Marriage & Family Headlines

"The Pacific Justice Institute petitioned the 3rd District Court of Appeal in Sacramento on Monday for an emergency order that would require the two officials to appeal a ruling that overturned Proposition 8."

At the Ruth Institute Blog, Jennifer Roback Morse, Ph.D., provides an excerpt from her contribution to a new book called "Women, Sex & the Church: A Case for Catholic Teaching": "Marriage is a universal human institution, defined—until recently—as the preferred context for both sexual activity and child-rearing. Until the last forty years, every society understood that some contexts for sex and childbearing were preferable to others . . . Over the past forty years, many women have become convinced that marriage is not in their best interest. Some women believe marriage is unnecessary. Others think that it is or has been harmful to them. The views of women like these, orchestrated, I will argue, by socialist and other secular feminists, have been instrumental to weakening the institution of marriage."

KPTM: "Jeff and Heidi Wilke wanted to submit their daughter's engagement announcement to the Omaha World Herald – only to find out it's not allowed – simply because their daughter is gay . . . As of four o'clock Monday afternoon, the Omaha World Herald has restructured their policy."

Fox 40: "Citing same-sex marriage equality, Senator Roy Ashburn has asked Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to veto a senate bill that would seek to further define the separation of church and state and would afford churches who refuse to perform same-sex marriages protection when it came to their tax-exempt status."

"The 5th Texas Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that a Dallas judge didn't have jurisdiction to grant a divorce to two Dallas men who wed in Massachusetts. The court also says Texas' same-sex marriage ban is constitutional."

Beverly Willett writing at The Daily Beast: "No-fault assumes that removing choice from the equation will lead to less acrimony, but that’s too simplistic. It assumes the only reason parties would ever hold up a divorce is to angle for money. It tosses aside the notion that one might want to stay married because of one’s pledge, or for the sake of the children . . . Governor Paterson commended New York’s legislature for 'fix[ing] a broken process.' But no-fault isn’t the answer. It won’t cure our national preoccupation with searching for happiness in greener pastures–the root cause of rampant divorce–any more than a fault-based system of divorce can. We’ve created a happiness culture without understanding what that means or how to achieve it. Ditch your spouse and eat, pray, love your way to the next one."

New York Times / Economix: "There were 13.5 births per 1,000 people last year, compared to a rate of 13.9 births per 1,000 people in 2008. In 2007, the rate was 14.3 births . . . The marriage and divorce rates also fell in 2009. The center estimates that there were 6.8 marriages per 1,000 people in 2009, after a rate of 7.1 and 7.3 marriages per 1,000 people in 2008 and 2007, respectively."

Denver Post: "As kids head back to school, conservative Christian media ministry Focus on the Family perceives a bully on the playground: national gay-advocacy groups. School officials allow these outside groups to introduce policies, curriculum and library books under the guise of diversity, safety or bullying-prevention initiatives, said Focus on the Family education expert Candi Cushman . . . Public schools increasingly convey that homosexuality is normal and should be accepted, Cushman said, while opposing viewpoints by conservative Christians are portrayed as bigotry."

Dr. Jim Garlow writing at Renewing American Leadership: "If I may, allow me to state how I dealt with the issue of evangelical-Mormon working partnerships during the Prop 8 battle here in California . . . [In a WSJ interview] my quote was simply, 'As evangelicals and Mormons, we are not theological brothers and sisters. But we are friends and neighbors. And on that basis we work together to defend marriage' . . . That became the mantra for our Prop 8 work together. Mormons make up 2% of the California population, yet contributed at least 40% of the funds to defend marriage. Of the workers that knocked on doors and called homes, I suspect that the LDS church provided the lion’s share of the workers."

"'More and more conservatives are saying that opposition to gay marriage would not be a litmus test for membership in the GOP,' Schmidt added."

Don Feder writing at WorldNetDaily: "Beck is one of a growing number of conservative opinion makers who are either agnostic on the issue or have decided to earn tolerance-points with the establishment by backing here-come-the-grooms . . . This unwillingness to fight for the family, on which civilization depends, is another sign of the failure of modern conservatism. The right can win a thousand battles against big government and lose the war for America's future, if it surrenders on marriage and the family. America's social traumas – illegitimacy, juvenile crime, drug abuse, female-headed-households – can all be traced back to the decline of the family . . ."

The Hill: "After the interview aired, Crist's campaign issued a statement reiterating that he doesn't back a Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriage."

Green Bay Press Gazette: "A longtime truck driver has become the first city of Green Bay employee to request health insurance coverage for a domestic partner. The request could prompt a policy change making Green Bay the first municipality in Northeastern Wisconsin to provide benefits for employees' same-sex partners."

WSJ: "The ruling earlier this month by San Francisco federal judge Vaughn Walker declaring Proposition 8 unconstitutional might well be overturned by the Ninth Circuit . . . But for now, it seems it’s providing a bit of inspiration to gays and lesbians in Hawaii, who last month sued Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle after she vetoed legislation approved last year that would have allowed same-sex civil unions. According to this LAT story, backers of the suit hope Judge Walker’s Aug. 4 ruling will become the legal precedent that other courts in the country eventually will follow."

US News and World Report: "Mehlman's self-outing has drawn increased attention to the political activism of gay and lesbian Republicans at a time when the Democratic Party is far more often associated with backing gay rights. The Log Cabin Republicans, a PAC that has since the late 1970s promoted 'a more inclusive Republican Party for gay and lesbian Americans,' has given financial support to several congressional candidates."

Washington Post: "A growing number of Republicans are breaking with the party's traditional stance to publicly state their support for same-sex marriage, a shift strategists say stems as much from demographics as from the renewed focus on economics and the 'tea party' movement."

Citizen Link: This headline is hard to miss. “Why is the Government Trying to Force Me to Divorce My Wife?” But even more noticeable is the $80-100,000 dollars Scott Sumner and his wife will miss over their lifetime simply because they’re married.

Family Restoration Blog: "With these postmodern actions we continually deconstruct the hope of family restoration. Average people and average lawyers disrespecting the microcosmic civilization of lifelong marriage has brought us to the point of astounding attorney applause over the collapse of the rule of law."

Eugene Volokh writing at The Volokh Conspiracy: "From today's In re the Petition of Theresa Goudeau to Adopt a Minor Child (Ga. Ct. App.), 2010 WL 3369363 . . . 'The superior court denied the petition of Theresa Goudeau to adopt her foster daughter and ordered the Department of Family and Children’s Services to remove the child from Goudeau’s foster care, finding that placing the child with Goudeau violated this state’s “public policy” because Goudeau was not married to the man with whom she lived . . .'"