HERBERT W. ARMSTRONG P.O. BOX 431, TUCSON, ARIZONA 85702
Jerusalem
November 3, 1980
Dear PLAIN TRUTH Subscriber:
Once or twice a year I like to send a personal letter to our subscribers of this very unusual MAGAZINE OF UNDERSTANDING.
I write my "PERSONAL" page and articles for you every month. You are constantly in my thoughts. And right now I am deeply concerned about something that I want to write personally to you about.
I have been deeply concerned lately about the fact that FAMILY LIFE in America and the western world is fast breaking down. Especially since World War II, morals have gone from the gutter into the cesspool and now down deeper than that!
They call it the "New Morality." But IS it "morality"? It's time we all stop and think a moment. WHY should there be any morality?
It's time we look at this question sanely, unashamedly, frankly, without false modesty, and come to an UNDERSTANDING of the TRUE VALUES—of what is BEST for US—for teenagers—for parents—for every one of us.
I am the father of four children, of grandchildren and now three great grandchildren. I'm not an old-fashioned prude, and on the other hand I know we should UNDERSTAND what we accept and believe, and on PROOF know WHY we believe it.
In my position as editor of magazines, as educator, as a foundation chairman, beside being a minister of the living God—and as one who works for world peace and knows personally perhaps more heads of government over nations than any other—I have had to be SURE that I KNOW the truths of such phases of life as morals.
You know, we become so engrossed in our day-to-day activities that we sometimes do not fully realize what is happening to this civilization in which we live.
If FAMILY LIFE breaks down, all civilization will break down and go into anarchy. A solid FAMILY structure is the foundation and backbone of any healthy and enduring society!
This world has emerged from the age of "hush." A moral revolution has swept the world. Few under 30 today have any conception of what the previous 4,000-year world was like morally. Few of you over 30 or 40 are really fully aware of the extent to which the "New Morality" has progressed!
We need seriously to realize we live today in a DIFFERENT WORLD! Sex is everywhere discussed among teenagers and those under 30—and to some extent among those older. Sex is today almost as promiscuously indulged. vLet me give you a brief and swift overview after one year in the '80s. It ought to shock every individual out of complacency, into sober realization of where we are heading now!
In the United States now, ONE MILLION teenage girls become pregnant UNMARRIED every year! Conditions rival this in Britain, Europe and Sweden!
A responsible survey reports 50% of U.S. teenage girls have lost virginity in premarital sex—beginning age 14 and under! Today teenagers are indeed "wise" in sex discussion and sex experience, but woefully still IGNORANT in sex KNOWLEDGE!—especially in what is BEST for THEM, and WHY!
Of course, almost NONE is receiving any intelligent teaching in real UNDERSTANDING of sex from their parentsl Parents seem as embarrassed in teaching their children as ever!
One mother insisted her husband speak to their six-year-old son about the "facts of life." Dad was terribly embarrassed. Finally he worked up courage.
"Son," he said, after taking the boy alone into a private room, "I—I—I think—ah—maybe we'd better have a little talk about—ah—sex."
"Oh sure, Dad," said the boy, "What'd you like to know?"
Sex IGNORANCE is testified by the fact of 250,000 reported cases of gonorrhea annually in the United States. Probably only one in four to ten cases is reported!
What about MARRIAGE? How did MARRIAGE get started? Few know. But today there is a definite conspiracy being used in newspapers, television, magazines and books to DESTROY the marriage institution and the FAMILY life. Few children even eat with their parents at home any more!
Today only 13% of American families include a working father, a stay-at-home homemaking and child-rearing mother, and one or more children!
Over two-and-a-half million American men and women avoid marriage altogether—yet live together as unwed heterosexuals or as homosexuals!
By 1990 a virgin standing at the marriage altar will be a phenomenon! Many psychiatrists and psychologists are asking today, "WHY any marriage at all?" They offer several options instead of marriage!
These FACTS ought to arouse every one of us.
What was the Creator's PURPOSE in marriage, the FAMILY structure and sex?
