Free Republic

Friday morning I sent this text message to Pat Brady who sits on the Illinois GOP Platform Committee that proposed removing the marriage plank that defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman: “Do not replace the marriage plank with the proposed RINO/Libertarian plank that disrespects the view that marriage has an intrinsic nature, [and the view] that children have an intrinsic right to be raised by a mother and a father whenever possible. The language in this pernicious plank necessarily endorses the legal recognition of plural unions. Evidently, RINOs/Libertarians on the committee have no understanding of...

If you’ve been living under a rock and still question whether we’re seeing a breakdown of the traditional family, you won’t after this. A new Gallup poll released Thursday shows while fewer Americans are getting married – or are waiting much longer to get married – than in past decades, they feel little to no compulsion against having kids in the meantime. But rather than simply stating the numbers -- which are depressing enough -- Gallup felt compelled to throw in its two cents on how businesses – and society as a whole – should respond to the shift in...

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I’d earn the ire of a character named Turd Flinging Monkey, the nom de plume of a popular online activist. A leader in the Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW) movement, which encourages men to avoid romantic relationships with women, Monkey did not take kindly to my new Prager University video talking up the benefits of marriage for men. In the video, I noted, among other things, that married men work harder (about 400 more hours), smarter (they’re less likely to quit without having found another job), and more successfully (they make...

Alice C. Linsley Gay activist Jonathan Charles Rauch describes himself as "an unrepentantly atheistic Jewish homosexual" which is to say that he has completely rejected the traditional wisdom of his ancestors. Jonathan Rauch is so lacking in critical thinking skills as to be dangerous. Rauch’s “Case for Gay Marriage” is full of fallacious arguments, as I have demonstrated to my Ethics students. J. Rauch’s First Premise: Marriage is necessary to providing reliable caregivers. This assumption is not true. It is, in fact, verifiable false since we are able to observe that reliable caregivers exist who are not married to the...

Since the Supreme Court decision on marriage, the government has put many religious universities on the "shame list" if they seek waivers that allow them to teach traditional values of marriage and sexuality without being stripped of grants or funding. "It is sad to think how far things have come where religious institutions are now being targeted for disfavor from the government because of their views on marriage," religious liberty attorney Roger Severino said at the Heritage Foundation on April 13, 2016. Dr. Derek Halvorson, the President of Covenant College, on the panel with Severino, said "Christian colleges and universities...

state agency wants to remove a small-town judge in Wyoming from two posts because she told a reporter that her religious beliefs would prevent her from solemnizing same-sex marriages. In her full-time responsibilities, Municipal Judge Ruth Neely isn’t authorized to preside over marriages. In part-time duties on the local Circuit Court, though, she could be asked to do so. Now supporters across Wyoming and the nation are siding with Neely as she asks the Wyoming Supreme Court to prevent the state Commission on Judicial Conduct and Ethics from ending her 21-year career as a municipal judge in Pinedale, a town...

Roy Moore might be Alabama's most notorious drama queen, but does that make him the most interesting judge in the world? Alabama's two-timer suspended chief justice doesn't ALWAYS break the law, but when he does he blames it on God. 'The Ascension of Roy Moore' ... again Roy Moore is pretty handy at using the Lord's name to levitate himself above the law. Sweet guy, right? What's your take? Got a most interesting "Roy Moore doesn't always ..." joke? Doesn't matter if you're a fan or a foe. Spin it however you want. Let's see what you got. Would especially...

Lots of women look forward to motherhood — getting to know a tiny baby, raising a growing child, developing a relationship with a maturing son or daughter. All over the world, people believe that parenting is the most rewarding part of life. And it’s good that so many mothers treasure that bond with their child, because the transition to parenthood causes profound changes in a woman’s marriage and her overall happiness … and not for the better. Families usually welcome a baby to the mix with great expectations. But as a mother’s bond with a child grows, it’s likely that...

Some current and former Wyoming lawmakers as well as national religious groups are supporting a municipal judge who faces a dismissal petition before the Wyoming Supreme Court for saying she would not preside over same-sex marriages. The Wyoming Commission on Judicial Conduct and Ethics is recommending the court remove Municipal Judge and Circuit Court Magistrate Ruth Neely of Pinedale. The commission started investigating Neely after she told a reporter in 2014 she would not perform same-sex marriages because of her religious beliefs.

