# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1965_S160 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) 160 RESOLUTIONS — COMMITTEE 7 thought to the planning of regular worthwhile meetings for their entire Sunday school staff, in line with such suggestions as are found in the “Leaders Leader” of the magazine Interaction and in a new series of seven guides for church school workers available now for use in training programs. Action: This resolution was referred to the Synod’s President. To Revise Paragraph 8.115 a of Synodical “Handbook” to Include Elementary Schools and Secondary Schools RESOLUTION 7-16 Overture 7-15 (CW, pp. 307, 308) Wuereas, In adopting Resolution 7-01 the Synod has affirmed its concern for the establishment of Lutheran secondary schools; therefore be it Resolved, That the words “elementary and secon- dary” be inserted before the word “schools” in line 3 of Handbook paragraph 8.115 a. Action: This resolution was referred to the Synod’s President. To Encourage Concentration on Chief Parts of Christian Doctrine RESOLUTION 7-17 Overture 7-16 (CW, p. 308) Wuereas, The concern of Overture 7-16 deals with questions of methodology; therefore be it Resolved, That we recommend that Overture 7-16 be referred to the Board of Parish Education for further study. Action: This resolution was referred to the Synod’s President. To Adopt Statement on Sex Morality and the Christian RESOLUTION 7-18 Report 7-19 M (TB, pp. 307—309) Wuereas, Churchmen, educators, social scientists, and statesmen are rightfully alarmed over the wide- spread decline in sexual morality in our times and are looking to the church for direction and guidance; and Whereas, The church, the chief teacher of morals and the guide for the spiritual nurture of its people, is called by God to speak relevantly to the special needs of our times; and Wuereas, The statement prepared at the direction of the Board of Parish Education and its Family Life Committee reflects the teaching of the Holy Scriptures over against the so-called “new morality” and ap- proaches the problem from the viewpoint of the Gospel to heal and to renew; therefore be it Resolved, That the Synod adopt the following re- vised statement on sex morality and the Christian: Sex Morality and the Christian (A statement prepared for submission to the Synod at the direction of the Board of Parish Education and its Family Life Committee) The New Morality Christian people are concerned over the breakdown of standards of sexual morality in our country. Such things as the widespread experimentation with sex by adolescents outside of marriage and the increasing amount of pornographic literature are cause for alarm. The American people have increasingly been exposed to and confused by what has been called “the new morality.” Young people and adults are being told that the moral principles of the past are outdated and that modern man must evolve moral codes more suited to an “enlightened” age. Because “new morality” makes personal self-satis- faction the criterion for acceptable human behavior and teaches: “What is moral is what you feel good after, and what is immoral is what you feel bad after,” it maintains that “being in love” justifies premarital or extramarital sex relations and that “nothing is really wrong so long as nobody gets hurt.” It argues that modern technology has removed the old fears of infec- tion and conception — despite the alarming increase in venereal disease and the number of children born out of wedlock. Maintaining that morals are man-made and therefore a relative matter, the new morality says modern man is free to act as he chooses without the restraint of a divinely given moral ethic. Applied to sex, it says that persons, married or unmarried, can live happily in an amoral paradise if they will only shed their puritanical inhibitions. Serious and consistent deviation from the divinely given moral law (even when the moral law is not consciously known) carries with it harmful psycho- logical and spiritual consequences — the scars of guilt, the exploitation of other persons, and the plight of un- wanted children. Immoral sexual attitudes are not peculiar to our times. St. Paul made frequent references to sexual im- morality 1,900 years ago. And centuries before that, the Old Testament writers recorded the sensual sins of their day. Christians see in this modern movement of sexual permissiveness the abandonment of religious morals for personal morals, disregard for Biblical theology, and an individualism which lacks social concern for others and personal respect for oneself. Man in his pride has always misused God’s gifts to gratify his own desires. This is man’s sin— that he uses the gifts of the Creator without the praise and service of God, and as a result man is alienated from God and from his fellowman. Every breach of morality —pride, greed, prejudice, lust— comes because man chooses to do his own will instead of the will of God. The Christian View of Life and Sex God created man in His own image and gave him a dignity and place accorded no other creature. God created man male and female; hence our human body,