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July 9, 2007
America is
caught in a battle for the health of our youth.
When left to the
common sense of parents, informed and supported by medical facts,
clearly the health of our youth depends on their ability to maintain
sexual abstinence until marriage.
Even the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirms this sexual
abstinence message…although…to avoid public castigation by liberals
bent on social re-engineering, the CDC couches their approval in
careful linguistics: The surest way to avoid transmission of
sexually transmitted diseases is to abstain from sexual intercourse,
or to be in a long-term mutually monogamous relationship with a
partner who has been tested and you know is uninfected.
The average
person attests to the wisdom and truth of this message, citing their
own life experiences…both the bad…and the good. Sex is a wonderful
gift, if treated with respect. Boundaries for behavior are
protective. But wait.
If liberals
could have their way, young people would be taught that all sex is
created equal (uninhibited), and that you can do anything (absolutely
anything) you feel you are ready to do with another person (or
persons) who feel they are ready to do it, too (consensual sex),
hiding behind a bit of latex (protection), without fear of
consequences (free and natural).
If liberals
could have their way, this message would begin early…in
kindergarten…and be legally mandated and federally funded.
But wait. The
only way to proceed with the liberal message of free sex is to
live in denial and ignorance about the costs of free sex.
And, yes, if liberals could have their way, they would have our
children do just that.
The battle over
sex education, from the liberal perspective, is really a battle to
deny truth and to live in ignorance. Truth about sex is being
reaffirmed by research. Only a person who insists on living in denial
can escape the reality of the cost to our youth of promoting “free
sex.”
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Condoms do not
adequately protect against sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
Incurable virus and infectious bacterium live on areas of the body
not covered by condoms and not visible to the human eye.
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Even when
treated and cured, STDs can exact a permanent cost. Infertility is
a painful lifelong consequence of several STDs that wreak havoc on
the reproductive system.
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Incurable
genital herpes, a virus that condoms cannot claim to prevent, now
infects at least one in six over the age of 12. This is one facet
of an epidemic of STDs that infect over 70 million Americans today
and leads to 19 million new cases each year.
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Victims of
STDs are not created equal. Women, with their internal reproductive
system, are more susceptible to STDs and their serious
consequences. Teen girls are at an even greater risk, with their
still-developing tissues and organs especially vulnerable to STDs.
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Emotional
consequences of sex are rooted in the chemical makeup of human
beings. Oxytocin, a chemical released during sexual activity,
creates emotional bonds and vulnerability for women which may
explain the higher rates of depression in sexually active female
teens.
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In spite of
all the HIV/AIDs awareness campaigns over 20 years, HIV infection
continues to occur, with approximately 40,000 new infections
annually. Seventy percent of new infections are in men, and half of
all new infections are in people age 25 or under. Condoms are not
recommended by manufacturers as “safe sex” for anal intercourse.
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The CDC
reports that “[i]n the United States, HIV infection and AIDS have
had a tremendous effect on men who have sex with men (MSM). MSM
accounted for 71% of all HIV infections among male adults and
adolescents in 2005 (based on data from 33 states with long-term,
confidential name-based HIV reporting), even though only about 5% to
7% of male adults and adolescents in the United States identify
themselves as MSM.”
The list could
go on…and on…and on. Yet, safe in their world of denial, liberals
chide medical experts and educators for speaking the truth about the
costs of sex. Preferring denial to truth, liberals dismiss these
facts with epithets such as “fear-based”, “shame-filled” and
“morality-driven.”
Further still,
not content to live in denial themselves, liberals insist on teaching
denial to our children. The consequence of their educational plan is
to send our children into the world totally ignorant of the truths
that could motivate and help young people make the healthiest choice
to abstain from sex until marriage.
No wonder that
college students Dr. Miriam Grossman (Unprotected) counsels at
UCLA are surprised when they realize their emotional and physical
pains are linked to current and past sexual activity. Reared in a
liberal culture that spent years cultivating ignorance, these students
were denied the information they needed to make the best possible
choices for health and happiness.
America is
caught in a battle for the health of our youth. If you want to know
where you stand in this battle, consider the cost. Who is the winner
when we teach denial and ignorance?
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