Cold Type

Maggie Gallagher on Today's Issues

The Senate said no to the Federal Marriage Amendment this week. What now? Maggie Gallagher, a contributor to The Meaning of Marriage, talks with Tim Wildmon and Marvin Sanders on AFR's Today Issues. Tune in on Monday, June 12, beginning at 11:15 am ET. Check here for your local station listing.

Catholic Charities banned. Who's next?

Could sexual liberties squash religious liberties? Maggie Gallagher talks with several pro-gay marriage scholars who say yes and point to the banning of adoption services at Catholic Charities Boston as the model. From the Weekly Standard:

Just how serious are the coming conflicts over religious liberty stemming from gay marriage?

"The impact will be severe and pervasive," Picarello says flatly. "This is going to affect every aspect of church-state relations." Recent years, he predicts, will be looked back on as a time of relative peace between church and state, one where people had the luxury of litigating cases about things like the Ten Commandments in courthouses. In times of relative peace, says Picarello, people don't even notice that "the church is surrounded on all sides by the state; that church and state butt up against each other. The boundaries are usually peaceful, so it's easy sometimes to forget they are there. But because marriage affects just about every area of the law, gay marriage is going to create a point of conflict at every point around the perimeter."

Why Kids Need Married Mothers & Fathers

Zenit interviews Maggie Gallagher about her contribution to The Meaning of Marriage:

Q: You say marriage is important for children. What's the evidence?

Gallagher: A large body of social science research now affirms the importance of marriage for the common good.

For example: Marriage reduces the risk of poverty for children and communities. The majority of children whose parents don't get or stay married experience at least a year of poverty.

Fatherless households increase crime. Boys whose parents divorced or never married, for example, are two to three times more likely to end up in jail as adults.

Marriage protects children's physical and mental health. Children whose parents get and stay married are healthier and also much less likely to suffer mental illness, including depression and teen suicide.

The interview was published April 10.