Deception, Duplicity And Double Standards
Before his party could even finish celebrating its taking a narrow majority in the Virginia Senate, Planned Parenthood publicly and, shall we say, coincidentally, enthused over Democrat Governor Tim Kaine’s elimination of a $275,000 abstinence education program, an action taken on the hush-hush several weeks before election day. Nothing like right after an election to shed the moderate, “I’m-a-Christian-too” persona by standing shoulder to shoulder with lefties like Planned Parenthood, ostensibly in a budget balancing move.
So, this is how the governor intends to cover his overspending? If this is so crucial to fiscal prudence, why not announce it before the election? (For those who think values issues don’t matter in elections, why did the governor hide this budget cut?) As they say, timing is everything. (Sound familiar? Remember the urgency of former Governor Mark Warner’s record tax increase? Curiously, he didn’t reveal the record surpluses until after right after he signed the tax hike into law.) Speaking of Warner, even he, also a Democrat fiscal Chicken Little, funded abstinence education each year of his term.
More important than budget shenanigans and public deception, the real shameless duplicity here is that these programs work. The Commonwealth’s own Department of Health has a whole section on its Web site devoted to abstinence education. (Better check it out quick — he may cut that, too, what with Web hosting costs skyrocketing.) In fact, the most comprehensive longitudinal study on the subject illustrates the success of these programs — not only in reducing teen pregnancy and disease, but also in children’s education, including college, as well as economically and in living stable adult lives. The VDH Web site even cites a successful Texas program.
But if the budget was a true concern, Governor Kaine, where are the cuts (much less the complete elimination) of taxpayer money to Planned Parenthood? Why the double standard, what’s the truth and is your motivation anything but a political reward to a specific group at the expense of teaching what’s right to children and not reinforcing parental authority over what their children learn?
Governor Kaine needs to hear from you. So do our delegates and senators. Here is the message I sent to the governor:
Subject: Abstinence is Good Economics
Message:
Dear Governor Kaine:
I was extremely dissapointed that you have cut off abstinence education funding. Research from the Center for Disease Control shows that the creation of a Culture of Abstinence does indeed result in a reduction or delay in sexual activity. This translates into a long-range savings for the Commonwealth in social services and other areas.
To do this as a ‘cost cutting’ measure makes little sense as you [we] will pay for it later.
Kids want strong leadership. To wimp out ‘because they’ll do it anyway’ is to forget the dramatic
reduction in smoking rates created by a ‘culture of non-smoking.’ Healthy behaviour can [and should] be held up as a model. I pray you will reverse this decision and support the responsible parents of the Commonwealth in their message.
The problem with abstinence-only education is that it’s not evidence based. Abstinence as part of a comprehensive sex education program is appropriate. The abstinence-only message, combined with opposition to same-sex marriage is particularly harmful to GLBT kids.
I’ve seen harmful programs produced by the abstinence-only industry. Shelby Knox described the Lubbock Texas program that she fixed in her film, “The Education of Shelby Knox”. Keith Deltano, a “Christian” abstinence “educator”/comedian visited two Loudoun high schools. I attended his parents forum, and would not recommend any future contact between Mr. Deltano and children. You can see a photo of his shtick at Virginia Just Says No.
Bob,
You can create a “culture of abstinence” in a comprehensive curriculum. Thanks for your link to the VDH page. I liked this statement:
“According to a recent analysis of the NICHD-funded Add Health Survey, religion reduces the likelihood of adolescents engaging in early sex by shaping their attitudes and beliefs about sexual activity.”
At least we have the admission that a “culture of abstinence” is really a “culture of religion”. Thanks for that.
p.s. Hope you all had a good time at the gala. Sorry that David and I missed it. Maybe next year.
Sounds to me like Religion is a Pretty Good Thing!
Also, how much evidence is really required to show that when we expect kids to take personal responsibility, they generally do? A few posts back I mentioned an English study that showed a decrease in teen pregnancies in the 1980′s when a court ruling temporarily restricted them from unrestricted access to ‘reproductive health’ clinics.
