Friday, October 02, 2009

WE ARE MOVING IN CYBER SPACE

Hi Ruth Institute Blog Lovers. We have switched blog platforms to a more user-friendly system. Visit us at: http://www.ruthblog.org/!

We look forward to your comments!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Dems focus on homosexual agenda

Jim Brown - OneNewsNow -

Democrats are currently undertaking two major efforts in Congress to enact key parts of the political agenda of homosexual activists.

Today liberal Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-New York) plans to introduce a bill that would repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The bill, which already has 69 co-sponsors, would create federal recognition of same-sex "marriages."

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=681852

Grandparents yearn to meet donated progeny

Carolyn Moynihan

We recently noted that would-be grandparents in Britain are paying for their grown-up children’s IVF treatments. Now we learn that Canadian women whose daughters -- and sons -- have donated gametes to other couples are pining for their unknown grandchildren. The grand-parenting urge is apparently very strong, especially when you know that the grandchildren are out there somewhere, and artificial begetting brings mixed blessings.

It's estimated that about one million donor offspring worldwide have been born, most of them through anonymous donations. In some cases grandparents and donor grandchildren do meet; in others not. A man who donated sperm for almost 10 years says he now sees that grandparents ought to be considered. "His own parents were delighted when two teenage donor daughters surfaced a few years ago." Imagine how many more there could be…

http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/grandparents_yearn_to_meet_donated_progeny/

Monday, September 14, 2009

A More Perfect Death

By ROSS DOUTHAT

As if there weren’t enough end-of-life anxieties floating around the health care debate, the Montana Supreme Court has chosen this month to weigh whether their state should join nearby Oregon and Washington in endorsing physician-assisted suicide.

What’s at stake is the right to voluntary euthanasia, not the sort of involuntary plug-pulling that some Republicans have claimed is concealed in the finer print of the current health care reform proposals. But you don’t have to share Sarah Palin’s death panel fears to see perils lurking at the intersection of physician-assisted suicide and health care reform.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/07/opinion/07douthat.html?_r=1

A new agenda for the world’s women

Carolyn Moynihan
What’s behind the discovery that women are the world’s greatest unexploited resource for fighting poverty and terrorism?

If you think the world is going to hell in a handcart, stop worrying; there are plenty of would-be saviours around. Philosopher Peter Singer, as we noted on this site last week, says a voluntary transfer of cash from the rich to the poor would save the world from poverty. New Scientist is working on a “Blueprint for a better world” starting with such bright ideas as scepticism about common sense, legalising drugs, and entrusting everyone’s DNA to the police. And The New York Times believes that “Saving the World’s Women” is the way to go. It probably is, so let’s see what’s new on the women’s agenda.

Admittedly, we hear a lot about saving the women of the developing world. Usually, it is from the “sexual and reproductive health” crowd, whose answer to dangerous childbirth, infant mortality, hunger, disease the abuse of women -- and practically everything else -- is contraception, sterilisation and abortion. Just this month they gathered in Berlin to complain about lack of progress on that front in many countries and to call for “universal access to sexual and reproductive health information and services by 2015”.

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/a_new_agenda_for_the_worlds_women/

Trashy tees - A&F at it again

Allie Martin - OneNewsNow -

The American Family Association and OneMillionMoms.com is spearheading an e-mail campaign to a popular clothing store over a new line of T-shirts.

According to OneMillionMoms.com director Monica Cole, Abercrombie & Fitch is pitching a new line of trashy tees. "A few of their little slogans are pretty offensive to women in general, so you wouldn't want your daughters or nieces wearing these shirts," she contends.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=678784

HR 3200 provides taxpayer-funded abortions

Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow -

The healthcare reform bill puts taxpayers in the position of paying for abortions.

The House version of H.R. 3200 would drastically change long-standing federal policy, according to Susan Muskett, senior legislative counsel at the National Right to Life Committee. "It creates a nationwide insurance plan run by the federal government that is explicitly authorized to cover all abortions," she explains. "The federal government would be running a nationwide abortion plan."

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=675732

"Called to Eternal Life": Babies and Rights

Fr. James V. Schall, S.J.

Dr. J's favorite quote:
Our culture rejects, for the most part, the best and most exalted way in which
children should come among us. Thus, we have a society filled with
people who have not known what was naturally due to them.
That is, each
child is to be born in a home in which each child has a father and a mother who
begot him and accepted him in love and generosity as a gift they did not plan or
devise. The actual child was not even in the thoughts of parents, whose
attention was on each other. Yet, they were prepared and happy to accept that
their relation naturally led to something beyond themselves, something seen in
the faces of their own children.


http://www.ignatiusinsight.com/features2009/schall_rightsbabies_sept09.asp

An Affair to Forget

by Kathryn Lopez

Reality-show star Jon Gosselin did it. Country singer Shania Twain, whose "One" has become a wedding standard, wound up a victim of it. An endless parade of politicians has done it, and those are the ones we wind up knowing about.
Adultery does happen. It always has and it always will. But I think we may have crossed a threshold.
While watching the president of the United States declare that we can legislate away hardship, during his joint-session of Congress health-care address, I was lured away from my hyper-blogging, Tweeting, Facebooking analysis by a commercial for ashleymadison.com.
To the soundtrack of a snoring woman in bed with a man, the announcer says: "Most of us can recover from a one-night stand with the wrong woman." The narrator continues: "But not when it's every night. For the rest of our lives."

The husband gets out of bed and heads, presumably, to the computer. We see a cartoonish wedding picture. We are made aware of what this restless spouse must be craving: an online dating site for those who are married, but itching for something more, with someone else.

"Life is short. Have an affair." is the motto for this no-frills facilitator. There's no need for confession or guilt. It's all straightforward and out in the open, at least to those in the know. And that's it: enticement, information and get your credit card ready.

http://townhall.com/columnists/KathrynLopez/2009/09/11/an_affair_to_forget?page=full&comments=true

My scattered grandchildren

Their children may consider it a personal decision, but parents of egg and sperm donors rarely see it that way. Many struggle with longing for branches of the family tree they may never meet.
Alison Motluk

When Kathie Harris spotted a newspaper ad a few years back recruiting egg donors, she passed it on to her daughter. “I was kind of joking,” she says.
But her daughter, Melissa Braden, ended up donating six times. Now Ms. Harris, 53, has mixed feelings about it all.
“It's kind of hard,” she says. There are grandchildren out there that the family will never meet, she says. “They're a part of you. Because they're Melissa's eggs, they're a part of everybody in Melissa's family.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/family-and-relationships/my-scattered-grandchildren/article1286201/

Friday, September 11, 2009

ObamaCare circumvents confession of abortion funding

Pete Chagnon and Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow -
Three pro-life leaders are voicing concern over President Obama's healthcare plan. They believe President Obama may not be telling the truth about taxpayer-funded abortion as it pertains to his healthcare reform plan. For the twenty-ninth time, Obama has tried to drum up support for his healthcare reform proposal. In a speech delivered on Wednesday evening, Obama tried to quell division over his plan concerning taxpayer-funded abortion.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=677860

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Marriage movement makes waves in New Zealand

Carolyn Moynihan

The marriage movement is making itself felt in Australia and New Zealand with the publication of a report, 21 Reasons Why Marriage Matters, this week. A coalition of marriage and family advocacy groups is backing the report, which is based on local and international research showing the benefits of marriage over alternative arrangements for family life.

“This edition has 146 researched footnotes including NZ-based research and presents strong evidence that marriage is more than a private emotional relationship. It is a social good and we should develop policies, laws, and family and community interventions to help strengthen marriages. The weakening of marriage is one of the most important social issues we are facing in NZ,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.

http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/marriage_movement_makes_waves_in_new_zealand/

Damage control for teens of divorce

Mark Gregston
When parents split up, it can cause a number of problems in the life of their children; especially if the children are in the pre-teen or teen years. I would never say divorce is responsible for every problem for the kids from split families who come to our teen-counseling program at Heartlight, but it is a major factor for many. Divorce piles on emotional problems for a teen a little higher than there would normally be for an already emotional adolescent.

