Biblical Truths or Consequences.

The Propaganda Remix Project

GUEST ESSAY

Biblical Truths or Consequences
Or, Does Abstinence Make the Heart Grow Fonder?

Sean O’Leary

The District 207 School Board meeting Monday night at Maine South High was a lively event that attracted about 100 visitors. The topic was the volatile issue of sex education in the schools, specifically, a Freshman biology unit at Maine South that deals explicitly with birth control methods. The complaint, as filed by Corky Allegretti, the mother of a Main South freshman, read in part as follows:

“…the current curriculum for freshman biology class contains a co-ed unit teaching birth control, including types of birth control methods, uses and effectiveness of such methods. I along, with others here tonight, believe this curriculum must be removed as it violates the Illinois School Code, it includes inappropriate materials for freshman students, it does not appear to have to have been subjected to parental review or appropriate District monitoring, and goes far beyond a reasonable threshold of appropriate discussion topics for freshmen students.”

Included in the document is a metaphor comparing freshman birth control instruction with teaching minors how to use a firearm. This was surprising, as the Christian right has always seemed comfortable with guns. I would have gone for the obvious loaded gun analogy.

Three types of people attended the District 207 School Board meeting. First, there were the Maine South and Park Ridge parents who support the Allegretti complaint and want the sex unit removed. Second, there were parents who disagreed with the complaint, and supported the teaching of sex education in the schools. And finally, there were a lot of “other people from other places” (including one of the Pullen sisters – remember Penny?) summoned by a radical Christian organization called Illinois Family Institute (IFI).

Because Ms. Allegretti explicitly stated at the meeting that she had enlisted the help of this organization, and because the IFI website had posted a call to arms, documents (including the statement that Ms. Allegretti would be reading) plus helpful directions to the meeting, it’s reasonable to conclude that the strangers who applauded the anti-birth control speakers and heckled the pro-curriculum speakers (including me) had something to do with the IFI.

I am not going to rehash the arguments relating to whether or not abstinence makes the heart grow fonder or whether sex education or birth control should be taught at Maine South. Suffice to say there was no shortage of competing studies, data, and personal anecdotes presented by both sides of the argument. And further suffice to say my personal opinion is that kids around here have already been exposed to so much sexual noise by the time they graduate from Middle School, that sex education in their Freshman year is already late.

But there is room for honest differences of opinion on this matter ... within the Park Ridge community. And I want to make clear that I respect the parents who are willing to publicly take a stand in opposition to the policies of an educational institution. I was sincerely interested in their particular set of concerns and some of the information they shared.

However, what deeply troubles me is the rather glaring fact that all students have the right to opt out of this biology unit: therefore, it appears that the parents and IFI are entering into a fundamentally different realm here. Demanding that the school remove the unit in its entirety – presumably to replace it with an abstinence only version – is an attempt to dictate values for all the students at Maine South and the community as a whole. Of course, that is precisely what the IFI and their national affiliates specialize in and that is one reason why I emphatically regret the introduction of this extremist organization into Park Ridge.

As stated on their website, the objectives of the Illinois Family Institute are to “promote and defend Biblical Truths to foster an environment where families can thrive and reach their full God-given potential to serve and glorify Him.” What do we conclude from this, besides the fact that God is obviously a guy (I mean, a Guy)? Certainly, that the IFI has a larger agenda prepared for us and our schools, one driven by Biblical Truths.

There are a lot of Truths in the Bible, so I’m not sure exactly which Biblical Truths we are dealing with here. If it’s the Truth in Leviticus Chapter 20:10* about putting adulterers to death (plus, “their blood will be upon them”), I assume everyone around our little town is comfortable with that.

Then again, if it’s the Truth in Judges 11:29-40*, in which Jephthah sacrifices his teenage daughter at the altar in order to give thanks to Yahweh for his victory over the Ammonites, well, that’s a little more worrisome. I have simply warned my daughter that if I ever go out to fight the Ammonites, don’t be around when I get home.

However, I am concerned about the “New Testament” Truth in 1 Timothy 2:11-12*, in which St. Paul explicitly describes the place of women in society: “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.”

If that is one of the Truths we’re working on, then I am surprised at the number of women who attended the meeting. Clearly, according to this unambiguous Bible Truth, they should have been home. Being silent.

In actuality, there is little doubt about the Truths the IFI considers important. Here is a more specific truth discovered on the IFI website, at least until I read it to the District 207 School Board. This is a verbatim excerpt:

“Public schools: The new red-light district? Most of us don't realize that we have a red-light district just down the street from our homes. And our children are not only allowed to be there, their presence is actually required by law. Our nation's schools have become the new red-light district of the 21st century.”

To illustrate this point, IFI has chosen an image showing the window of a “Licensed Sex Shop.” The PRU crew may even post it with this editorial.
(PRU Editor's note: You know it!)



About the red light thing…there is some teenage driving I’d like to see improved, but the leap to a sex shop metaphor seems…I guess you could say, extreme. Even more interesting, the IFI took this page off their server the day after the Dist 207 meeting. Maybe it sounded bad even to them. Someday, I will tell their webmaster that Google caches web content, so I still have a copy of the page. It might even be discovered right here for a week or so: Illinois Family Institute

In all seriousness, I think it’s important to understand the nature of any group that would like to re-write our science books. A little more time on the IFI website should convince you that their next target will be the Gay and Straight Alliances on school campuses, because IFI specializes big time in homophobia. Visit the site.

Elsewhere on illinoisfamily.org, the American Library Association is described as “radically liberal”. I imagine they are considered radical because they are unhappy when people like IFI and Focus On the Family tell them what they are Biblically permitted to place on PUBLIC library shelves.

So, let’s see what we have: IFI: just plain folks helping out by telling you how to live your life according to their imaginary friend. Librarians: dangerous radicals defending the first amendment of the Constitution. I can’t imagine the special place in Hell they have prepared for gay librarians.

I don’t want these hate mongers around Park Ridge.

In summary, when stormtroopers like the IFI come to town with the objective of introducing Biblical Truths into Public Schools, then people like me find it difficult to have a civil discussion. And there are an awful lot of people who feel the same way. On Monday night, the IFI was able to mobilize a sizable group of people, apparently to convince the Board that they represented a majority in the community. It may have appeared that the anti-sex faction had more local support than they did because a significant part of their support came from Bible mercenaries. I guarantee the numbers will be more equal next time.

* BibleGateway.com: searchable online Bible; 50+ versions - 35 languages