There are facts and truths that "sexual libertarians" don't want society or public opinion to know, that even they don't want to know. To sum up those facts - accumulated in different human cultures and societies - we don't need sex to live a full life and be content. To define one's identity on the basis of our sexuality alone is to reduce our human value and dignity. I am a lot more than just my genitalia, and so are you. G.S.
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My purpose in these posts is to bring together significant and, where possible, representative echoes of our best human efforts to make sense of our lives - and of our human sexuality in particular - also including the voice of Jesus Christ, the one Saviour of the world, and testimonies from his Church, such as through her teaching voice, the Magisterium. The Church has been accumulating much valuable wisdom granted her by Almighty God since her foundation at Pentecost. In this way, wherever there is darkness in our human understanding, it will serve to highlight the bright and radiant truth, which is Jesus Christ: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also." John's Gospel 14:6-7
Father Gilles Surprenant, priest & poustinik
Abstinence Education Works,Condoms Don’t: New Teen Pregnancy Data By Rebecca Oas, Ph.D | June 30, 2016
NEW YORK, July 1 (C-Fam) New evidence from the United States suggests abstinence education is a reason why teen pregnancy has fallen to historically low rates. Nearly sixty percent of high school students had never had sex, up from 46% in 1991. Meanwhile, another new report links condom giveaways in schools with increases in teen pregnancy.
This
investigation of the impact of the condom distribution programs was published
this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)—more than twenty
years after the fact. It found higher pregnancy rates when students were
given condoms in the absence of counseling, which would explain that abstinence
is the surest method of protection, along with information about the failure
rates of condoms.
The
authors write that their findings “suggest that risky sexual behavior may have
increased in areas without counseling programs,” while noting that there is
“essentially unanimity in the absence of support” within the academic
literature for the hypothesis that handing out condoms encourages such
behavior. Nonetheless, the fact that this study was performed so belatedly
despite the data being available for a quarter century raises sobering
questions about further questions that remain unanswered—and unasked—by the
experts.
On a more
hopeful note, the NBER paper points out that “teenagers today are less likely
to engage in sexual activity and are less likely to become pregnant,” echoing
the latest data on risky behavior among teens from the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC).
According
to the American College of Pediatricians, the key message for teens is that abstinence is
not only beneficial, but also an attainable goal. Meanwhile, the
consequences for sexually active teenagers can be dire: “sexually transmitted
infections (STIs) are on the rise, as is adolescent depression, sometimes
referred to as the emotional STI.”
These
problems are not limited to the United States. Globally, the cost of risky
sexual behavior among adolescents is enormous: The Lancet recently
published a study of the disease burden among
youth internationally, and found that “unsafe sex” is the fastest-growing risk
factor among 15-24-year-olds.
Both
within the U.S. and internationally, political debates continue over how
adolescents should be taught about sex. Proponents of controversial
“comprehensive sexuality education” curricula frequently claim their approach
is “evidence-based” rather than being ideological, and that abstinence
education is ineffective. But according to Valerie Huber, president of a U.S.-based
organization promoting abstinence, or sexual risk avoidance, this is a
“worn-out, disingenuous mantra” based on a selective reading of the “evidence.”
“[I]n
this case, ‘science’ has become the pawn of a larger agenda,” writes Huber,
describing how the U.S. government used flawed methodology to compile a list of
“effective” sex education programs, most of which did not emphasize abstinence.
“Research
confirms that [sexual risk avoidance] is a realistic approach to sex education
and it offers the healthiest outcomes for youth,” writes Huber, citing the
CDC’s findings that teen abstinence continues to rise steadily.
The
message that sexual risk avoidance is both realistic and effective was absent
from the Lancet Commission on adolescent health and wellbeing, which
mentioned abstinence only to say “abstinence-only education is not
recommended.” The Commission, which makes policy recommendations to
global leaders, also bluntly calls on them to legalize abortion.
https://c-fam.org/friday_fax/abstinence-education-works-condoms-dont-new-teen-pregnancy-data/
© 2006-2023 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal QC
© 2006-2023 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
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