While there is no real way to fix the problems that divorce can bring into a teen's life, there are ways to do damage control to help them through one of the most painful experiences they will ever encounter. Since half of all marriages end on divorce, I thought it may be helpful to provide a few ways for the parents to address the after-effects of divorce on a teenager. It can help them better deal with the hand they were dealt.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Perspectives/Default.aspx?id=675470

Studios now see value in family-friendly films

Allie Martin - OneNewsNow -

A noted entertainment critic and author says Christians are making a difference when it comes to the availability of family-friendly movies.

Ted Baehr is president of MovieGuide, a magazine and Internet site offering in-depth reviews of movies from a biblical perspective. Baehr says the box-office success of recent movies such as Facing the Giants, Fireproof, and The Passion of the Christ have shown Hollywood executives there is a market for movies with a biblical worldview.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=673972

Myths or Facts in Feminist Scholarship?

An exchange between Nancy K.D. Lemon and Christina Hoff Sommers

Christina Hoff Sommers, in her essay "Persistent Myths in Feminist Scholarship" (The Chronicle Review, online edition, June 29), criticized Nancy K.D. Lemon, a lecturer in domestic-violence law at the University of California at Berkeley's School of Law, for publishing errors in the popular textbook she edits, Domestic Violence Law, and for not taking seriously her continuing criticisms of the book. "One reason that feminist scholarship contains hard-to-kill falsehoods is that reasonable, evidence-backed criticism is regarded as a personal attack," Sommers charged. Following is Lemon's response to those criticisms and Sommers's rebuttal. Sommers is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.

Nancy K.D. Lemon: Christina Hoff Sommers accused me of being a "scholarly merchant of hype" for material in my popular textbook, Domestic Violence Law. In fact, she is the one whose assertions are untrue and who is impervious to correction.

http://chronicle.com/article/Domestic-Violence-a/47940/

How Facebook Ruins Friendships

Notice to my friends: I love you all dearly.

But I don't give a hoot that you are "having a busy Monday," your child "took 30 minutes to brush his teeth," your dog "just ate an ant trap" or you want to "save the piglets." And I really, really don't care which Addams Family member you most resemble. (I could have told you the answer before you took the quiz on Facebook.)

Here's where you and I went wrong: We took our friendship online. First we began communicating more by email than by phone. Then we switched to "instant messaging" or "texting." We "friended" each other on Facebook, and began communicating by "tweeting" our thoughts—in 140 characters or less—via Twitter.

http://sbk.online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204660604574370450465849142.html

Britain needs a middle-class baby boom

A growing population is a blessing so long as everyone joins in, argues Melanie McDonagh

By Melanie McDonagh

When I was born, I was, though I didn't know it at the time, part of the great Sixties baby boom. It was quite inescapable in Ireland. I was the sole only child in my class – everyone I knew came from families of around five. A proper big family had 12 children, which was the case with one friend of mine. When her grandmother was asked how many grandchildren there were now, she'd answer: "Twelve, at least last time I counted." It meant that, whenever you went to play in someone's house, you'd always find yourself being shushed up because you might wake the baby.
And you know what? It was good fun being around big families, even though those children were reared by mothers for whom family life was synonymous with hard labour. By definition, a society that has lots of children is fundamentally optimistic.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/6103250/Britain-needs-a-middle-class-baby-boom.html

FAMILY DIVERSITY AND POLITICAL FREEDOM: HOW CAN PEOPLE WITH DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO FAMILY LIFE LIVE TOGETHER IN FREE SOCIETIES?

Patrick Fagan, Ph.D.
SUMMARY
The "monogamous" and the "polyamorous " cultures have totally different approaches to life, with the religious worship and monogamous marriage being the defining differences in their different approaches to the sexual act. Coexistence necessitates that the differences be observed by giving parents of both cultures control over the programs that cause conflict: education, adolescent health and sex education. Monogamous men need to act to obtain this for the sake of their own children.
The following speech was given by Pat Fagan to the World Congress of Families in Amsterdam on August 12, 2009. The World Congress of Families is the world's largest conference of pro-family leaders and grass-roots activists.

http://www.frc.org/atthepodium/family-diversity-and-political-freedom-how-can-people-with-different-approaches-to-family-life-live-together-in-free-societies

Australian surrogacy laws lead to complications

Surrogacy is a minefield for black-letter lawyers, not just for emotional parents, as a recent case in Australia shows. Australia has a federal system, and each state has its own laws, even though there are constant attempts to harmonise them. In New South Wales, where Sydney is located, there is no law specifically governing surrogacy. This led to some unexpected results for Sharon, Paul, Michael, Lauren and Clive.

Before having chemotherapy, Sharon had some of her eggs stored. In October 2008, after these had been fertilised with her husband Paul’s sperm, her own mother Lauren gave birth to Michael. For Lauren, it was easy to hand over the child and she felt no emotional involvement.

http://www.bioedge.org/index.php/bioethics/bioethics_article/8677/

Doctors could pressure women who have pre-natal diagnosis

Recent breakthoughs in pre-natal diagnosis raise serious ethical questions, notes an article in the journal Nature Reviews Genetics by German doctors. It now seems possible to detect foetal problems with just a sample of the mother’s blood. Sequenom, an American company, plans to release its test later this year.

Women will probably be offered this test routinely in the first trimestre. Doctors will offer them the opportunity to abort the child if it has Down syndrome or other defects. But this might "reduce the reproductive autonomy of the woman". The authors foresee that women might not be able to make informed choices because they will be under intense emotional pressure to choose an abortion.

http://www.bioedge.org/index.php/bioethics/bioethics_article/8676/

Europe's demographic and cultural time bomb

Carolyn Moynihan

In Brussels, the top seven boys names recently were Mohamed, Adam, Rayan, Ayoub, Mehdi, Amine and Hamza. Mohamed is also the most popular name in Holland’s four biggest cities. Is anyone surprised?

Perhaps not, but a recent London Telegraph article suggests, with a certain note of alarm, that a “Muslim Europe” is emerging while policy-makers refuse to discuss the potential problems of this “demographic time bomb”. It reminds one a bit of Inspector Clouseau avowing, “It is not my Behm.”

http://www.mercatornet.com/demography/view/europes_demographic_and_cultural_time_bomb/

How informed the choice?

Sheila Liaugminas


The legal wrangling over South Dakota’s informed consent law hasbeen both bizarre and revealing. At core, it’s a battle between thepowerful abortion movement which operates under the mantle of ‘choice’,and the pro-life movement which is working mightily to give womenenough information to make an informed choice.

When South Dakota legislators passed a law requiring abortionproviders to inform women that they are carrying not a blob of tissue,but an already existing human being, among other highly relevant factsand the possiblerisks ass ociated with the procedure. PlannedParenthood got an injunction to prevent that law’s enactment byconvincing judge Karen Schreier that such disclosure violates theabortionists’ rights of free speech. Schreier decided that outweighedthe women’s right to information.

http://www.mercatornet.com/sheila_liaugminas/view/how_informed_the_choice/q

California Legislature Passes 'Harvey Milk Day' Bill

California Family Council Issues Statement Regarding Legislature's Passage of "Harvey Milk Day" Bill

SACRAMENTO, Sept. 8 /Christian Newswire/ -- Today the California State Legislature sent Senate Bill 572, authored by Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for his signature. SB 572 would require the governor of California to annually proclaim May 22 as Harvey Milk Day to honor the first openly homosexual politician. The bill would also encourage schools to conduct "commemorative exercises" and programs that focus on Milk's contributions. The controversial measure was approved by the State Assembly and Senate on party-line votes, with Republicans opposing.

http://www.christiannewswire.com/

The fight to enforce parental notification laws

Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow -

Officials from a Christian legal society in Chicago are urging the Illinois Supreme Court to implement parental notification when a child is seeking an abortion.

A parental notification law was passed in Illinois nearly 15 years ago, but court challenges and other maneuvering has prevented implementation. Most recently, a state medical board gave abortion doctors a reprieve from a court order for 90 days before they will be required to comply.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=662340

Friday, September 04, 2009

Great comment on "My Sister's Keeper"

Approximately 90% of all parents who learn their child will have Down Syndrome choose to abort, with the help of their closed-minded (and, in many cases, ignorant) doctors. With new testing, we will likely have even fewer of these special children and adults in our midst, just as we are beginning to learn how much they can experience and accomplish with proper support.

