The following News Article is an original news article and is posted on the following link:
http://www.themilitant.com/2009/7342/734204.html

Judge denies marriage license to interracial Louisiana couple
BY JACQUIE HENDERSON

HOUSTON—The refusal of a judge to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple in Hammond, Louisiana, has outraged many.

Beth Humphrey, a 30-year-old Hammond resident who works for a marketing company, called Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, October 6 about getting a marriage license.

Humphrey is white. The man she planned to marry, 32-year-old welder Terence McKay, is Black.

The justice’s wife asked if the couple was interracial and told her that Bardwell would not sign the license if they were.

“We are used to the closet racism, but we’re not going to tolerate that overt racism from an elected official,” Humphrey told CNN.

“I don’t do interracial marriages because I don’t want to put children in a situation they didn’t bring on themselves,” Bardwell told the press.

“I’m not a racist. I just don’t believe in mixing the races that way,” he told AP, adding that he had “piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else.”

“I simply can’t believe he can do that. That’s blatant discrimination,” Humphrey told the Hammond Star Tribune. Humphrey and McKay got a certificate signed October 9 by another justice and married. “This doesn’t take care of the problem,” Humphrey told CNN. Bardwell has “been in his position for 34 years. So, it doesn’t take care of the problems that we have to deal with on a daily basis.”

The couple has support from many in Hammond as indicated by letters in the papers. David Hyde, a 51-year-old musician in Hammond, told the Militant, “We need to organize some protests of this outrage.”

In 1908 Louisiana officials adopted statutes declaring that “concubinage between the Caucasian or white race and any person of the Negro or black race” is a felony subject to imprisonment from one month to one year, with or without hard labor.

In 1921 the state prohibited “Negro and white families” from living in the same dwelling place and in 1932 added that “no person or corporation shall rent an apartment house or other like structure to a person who is not of the same race as the other occupants.”

That same year the state prohibited “Negroes and Indians” from marrying each other. In 1952 the state prohibited marriage between whites and “persons of color,” stiffening the penalty to up to $1,000 and/or five years imprisonment. The Louisiana statutes were voided by the 1967 Supreme Court verdict in the case Loving v. Virginia.

In 1958 Richard Loving, a bricklayer who was white, and Mildred Jeter, Black and Native American, married in Washington, D.C., because interracial marriage was illegal in Virginia, where they lived.

A few weeks after they returned home they were arrested for violating Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act of 1924. This law forbade those interracial couples that marry out of state from returning as husband and wife. They were sentenced to one year in jail. They received suspended sentences after agreeing not to return to Virginia together for 25 years.

In 1963, as mobilizations led by Black working people against segregation reached a high point, the Lovings decided to fight the reactionary law. They filed a lawsuit that slowly made its way through the courts. The state courts held that Virginia had legitimate purposes “to preserve the racial integrity of its citizens,” and to prevent “the corruption of blood.”

In a 1967 ruling the Supreme Court overturned all the previous decisions upholding the ban. The court said, “The Fourteenth Amendment requires that the freedom to marry not be restricted by invidious racial discriminations. Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State.”

At the time 16 states banned marriage between people of different races. South Carolina’s constitutional ban wasn’t removed until 1998 and Alabama’s only in 2000.

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I have a couple of bumper stickers on my car.

One gives an 800 number for those with an unexpected pregnancy. There is also another sticker that says “Silence kills Babies – speak out against abortion”.

This is to send two messages – one gives the person something they CAN do. This is the 800 number.

The other sticker appeals to what seems to be a primarily male mindset that treats a unique genetic sequence, which is formed (read – new life) as the female egg is fertilized by the male sperm, as a piece of tissue. It attempts to shock the reader a bit.

I purposefully chose NOT to put the one that says Abortion is murder, though I believe that to be true. The reason being was not to continually remind mothers who have been conned into that of the guilt that it may bring up.

Here are the bumper stickers (42 hits). You can, of course, choose one less shocking.

Here is another action you can consider:
Rejoice Ministries Billboard

Although, I don’t agree with all their theology and such, much of what they say seems to be spot on.

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The italicized text below is from the online article at http://www.diarmani.com/Articles/Armani/Alternate%20Endings.htm (63 hits)

I find it interesting because as I get to know myself better and work on my problems, I wasn’t sure that if in the face of danger would I be one of the 7 mentioned in the article below, or in the group that walked out. In some respects, I have a similar time with what’s left of my marriage. Who are we really – I suppose we only know when put to the test.

Montreal Massacre: Alternate Endings

Christopher can be contacted at christopher(at)diArmani.com or http://www.diArmani.com.

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British Court Justice Shakes the Nation: Only Reaffirmation of
Marriage Can Mend Britain’s Broken Family Structure
Teresa Neumann (June 18, 2009)

“There is no quick-fix solution, although the reaffirmation of
marriage as the gold standard would be a start: statistically, it has
proved to be the most enduring relationship, and the best environment
for children.”

