Religion and Civil Society Weekly News Roundup

Jennifer Marshall / May 03, 2011

Royal Wedding Highlights the Importance of Marriage: The excitement and expectation of the more than 2 billion people who watched Prince William and Kate Middleton wed last Friday highlighted the enduring ideal of marriage. In the royal wedding, people around the globe recognized some of our deepest human aspirations and the shared nobility of the institution of marriage.

The widespread coverage and esteem for marriage is a particularly welcome development for the institution that has endured many cultural challenges in recent decades. Americans are marrying at half the annual rate they did four decades ago, according to data posted at FamilyFacts.org. With no-fault divorce a cultural norm and more than four in 10 children born outside of marriage, the decline of marriage poses serious challenges to social stability.

Instead of letting the ideal of marriage slip further from our cultural conscience, this was a great occasion to recall the personal, social, and economic benefits of marriage and restore admiration for the institution generally—beyond the wedding of a future monarch.

Faith-Based Organizations Respond to Tornado Victims: In the wake of one of the most deadly tornado outbreaks in U.S. history, Christian relief groups mobilized in Alabama and surrounding Southern states. They are helping emergency personnel and law enforcement react to the disaster provide meals, shelter, and emotional support to the thousands of people left homeless or without power and essentials. With the death toll over 300, the spiritual hope and comfort provided by faith-based institutions like Samaritan’s Purse, the Salvation Army, and others will provide long-term care for the victims of this devastation. Alabama Governor Robert Bentley declared Sunday, May 1, a Day of Prayer to remember the victims of the natural disaster and to ask for safety and guidance as thousands prepare to rebuild their lives and communities. Faith-based and community organizations are uniquely positioned to help in the process. As James Carafano and I wrote in 2007 about their role in disaster relief, churches and ministries are able to provide spiritual relief that goes beyond material support, they have prior engagement in the community that engenders public confidence, and, as members of the community, they will stay the course when outside help recedes. (more…)