Wrestling With Angels

The Sexual Revolution Confronts The Church

Marjorie L. Coppock

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

1. THE FAMILY, SEXUAL MORALITY AND RELIGIOUS VALUES

Hebrew Monotheism and Morality

New Testament Scriptures Speak to the Family

2. THE NEW MORALITY AND THE NEW SOCIAL ORDER

The Modern Era

The New Morality

The Humanist Manifesto And Secular Religious

Humanism

The Post Modern Era

The Church of Satan Organizes

Challenge To The Churches

3. THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION EXPLODES

Affluence Brings Indulgence

The Challenge Of Hollywood

Academic and popular Literature Continue

the Challenge

Woodstock – three days of ‘peace and love’

Government Involvement In Sexual Affairs

4. GROWING CONCERNS ABOUT FAMILY BREAKDOWN

Academic Concerns About Family Breakdown

The Divorce Revolution Evaluated

Problems in Marriage and Family Textbooks

5. LEGISLATING MORALITY

Influences That Affect Voting Patterns

The Moral Majority and the New Religious Right

The Communitarian Movement

6. ORGANIZATIONS AND THE CULTURE WARS

Liberal Organizations Challenge Religious Values

Organizations for Religious/Traditional Values

7. RADICAL FEMINISM CONFRONTS THE CHURCH

Civil Rights for Women

Challenge to the Family

No-Fault Divorce Laws and Feminist Concerns

Phyllis Schlafly and the STOP ERA Campaign

Beverly LaHaye Organizes Concerned Women for

America

Feminist Variations

Feminism as Heterophobia

Feminist Theologians and the Re-imaging Concerns

Jewish Feminists

Dr. Ruth Speaks Sexually

Women Clergy and Inclusive Language

8. SEX EDUCATION CONFRONTS THE CHURCH

SIECUS Promotes Sex Education

Government Support for Sex Education

Response to the Consequences of Sexuality

Education

Abstinence - True Love Waits

Government Sponsorship of Abstinence

and SIECUS Concerns

Home Schooling Increases

9. CHILDHOOD SEXUALITY CONFRONTS THE CHURCH

Liberal Influences on Childhood Sexuality

Priestly Pedophilia

Evil Among Us

Academic Focus on Child-adult Sex

Save Our Children Campaign

10. ABORTION CONFRONTS THE CHURCH

Legislating Abortion: Roe vs. Wade

Religious and Conservative Challenge to Abortion

Pro-Choice/Pro-Life

Church Response to Abortion

"Jane Roe" Chooses Life

Partial Birth Abortion and Fetal Tissue Research

Clinton's Vetoes

Focus on the Family Responds

11. HOMOSEXUALITY CONFRONTS THE CHURCH

Traditional Perspectives Toward Homosexuality

Counterculture Challenge

Gay/Lesbian Studies Come to School

Defense of Marriage

Southern Baptist Convention/Statement on the

Family

Homosexuals Challenge the Churches

Soulforce, Inc.: We Will Split You

Jewish Perspectives Vary

The Debate on Reparative Therapy

Teaching Tolerance for Homosexuality is Criticized

12. PORNOGRAPHY CONFRONTS THE CHURCH

Pornography Is Big Business

The Government Addresses Pornography

Feminists Confront Pornography

Characteristics of Sexual Addiction

The Rev. Donald E. Wildmon Tackles Social

Pornography

Porno Sprawl and Strip Club Victims

The Growth of Internet Porn

13. DIVORCE CONFRONTS THE CHURCH

Normalization of Divorce

Social Legislation: from Family to Individual

Social Consequences of Divorce

Bible Belt Breakups

Backlash and State Response to High Divorce Rates

Church Response: Liberal Accommodation

Church Response: Crisis in Leadership and

Conservative Backlash

The American Family Association Launches

Marriage Savers

Marriage Encounter (ME)

Ambiguous Support From the National Council

of Churches

14. SEXUAL MISCONDUCT CONFRONTS THE CHURCH

Extent of Sexual Misconduct Within the Church

Definitions Related to Sexual Misconduct

A Violation of Trust - It's Not an Affair

Help for the Victims

An Open Letter to Religious Leaders

Need for Professional Training and Professional

Policy

Church Responses to Concerns About Sexual

Misconduct

15. REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES CONFRONT THE CHURCH

Birth Control Techniques Challenge

Religious Beliefs

Concern for Population Control

Infertility Becomes a Problem

Artificial Insemination

In-Vitro Fertilization

Cloning and Stem Cell Research

The Religious Response

16. LEADERSHIP/SEMINARIES IN CRISIS

The Association of Theological Schools (ATS)

Evangelical Seminaries

Baptist Tensions

Catholic Universities

Presbyterians Seminaries

Methodist Seminaries and Leadership

17. SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES AND CULTURAL WARS

The Culture Wars Accelerate

Defining Deviancy Down

An Epidemic of Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Changing Family Patterns

Non-Reproductive Sexuality as Genetic and

Cultural Genocide

Social Problems: Mistrust

From Families to Lifestyles

The Enthronement of Hedonism

Sex in America: A Comprehensive Survey

Loss of Family Decisions to State Control

18. CHALLENGE TO THE CHURCHES

Baby Boomers Search for Faith

Uniqueness of the Family Realm

Part of the Solution or Part of the Problem?

When Pastors Face Divorce

The Celibacy Debate, Pedophilia, and Homosexuality

Jewish Tensions Grow

19. RECLAIMING THE SEXUAL FOUNDATION OF THE FAITH

The Importance of Traditional Family Patterns

The Family and Modern Industrial Democracy

Promise Keepers: Mobilizing Men Toward Family

Focus on Biblical Sexual Morality

Recommendations From the Council on Families

in America

Community Efforts Toward Saving Marriages

20. RESTORING THE FAITH

Biblical Morality Becomes the Counter-Culture

Questioning Political Activism

Crisis in Spiritual Leadership

Calls for Dialogue and Repentance

A Complex Pleasure

Responsible Renewal

ENDNOTES

INDEX