Dr. Bock,

I agree with what you said and your approach. I'm all for continuing in it, but I am very pessimistic in its actual effectiveness. It just seems that when we are talking about areas which involve human behavior, we could find all the additional resources supportive of our position, but it is ultimately a matter of the heart change (regeneration) which is needed. Consider teenage sex: It is a moral issue, and as Evangelicals we promote waiting till marriage for sex. I can think of 3 major reasons why waiting is good: Moral/Spiritual, Social, and Physical. I believe this can be documented to be right! From a moral/spiritual standpoint, God speaks much on this subject. From the social issue, even nonbelievers recognize the destruction of a loose lifestyle and the grip of pornography which many times feeds the fire of this behavior. From the physical aspect, keeping one healthy from diseases. Yet, our government refuses to teach abstinence in our schools. Abstinence is the only method proven to work 100% of the time! How much more research is then needed? Yet the schools (I am an educator) dismiss this 100% effective approach and opt for "safe sex" which only addresses the last issue, the physical (LCD argument again). All the studies, speakers, and arguments for abstinence would not change their minds because it is tied to a behavior. I use this as one example, but many, many more follow: homosexuality, gay marriage, abortion, drunk driving, violence, etc. Yet bringing in the spiritual / moral (gospel) aspect is what changes these because it is what changes behavior. Our fight needs to be in having the government support religion rather than suppress it (through political correctness and LCD). President Bush's radio address today did just that!