostly more or less “fresh” eggs. We don’t know yet the impact of freezing and thawing […]

I called it: ART threatens marriage

Just this past weekend, I told the National Association of Catholic Family Life Ministers that the use of Artificial Reproductive Technology is the newest threat to marriage as the lifelong fruitful union of a man and a woman. I argued that the very existence of the ART option is distorting women’s marriage decisions. They believe […]

Catholic Mom dot com

Nice sound, eh? I met the brains behind CatholicMom, the original Catholic Mom, Lisa Hendrey, at the NACFLM conference this past weekend. I don’t know how she does it. I thought I was hyper-active. Check out this site of hers, all you Catholic Moms! Or non-Catholic moms. Or Jewish dads. Or, whatever! she also blogs […]

Fathers for good

is the name of the Knights of Columbus pro-fatherhood initiative. I met their editor, Brian Caulfield, last week at the National Association of Catholic Family Life Ministers in Cincinnati. He says nice things about me in this post! They may be a small and non-representative minority of Catholics, but they are people in possession of […]

Provincetown and kiddy condoms

I’ll be talking about this story on my Issues Etc interview in a few minutes. Free condoms to children of all ages? Don’t tell the parents? School population declining? could there be a connection? Singer said she wanted the policy to apply to the Veterans Memorial Elementary School so that fifth- and sixth-graders could get […]

The CLS v Martinez, Hastings Law school case

The case of Christian Legal Society and the Hastings Law School tested whether Christian groups can exclude non-Christians from membership or leadership. Prof Hadley Arkes summarizes the case: after all of the quick moves, the fact remained that the CLS was deprived of its standing on the campus because it ran afoul of the non-discrimination […]

ON Fatherhood

I just discovered Dr. Gordon Finley over at Men’s News Daily. Here he is on the challenges to fatherhood: fatherhood itself is under fire on multiple fronts and with multiple losses, not only for children and fathers, but also for society. Consider three: male unemployment, divorce, and non-marital childbearing. Male unemployment today is higher than […]

Daddy was only a donor

Brad Wilcox weighs in on the My Daddy’s Name is Donor study. Brad is a professor of sociology at the University of Virginia, and lectured at our ITAF conference last summer. Seventy-one percent of the adult offspring of these single mothers agree that: “My sperm donor is half of who I am,” and 78% wonder […]