The Huffington Post had a really interesting bit today about religion and abstinence, written by a college student.  She attended an event called "Abstinence Works: Let's Talk About It," which was sponsored by the Mississippi Department of Human Services.  They played some loud music, drove in busses of young people from churches, and talked about god and abstinence.  The article also included this great video, showing what actually went on at this event:



I support completely the idea of teen abstinence.  For some people, their teen years is not a time when they want to be having sex, and I think that is a highly responsible choice. Jews, Christians, Muslims, blacks, whites, and everyone else can choose to be abstinent for as long as they want, and I respect that.  The problem with this abstinence event was not that they were pro-teen abstinence. The problem is that they censor important health information and ways to stay safe for teens who DO decide to have sex.  They also use fear and shame to educate, which is always a bad idea. 

A speaker used the analogy of “Fire is good in the fireplace”, referring to sex within the context of marriage.   This insinuates that sex outside of marriage is as dangerous as a hot fire burning out of control, and this is not a good way to look at things.  Perhaps they should consider that gay marriage is illegal in 44 states, and that abstinence before marriage simple doesn’t work for a certain group of people because they can’t get married.  They also use the terms promiscuous sex and premarital sex interchangeably, sending the message that anyone who isn’t a virgin on their wedding day is promiscuous.  This is an opinion; many teens that are not virgins find it very insulting.  Teens are capable of having sex responsibly, but that only happens when we are given complete factual information about our sexual health.  Want proof that abstinence Doesn’t work? Check out this quote from the Huffington post:

Mississippi has spent more than $16 million in abstinence only programs, yet the state ranked number one in teen births in 2009, and in the top five in numbers STD infections. Mississippi even took the number one spot in 2006 as the state ranking highest in gonorrhea infections.