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You are here: Home / Politics / Next From the ‘No Shit!’ Department

Next From the ‘No Shit!’ Department

by John Cole|  August 23, 20057:29 am| 11 Comments

This post is in: Politics

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It appears the Bush administration has noticed that one of many ‘Abstinence Only’ programs may have a strong religious component. The clues:

Teenage graduates of the program sign a covenant “before God Almighty” to remain virgins and earn a silver ring inscribed with a Bible passage reminding them to “keep clear of sexual sin.” Many of its events are held at churches.

In filings with the Internal Revenue Service, the organization describes its mission as “evangelistic ministry” with an emphasis on “evangelistic crusade planning.”

Representatives of the Pennsylvania-based nonprofit describe Silver Ring Thing as a “faith-based” group but dispute charges it has commingled its public funds with religious activities.

60 Minutes did a piece on this group several months ago, and the idea that this is anything other than religion dressed up as sex-ed is clear to anyone with a pulse.

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Reader Interactions

11Comments

  1. 1.

    Mr Furious

    August 23, 2005 at 9:24 am

    You can have a pulse, John, just don’t let that lead to any throbbing…

  2. 2.

    Nash

    August 23, 2005 at 9:30 am

    Cole:

    …the idea that this is anything other than religion dressed up as sex-ed is clear to anyone with a pulse.

    Inigo Montoya:

    I do not thin’ that [sentence] means what you thin’ it means.

    As Miss Somerville said so often in 6th grade while holding the Webster’s over those tender knuckles, “Sense recast now.” Please.

  3. 3.

    Nash

    August 23, 2005 at 9:55 am

    Let’t try a snark-free version. John, if your context is at all clear, I really think you meant to say something along the lines of:

    the idea that this is anything other than religion dressed up as sex-ed is clear to anyone with a pulse ridiculous.

    –or–

    the idea that this is anything other than religion dressed up as sex-ed is clear to anyone with a pulse.

    Possibly? Or I could be misunderstanding your intention.

  4. 4.

    Don

    August 23, 2005 at 11:21 am

    It’s amazing how many people have such a flawed understanding of logic and just plain old common sense. I’m sure D Pattyn would prefer said daughter also not drive at unsafe speeds, but does that mean she shouldn’t use a seat belt? Additional examples available ad infinitum upon request.

  5. 5.

    DecidedFenceSitter

    August 23, 2005 at 12:09 pm

    Actually Don the example would be that D Pattyn would prefer her daughter not to drive. Perhaps not even learn anything useful in Driver’s Ed other than “Cars are bad, Cars can kill.”

  6. 6.

    docG

    August 23, 2005 at 12:54 pm

    It still amazes me that fundamentalist Christians put so much effort and money into GOP politics and accept such pitiful crumbs, such as modestly used abstinence based sex-ed programs, as their reward.

  7. 7.

    Otto Man

    August 23, 2005 at 1:25 pm

    Someone keep an eye out for when we start living in “The Handmaid’s Tale,” OK?

  8. 8.

    SeesThroughIt

    August 23, 2005 at 1:29 pm

    You can have a pulse, John, just don’t let that lead to any throbbing

    You almost made me snarf a hot mug of Earl Grey. Not cool. But quite the zinger up there.

    Anyway, aside from being gussied-up religious proselytizing and a bunch of intentional misinformation, these virginity pledges are also completely ineffectual. As such, it’s sort of surprising that Bush hasn’t increased funding for them by a million billion dollars.

  9. 9.

    DougJ

    August 23, 2005 at 7:13 pm

    Great, John, keep up the Christ-bashing. That’s the way to convince us you’re not a RINO.

  10. 10.

    ppGaz

    August 24, 2005 at 2:05 am

    Great, John, keep up the Christ-bashing.

    See, Dougie, this is what I keep telling you. You are going to blow your cover. This last post of yours is just a little too much, you see. You need to take it down a notch.

    There is one occurrence of “Christ” in the thread, Doug. It’s your blurb, as I quoted it here.

    Tell me you are referring to Henry Christ, the inventor of the super-jumbo toilet paper roll?

Comments are closed.

Trackbacks

  1. Donklephant » Blog Archive » Funding Blocked For Faith-Based Organization says:
    August 23, 2005 at 11:12 am

    […] UPDATE: 10:08 am CMT Balloon Juice points to a 60 Minutes piece that shows what the group’s founder, Denny Pattyn, says about condoms. “My own daughter, my 16-year-old daughter, tells me she’s going to be sexually active. I would not tell her to use a condom,” says Pattyn. “I don’t think it’ll protect her. It won’t protect her heart. It won’t protect her emotional life. And it’s not going to protect her. I don’t want her to get out there and think that she’s going to be protected using a condom.” […]

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