oh, and that creepy bush administration…

Posted in Godless bastard, Politics by Ashley : October 10, 2007

While in Maine I saw this creepy TV ad. It seemed to be about teens waiting before sex. Now while this is a fine notion, waiting until they are mature/informed enough to make good decisions regarding: choice of parters, birth control, std’s, etc… This ad ended up following none of those angles. Its angle was only that they should “wait until marriage”.

Well, now that is a bit different. While that theory does follow the “good old American dream” stereotype, in this day and age, when some people have no interest in marriage or children and some people have children and life long committed relationships without marriage and some folks cannot legally get married? It seems a bit dated.

But not just dated… Please let me know if this is incorrect but the only actual reason that I am aware of for people to wait until “marriage” for sex is one of religious belief. A notion of sin? Now while that alone doesn’t make this ad bad, as religious entities are well and free to make advertisements expressing their views… This ad was paid for by the US Government!

To have the government espouse religious views is not only offensive to those of us who follow no religious creeds, but it seems to cross the line of what is generally considered to be the appropriate separation of church and state. As in, it seems to be the federal government suggesting that people should follow the beliefs held by some particular religions. And while we know that the current Government believes this way (mandating religion) as one of their “many signs of illegitimacy”, broadcasting this stuff so blatantly on television ads is certainly gall of a higher degree.

Comments (2)

2 Responses to “oh, and that creepy bush administration…”

  1. Thud on October 11, 2007 06:27

    Amen and testify. I am sure it will infuriate you to know that this abstinence-until-marriage advertising program is supposed to be expanded to cover the 18-30-year-old set as well.

    Their argument is that marriage gives you the economic and social benefits you need to raise a child (should one occur) and you don’t get STDs from a monogamous relationship. So it’s not a religious argument, but a social policy argument.

    The anti-choice argument and arguments against birth control are an attempt to keep the economic threat of having an unplanned pregnancy alive.

    Of course, marriage is not a guarantee of fidelity or economic support. And I know a lot of people in my neck of the woods who believe sex out of marriage is a sin; a lot of those same people have married very poorly, sometimes several times. So I would think the actual metrics on the success of abstinence-until-marriage would turn out rather poorly.

  2. Ashley on October 12, 2007 07:22

    I can see the Social Policy justification for this, but I still feel like in this case, it is a cover for spreading the evangelist message that includes: No sex until marriage, pro-life, anti-birth control and anti-gay marriage…

    But I maybe just be a pessimist about the Bush administration who doesn’t think that they do anything for the right reasons.

    At this point in time, marriage guarantees none of these benefits. If they want to pursue it as a social policy, maybe they should follow the angle of “practice birth control and safe sex, be selective about who you marry so that you can avoid fidelity issues, and work through your marriage problems.” That would do much more to prevent STD’s, unwanted children and divorce than not having sex until you are married. While I do strongly support marriage, I really just don’t see any connection with abstinence, aside from religious morals.

    The issues of STD’s and unwanted children also happen to people who are married and having young people be more educated and guided about sexual issues is a better cure then the “don’t tell them anything except, “don’t do it!”” strategy.

    I didn’t get married until my mid-30’s and that didn’t cause any STD or child-rearing issues. And I certainly don’t see any point to erasing all of my relationships up until that point, as those experiences have made me a better husband and father.

    But yes, to be brief… I guess I do now see that there are non-religious reasons for this abstinence message, but I doubt the intention.