by
Nancy Fehl
“Love – All That and More” is intended to be a resource for youth designed
to promote healthy relationships based on equality and mutual respect and
increase awareness of violence and abuse. For a secular audience, it may
achieve its goals. However, as a program modified for use with Christian
youth, it is fundamentally flawed and dangerous. The video tape series,
foundational to the course, is nothing more than a panel of teen “sexperts”
more than happy to share their “diverse” sexual experiences. The use of a
peer teen panel reinforces the credibility and authority of the message they
bring – that dating presupposes sexual activity, that respect and honesty
are the only necessary prerequisites for sex, that marriage is irrelevant to
the discussion of appropriate sexual activity. The message of these fresh
faced teens flies in the face of values regarding sexual expression,
chastity and marriage commonly and rightly held by the people of God.
Specifically, it refutes the PCUSA confessional standards and God’s word to
us through. Scripture on these matters. It is a message which normalizes
deviant sexual behavior and attitudes and it is dangerously seductive.
A strong supplemental leader’s guide for Christian youth might sidetrack the
steam rolling cultural relativism of this program. But, the current leader’s
guide is totally inadequate to do so. Rather than affirm a clear Christian
perspective on the matters of sexuality, it caves into the culture’s
permissive and tolerant attitudes. In the process, it portrays the church as
a bastion of narrow mindedness which fosters abusive behaviors. The leader’s
guide simply responds to the preconceived agenda of the course material with
a humanistic “I think” , “I feel” approach to the cited Scriptures.
The panel members often mention living in “the real world”. Our Christian
young people do, indeed, live in the very real, very broken, world. It is
for that reason they need hope filled, Spirit directed and solidly Scripture
based information on these
important topics. Only then will healthy relationships be possible for them.
*Nancy Fehl a part of the VOW network and the mother of a college student.