Planned Parenthood is a major abortion provider [conflict of interest?] and seems very much in step with founder, Margaret Sanger. Those who want Planned Parenthood providing our children’s sex education would do well to read some of Ms. Sanger’s beliefs. If you don’t like some of the abstinence presenters, simply compare them with Ms. Sanger. Your real beef is that you want to use the schoolroom and the law to legitamize a lifestyle that not everyone believes is healthy. Parents’ rights and the developmental needs of adolescents are not your prime concern.
If they were, you would address the very real objections to graphic instruction in ‘how to’ with ‘values’ checked at the door.
Bob K,
Civilized, and may I say Christian conversation requires respect on the part of both parties. When one party assigns motivations to the other, as you did with the quote below:
“Your real beef is that you want to use the schoolroom and the law to legitamize a lifestyle that not everyone believes is healthy. Parents’ rights and the developmental needs of adolescents are not your prime concern.”
That party has crossed the line by assigning thoughts to the other that they cannot possible know. In this case you informed other readers of a belief – my “real beef” – that I don’t have. In the future, ask. Don’t assume. My real real beef is that our culture, both secular and Evangelical Christian trains our children to embrace rigid gender roles, and to punishes people who deviate from those roles. Ask yourself how the Evangelical community can support what I call a “football culture” that sexualizes women – they’re cheerleaders, and men – they’re broad shouldered warriors, while it rails against “liberal Hollywood”. I find the contradiction baffling.
That was my beef with Keith Deltano. He did exactly that. He actually taught these rigid gender stereotypes while he railed against “liberal culture”. If you go to the “Virginity Rocks” web site you will see that he’s turned “purity” into a commodity. In the most vulgar representation of that commodity, a young girl sports a tight hot-pink tee-shirt with the slogan “I’m Worth the Wait!”. What kind of a message does that send to hormone-surging her male classmates?
If I may be so bold as to make a presumption, I believe that my “real beef” may be the same as yours. Sex education should predominately values-education. The medical and how-to should be a small part of the broader values-oriented curriculum. The medical how-to *should* be taught, so that when that “pure” couple marries after high-school graduation and consummates their relationship. They both know how to put on a condom. That’s a needed life skill that most parents are not equipped to teach.
See Bob K,
You get me talking about sex, culture and “real beef” and I hit submit before I’m ready. Shame!
The grammar police asked me to correct a few things:
Change:
To:
Change:
To:
Sorry about that ;-(
This information was in the Governor’s budget-reduction plan that was announced weeks ago. The Family Foundation could have read the information about the funding being eliminated just like any other organization that chose to go online or obtain a hard copy and read it.
The programs don’t work.
Victoria Cobb has stated, “the Virginia Department of Health conducted a study last year that found a majority of teenagers agree with abstinence-only sex education.”
Just because a majority of teenagers agree with abstinence-only education doesn’t mean it works. I might agree that hamburgers are wonderful to eat every single night but it doesn’t mean I should do it.
It would be great to think that we should teach abstinence-only education but the plain REALITY is that it doesn’t work. We can turn and run or we can be smart and otherwise for the health and well-being of our children.
Families who can communicate with their kids and want to communicate an abstinence-approach should do it. But who really got an adequate “sex talk” from their parents? Most parents don’t know how to do it!
I’m a high school teacher and I know for a fact that my students do not hear the information they need to hear from their parents. I know this because I hear them talking in the halls, in class, etc. about the fact that their parents are clueless about the things they are doing (I teach at a private Christian high school!!). Further, my students do NOT know the facts. They are plain wrong (one girl who got pregnant told me she heard that she could do a handstand after sex and not get pregnant). She actually TRIED that. Lo and behold — 16 and pregnant (and “Christian” — taking “abstinence” classes).
What you don’t know can kill you. I for one – as the teacher of these kids and as a parent of a young child who I hope grows up healthy and happy – want them to know all of the FACTS. Just in case. Because you never know. It’s like the old adage…better safe than sorry.
The reality Ms. Cobb/Family Foundation is that we are in a budget-cruch and it times of severe deficit (as Virginia is in) the government must look to inefficient programs to get rid of waste.
Giving matching dollars to an ineffective program is not fiscally-responsible.
