Category: Worldviews
Where to begin? This brief story is the story of our culture. Read it, and then comeback.
Actress Kate Walsh: "[O]ne-in-four teenage girls (in the US) between the ages of 14 and 19 are infected with STIs (sexually transmitted infections), and that, to me, is appalling and shameful."
How did they arrive at this number? Come poll the teenaged girls I know and see if the results are cause for alarm. But the real issue in this statement is that Ms. Walsh is appalled and thinks somebody ought to be ashamed. She is not appalled at the fact that fourteen year-old girls are having sex. That is not cause for shame. No, the outrage is over the fact that these girls have not been educated properly as to how to have sex without being infected. More must be done! And simply telling kids not to have sex is . . .
"[L]ike asking them not to grow. It's like we don't ask people to not try out for sports. We don't ask people to stop learning. It's just a natural human process, and we need to be educating people. If abstinence-only did work, we wouldn't be seeing these kinds of statistics. We wouldn't be seeing these young women suffering like this."
According to Ms. Walsh (an outspoken advocate and supporter and "face" for Planned Parenthood), an abstinence-only program has the same chance of stopping teen sex as a "stay three-feet tall" program has of preventing a kid from growing longer legs and arms. If her logic is right, then girls can't remain virgins throughout her teenage years. It's impossible. Then the analogy changes to compare teen sex with playing school volleyball or studying science. They all belong in the same category.
This is the necessary conclusion for those educated at Darwin University. Since we are just the products of random natural forces, there is no place for any restraint or ethical declarations regarding our behavior. Evolution Almighty has determined that somewhere after the first decade of life (usually), a child gets bigger. So also, it has determined that a child should begin having sex. It's natural. It's good. It's not to be shunned. The only thing to worry about is how to enjoy it without suffering any of the consequences like infection, disease, and unwanted pregnancy.
There is something wrong, however. There is one thing that is morally reprehensible (her words: appalling and shameful). The fact that these young girls are not being taught about the negative ramifications:
"[T]hese young women are being infected because they honestly just don't have the information." Notice the word "because." These girls are not being infected because they are having sex. They are being infected because they have not been educated about the potential for, and protection against, the infections. Let's think about this. When the government determined that lead-based paint and asbestos were infecting children and causing cancer, they didn't say, "Go ahead and use it in your homes, but we want to educate you on how to avoid the hazardous consequences. You should always wear certain types of masks and clothing when you enter a building containing them." No, they implemented an abstinence-only law. But in the case of sex, the concern is not to stop the activity that causes the problem because that would be like asking a kid to stop blinking.
The last thing I will comment on is her revealing (and shamefully appalling) view of the government and parents. Ms. Walsh said, "[T]here just needs to be a comprehensive sex education program, and we can't be relying on, you know, private foundations or parents or, you know, teens' peers to be educating each other. We really do need government help on this." Parents cannot be trusted to determine the sexual practices of their children, it's the government's responsibility. Our savior, our protector, our supplier, our teacher is the State. The government is becoming more and more the god of America. We rely upon it for everything. For health, wealth, printing money when we run out, saving banks from bankruptcy, and everything else in life we turn to the State to be the rock of our salvation. America has many idols, but the most high god is the government.
And in this "Statocracy," what is the role of the parents? Have sex and make babies; and those you don't kill, hand over to the king.