GAY TRUTH

February 6, 2013 ( Mercatornet.com ) - Christians throughout the West are dismayed at plummeting church attendance figures. They blame video games, or left-wing teachers, or Richard Dawkins . But perhaps the real answer is closer to home -- their own families. Divorce, single motherhood and cohabitation have been  destabilising  family life in America and other developed countries for decades. About one million children in the US each year experience the divorce of their parents, and more than half the children born to women under 30 are now born outside marriage. Reproductive technologies are also adding ambiguity -- and potential fault lines -- to family relationships. Christians as a whole  seem as likely  as the average American to be caught up in these trends. At the same time religious practice and church affiliation are declining. It seems obvious that these twin crises of marriage and faith are related, but what are the dynamics? Did religion decline and then marr

An Israeli court has awarded the country's first divorce to a gay couple, which experts called an ironic milestone since same-sex marriages cannot be legally conducted in the Jewish state . A decision this week by a family court in the Tel Aviv area "determined that the marriage should be ended" between former Israeli lawmaker Uzi Even , 72, and his partner of 23 years, Amit Kama, 52, their lawyer, Judith Meisels, said on Tuesday. Legal experts see the ruling as a precedent in the realm of gay rights in a country where conservative family traditions are strong and religious courts oversee ceremonies like marriages, divorces and burials. While Israel's Interior Ministry still has the power to try and veto the decision, it would likely have to go court in order to do so, Meisels said. A 2006 high court decision forced the same ministry, headed by an ultra-Orthodox cabinet member, to recognize same-sex marriages performed abroad and ordered the government to list

Image via Wikipedia Image via Wikipedia For as long as I have debated topics of grave social concern, a particular sort of argument has been insouciantly tossed about by those who just want the conversation to end. It frequently takes the following form: “How will legalizing X harm me? I’m not being forced to do X. I’ll just keep on doing what I’m doing. Therefore I support the legalization of X.” Ms. A might argue, for example, that the legalization of abortion does not harm her. Of course millions of other people have had abortions , and most never would have considered one had it not been legal. A large percentage of these women have been coerced into abortion by parents or boyfriends. And there is, obviously, the harm suffered by the children actually aborted. But Ms. A has neither had an abortion, nor been aborted by her mother, and so believes she has suffered no harm. Similarly, Mr. B argues that he is not harmed by no-fault d Image by Getty Images via @daylife ivorce. Of c

Image by Office of Governor Patrick via Flickr HOUSTON, TX , September 28, 2011 – A Texas judge has ruled that a homosexual man cannot leave his children alone with his sexual partner . Harris County Associate Judge Charley Prine, Jr. issued the injunction in June, although it was only signed earlier this month. The injunction was issued after William Flowers sought to change a 2004 custody arrangement with his ex-wife over their three children. Flowers had three children with his ex-wife, Lacey. When Flowers and his ex-wife divorced in 2004, his wife was awarded custody and Flowers was given regular visitations. In 2010, Flowers, then a practicing homosexual, “married” his homosexual partner in Connecticut. His partner has two children. When Flowers recently sued for custody of his three children, a jury found that his ex-wife should keep the kids, though his regular visitations would continue. In an injunctive section, however, Judge Prine ordered that Flowers cannot leave his

“It’s an opportunity to make the ultimate sacrifice . Lay your life down for someone else.” This is how one of many young people interviewed for a powerful new video about love and marriage produced by the Ruth Institute describes the purpose of marriage. Through a variety of interviews, the video, a project of The Emerging Leaders program, highlights the intense desire that people in the youngest generations have for self-sacrificial, unconditional and lifelong love – and the hope that they have that they will be able to find it. “They would walk through fire for one another,” says another young woman, describing the attitude a married couple should have towards one another. “I just long for that connection with another person. To be able to love like that.” The video concludes with the youth each committing themselves “to lifelong married love .” “I love this video,”  Ruth Institute  President Jennifer Roback Morse told LifeSiteNews.com, explaining that at the heart of the “I