The letter below was sent to us yesterday, by a concerned Seventh-day Adventist Church member.
We are in agreement with Jeff Lambert that our schools should adhere to the highest moral standards, including avoiding the appearance of impropriety. The bathing may have been innocently intended, but in the age of Harvey Weinstein, gender confusion and various sexual abuses of females, it's best to draw the line on the other side of none. Bathing suits are readily available and much preferable for swimming, even among same genders. We don't support mixed-gender bathing either, for that matter.
In light of last week's arrest of a former teacher of Fresno Adventist Academy for alleged child molestation, our Church needs to do everything we can to protect students from sexual abuse AND moral failure.
Here is the letter from South Lancaster Academy:
As some of the females were under-age, it sounds like there will be an investigation by the Department of Children & Families. We reached out to the SNEC Vice President for a statement from them--no response yet.
[UPDATE. We received this response from SNEC today:
We don’t have any official statement at this time other than to say that this is under investigation. Thank you for your interest and concerns, but I assure you that SNEC will make an official statement in due time through the appropriate channels.
Once again, thank you for your concerns.]
We hope that the South Lancaster Academy resolves this awkward situation as efficiently as possible, and we hope that the Adventist Message takes this opportunity to sound a renewed commitment to sexual purity, propriety and moral decorum. God calls us to a life of moral freedom!
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"Abstain from all appearance of evil. Now the very God of peace sanctify you throughout: and I pray God that your whole spirit and soul and body, may be kept blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 5:18).