Free Republic

Sixty-eight percent of unmarried women favored Democrats in the U.S. House midterm elections compared to 31 percent who favored Republicans, according to exit poll data. In comparison, 52 percent of unmarried men favored Republicans over 45 percent who favored Democrats. For married men, 59 percent said they supported a Republican candidate compared to 39 percent who supported a Democrat, while 56 percent of married women supported a Republican candidate compared to 42 percent who supported a Democrat.

The issue of "who's minding the kids" is now taking back seat to "who is having the kids." The just-released Census Bureau Report, "Social and Economic Characteristics of Currently Unmarried Women With a Recent Birth, 2011," (SECCUM) describes for the first time the demographic details of non-marital childbearing -- and it is not a pretty picture. The report reveals dramatic increases in non-marital births and is the first Census Bureau report showing the relationship of non-marital births to geographic variations and educational attainment. It is depressing yet unsurprising that with median age of women at first marriage approaching 27 years...

Many of New Mexico's Catholics were reminded during Mass last weekend that unmarried couples who cohabitate are living in "a state of mortal sin and may not receive Holy Communion." Archbishop Michael Sheehan told priests to read the letter he wrote stating that only two lifestyles are acceptable: "a single life of chastity, or the union of a man and woman in the Sacrament of Matrimony." The message stops short of directing priests to deny communion to unmarried people who are living together. Instead, Sheehan urges those "living in cohabitation" to abstain from taking the consecrated bread and wine during...

Is being a Protestant single pastor like being a married Catholic priest? Is it an oxymoron? I never would have thought so until the economic crisis hit, and I had to find a new pastoral position. For the first time in my career my future was in the hands of a search committee, rather than a personal connection. I’m ordained, 37, single (never married), with experience pastoring in large churches. Given my credentials, I had zero anxiety initially. Then I started reading “job requirement” phrases like these in pastoral job applications: -“We are looking for a married man” -“Preferably married”...

Singling out politics FROM THE HART | Women without husbands rely on good ol' Uncle Sam September 23, 2010 BY BETSY HART www.betsysblog.com Today the "gender gap" in politics, or the trend of women voting more Democratic than men, is the accepted norm. But it's a relatively recent one. So why the change? According to the Gallup organization, the gender gap first showed up in significant terms in a presidential race in 1984. A majority of women have voted Democratic since the election of Bill Clinton in 1992. But Gallup shows that in 1976, a majority of women backed Gerald...

ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER: "People feel uncomfortable talking about racial issues out of fear that if they express things they will be characterized in a way that's not fair."

In an historic event today, the United States elected its first illegitimate President. The President-elect, whose parents were never legally married (and whose father abandoned the poor strumpet and her child when his son was only an infant), sets a glorious example to the youth of the world. Shack-up, cohabitate, whatever – it does not matter. Any children you produce, no matter whether you are married or not, can now dream of becoming President. The stigma is now eradicated.All those women who once hid behind a scarlet letter can now proclaim that their marital status – or lack thereof –...

Princess Bubble is a book written as a means to offer “girls of all ages [an] updated version of the traditional fairy tale. No longer a ‘Damsel in Distress,’ this princess travels the world, helps others, and finds ‘happily ever after’ even before she finds her Prince!” Thus, what we have in a thin tome is a fantasy wherein women are not as they actually are but as the authors, along with legions of feminists, would like them to be. It is child lit created for the purposes of indoctrination. It seeks to convince girls that they can have it...

We have a bit of controversy at my church and I thought I'd throw it out there for FReepers to discuss. We had a guest preacher who was trying to make the point that we should not exclude people based on appearance, background, past history, etc., and as an illustration stated that, after all, Joseph and Mary were only living together and were not actually married - would we have excluded them?

Thousands rally for traditional family in Italy ROME, Italy (AP) -- With grandparents and children in tow, tens of thousands of families gathered in a Rome piazza to voice their opposition to a government bill that would give many legal rights to unmarried couples, including gay ones. The "Family Day" rally Saturday, drawing hundreds of thousands of demonstrators in total, was organized by lay Catholic groups and family associations. While the demonstration has been endorsed by Italian bishops, neither the Vatican nor the Italian bishops conference is formally behind it. "With this demonstration, we wanted to give a signal. It...

