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"World" magazine, contraceptives, Institute on Religion and Democracy, IRD Blog, Marvin Olasky, National Association of Evangelicals
“World” magazine publisher Marvin Olasky reports in the August 11 issue that, in a change from earlier reports, the National Association of Evangelicals is not at this time seeking further funding from the National Campaign for the Prevention of Teen and Unmarried Pregnancy (NCPTUP). As Olasky describes, NCPTUP “promotes contraceptives for the unmarried.” The group is in turn funded by the pro-choice Hewlett Foundation, which funds abortion rights advocacy.
Early this month Olasky first exposed that NAE had received $1 million over several years from NCPTUP for contraceptive advocacy. The grant comprised a big chunk of NAE’s only about $1 million annual budget. And it had facilitated several NAE events featuring NCPTUP speakers. NAE chief Leith Anderson insisted NAE was not compromising it’s fidelity to traditional Christian sexual ethics. And he has cited contraceptives as alternatives to abortion. But as Olasky notes, his report generated a “lot of Summer heat from individuals and denominational leaders.” And on July 10 NAE board member David Neff of “Christianity Today” magazine assured him NAE is not seeking another NCPTUP grant. The NAE program that NCPTUP had funded will close later this year, Olasky reported.
NAE’s latest budget shows less than $800,000 in income, which seemingly is a significant drop.
Although stepping back from contraceptive advocacy, NAE is moving forward with other liberal initiatives, including a program on climate change’s ostensible impact on the “least of these.”
Olasky reported that the recent general assembly of one large NAE member denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), voted to study NAE policies with possible future consideration of withdrawal.
Last year, the Central Carolina Presbytery of the PCA backed withdrawal from NAE, citing the NAE’s having “frequently intermeddled in public affairs, by publically endorsing the idea of Climate Change, testifying on Capitol Hill in support of the Comprehensive Immigration Act (CIR) and strongly indicating they spoke for their members when they did so.”
An internal PCA committee recommended against withdrawal. The PCA’ s June 2012 General Assembly accepted that recommendation but added the provision that NAE actions be monitored and reported to future general assemblies.
Before NAE returns to representing consensus opinion among its members, instead of just liberal leaning evangelical elites, other member churches like the PCA similarly may at least have to ponder quitting.
Meanwhile, kudos to Olasky for breaking the story and accelerating the conversation. Here’s his article: http://www.worldmag.com/articles/19761.
When the Bible was written, slavery was common and acceptable and women were chattel. Now, even the most conservative churches claim to abhor slavery and revere women. Cultural changes have occurred over the life of Christianity and for the better. If Christianity still preached that “slaves obey (their) masters” and treat their wives as property, the worshippers in any American church would be few.
Like contraception use by Catholics, pre-marital sex by Protestants is dominant in this culture despite long and determined campaigns to stop those behaviors. That is not going to change. Some rabbits cannot be put back in the hat. Americans marry at an averyage age of 26 for women and 28 for men. In Biblical days, they might already be grandparents. Abstinence-only education states have the highest rates of teen pregnancy. Children, both those who get pregnant and those that are born of young persons unprepared for parenthood suffer. Chrisitanity is not just destroying itself, it’s destroying the young people it’s supposed to be preparing for life.
It’s time for Christians to make the same change that they did when they accepted that slavery was wrong no matter what the Biblical teachings on the subject. Human beings were created by God as sexual beings. Abstaining from sex, the drive that God instilled in us to perpetuate the species, is difficult for many people to do for a relatively few years. Demanding that believing Christians, en masse, abstain from sex from puberty until they marry 14-16 years later does nothing more than push people away from the church and from God by guaranteeing an unresolveable conflict between their natural behavior and the church that is haranguing them for committing a sin. The Christian church needs to concentrate on teaching believers to engage in healthy relationships which would include delaying sexual intimacy until adulthood and to take care to protect themselves from disease and pregnancy. This would be a true loving service to children, to families and to this society that has been taken over by unhealthy sexual behavior because Chrisitan churches have failed in their responsibility to respond to those in need of guidance.
Suggesting that providing contraceptives to unmarried persons is offensive to God does nothing more than guarantee more abortions, more neglected and abused children and more broken lives. Of course, I can’t speak for Christ, but I don’t think that’s what He wants from those who strive to follow his command to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.
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I dont understand why concern for the affects of Climate change or any other aspect of power which effects the least of these who have few resources to deal with them is I Liberal?! As a former minister in the PCA I left that Denomination over views like this and other aspects of PCA triumphalism. I used to be happy and proud the be a TE. in the PCA,but as I lived life as a chaplain in a shelter for homeless women,a hospital chaplain a correctional chaplaiin a military chaplain and a hospice chaplain,I can to see how oversimplistic and knee jerk the PCA hermenutic is. I am now a Teaching Elder in The Central South Presbytery of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church which though not perfect is a vast improvement over the PCA.
Rev. John B. Rhodes