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Culture

Affirming Love/Avoiding AIDS PDF
by William E. May, Ph.D., Senior Fellow   

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The “conventional wisdom” prevalent in the United States, European Nations, and the United Nations is that the best way to prevent HIV/AIDS in Africa (or anywhere, for that matter) is to practice “safe sex,” that is, to make use of condoms and other prophylactic devises. The Catholic Church is regularly criticized for its failure to urge the use of condoms and “safe sex” in Africa and is blamed for the AIDS “epidemic” in sub-Sahara Africa.

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08/24/2010
 
“THE PILL” TURNS FIFTY PDF
by William E. May, Ph.D., Senior Fellow   

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In 1960 the Food and Drug Administration approved the oral contraceptive known as “The Pill.” To celebrate the Pill’s 50th birthday Elaine Tyler May, Regents Professor of American Studies and History at the University of Minnesota, has published America and the Pill: A History of Promise, Peril, and Liberation (New York: Basic Books, a Member of the Perseus Books Group, 2010, 214 pp.).

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06/02/2010
 
“THE SOCIAL COSTS OF PORNOGRAPHY” PDF
by William E. May, Ph. D., Senior Fellow   

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“The Social Costs of Pornography: A Statement of Findings and Recommendations” is a booklet, edited by Mary Eberstadt and Mary Ann Layden and published this year by the Witherspoon Institute. The booklet summarizes a consultation of 54 scholars held in Princeton, N.J. in December 2008 sponsored by the Witherspoon Institute and co-sponsored by the Institute for the Psychological Sciences. A sampling of participating scholars includes Hadley Arkes of Amherst University, Gerard V. Bradley of Notre Dame University’s Law School, J. Budziszewski of the University of Texas, Mary Eberstadt of the Hoover Foundation, Jean Bethke Elshrain of the University of Chicago, John Finnis of Oxford University, Robert George of Princeton University, William Hurlbut, M.D., of Stanford University Medical School, Mary Ann Layden of the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Psychiatry, Margarita Mooney of the University of North Carolina, David Novak of the University of Toronto, Roger Scruton of Oxford University, Gladys Sweeney of the Institute for the Psychological Studies, and W. Bradford Wilcox of the University of Virginia.

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05/20/2010
 
DOES CONTRACEPTION PREVENT ABORTION? PDF
by William E. May, Ph. D., Senior Fellow   

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Andrew Koppelman and others say “It certainly does!”
Andrew Koppelman, John Paul Stevens Professor of Law at Northwestern University, and others claim that contraception definitely prevents abortion. This April (2010) Koppelman posted a commentary, “How the Religious Right Promotes Abortion,” [1] that was immediately attacked byspokespersons of the “Religious Right” (e.g., Michael New of the Witherspoon Institute). Koppelman judges it to be “astoundingly stupid and tragic” to argue over this. Continuing, he said, “One of the rare areas of common ground between opponents and supporters of abortion rights is that neither side thinks that unintended pregnancy is a good thing.  We should be able to come together on measures that would actually reduce the rate of unwanted pregnancy, and thus, inevitably, reduce the abortion rate.  That might even help the anti-abortion cause in the long run, because it would reduce the number of American women who have had abortions…. Yet instead, we are having this silly argument.  It is dispiriting.”

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05/14/2010
 
THE PORNOGRAPHY PLAGUE PDF
by William E. May, Ph. D., Senior Fellow   

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The April 10, 2010 bulletin of iMAPP Marriage News [1] highlighted this issue. It focused on the Witherspoon Foundation’s recent conference and book, The Social Costs of Pornography.[2]

After summing up Marriage News’s report of the Witherspoon Foundation’s conference and book on the social costs of pornography, I will present the masterful analysis of pornography and “pornovision” offered by a prominent philosopher/theologian during the last quarter of the 20th century, namely, Karol Wojtyla, better known as Pope John Paul II.

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04/23/2010
 
ABSTINENCE AND TEEN PREGNANCY PDF
by William E. May, Ph.D., Senior Fellow   

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Duke University Champions
Most Americans know that Duke University’s Men’s basketball team is the 2010 champion of college basketball. But few know that Dr. Monique Chireau, a Duke University expert in obstetrics and gynecology, is a champion of abstinence only programs as the way to help teenage girls forbear having sex, whether allegedly “safe” or “less unsafe,” and as a result avoid getting pregnant and at the same time avoid contracting an STD or sexually transmitted disease.

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04/14/2010
 
Who and What Would it Take to Heal the Male/Female Problematic? The Third in a Series of Four... PDF
by Helen M. Alvaré, J.D., Senior Fellow in Law   
alvare_h.jpgIn two previous columns I suggested that a not insignificant cause of the current rates of out of wedlock pregnancies in the US is a breakdown of healthy relations between women and men.  Past attempts to address high rates of nonmarital pregnancies failed to note this possible cause.  To be clear, I am not suggesting that all prior attempts to curb such pregnancies (e.g. policies in areas such as education, job-training, sex-education, child support enforcement, social welfare, and marriage) were wrong or illogical in themselves, only that they were incomplete.  At the same time I would have to note that some policy responses may have actually exacerbated the situation. Those involving large-scale birth control distribution, for example, and abortion on request, were not only unsuccessful, but sent messages about the meaning of male/female relationships that very likely sent nonmarital birth rates to higher levels. [1]
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09/03/2009
 
Feminism and Human Sexuality: Part II PDF
by William E. May, Ph.D., Senior Fellow   
william_e_may.jpgI will examine and criticize the position of Lisa Sowle Cahill, a married woman and mother who is professor of moral theology at Boston College and highly regarded by her peers, on the issue of human sexuality by focusing on her views regarding the significance of “single sexual acts,” contraception, and in vitro fertilization.
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03/13/2009
 
