The Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice and Healing called on President Obama yesterday to end federal funding for abstinence-only programs and instead fund comprehensive sexuality education in the nation’s public schools. (This echos Texas Freedom Network’s message to Texas policy-makers last month when we released our report on the massive failure of abstinence-only programs in Texas.)
The Religious Institute also announced that more than 925 ordained clergy and national religious leaders have endorsed its Open Letter to Religious Leaders about Sex Education.
The letter builds a compelling case for “truth telling” in sexuality education:
People of faith must speak out for comprehensive sexuality education. We know that there are people of good faith who differ with us on what young people need. We seek to reach out to those from whom we may be divided to seek what is best for our nation’s youth. We all must be truth seeking, courageous, and just in our efforts to provide all young people with the sexuality education they so urgently need.
All we can say to this is, “Amen.”
Any Texas clergy members who support this position may also sign onto the letter by clicking here.
I need someone to explain a fine point of Christian fundamentalist theology to me with regard to the inerrancy of the Bible. It is a point that I have seen stated and reiterated by fundamentalists in numerous venues for the past 10 years. Here it is:
“If it were to ever be clearly demonstrated that the Bible contains even one single error, the whole book would have to be discarded as false and useless.”
Ands it’s close corollary:
“”If it were to ever be clearly demonstrated that the Bible contains even one single error, I could no longer have faith in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.”
Now, are the fundamentalists saying that they personally could no longer believe in the Bible or believe in Jesus, or are they saying that no human being could? Depending on your viewpoint and perspective, if you are thinking in strictly modern-day factual terms, I think the Bible does have errors. However, those errors do not shake or melt my faith in Jesus Christ at all–not even one little bit. So, am I the only person east or west of the Mississippi River to have this rare talent?