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The school presentations aren't religious, a U.S. District Court ruled in June. But it's no wonder the ACLU was nervous about Silver Ring Thing's mission statement: "To saturate the United States with a generation of young people who have taken a vow of sexual abstinence until marriage and put on the silver ring. This mission can only be achieved by offering a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as the best way to live a sexually pure life."

Abstinence is impossible without Jesus? Silver Ring Thing and the anti-abstinence crowd seem to be sounding a similar note. Are they right? Without a right relationship with God, are we sick and lost creatures at the mercy of our worldly passions? Or are we still moral creatures capable of choosing right over wrong? Can we keep our pants on? Christians may disagree on the answer, but they can't ignore the question.

Copyright © 2005 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

This column appeared in the magazine's September 2005 print issue as the eighth entry of "Weblog in Print," CT's effort to duplicate on paper our popular online Weblog feature. Earlier entries include:

Dirty Qur'ans, Dusty Bibles | If Leviticus or Jude suddenly disappeared from Scripture, would we notice? (June 20, 2005)

Who's Driving This Thing? | Everyone is asking who leads the evangelical movement. (Feb. 21, 2005)

Bad Believers, Non-Believers | Do religious labels really mean anything? (Oct. 19, 2004)

Pro-Abortion Madness | The abortion lobby has abandoned its rationales amid pro-life gains. (Aug. 17, 2004)

Grave Images | The photos from Abu Ghraib have reopened debate on the power of pictures.

Misfires in the Tolerance Wars | Separating church and state now means separating belief and action (Feb. 24, 2004)

A Theoblogical Revolution | Billy Graham's vision goes from print to online, then back again. (Jan. 16, 2004; Weblog update: "New Kids on the Blog," Feb. 13, 2004)

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September 2005, Vol. 49, No. 9