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Pillar

Sexuality & Family

The second pillar of a decent society is the institution of the family, which is built upon the comprehensive sexual union of man and woman. No other institution can top the family’s ability to transmit what is pivotal—character formation, values, virtues, and enduring love—to each new generation.

New Vindication for the Regnerus Same-Sex Parenting Study 

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Same-sex marriage

New Vindication for the Regnerus Same-Sex Parenting Study 

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Suppressing disfavored ideas from consideration has serious consequences for the possibility of scientifically informed public discourse in our day.
egg freezing

The Egg Freezing Industry’s False Promises 

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The problem of egg freezing cannot be solved by safer methods or better policies. Beyond the physical and financial costs, there is a more insidious myth at work—one that speaks to our deepest assumptions about time, control, and what gives life meaning.
sexual revolution

Victims of the Revolution 

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Can we insist on the biological reality of sex while denying the biological reality of the unborn child? “This far and no further” has its limits. We should make tactical partnerships in the battles that can be won today. But we shouldn’t allow tactical alliances to cloud our vision of the truth.
Fatherhood

Generation, Priesthood, and the Nature of Fatherhood

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Catholic men are called to follow the Lord Jesus, to live not lives of domination that demand submission from others but lives where their strength and talent are offered in self-sacrifice for those God has given them to serve. The virtuous mean between those extremes is the Way of the Cross, the path by which you find your life in losing it, the way by which you enter into joys you didn’t know existed on the far side of burdens you didn’t know you could bear.
Elon Musk

The Radical Deficiency of Elon Musk’s Pronatalism 

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At some point we have to be honest about what makes life truly good. Landing on Mars may be an incredible feat, but it is only love and the pursuit of meaningful communion with others that makes such an endeavor worthwhile in the first place.
mother and children

Why Have Children? The Global Population Decline and Human Happiness 

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Happiness is not an achievement; it’s a gift. Children are a blessing. Forget your smartphones, ambitions, and quibbles with your neighbors. Take the risk, open your heart, and the boundless love of a child will move you to tears.  
Mother's Day

Mother’s Day and the Foolishness of Speech

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As a mother, I am coming to understand more concretely—and thus more deeply—what self-emptying love must look like, and thus I am coming to appreciate Christ's coming more deeply.
down syndrome

Accepting Our Children, Accepting Ourselves 

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Keeping the person at the center of concern maintains our focus on his or her good rather than on our own fears and insecurities. And, each time we practice accepting another in the fullness of their fragility, we come to a healthier, more honest acceptance of ourselves, too.  
patriarchy

The Problem of Patriarchy

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Regressing to patriarchy’s more material view of the family will only exacerbate our culture’s spiritual challenges.
mother and baby

Making Sense of America’s Maternal Mortality Crisis

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Pro-life state laws both pre- and post-Dobbs prevent the intentional killing of preborn human beings, not essential obstetric care such as the treatment of pregnancy complications before, during, and after childbirth. Any misunderstandings to the contrary on the part of physicians probably stem from rampant misinformation about abortion laws.
family

What Is the Economic Impact of Low Birth Rates? A Q&A with Jesús Fernández-Villaverde

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Everyone can have their own beliefs about the ethical principles of human fertility. From a pure accounting perspective, however, the problem is people are not getting married. So, making IVF cheaper, for example, is not solving that issue.
mom with three daughters

Seasons of Motherhood and the Power of Flexibility

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Demanding and inflexible views of motherhood miss a central reality of family life: that children are always changing, and therefore, mothers should expect change in their own roles and practices over time as well.
surrogacy

Behind the New Italian Ban on Surrogacy

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Should children gestated and born in violation of Italian laws be taken from these putative “parents?” Or should Italian sovereignty capitulate, accepting that whatever adults want, and pay for (even other lives), becomes a right? 
Pregnancy ultrasound

Embryo Screening and the New Eugenics

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Genetic screening of embryos allows prospective parents to select embryos for IVF based on the absence of disease and disability as well as the possession of desirable traits. Human life, however, ought to be received graciously rather than rejected or accepted based on our preferences or risk appetite.

Polygenic Embryo Screening: Following the Logic of IVF

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Even the most extensive attempt to shape “what we will get” will always fail to eliminate the contingency, particularity, and irreducibility of the person, whose concrete individuality will likewise always transcend whatever power we attempt to exercise over it.
church

A Surprising Generational Rift in the Christian Reformed Church

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In their denominations and elsewhere in the church, some progressive Baby Boomers have been caught by surprise at younger people not sharing their cultural values. But should they have been surprised at this generational rift in the church? Looking at how different generations have been formed morally, socially, and culturally may help address this question.
newborn baby

Illusions of Control and the Ableism of Big Fertility

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Children are not a means to the end of adult happiness or fulfilled longings. They are human beings who deserve to be treated with dignity. Refusal to accept that we are not ultimately in control means asserting our control over others.
IVF clinic

Reclaiming Personhood in the Public Debate over IVF

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As we consider the future of our debate over IVF, we must go deeper than the political questions facing us and ask ourselves fundamental questions about how we view one another.
ultrasound image

Screwtape on “My Embryo”

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We may not be privy to Screwtape’s letters on the understanding of the meaning of the possessive pronoun “my” in “my embryo,” but judging from jurisprudential trends, we would be able to hazard a very good guess.
same-sex union

Changing Minds about Same-Sex Union: A Critical Analysis of The Widening of God’s Mercy by Christopher Hays and Richard Hays

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Christopher and Richard Hays have presented plausible arguments supported by biblical warrants for welcoming sexual minorities into church membership and leadership. Yet their mercy trajectory approach falls far short of building a coherent, convincing cumulative case to support their vision of blessing same-sex unions in the church.
Church wedding

Man’s Search for Marriage

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Gen Z's turn toward church may be unexpected, but it is actually rooted in the most natural drive of all: a desire for marriage and family. Young men are looking for truth and responsibility—and, ultimately, meaning. For most men, throughout history, a primary source of meaning has been marriage and children.
motherhood

Mothers, Children, and the Body Politic

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By glorifying personal, individual choice, ironically, our society has devalued motherhood by making it just one possible choice, and a choice made by one person (the woman), as opposed to valuing personhood within the context of a larger family, community, and society.
married couple

The Mystery of Marriage

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A religious attitude, even if only a general one, is essential to marriage; it is therefore no surprise that marriage is declining in the West as religiosity declines.
child at doctor's office

Evidence over Ideology: Gender-Distressed Children Deserve Nothing Less

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When it comes to children’s health, ideology should never override evidence. Children who are distressed about their biological sex need evidence-based care that facilitates their journey to adulthood, keeping them mentally and physically intact.
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