Sex before marriage - are you paying for someone to teach your children that you're going to hell?
Two weeks ago, Governor Mitt Romney (MA) announced that the state awarded nearly $1 million in federal funds to a faith-based organization to teach abstinence to public middle school students across the state.
The federal abstinence-only-until marriage guidelines, which are explicitly referenced within the state’s funding guidelines, dictate that all programs must teach, among other things (see previous blog entry for more info) that
“a mutually faithful monogamous relationship in the context of marriage is the expected standard of human sexual activity.”
One program, Healthy Futures, funded both by the state of Massachusetts and the federal government, meets this requirement fully. The group was formed in 2002 by A Woman’s Concern, a pregnancy resource clinic that describes its mission as “extending the unconditional love of Jesus Christ to those whose lives may be affected by a challenging or unexpected pregnancy…thus empowering each one to uphold the value of human life.”
Exactly whose standard of human sexual activity are we talking about? A 2001 Gallup poll found that only 38% of Americans viewed pre-marital sex as wrong. 60% said that pre-marital sex was okay. And when younger adults were asked, the number was even higher (67%). 80% of Americans admit to engaging in premarital sex. Even 88% of virginity pledgers ultimately have sex before they are married!
While evidence suggests that the overwhelming majority of Americans believe that sex outside of marriage can be acceptable (and in lots of cases, preferable), Christian fundamentalist conservatives continue to produce reports touting the dangers of pre-marital sex and co-habitation.
Spend one hour reading through some of the "science" posted on these sites and decide for yourself how scientifically sound their research is and whether or not the values and principles inherent in the lessons our tax dollars are currently paying for are in line with what you, yourself, believe.
Posted by Jenn on May 4, 2006 4:40 PM
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