2.03.2005

Christians/Bush promote Don't Ask, Don't Tell STD prevention


Day of Purity

Days after major study shows abstinence-only programs failing, Christian conservatives launch rebranded abstinence-only program for year 2.

The Day of Purity website says, "The Day of Purity is a day when this nation's youth can make a public demonstration of their commitment to remain sexually pure, in mind and actions."

This come on the heels of a report earlier this week, a Texas Department of Health study found abstinence-only programs failing. In some cases the programs don't even mention sex, and in all cases, the discussion of birth control is forbidden.

The author of the study conducted by researchers at Texas A&M University concludes, "These (abstinence-only)programs seem to be much more concerned about politics than kids, and we need to get over that," he said.

President Bush will spend nearly $900 million over five years for abstinence-only programs in what has become one of the most expensive efforts of indoctrination and social engineering to take place in the western world outside of war efforts.

Another report made public last December found, "subjective conclusions or outright falsehoods regarding reproductive health, gender traits and when life begins. In some cases, Waxman said in an interview, the factual issues were limited to occasional misinterpretations of publicly available data; in others, the materials pervasively presented subjective opinions as scientific fact."

Teenagers who are taught abstinence-only are ill-equipped to protect themselves if they should become sexually active. The CDC data shows 61 per-cent of high school seniors have had sex. The students receiving abstinence-only education face greater risk given the lack of information and misinformation taught in these programs.

All the data in public health points to giving youth information to make their own informed decisions. The failure to provide the information can lead to ruining the lives of our youth. The Day of Purity are just the latest effort of a political agenda that has been advanced very successfully by the right wing and evangelical Christians bent on turning America into the Kingdom of their God.

The Day of Purity and Don't Ask, Don't Tell STD programs are bad news for all children, worse for gays. The programs focuses on heterosexual behaviour and are sponsored by organisations that vigourously fight gay rights and programs supportive of gay youth.

There are a few countries in the world that use these kinds of methods to control populations. To name a few, Iran, North Korea, China and Saudi Arabia.

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