Too Few or Too Many?

Two articles.  One telling me that there are too many people on the planet and one telling me that there aren’t enough.  That’s what appeared in my inbox this week.  I’m always a little taken back…and extremely skeptical… when I see a headline stating that the solution to a world problem is to get rid of people.  But that’s what the environmental group “Worldwatch Institute” implies.  Here’s the lead-in to their article:

“A new report from the Worldwatch Institute argues that assuring that all women have access to contraception and taking steps to improve women’s lives should be key strategies in the fight against global climate change.”

You will regularly hear the “get rid of people” argument applied to global warming, international development, and even to the use of contraception to lower maternal mortality rates.  Yet in the other article I was referring to, the flip side is presented:

• 59 countries with 44 percent of the world’s population have below-replacement fertility.
• Worldwide, the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) fell from 5.0 in the mid-1960’s to 2.7 today.  That’s a drop of close to 50 percent.
• Russia is losing 700,000 people a year and there are more abortions in that country than live births.
• Any country with a Total Fertility Rate of 1.4 or below will lose a third of its population each generation (about every 25 years).  The majority of the developed world fits in this category.
• Between 2015 and 2021, in Canada, the number of elderly will exceed the number of children under age 14 for the first time ever.  By 2050, Japan will have two senior citizens for every child.

“In discussions of the global economic crisis, almost everyone misses an underlying reality.  It’s not just bloated budgets, it’s empty nurseries.  Deficits and economic decline are driven by plummeting fertility,” states Don Feder, in a speech to the World Public Forum in October.  Mr. Feder effectively argues that the loss of people is a far more serious problem than the purported problems stemming from “global climate change.”

But I suspect that groups like Worldwatch Institute will never stop beating the “there are too many people” drum.  It’s religion for them.  Maybe we should start calling them “deniers…” population-decline deniers.

You can listen to an earlier version of  Mr. Feder’s speech here.

Giving Thanks, to you!

Kernels of Thanks

In honor of Thanksgiving and “National Family Week,” this week, we celebrate the pilgrims at the first Thanksgiving table–and the family at your Thanksgiving table.

After the first Thanksgiving in 1621, there were seasons when the pilgrims had to ration their food.  Legend has it that during the “starving time” of 1623 the pilgrims’ daily ration was reduced to five kernels of parched corn per person. Two hundred years later, at the Founders Day banquet of 1820, five kernels of parched corn were placed on each empty plate before the meal, to symbolize the pilgrims’ hardships.

Many families continue this tradition today, by placing five kernels of corn on each dinner plate before the Thanksgiving meal. Traditionally, the five kernels of corn represent the blessings of Autumn beauty, love, family, friendship, and freedom in America. Today’s families often let each family member choose five unique things they’re thankful for.

In that spirit, we offer five “kernels of thanks” to you and your family this Thanksgiving week:

1. Thank you for valuing your marriage. Your marriage doesn’t have to be perfect to be “good enough.” As well-known marriage researcher Maggie Gallagher explained, “Not only individuals, but also whole communities do better, when good-enough marriages are common.”  Marriage is a process. Even if you are struggling now, “a large majority of individuals in unhappy marriages who hang in there. . . end up reporting their marriages are very happy a few years later.”

2. Thank you for not hastily considering no-fault divorce. Enacted by most states during the 1970′s, no fault divorce laws allow one spouse to file for divorce for any reason–or no reason at all. Since 1974, about 1 million children per year have seen their parents divorce.  Sadly, divorce begets divorce. One large study shows that children of divorced parents are 76 percent more likely to get divorced themselves.  In addition, many divorced couples feel that their divorce may have been a mistake. In one recent study, at least one spouse in three-quarters of divorcing couples had second thoughts.

3. Thank you for your careful parenting. Men and women bring different strengths to a family.  Decades of social science confirm that “children who are raised by married mothers and fathers do better in virtually every way social scientists know how to measure.  Overall, they have fewer behavior problems, reach higher educational goals, and are more likely to achieve a successful marriage of their own.

