This Week‘s Featured Article

Marriage/Family

A Prophecy Comes True on Polyamorous Relationships.

In 2015, when a Supreme Court majority ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that “state bans on same-sex marriage and on recognizing same-sex marriages duly performed in other jurisdictions are unconstitutional under the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution,” I predicted that having abandoned a constitutional standard, a millennia of tradition, sociological evidence, even the scriptural definition of marriage and family, that others who operated outside tradition would be next in line to demand their “rights.”

It took just seven years for that prophecy to come true. Read more

Can you be “Pro” Black Lives Matter and “Pro” Family?

The tone changes quickly when coming to page two, and different purposes make appearances. There are three goals in total that are relatively unknown. The first is their desire for an LGBTQ and transgender focus and an elimination of privilege for those outside these identifiers. The BLM group describes themselves as being willing to be, “…self-reflexive and do the work required to dismantle cisgender privilege and uplift Black trans folk…”.

Black Lives Matter does not end there, as they insert their second goal into their belief’s manifesto. “We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirements by supporting each other as extended families and ‘villages’ that collectively care for one another, especially our children…”

The thinly disguised hate seen here for nuclear families is undeniable. No longer is it your children, but our children. No longer are we allowed to be comfortable in the skin we were born in, but we also must reject those who reared and protected us in favor of a larger, more encompassing group with ideologies of their own that they wish to enforce. Read more

Researchers link heavy social media use to Finland’s falling fertility rate.

Researchers found that respondents who were more work- and social media-oriented cited lifestyle preferences as their main reason for postponing starting families. This was particularly the case with female respondents.

“Public speculation has suggested that the spread of social media in the 2010s may be linked to a decline in the birth rate. Here we show for the first time with survey data that there is a link,” said Anna Rotkirch, Research Director at the Finnish Population Research Institute. Read more

Parenting/Parental Rights

China’s population increase formula: Freedom to become mother through IVF.

China is making many efforts to return the youth of the aging population of the country. But the new generation is not ready to have more children. In this episode, the Jilin state of China has given the freedom to unmarried girls to give birth to children through IVF (in-vitro fertilization) to increase the population. Some women have been appointed in the state of Hebei to pressure other women to have more children. Read more

Courts Could Allow Chemical Castration of 10-Year-Old Son But Not Haircut: Texas Father

Texas father Jeff Younger is prepared to file a federal lawsuit if his ex-wife moves to California in an attempt to chemically castrate their 10-year-old son under the state’s new transgender sanctuary law.

Younger made the announcement concerning his high-profile custody battle on Saturday at the Patriarch Convention, a conference on fatherhood and family issues held as part of the 21 Summit in Orlando, Florida, this weekend. Read more

Of Bureaucrats and Bunk Beds.

Want to take in foster kids in Maryland? You can’t let them sleep in bunk beds.

The fine print of Maryland’s foster care regulations says: “Each child shall have an individual bed that may not be stacked in vertical bunk bed formation.”

In practice that means that if you don’t have a lot of extra space or money, you may be disqualified from foster parenting—even if you’re a relative who knows and loves the child and desperately wants to keep the family together. Read more

Sanctity of Life

Yahoo! Finance: We Could Ease Diaper Shortage If Pregnancy Centers Would Quit Convincing Women To Keep Their Babies.

Yahoo! Finance not only thinks that killing off babies in the womb is a solution for diaper poverty in the U.S. but also says Americans’ nappy woes should be blamed on pregnancy centers.

With the headline “America is facing a diaper crisis, and the anti-abortion movement is making it worse,” the article’s author, Senior Editor Sandra Salathe, alleges that “Roughly one-third of U.S. families are unable to afford diapers necessary to keep their babies dry and clean.” Read more

Dutch activists sue government over assisted suicide.

“The state is not obliged — and that is what this is all about — to facilitate assisted suicide, let alone allow it under all circumstances,” government lawyer Erik Koppe told a three-judge panel.

Lawyers for the cooperative argued that the European Court of Human Rights enshrines a right to die at a time and place of a person’s choosing. The government lawyers disputed that assertion.

