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Christianity Today, January (Web-only), 2009 |

SPEAKING OUT

It's Never Been about the Abstinence Pledge Itself

Researchers should ask what causes teens to abstain, not whether a public vow is a magic bullet.

Christine Kim and Robert Rector | posted 1/23/2009 11:07AM

Virginity pledges are under scrutiny once again. A recent flurry of media headlines has not been kind, thanks to the latest study on the subject. But studies can be just as misleading as headlines sometimes ...

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Anonymous

Posted: January 27, 2009 11:01 AM

If the average age of sexual initiation for non-permissive, religious young people (they're not teenagers anymore then, are they?) aren't any of them married by that age? Also, does this refer only to vaginal intercourse or any sexual activity at all? I knew a lot of Christian teenagers who were engaged in other sexual activities but still called themselves "virgins." More detail would be illuminating.

Hravn

Posted: January 27, 2009 1:12 AM

I was a sexuality educator for ten years. Because of my religious background health teachers and school nurses frequently asked if I had a problem about teaching all aspects of birth control and STD prevention (how to use a condom correctly, right to obtain birth control or treatment for STDs) I replied that nothing in my faith prevented me from giving honest information on any topic. I witnessed some of the best known abstinence advocates in Texas misrepresent data to support their point. I had no problem with people who said, "I believe the best choice for teens is to abstain." I felt outrage when people who presented themselves as Christians attacked the character and faith of people who did not agree with their position on sexuality education. We saw an example of this during the election when some conservatives tried to say Barack Obama supported sex ed for kindergarten kids, emplying this was about teaching age inappropriate information. We're losing credibility with kids.

Matt	Posted: January 26, 2009 2:27 PM


Thanks CT for going back to this and covering it in more detail than the initial article on this. I appreciate the journalistic integrity.

Alyson

Posted: January 25, 2009 8:35 PM

I think that saying a pledge is good, but am not an advocate of abstinence only education. It is wrong to not teach kids how everything works and that there are various options available. Limiting their education because of their religion is wrong on principle and on par with book censorship to me, both censoring books and teaching abstinence only education remind me way too much of something called the Inquisition. Children should be taught everything and their parents should guide their values so that they ultimately make the correct, Christian choice. I will not censor my children or allow them any part in an abstinence only education.

G Green

Posted: January 25, 2009 1:22 PM

Interesting to note that Ms Kim's article not only minimizes the failure of abstinance programs to produce real, measurable abstinance, but also that this recent report shows that those in these programs are less educated about, and use less, contraception. Christianity is morally neutral if it puts no one at risk. But when christian-promoted abstinance programs leave children uneducated as to how to protect themselves from pregnancy and potentially life ending diseases like HIV/AIDs, then christianity itself choses to become immoral. How many unwanted pregnancies will occur or how many people will have to die of preventable STDs until christians realize that "just say no" just doesn't work? Information, education, and an honest approach to sexuality is the only way to show "christian" love.

Nexus

Posted: January 25, 2009 12:43 PM

I will agree with some of the respondents to this article and say that just 'taking a pledge, oath or vow' does not magically make it realized in a persons life. Thousands take marriage vows every year only to have them broken. Remaining abstinent is a day by day circumstance by circumstance driven mind set. Daily re-examination of ones convictions are needed if you can be successful at it even if you don't wear a silver ring or have a pledge certificate mounted up on your wall.

OneWayforward

Posted: January 24, 2009 1:27 PM

God NEVER said anyone can overcome sin by vows, pledges, promises, covenants, oaths, etc. These impart no ability to perform them. They are expressions of our misplaced faith in OUR ABILITY to please God. If we could do so Christ's death and the Gift of the Holy Spirit are unnecessary. Do we understand salvation better than God? Absurd! Those teaching such things are enemies of the cross, proclaiming a false humanistic gospel. The Bible has been around for nearly two thousand years and many still regularly fail to demonstrate any understanding or trust in what God says.

G. Brown

Posted: January 24, 2009 8:39 AM

This article is quite informative and it clarifies previous reports. I pray that this article makes it in the hands of mainstream media which tend to distort the facts and strong Christian ethics. There is much more to be taught to the students other than "Don't Do It." There needs to be an exploration of why that young child wants to have sex, what they may be missing in their lives, how they view love, etc. Unfortunately, whole life teaching does from the UU perspective still opens the door for the sin of sex. Okay, their numbers how overall that teen pregnancy is low (sorry, I know UU teens and there are still instances of pregnancy amongst them, so the program is not quite working 100%). What needs to be explored is the SIN in sex before marriage. Pre-marital pregnancy is the end product of sinful behavior, not the sin itself. Abstinence is the best teaching when it comes to that teen's relationship with God overall, but so much more need to be explored in this teaching.

Carie

Posted: January 23, 2009 7:00 PM

Yes it does take two but as usual the pro-lifers who push Abstinence Ed focus on the girls. Children who are spiritual (not religious-there's a difference) at my Unitarian Universalist church participate in "Our Whole Lives" curriculum which is across the age spectrum to aging adults. We teach comprehensive sex ed. We don't have teen pregnancy nor STD problems. Human Sexuality is your entire life whether you want to realize it or not. If you don't realize it you hurt yourselves and you hurt the children/youth of today. Not all teens are Christian, there are other faiths and many faiths have joined the "Our Whole Lives" teaching. "Our Whole Lives" is a joint venture between The United Church of Christ and Unitarian Universalists and it works period.

M J Spaulding

Posted: January 23, 2009 6:34 PM


The article was informative. My question is do any boys take the abstinence pledge? Are they asked to? It takes two to tangle.

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