Okay, now this is just sad. Toys help children to learn and prepare them for life. That’s why industrial designer Ben Forman (benformandesign.co.uk) has introduced a new dollhouse to help today’s modern preschooler prepare for the inevitable unhappy changes in her family structure. It’s called Detacho. Detacho families, like so many contemporary American families, can […]
The Atlantic recently posted an article by Rachel R. White entitled, “The Role Non-Monogamy Will Play in the Future of Marriage” (Oct. 3, 2011), in which she interviews Pamela Haag, the author of the book Marriage Confidential. Haag claims that “marriage has changed over time in both perception and practice,” stating that “even the Bible was […]
In his seminal work, After Virtue, philosopher Alisdair MacIntyre argues that the abandonment of Aristotelian ethics lies at the heart of modern society’s slide into moral decadence and decline. Having abandoned an ontological, “is-ought” conception of the world, MacIntyre maintains that society now lacks a foundational vision to guide and order itself. Individualism, reigns supreme. […]
In mid-September the Governor of North Carolina convened a special legislative session to consider a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman. Amending the state constitution in North Carolina requires two-thirds of both houses of the legislature and a majority of the public to support it on the […]
Does the Church deny couples the opportunity to marry? If your answer is yes, then we need to rethink our understanding of why the Word became flesh. The Incarnation is the fountain of the grace of the sacraments and the Church would never deny anyone that grace. However, there is more than merely the desire […]
I recently renewed a friendship with a long-lost high school friend on Facebook and was surprised by her rather liberal views on politics and religion. After all, we had both attended a Catholic high school, although she is Episcopalian. At first, I thought that perhaps I should move on as our world views were so […]
Dr. Morse gave this speech April 23, 2011, at Hong Kong Baptist University, at a conference of Western and Chinese scholars, entitled “The Family and Sexual Ethics: Christian Foundations and Public Values.” China is experiencing numerous problems due to family breakdown, including the one child policy, high divorce rates, and an imbalanced sex ratio. This […]
Dr. Morse gave this speech April 23, 2011, at Hong Kong Baptist University, at a conference of Western and Chinese scholars, entitled “The Family and Sexual Ethics: Christian Foundations and Public Values.” China is experiencing numerous problems due to family breakdown, including the one child policy, high divorce rates, and an imbalanced sex ratio. This […]
Living as we are in a period that exalts individual desires, especially regarding sexuality, many persons who consider themselves Catholics believe that they have a right to contract marriage in the Church in accordance with their own opinions on marriage. But really that is not the case. Baptized Catholics have the right to celebrate marriage […]
Dear Members of the Tribunal of the Roman Rota, I am glad to meet you at this annual event on the occasion of the inauguration of the Judicial Year. I address a cordial greeting to the College of Prelate Auditors, starting with the Bishop Antoni Stankiewicz, the Dean, whom I thank for his courteous words. […]
In the political battle that ended last week with New York’s legalization of gay marriage, Catholic defenders of man-woman marriage found themselves pitted against an unlikely batch of adversaries: fellow Catholics. Gov. Andrew Cuomo — who, like his father, has spent his career touting his Catholic credentials while ignoring church teachings that clash with his […]
The power of words can be phenomenal. I’m sure you’ve seen jewelry with inspiring words. A necklace with the word “Love,” a bracelet with the word “Dream,” a trinket box with the word “Remember.” The meaning and energy a word carries can help lift our hearts throughout the day and fill our minds with inspiration. […]
Spring is wedding season, and though few celebrations can top last month’s royal wedding, plenty of brides hope to give Kate Middleton a run for her tiara. The $27,800 price tag for the average American wedding may be chump change compared to the $32 million royal nuptials, but it’s enough to drive an $86-billion-a-year wedding […]
Prepared remarks for the Judiciary Committee of the Minnesota State Senate, hearings on same sex marriage Dr Jennifer Roback Morse, founder and president of the Ruth Institute, a project of the National Organization for Marriage April 29, 2011 St. Paul Minnesota www.ruthinstitute.org We are here to consider giving the citizens of the State of […]
They grace the cover of Time magazine this week, do Kate and William, with not one but two full-page spreads inside: of the coach ride after the wedding and of the Westminster Abbey recession. Days after the grand affair, the world still gawks and talks. Much of the talk is about what the newlyweds have […]
Looking like the princess that she is, the lovely Catherine Middleton today became the wife of Prince William. It was a wedding that had the attention of people the world over. I watched the beautiful ceremony with my daughters this morning, enjoying the vestiges of Catholicism still quite boldly present, such as the occasional use […]
“Is religion important in relationships?” When I am interviewed and get asked this question, usually on a Catholic program, I initially say that yes, religion is very important. I say this because in a lot of ways, it is, and frankly, I could get heckled if the audience is full of Catholics and I don’t […]
In a 1972 decision widely hailed by the political classes, the Supreme Court opined in Eisenstadt v. Baird, “If the right to privacy means anything, it is the right to be free from unwarranted government intrusions into matters so fundamentally affecting a person as the decision whether to bear or beget a child.”1 Imagining that […]
This week I’ve been reading Servant of God Fulton Sheen’s Love, Marriage and Children, and was struck by how much this man – a celibate who died more than thirty years ago – understood about contemporary married life. (His profound understanding of the human condition is partly responsible for the fact that his nationally syndicated […]
Ever notice how when folks are getting married they make it everybody’s business? From announcements to bridal registries to showers to showing off the ring. From guest lists and invitations to bridesmaids to something borrowed — everybody is expected to get in on the act. Interesting isn’t it how these same people can decide to […]
This week I’ve been reading Christopher West’s Heaven’s Song, an unforgettable reflection on marriage as a metaphor for the perfect union God longs to have with us. When I reached a section called “The Agony and the Ecstasy of Becoming ‘One Flesh,” I was so struck by the boldfaced truth of one passage, I had […]
