Free Republic

Have you heard that statistic that half of all marriages will end in divorce? It’s wrong. Even if that many marriages ever did disintegrate at one point, they don’t now. Divorce is on the decline and has been since the 1980s in America (when that 50% divorce statistic took hold). Experts now put your chances of uncoupling at about 39% in the U.S. This sounds like such promising news. Families are sticking together! But in practice, this does not mean more people are living happily ever after. Census figures released on Nov. 14 show that the median age at first...

Every Wednesday, the second hour of my national radio show is the "Male/Female Hour." A few weeks ago, a woman named Jennifer called in. For reasons of space, I have somewhat shortened her comments. Every young woman should read them. This is precisely what she said: "Dennis, I want to get right to it. I'm 50 years old with four college degrees. I was raised by a feminist mother with no father in the home. My mother told me get an education to the maximum level so that you can get out in the world, make a lot of money....

Lexophilia… ----Venison for dinner again? Oh deer! ----England has no kidney bank, but it does have a Liverpool . ----I tried to catch some fog, but I mist. ----They told me I had type-A blood, but it was a Typo. ----I changed my iPod's name to Titanic. It's syncing now. ----Jokes about German sausage are the wurst. ----I know a guy who's addicted to brake fluid, but he says he can stop any time. ----I stayed up all night to see where the sun went, and then it dawned on me. ----A girl said she recognized me from the Vegetarian...

Taiwan has rejected same-sex marriages, in a blow to the island's reputation as a rights trailblazer in Asia. The results in referendums come despite a high court ruling in March 2017 in favour of such unions. The court also gave parliament two years to amend laws or pass new ones. It is unclear how Saturday's voting will affect legislation. Meanwhile, President Tsai Ing-wen quit as leader of Taiwan's governing party after defeats in local elections. Her pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is set to lose more than half of the 13 cities and counties it won in 2014, Taiwanese media...

A bridal magazine has announced it will close just months after it sparked outrage for refusing to feature same-sex weddings. Founders Luke and Carla Burrell, who are Christians, announced they would close White Magazine on Saturday after advertisers withdrew sponsorship. A farewell note published on White Magazine's website on Saturday said the couple had recently experienced 'a flood of judgement' and lost a number of advertisers. The Burrells became target of an intimidation campaign in which their staff were threatened and one individual warned their house would be burned down. 'We have had to recognise the reality that White Magazine...

A bishop of The Episcopal Church whose diocese is based in the capital of New York has announced that his churches will not perform same-sex marriage ceremonies. Earlier this year, the Episcopal Church General Convention passed a resolution allowing for congregations to perform gay weddings even in dioceses where leadership objects. The new policy is scheduled to take effect on the first Sunday of Advent, Dec. 2. This stood in contrast to a resolution passed by the General Convention in 2015 that allowed bishops opposed to same-sex marriage to maintain a ban on such unions within their diocese. Bishop William...

Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who received international attention for denying gay couples marriage licenses, lost her re-election bid Tuesday, according to local reports. Davis, a Republican, was about 700 votes behind her Democratic opponent, Elwood Caudill Jr., in her bid for a second term as Rowan County clerk. In the Democratic primary, Caudill beat David Ermold, the man whom Davis had refused to grant a same-sex marriage license, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported. Caudill, Rowan County's chief deputy property valuation administrator, had unsuccessfully challenged Davis in 2014 in the Republican primary. Davis switched party allegiances in 2015. “I want...

A woman who found her engagement ring before her boyfriend proposed complained about the 'basic' band on social media - and the internet is not happy. 'Ewwwww. Self shame Friday here I come. Found this in the BF's nightstand. Not a fan,' the woman wrote in a Facebook group. 'Please roast and then tell me how to tactfully say no you need to go get something different,' she added.

Some people have it all, the life of luxury, cars, planes, diamonds, anything they want. And yet there is always something everyone wants that money cant buy. Chinese billionaire Cecil Chao, who made is fortune in luxury real-estate and property development in Hong Kong would love nothing more in life than his darling daughter to get married to the man of her dreams. But Chao's dream will never come true because his only daughter is a lesbian. So Chao is trying to come up with a plan to use his millions to pay a man to "turn" his daughter...

Music icon Neil Young finally acknowledged his marriage to actress Daryl Hannah — and then begged Americans to rock the vote next week. The "Harvest Moon" crooner reportedly tied the knot with the 57-year-old "Splash" actress back in August but hadn't commented on the union until casually mentioning it this week on his website. He referenced "my wife Daryl and I" in a plea to Americans to get out to the polls on Tuesday.