I say good for them for doing so (and I’m a conservative Republican voter).
Bottom line: I don’t want my precious tax dollars going for some program in the public schools that evidently isn’t working. Waste of my dollars.
Thousands of years of human culture and all of the world’s great faith systems support abstinence. In fact, if you want rigid gender roles, visit the Hindu or Muslim world. Please learn the difference between forceful argument and disrespect.
You continue to assert that abstinence education is ineffective, yet you do not present a lot of evidence. Why won’t you deal with the evidence presented by the British study? Build a culture of abstinence and most kids get to be kids and there is no social cost. You do admit to wanting to redefine gender roles. Many faith traditions besides Christianity have problems with that. Would it be reasonable to say you need to make your case in the marketplace of ideas rather than thrusting change upon society by means of law and the curriculum.
Love the title of this post. “Deception, Duplicity And Double Standards” could easily refer to the Family Foundation. For a group that seems to despise public schools (one poster here referred to them as “state indoctrination centers”) they sure want a hand in shaping the curriculum. How about a post about the Family Foundation’s attempt at “Composing a bill that would require the teaching of Creationism/Intelligent Design as an opposing view to Evolution in Virginia Public Schools.” (Taken from a recent Family Foundation “Information Alert.”) Sounds like a good “budget balancing move” to me!
Oh, where gender roles are concerned, Victoria Cobb has benefited greatly from the changing (or should I say evolving) roles of women over time, particularly in the Christian Conservative sphere. If evolving gender roles weren’t widely accepted, Mrs. Cobb would not be where she is today.
Bob K,
My comment refered to the “abstinence-only” message as practiced by “Christian” “sex-educators” like Keith Deltano. I’ve seen their work product first-hand and found the condescending “shame-talk” to be just the sort of message to damage self-esteem and increase risky sexual behavior.
There are many studies on the topic such as Draw the Line/ Respect the Line that can be used by educators to formulate programs suitable for their student populations. The study cited supports my gender roles hypothesis.
I must admit that I didn’t ready your British study because, from your introduction, there was no control group. If you believe that the conclusions are more than incidental, convince me to read it or post some conclusive evidence for all of us to evaluate.
I would argue that what I refer to as the “football culture” attempts to define gender boundaries in a manner that truncates human development and harms relationships. Did you know that the divorce rate among professional athletes is 70%? I’m not sure about the rate among football players. It’s probably comparable. “Christian” right fawning over coach Dungy (he’s protecting what?) and Joe Gibbs and by extension, their endorsement of “footbal culture” is hypocritical in the face of all the hand-wringing over “liberal Hollywood culture”.
Jesus broke with the rigid gender roles of his time. Read the Bible.
Jonathan:
Are you advocating Equity Feminism, an ideology that aims for full civil and legal equality, [which I agree with] or Gender Feminism, the idea of much of modern academic feminist theory and the feminist movement which aims at the total abolition of gender roles and structure of the society which they claim is still dominated by patriarchal structures?
In light of Michael Vick and Barry Bonds’ recent problems, I opined to a friend that it might be a good thing if all these kids who sign for multimillion dollar contracts had the money put in trust funds while they had to live on $30,000 a year allowances for the first five years.
Kids who’s mothers rased them on somewhat less than that amount are suddenly multi-millionares at the young age of 24! Think of the false sense of consequence-free living that the sudden windfall of wealth might bring.
Yet there are plenty of Cal Ripkens out there as well.
Bob K,
I’m not familiar with the terms but will give you the benefit of the doubt.
Equity Feminism seems to be the direction that mainstream institutions are heading. I have been involved with churches that continue to direct women *not* to teach men, and they are having a difficult time enforcing that policy.
Gender feminism seems implausible in male-female marriages. In same-sex marriages – my expertise – it is entirely plausible, but we digress from the topic.
What type of feminist was/is Jesus?
How does the Bible define marriage?
Bob K,
As I look back over this thread, I see many unanswered questions that do relate to the topic. How did you find them? Too hard? Too inconvenient? Not important? I would like to hear your thoughts and I’m sure other readers would too.
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