Review of The Education of Shelby Knox (2005) by Adam D — 29 Jun 2008

Jesus never said a word about gays. It's true. There are things about being gay in the Old Testament. There are things about being gay in the letters of Paul. However, Jesus never said word one. It makes me fond of the "only read the red parts" method of Biblical study. Further, most of the "sex is evil" nature of the Bible as a whole comes from Leviticus and the letters of Paul. Jesus didn't say much on sex, either. He was far more concerned with "love thy neighbour," which I think fails to include telling them that they're going to Hell for [i]any[/i] reason. But what do I know?

Shelby Knox is a Christian. Some people debate that fact, because she doesn't automatically agree with her pastor about gay people and because she wants teenagers to have all the information about sex, not just "you shouldn't have it." I speak, mind, as someone who was abstinent all through high school and into college. Not for religious reasons, of course, but because I didn't feel I was ready. Shelby Knox took an abstinence pledge because she felt it was right to do so. (I wonder if her pastor knows how many kids violate them.) However, she also felt that it was important for a town with a soaring teen pregnancy rate, one over the national average by a good chunk, to have a real sex ed program. So she led the fight for one. This did not, as you may imagine, make her many friends.

And then, she got involved in the fight for local gay teens to have a student group. This led to the only crisis of faith we ever see her show. She cannot believe that a loving God would send people to Hell for being who they are; she cannot believe that it's wrong for gay people to have sex before marriage since the law and the church say they cannot get married anyway. The only advice her pastor gives is that she should read her Bible, a thing it seems quite clear that Shelby does anyway. The pastor's a singularly unpleasant man whose statistics need some serious backing up.

Shelby is not a 100% likable person. This is in no small part because she's a teenager. (Was, now, I think.) Teenagers are kind of like that, a lot of the time. We can understand some of her crashes, not least, I think, because she's being followed around by a camera crew, even into a private session with her pastor. Her parents are unevenly supportive--fine with her passion when they agree with what she's passionate about. They don't like gay rights as a concept, so they don't support Shelby fighting for them. I suppose it's natural, but it still feels wrong.

Shelby Knox fought for what she believed in. Unfortunately, she fought for what she believed in in a place that didn't agree with her. Her school system really believes that there's some benefit to holding back information. And if you think there is, I advise you to go do your homework--the kind of "education" provided in Lubbock, Texas, is a sign of increased teen pregnancy and STDs, not decreased.