(United Kingdom)—UK newspapers are buzzing this week with statements
from Justice Paul Coleridge who claims that only marriage can mend
“broken Britain.” The sensation his stand is causing in Britain may
not get much airtime in the U.S., but Breaking Christian News is here
to see you read about it.

Listing a litany of statistics regarding children from broken homes,
The Daily Mail quoted Coleridge as saying marriage should be promoted
by the government to end the “social anarchy of family breakdown.”
Coleridge also said mothers and fathers “who fail to commit to each
other [are] engaging in a game of ‘pass the partner’ that has left
millions of children scarred for life.”

The Telegraph U.K. ran a commentary by Coleridge which read, in part:
“There is a tendency, especially among the chattering classes, to
assume that we have attained a social utopia, in which we are entirely
and happily free from taboos, stigmas and other constraints on
behaviour. It sounds so beguiling: let us all do what we want, when we
want and sort out any mess as we go along.

“But surely the test of any social change is whether it enhances
people’s lives or makes them more miserable. And this is where I take
issue with the modern view of the family. If it is so successful, why
are the statistics for separation so large? More significantly, why
are the family courts overwhelmed with cases involving damaged,
miserable or disturbed children? How do other children, caught up in
less serious separations, really feel? Do they relish the endless
changes of partner, or adapting to a new step-parent and
step-siblings?

“In the end, however,” concludes Coleridge, “it is the behavior of
individuals that has driven us here, and it is only changes in
behavior that can make a radical difference. The time has come for a
major examination of all the issues surrounding family life, so that
we can stand back and remold our behavior for the benefit of us
all—especially our children.”

God bless you, Justice Coleridge.

Source: Paul Coleridge – The Telegraph U.K.

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Well, really this started with World War II and women leaving the home and entering the work force. Well really we could go back to World War I then since it helped precipitate WWII. Well really we could go back the to ……… you get the idea. History repeats itself and causes are triggered.

Make no mistake, I’m not supporting the idea of “pregnant and barefoot” and a woman being lorded over by her husband, but it does seem like we’re missing quite a bit now a days. Perhaps in due time the way this place works will make a course correction. God willing, maybe my marriage will be one of the ones to help turn us back in the other direction at least. During the pregnant and barefoot era I’ve read that average time till orgasm was about 2 minutes with the female rarely experiencing this thing hard-wired in us to want to make babies. It is now up to 20 minutes or so I’ve read. Women are able to do many more things and have many more choices available as well; however, it seems that the “fem-nazis” as they are referred to in some circles, may have helped raise up an unanticipated consequence. It all started with WWII. Right.

Anyway here is the article. Gives you some thing to think about anyway.

Quoting the online article at http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=101344 (No hits):

The National Bureau of Economic Research released a study to be published soon in the American Economic Journal that shows women’s happiness has measurably declined since 1970. It’s no surprise that this has stimulated much comment.

This study covers the same time period as the rise of the so-called women’s liberation or feminist movement. The correlation demands an explanation. You can read the entire study at the Eagle Forum website.

One theory advanced by the authors, University of Pennsylvania economists Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers, is that the women’s liberation movement “raised women’s expectations” (sold them a bill of goods), making them feel inadequate when they fail to have it all. A second theory is that the demands on women who are both mothers and jobholders in the labor force are overwhelming.

I’m neither an economist nor a psychologist, but I’ll join the conversation with my own armchair analysis. Another theory could be that the feminist movement taught women to see themselves as victims of an oppressive patriarchy in which their true worth will never be recognized and any success is beyond their reach.

What has been the impact of feminism on the nation? Don’t miss “The War on Fathers: How the ‘feminization of America’ destroys boys, men – and women”

Feminist organizations such as the National Organization for Women held consciousness-raising sessions where they exchanged tales of how badly some man had treated them. Grievances are like flowers – if you water them, they will grow, and self-imposed victimhood is not a recipe for happiness.

Another theory could be the increase in easy divorce and illegitimacy (now 40 percent of American births are to single moms), which means that millions of women are raising kids without a husband and therefore expect Big Brother government to substitute as provider. The 2008 election returns showed that 70 percent of unmarried women voted for Barack Obama, perhaps hoping to be beneficiaries of his “spread the wealth” policies.

In the pre-1970 era, when surveys showed women with higher levels of happiness, most men held jobs that enabled their wives to be fulltime homemakers. The private enterprise system constantly produces goods that make household work and kiddie care easier (such as dryers, dishwashers and paper diapers).

Betty Friedan started the feminist movement in the late 1960s with her book “The Feminine Mystique,” which created the myth that suburban housewives were suffering from “a sense of dissatisfaction” with their alleged-to-be-boring lives. To liberate women from the home that Friedan labeled “a comfortable concentration camp,” the feminist movement worked tirelessly to make the role of fulltime homemaker socially disdained.