As a parent, I am aware of all the love and joy these kids bring to our lives and theirs. Its sad to see science playing God, whether its choosing who's worthy to live or using and abusing others for personal gain or life enhancement. Its sadder still that we let them!

Thanks for all you do to keep us aware and on guard.

-A Reader

Great sites for being Black and Married!

http://blackandmarriedwithkids.com/

http://www.happilyeverafterthemovie.com/

http://www.dailypress.com/news/opinion/dp-op_malonecolon_0830aug30,0,3101162.story

Why the black community can't talk about marriage
by Malone-Colon

Ask yourself: When is the last time you heard a public leader talk about the crisis in marriage and family and why it is urgent that as a country we give our attention to this crisis and its consequences? The answer is probably never or rarely.
What is being proposed by these leaders to address the dramatic increases in children born out of wedlock (72 percent for African-Americans), divorce, cohabitation, those who never marry and the decline in marital quality?

Defending Marriage in Troubled Times

by Harry R. Jackson, Jr.

Recently the Obama administration filed court papers claiming a federal marriage law, called The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), discriminates against gays. This was surprising because at the same time government lawyers have been instructed to defend it. In fact, Department of Justice Department lawyers are seeking to dismiss a suit brought by a gay California couple challenging the 1996 Act. The administration's legal strategy so angered gay activists that they claimed the president is backtracking on campaign promises.

http://townhall.com/columnists/HarryRJacksonJr/2009/09/02/defending_marriage_in_troubled_times?page=full&comments=true

Gay Marriage, Democracy, and the Courts

The culture war will never end if judges invalidate the choices of voters.

By ROBERT P. GEORGE We are in the midst of a showdown over the legal definition of marriage. Though some state courts have interfered, the battle is mainly being fought in referenda around the country, where “same-sex marriage” has uniformly been rejected, and in legislatures, where some states have adopted it. It’s a raucous battle, but democracy is working.

Now the fight may head to the U.S. Supreme Court. Following California’s Proposition 8, which restored the historic definition of marriage in that state as the union of husband and wife, a federal lawsuit has been filed to invalidate traditional marriage laws.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204619004574322084279548434.html

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Caritas in Veritate: The Truth about Humanity

This is part of a series by Jennifer Roback Morse. This installment focuses on the introductory chapter.

Many commentators read Pope Benedict XVI’s Caritas in Veritate as if it were a think tank white paper, and ask whether he endorses their particular policy preferences. It is a mistake to read the encyclical in this way. A close look at the document’s introduction makes plain that Benedict is not a man of the Left or of the Right: He is a non-ideological man of God.

The opening sentence soars above any political platform: “Charity in truth, to which Jesus Christ bore witness by his earthly life and especially by his death and resurrection, is the principal force behind authentic development of every person and of all humanity.” This is our first clue that we are not dealing with a technocrat or ideologue. “Authentic development” points away from the deliberations of politicians and policy wonks. Benedict does not define his objectives in material terms, such as maximizing GDP. Neither does he conduct focus groups or consult experts to figure out what people want. Rather in this encyclical, Benedict reflects on what it means to be authentically human and what the human good actually entails. That is to say, he seeks the truth about man in society.

http://www.acton.org/press/caritas_in_veritate_truth_about_humanity.php

Wintery Knight blog

Thanks, Wintery Knight, for linking to our blog on yours. Right back atcha.

Here's another good site, readers: http://winteryknight.wordpress.com/

De Facto Parents

Now children can have multiple legal parents without biology, adoption, or marriage.
By William C. Duncan

In his 1988 book Silent Revolution, Herbert Jacob described how one of the most significant changes to family law in the 20th century, no-fault divorce, began in California and spread through the states with very little public debate or controversy. This remarkable transformation was presented, and largely accepted, as routine policymaking in the domain of legal experts.

Similarly, a revolution in the legal understanding of parenthood seems to have quietly begun with little or no public debate or discussion. This dramatically transformative development is the statutory recognition of “de facto” parenthood — the notion that an unrelated individual (usually the unmarried partner of a biological parent, but potentially any adult) can be designated as the legal “parent” of a child by virtue of an agreement with a biological or adoptive parent, or even just a relationship with the child. In some cases, three or more people may be designated “parents” of the same child. While a handful of state courts have endorsed the idea in the context of disputes between same-sex couples jointly raising children, not until very recently has a legislature endorsed it.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YzcwZjA0ODk2NzM2NzY4N2IyYTQwYmY1NGQ3NGUyODc

Ben & Jerry's ice cream honors same-sex 'marriage'

Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow -

An ice cream company is celebrating homosexual "marriage" in Vermont (see related article).

Same-gender marriage is now legal in The Green Mountain State, and Ben & Jerry's has announced that it will temporarily change its "Chubby Hubby" ice cream to "Hubby Hubby" in honor of homosexual marriage. Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth about Homosexuality tells OneNewsNow that companies like Ben & Jerry's neglect to talk about the dangers of the lifestyle.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=661990

Pro-union bill contrary to pro-family movement

Chad Groening - OneNewsNow -

A former presidential candidate and conservative activist says the proposal known as the Employee Free Choice Act -- if enacted into law -- would pose a substantial threat to the interests of the pro-family movement.

Critics say the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) is really not about free choice at all. It would allow unions to take away workers' rights to secret ballot votes and to be certified only after a card-check campaign. These signed cards could be obtained through harassment and intimidation.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=662066

Normalizing transgenderism in schools

Pete Chagnon - OneNewsNow -

A New England-based pro-family organization is concerned about a situation in Vermont involving bathroom arrangements at schools.

Brian Camenker of MassResistance says the homosexual movement in Vermont is using a transgender-rights law to force middle schools and high schools to provide unisex bathrooms. He notes that a 16-year-old transgendered teen has asked the Vermont Human Rights Commission to lend its support to the effort.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=661996

Parenting pathways

Carolyn Moynihan

If your parents were negative and harsh with you growing up, that’s theway you will be with your kids. And if they were positive andaffectionate, well, lucky for your kids. That’s the assumption behind apopular theory of parenting, but researchers who have done long-termstudies say it’s wrong. Read more...

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

NEA reveals true stance on homosexual marriage

Pete Chagnon - OneNewsNow -

Does the NEA support same-sex marriage?

In early July, OneNewsNow was contacted by the Conservative Educators Caucus, an organization within the National Education Association (NEA) made up of conservative teachers. They claimed that the NEA threw their full support behind the homosexual marriage during their annual meeting in California. Concerned teachers within the NEA contacted their local officials, who denied any such support. However, Jeralee Smith of the Conservative Educators Caucus says those officials are playing "liberal word games." She directs concerned teachers to the NEA's website, which has posted the resolution.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=661894

Calling all monogamous men

Carolyn Moynihan

Family scholar Patrick Fagan has come up with an elegant schema contrasting “monogamous” culture with other kinds of sexual culture which he calls, collectively, “polyamorous”. Speaking at the World Congress of Families recently in Amsterdam, he highlighted the gulf that exists between the two cultures in terms of values and practical consequences. And he proposed a solution.

Fagan, who is with the Family Research Council, argued that these cultures can only co-exist in once society if parents in both are given control over the programs that cause conflict: education, adolescent health and sex education.

http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/calling_all_monogamous_men/

The UN’s sex-ed plan for kids

Carolyn Moynihan

Some years ago I saw a cartoon whose subject becomes more real by the day. It showed a Brave-New-Wold nursery in which newborns were being instructed via a loudspeaker: “Today you will be going home, but before you go, here is your first sex education lesson...” I was reminded of it by a Fox News report of a new universal sex-ed curriculum from UNESCO.

The UN’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation has decided that, “in a world affected by HIV and AIDS”, it is “imperative” to teach children as young as 5 about masturbation as well as “gender roles, stereotypes and gender-based violence”.

http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/the_uns_sex-ed_plan_for_kids/

Lesbian custody trial continues

Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow -

A court custody battle continues between a born-again Christian mother in Virginia and her former lesbian partner in Vermont.

