Abstinence Muscles into Public Arena and Public Funding

The above logo can be located at www.whatparentsthink.com.  There is a summary there of results of a Zogby Poll entitled, “What parents REALLY think – about different forms of sex education” disseminated by the Coalition for Adolescent Sexual Health.[1]  The Zogby Poll was reviewed by Dr. Linda Jeffrey, who made the following remarks, which should concern all those participating in RSVPAmerica in their outreach to the Church. I believe you will agree there is a great deal of work to be done in the Church so please redouble your efforts there.  Remember nothing changes until “…His people, called by His name…” II Chronicles 7:14.  There isn’t a “quicker” fix to be had by changing law through educating the legislature.  The Church needs to be given the facts about Kinsey and what God says about Human Life and the Life process: If the Church repents, then the land is restored. 

The Zogby study represents the first time parents have been presented with actual text from sex education curriculum and asked for their approval or disapproval.  Zogby International, the polling organization that conducted the survey, reports that groups including:

Planned Parenthood, SIECUS, Advocates for Youth, and the Alan Guttmacher Institute…have not been straightforward in revealing to parents the exact nature of comprehensive sex education….Whether lobbying Congress, making presentations to school boards, or providing stories to the media, they have been quiet about the specifics of the topics included in their programs.

Kinseyan Groups Manipulated Parents to Flout Political Agenda. 

For example, SIECUS asked in a 1997 survey, “Do you support schools in your district accepting state and federal funds that would prevent them from teaching your children the complete facts about birth control and sexually transmitted diseases?”  Then SIECUS reported, “More than 82% responded that they do not support schools that accept abstinence-only funding.”  Other polling tricks by Planned Parenthood and SIECUS are identified by Zogby International including biased sample selection, leading questions, deceptive questions, and biased interpretation of results.

The Zogby poll uses verbatim components of SIECUS Guidelines for Comprehensive Sexuality Education representing comprehensive sex education; and from National Guidelines for Sexuality and Character Education developed by the Medical Institute for Sexual Health (MISH), for abstinence education.  Four additional questions came from comprehensive sex ed curricula promoted by the CDC.  The major finding was that “parents overwhelmingly reject comprehensive sex education when they are asked questions that deal specifically with the topics included in comprehensive sex education.”

The simplicity and accuracy resulting from presenting actual text from sex education programs was impressive.  I decided to examine every question asked by Zogby and the subgroup responses to see what else could be learned from this powerful survey.  A question by question analysis of the Zogby study provides some troubling results in addition to the overwhelmingly positive evidence that parents do not want graphic sex education taught to their children.

Regarding born again Christians:

• Only 40% of Christians disapprove of teaching the following to a 5-8 year old: “Every child should understand the dignity of his or her sexuality.”  Evidently the Kinsey cartel has succeeded convincing even Christian parents that children are sexual from birth.  Overall, 49% approve of teaching the above, and 39% disapprove.  18% are neutral.

• Question 22 requests respondent “rate your approval of the following qualities as important for helping adolescents to sustain relationships:  How to use condoms and other contraceptives and how to negotiate their use.”  58% approved, 13% neutral, and 29% disapproved.  Only 43% of Christians disapproved of this statement!  To put it another way, the majority of Christians in this study approved or were neutral to the concept that understanding and negotiating condom use is an essential ingredient of sustained relationships in adolescence.

• The question was reposed later on in a more direct way, with more satisfying (from a Christian perspective) results:  For age 12-15, “To unroll a condom and practice putting it on his or her fingers, a banana or wooden model of a penis”  18% approved, 11% neutral, and 71% disapproved; Christians disapproved 83%. (How do they think Planned Parenthood is going to teach their kids to negotiate condom use?)

Other disappointing responses from the Christian community:

• For ages 9-12 the following was posed: “When a man and woman want to have vaginal intercourse without having a child, they can use contraception to prevent pregnancy.  Overall, 41% approve, 15% neutral, 44% disapprove 53% of born again Christians disapprove.

• For ages 12-15, the question is posed: ‘Many people experience sexually erotic thoughts called fantasies.” 40% approve, 20% neutral, 41% disapprove.  Born again Christians disapprove 58%; Jews approve 70%.

• For ages 15 to 18, “Some people use erotic photographs, movies, or literature to enhance their sexual fantasies when alone or with a partner.” 28% approve, 17% neutral, and 56% disapprove.  Of Christians 70% disapprove.

This Zogby study clearly indicates how much ground Christians have lost in applying the principles of the unchanging truth of Life found in the Scripture to the goals of social virtue and purity.  Our work is cut out for us.