In episode #10 of Drunk Ex-Pastors, Christian and I discuss the thorny issue of sex education. Now to be honest, I have not actually listened back to it myself, so I don’t remember exactly what I said on the matter. I’ll take a stab at re-presenting some of my thoughts, and you can feel free to push back and challenge them.
My main concern is that I am uncomfortable with something of such monumental significance being taught to my children by a P.E. teacher (true story in my case). This kind of education should be happening primarily in the home, with outside sources reinforcing what mom or dad is already communicating.
Secondly, what if (that’s hypothetical language, by the way) a family’s values don’t match up with a school’s? For example, what if a parent doesn’t think that sex should be something that’s engaged in willy nilly (ha ha. “Willy.”)? What if in a child’s home sex means something more than scratching a biological itch? What if sex is a sacred act that, generally speaking, is reserved for marriage (gasp!)?
If such is the case in some homes (and I’m sure it is), is it consistent with those parents’ values to have their children taught what virtually all liberals say when discussion this issue: “Look, kids have sex, and there’s nothing we can do about it. So we may as well teach them how to do it safely”?
I’m not arguing against sex education concerning things like STDs, contraception, pregnancy, etc. But my main point is that it should happen primarily in the home and then be reinforced by outside sources with similar values as mom and dad. And yes, I think that same consistency should be there for families with liberal values as for those with traditional ones. This is not about protecting a particular worldview or seeking its favor, it’s about the freedom of parents to have the option to NOT have their own voices in their children’s lives drowned out by others — whether liberal or conservative — who undermine the values they’re trying to instill in their kids.
For a fuller discussion, listen below…
Thank God for Hell!
Scientists and Superstitious Simpletons
Game of Pulpits: Politics and Power at Calvary Chapel
Nobody Puts Brody in a Corner….
I still don’t understand your problem with the “liberal” statement “Kids have sex…so we may as well educate them about it.” The only problem I can see you having with that statement is if you’re reading into it something that’s not there, such as: “all kids are having sex”, “let’s encourage them to have sex”, or “let’s not teach them about abstinence.” Personally, I don’t think any of those are implied by the statement you seem to have an issue with.