Here’s one that really cuts against the cultural grain. A new study by a sociologist in Utah finds that people with fewer sexual partners reported having happier marriages compared to those who had more partners prior to marriage. From the Atlantic: Over at the Institute for Family Studies, Nicholas Wolfinger, a sociologist at the University of Utah, has found that Americans who have only ever slept with their spouses are most likely to report being in a “very happy” marriage. Meanwhile, the lowest odds of marital happiness—about 13 percentage points lower than the one-partner women—belong to women who have...

About a year ago I saw a feminist program which talked about how virginity wasn't such a big deal and how girls should feel free to experience their sexuality so long as pills, creams, condoms, and legal consent forms were involved. Through the course of the program the act of sex was reduced to little more than a routine biological function akin to going to the bathroom or eating. Ironically, as the program sought to warn girls about being objectified it also managed to reduce men into support systems for penises. And the sole purpose of the penis was clearly...

Over at the Institute for Family Studies, Nicholas Wolfinger, a sociologist at the University of Utah, has found that Americans who have only ever slept with their spouses are most likely to report being in a “very happy” marriage. Meanwhile, the lowest odds of marital happiness—about 13 percentage points lower than the one-partner women—belong to women who have had six to 10 sexual partners in their lives. For men, there’s still a dip in marital satisfaction after one partner, but it’s never as low as it gets for women,... (Skip) In an earlier analysis, Wolfinger found that women with zero...

Two Christian filmmakers appeared before the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Paul Tuesday to challenge Minnesota state law which they say illegally forces them to produce and create films expressing messages that contradict their core beliefs. Telescope Media Group owners Carl and Angel Larsen have already been threatened with hefty fines and up to 90 days in jail if they choose to disregard the law. The Larsens want to enter the wedding industry. However, the state's Human Rights Act stipulates if the couple creates films celebrating their Christian beliefs about marriage – that marriage is between one man...

For many brides what to wear on their big day is one of the most important decisions they'll make. Ivory or white? A-line or mermaid? Long or short? Fitted or puffy? But for Princess Eugenie there was an extra factor at play. The Queen's granddaughter had major surgery on her back to treat a curvature of the spine at the age of 12. Sixteen years on, and the princess chose to wear a wedding dress that showed her scar, saying she hoped it would honour those who had helped her and inspire others with the condition of scoliosis. "I had...

Marriage Is About What Is Best For Children Msgr. Charles Pope • October 7, 2018 • As a kind of follow-up from yesterday’s Gospel on marriage, we do well to ponder where our focus on marriage is, both personally and nationally.Finding our way back – Part of the essential work we must do in re-establishing a coherent vision for marriage rooted in tradition, Natural Law, and, for believers, Scripture, is to restore a proper reference point so that all the pieces of the discussion make sense.What is this proper reference point? Marriage is essentially about children and what is...

A referendum to establish a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in Romania has failed - after only a fifth of voters bothered to turn out. Romanians were being asked whether they wanted the constitution changed to specify that marriage can only be between a man and a woman. But just 20.4% of eligible voters cast ballots - short of the 30% needed. The result may come as a suprise, as a poll on Friday indicated support for the change was as high as 90%. Mihai Gheorghiu, president of the pro-referendum Coalition for Family, told the BBC ahead of the vote...

Marriage Is a Miracle! A Homily for the 27th Sunday of the Year Msgr. Charles Pope • October 6, 2018 • Both today’s first reading and the Gospel speak to us of the miracle of marriage. If your marriage is working even reasonably well, it is a miracle! We live in an age that is poisonous to marriage. Many people look for marriage to be ideal, and if there is any ordeal, they want a new deal. Our culture says, if it doesn’t work out, bail out. Marriages are also a miracle because they are, ultimately, a work of...

A man was sitting on the edge of the bed, watching his wife, who was looking at herself in the mirror. Since her birthday was not far off, he asked what she'd like to have for her birthday. 'I'd like to be eight again', she replied, still looking in the mirror. On the morning of her Birthday, he arose early, made her a nice big bowl of Coco Pops, and then took her to Adventure World theme park. What a day! He put her on every ride in the park; the Death Slide, the Wall of Fear, the Screaming Roller...

A successful marriage is not difficult. Two people promise to love and take care of each other for the rest of their lives. There is no special magic, or equation. Two individuals simply make an honest commitment to each other and follow through. Regardless of what the left says about the success of a marriage, matrimony has nothing to do with equality between the educated class of society and the poorer less educated sect of society. University of Maryland sociology professor Philip Cohen conducted an analysis that revealed an 18 percent drop in the divorce rate of Americans from 2008-2016....