ot-I am a pastor that supports sex education

[Scott Young]

on another thread an individual was promoting that abstinence led to a higher rate of pregnancy than sex education. there may be supposed studies on the issue, but as all studies, results can vary due to the influence of the researcher.

here is just a sampling of the education that i support.

sex as the the general public defines it is just a facet of the overall act. sex involves the mental, emotional, spiritual and the physical aspects of oneself. sex is also just a facet of intimacy.

God created sex to glorify himself through. he provided this act for a husband and a wife to enjoy, comfort, secure, and to serve one another.

sex should only be between a husband and his wife.

God so values the marriage relationship that it is his top metaphor for identifying his relationship with his people.

as a pastor, i have seen people who have espoused sex education and every time it has devolved to "how can we do it and not get caught." never do i see or hear the part of sex education that teaches the other aspects that i deal with in counseling such as doubt, guilt, fear, depression, low self esteem, suicide, lack of intimacy, marriage problems, unfounded fears and paranoia over spouse, the same of teenage children, ad nauseum.

there will always be a couple people who stumble and get pregnant, but in my years i have seen youth who have committed themselves to the Lord overwhelmingly succeed in remaining pure to marriage. we should teach youth how to avoid those moments when temptation is at its greatest.

edited to add levergun aspect for those who hate off topic posts

at the back door i have a win 94 in 44 magnum loaded with 240 jsp over 22 grains of 2400.
at the front door i have a win 94 32 special loaded with factory 170s. soon to be rolled with cast.
at the side door i have a 336 35 rem loaded with 200 grain corelocts over some 3031
at various windows i have various other levers

i cling to my God and my Guns and i am not ashamed!!!

[Slick13]

As someone who grew up being taught abstinence is the only way (Mormon), I learned to hate myself for being a normal, horny, heterosexual male. I'd much rather see children taught that their thoughts and urges are normal, how to protect themselves if they do act upon those urges, that if they act on them the fires of Hell don't await them, but if they do act upon them at an early age they open themselves up to issues such as unplanned pregnancy, disease, and most importanly heartbreak and emotional issues when the relationship they thought was "love" does come to an end.

~Michael

[Scott Young]

As someone who grew up being taught abstinence is the only way (Mormon), I learned to hate myself for being a normal, horny, heterosexual male. I'd much rather see children taught that their thoughts and urges are normal, how to protect themselves if they do act upon those urges, that if they act on them the fires of Hell don't await them, but if they do act upon them at an early age they open themselves up to issues such as unplanned pregnancy, disease, and most importanly heartbreak and emotional issues when the relationship they thought was "love" does come to an end.

~Michael

Great point. i hope i didn't imply that kids would go to hell if they engaged in premarital sex. i know there are those that unfortunately teach that. what we teach our kids and i teach our youth is that you will have these urges. it is a part of growing up. it is normal and it is how God intended. just because we have these urges doesn't mean we need to act upon them. there is a proper place for that and it is within marriage. it is the responsibility of parents to teach their children to control their urges not a governmental agency.

i had the urge the other day to kill a person.
i had the urge the other day to flirt with another woman.
i had the urge to other day to eat more that i should....i succumbed.

some urges should never be given into, some urges should wait till an appropriate time, and some urges well if you do act on them aren't as serious but should be moderated.

[Ysabel Kid]

Excellent analogy. The problem young people have (and many older people unfotunately) is the understanding that what they do or do not do today may have repercussions throughout their entire life. Young people just don't think that way - that a decision can impact them for 60, 70 or more years. Sexual activity, for a variety of reasons, is one of those decisions.

[Charles]

I recall being at a Camp Meeting in Kentucky in the summer of 1971. One night was "youth night' and the evangelist gave an hour "turn or burn" sermon on sexual lust. He then gave an alter call for the youth to come down and be delivered from sexual lust. The altar was filled with hundreds of weeping, wailing teens begging God for deliverance from sexual lust.

God in his grace did not deliver those young folks from their divine given nature. I just wonder if that "evangelist" might have some explaining to do come judgment day. I have known many fools in my day, but none greater than that idiot.

[KirkD]

I recall being at a Camp Meeting in Kentucky in the summer of 1971. One night was "youth night' and the evangelist gave an hour "turn or burn" sermon on sexual lust. He then gave an alter call for the youth to come down and be delivered from sexual lust. The altar was filled with hundreds of weeping, wailing teens begging God for deliverance from sexual lust.

Given my experience in working with people, I suspect that preacher had a problem with it himself. Those that pound the table the hardest are often the most guilty. I like Scott Young's version of sex education, although I might add a bit more about how we can experience victory on a day by day basis. When I was in my later teens, I thought I must be severely over-sexed (probably just like most other fellows at that point in their life). Nevertheless, my relationship with God was very important to me and I would often depend heavily upon Him on a daily basis just to make it through the day (or date) in an honorable fashion. Both my bride and I were able to make it through to our wedding night as virgins (as well as having managed to miraculously avoid other infractions of intimacy as well). I would have to say that I regard our pre-marital purity as a miracle and if I had not depended heavily upon God on a daily basis (often on an hourly basis), it would never have ended that way. I would also say that those years of pent-up sexual fury seem to have gotten channeled into an extremely powerful commitment to my wife that will last till we die. After waiting until marriage, when the dam burst, it burst with a vengeance. After 28 years of marriage, the fire is, shall we say, still raging. Nuff said about that. I have a two-week Bible study on Christian victory that I've put together .... different principles in the Bible that I have personally found to be very helpful for myself.

[Charles]

Shakespear said it best... "Methinks he doth protest too much"

[jeepnik]

My take is pretty simple. Education is never a bad thing. What people do with the education can be good or bad, but the teaching of a subject isn't.

Now, I grew up in SoCal in the 60's. I think most folks have heard the old saying, "Sex, drugs, and rock & roll". A fair description of parts of my teens and early twenties. Somewhere along the way, maybe when I started having kids, my views changed. My boys were far from angels, but they were somewhat less misguided than I.

I really don't think things have changed that much over the centuries. It may have been more open or more covert, but kids have been kids since the first time their was a kid. At least with some information, they can hopefully make better decisions.