David Larson: Teach sex ed, not religion

Regarding the Sept. 17 Under the Dome item “Religion in sex ed?”: Republican Chris Whitmire from Transylvania County said the House approved a bill intended to allow religious materials to be used in sex education.

First off, it’s an obvious violation of the prohibition of teaching religion in schools, which means more taxpayer money fighting lawsuits the state will lose, as this is already a settled area of law.

The burning question, though, is which religions? Islam and Sharia law? Will virile males be taught they should have multiple wives?

Or Judasim, Leviticus in particular, the very first sex ed text – will they tell female students to stay home the week of their periods?

Or good old-fashioned Christian “abstinence only,” which is really no sex ed at all.

Is Whitmire encouraging the electorate to stick their collective head in the sand and act like teens don’t have sex?

I for one am not that stupid. I’d rather see kids taught how to prevent pregnancy than see more single-parent families in our state, where approximately a third of the children live in single-parent homes.

Just another “shake my head” moment at the breakfast table brought to us by our esteemed legislature.

This story was originally published October 6, 2015 at 5:32 PM with the headline "David Larson: Teach sex ed, not religion."