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"MARRIAGE" In The News
(July 2008) |
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The news articles and features presented below are simply an indication of how topical, controversial, and all-encompassing the issues surrounding marriage are throughout our society—and the world—today. Some of the views and opinions expressed, and their respective web sites, do NOT reflect the views or opinions of The Real Proposal™ magazine. Many are highlighted largely to reiterate that the alarming statistical trends on the chaotic state of "Marriage" and "Family"—outlined in "A Mere Glimpse"—will continue unabated without a fundamental grasp and purposeful dissemination of TRUTH on the issues.
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- Family: "The Bedrock of Society" Townhall.com, By Rebecca Hagelin, July 31, 2008
It used to be called “shacking up.” Now it’s just another lifestyle choice. Or so it appears from federal data released on July 28. It shows a big jump in the number of unmarried opposite-sex couples living together -- from less than 1 million 30 years ago to 6.4 million in 2007, or almost 10 percent of all opposite-sex U.S. couples. Does it matter? Not to the 47 percent of people in a USA Today/Gallup poll who said that cohabitation made “no difference” to the children of cohabiting couples. At a time when same-sex “marriage” has become a wedge issue in California and other states, this trend is troubling, to say the least. Cohabiting couples may dismiss marriage as old-fashioned -- a “piece of paper” that pacifies parents but has no practical value. In fact, a growing body of social science research shows that the intact family -- defined by countless generations and myriad cultures to mean a man and a woman who marry, conceive and raise their children together -- best ensures the welfare of society in general and children in particular. It says a lot about the decline of our culture today that such an observation even needs to be made. . . . . . Again and again, the data bears this out. Adolescents in intact families, for example, perform better on a number of measures when compared with their counterparts in non-intact families. As family expert Jennifer Marshall of The Heritage Foundation notes, children in intact families “have better health, are less likely to be depressed, are less likely to repeat a grade in school, and have fewer developmental problems.” Their peers in non-traditional households, meanwhile, “are more likely to experience poverty, abuse, behavioral and emotional problems, lower academic achievement, and drug use.”. . .
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RELATED ARTICLE: We Must Develop Attitudes That Better Reflect How We’re Each the Masters of Our Own Fates BlackAmericaWeb.com, By Joseph C. Phillips, July 29, 2008
A few numbers to consider: A study that looked at the relation between divorce rates and out-of-wedlock birth rates and violent crime between 1973 and 1995 found that nearly 90 percent of the change in violent crime rates can be accounted for by the change in percentages of out-of-wedlock births. A child growing up in a single-parent home (usually female-headed) is seven times as likely to be a delinquent. Even controlling for race, parent's income and education, adolescents from a single parent home were twice as likely to have pulled a gun or knife on someone in the past year. Seventy percent of kids -- and 93 percent of girls! -- in juvenile facilities came from non-intact homes. Children from fatherless homes are 20 times more likely to have behavioral disorders, 14 times more likely to commit rape, nine times more likely to drop out of high school, 10 times more likely to abuse chemical substances, nine times more likely to end up in a state-operated institution and 20 times more likely to end up in prison.
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RELATED ARTICLE: Marriage: What Social Science Says and Doesn't Say The Heritage Foundation, By Jennifer A Marshall, May 17, 2004
Social science data indicate that the intact family—defined as a man and a woman who marry, conceive, and raise their children together—best ensures the current and future welfare of children and society when compared with other common forms of households. As alternative family forms have become more prevalent since the 1960s, social science research and government surveys have indicated an accompanying rise in a number of serious social problems.
RELATED RESOURCE: Family Facts.org
The Heritage Foundation's familyfacts.org catalogs social science findings on the family, society and religion gleaned from peer-reviewed journals, books and government surveys. Serving policymakers, journalists, scholars and the general public, familyfacts.org makes social science research easily accessible to the non-specialist.
RELATED ARTICLE: Longing for Belonging and the Lure of the State The Heritage Foundation, By Ryan Messmore, August 17, 2007
English poet and essayist Samuel Johnson once said, "To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition." In referring to happiness at home, Johnson was identifying a goal that one does not pur sue privately, but rather together with members of an intimate body. The wisdom of Johnson's claim lies in its recognition of a fundamental human longing for a sense of membership or belonging. People draw iden tity from their participation in communities of pur pose, whatever form they might take.
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- House passes repeal of 1913 marriage law Boston Globe, By Eric Moskowitz and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff, July 29, 2008
The House today voted 118 to 35 to repeal a 1913 state law that prevents gay and lesbian couples from most other states from marrying in Massachusetts. The measure, which the Senate passed earlier this month, will head to the desk of Governor Deval Patrick, who is expected to sign it into law. The move will clear the way for out-of-state couples to marry in Massachusetts, making it the second state to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry regardless of their place of residence. . . . Unlike the Senate, which quickly voted to repeal the law on a unanimous voice vote, the House debated the bill for about 45 minutes. Supporters of the repeal called the law archaic and rooted in racism, urging fellow lawmakers to strip it from the books in the interest of equality. Repeal opponents argued for keeping the law in deference to other states, to prevent legal tangles involving couples who would marry in Massachusetts and want rights in states where gay marriage is outlawed. "Any marriage has three willing partners: the two willing [spouses] and an approving state," said Representative John A. Lepper, an Attleboro Republican who spoke against the repeal. Lepper said striking the law from the books could create a legal limbo for same-sex couples from out of state. He pointed to a Rhode Island couple as an example, saying they could not now seek a divorce because their home state did not recognize their marriage. "It seems if the 1913 law is repealed we would be leading ourselves into a legal nightmare," Lepper said. . . .