Lisa Miller's daughter Isabella is now seven-and-a-half years old. Miller ended her lesbian relationship with Janet Jenkins and set up residence in Virginia when Isabella was an infant. Miller is now a Christian, while Jenkins is still a practicing lesbian.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=660402

Conservatism reigns in Croatia

Pete Chagnon - OneNewsNow -

Abstinence education is celebrating a legal victory in Croatia.

Roger Kiska of the Alliance Defense Fund says the case was particularly dangerous because it involved a charter body of the Council of Europe. That body polices compliance with the European Social Charter -- a binding human-rights document on all states within the Council of Europe.

The case involved a lawsuit against the Christian nation of Croatia, which Kiska says has a low rate of teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. The suit alleged that the country was not teaching appropriate sexual education in their schools because they focused on abstinence.

"So the potential of this case was to completely liberalize sexual education throughout Europe," he explains. "And thankfully the committee agreed with our arguments, agreed with the arguments of Croatia, that because of the cultural sovereignty of Croatia, because of the low prevalence of sexual transmitted diseases and teen pregnancies, obviously the program was working" the attorney notes.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=660524

Abortion, breast cancer link confirmed again

Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow -

Another study confirms a link between abortion and breast cancer.

The latest research was done in Turkey and is widely available on the Internet, according to Karen Malec of the Coalition on Abortion-Breast Cancer. "This study found that...Turkish women who have abortions...have a statistically significant 66-percent increase in breast cancer risk," she notes.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=657946

Abstinence, yes, but what about marriage?

Carolyn Moynihan

The abstinence-until-marriage movement in the United States has been a positive and courageous response to the sexual revolution. As the basis for sex education it has met with determined opposition because of adult scepticism, and probably dislike of the very idea of abstinence. Now a sociologist who is also an Evangelical Christian is suggesting another reason for reviewing the way Christians promote abstinence.

…[A]fter years of studying the sexual behavior and family decision-making of young Americans, I've come to the conclusion that Christians have made much ado about sex but are becoming slow and lax about marriage—that more significant, enduring witness to Christ's sacrificial love for his bride. Americans are taking flight from marriage. We are marrying later, if at all, and having fewer children.

http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/abstinence_yes_but_what_about_marriage/

New Hampshire Court orders Christian homeschooled girl to attend public school

Pete Chagnon - OneNewsNow

A Christian homeschool girl in New Hampshire has been ordered into government-run public school for having "sincerely held" religious beliefs -- and the Alliance Defense Fund is troubled by the ruling.

The case involves divorced couple Martin Kurowski and Brenda Voydatch and their 10-year-old daughter, Amanda. The couple split in 1999 when they were living in Massachusetts, and the proceedings moved to New Hampshire after Voydatch relocated to that state with her daughter in 2002.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=659638

DC court ruling affects ex-'gays'

Pete Chagnon - OneNewsNow -

A landmark court decision in Washington, DC, could have far-reaching ramifications for those who have left the homosexual lifestyle.

Regina Griggs, executive director of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays, tells OneNewsNow that former homosexuals now have protection under sexual orientation non-discrimination laws. According to the ruling [PDF], handed down by the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, ex-"gays" are now a protected class that must be recognized under the DC Human Rights Act.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=659000

Abortion 'explicitly' covered under ObamaCare

Pete Chagnon - OneNewsNow -

FactCheck.org says the National Right to Life Committee is correct concerning abortion provisions in ObamaCare.

According to FactCheck.org, President Barack Obama was right to a "limited extent" when he stated that his healthcare reform plan does not allow for "government-funded abortion." Although FactCheck.org states that under H.R. 3200 federal money is not used to fund abortion, under the public insurance option there is a provision for abortion coverage -- as well as provisions for government-subsidized public and private insurance plans that cover what are described as "reproductive services."

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=657860

My Sister’s Keeper

Jennifer Roback Morse

The screen version of Jodi Picoult's novel poses the question: how much are we entitled to use each other?
The use and misuse of artificial reproductive technology (ART) is a subject that deserves more attention than it commonly gets. My Sister’s Keeper is a thought-provoking dramatization of one of the most troubling ethical issues of the ART industry: the creation of “savior siblings”.

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/my_sisters_keeper/

In defence of moral absolutes

Richard Bastien

Forget the modern orthodoxy, there are real moral absolutes worth defending.
Throughout the 19th century, theories abounded in the English-speaking world about the relativism of human knowledge and, therefore, the difficulty in establishing moral standards. John Stuart Mill, notably, reduced the idea of morality to a form of subjective ideal. In the early 20th century, Einstein’s theory of relativity, for all the wrong reasons, gave a semblance of justification to the idea that there were no such things as absolutes. This led to an increasing acceptance of the notion that all cultures and moral ideas are conditional and that none can pretend to be any “better” than any other.

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/in_defence_of_moral_absolutes2/

All shall be poor

Barbara Kay

How today’s sexual narcissists insist on propagating their dreary values.

A hot new must-read book making the rounds is Frenchwoman Corinne Maier's No Kids: Forty Good Reasons Not To Have Children. Having read her embarrassingly superficial Maclean's interview and perused the jejune list of what constitutes "reasons" for Maier --kids cut into your "fun," kids are "conformists" --I'll pass on actually reading the book. Yet, because it would seem there was both money and celebrity to be gleaned from time Maier might otherwise have idly frittered away in an afternoon nap, I'm tempted to give the idea a whirl myself.

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/all_shall_be_poor/

Opposing Gay Unions With Sanity & a Smile

By Monica Hesse

The nightmares of gay marriage supporters are the Pat Robertsons of the world. The James Dobsons, the John Hagees -- the people who specialize in whipping crowds into frothy frenzies, who say things like Katrina was caused by the gays.

The gay marriage supporters have not met Brian Brown. They should. He might be more worth knowing about.

Brown is the executive director of the National Organization for Marriage, the preeminent organization dedicated to preventing the legalization of same-sex marriage. For two years, Brown has been traveling across the country. He moved his wife and six kids to California, where NOM was instrumental in passing Proposition 8, the state constitutional amendment defining marriage as an institution only between a man and a woman. Before that, Connecticut, where his cause was hurt when the state Supreme Court legalized gay marriage.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/27/AR2009082704139.html

Friday, August 28, 2009

Court Rules That ‘Sexual Orientation’ Laws Include Former Homosexuals

Washington, D.C. – In a precedent setting case, the Superior Court of the District of Columbia has ruled that former homosexuals are a protected class that must be recognized under sexual orientation non-discrimination laws. The Court held that, under the D.C. Human Rights Act, sexual orientation does not require immutable characteristics.

“We are gratified that the ex-gay community in Washington D.C. now has the same civil rights that gays enjoy,” said Regina Griggs, executive director of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX), which had filed the lawsuit against the District of Columbia government for failing to protect former homosexuals in the Nation’s Capital.

http://pfox.org/Court-Rules-Sexual-Orientation-Laws-Include-Former-Homosexuals.html

U.N. Agency Calls for Teaching Children 5-to-8 Years of Age about Masturbation

By Christopher Neefus

(CNSNews.com) – A June report from the United Nations Economic, Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) suggests children of all countries and cultures are entitled to sexual and reproductive education beginning at age five. The report, called International Guidelines on Sexual Education, was released in June in conjunction with the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA), an organization which works for universal access to “reproductive health care.”

http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=52988

ACLU’s Request to Jail Lisa Miller Fails in Virginia Court

Winchester, VA – Earlier today, Liberty Counsel appeared in court to defend Lisa Miller from a complaint filed by the ACLU of Virginia on behalf of Janet Jenkins. The ACLU asked the judge to order Lisa to jail for not delivering her own daughter, Isabella, to Vermont for unsupervised visitation with Janet. The ACLU also requested Lisa to pay attorneys fees and costs. No jail time was ordered and the court rejected the ACLU’s request for money.

