A controversial American “chastity preacher” has sparked outrage among parents who do not want him to speak at their children’s schools.
Parents and students are asking their schools to cancel a series of appearances by Chastity Project founder Jason Evert.
Mr Evert, from Arizona, intends to give his “love or lust” lecture at St Leo’s Catholic College in Wahroonga in northern Sydney, St Joseph’s Catholic College in East Gosford and MacKillop Catholic College in Warnervale on the central coast of New South Wales.
He will “discuss relationships without judgment,” reads a letter to parents of children in schools.
Parents were told that the conference would include topics such as the virtues of chastity, virginity and the negative effects of pornography, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Chastity Project founder Jason Evert will deliver his “love or lust” lecture at three Catholic schools on the NSW Central Coast next week.
Parents of children in schools complain about Mr. Evert’s controversial talking points, which include pornography addiction, modesty and the value of abstinence.
This will be the seventh time Mr Evert has given speeches in Australia as part of the Chastity Project “outreach programme” which seeks to “educate” children around the world.
A St Joseph’s mother, Alison Read, told the outlet that she did not want her daughter to pick up any ‘outdated views on staying “pure.”
Another parent, Sarah Greenaway, wrote a letter to the Catholic Diocese of Broken Bay about how Mr. Evert’s “perspectives can be harmful and alienating” to students.
In a book he wrote in 2006, Evert claimed that homosexual acts were “disordered.”
Even though Evert claimed to have deleted the quote more than 10 years ago, Greenaway insisted in his letter that his views did not “align with many of the teachings of modern Catholicism.”
Video comments the chastity preacher posts online have also sparked backlash, including one in which he says “most women don’t want” to take the birth control pill.
An online petition launched by parents and students of St Joseph’s to cancel their event featuring the preacher received more than 700 signatures in one day.
Responding to the backlash, Mr Evert told the publication that “the only reason I’m being invited back” to Australia to give more speeches is because people like it.
‘TThis presentation is not about hatred, intolerance or medical misinformation, I“It is a positive message that focuses on chastity as a virtue that frees us to love,” Mr. Evert said.
“And on the topic of modesty, I think it’s a virtue that both men and women would do well to rediscover.”
Even though Evert’s lectures are not mandatory, an online petition to cancel his appearances garnered 700 signatures in one day.
A parent at St. Joseph’s Catholic College, East Gosford, took particular issue with Evert once calling gays “disordered.”
The Evangelization Center of the Catholic Diocese of Sydney hosted Mr Evert’s ‘love or lust’ lecture in 2023.
In the presentation, Mr. Evert used statistics to show how abstinence reduces divorce rates and that immodesty can lead to objectification.
“I didn’t even know how to treat a girl until I dated one in college who dressed modestly,” he said at the time.
On another tangent he said that if a woman “thinks she’s ready to have sex, (but) isn’t ready to be a mother, then she has no idea what she’s talking about.”
TO The Broken Bay Catholic Schools spokeswoman said guest speakers like Mr Evert can provide “peace of mind and certainty” for students’ relationships and sexuality.
Mr Evert’s sessions will not be mandatory for students due to the sensitivity of the issue, but parents told the ABC that no one had informed them of that case before the controversy.
St Joseph’s headteacher Carolina Murdoch wrote a letter telling parents their comments had been passed on to Mr Evert.
“Jason appreciated the opportunity to receive feedback and assured that his presentation will be done in a very compassionate and charitable manner,” the letter said.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Jason Evert and Broken Bay Catholic Schools for comment.