Cornell Case Exposes Fatal Flaws in Consent-Only Sex Education

Faith Facts

• One in four women experience sexual assault, underscoring the urgent need for a moral framework rooted in Christian teachings on human dignity and self-control.
• Christian sexual ethics emphasize mutual respect, self-giving love, and the sacred covenant of marriage rather than reducing intimacy to mere consent.
• Scripture calls believers to honor God with their bodies and flee sexual immorality, offering a protective vision that modern consent-only models lack.

The disturbing case of Jane Doe and the Cornell Seven has shaken the campus and the nation. The facts reveal that consent alone cannot safeguard young women or instill the moral clarity they desperately need.

Lois McLatchie-Miller argues the scandal forces society to confront the emptiness of consent-only sex education. Consent, she notes, addresses legality but never answers the deeper questions of what is good, true, and honoring to human dignity.

With one in four women reporting sexual assault, the statistics cry out for a better foundation. A Christian vision of sex centers on covenant love, self-control, and the protection of the vulnerable rather than the bare minimum of permission.

Parents and churches must step into the gap left by secular programs. Teaching biblical principles of purity and respect offers young people a moral compass that consent training alone has failed to provide.

Let us know what you think, please share your thoughts in the comments below.