4. Thank you for sharing your values with your teens. Contrary to what you what you may think sometimes, parents have an enormous influence on their teenagers. It is important for parents to talk to their teens about their convictions about love, commitment, and “the deeper meanings and traditions of marriage.”

5. Thank you for opening your heart to religion.  Dr. Loren Marks of Louisiana State University notes that “religious faith is the salient and inextricable thread in the quilt of family life.”   A major study recently reported by National Marriage Project shows that couples who attend church together and pray together have better quality relationships.  Religion has a great impact on young people as well. For example, the primary reason teenagers say that they do not have sex is because it is against their religion.

In short, thank you for giving our society a secure foundation and future. Your family is something for all of us to be grateful for this week.

Warmest regards,
Your friends at United Families International

*Guest Post from the leadership of  the Utah Chapter of United Families International

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Endnotes:

Maggie Gallagher, 2004. Can Government Strengthen Marriage? Evidence from the Social Sciences, National Fatherhood Initiative, Institute for Marriage and Public Policy, and Institute for American Values, New York, NY: 7. Web. 9 Nov. 2010 < http://www.marriagedebate.com/pdf/Can%20Government%20Strengthen%20Marriage.pdf >
Alan J. Hawkins, 2009. Should I Keep Trying to Work it Out? A Guidebook for Individuals and Couples at the Crossroads of Divorce (And Before), produced on behalf of the Utah Commission on Marriage, Salt Lake City, Utah: 44, 65, 66, 77, 138.  Web. 9 Nov. 2010  < http://utahmarriage.org/files/uploads/Crossroads%20Guidebook.pdf >
W. Bradford Wilcox, 2009. “The Evolution of Divorce,” National Affair, Issue 1, Fall 2009. Web. Nov 9, 2010. <http://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/the-evolution-of-divorce >
The Marriage Movement, a Statement of Principles, 2000. Coalition for Marriage, Family and Couples Education, Institute for American Values, New York, NY: 5. Web. 9 Nov. 2010 < http://www.americanvalues.org/pdfs/marriagemovement.pdf >
Maggie Gallagher, 2004. p. 23.
Ibid. p. 8.
Barbara Dafoe Whitehead and Marline Peterson, 2006. Making a Love Connection: Teen Relationships, Pregnancy, and Marriage, National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. Washington DC: 17.  Web. 9 Nov. 2010 < http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/resources/pdf/pubs/MALC_FINAL.pdf >
Marline Pearson, 2000.  “Can Kids Get Smart About Marriage?” A Report for the National Marriage Project in The Next Generation Series, The National Marriage Project, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ: 35.
Loren Marks, 2003. “The Effects of Religious Beliefs in Marriage and Family,” Marriage and Families, Aug. 2003, Web. 9 Nov. 2010, < http://marriageandfamilies.byu.edu/issues/2003/August/religiousbeliefs.aspx >
W. Bradford Wilcox, 2010. “Across Races, Couples that Pray Together Are Happier, NMP Study Finds,” The National Marriage Project, 11 Aug., 2010, Web. 9 Nov. 2010 < http://www.virginia.edu/marriageproject/ >
Barbara Dafoe Whitehead and Marline Peterson, 2006. pp. 23-24.

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Fatherlessness is the greatest predictor of Juvenile Violence and Crime

When asked “What is the greatest predictor of juvenile violence and crime?” most people will respond “poverty.”   It is a common misperception; one that media and popular culture continues to perpetuate.  But the UFI readers and supporters weren’t fooled.  They understand the importance of family and know the costs of family breakdown.  Here’s how they responded to the question:

What is the greatest predictor of juvenile violence and crime?

Poverty                                                           6 percent

Neighborhood environment                      0 percent

Fatherlessness                                                 94 percent

Lack of Education                                             0 percent

This week’s Family Poll Question:

Does it bother you when abortion is referred to as a Holocaust?