Although the court ruled that Lisa had violated a Vermont judge’s visitation order, no fines were assessed against her. The court ordered that Lisa pay $100 per day for pending visitation orders issued in Vermont, but there are no pending visitation orders at this time. The ACLU vigorously argued against Liberty Counsel’s requested change of venue to Bedford County, where Lisa lives and Isabella attends school. However, the court ruled that future disputes in this case will be heard in Bedford County.

http://www.lc.org/index.cfm?PID=14100&PRID=846

What the Experts Are Saying Now

The most recent research in child development. Among the findings: 4-year-olds lie once an hour.

By KAY HYMOWITZ
For more than a century American parents—ever more distanced from grandmothers and ­suspicious of tradition—have looked to social ­science to explain their children to them. Thus they have gobbled up books and articles by experts who ­periodically deliver the latest truths about ­child-rearing. Back in 1945, when Dr. Spock published his "Baby and Child Care," readers' devotion to expert opinion was so intense that he began his book with the reassuring words: "Trust yourself." Not that he ­believed it. The book was jammed with advice.

Now, in "NurtureShock," Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman survey the newest new findings about child development. Little in the book is all that shocking, but given our enthusiasm for turning tentative child ­research into settled policy, the studies that the ­authors discuss are of more than passing interest.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203706604574371422231600220.html

Fathers aren't dispensable just yet

This story is a fascinating “take” on the differences between mothers and fathers, and possibly relevant to the debate over same sex parenting….

by Linda Geddes

YOU may be tempted to think men are becoming an optional extra in the mating game, but biochemical evidence in mice and people suggests that fathers may play a key role in the rearing of offspring. Previous studies have hinted at the importance of fathers in child-rearing. Some have shown that girls reach puberty younger, become sexually active earlier and are more likely to get pregnant in their teens if their father was absent when they were young. Others have suggested that the sons of absent fathers display lower intimacy and self-esteem.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327184.000-fathers-arent-dispensable-just-yet.html

Art galleries that don’t respect children

Carolyn Moynihan

Is it safe to take your children to an art gallery these days? A writer complains in the New York Times about taking his twin boys, aged 7, to one of his favourite galleries and running into an exhibition with “graphic images”. The name, “And/Or”, provided no clue to the genitalia displayed; the warning sign at the entrance was in very small print.

http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/art_galleries_that_dont_respect_children/

Feet first into marriage

What can we learn from couples who don't live together before tripping down the aisle, asks John Naish

by John Naish

'Why didn't we live together before we got married?" I asked my wife. "It was your idea," she replied. "And a particularly daft one." Nevertheless, I should be feeling smug after a recent burst of headlines forecasting marital misery and early divorce for couples who cohabit before getting wed. We're the only marrieds we know who lived separately before the big day.

More than three-quarters of UK couples now live together before marriage. If you subtract strictly religious spouses from the non-cohabiting cohort, there's only a small minority left. But perhaps something helpful can be learned from the oddball few who decide to plunge straight in. Not that they are nicer, more upstanding, virginal types, but that their actions could betray a higher level of commitment to the actual idea of being married.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/aug/22/feet-first-marriage

American Mistra: Putting the Culture Back in the Culture Wars

by Matthew J. Milliner

The urgency of protecting the sanctity of life, the dignity of the human person, and the institution of marriage goes hand-in-hand with cultivation of the arts.

John Witherspoon (the man after whom Public Discourse’s sponsoring institute is named) was faced with a choice. His eighteenth-century Scotch-Presbyterian milieu was divided between two parties. The Popular party, which today might be called the conservative wing, displayed the rigorous thought that accompanied Calvinist orthodoxy. The Moderate party, the more liberal branch, was doctrinally compromising, but peppered sermons with generous helpings of poetry, drama and literature. Faced with these alternatives, the young Witherspoon picked a definite side and became the champion of the Popular party. Witherspoon perceived that the Moderate penchant for poetry was not a supplement to classical doctrine, but an attempt to replace it. He penned a widely read satire of the Moderates, wherein they recited an “Athenian Creed” which began, “I believe in beauty and comely proportions of Dame Nature…,” and ended with, “I believe in the divinity of Lord Shaftesbury, the saintship of Marcus Antonius,” and so on. Witherspoon was a serious man who chose hard thinking over sponsorship of the arts. On the matter of Christians attending the theatre he was clear: “Where [amusement] is not necessary, it must be sinful.”

http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2009/08/798

A tarnished gold standard

Michael Cook
The last-ditch defence for experimenting with human embryonic stem cells is that they are a “gold standard” for stem cell research. Nonsense.

Heard much about human embryonic stem cell research lately? Whether or not embryos could be destroyed in the search for medical breakthroughs was one of the most controversial topics in the last US presidential election. It sparked bitter debates over the ethics of creating and dissecting nascent humans in Australia, Canada and the UK.

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/a_tarnished_gold_standard/

Children are worth having

Barbara Lilley

Are people who have children selfish? Would the world be better off if more of us were childless?

In an August 3, 2009 Maclean's Magazine article, “No Kids, No Grief”, author Anne Kingston takes a look at what appears to be a growing and vocal section of society – people who have decided against having children.
The reasons for refusing to procreate seem to run along the lines of the following: it's better for the environment, children are expensive, having them means you have to give up some material things you'd rather not and my personal favourite, childless marriages are far happier.

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/children_are_worth_having/

Demographic Bomb - the movie that says demography is destiny

Andrea Mrozek

What should we make of a movie claiming the human family is headed for decline?

When World Population Day came and went on July 11, it was with all the requisite fear mongering about there being too many people on the globe. [1] This accepted view—the fear of people falling off the globe causing grave environmental damage even as they go— is not true. Under population is in fact likely the more pressing problem in our future, not merely in rich industrialized countries, but everywhere. This sounds so foreign as to be false, which is evidence of the ubiquity and success of Malthus and his modern followers— those who believe societal ills could be staved off were there only fewer people on the planet.

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/review_demographic_bomb_-_the_movie_the_says_demography_is_destiny/

Will court enforce rules about RU-486?

Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow -

An Ohio law dealing with the abortion drug RU-486 will see even more court action.

The law simply requires abortion facilities administering the drug to do so according to federal guidelines, rather misusing it. An abortion business filed a lawsuit in 2004, saying the statute was ambiguous. The case has been in the courts since then, but Mark Lally of Ohio Right to Life tells OneNewsNow the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=651832

Christian runaway safe from Muslim family...for now

Chad Groening - OneNewsNow -
The head of a ministry dedicated to helping former Muslims is welcoming the news that a Florida judge has ruled that a 17-year-old Christian girl can remain in Florida and not have to return to her Islamic family in Ohio. But she also believes the fight isn't over yet.

An Orlando judge ruled Friday that 17-year-old Rifqa Bary can stay under protective custody in Florida as authorities there launch an investigation into her family and the Muslim community in Ohio where she lives. The teenager ran away last month because she believed her family would kill her for converting to Christianity. The girl's family members, who originally are from Sri Lanka, say they have never threatened to harm her.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Persecution/Default.aspx?id=653952

Abortionist Carhart denied hospital privileges

Butts - OneNewsNow -
A request to open a late-term abortion clinic has been shot down in Wichita, Kansas.

Operation Rescue's Troy Newman launched an online petition drive to convince a local hospital not to grant hospital privileges to well-known abortionist LeRoy Carhart. The answer came just a few hours later.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=648614

Head Chef in the Cafeteria

By Brad Miner

When I think of Edward M. Kennedy (“Teddy” early on before the more respectful “Ted”), I first think of Terry Malloy, the character played by Marlon Brando in “On the Waterfront.” Kennedy’s brothers got title shots (one was champ), but, like Terry, Teddy got a “one-way ticket to Palooka-ville!” Did he think, I coulda been a contender? Oh yes.

