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Smart Sex and Dumb Sex

It must be Spence Publishing Day on National Review Online. Jennifer Roback Morse is interviewed today on Smart Sex:

NRO: You've written a book called Smart Sex. That suggests there must be "Dumb Sex."

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The Meaning of Marriage

For Valentine's Day, National Review Online is running excerpt from The Meaning of Marriage.

Is Chivalry Dead? II

Brad Miner, author of The Compleat Gentleman, was interviewed yesterday on CBS's Sunday Morning about chivalry:

“One of the mistakes that people make is equating chivalry with etiquette,” Miner said. “But it’s not the same thing as chivalry. Because chivalry is courage, honor, justice, prowess. That is to say you have not only to recognize what is good but to fight for it. The fighting part is essential, otherwise we're not talking about chivalry."

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Islam May Win

Jennifer Roback Morse spoke recently in Rome at an Acton Institute conference. She discussed the failure of the European welfare state to sustain economy and the demographic implications of the marginalization of the family:

At its heart, secularism is a compromise. It is a way of avoiding conflict by avoiding confrontation on the issues that really matter. But no one can truly give their lives, their hearts and minds, to a compromise. Islam has no such reticence. Islam may win because it believes in itself, and the secular European West does not

Listen to a podcast of the lecture here. Read a text summary here.

How to Be Christian in College

Robert P. George, editor of The Meaning of Marriage, gives advice to Christians in academia:

Dedicate yourself to the truth. Pursue the truth in all fields. Understand that all truth is God’s truth. Be open to truth. Be open to argument. Engage joyfully with your fellow students and professors who don’t share your point of view. You may have things to learn from them, and perhaps they have things to learn from you. So push forward without fear of prejudice (though you may indeed encounter it), confident that in pursuing the truth you are in the end trying to bring yourself into greater harmony with Jesus who is the way, the truth, and the life.

Read more.

Setting the Record Straight

Ronald Rychlak lays to rest the "black legend" of the Church during World War II, today at 11 a.m. EST on "Moments of Truth Live." Listen live here.

Morse Crosses Swords on Todd Feinburg

Jennifer Roback Morse, author of Smart Sex, will spar with Peggy Drexler, author of Raising Boys without Men, on the Todd Feinburg Show this Sunday, February 5, at Noon PST. Tune in for what promises to be a lively debate about a father's place. Find a local station or listen live on the Internet here.

Phyllis Schlafly Pulls No Punches

Phyllis Schlafly, speaking in Salt Lake City, on the Bush Administration's "guest worker" program:

"There isn't any job that Americans are too good to do," said Schlafly, an ardent proponent of sealing the U.S. borders. "This is creating a serf class, a peasant class. . . . That's not America."

"If taxes were paid on what is earned in the underground economy, that would be enough to wipe out the entire national debt," Schlafly said. "Bush talks about bringing in willing workers. There are probably 5 billion people in the world poorer than Mexicans."

Read more, from the Salt Lake Tribune.

Righteous Gentiles

Ronald J. Rychlak is interviewed today by ZENIT on his new book, Righteous Gentiles: How Pius XII and the Catholic Church Saved Half a Million Jews from the Nazis:

Q: How is this book different from those that have previously defended Pope Pius XII? What new information does it reveal?

Rychlak: In Righteous Gentiles I directly respond to arguments made by the critics of Pope Pius XII and the Catholic Church during the Nazi era. I generally tried to avoid doing that in my last book—Hitler, the War, and the Pope—because I wanted to lay out the facts chronologically and just as they happened.

Philosopher Michael Novak, author of the foreword to Righteous Gentiles, pointed out that over the past five years there have been so many books and articles that set forth arguments against the Church that a book responding to them had become necessary.

That's what I have tried to do with this book: address each and every argument that has been lodged against Pope Pius XII and the Catholic Church during the Holocaust.

As for new information, the first chapter of Righteous Gentiles sets forth 18 new pieces of evidence that have come to light in recent years. Each one casts a positive light on Pius XII and the Catholic Church.

The book also discusses Pope Pius XII, the Germany clergy and other rescuers from nations throughout Europe. Those topics have not, for the most part, been discussed in other recent pro-Pius XII books.

Read more (second item, "Pius XII as a 'Righteous Gentile'").

Hooking Up Is Stupid

Jennifer Roback Morse is interviewed today on ZENIT on her new book, Smart Sex: Finding Life-Long Love in a Hook-Up World:

Q: Why did you choose the title and topic of this book?

Morse: I wanted to write a book for the ordinary person who wants to get married and stay married. Most readers are not economists or theologians, so I wanted to convey to the public that this book is meant for them.

I also wanted to give the message that marriage is more appealing than casual sex: Smart people choose lifelong married love.

The term "hook-up" is widely used in America to mean a casual sexual encounter, which neither partner expects to lead to a long-term relationship. I wanted to imply that hooking up is stupid.

Read more (second item, "Righting the Wrongs in Modern Sex and Marriage").