Yes, it’s very inappropriate

No, because that’s what it is

It is, but I’d rather people not make that comparison

*To answer this week’s question, go to www.unitedfamilies.org Scroll down and you’ll see the Family Poll question on the left.

Michigan Student Expelled from Classroom for stating beliefs regarding Homosexuality

An economics teacher wears a purple t-shirt to class to show his support for homosexual students, badgers a student for wearing a belt buckle that the teacher didn’t agree with, and then throws another student out of class because the student states that he disagrees with homosexual behavior.  The teacher was suspended and can’t figure out why.  Could it be because he should have kept to teaching economics and not thought it was his job to do indoctrinate his class with his own personal agenda?   Badgering students, refusing to accept their viewpoint, and then screaming at them in front of the rest of the class should probably be on the list too.

The school district in Howell, Michigan, has been the center of a controversy for several weeks.  The teacher, Jay McDowell, has unleashed the teachers union, gay activists, and the media upon the district.  The district recently released written statements from students who were in the classroom at the time in an effort to show, without bias, what occurred in the classroom that day.  You can read more on this story here.

Let’s hope that the school district does not back down on this one.  These students who were expelled by this teacher were not disruptive, they were not bullying; they were simply expressing their view…after the teacher asked.

Dictionary.com gives this definition of a bigot:  “a person who is utterly intolerant of any differing creed, belief, or opinion.”  Mr. McDowell certainly exemplifies that, all the while he was screaming similar epithets at his students.  Want to talk about a bully.

Marriage Obsolete? Hardly.

By now you’ve probably read a version of the Associated Press headline story “Four in 10 say marriage is becoming obsolete.” These articles highlighted the Pew Research Center’s data showing that in 1978, 28 percent of individuals believed marriage was obsolete, today that number has risen to 39 percent.  Hardly a number to cheer about, but not one that warrants doomsday headlines for marriage either.  The media did not highlight the statistic stating that two-thirds of Americans are “optimistic” about the marriage and family.  Nor did it point out that much the decline in percentage of adults who are married is primarily due to individuals delaying marriage, not because they will never marry.

The Associated Press articles skipped the parts of the study that showed that nearly 70 percent of children are still being raised by the married parents who conceived them.  Nor does it mention that 70 percent of all people who have ever been married are still married to the same person.  The media prefers to tout the overall divorce rate of 50 percent, not mentioning that it is actually just 30 percent of the population who marry, divorce, remarry, divorce…who drag the overall divorce rate down to 50 percent.

The most distressing number, however, is this:  In 1960, five percent of children were born out of wedlock and in 2008 that number was 41 percent.   The 41 percent out-of-wedlock child bearing number does put in perspective the “four out of 10 people who believe marriage is obsolete.”  Makes you wonder if this is the same group.   Clearly this group has no idea what their children need…a married mother and father together in a stable marriage.

We were preparing to write a detailed rebuttal/explanation of the Associated Press articles on the Pew study when we came upon this short piece.  Chuck Donovan of the Heritage Foundation has done the job for us.  It’s a short article; please take the time to read through it.  Then take the information and share it.  Don’t let the media get away with their anti-family, anti-marriage spin.

Go here to access The Heritage Foundation article.

Home a better place for building character than a sports team

If you want your children to learn teamwork skills and how to get along with others, don’t put them on a sports team…keep them home.  It seems that “doing things with the family” is a much more effective way to build character than spending time with peers or, say, the football coach (no slam of football coaches intended).  Coaches, no matter how qualified and diligent, cannot replace parents; nor can children’s peers replace the interaction of siblings.

This information comes from a study done a few years ago, but is worth pointing out again.  Especially now that children are back in school and many families have overextended themselves and their children on various lessons and sports teams.  Perhaps it’s time to take a second look.

The study’s author, Siu Kwong Wong, looked at data from 578 schools students enrolled in grades 5 through 12.  “Family-related activities strengthen the social bond and reduce delinquent associations and delinquency,” Wong advises.  As contrasted with “the amount of time playing sports increases delinquency and violent offenses in particular.”