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- Opponents of gay marriage say they'll sue over changed wording in Proposition 8 Los Angeles Times, By Jessica Garrison, July 29 2008
After a tweak by the state attorney general's office, the initiative now seeks to 'eliminate the right' of same-sex couples to marry, wording that the measure's proponents say could prejudice voters. . . . .Supporters of Proposition 8, the proposed state constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage, said they would file suit today to block a change made by California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown to the language of the measure's ballot title and summary. Petitions circulated to qualify the initiative for the ballot said the measure would amend the state Constitution "to provide that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." In a move made public last week and applauded by same-sex marriage proponents, the attorney general's office changed the language to say that Proposition 8 seeks to "eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry." Jennifer Kerns, spokeswoman for the Protect Marriage coalition, called the new language "inherently argumentative" and said it could "prejudice voters against the initiative.". . . . . The dust-up reflects the fierce battle being waged over the question of same-sex marriage in California, the most closely-watched social issue that will appear on the November ballot. And it has raised suspicion in some circles that Brown, a possible candidate for governor in 2010, was influenced by politics. . . .
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- Out-of-state money floods to Prop. 8 San Francisco Chronicle, By John Wildermuth, Chronicle Staff Writer, July 28, 2008
-- When Bruce Bastian of Utah stood up Saturday night at a San Francisco dinner and wrote a $1 million check for the campaign against Proposition 8, he made it clearer than ever that November's ballot fight over a ban on same-sex marriage won't be a California-only affair. Supporters of the effort to ban same-sex marriage already have taken in more than $1.2 million from out-of-state contributors for the fall campaign. And even before Bastian, a co-founder of the WordPerfect software company, opened his checkbook, gay and lesbian rights groups and their supporters from around the country had put more than $1.3 million into the fight against the ballot initiative. . . . . . With more than three months to go before election day, the outside money on both sides of the ballot battle will just keep coming. Concerns about that money is what persuaded Bastian to get involved. Bastian grew up in a conservative, Mormon family in Twin Falls, Idaho. He went on a mission for the church and received his bachelor's and master's degrees from Mormon-sponsored Brigham Young University. But he has been at odds with the church's view on homosexuality since coming out as a gay man. . .
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RELATED ARTICLE: Gay Marriage Ban Has Financial Edge Wall Street Journal, By Mylene Mangalindan, July 31, 2008
Opponents of gay marriage appear to have taken a lead in campaign contributions for a California referendum, according to filings from prominent groups on both sides of the issue. Proponents of Proposition 8, a ballot initiative which would ban same-sex marriage, have raised about $3.7 million from Jan. 1 through June 30, according to state filings. In contrast, gay rights activists who oppose Proposition 8 have raised about $2.5 million through June 30.
RELATED ARTICLE: PG & E gives $250,000 to defeat gay marriage ban Proposition 8: The utility also says its will help form a council to get other businesses in the state to work to defeat Proposition 8. Los Angeles Times, By Jessica Garrison, July 29, 2008
The donation from the utility, and the formation of the business council, represents a shift from the last time that the question of gay marriage was on the ballot, in 2000. Back then, many businesses stayed on the sidelines. This time, in addition to PG&E, other large corporations such as AT&T and Wells Fargo also have donated to defeat Proposition 8.
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- Honey, I cheated with your checkbook CNN.com-LIfeWire, By Diane Mapes, July 28, 2008
-- When Cory Watson, a 23-year-old pharmacy technician from Paradise, California, noticed that a tax refund had been deposited into the joint checking account he maintains with his wife, he did two things. First, he headed to the mall where he quickly spent the $100 on new DVDs. Second, he kept his mouth shut. "I wasn't trying to be super sneaky about it, but it was kind of like, 'I think I'll head down and buy a couple of things'," he says. "Of course, my wife had no idea that the [money] had even come. She didn't find out until about a month later." Call it secret spending, checkbook cheating or financial infidelity -- plenty of Americans are guilty of it. Twenty nine percent of people in a committed relationship admitted to lying to their partner about their spending habits, according to a Harris Interactive survey of 1,796 people ages 25-55. Women were slightly more likely than men to be dishonest; according to the 2005 survey, 33 percent of women had something to hide, as opposed to 26 percent of men. . . . Putting a stop to secret spending doesn't necessarily mean giving up all financial independence, says Tessina. People still need to be able to breathe, to buy a little fun here and there," she says. But if one person spends money and isn't able to talk about it with the other, that may be indicative of a larger marital frustration. . .
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RELATED ARTICLE: The Marital Money Pits: Don’t Let Finances Drive You Apart LifeScript.com, By Emily Battaglia, August 15, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Saving a marriage: Spend, save or give? Understanding your partner can save you a trip to divorce court MSNBC.com- Forbes.com, By Scott Reeves, May 31, 2006
RELATED ARTICLE: Love is ... a cash divorce This is Money- UK, By Richard Dyson, July 12, 2005
A generation ago, a typical couple shared a bank account and probably had joint savings or an endowment policy. Times have changed. Now they have a multitude of financial products and most are held individually. The marketing gurus already have a name for it - Financial Divorce.
RELATED ARTICLES: Men, Women & Money Money magazine- CNNMoney.com
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- Investigation continues into fatal crash of Chris Laurie in Corona Los Angeles Times, By Molly Hennessy-Fiske Times Staff Writer, July 26, 2008
Investigators were still trying to determine this afternoon how fast Christopher Laurie, son of mega-church pastor Greg Laurie, was driving when he hit a Caltrans truck and was killed Thursday in Riverside County. . . . . Laurie, 33, of Huntington Beach, was driving alone "at a high rate of speed" in the carpool lane of the eastbound Riverside Freeway in Corona when his station wagon collided with a California Department of Transportation tractor, the California Highway Patrol said. He was pronounced dead at the scene. No other vehicles were involved and no one else was injured, authorities said. . . . Collins was with Greg Laurie on Thursday after the pastor received news of his son's death. "He's taking comfort in the fact that his son was walking with God and serving God and using his gifts for God," Collins said. "But that doesn't diminish the sense of loss and grief that you feel." . . .