But unlike Terry, Teddy was no bum, and, despite some astonishing missteps, he got to hang out with the punchy Palookas in the World’s Greatest Deliberative Body, that Gleason’s Gym of blow-dried heavyweights, the United States Senate. Indeed, he became the longest-serving senator in Massachusetts history, second-longest in the current Senate (after Robert Byrd, for whom nearly everything in West Virginia is named), and the third-longest since Vice President John Adams pounded the gavel at the Senate’s first session on March 4, 1789. This is remarkable, since in the aftermath of July 18, 1969 the oddsmakers were wagering Kennedy’s political career had sunk as low as his Olds Delmont 88 (and, lest we forget, Miss Mary Jo Kopechne) into that dark Chappaquiddick tidal pool. Mr. Kennedy was thirty-seven when his career died. He announced that he would not seek re-election to the Senate in 1972.

http://www.catholicthing.com/

Sweden outlaws home schooling

Pete Chagnon - OneNewsNow -
The founder of the Home School Legal Defense Association says home schooling in Sweden will soon be banned altogether, with a few minor exceptions. Mike Farris says that Sweden will ban all home schooling except for children with medical exemptions and foreign workers with the appropriate work visas.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=648486

Monday, August 17, 2009

BREAKING NEWS: Obama comes down on DOMA

Jim Brown (OneNewsNow) and Associated Press -

A pro-family leader says the Obama administration is playing dishonest "Chicago-style politics" by defending the Defense of Marriage Act while undermining the law in a court filing.

The Obama Justice Department today filed court papers claiming the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act discriminates against homosexuals. In the meantime, the DOJ lawyers are seeking to dismiss a suit brought by a homosexual California couple challenging DOMA. (See Associated Press story below)

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=646972

Iran’s plummeting birth rates

Michael Cook
Despite its fundamentalist Islamic reputation Iran has experimented with birth control with some unexpected, and unwelcome, consequences.

If demography is destiny, the family of Farzaneh Roudi is a snapshot of Iran’s past, present and future. A program director at the Population Reference Bureau in Washington DC, Ms Roudi was born in Iran. Her grandmother had 11 children, her father had 6 and she has 2.

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/irans_plummeting_birth_rates/

Babies have a right to a heritage

Brenda Almond
Fertility clinics are creating a new class of dispossessed human beings, says a British philosopher.
Baby manufacture is already big business. Recent ads targeting women college students in America have offered them free holidays in India in exchange for parting with their eggs during their visit, with Indian women teamed to become paid surrogates and return the product – the student’s child – to those who commissioned it. Do other jurisdictions want to follow this precedent and should Americans be more concerned about what is done in their name? The selling of slaves was considered offensive – should selling babies be OK?

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/babies_have_a_right_to_a_heritage/

American Babies Are Ruining Everything

WILLIAM MCGURN
The truth is more brains will likely mean cleaner energy technologies.

Forget about the birthers, and the nutty claims that Barack Obama was not born in the United States.
More and more, we are hearing from people who might best be described as anti-birthers. Their claims have nothing to do with long- versus short-form Hawaiian birth certificates. Instead, they advance a simple proposition: that the birth of each additional American child is a kind of calamity for the environment.
The most recent example of anti-birth thinking comes from Paul Murtaugh and Michael Schlax of Oregon State University. In a study called “Reproduction and the carbon legacies of individuals,” they suggest that if you truly care about the environment, it’s not enough to trade your SUV for a Prius, use the right lightbulbs, or limit your lawn to organic fertilizers. To the contrary, you need to start thinking about something way more important: i.e., having one less child.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204313604574328823712388930.html

A parent's guiding influence

Mark Gregston
A parent's desire to hold on to a child's innocence in his early years is normal and necessary. Early childhood is obviously not the right time for them to know certain things. But kids today are exposed to negative influences at earlier and earlier ages, and it is often out of a parent's control.
Age 16 used to be the benchmark for teens. It was the age most could begin to drive, and when given a set of car keys, the influence a parent has on how much of the world their teen experiences changes dramatically. But today, a younger teen has the keys to "drive" on over to some of the seediest places on earth, with the click of a mouse button. The Internet has changed everything.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Perspectives/Default.aspx?id=640998

Personhood amendment making inroads in Colorado

Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow -

Personhood Colorado is preparing for a major effort to get a proposed pro-life amendment on an upcoming ballot.

The amendment would declare that personhood starts at "the beginning of biological development of a human being," which changes the previous amendment's wording from "the moment of fertilization." Personhood Colorado campaign co-chairman Gualberto Garcia Jones says 75,000 petition signatures are needed to get the issue on the 2010 ballot. He is optimistic because his group did well taking the issue to voters last year.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=638268

British tax and benefit system favours single parents

Carolyn Moynihan

Does the British government actually not want some people to marry? It rather looks like it, judging by the financial penalty many couples face as a result of the tax they pay and the benefits they do not receive. In fact, it looks as though the government wants those who are married to split up.
An analysis of 98 couples with different earnings and numbers of children carried out by the charity Care showed that 76 of the couples would be better off if they split up and claimed welfare benefits that average £8007. Increasingly it is middle-income families where both parents work that suffer this “couple penalty”.

http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/british_tax_and_benefit_system_favours_single_parents/

Freedom, solidarity, subsidiarity

Martin Fitzgerald

Pope Benedict XVI's new encyclical continues 120 years of Catholic social doctrine based on the dignity of the human person and his participation in society.

To understand Pope Benedict XVI’s recent encyclical, Caritas in veritatem (Charity in truth), you need to know something about the history of ideas. This is not a document which the Pope tossed off after a couple of months of reflection. It is the latest instalment of at least 120 years of major documents from popes commenting on social trends especially in the field of economics. Broadly speaking, this is called the “social doctrine” of the Catholic Church. It is a collection of principles governing social development while still respecting the integrity of the human person.

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/Freedom_solidarity_subsidiarity/

UN Disabilities Treaty does not create abortion rights

Austin Ruse and Piero A. Tozzi

Abortion has not been smuggled into international law by hiding under the banner of "sexual and reproductive health".
Late week, United States signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities – the first binding United Nations treaty to mention "sexual and reproductive health." The term has provoked concern among pro-lifers, who worry that it creates an implicit right to abortion. Let us emphatically state: It does not.

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/un_disabilities_treaty_does_not_create_abortion_rights/

The business of looking after the family

Nuria Chinchilla

Only if they act responsibly towards the family can businesses and society at large thrive.
Anyone listening to business leaders these days, or simply doing the weekly shopping at the supermarket, can hardly miss the impact that the “green” movement is having on the production and marketing of goods. For decades, businesses washed their hands of their impact on the environment, but this attitude has changed recently. There are rules, quality certifications and laws that have made businesses more aware of their responsibility to the environment and the need to preserve the earth’s natural resources in our own interests and for the sake of future generations.

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/the_business_of_looking_after_the_family/

Infidelity and Its Implications

by Christopher O. Tollefsen

As recent polls and recent events show, Americans remain morally opposed to sexual infidelity in marriage. At the same time, Americans show broad acceptance of premarital sex. But an examination of the reasons why infidelity within marriage is detrimental to human flourishing reveals sexual infidelity prior to marriage to be just as harmful.

Proponents of traditional sexual morality can take some comfort in the fact that, a few cynics and radical secularists aside, there is widespread agreement about the moral wrong of sexual infidelity in marriage. Although the norm requiring sexual exclusivity within marriage can sometimes seem as if it is honored more in the breach than the observance, the response to recent cases of adultery among public figures is not limited to accusations of hypocrisy. Most commentators, and most ordinary citizens, agree that married persons must remain sexually faithful to their spouses and that failure in this regard constitutes a particularly egregious betrayal of the marriage vows.

http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2009/07/761

ABA meddles in marriage issue, members exit

Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow -

The American Bar Association House of Delegates has approved a resolution calling on Congress to repeal a section of the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, that denies federal marital benefits and protections to same-gender couples married in states where it's legal.

OneNewsNow contacted Liberty Counsel's Mat Staver, dean of the law school at Liberty University, for reaction. He says the American Bar Association (ABA) is intruding on matters that have nothing to do with the general practice of law, pushing a political position that upsets many members.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=634228

Pro-aborts clouding issue of healthcare reform, abortion

Brown - OneNewsNow -

National Right to Life accuses the pro-abortion lobby of "creating smokescreens" intended to prevent Americans from finding out that their tax dollars will be used to fund abortion in the Democrats' government-run healthcare plan.

Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards claimed earlier this week in a piece for the Huffington Post that taxpayers would not be forced to fund abortions in the government health insurance plan advocated by President Obama. "The public health insurance plan...would operate like any private insurance plan would," she wrote. "Therefore, there is no reason to treat any coverage issue, including abortion coverage, differently in the public health insurance plan than in private plans...."

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=633186

Families gather around TV to do their own thing

Carolyn Moynihan
Electronic media, once a force for togetherness as whole families gathered around the radio or television, are now pulling families apart, according to a report from the UK’s communication’s regulator, Ofcom.

James Thickett, Ofcom’s director of market research, said: “What we find is that there has been a trend for people to converge on the living room, to watch the 37in high-definition television, but when they get there they start to do something else like surf the internet as well.”

http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/families_gather_around_tv_to_do_their_own_thing/

Lead us not into temptation…

Carolyn Moynihan

In a refreshing change from research that looks for excuses for everyday vices in people’s genes or family background, a study from the Kellogg School of Management looks at things like temptation, willpower and humility (yes, really) in impulsive and addictive behaviour.
Previous research has shown that people in a “cold state” (not experiencing hunger, anger, sexual arousal and so on) tend to underestimate how a “hot”, impulsive state will influence their behaviour.
The new study led by Loran Nordgren confirmed that, and also found that those who are most confident about their self-control are the most likely to give into temptation.
“People are not good at anticipating the power of their urges, and those who are the most confident about their self-control are the most likely to give into temptation,” said Nordgren. “The key is simply to avoid any situations where vices and other weaknesses thrive and, most importantly, for individuals to keep a humble view of their willpower.”

http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/lead_us_not_into_temptation/

Adult stem-cell research sees another success

Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow -

Chinese scientists are producing live mice from adult stem cells, and experts call it an exciting discovery.
It represents another breakthrough for adult stem-cell research, according to Ben Kinchlow of the Adult Stem Cells Information Coalition.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=625300

Justifying one's existence

Barbara Kay

Choosing to live out one’s natural life will soon be as unpopular as refusing an abortion.
Have you noticed that the subject of euthanasia/ assisted suicide is picking up momentum -- that it is, so to speak, taking on a life of its own? I mean in particular that we seem to be approaching one of those interesting tipping points in public debate where the tone of those supporting a once-shocking idea is shifting from defensive to offensive.

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/justifying_ones_existence/

'I need to wait'

Christopher Blunt

Surprisingly good messages about teenage sex and parenthood surface in an MTV series.
Culturally conservative messages about premarital sex have surfaced in an unusual place: MTV. The music-television network’s new reality series, 16 and Pregnant, follows sixteen-year-old American girls through five to seven months of their pregnancies and the experiences of young motherhood.
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/i_need_to_wait/

A daring Baltic ban on gay propaganda

Bryan P. Bradley

A new Lithuanian law aims to protect minors from information that could be harmful to them.
Lithuania’s parliament found energy this month not only for budget cuts to keep a financial crisis at bay but also for a strong stand on family values which challenges the status quo in the European Union and has sparked an uproar in the international community. Lawmakers in the Baltic nation’s 141-member chamber on July 14 voted 89-6 to adopt a Law on the Protection of Minors, which limits the propagation of information that could be harmful to young people. Alongside examples like graphic violence, instructions on how to make explosives, presentation of drug use in a positive light and pornography, the law also restricts information “which promotes homosexual, bisexual, and polygamous relations."

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/a_daring_baltic_ban_on_gay_propaganda/

Friday, August 14, 2009

Newsweek: 'Traditionalists better get used to' polyamory

Colleen Raezler - Guest Columnist -

Editor's Note: This commentary contains descriptions that some readers may find offensive.

According to Newsweek, polyamory is here to stay and "the traditionalists had better get used to it." Polyamory, reporter Jessica Bennett explained in her July 29 article, is the act of "engaging in loving, intimate relationships with more than one person – based upon the knowledge and consent of everyone involved."

While Bennett acknowledged that keeping track of multiple partners' (and their partners') needs and wants isn't for everybody, she concluded, "perhaps the practice is more natural than we think: a response to the challenges of monogamous relationships, whose shortcomings – in a culture where divorce has become a commonplace – are clear."
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Perspectives/Default.aspx?id=625368

China’s abortion surge blamed on young, single women

Carolyn Moynihan

A report in the official Chinese newspaper China Daily reveals some shocking figures on abortion in that country: 13 million surgical abortions a year performed in hospitals, 10 million abortion pills sold every year, and unknown number of abortions done in unregistered rural hospitals. “Family planning” statistics are usually considered state secrets, so why this sudden revelation?

Apparently, nobody knows, but the original report -- picked up by media around the world -- highlighted the information that nearly two thirds of the hospital abortions were done on single women aged between 20 and 29. A government official quoted in the report said nearly half of those having abortions reported using no contraception when they conceived. A sex therapist blamed it all on a lack of sex education (and doesn’t that sound familiar?).

http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/chinas_abortion_surge_blamed_on_young_single_women/

Info on homosexual health risks squelched

Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow -

A pro-family activist group is calling for a federal study of the health risks of homosexual conduct.

Americans for Truth about Homosexuality president Peter LaBarbera tells OneNewsNow it only makes sense because the government will investigate the dangers of such habits as smoking and work to curb it. He cites information released by the Food and Drug Administration.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=621982

Home Depot building a 'le-gay-cy' for children

Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow -

Home Depot is helping to introduce children to the homosexual lifestyle.

The Nashville Gay Pride website notes that Home Depot contributed more than $5,000 to help finance the 2009 festival. The retailer also participated by conducting children's craft workshops at a special booth set up for them. The company has sponsored similar children's venues at pro-homosexual events in Atlanta, Kansas City, Durham, Portland, and San Diego.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=621908

Same-sex marriage has consequences beyond the couple getting married

A Saskatchewan marriage commissioner who refused to marry a same-sex couple has lost his appeal of a human rights ruling.
Orville Nichols was approached by a gay man who wanted to get married in 2005 . At first, Nichols congratulated the man, identified in court documents only as "M.J."

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewan/story/2009/07/23/marriage-ruling.html

The Grail Searchers

Despite endless efforts to prove the contrary, science shows that an embryo is a human being.

By Maureen Condic, Patrick Lee, and Robert P. George

“The development of a human being begins with fertilization, a process by which the spermatozoon from the male and the oocyte from the female unite to give rise to a new organism, the zygote.” — Langman’s Medical Embryology, 7th edition, 1995
For people who advocate the killing of embryonic human beings in the cause of biomedical research, the Holy Grail is an argument that would definitively establish that the human embryo, at least early in its development, is not a living human organism and therefore not a human being at all. The problem for these advocates is that all the scientific evidence points in precisely the opposite direction. Modern human embryology and developmental biology have shown that fertilization produces a new and distinct organism: a living individual of the human species in the embryonic stage of his or her development.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZDFkM2ZiOGEwOWVkY2Y2ZTlhNDk2MjdkMWQ3NzZhNmY

Liberal academic Edward Green: the Pope is right about Aids and condom

According to Harvard professor Edward Green, Benedict XVI tells the truth about fighting the plague of the millennium in Africa: fidelity and abstinence promotion are better weapons than preservatives.

During his latest visit to Africa pope Benedict XVI told the journalists: “Condom distribution is not the solution to Aids, on the contrary they worsen it”. An editorial comment of The Lancet retorted that the Pope's comment was “outrageous and wildly inaccurate”. Based on your experience about the issue, is the Pope right or wrong?

http://www.tempi.it/007320-liberal-academic-edward-green-pope-right-about-aids-and-condom?page=0

The duty to die

Sheila Liaugminas

It has already been a growing threat under the influence of the ‘right to die’ movement and spreading ‘futility care laws’.
Now it’s looming larger in the 1,018 page health care proposal as written, and more Americans are starting to become aware that it practically mandates rationing that will discriminate against the most vulnerable.

http://www.mercatornet.com/sheila_liaugminas/view/the_duty_to_die/

Abortion unbound

Sheila Liaugminas
If passed as written, health care ‘reform’ in America would expand abortion more radically than anything since Roe.
Abortion activists first introduced the misnamed ‘Freedom of Choice Act’ (FOCA) with the help of Senate sympathizers in 1989 to create a fundamental right to abortion for all women, spread its access, and limit any government regulation, including any that even Roe v. Wade allowed. Twenty years and countless successes since then, the abortion movement put a sympathizer in the White House who had promised them he would sign that sweeping and radical legislation into law if elected.
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/abortion_unbound/

Teachers flocking to Christian alternative to NEA

Pete Chagnon - OneNewsNow -
The Christian Educators Association International says it has seen an increase in enrollment due to some developments in the National Education Association.

