"They have long-term relationships. They have
better marriages. They make more money. They're happier. All the data
is there..."
In order to give credence to Tennessee's walk
down the road to
the Middle Ages *, abstinence-only advocates are coming out of the woodwork
and making outrageous statements:
"All the data is there, and it is time for everybody to
recognize it, both in the church and in the public sector that you know what, the church ladies are having the
best sex!" - Leslee Unruh,
founder of Abstinence Clearinghouse.
"All the data"
meaning that something in Christian literature states that abstinence until
marriage will reduce unwanted pregnancies much more than sex education combined
with birth control. "All the data." Where? To most everyone on
the planet, that data is coming out of Unruh's own private place where the sun
doesn't shine.
Last Monday
Sermon , we talked about faulty research used to further the goals of the
Righteous Right. This example, however, goes beyond those lies because Unruh is
citing research that's too twisted for words.
And
twisted research doesn't count.
The most
pertinent study for AO
advocates has been, of course, twisted to tout absolute success: the study
showed that AO education for 12-year-olds delayed intercourse for only two
years - certainly not until marriage. The study group was also held in question
as not quite applicable to the question of AO. Of course, if you google
"abstinence only studies" this one pops up a lot because of its
popularity.
Earlier
in the interview, Unruh stated an even more unbelievable premise: that sex
education is "really based on profound ignorance about human nature and
what makes for a healthy family." This WTF? moment indicates that Ms.
Unruh has been living on Pluto and is as far away from earth's reality as you
can get: since the beginning of time, man has always had sex whenever and
wherever he wanted. The Church - not man - has set its own limits on sex,
creating guilt complexes and suicides.
Oh, and
the part about relationships and money, sorry Leslee: you failed to
mention that the church ladies also have a higher divorce rate than
non-Christians and atheists**, their relationships don't last, and they make
less money than their male counterparts, speaking of whom, don't get enough
sex.
At this
point, a pertinent paragraph about Unruh - who is now considered the Queen of
Abstinence Only - might
be in order :
Unruh's obsessions include pedophiles, rape, molestation,
pornography, disease, peer pressure to have sex and the idea that having
multiple sexual partners automatically makes sex less intimate. She swears her
daughter never even kissed her own husband until her wedding day. She thinks
that taking birth control pills that limit menstruation is an effort to turn
women into men. She also loves to hand out dolls of baby fetuses.
Life with Leslee Unruh must be so much fun!
So the
best teen pregnancy prevention program is really not to talk about sex at all,
right?
Right.
Comparisons of AO programs to no sex education revealed the same results in
teen pregnancy. And remember "virginity pledges"? They worked really
well! One study over a five-year period showed that not only were
virginity-pledged teens having just as much sex, they were having more
unprotected sex than teens who didn't take the pledge.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
1
1