RELATED ARTICLE: Greg Laurie's son dies in traffic accident: Thousands offer sympathy, prayers for loss World Net Daily, July 25, 2008
RELATED SITE: The Christopher Laurie Memorial Fund
Christopher Laurie, son of Pastor Greg Laurie and Cathe Laurie, was called home to be with the Lord on Thursday, July 24. In addition to his parents, he is survived by his wife, Brittany, and daughter, Stella, as well as his brother Jonathan. Christopher and his wife are expecting another daughter in November.
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RELATED ARTICLE: Christopher Laurie had history of traffic citations, records show Los Angeles Times, By Molly Hennessy-Fiske, July 29, 2008
Laurie, the late son of Harvest Christian Fellowship leader Greg Laurie, had pleaded guilty or was found guilty of more than a half-dozen traffic citations in Orange County since 2003.
 RELATED ARTICLE: Greg Laurie's Tragic Loss: Where, O Death, is your sting? The Real Proposal magazine, July 28, 2008
RELATED ARTICLE: Greg Laurie after Son's Death: I Still Believe The Christian Post, By Lillian Kwon, July 28 2008
Days after the devastating loss of his 33-year-old son, evangelist Greg Laurie stepped onto the pulpit Sunday and affirmed, "I still believe." "I couldn't think of any place I'd rather be today than at church, worshipping the Lord," Laurie said during one of Harvest Christian Fellowship's Sunday services in Riverside, Calif. . . . He was, as the older Laurie described him, a prodigal son at times. But in recent years, Christopher had really committed his life to Christ and was growing deep in his faith. "My son wasn't perfect ... but the Lord was showing Christopher was really mattered," Laurie said. . .
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RELATED ARTICLE: Evangelist: Lost Boy to Jesus Freak The Christian Post, By Lillian Kwon, July 3, 2008
Once a lost boy and now a well-known evangelist, Greg Laurie is letting millions of people into the journey of his personal life, much of which he didn't want to revisit. But the southern California evangelist, whose events have drawn some 4 million people worldwide since 1990, wanted to tell his story to give anyone living a less-than-perfect life hope that there is redemption. "Lost Boy: The Documentary" makes its national television debut Thursday and will also run on Friday on Daystar Television Network. After the documentary premiered last month via webcast, the evangelist and megachurch pastor has been on tour to show the film and testify how God intervened in the midst of his dysfunctional childhood.
RELATED RESOURCE: Greg Laurie Archive World Net Daily
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RELATED ARTICLE: The Journey Through Sorrow: When a Child Dies-- Surviving the death of dreams. BeliefNet, By Carol Staudacher
How do you survive the death of your child? As a parent, you're supposed to be the provider, the nurturer, the protector, the mentor, the guide. You invest love and hope and certain beliefs in your son or daughter. But most of all, you do not outlive your child. When tragedy strikes and you do bury a child, you're faced with reconstructing a life that has been suddenly robbed of its parental responsibilities and joys.
RELATED ARTICLE: Surviving Loss: Living After the Death of a Child Adrr.com, By Stephen R. Marsh
Stephen R. Marsh and Winifred L. Marsh (Steve & Win Marsh to their friends) were married on January 26, 1985 in the Oakland Temple. They are the parents of five girls, Jessica, Heather, Courtney, Robin, and Rachel, 3 of whom have died in early childhood. . . . . .The death of a child is a terrible loss that destroys many families. Often the fate of a family or some of its members hangs by a thread. By loving and understanding, by the pure knowledge of God, without hypocrisy and without guile, families can be supported in their pain and aided on the path to healing. It is my hope that this essay will help those who have lost children and those who are close to them.
RELATED ARTICLE: Surviving the Death of a Child Menninger Clinic, By Donna Lamb, LSCSW
Numerous secondary losses accompany the death of a child, including loss of the family as it existed prior to the death. Surviving children lose the emotional, and perhaps physical, availability of their parents, grandparents “lose” their children to parental grief and spouses lose the support of each other–each whose emotional plate is so full that they cannot be there for the other. The impact of a child’s death on a marital relationship cannot be underestimated. Neither parent will be the same person as they were before the death.
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- Man Behind 'Last Lecture' Sensation Dies AOL News, July 25, 2008
-- Randy Pausch, a Carnegie Mellon University computer scientist whose "last lecture" about facing terminal cancer became an Internet sensation and a best-selling book, has died. He was 47.Pausch died early Friday at his home in Virginia, university spokeswoman Anne Watzman said. Pausch and his family moved there last fall to be closer to his wife's relatives. Pausch was diagnosed with incurable pancreatic cancer in September 2006. His popular last lecture at Carnegie Mellon in September 2007 garnered international attention and was viewed by millions on the Internet. In it, Pausch celebrated living the life he had always dreamed of instead of concentrating on impending death. "The lecture was for my kids, but if others are finding value in it, that is wonderful," Pausch wrote on his Web site. "But rest assured; I'm hardly unique." The book "The Last Lecture," written with Jeffrey Zaslow, leaped to the top of the nonfiction best-seller lists after its publication in April and remains there this week. Pausch said he dictated the book to Zaslow, a Wall Street Journal writer, by cell phone. The book deal was reported to be worth more than $6 million. . . . . . Pausch blogged regularly about his medical treatment. On Feb. 15, exactly six months after he was told he had three to six months of healthy living left, Pausch posted a photo of himself to show he was "still alive & healthy." I rode my bike today; the cumulative effects of the chemotherapy are hurting my stamina some, but I bet I can still run a quarter mile faster than most Americans," he wrote. . .
