Last night, I had the joy of seeing my dream of a "Chastity All-Stars" author event come to fruition, as Wendy Shalit, Dr. Miriam Grossman, Laura Sessions Stepp and I, along with Cassy DeBenedetto of Princeton's pro-chastity Anscombe Society, united for an evening of Modest Proposals at Washington's Ethics and Public Policy Center, co-sponsored by my employer, The Cardinal Newman Society.
Soon, I should have some photos and video available of the event, but for now I'll just say that the event was a success beyond my imaginings. Seventy people — including college administrators and staff from George Washington University, Catholic University of America, American University, and University of Maryland, as well as numerous D.C. policymakers — packed the EPPC conference room, standing room only, to hear the speakers discuss the problems of sex on campus and offer solutions.
Having corresponded with Wendy, it was a special delight to meet her for the first time, as well as to share ideas with her and the other participants. Many thanks to my co-promoter, New Atlantis managing editor Mary Rose Rybak, all the participants, and everyone else at the EPPC and the Clare Booth Luce Policy Institute who worked to make it happen.
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Upon coming home late last night, I checked in with Teenwire, Planned Parenthood's sex-ed Web site. The featured article, "Teens and the Double Standard," was a stark reminder of why discussions like "Modest Proposals" are so very needed.
The article laments that " young women who seem to be more sexual or sexually active are more likely to be viewed negatively, while young men who seem to be more sexual or sexually active are more likely to be viewed positively. It's all about appearances" (emphasis mine).
That is the message that young women are receiving from American campus culture — that sex outside marriage is not only morally neutral, but — so long as partners "protect" themselves — is psychologically and physically neutral as well (if not outright positive). Planned Parenthood and its allies brutally insist that those who seek to inform young women of the potential harmful effects of "protected" sexual activity are seeking merely to repress them.
The Teenwire article continues:
Since the 1960s, researchers have been studying how society accepts the double standard and how it affects the sexual experiences of men and women. For instance, men are socialized to view sex as a conquest — those who have more of them are more "manly." On the other hand, women are taught to limit their sexual encounters to one monogamous relationship. Not surprisingly, these two opposite views can create lots of tension and many misunderstandings between sex partners of different genders.The article makes no mention of the fact that monogamy is the healthiest choice, physically and mentally, for men and women. This relativism — actually, far more dangerous for youths than relativism, in that it favors promiscuity — is par for the course for Teenwire, as I wrote in my exposé of the site for Touchstone.
Incidentally, the author of "Teens and the Double Standard," Lisa Schulter, appears to have quite the career ahead of her as a Planned Parenthood flack if her blog, Ranting for a Revolution, is any indication.
Multer displays just the sort of rabid anti-theist rhetoric that Planned Parenthood loves, mocking "Crazy Christians." She writes of the 40 Days for Life event that took place outside Planned Parenthood's Aurora, Ill., megacenter: "Basically, they're asking their supporters to keep a presence 24/7 for 40 days. It's supposed to be a peaceful protest, with lots of praying. Participants are also encouraged to fast for the 40 days - because apparently, that's how one gets God's attention. If starving really gets God's attention, I don't think people in Ethiopia would be so skinny."
Reading zingers like that from a writer whom both Planned Parenthood and NARAL consider one of its best and brightest, I can't help but wonder: Who's out of step with mainstream American values? The 90% or more of Americans who believe in God? The 50% who believe it should be illegal to abort children for the simple reason they are unwanted? The 85% who believe abstinence should receive as much or more emphasis than contraception in sex education? Or the organization that protects child predators while expending great effort into sexualizing children, all the while raking in more than $300 million from taxpayers annually?
TAKE ACTION: Contact your U.S. senators and representative and urge them to support Sens. Brownback and Vitter's bid to defund Planned Parenthood.
