Archive for the 'Chastity' Category

Recently there was this news article about some teenage girls at Gloucester High School in Massachucetts who supposedly made a “pact” to get pregnant together!

One article about this can be read here. I have not heard about anything like this before, and am surprised. I wondered what made them do this.

It’s true that there have been quite a few actresses and singers who have been having babies; perhaps the girls wanted to have babies too! I was thinking that it is beneficial to the pro-life movement to have all these actresses being so happy about their babies. But I didn’t suspect that something like this “pregnancy pact” would happen! (more…)

In last Sunday’s New York Times magazine, there’s an interesting feature story on a new movement among students on Ivy League university campuses to embrace chastity. It highlights in particular an abstinence club at Harvard called True Love Revolution.

Now, not at all surprisingly, the story has some flaws.

At one point, for example, the author, Randall Patterson, mentions the 2004 Waxman Report, which, he states, “found that 11 of 13 abstinence curriculums that his government-reform committee examined were rife with scientific errors and false and misleading information about the risks of sexual activity”.

He says nothing further about the Waxman Report—and he certainly doesn’t refer to its thorough critiques, which show that the Waxman Report itself is full of errors and false and misleading information.

On the whole, though, the article is quite good, and portrays the courageous students who are boldly proclaiming the value of chastity in a favorable light.

The article focuses a great deal on one member of True Love Revolution, Janie Fredell, who has a gift for articulating a range of arguments for why living chastely is a common sense lifestyle choice:

“It’s an odd thing to see one’s lifestyle essentially attacked in The Crimson,” Fredell said. She began to feel a need to stand up for her beliefs, and what she believed in more than anything at Harvard was the value of not having premarital sex. In an essay she wrote for The Crimson, she asserted that “virginity is extremely alluring,” though its “mysterious allure . . . is not rooted in an image of innocence and purity, but rather in the notion of strength.” As she told me later, “It takes a strong woman to be abstinent, and that’s the sort of woman I want to be.”

During the club’s first year, they made a lot of enemies: (more…)

It seems everyone is all about going “green” these days ever since Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize. I’m all into taking care of the environment. I recycle and other such things. After all, we are called by God to be good stewards of the earth. I even wrote a post about it a few years ago.

So it’s no surprise that Seventeen has jumped on the band wagon as well. Throughout the magazine, at the bottom of selected pages, there are tips on how you can go “green”. But here’s one I’m not sure is so prudent (and probably doesn’t really save that much energy anyway). Let me know what you think:

“Save electricity - turn out the lights and have a candle light dinner with your boyfriend!”

Every so often I pick up a teen magazine just to get an idea of what’s “new and hot” as they say, in the teen world. It may not be what all teens are into, but they do read these things (at least I did as a teen from time to time).

As an adult reading them, I’m constantly aware of the contradictory information they print. Is it to show both sides of an issue or to appease parents or other adult so they can say, “Look we showed both sides!” I suspect it’s the latter.

Here’s what I mean. In, “Comments of the Month” (comments from teens about the last issue), I read this: (more…)

If you’ve ever seen The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, you’ll probably recognize the recurring scene in which:

…Bullwinkle would attempt to pull a rabbit out of a top hat (to Rocky’s dismissal: “Again?!” or “But that trick never works!”, and Bullwinkle’s [response], “Nothing up my sleeve…Presto!” or “This time, for sure! Presto!”), only to pull out something unexpected instead (such as a bear), and occasionally even Rocky himself.

It’s funny, because it’s a cartoon, and nobody ever got hurt due to the fact that Bullwinkle was a slow learner.

What’s not at all funny, though, is that for the past several decades, our culture has taken this same Bullwinkle approach (”This time for sure!”) to promoting so-called “safe sex” “safer sex”.

Condoms, condoms, more condoms, and even more condoms are the answer to preventing STDs, right? (more…)

Pop over to Jill Stanek’s blog and check out her most recent post. I think you’ll find it inspiring. I’m planning on heading over to Barnes and Noble to read the ComsoGirl article sometime soon. Perhaps I’ll post on it later.

From LifeSite:

A new American study has implied that any or all types of “sex education” significantly delays the start of sexual activity in teens. But what some news media is downplaying is that the research made no distinction between abstinence education and more mainstream “comprehensive” sex education based on contraception.

In the study, students were understood to have received sex education if they had either or both types of instruction.

Read the whole thing.