All our PROBLEMS in society today are of a spiritual nature—including sex. But what is the CREATOR'S purpose in all this? How did He intend sex to be used? Only for reproduction? That was a religious teaching for many centuries; yet, shockingly, THAT IS NOT God's teaching in the Bible! The fact is, religion, Christianity, has never UNDERSTOOD the true biblical teaching straight from God the Creator!
Parents sorely NEED this knowledge—the missing dimension in knowledge. It's PLAIN enough once you see it in your Bible. Single people need it. Youths need it. Children need right teaching from parents. But most parents either could not properly teach their children—or else have felt too embarrassed.
Teenagers need proper knowledge, yet heretofore it has not been available to them. In this age of pressures toward promiscuity, blinded by false teachings, adolescents cannot be expected to resist premarital sex unless their minds are opened to intelligent acceptance of GOD'S purposes and laws for our GOOD —for a more abundant and truly pleasurable and happy life.
Married people need this knowledge if their marriage is to be preserved and happy.
Early in the decade of the '60s this need was pressed heavily upon me. Every book or manual I had been able to procure gave purely physical knowledge about sex, without understanding of the joys and happiness our Creator had intended when He designed and produced the reproductive system. God intended it to have a spiritual as well as physical function—to endear a husband and wife in true spiritual LOVE (something far greater than lust)—and to BIND husband and wife as ONE—spiritually as well as physically—to protect and preserve the marriage in sacredness, happiness and joy.
THERE WAS NO SUCH BOOK!
I went into an in-depth research through the writings of gynecologists, M.D.s, and even psychiatry M.D.s; and, in collaboration with M.D.s and Ph.D.s, and even further biblical research, produced the book THE MISSING DIMENSION IN SEX. A few years later a revised edition was published. Today the "New Morality," falsely so called, has made such sweeping changes, a new edition has been thoroughly updated as of December, 1980. There has never been a book like it. It is as frank as any work by a doctor or gynecologist. God Himself is not a prude, but God speaks to us frankly and plainly. I feel He inspired this book, bringing out not only the physical knowledge necessary, but the spiritual phase of the sex function as God would have you understand it.
In due time, I hope by early spring, it will be on sale at bookstores over the United States, Canada and Britain.
I DO NOT WANT TO SELL IT TO OUR SUBSCRIBERS, and so I have decided to offer each subscriber a copy of this updated, revised edition GRATIS with my love and thanks to you for your interest in The PLAIN TRUTH. I have already delivered the revised manuscripts over to our book publishers, Everest House.
On your request, I will have your special free copy mailed to you as soon as Everest House delivers the books to our Pasadena offices. This is NOT a booklet—but a full-sized book. God has shown me how needful this is, and I am happy to be able to offer it gratis, with my love and compliments.
I'll try to keep you updated on world conditions as they progress through The PLAIN TRUTH. By the way, it may interest you to know I am writing from Jerusalem, November 3. The United States presidential election is tomorrow. Today I had a good long talk with Prime Minister Menachem Begin at his office, accompanied by Mr. Stanley Rader as usual, and also with the mayor of Jerusalem Teddy Kollek and with our dear friend and former Israel consul general of Los Angeles, Michael Ravid. The prime minister left an important meeting in Tel Aviv, taking the one-hour drive to Jerusalem for our private meeting and then back to finish the meeting at Tel Aviv.
When I mentioned how considerate it was of him to make this special effort to see me, he said he would rise up in the middle of the night to see me. Our meeting ended in an affectionate bear hug. He was very gracious and considerate. He gave me a special overview statement on the Middle East situation for our PLAIN TRUTH readers. I have decided to give him and President Anwar el-Sadat of Egypt together a big cover story in The PLAIN TRUTH, either the January or February number. I am to have a private meeting with President Sadat next Sunday or Monday. Our photographers are along, and you will see pictures of these important Middle East meetings. These heads of governments know I am doing what I can, as God leads, in bringing PEACE between nations —although real peace will have to be brought at last by the living Jesus Christ, returning to earth in all the supreme POWER and GLORY of the Great GOD! He will come to this city—and, thankfully, soon!
Don't forget to order your special copy I have reserved for you of the revised edition of THE MISSING DIMENSION IN SEX. If you are a parent of small children, this book will show you HOW to explain this important subject to them—and try to get it to them before they get it from other children!
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