Another Quick Rant About Politics, Religion, and Sex

Godammit! Obama did it again, and he did it for religious conservatives. I can’t believe that he was stupid enough to do it for fiscal, medical or educational reasons. No it was political. Goddam Democratic Congress shares blame too.

In the final bill, our vaunted health care reform, 50 million dollars per year, for five years – 250 fucking million dollars – was put in for abstinence only sex education.

Why is this a problem? Because it DOESN’T WORK, because it will INCREASE HEALTH CARE COSTS, it will RESULT IN TEEN PARENTHOOD, MAKE AMERICANS SICK and KILL AMERICANS. Man, as a teacher, looking down the barrel of education reform, I’m going to be judged by people who do this to public schools?

Abstinence only doesn’t work. Study after study has shown it. You might argue that a recent study showed that it had results on par with comprehensive sex education. But a breakdown of the numbers showed that this only worked with the 14 and younger crowd. Abstinence only CAN be effective in middle school. But abstinence is a HUGE part of comprehensive middle school sex education anyway.

But when you look at 15 years and older, abstinence only is a disaster. Schools and districts where abstinence only is taught average higher teen pregnancy rates, and higher STDs. STDs include AIDS, and this kills people.

By the way, to put this as part of the health care bill?!! More teen pregnancies will cost the health care system more. More STDs will cost the health care system more. Shit, why not throw in 50 million dollars for cigarette companies to truck their product into high schools while you’re at it. We KNOW that abstinence only DOES NOT WORK. So why so this?

To appease religious conservatives, of course. Religious conservatives, including the child molesting hierarchy of the Catholic Church, are twisted into knots on the subject of sex. And in spite of our lurching into the 21^st century, and in spite of the First Amendment's separation of church and state, these faith-based mores inform legislation.

The state of Alabama recently outlawed dildos. Seriously.

A gun? No fucking problem. But a tool for women to masturbate? Hell no! (Are they going to cut men’s hands off next?) Is there one scientific, logical or socially valid reason for outlawing sex toys? No, just the idiotic gainsay of two to three thousand year old liturgy, written for people trying to adopt a herding society to an agrarian one in Palestine at the fall of the Assyrian Empire, through the hey-day of the Roman Empire. The Old and New Testament are not a good basis for lawmaking. At least not in this new millennia.

(By the way, how do you enforce the dildo law? I mean, you can close all the dildo stores, hurting small business, but what about mail order? Can you imagine all the dildo search warrants? It makes the head hurt.)

Christopher Hitchens wrote a book with the subtitle “Religion Poisons Everything.” As an agnostic, I normally wouldn’t come so strong. But religion has poisoned the state and civic budgets of Alabama, as they have to enforce the ridiculous dildo law. And religion has poisoned the health care reform, making people sicker, not healthier, and making us poorer by 250 million dollars.

Health care legislation should not make us sicker, and at the same time cost us more. And, it should not do so because some Americans interpret an ancient text a certain way in the 21st century.