World Family Policy Center Newsletter

* News relative to protecting the family worldwide *

 

Volume 3 Issue 23 - July 12, 2004

 

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QUOTE OF THE DAY: “The beneficial relationship between religion and health behaviors and outcomes is not simply a function of religion’s constraining function, or what it discourages — opposition to drug use, suicide, or delinquent behavior, but also through what it encourages — promoting behaviors that can enhance hope, well-being, or educational attainment.”

                                 — Byron Johnson, as quoted in Hardwired to Connect, p. 29

 

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Today’s Contents:

 

A. Featured Articles:

 

       1. U.S. Youths Turning Normal — and Conservative

          Related Article: It’s Morning After in America

 

      2. Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Supports a Constitutional Marriage Amendment

          Related Article: Adult Children Speak out about Same_sex Parents

          Related Article: Bush Says Same_Sex Marriage Ban Will `Strengthen Families'

 

B. Coming Events

                                   

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FEATURED ARTICLES

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1. U.S. Youths Turning Normal — and Conservative

By James K. Glassman

Scripps Howard News Service

 

Extra! Extra! The big news of the past decade in America has been largely overlooked, and you'll find it shocking. Young people have become aggressively normal.

     

Violence, drug use and teen sex have declined. Kids are becoming more conservative politically and socially. They want to get married and have large families. And, get this, they adore their parents.

     

The Mood of American Youth Survey found that more than 80 percent of teenagers report no family problems — up from about 40 percent a quarter_century ago. In another poll, two_thirds of daughters said they would "give Mom an 'A.' "

     

"In the history of polling, we've never seen tweens and teens get along with their parents this well," says William Strauss, referring to kids born since 1982. Strauss is author, with Neil Howe, of "Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation."

 

To read entire article:

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595075270,00.html

 

Related Article: It’s Morning After in America

Kay S. Hymowitz

 

SEX DOESN'T SELL: MISS PRIM IS IN. No, editors at the New York Times “Sunday Styles” section were not off their meds when they came up with that headline recently. Just think about some of the Oscar nominees this year: there was Seabiscuit, a classic inspirational story of steadfast outsiders beating huge odds to win the race; Return of the King: Lord of the Rings, a mythic battle of good defeating evil, featuring female characters as pure as driven snow; Master and Commander, a nineteenth_century naval epic celebrating courage, discipline, and patriarchal authority. And then there was Lost in Translation, in which a man in the throes of a midlife crisis spends hours in a hotel room with a luscious young woman, and . . . they talk a lot.

 

If you listen carefully, you can hear something shifting deep beneath the manic surface of American culture.

 

To read entire article:

http://www.city_journal.org/html/14_2_its_morning.html

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2. Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Supports a Constitutional Marriage Amendment

by Maurine Jensen Proctor

Meridianmagazine.com

July 12, 2004

 

As the vote on a Federal Marriage Amendment looms in the United States Senate in the next two weeks, the First Presidency issued this statement Wednesday:

 

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter_day Saints favors a constitutional amendment preserving marriage as the lawful union of a man and a woman.”

 

This official stand comes just as the Senate is about to vote on the Musgrave_Allard amendment (SJR 30) which would federally ban gay marriage and free states from being required to recognize other domestic unions.  However, the Church said, “This is a statement of principle in anticipation of the expected debate over same_gender marriage. It is not an endorsement of any specific amendment.”

 

http://www.ldsmag.com/churchupdate/040708amendment.html

 

Related Article: Adult Children Speak out about Same_sex Parents

It was the TV pictures that first got to Bronagh Cassidy. Same_sex couples marrying in San Francisco: "They were so proud of themselves. And then they had these little children with them." Cassidy, a 27_year_old married mother of two, sighs. "Something inside of me wants to be able to help those kids, because I know they are going to have problems."

 

Sound ignorant, maybe even bigoted? This week, as the Senate is expected to begin debate on a constitutional amendment to protect marriage, many voices will try to convince you that people like Cassidy are, as Cheryl Jacques, head of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights group, put it in a recent letter, "hate_filled people who will stop at nothing to achieve their discriminatory, offensive goals."

 

To read entire article:

http://www.uexpress.com/maggiegallagher/?uc_full_date=20040706

 

Related Article: Bush Says Same_Sex Marriage Ban Will `Strengthen Families'

 

July 10 (Bloomberg)

 

President George W. Bush said a constitutional amendment banning same_sex marriage will ``strengthen families'' and prevent ``activist'' courts from allowing same_sex couples to marry.

 

The U.S. Senate this week began considering a constitutional amendment barring same_sex marriage, a debate the chamber's Republican leader, Bill Frist of Tennessee, said is ``important to American values.'' Bush and his Democratic rival, four_term Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, both are touting their values as they seek votes in the November presidential race.

 

``American democracy, not court orders, should decide the future of marriage in America,'' Bush, 58, said in his weekly radio address.

 

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=awkg2txMYWyw&refer=us

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COMING EVENTS   

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August 23-25m, 2004

The European Family Dialogue

Geneva, Switzerland

 

A gathering of invited scholars will present their research on issues

concerning marriage and the family in preparation for The Doha

International Conference for the Family.                                    

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October 11-13, 2004

The Asian/Pacific Dialogue

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

A gathering of invited scholars will present their research on issues

concerning marriage and the family in preparation for The Doha

International Conference for the Family. 

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November 29_30, 2004

The Doha International Conference for the Family

Doha, Qatar

The Doha International Conference for the Family follows upon the

celebration of the International Year of the Family and will be a

two_day conference in Doha, Qatar, under the patronage of Her

Highness Sheikha Mouza Bint Nasser Al_Misnad., Consort of His

Highness The Emir of Qatar and President of Supreme Council for

Family Affairs, State of Qatar.

 

The conference represents an international assemblage, bringing

together international VIPs, governmental and non_governmental

organizations (NGOs), scholars, academicians, and civil society

leaders who will be invited by the State of Qatar to participate in

a family conference.  This conference will call upon all nations of

the world to restate the principles related to family life embodied

in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and to adhere to

values and endeavor to promote the role of the family as it is the

natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to

protection by society and state.

 

Announcing Other Family Conferences Around the World

 

Regional Conference on the Family

In Africa – 27 – 28 July 2004

Cotonou – Benin

 

The African Regional Conference on the 10th Anniversary of the International Year of the Family will be held in Benin on 27 and 28 July. A plan of action on the family in Africa will be launch on the 27th. The theme of the conference is : Strategies for the implementation of the African plan of Action.

 

Worldwide Organization for Women

September 17018, 2004

Salt Lake City, Utah

 

Keynote speaker: Ambassador Ellen Sauerbrey

(More details coming)

 

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Note: The preceding article excerpts are highlights of current events and

do not necessarily represent the views of the World Family Policy Center

or Brigham Young University.

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Newsletter created and distributed by:

World Family Policy Center

J. Reuben Clark Law School

Brigham Young University

Managing Director:      Richard Wilkins

Executive Director:     A. Scott Loveless

 

Newsletter Editors: Joy S. Lundberg and Gary B. Lundberg

 

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circulated through the WFPC News network, you may submit them to

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