Be a Man. Get Married. Published on May 9, 2016 Is bachelor life really the good life? Playing the field, traveling the world, and focusing on career sounds better than tying the knot. But is it possible that married men have more sex and make more money than their single counterparts? Brad Wilcox, sociologist at the University of Virginia, explains.

Bludgeon of political correctness has taught us that we are not to ask any such questions of the emerging, politically correct, status quo. The former Democratic senator from Pennsylvania, Harris Wofford, has announced his plans to marry his boyfriend, Matthew Charlton, this weekend. To most anyone over 30 years old (who might not have heard about this engagement) the news should naturally still knock a bit of the wind out of you. When I see an announcement of marriage where both the names of the intended are male (or female), I am old enough, and have sufficient common sense to...

On Wednesday, an important House committee passed a bill that would abolish marriage licenses in Alabama and effectively nullify both sides of the contentious debate on same-sex marriage. If passed into law, the bill would essentially remove the state from the business of marriage. Sen. Greg Albritton (R-Bay Minette) introduced Senate Bill 143 (SB143) in February, where it was passed by a 23-3 vote last month.. The legislation would abolish all requirements to obtain a marriage license in Alabama. Instead, probate judges would simply record civil contracts of marriage between two individuals based on signed affidavits. “All requirements to obtain...

Unless you live under a rock in a very shady part of the forest or in England or Wales, you have no doubt heard of the peculiar domestic arrangements of the world’s most famous gay marriage. The British musician Elton John and his husband David Furnish, who married last December after several years in a civil partnership, have been in tabloid headlines around the world after revelations that Mr Furnish has been involved in trysts with other men. Except, however, in England and Wales, where publication of anything about the sordid affair has been gagged.

Police looking for parents who are on the runChild brides break down in tears as they are forced to marry boys of mass Indian wedding ceremony. (YouTube) A mass child marriage ceremony has been captured on camera - showing young brides crying as they are forced to wed. In the video that has been circulated on social media, a girl of around 10-years-old is seen crying and pleading for help as her father as he rags her to the ceremony. In another clip a priest - conducting the Hindu ritual - is also seen scolding the children for crying. In...

Drew Mariani - Relevant Radio, Thursday 5 pm Eastern I'm scheduled for interview live with Drew Mariani at 5 pm Eastern tomorrow, Thursday, April 21. We'll be talking about Mary's Advocates efforts to ask the Church to work to prevent divorce from happening in the first place. The Catechism and the Code of Canon Law are my primary resources. Pope Francis' exhortation on the family, Amortia Leatitia, helps too. If you have a question or can share your own experience (good or bad) about the Church helping to keep a marriage together, give us a call (1-877-766-3777). See list of...

Few influences affect a man’s heart for God more than his wife, for better or for worse. She will either encourage his spiritual devotion to the Lord or she will hinder it. She will either enlarge his passion for God or she will pour cold water on it. What kind of wife encourages her husband’s spiritual growth? Proverbs 31:10–31 provides a profile of the wife who is worthy of her husband’s trust. Such a wife is the embodiment of true wisdom from God, causing the husband to confide in her with complete trust.“An excellent wife who can find? She is...

A mass child marriage ceremony in India has been captured on camera - showing young brides crying as they are forced to wed. The heartbreaking video was taken in Chittorgarh, a city in Rajasthan, northern India, a state in the country that is prevalent for child marriages. In one clip a young girl of around ten-years-old is desperately crying and pleading for help as her father drags her around the customary ceremony.

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Norway's Lutheran Church voted on Monday in favor of allowing same-sex marriage, becoming the latest of a small but growing number of churches worldwide to do so. Last year the French Protestant Church allowed gay marriage blessings, while the U.S. Presbyterian Church approved a change in the wording of its constitution to include same-sex marriage.

The Governor of my home state of Georgia, Nathan Deal, has been soundly, and frequently, taken to task for his recent “Craven Capitulation” on religious liberty. I don’t wish to rehash the merits of the very weak bill Deal rejected (it only protected churches, religious schools, and “integrated auxiliaries”), nor do I wish to highlight again the rampant ignorance and hypocrisy of those who lobbied Deal to veto religious liberty in Georgia. What I would like to do here is give some explanation as to why I believe Deal caved on the defining moral issue of his governorship.