Public Sex Education

Even with all the gains the conservative viewpoint is making, sometimes I feel we've already lost the war. Am I the only person in America that believes that the public school system should teach the three R's and nothing else? Why is the public school system involved in matters of values at all?

This debate would not be going on if the school systems were limited to teaching the physical, biological aspects of sex and nothing else. Anatomy, reproduction and disease. Period. But no, the schools now have virtually no limit to what they can become involved in. Teaching children how to deal with relationships, emotions, etc. I have railed against the schools teaching pacifism before.

And yet, the school system is not allowed to delve into religion at all, due to the "separation of church and state". Even though most Americans' values are in some way shaped and influenced by their religion, at school the children get a purely secular view of some of life's most important issues.

I read recently that schools should not be required to teach on the beginnings of life, but if so, they should teach evolution and nothing else, as creationism or "intelligent design" is a purely religious concept. I agree, though I would conclude that public schools should not teach on the beginnings of life at all, as evolution is only a theory, and a poor one I might add, used to explain where life originated. This is one of those areas where an individual's religious beliefs will play a prominent role in how they view the world, and, as a purely secular institution, an area where public schools have no business.

Many of the debates raging in the country now are the result of the government, most often the Federal Government, inserting itself where it has no business. From the FCC and it's handling of broadcast decency standards, to the Supreme Court's affirmation of a constitutional right to abortion. And yet, I see no stemming of this tide.