By Christy Barritt

Ministers Are Hurting

In a national survey of Protestant ministers conducted by LifeWay Research, more than half of the ministers who responded said they felt discouraged.

Other facts discovered during the survey were focused on loneliness. Fifty-five percent of ministers said they were lonely. Those ministers more likely to be lonely are younger ministers, those with a greater level of education, and those serving at larger churches.

The study’s author noted some possible reasons for this. They included spiritual warfare, insufficient pay, burnout, marriage and family problems, and comparison to other ministers.

One thousand senior ministers from across the United States were interviewed for the survey.

Academic Institution Criticized for Stance on Homosexuality

A Catholic University in Ohio is being criticized for listing homosexuality as a “deviant behavior” alongside things like murder, rape, drug abuse, and prostitution.

Franciscan University of Steub-enville offers a course on Social Work in which they study deviant behavior. An alumnus of the university stumbled upon a description of the course and saw that homosexuality was included on a list of things studied in the class. Immediate hostile media attention was drawn to the university, and the Council on Social Work Education also voiced their disapproval.

In response, the university said that the course “covers a wide range of topics including crime, alcoholism, heterosexual deviance, and homosexuality.” They also added that “Franciscan University follows Catholic Church teaching in regard to homosexuality and treats homosexual persons with ‘respect, compassion, and sensitivity’ while holding homosexual acts as ‘intrinsically disordered.”

Hollywood Director Okay with Incest

Nick Cassavetes, the director of the movie The Notebook and son of actress Gena Rolands, told reporters that incest is no different than allowing same-sex weddings.

He said this while promoting his film, Yellow, which featured an incestuous affair between a brother and sister.

“Love who you want, isn’t that what we say?” he said in an interview with The Wrap. “If it’s your brother or sister, it’s super-weird, but if you look at it, you’re not hurting anybody except every single person who freaks out because you’re in love with one another.”

Many conservatives and religious leaders spoke out against the director, reminding people that once the definition of marriage is redefined, a slippery slope can follow.

Marriage Prevents Child Poverty

The Heritage Foundation released a report showing that children living in single-parent households face a greater risk of living in poverty.

When the child’s parents are married, the child’s probability of living in poverty is reduced by 82 percent.

The report was titled “Marriage: America’s Greatest Weapon Against Child Poverty.” The study’s author, Robert Rector, said that government should work harder to educate the American public about the value of marriage.

“Policymakers on the state and national levels recognize that education reduces poverty, but they’re largely unaware that marriage is an equally strong anti-poverty weapon,” said Rector.

Almost 40 percent of all single-parent families with children were poor in 2009, while less than seven percent of married couples with children were poor.

Christy Barritt is an award-winning author, freelance writer, and speaker living in Chesapeake, Virginia. She and her husband Scott have two sons. 
www.christybarritt.com