In Brief...World News Review - Unfortunate Rise in Anglo/American Unmarried Couples
The U.S. Census Bureau reports that more than four million American households consist of unmarried couples living together.
The U.S. Census Bureau reports that more than four million American households consist of unmarried couples living together. In 1970 there was one unmarried couple for every 100 households. Now that number is eight, based on 1997 figures. Further research shows that up to 50 percent of American women in their early 30s have lived with a man outside the marriage bonds.
The overall climate in Britain is very similar. Noted British author Paul Johnson has lamented: "The powers-that-be in our confused society seem to be ganging up together in a direct assault on the institution of marriage. A majority of the Anglican bishops, a body of men always inclined to side with sin if it's fashionable, say that cohabiting couples are just as worthy in God's eyes as unmarried ones." For instance, the Bishop of Hereford has urged Christian people to recognize the reality of this social change, and his view is all too common.
But Paul Johnson minces no words in his conclusion: "For those who lay down the moral, or immoral, laws to us today nearly all come from stable backgrounds themselves. That is what got them the positions they hold. That is what makes their advocacy of the liberal-perhaps one should say libertine-approach so irresponsible and cruel. It is to deny to others, who are still children or yet unborn, the advantages we take for granted."
Back across the Atlantic nationally syndicated columnist William Murchison observed: "A sad likelihood is that many of today's cohabiters fear and shrink from commitment. Since 1960, the culture has worked overtime pitching instant gratification to the customers.... Well, yes, marriage restricts and restrains; it does so in order to liberate. Cohabiters confuse license with true freedom, which flourishes only in a structured environment where rights and duties play off each other, endlessly and elegantly." ( The Los Angeles Times, The Daily Mail (Britain), The Washington Times)
An Article from:
World News and Prophecy: January 1999
Course Content
David Palmer
Born in Saskatchewan Canada, David Palmer was first introduced to the radio broadcast of the World Tomorrow during his career in broadcasting, when the program was aired during his on air shift. In 1965 his radio career took him to Vancouver British Columbia, where he was eventually baptized, and began attending Sabbath services. He was ordained to the ministry in 1983. Now retired from broadcasting David currently pastors congregations in Vancouver, and Vancouver Island. He is also a member of the UCG-Canada National Council, and serves on the Canadian Ministerial Services Team, as well as the Canadian Media Team
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
Peter Eddington
Peter serves at the home office as Interim Manager of Media and Communications Services.
He studied production engineering at the Swinburne Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, and is a journeyman machinist. He moved to the United States to attend Ambassador College in 1980. He graduated from the Pasadena campus in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts degree and married his college sweetheart, Terri. Peter was ordained an elder in 1992. He served as assistant pastor in the Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo, California, congregations from 1995 through 1998 and the Cincinnati, Ohio, congregations from 2010 through 2011.