Why?  The research suggests that “activities comprised of primarily peer participants, compared to those involving family members of conventional adults, tend to have less-positive effects on the social bond.”

As the year draws to a close and you’re planning your family’s 2011 calendar, consider blocking out large amounts of time for parental and sibling interaction.  Playing and working together as a family is going to yield much larger dividends than a dream of a child playing on a professional sports team or even being part of the NY Philharmonic…as wonderful as each of those things might be.

 

Source: Siu Kwong Wong, “The Effects of Adolescent Activities on Delinquency: A Differential Involvement Approach,” Journal of Youth and Adolescence 34 [2005]: 321-333.

“Slavery is Very Much Alive Today”

Each year more than 100,000 children are being sold for sex on the street corner, through escort services, and over the internet…and that’s just in the United States.  Sex trafficking is an international plague that has received scant attention.  Thousands of sexually exploited children in the U.S. are unable, even after being freed from their pimps; to have their basic needs met.  Today you have an opportunity to do something about it by participating in the “National (Call-in) Day of Action.”

The National Coalition to End Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking is asking individuals to help in the passage of the Domestic Minor Sex trafficking and Victims Support Act (H.R. 5575) which will provide grants to states to train social service agencies and law enforcement in reporting and investigation of trafficking incidents.  The bill will also provide much needed services and shelter to those who have been victims.

We direct you to Polaris Project’s website and urge you to go here to  follow the steps outlined to participate in this call to action.  Even if you can’t participate today, please do make a call or send contact your representative this week.  The victims of trafficking need you.

Trafficking is an issue that UFI deals with regularly at the UN.  It is a “family issue” and it does impact you, your family, and your community.  Go here to see a short video on one young girl’s life as a trafficking victim.

Bed Bugs: The new “STD”

Bed bugs have made a comeback.  Major cities and metro-areas around the U.S. have seen a resurgence of the little pests.  Bed bugs are notorious for their hitchhiking abilities, moving from one location to another in a person’s clothes, socks, shoes or suitcase.  Now bed bugs have found the perfect way to find a new home; they simply catch a ride after a one-night stand.

New York City’s 2009 Community Health Survey found that an estimated 6.7 percent of the residents had bedbugs.  That percentage of people infected with bed bugs is steadily rising with many people citing the role of casual sex as a contributing factor to the rapid spread.  In the ultra-hip areas of Brooklyn, a favorite of New York’s up and coming professionals, bed bugs are a regular topic and it seems to be putting a crimp in the “night life.”

Bed bugs can infest nearly anything—beds, furniture, books, clothes, and carpet.  Generally, the only way to get rid of bedbugs is extermination by a professional and it’s expensive.

“You don’t want to get bed bugs,” one beautiful coed who lives in Brooklyn informed me, shivering with disgust at the thought.  “It’s kind of altered the way things are done around here.  It’s kind of always in the back of your mind when you’re out.”  She paused and added, “bed bugs are the new STD.” (Sexually Transmitted Disease)

Now that’s one consequence of sexual promiscuity that we never thought of…

But what about the STD Epidemic?

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced their new strategic plan to End the Tobacco Epidemic. The strategy includes much bolder health warnings on cigarette packages and in cigarette advertisements, as well as color graphic images depicting the negative health consequence of smoking.  These new health warnings on the dangers of cigarette smoking will be the most significant change in more than 25 years.  “These actions are part of a broader strategy that will help tobacco users quit and prevent children from starting,” states the HHS press release.

This is a campaign that most citizens can get behind.  “Tobacco use is the leading cause of premature and preventable death in the United States, responsible for 443,000 deaths each year.  Thirty percent of all cancer deaths are due to tobacco,” continues the press release.  Those are startling statistics and particularly compelling when you remember that the damaging effects of tobacco could be prevented by abstaining from cigarette and tobacco usage.

