This is basically a call for homeschooling, where kids can 1) avoid groupthink; 2) escape peer dependence; 3) learn logic and hone their fallacy detectors as opposed to just becoming cynical; and 4) learn the truth of God's Word, the standard by which all counterfeits can be judged. I don't think we're born with a BS detector ("folly is bound up in the heart of a child"), but we can certainly learn common sense and gain wisdom. I just don't think the social experiment of government/institutionalized education is the place where this can easily happen.

Better yet, homeschool. We've sacrificed a second income so that we can educate our children outside of the indoctrination centers. It doesn't feel like a sacrifice, though—it's a thrill for me to learn all the things that were glossed over or omitted in my own public school education.

Lon, sadly many people share your opinion about this. It's just one more lie that the culture has sugar-coated and shoved down our throats. The fact is, every sexual encounter you have that is not with your future spouse—no matter how pleasurable it is at the time—in some way diminishes your intimacy with the beloved you eventually choose to spend your life with. Sex is so much more than a physical union. There is a psychological and spiritual component that can be ignored but not erased. Like it or not, you bond yourself in some way to each sexual partner, and it is a connection that cannot be severed. When you enter into the union of marriage with another soul, it is infinitely preferable and more pleasurable to be able to give all of...

Allison, I hope you're still following this thread (sorry, I'm here four hours after you). I assume you believe as you do not simply because it's what you've been taught to believe. More likely you've personally encountered "religious" people who have shaped your opinions. It's the unfortunate reality: there are many who claim to be Christian, few who live it out. Lots of big mouths, few feet actually walking the talk. I have to include myself in that group sometimes. If you have come up against bigotry, hatred, and fear, you deserve to know the truth. Those things are antithetical to the teachings of Christ! Nevermind fickle, fallible people who will inevitably fail you in the end. Religion is man's invention. Jesus Christ is God the...