Many people on Twitter are amazed when they find out that I advocate abstinence-only (ab-only) sex education. They tell me that ab-only sex education doesn't work, because people are going to have pre-marital sex regardless.
While some people are against ab-only sex education all together, most people advocate sex education that provides information on abstinence and the use of artificial birth control as a means of preventing unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases (STD's). While this may sound reasonable to most people, as a Catholic, I cannot advocate sex education that teaches people that it's ok to have pre-marital sex, as long as they use "protection" (artificial birth control). Here's why:
- The Catholic Church teaches that pre-marital sex is wrong (see http://www.catholic.org/featured/headline.php?ID=724&page=1). It would be a sin for me, as a Catholic Christian, to tell a person that it is ok to have pre-marital sex, whether it's protected sex or not.
- The Catholic Church teaches that the use of artificial birth control is wrong (see http://www.catholic.com/library/Birth_Control.asp and http://www.ewtn.com/library/marriage/shouldbe.txt). It would be a sin for me, as a Catholic Christian, to tell a person it is ok to use artificial birth control, no matter how good their intentions are for using it.
I imagine that some people who read this post will say "that's fine for you to believe that way, but I don't have to believe that way because I'm not Catholic." I believe that each person is free to believe whatever they want to believe, but I also believe that truth is absolute. In regards to pre-marital sex, I believe it is wrong for everybody, not just for those who believe it's wrong. I don't ascribe to the belief that what's wrong for one person can be right for another person. An apple is an apple, regardless of what a person may think it is. Pre-marital sex is either wrong for everyone, or right for everyone. It can't be right if you believe it's right, and wrong if you believe it's wrong. I believe pre-marital sex is wrong for everyone because the Catholic Church, which was founded by Jesus Christ himself, and the Bible that came forth from the Church, teaches it is wrong. I believe Jesus when he said that the Holy Spirit would guide the Church to all truth, including the truth about pre-marital sex.
