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Jewish World Review Feb. 23, 2000 /17 Adar I, 5760

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Declaration cloaks its positions in religion

http://www.jewishworldreview.com -- YOU KNOW all the steady nagging I do on the air, in my books and in this column about what I have come to believe is a conspiracy to sexualize our children at ever-earlier ages. It all started with Alfred Kinsey and his highly dubious research about the sexuality of children, much of which was gleaned from the testimony of pedophiles whom he paid to experiment on children and report to him. (Hardly disinterested, trained scientists.)

His research and many of his original researchers are today behind the push to legitimize adult-child sex, elevate pornography to a subject fit for study at the university level, and introduce graphic sexual education and instruction in schools.

Their most recent salvo is an attempt to co-opt religious support for their frightening agenda. The Associated Press, USA Today and The New York Times carried the amazing story of 850 clergy and others involved in religious organizations who endorsed A Religious Declaration on Sexual Morality, Justice and Healing. Instigated by SIECUS, the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, the declaration effectively eliminates any consideration of morality from human sexuality. It calls on all faiths to bless same-sex couples; to allow gay men and lesbians to be ministers; to provide open access to abortion and sexual education; and to oppose all forms of sexual oppression, including notions of marital status and the innocence of children.

SIECUS educational guidelines call for children ages 5 to 8 to be taught about masturbation; children ages 9 to 12 to be taught different ways to share sexual pleasure with each other; children ages 12 to 15 to be shown where to buy contraceptives; children 16 to 18 to be instructed in the use of erotic photos, movies or literature to enhance their sexual fantasies.

Their so-called religious declaration states that "sexuality is G-d's life-giving and life-fulfilling gift." I remember another declaration that invoked G-d. It said something about inalienable rights given by G-d. I don't remember that any of those rights included the right to same-sex sex, or abortion, for that matter. I can't find that in the Bible, either.

Why would the leading advocates for increasingly graphic sexual education and instruction "to all ages" invoke G-d in its manifesto? Because religion is the last bastion of morality in this humanistic society. Thus, it's a smart place to infiltrate. And this is just what Deborah Hafner did when she left her post as president of SIECUS to become a fellow at Yale Divinity School. At the time, people were baffled by this apparent career right-turn. Now we know why she took the religious route.

The declaration announces itself as a "faith-based commitment to sexual and reproductive rights, including ... abortion." This absurd statement is supposedly aimed at counteracting the genuinely faith-based opposition to much of what the declaration embraces. The signers of this declaration represent 25 denominations, but according to the AP, "nearly half are from the United Church of Christ, the Unitarian Universalist Association and Judaism's Reform and Reconstructionist branches.

"The paper got slim backing from Roman Catholics and none from major Evangelical, Protestant, Eastern Orthodox, Mormon, Buddhist, Hindu or Muslim denominations."

I have to say I was really embarrassed by the fact that Judaism is represented here. So I asked my rabbi for a response. He wrote: "Judaism has been very clear and consistent on the subject of homosexual activity for the past 3,311 years. Judaism is based on a Divine constitution called the Torah, which leaves no room for misunderstanding of its position. One may choose to agree or disagree with Judaism's perspective on homosexuality, but one cannot confuse his own opinions with that of Judaism. No rabbi or Jewish movement can call upon Judaism to bless same-sex couples and allow gay and lesbian ministers. Only G-d speaks for Judaism."

That made me feel a lot better as a Jew.

In an interview with Baptist Press, Hafner asserted that the declaration establishes a religious standard for promoting morality, justice and healing. She said: "It's not 'anything goes.' It's just that no matter what gender orientation you have -- bisexual, transgender -- no matter what sex you are, no matter what age you are, no matter what marital status you are, no matter what sexual orientation you are, you have a right to sex." No matter what age you are?

Now, how is that not "anything goes"?

I'm going to let Albert Moller Jr., president of The Southern Seminary in Louisville, Ky., have the last word on this:

"The arrogance of this declaration is breathtaking. The self-appointed moral revolutionaries will reject the clear teachings of Scripture in order to justify sexual perversion and destructive behaviors and claim a religious mandate! In a cloak of distortions they seek to overthrow biblical morality and put the humanistic ethics of sexual liberation in its place. The result will be ruined lives, devastated marriages, lost innocence and broken hearts."

Amen.

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