RELATED ARTICLE: A Beloved Professor Delivers The Lecture of a Lifetime Wall Street Journal- Moving On, By Jeff Zaslow, September 20, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE & VIDEO: Dying Professor's Lecture of a Lifetime ABC NEWS- Good Morning America, September 21, 2007
Randy Pausch Has Months to Live, but Inspires Others With Lecture on Living Life to the Fullest.
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RELATED ARTICLE: Pancreatic Cancer Mayo Clinic
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most serious of cancers. It develops when cancerous cells form in the tissues of your pancreas — a large organ that lies horizontally behind the lower part of your stomach. Your pancreas secretes enzymes that aid digestion and hormones that help regulate the metabolism of carbohydrates. . .
RELATED ARTICLE: Low survival rates for pancreatic cancer Times Online- UK, March 6, 2008
RELATED ARTICLE: A diagnosis of cancer is trying for any marriage Boston Globe, By Judy Foreman, August 22, 2005
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RELATED ARTICLE: My life was saved by the same knife-wielding robot that treated Patrick Swayze The Daily Mail- UK, By Isla Whitcroft, August 5, 2008
Just over a year ago Alan Bowley was a dying man. Diagnosed with an inoperable tumour on his pancreas, Alan's only option was palliative radiotherapy to buy him a few more months of life. But after Alan's wife stumbled across a treatment on the internet - just a few weeks after this fateful diagnosis - he was soon in a hospital in Washington DC having Cyberknife therapy.
RELATED ARTICLE: Accidental fungus leads to promising cancer drug Yahoo! News- Reuters, By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor, June 29, 2008
- A drug developed using nanotechnology and a fungus that contaminated a lab experiment may be broadly effective against a range of cancers, U.S. researchers reported on Sunday. The drug, called lodamin, was improved in one of the last experiments overseen by Dr. Judah Folkman, a cancer researcher who died in January. Folkman pioneered the idea of angiogenesis therapy -- starving tumors by preventing them from growing blood supplies. Lodamin is an angiogenesis inhibitor that Folkman's team has been working to perfect for 20 years. Writing in the journal Nature Biotechnology, his colleagues say they developed a formulation that works as a pill, without side-effects. They have licensed it to SynDevRx, Inc, a privately held Cambridge, Massachusetts biotechnology company that has recruited several prominent cancer experts to its board.
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RELATED ARTICLE: Health Issues: Once-fatal cancers now treated as a chronic disease International Herald Tribune, By Jane E. Brody, June 17, 2008
Fisch calls the new therapy for advanced cancer "the hitchhiker model." Time is bought by going from point A, the first-line therapy, to point B, the second-line therapy, to point C, the third line of therapy, and so on. The approach can continue indefinitely, as long as new therapies become available and patients remain well enough to withstand the rigors of treatment. But Fisch noted that adding meaningful years to the lives of patients with advanced cancer depends in part on avoiding the attitude, prevalent among some physicians, that cancer is hopeless after it has metastasized.
RELATED ARTICLE: Is Your House Making You Sick? Health Hazzards Hidden in Your Home AOL Health, By Mary Kearl
Not everything is sweet in your home sweet home. In fact, you may be exposing yourself to toxins, allergens and irritants found in everything from your home's construction materials and ventilation to the beauty products and cooking materials you use on a regular basis. Here are some household culprits you may not have considered. . .
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- Jilted bride calls $150,000 jury award ‘justice’
RoseMary Shell gave up her job for fiancé: ‘He made a promise to me’ MSNBC.com- Today, By Bob Considine, July 25, 2008
Men (or women) who decide to get on bended knee: Be warned. You could find yourself on both knees, facing a judge instead of a justice of the peace. That’s what happened in Florida this week, when a woman was awarded $150,000 after suing her former fiancé for calling off their wedding. For RoseMary Shell, the jilted bride-to-be who left a high-paying job in Pensacola to live with her prospective partner in Gainesville, there was a “wow” in lieu of a vow. . . . . “Mr. Gibbs feels that the verdict did not accurately reflect the evidence and will appeal,” Hammond Law, Gibbs’ attorney, told TODAY in a statement. “In addition, there are significant legal questions to address, including, but not limited to, whether or not breach of promise to marry is a viable action under Georgia law in 2008.”. . . 'It was 2001 when Shell and Gibbs, who were each divorced with grown children, met through mutual friends and began dating. According to Shell, the couple had intended to get married when her youngest son went off to college in 2005. When that didn’t happen, she broke up with Gibbs and moved to Pensacola, where she landed a human resources job that paid $81,000 with benefits. Trying to carry on with her life, she started to date someone new. But in October 2006, Gibbs asked her to move back to Gainesville — and he proposed with a 2-carat diamond ring. Shell said yes. A wedding date of Dec. 2 was set. About a month after Shell moved back in with Gibbs, however, Gibbs expressed second thoughts in a note he left in their bathroom: He wanted to postpone the wedding. . .
