Originally published May 19, 2022 by National Catholic Register
Republished by Ruth Institute, May 19, 2022
America, we’re in trouble! Gender ideology has pushed its way into our public school classrooms, forcing students to use “preferred pronouns” when referring to their classmates. Books encouraging the homosexual lifestyle are included on children’s reading lists, often over the objections of concerned Christian parents. People who support the pro-trans and LGBTQ agenda are given a voice in the public square, while those who disagree are called “haters” and get silenced.
Since its founding in 2008, the Ruth Institute has tackled these and other sensitive issues boldly and honestly, with sound thinking and solid research. And on June 24-25, the Ruth Institute’s 5th annual Summit for Survivors of the Sexual Revolution, which will be held near Lake Charles, Louisiana, promises to arm you to fight for your family.
I spoke recently with Ruth Institute founder and director Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse about the sexual crisis we are facing, and about the Institute’s upcoming conference.
“Our conference is really for people who feel overwhelmed,” Morse explained. “I think that’s what we do better than anybody!”
Morse addressed specific issues in human sexuality in her 2018 best-seller, The Sexual State: How Elite Ideologies Are Destroying Lives and Why the Church Was Right All Along. Even before that, before the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in the 2015 case of Obergefell v. Hodges mandated homosexual marriage nationwide, Morse was speaking out about the challenges and the risks of a sexually perverse society. At the Summit for Survivors, Morse and other highly qualified speakers will challenge the pervasive ideologies that permeate today’s public discourse, embracing contraception and divorce and gender fluidity.
The Summit, Morse explained, is divided into three parts so that people can participate in different ways.
Summit Day 1 – “Boot Camp” for Pro-Life, Pro-Family Activists
“First, on Friday, June 24,” Morse said, “is the hard-core Ruth Institute training. I’ll explain how to understand the sexual revolution. Father Paul Sullins will show the costs of the sexual revolution — the different harms which people have sustained by participating in it themselves.”
The first-day core program will continue with a presentation by Dr. Quentin Van Meter, president of the American College of Pediatricians, who will itemize the medical costs of the sexual revolution, the whole range of how we’re messing with our bodies. And the final talk of the Core Training session by Communications Director Don Feder will focus on what sociologists call America’s Demographic Winter — showing how population growth is slowing or reversing, and how population decline will have serious implications for our nation’s future economy and prosperity.
“We’re already experiencing some of those problems,” Morse noted. “It doesn’t affect people individually yet; but it will affect those who outlive us. They (future generations) will be expected to pay taxes to take care of old people and little people.”
Awards Banquet
The second part of the program will be an Awards Banquet which is expected to draw as many as 600 attendees. The keynote speaker will be well-known pro-life activist Kristan Hawkins, recipient of this year’s Pro-Life Leadership Award. Kristan’s organization, Servants for Life of America, has grown to 1,200 chapters of young people across America — young people whom Kristan calls “the post-Roe generation.”
Other award recipients this year include:
- Scholar of the Year: political theorist Scott Yenor, for outstanding research in political philosophy. Yenor is author of Family Politics: The Idea of Marriage in Modern Political Thought, and coauthor of The Recovery of Family Life: Exposing the Limits of Modern Ideologies.
- Witness of the Year: Walt Heyer, who will talk about thriving and surviving after the trans ideology.
- And Activists of the Year Maria Keffler and Erin Brewer. “I’ve interviewed Erin before on my show,” Morse reported, “and she told me that when she was six years old, she was sexually assaulted, and her brother was not. At six she thought, ‘I’ll become a boy, and I’ll be safe.’ She was fortunate to have competent adults in her life who sheltered her and led her back.”
Summit Day 2 – Panel Discussions
On Saturday, June 25, Jennifer Roback Morse will begin the day talking about marriage. She plans to use a method first introduced by now deceased Dr. Jack Willke, founder of the National Right To Life Committee, the nation’s oldest and largest anti-abortion organization. “When challenged by pro-abortionists, Dr. Willke always kept the focus on the humanity of the pre-born,” said Morse. “We’ve never done that on the marriage topic.” Her talk is titled “Defend Your Values Like a Pro.”
The day will continue with panel discussions on learning from the past, and confronting the present. Two of the conference participants, drawing from their personal experience, will offer help in confronting the trans ideology. Charlene Cothran, a former lesbian, and formerly gay Paul Darrow will answer the question of whether it’s possible to change one’s sexual orientation. And the final panel discussion will offer helps for healing the family — healing adult children of divorce, healing the post-abortive congregation and stressing the important role of parents in children’s growth and development.
Morse said that there would be one more surprise for those who attended the Summit: “At the end of the session, everyone who participates in the program will receive a flash drive that has the slides on it — everything they’ll need to go out and speak effectively to others.”
The Ruth Institute’s Summit for Survivors of the Sexual Revolution will be held at the West-Cal Arena and Events Center in Sulphur, Louisiana. Early bird Summit registration ends May 20 at 11:59pm Central Time. For more information and to register for the Summit, visit the Ruth Institute’s website, http://ruthinstitute.org/ruth-institute-summit/.
Kathy Schiffer Kathy Schiffer is a Catholic blogger. In addition to her blog Seasons of Grace, her articles have appeared in the National Catholic Register, Aleteia, Zenit, the Michigan Catholic, Legatus Magazine, and other Catholic publications. She’s worked for Catholic and other Christian ministries since 1988, as radio producer, director of special events and media relations coordinator. Kathy and her husband, Deacon Jerry Schiffer, have three adult children.
About the Ruth Institute
The Ruth Institute is a global non-profit organization, leading an international interfaith coalition to defend the family and build a civilization of love.
Jennifer Roback Morse has a Ph.D. in economics and has taught at Yale and George Mason University. She is the author of The Sexual State and Love and Economics – It Takes a Family to Raise a Village.
To get more information or schedule an interview with Dr. Morse, contact media@ruthinstitute.org.
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