CULTURE OF LIFE STUDIES PROGRAM
A Life-Affirming K-12 Educational Program
By Mary Flores
The threats to our children’s future are devastating. Today’s young people are not receiving a solid education in the basic understanding of the dignity and value of human life. We see this in what one teen from a Catholic school wrote to us about the threat of euthanasia:
Another big thing is euthanasia or mercy killing—killing someone if he is dying. To me it is not that bad if someone is old and suffering and he wants to die and you take him off life support. I don’t see that as bad. What is bad is when he doesn’t want to die and you do it anyway.
The sad thing is, this student isn’t alone. Many young people today, even those who have grown up in good Christian homes, believe the lies that our twisted culture spouts at them.
There is a dire need to educate students on the dignity of persons at the end of life; to teach them the truth about the value of all human beings, the sacredness of the sacrament of marriage, and the necessity of the family as the building block of society.
The good news is that such a program exists. The Culture of Life Studies Program does all of that and more!
The CLSP is a K-12 program that provides teachers and parents with the tools they need to help their students become evangelists of the culture of life—a culture that respects the dignity of every human being from creation to death regardless of age, appearance, or ability. The program has been endorsed by Cardinal Raymond Burke and Fr. Frank Pavone (founder and president of Priests for Life). Every CLSP lesson is created with the help of pro-life leaders and subject-matter experts such as Dr. Dianne Irving, Bobby Schindler, the members of the Healthcare Advocacy and Leadership Organization, Philip Lawler, attorneys from the Thomas More Law Center, Coleen Kelly Mast, and a host of other priests, doctors, lawyers, and educators.
CLSP materials are positive, engaging, and flexible. Unit studies can be easily integrated into an existing curriculum, and the materials are appropriate for even the youngest students.
For the past several years, the CLSP has been a program of American Life League. During that time, God has blessed this program with many successes. Here are some highlights:
- Since 2015, the CLSP has released a full line of pro-life educational materials for students in preschool through 12th grade.
- Over 175 schools across the US and Canada teach CLSP lessons, including the entire Diocese of Wilmington, Delaware, where the program received its first diocesan-wide endorsement.
- CLSP materials were granted an imprimatur and nihil obstat by the Most Reverend Michael F. Burbidge, bishop of the Diocese of Arlington.
- In 2017, the Culture of Life Studies Program shared its Who Was the Real Margaret Sanger? video and discussion guide with 14,000 pilgrims (mostly young people) travelling to the March for Life. Who Was the Real Margaret Sanger? has also aired repeatedly on EWTN, sharing the truth about Planned Parenthood with an even wider audience.
Given the success the Culture of Life Studies Program has enjoyed and the team’s reliance on God, the program recently took a huge leap of faith. We have now officially separated from American Life League to form a new organization—Light and Shield Ministries!
Under this new ministry, the Culture of Life Studies Program will continue its important work of serving parents and teachers. Light and Shield Ministries will include more much-needed programs, like Life Defenders (a youth outreach program) and other life-affirming initiatives.
Leaving American Life League presents us with both opportunities and, obviously, challenges. This next year we are poised to triple the number of schools teaching CLSP materials, we’re working with several dioceses to secure diocesan-wide endorsements, we have multiple lessons in the pipeline (including a revision of our euthanasia lesson for high school students!), and we have plans to attend several pro-life and educator conferences, which will provide an essential opportunity to spread the word about our program. But to continue our important work, we need your help!
I hope you will take the time to learn about this important life-affirming program. Truly our future depends upon it! Visit the CLSP website atcultureoflifestudies.com, click on the yellow “store” button in the upper right-hand corner to be directed to the CLSP store, and peruse the incredible life-affirming, educational materials we have created for students of all ages.
Would you like to ensure that the next generation is equipped to take up the fight to defend preborn children, respect all human beings from creation until death, and speak the truth with confidence in defense of the innocent?
I invite you to join our team of ambassadors for life by committing to pray for our efforts, offer your financial support, or by working with me to introduce your local schools to the CLSP.
Please e-mail me at MFlores@CultureOfLifeStudies.com or call my direct line at 540-907-9648 to learn how you can support this crucial life-affirming educational program. And watch the next HALO newsletter for an article on our newly revised edition of Euthanasia: An Introduction! We have expanded this lesson to include three classes, which examine the complex topic of euthanasia by peeling back the layers of rhetoric to show students what is really at the heart of end-of-life issues. Using Church documents, this supplement provides students with a basic understanding of the Catholic Church’s teachings on euthanasia and gives students the tools they need for defending those teachings against cultural attitudes and pro-euthanasia arguments.