A Stitch in Time

Yesterday afternoon at Princeton University, First Things board member Robert P. George hosted a reception for pro-life and pro-family members of the Princeton community.

At the end of his brief address, Prof. George invited those faculty members and ministers of religion who were present to say a few words. Perhaps the most interesting of these comments came from Marc Gellman, the distinguished Rabbi of Temple Beth Torah in Dix Hills, New York (and half of the “God Squad” ).

Rabbi Gellman applauded the achievements of college chastity groups like Princeton’s Anscombe Society, but pointed out that young people tend to develop destructive sexual attitudes and habits long before they arrive at college.

To counteract this tendency among the youth of his own congregation, Rabbi Gellman has developed (as part of a larger series on various virtues) sexual ethics classes directed at sixth graders. Deploring the rarity of such programs in American religious communities, he invited all who wanted to develop similar classes to get in touch with him. He reminded us how necessary it is that churches, temples, and synagogues, collaborating whenever this would be helpful, work vigorously to transform the culture in accordance with the demands of human dignity.

I urge all interested readers (especially leaders of religious communities) to contact the Love and Fidelity Network , an increasingly important clearinghouse for groups and individuals active in the pro-chastity, pro-family movement: They would be happy to help you with projects like Rabbi Gellman’s and may put you in touch with Rabbi Gellman himself.