Related

• And They Expect to Be Taken Seriously?
• Sex Education Fundraiser to Feature Stripper
• More Evidence that “Comprehensive” Sex Education Is a Bad Idea
• Have a Listen
• What Really Goes On In “Comprehensive” Sex Ed Class
• Very Sad
• Playboy in Bed with “Comprehensive” Sex Ed
• When did Playboy Become Respectable?
• Abstinence Ed. Failure Story Debunked

There are several things I’ve been wanting to post about for a while now, but I’m just getting around to it now.

Here are a few of those “several things”.

Exposing the Truth about Pornography

Bishop Paul Loverde of the Diocese of Arlington (Virginia) has a must-read column titled “Letters from Teens about Pornography”, in which he includes excerpts from dozens of letters he has received from teenagers in response to a pastoral letter he wrote last year titled, Bought With a Price: Pornography and the Attack on the Living Temple of God.

Bishop Loverde’s column begins:

Recently I have been hearing a lot about pornography.

The mail I have received on this issue from Catholics and others around the country gives me hope, even as it confirms the gravity of the threat this scourge poses to us all.

Here is what one high school senior wrote

(more…)

The winners of Project Reality’s annual essay, music, poetry, and poster art contest have just been announced. This year’s topic was: “Sex and the Media – What messages do you think the media should communicate about abstinence?”

I’m happy to see that Sarah Halbur - who heard about the contest from GFL - won first prize in the poetry division! (As you may recall, Sarah also won first prize in the TeenSpeak 2007 essay contest.)

You can see the top three winning entries in each of the four categories here [PDF].

There’s still time to enter Project Reality’s “Teens Speak Out” Contest, but not much. The deadline is Thursday, March 15.

**UPDATE: 3/12, 2:55pm: I just got an e-mail from Project Reality saying that the entry deadline has been extended to Thursday, March 22.**

This year’s format is a little different:

In years past, participants were required to compose an essay to enter the contest. This year, interested teens can enter one of four categories: essay, song, poetry or poster art. This year’s topic is: “Sex and the Media – What messages do you think the media should communicate about abstinence?”

First prize in each category is $500. All Illinois students, ages 13-18, are eligible to enter.

You can find out more information on the contest here.

Good luck!

Reader and frequent commenter Young Christian Woman is starting a ministry called Stand and Be Counted, which encourages couples to name and spiritually adopt an aborted child. Her blog post on the new ministry is here.

The Little Sisters of the Poor are looking for a few good young women. Sister Carolyn Martin has asked us to promote a series of vocation discernment retreats they’re sponsoring in several cities throughout the country this year. More information on the retreats is available here.

Check out this joint statement — “It Started Here. Let It End Here.”:

We are three bloggers who also live in the Dallas area. We are deeply committed to ending abortion in this country. To that end, we have committed ourselves to the following: On each First Friday for the next eleven months, we will fast and pray before the Blessed Sacrament for an end to abortion…

We ask anyone reading these words to join us. Fast and pray with us each First Friday, no matter how far removed you are from Dallas…

(more…)

The highest achievement a Girl Scout can attain is the Gold Award. For a girl to earn this prestigious award, one of her many requirements is to plan and carry out a major service project.

For her project, Theresa Hanntz, a student at Immaculata High School in Somerville, NJ, had the idea of organizing a chastity program at her high school.

The Girl Scouts rejected her proposal, claiming the project was too controversial. (more…)

This past week-end, my brother Eric and I spoke to a group of close to 100 teens on the topic of chastity. The retreat, which was based on the famous Steubenville Retreats, separated the guys from the girls. Even though almost all of my chastity talks are to a co-ed audience, I have to say that there is something sort of neat in speaking to just the girls. I’m sure any woman reading this can relate. I can talk about certain things or not even talk just give the look and they know exactly what I mean. Not that I’m saying anything bad about guys, that wouldn’t be very conducive to the quest for chastity, but there’s just a different feel in a room full of women. It was a nice change anyway. (more…)

I enjoyed this post on Modestly Yours. I have taken to calling Victoria’s Secrect, Victoria’s Brothel. I really liked the final comment (at least it was the final comment last I looked). It nicely summed it all up.

In conjuction with today’s official release date for Dawn Eden’s long-awaited The Thrill of the Chaste: Finding Fulfillment While Keeping Your Clothes On, she and The Raving Atheist bring us “Chastening Thoughts”, the first installment in a new video series.