It is often claimed today that all relationships are equally beneficial, as long as they are chosen by the individual and people are allowed to live freely in them. Singleness, cohabitation, same-sex partnerships, polyamory and sexual experimentation are all equal, because after all, love wins.

The only problem with this assertion is the social sciences do not support it. They have demonstrated over the last 50 years that some relationships clearly produce much better outcomes for children, women, men and society than others. A wealth of data shows the cooperative dynamic between husbands and wives in marriage is what produces these benefits. There is no close competitor.

The scholars at the Institute for Family Studies explain how a new book, working from an evolutionary psychological perspective, demonstrates how men raising their biological children in marriage with the mother makes for better, more responsible men. The author, Samuel T. Wilkinson, associate professor at Yale University’s school of medicine, contends:

“A very large body of research demonstrates that when men are engaged in helping rear their biological children, they are more likely to behave in prosocial ways. They are less likely to commit crimes, less likely to be violent, less likely to drink alcohol or consume drugs.”

He adds, “Fatherhood seems to channel male energy and aggression toward constructive and prosocial ends. Indeed, across cultures, becoming a father has been observed to lead men to become less selfish and more socially responsible.”

Earlier this week, a Montana judged agreed with a group of environmental activist youths who claimed state agencies were somehow violating their constitutional right to clean air and a favorable climate. The organization representing the children, Our Children’s Trust, is a Montana-based non-profit law firm “that provides strategic, campaign-based legal services to youth from diverse backgrounds to secure their legal rights to a safe climate.”

“Georgi” was one of the sixteen individuals included in the lawsuit. According to her bio, the young woman is a competitive Nordic skier who trains eleven months out of the year. However, Georgi and Our Children’s Trust claims “with less snowfall in the winter, and the snow melting at rapid rates, her training season is often curtailed and has overall shortened in length.”

Montana responded by pointing out that over the last seven years, spring snowpack across Montana has been “normal to above (average).”

Kathy Seeley, the district court judge who issued a 103-page opinion in favor of the environmentalists’ curious charges, wasn’t swayed. She said the plaintiffs were able to successfully prove injury, causation and redressability.

Emily Flower, spokesperson for Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, was blunt in her retort.

“This ruling is absurd, but not surprising from a judge who let the plaintiffs’ attorneys put on a weeklong taxpayer-funded publicity stunt that was supposed to be a trial,” she said.

The Lilly Endowment, an Indiana-based private philanthropic foundation, announced 77 recipients of their new Christian Parenting and Caregiving Initiative totaling $92 million in grant money.

The Initiative is a response to research findings from the National Study of Youth and Religion, which, according to the Lilly Foundation’s Request for Proposal, found “parents are the single most important influence in shaping the religious beliefs, values and practices of their children.”

The Foundation established this new Initiative because studies also show that parents need and want support and guidance from churches and other Christian organizations to help them “navigate the challenges of raising children today.”

Grant recipients were awarded as much as $1.25 million each for five years.

The 77 recipients included a variety of churches, from Catholic to Pentecostal, and were multi-ethnic.

Awardees also included colleges and universities, seminaries, religious camps and publishing houses.

Some more recognizable grantees included MOPS International, Wheaton College, University of Notre Dame, Loyola Press, Marquette University, Assemblies of God, Church of the Nazarene and Boston University.