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- Mother, 53, Kills Self Before Foreclosure WalletPop- AP, July 23, 2008
- A 53-year-old wife and mother fatally shot herself soon after faxing a letter to her mortgage company saying that by the time they foreclosed on her house that day, she would be dead. Police in Taunton said Carlene Balderrama used her husband's high-powered rifle to kill herself Tuesday afternoon, after faxing the letter at 2:30 p.m. The mortgage company called police, who found Balderrama's body at 3:30 p.m. in her brown-shingled raised ranch house. The auction was scheduled to start at 5 p.m. and interested buyers arrived at the property in Taunton, about 35 miles south of Boston, while Balderrama's body was still inside, according to police chief Raymond O'Berg. Police did not immediately release the name of the mortgage company. O'Berg said Balderrama's fax read, in part, "By the time you foreclose on my house I'll be dead." O'Berg also said a suicide note found next to Balderrama told her husband, John, and 24-year-old son to "take the (life) insurance money and pay for the house." . . .
RELATED ARTICLE: Foreclosure-Related Suicide: Sign of the Times? Massachusetts Woman's Suicide Followed Foreclosure ABC News, By Dan Childs— ABC News Medical Unit, July 25, 2008
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RELATED ARTICLE: Will Hollywood end up homeless? Another celebrity foreclosure WalletPop, By Beth Pinsker, July 24, 2008
RELATED ARTICLE: Women Are Now Equal as Victims of Poor Economy New York Times, By Louis Uchitelle, July 22, 2008
RELATED ARTICLE: A family's struggle against great debt: Ill health, credit cards, a house-load of woes Philly.com, By Harold Brubaker, February 18, 2008
Anthony and Lisa Grande's house stands out in their Levittown neighborhood. "It's the big house," Lisa said when giving directions. The Grandes borrowed more than $100,000 - much of it on credit cards - to double its size four years ago because they wanted enough room for their five children and did not want to move. But now, the Grandes are fighting to stay there, having repeatedly fallen behind on their mortgage payments, which climbed from $1,841 to $2,487. They offer a powerful example of how lax mortgage underwriting, excess credit-card debt, and catastrophic health problems can add up to financial disaster for an American family.
RELATED ARTICLE: Top 5ive Tips For Buying a Foreclosure Smart Money.com, By Stacey L. Bradford
RELATED RESOURCE: Tips for Avoiding Foreclosure US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
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- Black and single: Is marriage really for white people? CNN.com, By Dionne Hill- CNN Producer, July 22, 2008
-- Mrs. Allen had it all. A career she enjoyed, a nice home, two adorable children and a husband. She shared her tools for success with me at an early age. She went to college, got married and waited until she was 26 to have her first child. The perfect life. The perfect plan. It was one I decided to model. My aspirations for both a career and family were set at the age of 12. I knew I could accomplish what Mrs. Allen, my fifth- and seventh-grade teacher, had. But as I approach 30 and measure the goals I had at 12 against the reality of life, the only thing I can check off that list is a college education. I am a statistic. And there are millions more like me. Forty-five percent of black women in America have never been married, compared with 23 percent of white women, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey in 2006. Articles like the one published in the Washington Post two years ago could lead me to believe that it's because "Marriage is for White People." The difference between Mrs. Allen and me: She was white. . . .
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RELATED REPORT: Black in America CNN.com
RELATED ARTICLE: Bill Cosby’s ‘Come On, People’ Akin to Marcus Garvey’s Appeal, ‘Up, You Mighty Race’ BlackAmericaWeb.com, By Joseph C. Phillips, October 29, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Four decades later, scholars re-examine ‘Moynihan Report' Harvard University Gazette Online, By Ken Gewertz, October 4, 2007
Before he was a United States senator from New York, before he was ambassador to India, before he taught government at Harvard, Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1927-2003) served as assistant secretary of labor under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, and it was in that capacity that he issued a report in March 1965 titled “The Negro Family: The Case for National Action.” Originally intended as an internal memorandum providing support for Johnson’s War on Poverty, the report asserted that a disturbing proportion of African-American families suffered from instability and breakdown, that this condition resulted in a cycle of joblessness and poverty, and that the root of the problem was the psychological and social damage caused by slavery.
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RELATED ARTICLE: 'Marriage Is for White People' Washington Post, By Joy Jones, March 26, 2006
RELATED ARTICLE: The Most Effective Anti-Poverty Program Ever Created? Marriage BlackAmericaWeb.com, By Joseph C. Phillips, October 11, 2005
RELATED ARTICLE: Why Our Black Families Are Failing Washington Post, By William Raspberry, July 25, 2005
RELATED ARTICLE: Wedded to Marriage: Invest Now or Pay Later National Review Online, By Wade F. Horn, August 9, 2005
RELATED ARTICLE: We Can't Blame White Folks For Our Missing Fathers And Unknown Grandfathers BlackAmericaWeb.com, By Gregory Kane, July 13, 2005
RELATED ARTICLE: Divorce and Marriage Affect Black Children More UC Davis (press release)-CA, May 25, 2005
Divorce and marriage play much bigger economic roles for black children than white children in the United States, according to a new study by two UC Davis economists.
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- 'View' Host Sherri Shepherd: 'I Had More Abortions Than I Would Like to Count' Us magazine, July 22, 2008
In the new issue of black Christian women's magazine Precious Times, The View's Sherri Shepherd reveals that her life was once so rough she didn't care if she died. "My sister was heavy into drugs, and we would have to go and get her from crack houses," Shepherd, 41, says. At the time, the stand-up comic — then a Jehovah's Witness – was "in a very physically abusive relationship," she said. "I was sleeping with a lot of guys and had more abortions than I would like to count." She said her self-esteem became so low, "I felt if someone killed me, it wouldn't even make a difference." But after converting to Christianity, she said, "God showed me that it would make a difference." (Shepherd has also said she relied on her faith to get through her split with husband Jeff Tarpley, father of their 3-year-old son. During their seven-year marriage, Tarpley cheated on her and got another woman pregnant.) Still, Shepherd admitted it is tough talking religion on the popular ABC chat-fest. (She received criticism after she once remarked that ancient Greeks persecuted Christians, even though Christ hadn't been born yet.) "Oh, sometimes I say, 'Lord, Juanita Bynum or Joyce Meyer would be so good at this table. They could lay hands on Barbara Walters and get her saved,'" she said. . . .