America has reached "the tipping point" on marriage, and The New York Times couldn't be happier. Its analysis of Census data shows 51 percent of women were living without a spouse in 2005, up from 35 percent in 1950. Through surrogates, the Times celebrated the news as liberating and empowering for women. One single 45-year-old gushed: "Considering all the weddings I attended in the '80s that have ended so very, very badly, I consider myself straight up lucky." Chimed in a 59-year-old divorcee: "A gentleman asked me to marry him and I said no. I told him, 'I'm just beginning...

ANNA NICOLE SMITH put all those rumors to rest -- revealing on her website that she is definitely pregnant! "I've been hearing a lot of gossip in the papers," Anna Nicole said in a video on her official website, www.annanicole.com. "Let me stop all the rumors. Yes, I am pregnant. I am happy -- very, very happy about it. Everything is going really, really good and I'll be checking in and out periodically on the web. I'll let you see me as I'm growing!" According to several reports, Anna Nicole is said to be five months pregnant and her boyfriend,...

A mother who found out she had cancer after becoming pregnant sacrificed her life for her unborn baby by refusing an abortion and chemotherapy, a British newspaper reported. Devout Catholic Bernadette Mimura, known as Milai, shunned the potentially life-saving treatment because doctors told her it would kill the child, the Northern Echo regional daily reported Friday. The 37-year-old, a native of the Philippines who lived near Stockton-on-Tees in northeast England with her British partner, Adam Taylor, survived long enough to see the birth of their son, Nathan. But soon after seeing him baptized, she was transferred to a hospice and...

“National Singles Week” was started by the Buckeye Singles Council in Ohio in the 1980s to celebrate single life and recognize singles and their contributions to society. The week is now widely observed during Sept. 19-25 as “Unmarried and Single Americans Week,” an acknowledgment that many unmarried Americans do not identify with the word “single” because they are parents, have partners or are widowed.

Bill Clinton said that the divorce rate is lower in the blue states. Could that be because so many people in the inner cities never got married in the firt place? Could it be that places like Massachusetts allow rich Catholics to annul marriages of 30 years? Could it be that more gays live there? (San Francisco) There are many reasons it may be a lower rate and it has more to do with lack of morals than morals, and I for one am sick and tired of hearing those holier-than-thou liberals claiming morality. That is the biggest joke yet!...

ROSEBURG, Ore. -- Police are investigating a man who allegedly tried to allow a Texas couple to adopt his 2-month-old daughter. Authorities learned of the plot when the man who wanted to adopt the baby grew suspicious and called the Oregon State Police on Monday. It is unclear whether any charges will be filed against Heath Leo Wilson, 32, who had recently moved to Canyonville from Texas, with his partner and three children. Wilson met the Dallas couple through a mutual friend, who told him they were looking to adopt a child. "On April 24th, we got a phone call,...

Doyle defends benefits offer State-paid insurance for domestic partners touted By STEVEN WALTERS and AMY RINARD Madison - Gov. Jim Doyle defended his offer to negotiate state-paid health insurance for domestic partners Tuesday, calling it worthy of consideration and insisting there would be no extra cost to taxpayers if it is part of new union contracts. But Republicans who control the Legislature immediately asked Doyle to drop the idea, which would apply to unmarried couples of the same and opposite sex. "I would encourage the governor to make sure this does not come to the Legislature," said Senate Majority Leader...

<p>Miller and Solot met in an anthropology class at Brown University nearly 10 years ago. As bisexuals, both became activists for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender rights. They've been together since college and say they have a monogomous relationship.</p> <p>He does the dishes and she does the laundry. She balances their shared checkbooks and he pays the rent. They have been completing each other's sentences for almost a decade. But don't mistake Dorian Solot and Marshall Miller for husband and wife.</p>

Jaclin Kirkland should get married. At least that's what the Bush administration thinks. Kirkland, 26, thinks otherwise. She can't imagine marrying the father of her 5-year-old son. "We were Tyson and Holyfield," she said. "We're civil now, but marriage — that's not even a thought." Women like Kirkland may start thinking about marriage if Republicans in Congress and the Bush administration get their way. They want to spend up to $300 million per year in welfare programs that will encourage marriage. Backers emphasize that they won't be forcing anyone down the aisle. They say they have no interest in pushing...