Abstinence – Chic, Like a Virgin

It’s official: Abstinence is hip. Across the country, young people in growing numbers are saving sex for marriage – and the mainstream media, including Newsweek and the Washington Post, are taking notice. At least six different studies show that the number of high schoolers having sex has declined dramatically in recent years.

To promote the burgeoning proabstinence movement, the conservative Washington, D.C.-based Family Research Council (FRC) has launched “Save Sex,” an ad campaign featuring successful and attractive young people who are committed to abstinence before marriage.

“It’s time for a love that is real and lasting and pure,” reads the “Save Sex” ad appearing in Rolling Stone’s October “College Special” issue. “That’s why we believe in marriage. And why we are saving sex for it.”

FRC points to evidence that abstinence is not only safe, but also conducive to a happier marriage. A 1993 poll commissioned by FRC found that the people most likely to say they are very satisfied with their sex life are marrieds who “strongly” believe sex outside of marriage is wrong.

“This series of advertisements is selling sanity,” the Tampa Tribune said of the campaign. “It is thought-provoking and sophisticated, and it strikes back at the commercial, exploitative rot that the television, music, and movie industries have been perpetrating upon American children.”

One of the ads, “Clean Slate,” features young people who were once sexually active but have learned that “sex without a lifetime commitment is empty.” The campaign also has been featured in the Miami Herald, the Washington Times, and on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Copyright © 1994 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Also in this issue

Cosmic Combat: Philip Yancey explores themes not often captured on Christmas cards

Cover Story

The Other Side of Christmas, Part 2

Cover Story

The Other Side of Christmas

Do We Still Need the Reformation? Part 1

Pentecostals Renounce Racism

Graham Preaches Reconciliation in Atlanta

Alabama Pastor's Murder Prompts Unity

Episcopal Bishop Joins Others on Road to Rome

Should Expectant Mothers Be Tested for HIV?

The Lost Sex Study

Religious Schools Fear Accreditation Changes

Do We Still Need the Reformation? Part 2

Why I Signed ‘Evangelicals and Catholics Together’

BOOKS: Modern Wise Men Encounter Jesus. Part 1

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Russian Orthodox Church's Influence Expands

Will Rwanda Be Rebuilt?

Rachel Saint Dies

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EDITORIAL: For Whom the Bell Curves

News

Pope Lands on Bestseller List

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Close Encounters Across Cultures

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News Briefs: December 12, 1994

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Michael English Launches Second Career

Well-Swilled and Stinking No More

LETTERS: The Population Problem

Fear of Looking Forward

Why We Believe in the Virgin Birth

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Schuller Seeks Theater Converts

ARTICLE: Cosmology’s Holy Grail By Hugh Ross

BOOKS: Friends or Lovers?

BOOKS: Worth Mentioning

Classic & Contemporary Excerpts from December 12, 1994

Conservatives Gain Upper Hand

No Conservative Tide on Homosexual Rights

Michigan Judge Nixes 'Charter Schools'

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