CNHI News Service
GOOD HOPE, Ala.
March 03, 2009 03:58 pm
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CNHI News Service
GOOD HOPE, Ala. – Pastor Jerry Lawson said he realized there was a sex-education problem when he arrived home from Sunday services and observed his 4-year-old daughter watching two gays kiss on Nickelodeon.
The devil, he said, was obviously busy spreading lies about the joys of sex, confusing young people and encouraging premarital and casual sexual relations.
To combat the lies, Lawson sponsored a giant billboard ad on busy State Highway 69, set up a Web site with video dramas featuring conversations with the devil, and began a series of online sermons on what God teaches about sex in the Bible.
The “Great Sex God’s Way” campaign has ruffled a few of his flock, but many congregants applaud the pentecostal pastor’s unusual approach to teaching young people abstinence and other positive messages about sex.
“The sign shocked me,” Steve Hines said of the billboard that depicts a bride and groom holding hands next to the name of Lawson's Web site, GreatSexGodsWay.com. “But I thought it was awesome.”
Lawson said he wanted to jolt residents in this north-central Alabama community after polling members of his Daystar Church to find out where they learn about sex.
“Ninety-five percent comes from the devil,” he said. “Only five percent of what people said they know about sex comes from God.”
Dawn Jacobs, a Good Hope resident with a 7-year-old son, said the public nature of Lawson’s sex-education campaign bothers her.
“It is ultimately a parent’s decision to teach their children about sex,” she said. “The first time I saw the sign I was like, ‘Who put this up?’”
Lawson said parents often wait too late to discuss sex, after an unwanted pregnancy or an illicit affair leads to divorce.
“It’s embarrassing and it’s awkward,” said Lawson. “Families aren’t doing it enough, so we are.”
Some 2,000 people from the area attend Lawson's nondenominational church weekly. That's equal to the population of New Hope, which some locals describe as the Bible Belt's buckle.
"Absolutely, we wanted to shock people," said Lawson. "Talking about the issue proactively is the key."
God, he added, "is the authority on sex, and He is being squeezed out by everyone's opinion."
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