Atheist Displays Placed Alongside Nativity at Arkansas Capitol

Religious Freedom, , ,

This week the Freedom From Religion Foundation announced atheists in Arkansas placed a “Winter Solstice” display on the Arkansas Capitol Lawn proclaiming “Joy To The World — The Bill of Rights is Born” and advocating, “Keep religion and government separate!”

The atheist display appears alongside the state’s longstanding Nativity display carved by Arkansas artisans and another atheist display by the Arkansas Society of Freethinkers.

In 2009 a federal judge in Little Rock ruled Arkansas’ Secretary of State was obligated to allow a local group of atheists to put up a display marking the winter solstice on the Capitol grounds.

The Secretary of State and the Arkansas Legislature likely could prevent these types of displays from appearing on the capitol grounds each December by redesignating its lawn as a limited public forum intended to celebrate state and federal holidays like Christmas.

The irony is that America’s Bill of Rights — which the Freedom From Religion Foundation display celebrates — is the product of a Judeo-Christian worldview.

For example, historians have long recognized the Ten Commandments as one of the earliest examples of the rule of law in human history, and they profoundly shaped our nation’s legal system and ideas about justice.

That’s why there is a carving of Moses holding the Ten Commandments at the apex of the U.S. Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C.

The Christian understandings of personal liberty, self-government, and rule of law were woven into the founding of our country. Without the birth of Christ, the Bill of Rights arguably never would have been born either.

As Founding Father John Adams put it in 1798, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

Or as President Ronald Reagan said at the 1984 Ecumenical Prayer Breakfast in Dallas, Texas:

Without God, there is no virtue, because there’s no prompting of the conscience. Without God, we’re mired in the material, that flat world that tells us only what the senses perceive. Without God, there is a coarsening of the society. And without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure. If we ever forget that we’re one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.

The Nativity Scene above adorns Arkansas’ Capitol Lawn each year.

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Faith, Family Deter Teen Sexual Activity: New CDC Report

Sex Education

A Centers for Disease Control report released this month shows that faith and family are two primary reasons teenagers choose not to be sexually active.

The CDC’s “Sexual Activity, Contraceptive Use, and Childbearing” report surveyed teens between 2015 and 2019, and compared data to similar reports released in previous years.

The CDC’s findings underscore the ways faith and family affect teenage sexual activity.

First, researchers found “the main reason most commonly chosen by female teenagers for not having had sex, among the options provided, was ‘against religion or morals’ (32.5%) . . . Among male teenagers, the most commonly chosen main reason for not having had sex was ‘haven’t found the right person yet’ (35.3%), followed by ‘against religion or morals’ (26.2%).”

In other words, a teen’s religious beliefs play a significant role in whether he or she will be sexually active.

Second, teens who lived in a two-parent household with their biological or adoptive parents were less likely to engage in sexual activity than their peers.

The study also found sexual activity was higher among teenagers who did not live with both biological or adoptive parents.

The researchers concluded,

The probability of having had sex by age 17 was lowest for females who lived with both biological or adoptive parents at age 14 (42%) compared with those who lived in other parental living arrangements (64%–67%). The same pattern held by parental living arrangement for males ages 15–24.

To put it plainly: Moms and dads matter, and they have a profound impact on their children.

This latest report is reminiscent of a 208-page report the CDC released in 2016 regarding teenage sexual activity.

The 2016 report examined sexual activity and health trends among youth. It looked at everything from seatbelt and bike helmet use to substance abuse, diet, exercise, and even tanning bed use.

The 2016 report concluded teenagers who practiced abstinence were healthier in nearly every way than teenagers who were sexually active.

It also determined that sexually-active teens were less healthy and were more likely to engage in risky behavior.

The CDC’s newest report echoes some of these points, noting that, among other things, sexually active teens and young adults face increased risk of sexually transmitted diseases.

All of this underscores the important role that faith and family play in the lives of teens and young adults. 

Having a strong faith and a good life at home doesn’t just discourage a teen from having sex. In the process, it also has other positive impacts on that child’s life. That’s something to keep in mind as parents, educators, and policymakers discuss sex-education and related issues.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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