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RELATED SITE: Precious Times magazine
RELATED ARTICLE: I had one of Britain's first legal abortions ... 40 years on, I'm still torn apart by guilt The Daily Mail- UK, By Natasha Courtenay-Smith, March 5, 2008
RELATED ARTICLE: The 'afterwards' of abortion The Jamaica Gleaner, By Esther Tyson, March 2, 2008
RELATED ARTICLE & COMMENTS: The Suicide of Emma Beck and Silence No More Townhall.com, By Michelle Malkin, February 27, 2008
RELATED ARTICLE: Artist hanged herself after aborting her twins The Telegraph, February 26, 2008
RELATED ARTICLE: 2 Christians 9 abortions Jamaica Observer- Jamaica, February 23, 2008
RELATED ARTICLE: Abortion: An "inconvenient truth" within Marriage The Real Proposal Magazine, January 26, 2008
RELATED ARTICLE: The SLED Test – Four Top Arguments Heartlink.org, By Steve Wagner
We all agree that toddlers are valuable human beings with rights. Yet the unborn differ from toddlers in only four ways, and the first letters of each of these differences spell an easy-to-remember acronym, SLED (Size, Level of Development, Environment, Degree of Dependency).
RELATED SITE: THE CASE FOR LIFE: Like You Have Never Heard It Before
Only One Issue: The abortion controversy is not a debate between those who are pro-choice and those who are anti-choice. It’s not about privacy or trusting women. To the contrary, the debate turns on one key question. What is the Unborn?
RELATED ARTICLE: Pro-Choice Mistakes: Exposing Irrational Abortion Arguments The Case for Life
If we care about truth, we will courageously follow the facts wherever they lead. Here are five common pro-choice mistakes when arguing for abortion. . . . Mistake #1: They confuse objective claims with subjective ones. . . Mistake #2: They attack the person rather than refute the argument. . . Mistake #3: They assume what they are trying to prove. . . . Mistake #4: They confuse human value with human function. . . . Mistake #5: They disguise their true position by appealing to the hard cases. . .
RELATED ARTICLE: What Do You Know About Roe v. Wade? Family.org, By Shana Schutte
Like many Americans, you know Roe v. Wade legalized abortion, but you may know little else.
RELATED SITE: Abort73.com: The Case Against Abortion
RELATED VIDEO: This is Abortion RATED: MA (Mature Audiences Only)
WARNING: Contains graphic post-abortion pictures. Be Warned! The Visual Evidence is Disturbing.
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- IVF: The birth that started a revolution
As the world's first test-tube baby reaches 30, Judith Woods - in the first of our two-part special - investigates how family life has been changed by science The Telegraph- UK, By Judith Woods, July 21, 2008
Thirty years ago this week Louise Brown, the first test tube baby, was born, and the world of fertility changed forever. Her mother, Lesley, 33, had blocked fallopian tubes, so Patrick Steptoe and Robert Edwards took an egg from one of her ovaries, under anaesthetic, and fertilised it with sperm from her husband, John, in a laboratory, before placing it in her uterus. Nine months later, on July 25, 1978, Louise was delivered by Caesarean section at Oldham and District General Hospital. Since that day, a series of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) breakthroughs has enabled tens of thousands of British couples to have the children they longed for. Other leaps have included treatments for male infertility, the use of donor eggs, surrogates and the genetic screening of embryos. In Britain alone, 111,633 children have been born through fertility treatment; worldwide, the figure is estimated to be 3.5 million. The latest figures from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), the regulatory body set up in 1991, show that 32,626 couples in Britain had IVF in 2005, leading to a total - including twins and triplets - of 11,262 children. About 25 per cent of IVF treatments are funded by the NHS; the rest are paid for privately, costing up to £8,000 a cycle. But while IVF has answered the prayers of many couples, it is not a cure-all. . . . And fertility treatments are also transforming the British family, raising ethical questions about concepts such as "saviour siblings", babies genetically matched and created to provide tissue - often umbilical cord stem cells - to treat disease in an older child. Similarly, treatment for post-menopausal women, same-sex couples and the spectres of sex selection for social reasons (illegal in the UK) and "designer babies", where embryos are chosen or discarded for reasons other than health and viability, have also led to disquiet. . . .
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RELATED ARTICLE: First test-tube baby becomes a mother The Daily Mail- UK, January 12, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: 'Embryo Bank' Stirs Ethics Fears: Firm Lets Clients Pick Among Fertilized Eggs The Washington Post, By Rob Stein, January 6, 2007
A Texas company has started producing batches of ready-made embryos that single women and infertile couples can order after reviewing detailed information about the race, education, appearance, personality and other characteristics of the egg and sperm donors.