Economic need played no role in the feminist argument that marriage is archaic and oppressive to women. A job in the labor force was upheld as so much more fulfilling than tending babies and preparing dinner for a hard-working husband.

Women’s studies courses require students to accept as an article of faith the silly notion that gender differences are not natural or biological but are social constructs created by the patriarchy and ancient stereotypes. This leads feminists to seek legislative corrections for problems that don’t exist.

Want to read more then go to http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=101344 (No hits).

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Quoting from the web article at http://www.citizenlink.org/CLNews/A000009416.cfm

Good News: Government Ad Campaign Promotes Marriage

As more people delay marriage and a growing number of Americans choose never to tie the knot, the federal government is promoting the benefits of the institution with a national media campaign that gets under way this month. The $5 million effort is led by the National Marriage Resource Center.

Mike McManus, president of Marriage Savers, said the initiative is long overdue.

“We’ve had a 50 percent drop in the marriage rate since 1970, when there were 21 million never-married Americans,” he said. “In 2006, it tripled to 60 million.”

David Popenoe, founder and director of the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University, said both the government and families could do more to support marriage.

“It’s every parent’s duty to promote marriage for their children and to work with their children to help them to have a lasting, stable marriage,” he said.

Popenoe pointed out that married couples benefit society. “They contribute more,” he said, “produce more and are less of a drain on the taxpayers.”

— Roger Greer

(NOTE: Referral to Web sites not produced by Focus on the Family is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily constitute an endorsement of the sites’ content.)

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Okay, so I’ve decided that my theological exploration probably needs to be moved off of this site as it is getting a bit heavy and cluttering this site a bit.

I mean, really, the Good News is quite simple. God became man – sacraficed Himself to restore us to right relationship with Him by resurrecting Himself from death. Yup it’s a gift, and hopefully you’ll be so thankful and loving of our God when you “get” what He did that you’ll turn your life over to Him and He’ll start ironing out your flaws and what not and even communicating with you through events in your life and other means when you’re ready and stuff. Also, He seems to really really like loving obedience…. not Yes masta, what ever you say boss, but something like… Thankyou for making me… whatever you want buddy! That’s the basic message. Stay on and meditate in His word if you please. Tell others about Him. Not reaaaaaly a whole lot more complicated than that. Doesn’t mean you need to run off and join the Salvation Army, but no worries, He’ll put it on your heart what your missionary purpose is so just relax and let that Spirit start coming on you and speaking to you. May be as simple as ministering to your family and children. Or something like that.
Anyway, my personal questions and what not will start moving to http://www.unscriptural.org (122 hits). I gave it this title because I have found tons of people with broadly different theological differences saying “That’s completely unscriptural” or that is “Not Biblically based”. Heck there are even whole denominations that do this. At the end of the day, I’ve come to view denominational differences as just more walls separating us from God. There will be differences of opinion. Let’s not sweat the small stuff, but focus on unity… something like that.
So I’m just a computer geek ex farm boy from Texas who has some unanswered questions that the Boss and I are working through together. I know now that I will NEVER have all the answers and that NOONE does, but I’m trying to hang on to insights and document them as they are revealed.  We’ll see if anything usefull falls out of the effort!
Anyway, if you care at all about such stuff -> http://www.unscriptural.org (122 hits).

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Sony is sponsoring a family values movie. Who’d a thunk it! Things are moving. Me thinks our Father is getting tired of where we are headed and is moving in a big way!

www.fireproofthemovie.com (68 hits)

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Here… want to try an experiment on what living in God’s kingdom is supposed to be like?

Go here -> http://www.christianchildrensfund.org

See picture of a child…. click on link to sponsor child. Key in CC info.

Experience Joy – not happiness, but joy! Weird how He designed us that way.
Try it. You might like it.

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A couple of things in this post.

First, I’m not sure if this is any good, but it may help someone -> http://www.secretsofmarriedmen.com/ (162 hits) Make comments if it is any good. The comments must be approved (prevent excessive Viagra ads) so don’t fret if it doesn’t show up immediately.

Also, Surgeon General’s warning (well maybe not), is that Divorce May be Hazardous to your Longevity -> http://www.365reasons.com/health.htm (150 hits)

I was thinking of starting a site about how to lose the ol’ beer belly and quit smoking at some point. Maybe this is a good time to start thinking about it.

Ray has asked me to make a few changes to the site. These are coming soon, I’ve just been busy with new job and all so hold your horses for anyone out there reading still. This may introduce some bugs in the site. Please be on the lookout for bugs and email a d m i n @ g l a s s g lo v e s . c   o  m    if you see any (remove spaces).
Say some prayers please for “GroovyStix” (re chilicheese rhymes with Hershey’s) and his wife. His just got some more bad news – he has pretty well given up now. He has been through a lot.

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