Sex and Sexuality:
The Personas of the Church
It is often banded around in the media that we live in a promiscuous age of unsafe sex where anything goes – nothing is sacred, and no one will tell the young people of Britain otherwise.Religious representatives typically form the opposition in these disputes. The media is usually keen to pick out the most conservative amongst these to represent this side, whose demeanours and voices are so startlingly incapable of appealing to the young.
Consider a speech by Dr Ted Williams, former Director of Public Health, taking a stance against the teaching of sex education:
"The current policy of explaining how to practise 'safer sex' exposes children to the details of carnal relations which undermines modesty in girls and chivalry in boys.
"What excuse can any girl have for not agreeing to sex with her boyfriend when she is supposed to know all about safer sex? What girl who has practised unrolling condoms can pretend to be modest? These girls are trapped - they are being prepared for a life of promiscuous sex.
"And for the boys, they are being introduced to ideas and images that are way beyond their understanding. The explicit images expose them to unnatural sexual thoughts that inflame sexual lust."
The tone is aggressive, moralising, and extremely condescending to the young people Dr Williams' concerns are supposedly centred around.
The inevitable result of publicising these comments is that the related religious bodies – more often than not the Church of England or the Catholic Church – are exposed to ridicule by the majority and seen backward and irrelevant as far as modern life is concerned.
"Mainstream press treats conservatives as the only authoritative religious voice," says Rev. Deborah Haffner, director of Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice, and Healing. "If they bring someone in from the religious right, they feel they've got religion covered."
The fact is that religious voices have shown themselves to be more than capable of advocating reason, showing a willingness to evaluate their beliefs in the context of a twenty-first century world.