RELATED ARTICLE: Grappling with the Moral Dimensions of Advances in Assisted Reproduction University of British Columbia, By Prof. Judith Daniluk (Dept. of Education and Counselling Psychology and Special Education, Faculty of Education), January 4, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: The Parent Hood: How technology and social progress are turning procreation into self-actualization. The Daily Standard, By Claudia Anderson, December 4, 2006
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- ISO Broad-Minded Groom
Two Indian parents go husband-hunting for their willing daughter Washington Post, By Anita Jain, July 20, 2008
IN 2005, a few months after I'd moved to Delhi, my traditional-minded parents called to announce a long visit. They were coming from California for my cousin Aarti's wedding. They planned to stay with me for six weeks. During that time, they also expected to marry me off. "Six weeks? Don't you think that's a bit long?" I hedged. It wasn't that I questioned their purpose. My parents, who wed in an arranged marriage more than four decades ago, are still among the happiest couples I've ever known. They rarely fight and do everything together, teasing and laughing -- about my father's television addiction, my mother's nagging -- all day long. I'd spent my 20s remarkably independently, working as a financial journalist in far-flung cities around the world and choosing whom to date in free-for-all, Western style. But now I was 33. I wanted what they had, and my own search wasn't quite working out. . . . The first thing my father did upon arrival weeks later was to take out a large ad in the Times of India matrimonial pages: "U.S.-educated Jain girl, 33 years old, Harvard graduate and working for international newspaper looking for broad-minded groom." Then he sat back, waiting for a deluge of e-mails demanding to wed his beautiful, brilliant daughter, no matter that she was a decade beyond prime marriageable age. Nothing arrived on Monday. Nor Tuesday. On Wednesday, he got one or two e-mails. It was the same the next week, and the next. Desperate to get started, my father finally invited one fellow over to my flat. . . .
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RELATED ARTICLE: Anubhav shows the surprising truth about Indian marriage: Modern Bollywood films can get flippant when it comes to love and sex. But a classic from 1971 cuts straight to the heart of the matter The Guardian- UK, By Nirpal Dhaliwal, July 29, 2008
I spend a lot of time here talking to Indians about marriage. Marriage is the epicentre of Indian life. This country's attitude towards marriage marks its difference from the rest of the world more than any other issue. They may be prudish about discussing sex and divorce, but Indians often talk about marriage with great honesty. Prizing it as the basis of their culture, they have developed their own language to help them cultivate and protect it.
RELATED ARTICLE: Arrange Me A Marriage - new BBC TWO series My Park magazine, November 22, 2007
Matchmaker Aneela Rahman gets to grips with Britain's legions of unmarried 30-somethings and aims to find them a partner using the principles of a modern Asian arranged marriage, in this new, five-part series. Aneela – a bold, no-nonsense, Glasgow-born Asian woman in her thirties – is living proof that arranged marriages work.
RELATED ARTICLE: Indians shun traditional matchmakers and try to click with someone online The Times Online-UK, By Jeremy Page, September 1, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Is Arranged Marriage Really Any Worse Than Craigslist? A Modern Indian Woman's Struggle with Arranged Marriage New York Magazine, By Anita Jain, September 5, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Marriage: Is love necessary? How does the institution of arranged marriage, the culturally preferred way of Indians to establish the couple, square with the powerful dream of love? Little India, By Sudhir Kakar, June 15, 2007
For in India the consensus in favor of arranged marriage through the centuries has been truly astonishing; in fact the only ancient Hindu text that considers love marriage as the highest form of marriage is the revolutionary Kamasutra. Arranged marriages are not only a pan Indian norm, cutting across the divides in education, social class, religion and regions but, more important, they are rarely seen as an imposition by the young people concerned who overwhelmingly prefer them to the love marriage typical of contemporary Western societies.
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- Kevin Costner says: I Finally Listened To My Heart Parade magazine, By Dotson Rader, July 20, 2008
. . .“Falling in love is a really tricky thing,” he says. “If you pretend you’re in love when you’re really not, it ends up bloody. When I met Christine, I wasn’t prepared to be in love again. It took me a long time before I said ‘I love you’ to her, a long time.” Kevin and Christine have been married for four years. It is her first marriage, his second. His romantic caution, I suggest, is a surprising trait for one of the world’s sexiest movie stars to claim. Think of him in No Way Out or The Bodyguard. His sex appeal is undeniable. . . . Amazingly, Costner had little experience with romance. His only girlfriend was Cindy Silva, a fellow student at Cal State, Fullerton. “Cindy was the only girl I had ever dated,” he says. “I thought she was beautiful. I was honestly surprised that she liked me. I was shocked, actually.” They wed in 1978. . . .In 1996, he had a brief, post-divorce relationship with Pittsburgh socialite Bridget Rooney. It produced a son, Liam, now 11. Kevin is close to Liam, as he is to the children of his first marriage—Anne, now 23, Lily, 21, and Joe, 20. "I have never wanted to be afraid in my life, but after my divorce, I was,” he confesses. “The pain of that experience had been so strong that I never wanted to go through it ever again. “We’re afraid of a lot of things in life,” he continues. “It’s part of the human condition. What do we fear? Love? Failure? Telling the truth about ourselves? I think we don’t show people all we truly are because we’re afraid that if they actually know everything about us, they won’t love us. I’m as guilty of that as anyone. . . .
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- How emotional pain can really hurt BBC News- Health-- Radio 4's The Pain Of Emotion, By Vivienne Parry, July 19, 2008
Love really does hurt, just as poets and song lyric writers claim. New brain scanning technologies are revealing that the part of the brain that processes physical pain also deals with emotional pain. And in the same way that in some people injury can cause long-lasting chronic pain, science now reveals why some will never get over such heartbreak. Emotional pain can take many forms; a relationship break-up or social exclusion, for example. But it does not get any more extreme than losing a loved one, as Scottish broadcaster Mark Stephen did. In July 1995 he was driving a tractor while hay-making and accidentally hit his young daughter. She died shortly afterwards. Mark's grief was overwhelming, he says. . . . But can we die from a broken heart? Martin Cowie is professor of cardiology at the Brompton Hospital. He is very sure of the answer: "Yes, we can. "There is an increased risk of dying in the six months after bereavement and it's particularly marked amongst men." The bereaved are much more likely to be involved in accidents, which is perhaps understandable, but also to die from heart attacks and stroke. The hormones involved in the stress of bereavement make these events more likely. This knowledge makes it essential to identify and treat those whose emotional pain is likely to become chronic, causing debilitating depression or even death. . .
