‘Safe Sex’
Sir- i share P. B. Wye’s concern about a decline in moral standards (October 5), but his reference to “Christian principles which have not altered since . the time of Moses” is rather strange. When I became interested in the ancient Zoroastrian religion, I was startled to discover that Zoroaster, like Moses, was supposed to have brought the 10 commandments down from a mountain cave where he had spent months meditating. Could either of these two stories be an invention? Zoroastrians seem to have taken the commandment “You shall not kill” seriously, but Moses ordered his reluctant soldiers to kill the women and children of defeated enemies. He seemed not to have heard of his own commandment. P. B. Wye links sexual morality with the threat of “complete ecological disaster,” yet it is precisely the fanatical opposition of religious fundamentalists to population control which is forcing such disaster upon this beautiful Earth.—Yours, etc., MARK D. SADLER. October 9, 1989.
Sir,—ln the early 1960 s I was invited into a number of Canterbury High Schools with two other women, Mrs Sybil Woods, of the Anglican Mothers’ Union, and Mrs Phyllis Zeff, of the Family Planning Association. I belonged to the Christchurch Parents’ Centre. We were invited, initially, by the headmistress of Avonside Girls’ High School, Miss Townsend, to discuss with her pupils, their parents and their teachers the sorts of things that would help the teenagers grow into mature, loving, responsible adults — wives and mothers when they were ready (and not before) to embark on the journey towards parenthood. We always knew, as we answered their questions, that if we gave them explicit information about how they could avoid pregnancy, we might ourselves fall foul of the law. We did not know then that explicit information could also help them avoid the tragedy of contracting a sexually transmitted disease that could kill them and their children. We do know now. How is it that, over a quarter of a century later, our New Zealand laws are still making it difficult for our educators to get the simple facts, across from one generation to another? Surely it is time now that our legislators grasped their responsibilities with courage and encouraged our young to read books like Kaz Cook’s “Safe Sex” and encouraged our teachers to teach the simple facts of contraception.—Yours, etc., HELEN HOLMES. October 10, 1989.
‘Safe Sex’
Press, 12 October 1989, Page 20
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