Feminism and Human Sexuality: Part II PDF
by colfi_admin   
william_e_may.jpgI will examine and criticize the position of Lisa Sowle Cahill, a married woman and mother who is professor of moral theology at Boston College and highly regarded by her peers, on the issue of human sexuality by focusing on her views regarding the significance of “single sexual acts,” contraception, and in vitro fertilization.
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03/13/2009
 
Feminism and Human Sexuality: Part I PDF
by William E. May, Ph.D., Senior Fellow   
william_e_may.jpgFeminism comes in different varieties. Some forms are compatible with Catholic/Christian teaching on human sexuality; others are not. In a two-part essay I will consider the heterodox feminist understanding of human sexuality and of norms governing sexual activity proposed by some Catholic theologians that is quite different from and opposed to the understanding of human sexuality and its norms held firmly by the Catholic Church.
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02/25/2009
 
Review of “Same-Sex Marriage and Religious Liberty: Emerging Conflicts” Part II PDF
by William E. May, Ph.D, Senior Fellow   
same-sex_marriage_and_religious_liberty.jpgIn Part I, I said I would devote two articles to this important book. Because of the dramatic change in the political atmosphere caused by the 2008 presidential and congressional elections, I now think that three articles are necessary. This one, Part II, takes up the chapters by Robin Fretwell Wilson and Chai  R. Feldblum, whose proposals were made when a quite different political situation was in place. Part III will consider the chapters of Charles R. Reid and Douglas Laycock and offer final reflections.
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12/03/2008
 
Review of “Same-Sex Marriage and Religious Liberty: Emerging Conflicts” PDF
by William E. May, Ph.D., Senior Research Fellow   
same-sex_marriage_and_religious_liberty.jpgEdited by Douglas Laycock, Anthony R. Picarello, Jr., and Robin Fretwell Wilson and published by The Becket Fund and Rowman & Littlefield Publishers in 2008, this book is over 300 pages. Pages xi-xiv+1-207 include the essays by the editors and contributors, pages 209-298 provide notes and are followed an Appendix (pp. 200-310), an Index (pp. 311-326), and “About Contributors.”
The book is so significant I will devote two articles to it. In this, Part I, I summarize the essays, offer personal comments, and identify those papers that demand the closer study, analysis, and critique to be given in Part II.
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10/30/2008
 
Interview with Dale O'Leary, author of "The Gender Agenda One Man, One Woman" PDF
by Elizabeth Moncher, MS, MSW   

one_man_one_woman.jpg1.    Ms. O’Leary, can you begin by helping us understand what is meant by feminism, and whether there are particular distinctions among feminists that are important to recognize?

It is important to distinguish liberal feminism from radical feminism and these from the search for authentic womanhood based on the truth about the human person.

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07/10/2008
 
“No new research has ever shown homosexuality to be a healthy sexual variant...” PDF
by Elizabeth Moncher, MS, MSM   
Interview with Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, Founder and Director of the Thomas Aquinas Psychological Clinic and President of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH)
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04/18/2008
 
CDC: 1 in 4 Teenage Girls has an STD PDF
by Matt Hanley   

If you were looking for another indicator of the cultural malaise to which our young are subjected today, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) delivered last week.   At the 2008 National STD Prevention Conference in Chicago, March 11th, they issued results of a nationally representative survey which found that slightly more that one in four (26%), or 3.2 million, teenage girls between ages 14 and 19 have contracted a sexually transmitted disease (STD).  Among those infected, about 15% had more than one disease.  Some groups had about twice the national average – nearly half of young African American women or adolescents in the survey had an STD.

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03/20/2008
 
Interview with Dr. Jennifer Roback-Morse, Ph.D. on Comprehensive Abstinence Education PDF
by Culture of Life   
ImageDr. Jennifer Roback-Morse is Research Fellow at the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty and former Research Fellow at the Stanford University Hoover Institution. In an interview with Culture of Life Foundation, Dr. Morse discusses her research on abstinence education programs and what she calls “Comprehensive Abstinence Education”.
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03/07/2008
 
Contributing writer Dawn Eden sheds light on the truth of abstinence data reporting PDF
by Dawn Eden   
ImageContributing writer Dawn Eden is author of The Thrill of the Chaste: Finding Fulfillment While Keeping Your Clothes On (Thomas Nelson) and an internationally recognized speaker on chastity. During the past year, her writings on culture-of-life issues, faith, and popular culture have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, the Sunday Times of London, the National Post of Canada, and First Things.
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01/16/2008
 
And Nobody Opposes Fertility Clinics. Right? PDF
by Joe Capizzi, Ph.D.   
Writing in the Washington Post, Michael Kinsley thinks he has cornered opponents of embryo-destructive research into contradicting themselves. In fact all he does is reveal his ignorance of the pro-life movement.
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07/12/2006
 
Homosexuality and Hope PDF
by Catholic Medical Association   
This is a summary or condensed version of the statement of the Catholic Medical Association on the diagnosis and treatment of Same Sex Attraction. The extended version is also available on the Culture of Life website.  
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03/08/2006
 
Marriage and the Federal Marriage Ammendment: Answering the Toughest Questions PDF
by Culture of Life   
Strong majorities of Americans oppose gay marriage. Supporters of SSM (Same Sex Marriage) therefore seek to change the subject to just about anything: our sacred constitution, federalism, discrimination, benefits, homosexuality, gay rights. Our goal is simple: Shift the conversation rapidly back to marriage. Don’t get sidetracked. Marriage is the issue. Marriage is what we care about. Marriage really matters. It’s just common sense.
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01/31/2006