Newsgroups: bit.listserv.christia
Date:         Fri, 17 Apr 1992 11:38:42 EST
From:         Kerry Stephenson <KSTE@PURCCVM.BITNET>
Subject:      Re: "Safe Sex"

Darryl:
First, I believe someone else has answered your question about the life
span (?) of sperm, so I'll leave that.  Second, either the book Mr.
Fumento references is nonsense or he misread it.  Any biology text
will tell you what conditions are necessary for conception to take
place; it is not a matter of opinion, but of biological fact.  Third,
please stop using the car analogy, as the lack of correspondence
between driving and sex (well, except perhaps among a few very
adventurous individuals!) renders it unconvincing to me.  Let us stop
using analogies and start talking about facts (myself included).  The
problem with analogies is that they are never complete.  For example,
when one says the Kingdom of Heaven is like a pearl of great price, the
analogy must end when we begin talking about how we might be able to
bargain for a lower price or when we start to think of it as small and
round and manufactured by oysters.

One more analogy, though.  Unrelated, but I really thought it was funny.
PJ O'Rourke says that giving money and power to govenment is like givng
car keys and whiskey to teenage boys.  That works.  Unfortunately, we
can't extend the analogy to say that when government gets caught drunk
driving (abusing money and power--like all the time!) it gets thrown
out of school (office).  I wish.

Also, nobody is saying that people should not be _able_ to obtain condoms,
as you imply.  We are just saying that _giving_ them away is an inducement
to use.  If people are going to risk infection by using something that may
or may not work, all we can do is warn them of that.  But to lie about the
failure rates, or to imply that there are none, and then to pass out this
potentially flawed, potentially fatal, product is simply irresponsible.
There is a man in Chicago who owns a tuxedo rental shop who gave away free
condoms to teenage boys as part of their tux rental for prom night.  That is
his decision (one I think is foolish and could potentially result in lawsuits,
but his decision, nonetheless.) It is his money and his business.  But for
the public school system, which is a servant of the public, to spread false
information, promote illicit sex, and pass out free condoms to the children
of the public without either the permission or the knowledge of the parents
(which is the case in New York) is a misuse of the public trust.

As Christians, it is our obligation to promote moral behavior and to stand
against immoral behavior, no matter what the cost.  Illicit sex is immoral.
Sex between children is immoral.  Promoting immoral acts is immoral.
Recognizing that people do immoral things does not release us from the
obligation to oppose that behavior.  If that were the case, Christians would
remove themselves from politics, and the United States would still have
slavery, women would not have the right to vote, and drugs, prostitution,
and murder would be legal across the board.  We would just quietly live,
go on to (a very small and sparsely populated) heaven, and leave the rest
to burn.   Jesus calls us to another way.
                                         Love INC,
                                                  ---Kerry
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