[Royals]  God And Abstinence

“Stop, don’t touch me there! You know this is my no-no square."

Some might argue that spending $16 million on "sex education" of this sort is an appalling waste of money, but I say that it is only through sufficient pep that we will reduce teen pregnancy. We must have the courage of our hypocrisy, the sanctimony of our baloney, and the rectitude of our pulchritude if we are to have any hope of keeping Satan out of our underpants.

“Stop, don’t touch me there! You know this is my no-no square."

Money well spent!

This is absolutely atrocious! I certainly do not want my tax dollars going to spread religious views under the guise of "abstinence education". Had the event centered around STDs, real pregnancy rates, costs of a child, etc., I would be more amenable. It seems this event, as Kate says, is both confusing and nonfactual. Courts have already ruled that school-led prayer is not allowed, this seems to go way beyond a teacher having the class say grace before lunch (as I was forced to endure as a child in South Mississippi and, from what I hear, many kids today still endure in many rural schools)
I wonder what a tax payer could do to bring this blatant abuse of taxpayer dollars into the open and have it ceased? As a parent, I'm sure there are some rights, but for those of us not directly involved, it may be more difficult. I would certainly take that case myself.

I'm trying to picture playing Soulja Boy music at a "religious" rally.

We must have the courage of our hypocrisy, the sanctimony of our baloney, and the rectitude of our pulchritude if we are to have any hope of keeping Satan out of our underpants.

Well said, Brian. Classic...

At the risk of getting yelled at again for going against the preferred beliefs of the JFP.... ;)

Abstinence works if you practice it. Since we do have the #1 Teen Birth rate, it means there are a lot of teenagers who aren't Abstaining.

...which means that abstinence, as a public education policy, doesn't work.

I didn't mean to be so abrupt, Iron, but when I saw that cheerleaders were doing a "no-no square" dance, the absurdity overwhelmed me.

The central issue is the so-called State Department's flagrant proselytizing for evangelical Christianity in the name of "sex education." You can see a video about the event here, courtesy of the ACLU.

If I may quote the invocation for this state-funded "educational" event:

"Lord, I just thank you for this morning, I thank you for this gathering that's here, today Lord. You're so wonderful that you can bring this together, Lord. Lord, I pray this in your precious name, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

Couldn't he have at least mentioned the State of Mississippi, which paid for the event? Incredibly, the rally was the "Fifth Annual Abstinence Works, Let's Talk About It! Teens Speaking Up Summit." Or as I like to call it, the "Fifth Annual Abstinence Works for a While, Let's Talk About It, Most Adults Don't Wait for Marriage But Keep Your Mouth Shut, Official State of Mississippi Bible Camp."

God forbid, literally, that we teach teens how to be responsible adults. The hypocrisy here sickens me, because these "educators" pretend like they were plucked from nunneries. Yet, almost every adult has sex outside of marriage. If we use children to project "the way things out to be," we simply saddle them with our anxieties. I know only a couple of adults who married their first sexual partner. Sex education should teach teens about what is actually happening with their bodies. Any American has the option of going to Sunday School, and that's a wonderful thing. But school should be school, not some misinformation revival.

More "rules," courtesy of state-sponsored Judge John Hudson:

"Where did these rules of abstinence come from, to begin with? Well it all begins as you well know, with our Creator, when he created you and me. He looked at us, and what did He say? After He created human beings? He said, 'This is good. This is good.' ... And what God said was, 'Abstain. Stop. You see, He knew clearly what was best for us.'"

Actually, I'm pretty sure he said "be fruitful and multiply"...

Oh, I can imagine how absurd it looks. Abstinence does have a place however, in the curriculum. I'm not sure I like the government teaching sex ed. Too many things there kids should ideally hear from parents.

I know life isn't like that, however.

"The State of Mississippi put on this teen summit, and advertised that it was going to be sponsoring this event. It selected all of the speakers. It allowed a Christian sermon to take place under the umbrella of an event that it was sponsoring." - Brigitte Amiri, ACLU

In short, why does our message to youth have to be so dishonest? We should be able to say, "It's better to wait until you're an adult before you have sex. But we are going to teach you about your body and birth control. You should know that there is this thing called 'the condom.' Please use a condom if you have sex."

Madness!

I've always been a bit unclear on how you teach "abstinence" if you cannot explain what the students are supposed to abstain from. Because, uh, that might mean they'd do it.

I believe abstinence is a good idea for young people. I do not believe that government has any right trying to legislate it, nor do they have any idea how. Abstinence programs are much more about the adults pretending to be virtuous. People will spend a lot of taxpayer money pretending to be holier than thou.

It'd be a different argument if it was actually working. As it is, it is ridiculous waste of taxpayer money on the facade that it *ought* to work.

Oh, and cheers to Kate, a former JFP intern. This piece first appeared on Huffington Post, and we asked to reprint it. I've asked her to write more columns for us.

Some teens do choose abstinence. For others, abstinence is chosen for them...

We should be honest with kids and provide full disclosure as part of a sex ed course. Abstinence is the best way for a young person to avoid pregnancy and STDs. Those that desire to be sexually active, condoms are a must, even if they not 100% against any and all STDs or pregnancies, and this should be explained in detail.

For the rest, a jar of hand cream and box of tissues is sufficient...

May I have her number?