Sex Ed in New York

What does the program in New York say about the American spiritual landscape?

1. First: Religious perspectives are not the only perspectives that function religiously. Just because a person does not appeal to notions about God does not mean that they don't have convictions about the purpose of life, the nature of happiness, or personal morality.
2. Second: That is why the separation of church and state does not end the debate over life-shaping values, nor the policies that arise out of them. To believe otherwise is to find the world around you changed forever in a fog of hidden value judgments cloaked in other categories.
3. Third: There is no such thing as a morally or philosophically neutral body of knowledge. The moment you begin to decide what to teach, when to teach it, and why you are teaching it, you have made countless value judgments.

So how do people of faith navigate this issue?

Don't be embarrassed to believe what you believe. You should only be embarrassed if you don't have good, thoughtful reasons for believing it.

Be prepared for conflict. This debate and others like it are not going away. They have been a part of our spiritual and political landscape from the beginning an inescapable feature of life.

Be careful what you insist others believe. The best test for deciding what should be made law is to ask yourself, would you be happy to be on the receiving end of the same directive.

Choose something in kind, which would not naturally or easily a part of your own lifestyle and convictions. If you haven't put yourself in that position, you will not fully grasp the gravity of what you are arguing others should be made to do. The one gift we have that has to be jealously protected for others if it is to continue to be ours, is freedom.

Finally, to reprise last week's column, remember, the cost of discipleship does not consist of making others do what our faith obligates us to do.

P.S. Please don't write to complain that I don't believe in sex education. I didn't say what I think about it and it's not the point of this column. Thanks.