But what about the epidemic of STDs?  Sexually transmitted diseases (or if you prefer, sexually transmitted infections or STIs) are wreaking havoc among the population—especially among our youth.

• One in five children above age twelve test positive for herpes type 2
• Nearly one in four sexually active teens have an STD
• Half of all girls are likely to be infected with an STD during their first sexual experience.
• Herpes (specifically herpes simplex type 2 or “genital herpes”) has risen 500 percent among white teens in the last 20 years
• One in ten teenage girls has Chlamydia with half of all new case each year diagnosed in girls 15 to 19 years old.
• Of girls ages 14-18, one in three has the human papilloma virus (HPV). HPV causes 99.7% of cervical cancer cases that kills over 5000 women each year.  (The highly promoted HPV vaccine has had minimal effect on this statistic to date.)

The HHS’s strategy for the epidemic of STDs is referred to as promoting “safe sex,” (later changed to “safer sex”).   But outside of marriage and a monogamous relationship, “safe sex” is a myth.  Birth control pills can prevent pregnancy, but they have no preventive power against any kind of STD.  Condoms can reduce the incidence of fluid-borne STDs, but have no affect on diseases spread by skin-to-skin contact such as herpes.  As one colleague not so delicately put it:  “You’d have to have an all-body condom!”  Even the reduction of fluid-born STDs is much less than most people think.  Take gonorrhea; studies show that it is spread 50 percent of the time even when a condom is correctly used.

There are no “risk avoidance” strategies proposed by the HHS for the STD epidemic; no effort to engage the public and change social norms; no focus on creating a society free from promiscuity-related disease and death.  Tobacco usage brings great harm to those who participate, but so does sexual promiscuity.  I wonder when HHS plans on acknowledging that fact.

A “Man” playing on a Women’s Sports Team

George Washington University last week announced that Kye Allums (formerly Kay-Kay Allums) will be allowed to continue to play on the Women’s Basketball Team.  During her sophomore year, Allums began identifying as a male, but “is still biologically a female, and so will be able to continue playing on the women’s team—and to hold on to his scholarship.”  We quoted part of that last statement directly from the Huffington Post because we couldn’t figure out how to write all the delicate “he/she” references!

So let’s review:  Allums is a female who insists that she is a male and yet wants to continue to play on the women’s basketball team.  A “transgendered male” is evidently in the process of obtaining hormone treatments and gender reassignment surgery and the George Washington University administration is patting themselves on the back for being so tolerant and inclusive.

So what about equity?  Looking at the differences in physical size and strength between males and females, is it fair to have females playing on a male team or males playing on a female sports team?  Throughout sports history, the answer to that question has been an unqualified “No” and there have been numerous policies and procedures put in place to prevent that type of inequity from occurring.  But it appears we may be entering “a brave new world.”

If you read through “On the Team:  Equal Opportunity for Transgendered Student Athletes,” you will read a rousing defense of transgendered individuals on sports teams with the “equity” question addressed like this:

“A growing number of transgendered youth are undergoing medically guided hormonal treatment prior to puberty, thus effectively neutralizing this problem [unfair advantage due to growth in long bones, muscle mass and strength that is triggered by testosterone].  Transgendered girls [males] who transition in this way to not go through a male puberty.”

“There is a great deal of natural variation in physical size and ability among non-transgendered girls and boys [don’t buy into stereotypes on physical ability and stature and the difference in sexes].”

Here’s our predication:  You will have few, if any, transgendered males (females turned male) lining up to be on male sports teams.  Individuals who claim the title of “transgendered” might lie to themselves and mutilate their bodies in a futile attempt to be something that every cell of their body screams they are not.  But in the case of physical prowess in sports, biology simply won’t allow them that type of deceit.

This is a fictive world that these individuals, as well as those who pander to this type of tragic psychosis, live in.   And if things continue this direction, we all may be forced to participate in their charade.

To see more articles on the topic of Transgendered or Intersex, go here.