For those of you who weren’t able to join us live on Tuesday night, we had the author of the MFI Book Club selection Live Not By Lies, Rod Dreher, join us for the whole 90 minute session to answer questions. We have it all recorded, and you can watch it here:
Rod made it clear he understands what we’re up against in Massachusetts, and encouraged us to persevere for Truth. Just yesterday, however, another wicked lie surfaced in our legislature that I’m still trying to wrap my head around. It’s called “An Act relative to empowering Massachusetts students to end sexual violence,” but the actual text of the bill requires every school district in the Commonwealth to implement a “multiple-session program that includes age-appropriate instruction on consent in grades K-12.” Did you catch that? “grades K-12.” You’re probably thinking to yourself, “Surely, they can’t mean consent to sex for Kindergartners! This must just be about teaching ‘stranger-danger’ and personal privacy.” Allow me to direct you once again to the text of the bill, which obligingly defines exactly what is meant by “consent.” It means “affirmative, conscious, and voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity. It is a responsibility of each person involved in sexual activity to ensure that the other or others consent to engage in the sexual activity.” Ok, so this is definitely about consent to “sexual activity” with an “other or others.” With Somerville and Cambridge both endorsing polygamy recently, we have to make sure we include teaching Kindergartners how to consent to sexual acts with three or more people at the same time. But we are assured it will all be “age appropriate.”
But what is the “appropriate age” for sexual activity in the first place? We actually have laws on the books in MA (for now) that state children under the age of 16 are not legally capable of giving consent to sex. As a former prosecutor, I can tell you that the hardest element to prove in a rape or sexual assault case is that of lack of consent of the victim. That’s one of the reasons why we have laws that say that if someone has sex with a 15 year old or younger, there could be no consent. Therefore, that sexual act is, by law, rape, known as “statutory rape.” Children are particularly vulnerable in this area, which is why the law protects them and punishes severely those who exploit and violate children. So, why in the world would we want to teach children as young as five how to consent to sexual activity? Even if done so in an “age appropriate” way, whatever that means, it sounds a lot like grooming.
It is not surprising, then, to learn that he sponsor of this bill also wants to lower the age of consent to 13. His bill “An Act Clarifying Consent Law for Adolescents,” would change our statutory rape laws to allow 13 year-olds to be abused by older teens, as long as it was “consensual.” And if we’re going to be teaching Kindergartners how to consent, well it’s clear to see where this slippery slope is going.
So here’s the new lie: that the only limit to sexual activity is mutual consent between two (or more) individuals. The truth is, sex must be properly contained within the bonds of marriage between one man and one woman, and children should have their innocence preserved as much as possible. “Do not stir up or awaken love until it is ready…” Song of Solomon 8:4
That’s what we’re fighting for at MFI. Will you join us?