About one month ago, the National Education Association (NEA) voted to throw its full support behind homosexual "marriage," and members voted down a resolution calling for the NEA to take a "no-position" stance on abortion. Furthermore, NEA top lawyer Bob Chanin recently berated those within the NEA who hold to traditional conservative values, accusing them of trying to take down the union.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=616046

Babies have a right to a heritage

NOTABLE QUOTE: "...equity in the preservation of personal identity has not received as much attention as the rights of adults to fertility treatment."

Brenda Almond
Fertility clinics are creating a new class of dispossessed human beings, says a British philosopher.
Baby manufacture is already big business. Recent ads targeting women college students in America have offered them free holidays in India in exchange for parting with their eggs during their visit, with Indian women teamed to become paid surrogates and return the product – the student’s child – to those who commissioned it. Do other jurisdictions want to follow this precedent and should Americans be more concerned about what is done in their name? The selling of slaves was considered offensive – should selling babies be OK?

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/babies_have_a_right_to_a_heritage/

Monday, August 10, 2009

Romania stiff-arms same-sex 'marriage'

Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow -

Romania's Parliament has moved to protect traditional marriage.

Roger Kiska, a member of Alliance Defense Fund's legal counsel, is stationed in Europe. He tells OneNewsNow that Romania adopted a strong civil code enshrining traditional marriage in law. "It's defined throughout the code -- spouse as between a man and a woman," he explains. "It forbids these backdoor, so-called same-sex 'marriages' where Romanian citizens or foreigners come into the country and ask that their marriage be recognized by the country. It also does the same with civil unions."

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=612576

Survey: Third of Mass. transgendered weigh suicide

By Associated Press
BOSTON — Nearly a third of transgender residents in Massachusetts have considered suicide according to a new survey by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
The study compares the health of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents to heterosexual and non-transgender residents.
It found that about 31 percent of transgender respondents said they have considered attempting suicide in the past year, compared to just 2 percent for heterosexual residents, 4 percent for gay and lesbian residents and 7 percent for bisexual residents.
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20090727survey_third_of_mass_transgendered_weigh_suicide/srvc=home&position=recent

Grandparents are funding their children’s IVF, finds Red magazine

Note: The success rate for IVF has risen in recent years but still only a minority become pregnant. For women aged under 35, the success rate is 28.2 per cent. It drops to 23.6 per cent for women aged 35 to 37, 18.3 per cent for women aged 38 to 39 and 10.6 per cent for women aged 40 to 42.

JRM's comment: where are they getting these success rates? Are these women who actually have a fertility problem? Or, are some of these women perfectly healthy women who have no male partner? It matters for understanding the success rates. I got these stories from mercator: http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/ I like their comemnt too: how mature are these people who are spending all their income until their 40’s?

Rosemary Bennett, Social Affairs Correspondent

Grandparents have been subsidising school fees and providing a free baby-sitting service for years. Now research shows that they are also footing the bill for the conception of their grandchildren.
A quarter of women over the age of 40, and 13 per cent of all couples undergoing IVF and other fertility treatments, are having them paid for by their own parents, anxious to have grandchildren. The average amount spent by grandparents is £5,413, slightly more than the cost of one cycle of IVF.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article6737901.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=797084

The end of IVF?

Note from JRM: She is also keen to remind women that IVF still has a relatively poor success rate. “At one of the most renowned New York clinics, figures indicate that among women under 35, the success rate is still only 47%.”

Anita Chaudhuri
If you' re having difficulty conceiving, then help is at hand. it comes not in the form of expensive drugs, but in a new book that takes a simpler approach to the treatment of infertility.

It’s a sad fact of life that one in six couples will have difficulty conceiving. Those praying for a miracle will often try anything, from the estimated 75% who experiment with alternative therapies, to the 1 in 80 women who will eventually give birth to an IVF baby in the UK each year. Now, two leading fertility specialists have decided to bridge the gap between conventional and complementary medicine, and offer an alternative to rushing into IVF. “I estimate that 50% of women on IVF don’t need it,” says Dr Sami David, a doctor involved with the first-ever successful IVF procedure in New York 30 years ago. “They could get pregnant naturally.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article6721741.ece

Friday, July 31, 2009

Divorce has lasting effects on health

Carolyn Moynihan
More evidence has come to light of the damage divorce does to family members. A study of 8652 people aged 51 to 61 shows that those who have been divorced, as well as those widowed, have worse health than those who have been continuously married or who have never married. Their health improves somewhat with remarriage but still suffers long term effects.
The research, by University of Chicago Sociologist Linda Waite and Johns Hopkins public health professor Mary Elizabeth Hughes, is the first to examine both marital transitions and marital status on a wide range of health dimensions, including chronic disease (heart, diabetes, cancer), depression and mobility.

http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/divorce_has_lasting_effects_on_health/

Why are young men still living at home more violent?

Carolyn Moynihan

We are used to the idea that young men are responsible for much of the violence in society, but who would have thought that living under the parental roof was the strongest risk factor for such behaviour? And yet, that is what researchers at Queen Mary, University of London, found when they asked over 8000 men and women about violent behaviour over the past five years and mental health problems.

http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/why_are_young_men_still_living_at_home_more_violent/

The notion of a right to a 'good death' undermines society

If my life has no objective value, then why should anyone else care for it, asks Vincent Nichols.
By Vincent Nichols
We have seen a significant defeat in Parliament for proposals to legalise assisted suicides, and learnt of the joint suicides at the Dignitas apartment in Switzerland of the eminent conductor Sir Edward Downes, and his wife, Lady Downes. While there are many ethical, medical and legal issues surrounding assisted suicide, at its heart lies the notion that we have an absolute moral entitlement to have whatever kind of death we choose. This is surely the triumph of the philosophy that proclaims individual rights above all other considerations and the relativist insistence that what is good is a matter of personal judgment.

The consequences of this attitude lie at the root of the weakening of social structures, including the decline of the family as the core unit, the rise of anti-social behaviour, the pursuit of profit at all cost and the increasing intolerance of non-materialist, philosophical or ethical views. It can be summarised as the age of convenience; the pursuit of what we want despite its cost and impact on others.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/5845658/The-notion-of-a-right-to-a-good-death-undermines-society.html

Hear about the legal breakthrough in abortion law?

Sheila Liaugminas


Overhwhelming odds are that you didn’t, even if you live in the state of Illinois, where the landmark decision came down last week.
The story, a small piece, was buried on page 11 of the Chicago Tribune the next day.
A federal appeals court in Chicago on Tuesday breathed new life into a long-dormant Illinois law that requires physicians to notify the parents of teenage girls before performing abortions.
Attorneys on both sides of the issue said the law — which was passed in 1984 and updated in 1995 — would take effect within weeks unless its critics ask for a stay and the three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agrees to put its order on hold pending a rehearing.

http://www.mercatornet.com/sheila_liaugminas/view/hear_about_the_legal_breakthrough_in_abortion_law/

Abortion industry bailout

Sheila Liaugminas
Besides the surprise revelation about restrictions on private health insurance (below), what else is in that 1,018 page health care bill that’s just coming to light?
Mandated taxpayer funding of abortion. FOCA has returned, under the cover of this bill.
Pro-life groups and lawmakers are continuing to raise the alarm over the healthcare reform package President Obama is aggressively pushing through both the House and the Senate. The groups are urging Americans to oppose the healthcare overhaul, as pro-abortion lawmakers are insisting that abortion must be included in the basic healthcare package that all public and private insurers will eventually be required to cover.
But they’re using stealth language.

http://www.mercatornet.com/sheila_liaugminas/view/abortion_industry_bailout/