“No right to die assisted by a third party or a public authority can be derived from the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, or a right to assisted suicide,” Koppe said. Read more

Stacey Abrams outrageously suggests abortion can help voters’ wallet amid inflation fears.

Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams shocked political observers by saying Wednesday that abortion is “an economic issue” — as surveys suggest more American voters are concerned about rising inflation than the overturn of Roe v. Wade.

“Having children is why you’re worried about your price for gas … [and] how much food costs,” Abrams told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” Read more

Religion

The Crisis of Well-Being Among Young Adults and the Decline of Religiosity.

For decades, well-being across adulthood has followed what social scientists call a “U-shaped pattern:” higher well-being in young adulthood, a dip during midlife, and increased well-being in older age. But earlier this year, the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University released troubling findings showing that there has been a complete flattening out of the left side of this U-curve. The well-being of young adults has dramatically declined compared to older age groups—a decline that is much larger for age than for any other variable, including gender or race.

The decline across so many aspects of well-being suggests something even more fundamental is at work. Vanderweele calls it a crisis in meaning and identity, and with it, a crisis in connection. His conclusions parallel those of Columbia University’s, Lisa Miller, whose extensive work as a clinical psychologist and brain researcher led her to conclude that it is “the absence of support for children’s spiritual growth”—the innate set of perceptual capacities through which we experience connection, unity, love and a sense of guidance from the life force within in and through us—that has contributed to alarming rates of depression, substance abuse, addictive behaviors, and decreased well-being. Read more

India delays affirmative action case affecting millions of Dalit Christians.

Christians in India believe the federal government is attempting to further prolong an important case concerning affirmative action for millions of Christians who converted from Dalit Hindu backgrounds by forming a panel with an initial two-year deadline to review their demands for equal rights.

Considered “contagiously impure” in Hindu societies for over 2,000 years, Dalits remain the poorest of the poor, are discriminated against and face atrocities at the hands of “higher caste” Hindus. They account for 16.6% of the country’s population, or 201.4 million. Read more

Religious Liberty Update on Congressional and Executive Branch Actions.

On September 29, 2022, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), with 16 cosponsors, introduced S.Res. 811, “A resolution designating the week of October 2, 2022, through October 8, 2022, as ‘Religious Education Week’ to celebrate religious education in the United States.” The resolution was referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary.

On September 15, 2022, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced S. 4868, “Providing for Life Act,” which would provide support and assistance to unborn children, pregnant women, parents, and families. The bill includes provisions for a refundable adoption tax credit, parental leave benefits, pregnant students’ rights, and equal treatment for religious organizations in social services. The bill was referred to the Committee on Finance. (Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA-1) introduced an identical bill in the House that day.) Read more

Sexuality

The Rise And Fall Of Sexual Sanity In Western Civilization.

Ironically, the current confusion about sex that dominates the popular imagination bears some resemblance to the confusion of Ancient Rome, which is where Carlin begins his discussion. In the centuries before the birth of Christ, pagan Rome did at least adhere to some degree of sexual prudence and chastity. Carlin notes, “For centuries Roman women were as famous for their chastity as Roman men were for their courage. But toward the latter days of the republic, things had changed considerably — at least on the chastity front.” Read more

We Need The ‘Protect Children’s Innocence’ Bill As A First Line Of Defense Against Sterilizing Kids.

Instead of being allowed to enjoy the innocence of childhood, develop imagination, cultivate friendships, develop curiosity, and enjoy the satisfaction of learning facts, figures, and formulas, children are assaulted with sexualized content fueled by a radical agenda. If you think it’s not having an effect, just look at a sampling from Maryland schools. According to school surveys in Montgomery county, over the last two years, the number of students identifying as gender nonconforming has increased by 582 percent. This survey includes children in elementary school. Read more

HS girls’ volleyball player suffers severe head, neck injuries after trans opponent spikes her in the face with the ball.

Early last month, Hiwassee Dam High School competed against Highlands High School in a girls’ volleyball tournament. During the game, an unnamed biological male playing for Highlands spiked a ball over the net and hit an unnamed Hiwassee Dam player directly in the face.

As a result of her injury, the Cherokee County Board of Education voted 5-1 to cancel all future volleyball games against Highlands High School, citing a “safety issue.” Read more