Free Bibles or Free Condoms?

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by Dr. Joe Renfro

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Can you believe that our public schools are prohibiting the distribution of free Bibles, while at the same time many are providing free condoms to whoever wants them?  Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”  We are training our youth to freely indulge in their sexuality, while at the same time disregard the teaching of Scripture and the basic wisdom of the ages.    We have substituted base and immoral guidelines for the spiritual and moral, and the results are very much evidenced, as masses of our youth seem to be without basic positive mores.

Since the time that Bible reading and prayer were removed from the public schools, there has been a growing assault on the Christian faith, plus there has been an increasing promotion of rampant sexual indulgences. The laws and guidelines of the Scripture are not to attack true pleasure, but to promote lasting pleasures and a sound society!

Gideons International is an evangelical Christian organization dedicated to distributing copies of the Bible in over ninety-four languages and 194 countries of the world. The organization describes its link to the story of Gideon:

Gideon was a man who was willing to do exactly what God wanted him to do, regardless of his own judgment as to the plans or results. Humility, faith, and obedience were his great elements of character. This is the standard that The Gideons International is trying to establish in all its members, each man to be ready to do God’s will at any time, at any place, and in any way that the Holy Spirit leads. (Wikipedia)

For decades the Gideons gave the New Testament to the middle school students, but it is now illegal to distribute the testaments on school property, although it is not illegal to distribute the condoms that can been seen to overrule the wisdom and discipline of abstinence, which the Bible teaches and which is the basic guide to moral behavior.  The free love of the sixties, however, has blinded the eyes of much of society to the greatest love of all, God’s love as revealed in and through Jesus Christ!

There are groups such as the “The Freedom from Religion Foundation” and other similar organizations that specialize in attacking the free distribution of Bibles in our Public schools. It has been noted that the Freedom From Religion Foundation receives countless complaints from parents about The Gideon Society or other similar groups who are distributing bibles to their children at public schools (State/Church FAQ?—Freedom From Religion Foundation)  They declare: “The law is clear. Courts have almost unanimously agreed that distribution of bibles in elementary schools—either actively or passively—is unconstitutional because young elementary school children are considered too impressionable to make the distinction between private religious speech and school-sponsored speech”.  It is also stated that it is illegal to pass out the Scriptures on any state property, as it violates the so-called separation of church and state. (Ibid.)

The free Bibles given on state property are determined by the courts to be in violation of our constitution, but this is not the case with free condoms!  It has been observed that:   “School condom availability programs have been promoted as a promising approach for increasing condom use among students, for reducing the risk of infections with the human immunodeficiency virus and with other sexually transmitted diseases and for preventing unintended pregnancy.”  (Public School Offers Open Jar of Free Indian-Made Condoms–to Kids 12+  – CNS News.)  However, to give out free condoms is but an attempt to treat the symptoms and not to address the cause, which is often inappropriate sexual behavior.

It has been observed: “Condoms are made available through different strategies: school nurse, fifty-four percent; teachers, fifty-two percent; counselors, forty-seven percent; other health workers, twenty-nine percent; principals, twenty-seven percent; other school personnel, thirteen percent; bowls and baskets, five percent; vending machines, three percent; and by students, two percent. (Kirby DB, Brown NL. Condom availability programs in U.S. schools. Fam Plann Perspect 1996; 28:196-202)

In an interview with CNSNews.com, Dr.  Stephen A. Haering, Director of the Alexandria, Virginia, Department of Health, said that teens are urged to get their parents involved. He said: “We always encourage our teen patients when they come to us to include their parents in on any decision-making that involves their health and involves their health care.”  He also said that teens are told that abstinence is the “healthiest choice” and that they should delay sex “until they are much older.”

An increase in reported sexually transmitted diseases (STDs–including HIV, chlamydia, genital herpes, genital warts, gonorrhea, hepatitis B, and syphilis) among adolescents has prompted many communities to take action through the use of condoms to protect their youth, but this action has not been to adhere to the teachings of the Scriptures and abstinence. I Corinthians 6:18 addresses this situation:   “Flee fornication.  Every sin that a man doeth is without the body, but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.”  If we followed God’s directives, then venereal disease (VD) would certainly be less of a problem!

The VD epidemic is much greater as each year an estimated 3 million adolescents are infected with STDs, accounting for twenty-five percent of the estimated 12 million new STDs occurring annually in the United States. (Committee on Adolescent Health Care, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Condom availability for adolescents. J Adolesc Health 1996; 18:380-3.)   The condoms are not completely effective, for sex with condoms isn’t totally “safe sex,” but it is “less risky” sex.  Annually, about 1 million teenage women in the United States become pregnant, although condoms do help control this; but they are not completely effective.

Negative psychological, sociological, and spiritual factors created by the sexual revolution often are detrimental.  However, condoms it can be argued is the lesser of the evils, but the Bible points to best direction, the better of all possible “GOOD” for developing positive lifestyles and avoiding many of the evils of sexual promiscuity. Free condoms are given in our public schools, while free Bibles are rejected by our political powers, resulting in an infection far worse than VD spreading all over our land.

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by Joe Renfro, Ed.D., Educational Columnist, Radio Evangelist, Retired Teacher and Pastor, 5931 West Avenue, Lavonia, Georgia 30553,  706-356-4173, joerenfro@windstream.net

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