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- Women's brains are different from men's – and here's scientific proof The Independent- UK, By Michael McCarthy, July 18, 2008
Men and women show differences in behaviour because their brains are physically distinct organs, new research suggests. Male and female brains appear to be constructed from markedly different genetic blueprints. The differences in the circuitry that wires them up and the chemicals that transmit messages inside them are so great as to point to the conclusion that there is not just one kind of human brain, but two, according to recent neurological studies. Men may be from Mars and women may be from Venus, and since the American psychotherapist John Gray wrote his famous book, in 1992, on the idea, it has been a commonplace to think of men and women as being from different planets in terms of their emotional responses. But until recently, these differences were often explained by the action of adult sex hormones, or by social pressures that encouraged males and females to behave in a certain way. Increasingly, however, these assumptions are being challenged, according to a review of recent neurological research appearing in this week's New Scientist magazine, and it is becoming clear that the brains of men and women show numerous anatomical differences. . . . Although it has long been known that there were some male-female differences, it was thought they were confined to the hypothalamus, the brain region involved in regulating food intake, fighting and the sex drive, among other things. But it is becoming clear that the relative sizes of many of the structures inside female brains are different from those of males. . . . A guide to the male and female control panels. . . . What the experts think about the research . . .
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RELATED ARTICLE: What would the world be like without men? The Daily Mail- UK, By A.N. Wilson, May 24, 2008
Fifty years in the future, will there still be a human race, or simply a laboratory-bred race of disease-free hybrids? Will there even be different sexes, since fathers have become redundant? Will there be sex, as evidently it is perfectly possible to continue the species (or mixed species) in the much more hygienic conditions of the test-tube and the laboratory? These are strange questions, but the faster science advances, and the more arrogant scientists become, the more necessary it is to examine this so-called progress.
RELATED ARTICLE: Do families need fathers? The Guardian- UK, By Aida Edemariam, May 20, 2008
The first civil partnerships in 2005 were met with such enthusiasm that it seemed Britain had become a new, more tolerant place, accepting of non-traditional families.
RELATED ARTICLE: Mars & Venus: What the perfect husband needs to understand about women The Independent- UK, By Katy Guest, March 9, 2008
In an exhaustive survey conducted by the IoS and reported here for the first time, it has become apparent that women's requirements for a perfect husband have also shifted. Gone are the days when a man had to come home from a hard day's clerking only to be expected to change a light bulb and cough up the housekeeping. Once she has cottoned on to the Reader's Digest DIY Manual a woman doesn't need a man to change her fuses. But there are some things even a modern girl struggles with.
RELATED ARTICLE: Homo erectus extinctus The Times Online, By Lois Rogers, December 16, 2007
Is nature determined to make men extinct? Senior scientists believe that women may evolve as humanity’s sole representatives — and social and political trends are lending weight to their theories.
RELATED ARTICLE: The prospect of all-female conception The Independent- UK, By Steve Connor, April 13, 2007
Women might soon be able to produce sperm in a development that could allow lesbian couples to have their own biological daughters, according to a pioneering study published today.
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- Challenge tossed, gay marriage ban on ballot San Francisco Chronicle, By Bob Egelko, July 17, 2008
In a unanimous order, without comment, the court dismissed a lawsuit by gay rights advocates seeking to remove an initiative sponsored by conservative religious groups from the Nov. 4 ballot. The measure, Proposition 8, would overturn the court's 4-3 ruling May 15 that allowed gay and lesbian couples to marry in California. The suit, on behalf of couples who had challenged the state's previous ban on same-sex marriage, argued that Prop. 8 would destroy fundamental rights that cannot be changed by a voter initiative. The court rarely takes up legal challenges to a ballot measure before an election, and could consider the same issue in another lawsuit if the measure passes. The suit was "a desperate effort to keep the amendment away from the democratic process," said attorney Glen Lavy of the Alliance Defense Fund, which represents sponsors of Prop. 8. Their opponents - Equality California, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union - said they were disappointed but undaunted in their efforts to defeat the ballot measure. Like one of the laws the court struck down in May, Prop. 8 declares that "only a marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.". . .
RELATED VIDEO & COMMENTS: Conservative Christians Debate Same-Sex Marriage Ruling CNS News, July 15, 2008
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- San Francisco Court Debates Religions’ Right to Oppose ‘Gay’ Adoption CNS News.com, By Randy Hall, Staff Writer/Editor, July 16, 2008
- Was a resolution by the city of San Francisco condemning the Catholic Church’s teachings on homosexuality a violation of the U.S. Constitution or an expression of free speech? Oral arguments on this issue will be heard Wednesday by a panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The debate is a result of Resolution 168-06, which was passed unanimously on March 21, 2006, by the board of supervisors of the city and county of San Francisco and which urged the archbishop of San Francisco and Catholic Charities of San Francisco to defy church directives. The document called on Cardinal William Levada, in his capacity as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican, to withdraw his “discriminatory and defamatory directive” that Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of San Francisco stop placing children in need of adoption with homosexual households. According to Catholic teaching, children should not be adopted by homosexual couples, because it does violence to them in the sense that the same-sex environment is not conducive to the children’s full human development. A child has a right to a mother and a father, and non-natural promotion of other “family” orders is not proper. . .
RELATED ARTICLE: McCain Assailed for Opposing Gay Adoption CNS News, By David Crary- AP, July 15, 2008
RELATED ARTICLE: Banned in Boston: The Coming Conflict Between Same Sex Marriage and Religious Liberty
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