The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission

“51% of Women Are Now Living Without Spouse,” the New York Times trumpeted last week. Is this something to celebrate, as the paper of record seemed to do? And more importantly, is it even true?

There is certainly a trend away from marriage, but the numbers reported by the New York Times are deliberately misleading.

These data come from the American Community Survey for 2005, whose website is here. If you go directly to the simplest table, S1201, you will find, contra the NYT, that 51 percent of women are married. (Run your eye down the first column to the row which lists “females.” Scoot over to “Now married, (except separated).”) Voila! 51 percent of women are now married.

Jan 30, 2007

Topic: Family, Living, Marriage, Divorce/Remarriage, Pop Culture, Singles

WSJ - ‘Unprotected’

Wall Street Journal – Opinion Journal
BY DANIELLE CRITTENDEN
Thursday, December 14, 2006 12:01 a.m. EST

“My patients were hurting, they looked to me and what could I do?” So confesses an anonymous campus physician in the beginning of her startling memoir. Over the course of 200 pages, she tells story after story about suffering young women. If these women were ailing from eating disorders, or substance abuse, or almost any other medical or psychological problem, their university health departments would spring to their aid. “Cardiologists hound patients about fatty diets and insufficient exercise. Pediatricians encourage healthy snacks, helmets and discussion of drugs and alcohol. Everyone condemns smoking and tanning beds.”

Unfortunately, the young women described in “Unprotected” have fallen victim to one of the few personal troubles that our caring professions refuse to treat or even acknowledge: They have been made miserable by their “sexual choices.” And on that subject, few modern doctors dare express a word of judgment.

Dec 14, 2006

Topic: Family, Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Addictions, Substance Abuse, Living, Health, Sexual Purity, Abstinence, Homosexuality, Citizenship, Social Issues

WSJ - Freedom Man

Wall Street Journal
BY THOMAS SOWELL
Saturday, November 18, 2006

Milton Friedman was one of the very few intellectuals with both genius and common sense. He could express himself at the highest analytical levels to his fellow economists in academic publications and still write popular books such as “Capitalism and Freedom” and “Free to Choose” that could be understood by people who knew nothing about economics. Indeed, his television series, “Free to Choose,” was readily understandable even by people who don’t read books.

Dec 12, 2006

Topic: Family, Living, Finances, Citizenship, Hunger/Homelessness, National, Social Issues

WSJ Charitable Explanation (subscription)

Wall Street Journal
By ARTHUR C. BROOKS
November 27, 2006; Page A12

‘Tis the season to give. Our mailboxes are filling with appeals from fine organizations and worthy causes, competing for our holiday spirit and tax-deductible dollars. Millions of Americans will answer the call, donating in December as much as a third of the quarter-trillion dollars we give away each year. Per capita, Americans give more in this single month than most nations give all year long.

Before congratulating ourselves too heartily, however, note that charity is not a virtue shared by all. While 85 million American households give away money each year to nonprofit organizations, another 30 million do not. And this distinction goes beyond “formal” giving. Recent survey data reveal that people who fail to donate money to charities are only a third as likely as donors to give money to friends and strangers. Non-donors are half as likely as donors to give blood. They even are less honest: Non-donors are much less likely than donors to return change mistakenly given to them by a cashier. When it comes to charity, we are two nations.

Nov 27, 2006

Topic: Family, Living, Finances, Citizenship, Community Service, Hunger/Homelessness, Social Issues

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