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Talking Point: History will not be kind to the proponents of same sex marriage. The gay community is not responsible for today’s generation of fatherless children. But they will be responsible for the next such generation.

Action Item: Sign up for Love and Life in the Divine Plan! If you don’t live close enough to Nashville to go, forward this e-mail to your friends who do!

DoMA: An Interview with Bill Duncan Dr. J interviews attorney Bill Duncan on his amicus brief in the Massachusetts court case concerning the Defense of Marriage Act. Bill Duncan is general counsel for the National Organization for Marriage, which filed the brief. (Click the POD icon.)

Subscribe to the complete Ruth Institute podcasts with iTunes!

Lutheran Public Radio: Dr. J is usually on live on Tuesdays from 2-2:15 p.m. Pacific Time (Click the link to listen live or find a station near you.)

February 23--Training course for seminarians in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, WI. (Closed to the public.)

February 24--Nashville Republican Ladies luncheon. (Closed to the public.)

February 25-26--"Life and Love in the Divine Plan," conference at Aquinas College in Nashville, Tennessee. Watch Dr. J's video about this conference here.

March 15--Screening of the movie, Eggsploitation. Azusa Pacific University, Azusa, CA.

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Do you need advice on how to improve your marriage or relationship, or on how to find the right person for you? Expert Dr. J is here for you. Click here to ask your question, which may be featured anonymously in this newsletter for the benefit of all.

Read past questions and answers here.

Need help with your marriage? You can also check out Dr. J's "101 Tips for a Happier Marriage!"

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Whew! I’m out of breath! I’ve have one exciting event after another! Last night we closed the voting for the Reel Love Video Challenge. In the next few days, we will tally up the votes, and send the top vote getters to our Distinguished Panel of Judges. They will make the final ranking, and we will announce the prizes! Go take a look at these videos by young adults. You will be proud that you support the Ruth Institute!

We are also getting ready for our conference, Love and Life in the Divine Plan, to be held at Aquinas College in Nashville, Tennessee, next week, February 25-26. This conference will feature top speakers on the four threats to marriage outlined by the US Catholic Bishops in their pastoral letter, “Love and Life in the Divine Plan.” Dr. Janet Smith will talk about contraception. Dr. Brad Wilcox, Director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, will discuss cohabitation. Dr. Doug Allen, economics professor from Simon Fraser University in Canada, will talk about the impact of changing divorce laws on society. And yours truly will talk about same sex unions and artificial reproductive technology. The conference kicks off with a lecture by Dr. Sam Gregg of the Acton Institute on Christian Anthropology, and will close with a lecture by Sister Jane Dominic, one of the Nashville Dominicans, on the Rich Gift of God’s Love.

This conference will be a great blend of philosophy, theology and social science. Please come! You should especially consider bringing your non-believing friends to this event. The spaces are filling up fast, so don’t delay. Register here. This conference will be a great opportunity to educate yourself and your friends about marriage.

If you are unable to come, please consider making a contribution to support the participation of students and clergy. Support from wonderful people like you make events like this possible!

Last week I was called out in a hurry to testify before the Rhode Island state legislature, where the Governor and the Speaker of the House have declared same sex marriage their top priority. I told the committee that “History will not be kind” to them. My testimony is this week’s main article. Please go read the whole article and participate in the discussion in the comments section. You will get an idea of what we are dealing with.

Believe it or not, that trip to Rhode Island was my second trip to the east coast since the beginning of February. I was slated to go to Wheaton College in Chicago and on to Pittsburgh, departing on February 1. The blizzard changed my plans! I just skipped the Chicago leg of the trip and went straight to Pittsburgh. Amazingly enough, I didn’t have five minutes of travel delay! I live a charmed life, I guess!

I spoke at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, and the University of Pittsburgh. In Steubenville, I spoke to a sexual and medical ethics class for nursing students, as well as to the entire student body. And at the University of Pittsburgh, I spoke with their Love and Fidelity chapter and to a “Truth on Tap” group, for graduate students and young professionals. Everywhere I went, I encountered truly first class, high caliber young people who are determined to make a difference for marriage!

We could not do this without the help of wonderful people like you who share our materials, sign up your friends, and make financial sacrifices for us. Thanks for all of your support!

Delivered February 9, 2011, in the Providence, Rhode Island, courthouse.

I am here today to address those of you who have already made up your minds to redefine marriage. History will not be kind to you. Previous generations of social experimenters have caused unimaginable misery for millions of people. Particular people advocated the policies that led to today’s 50% divorce rate and 40% out of wedlock childbearing rate. None of these people has ever been held accountable.

I am here today to hold you to account, for the predictable harms you will cause by redefining marriage.

Let me remind you of the essential public purpose of marriage. Marriage attaches mothers and fathers to their children, and to one another. Once you replace that essential public purpose with inessential, even frivolous private purposes, marriage will not be able to do its job. But children will still need secure attachments to their mothers and fathers, a need which will go unfulfilled.

You are redefining parenthood, as a side effect of redefining marriage, without even considering what you are about to do. Until now, marriage makes legal parenthood track biological parenthood. The legal presumption of paternity means that children born to a married woman are presumed to be the children of her husband. With this legal rule, and the social practice of sexual exclusivity, marriage attaches children to their biological parents.

Same sex couples of course, do not procreate together. “Marriage equality” requires a slippery move from “presumption of paternity” to the gender neutral “presumption of parentage.” This sleight of hand transforms parenthood. The same sex partner of a biological parent is never the other biological parent. Rather than attaching children to their biological parents, same sex marriage is the vehicle that separates children from a parent.

No longer will the law hold that children need a mother and a father. Under the inspiration and guidance of people like you in other states, courts are saying silly things like, “the traditional notion that children need a mother and a father to be raised into healthy, well-adjusted adults is based more on stereotype than anything else.”

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