Ines Scheibe, member of the executive committee of the Humanist Association of Germany, yesterday judged a resolution by the Forum of German Catholics to be a “reactionary and unrealistic action”. On September 10, 2011, the statement by the forum, which includes Bishops Joachim Meisner and Gerhard Ludwig Müller, opposed the “active undermining” of parental educational rights through “manipulative sex education in kindergartens, schools and other institutions”. According to this Catholic organization, adolescents are being violated in their “natural sense of shame” by “inappropriate and shameless teaching content” and sexualized in a way that violates their personality. The accusations are directed, among other things, against the Berlin initiative “Self-determination and acceptance of sexual diversity”, which has been setting an example in the fight against homophobia since 2009. “Of course parents have the right to raise their own children according to their own ideas,” said Ines Scheibe when looking at the resolution. At the same time, sex education work in schools and daycare centers is a valuable and indispensable part of the state’s educational mandate, which supports and complements individual education by parents, Scheibe continued. “The resolution is now apparently aimed at excluding all adolescents from the content of sexual education, which is uncomfortable for a number of particularly conservative theologians. The aim is to irresponsibly curtail the right to education.” Today, sex education encompasses informative, educational, value-forming and communicative aspects, serves to find identity and develop tolerant personalities who are capable of self-determined and responsible behavior and who treat their fellow human beings with respect, but without stereotypes and prejudices. This requires the cooperation of all social authorities and an orientation towards reality rather than dogmas and special wishful thinking. According to Scheibe, the signatories of the resolution would have been well advised to have familiarized themselves with the simplest scientific findings in biology, psychology and education when addressing the issues raised. “And the unrestricted right of parents to raise adolescents to become fearful, complex or homophobic personalities who are highly incomprehensible in matters of human sexuality should not be allowed to be enforced under the guise of religious freedom.” For Ines Scheibe, the accusation of manipulative sex education by state authorities voiced by the Forum of German Catholics is characterized by an obvious double standard. The criticism of a violation of children’s sense of shame through teaching materials must be rejected by any reasonable person in view of the deeply guilt- and atonement-ridden sexual morality of official Catholicism. Finally, Ines Scheibe also pleaded for the actions of other groups with similar moral concepts to be carefully observed so that the protection of children and young people from the consequences of a half-education characterized by antiquated views and ignorance remains guaranteed. Education in the area of sexuality and couple relationships should continue to be a task that must be carried out in the family and at school in equal measure and in cooperation, so that a positive attitude towards love and sexuality can grow in children and young people.
“It makes an important contribution to developing self-determination and life skills in young people and counteracting the risk of physical and mental harm,” emphasized Ines Scheibe.
