Children born out of wedlock were even discriminated against because the mothers had violated the taboo of sex outside of marriage. Because of the discrepancy between what our elders said and what they did, many young people lost faith in everything they had been told and began to try to determine for themselves what to believe in. Along the way, our generation made a lot of mistakes, and the cultural upheaval that resulted is still reverberating through our society. Today I realize most of the values I was taught were important ones, not just for religious reasons, but for social ones. They are the values that keep society stable.
Irresponsible sex destroys lives, relationships and families.
I have learned that respecting people means not discriminating against them by ostracizing them or harassing them verbally, physically or sexually and that respecting everyone, regardless of their differences, is important to a peaceful and stable society. I have learned social values are those that protect the rights of the individual while promoting the good of the community. We have come a long way toward correcting the inequities that brought about the upheaval of the 1960s and the instability that resulted, but we still have a long way to go. We need to teach the religion of our choice in our homes and churches and reinforce the primary values taught in all religions by teaching the values that stable societies are based on in the schools in a social, rather than religious, context. We also need to be sure we practice these values ourselves.