lauren winner, one of my favorite authors, has written a fantastic little piece in the new york times (wow!) on the failure of chastity pledges, and her suggested alternative. the site requires free registration to access the article.
i think i can get away with copying the the first paragraph…
THE recent Harvard study that found teenagers’ virginity pledges to be ineffective should come as a surprise to no one. Several studies had already come to that conclusion. If we are truly to help our teenagers adopt the countercultural sexual ethic of abstinence until marriage, Christians concerned about the rampant premarital sex in our communities need to rethink, rather than simply defend, young people’s abstinence pledges.
well said.
So “True Love Waits” doesn’t work!?
Ah man, I signed my name on a wall of lies!
I always thought that those pledges were for the parents to feel better than for the kids.
What an idea! – rethink something that isn’t working! Unfortunately, this is a new idea for much of the Christian community…
So lets rethink it. I teach in a public middle school and I can tell you first hand that some of these students are more active than my wife and I.
I have been able to share my storie and thoughts with some of my students, and I think it has helped to be real with them. You should see their faces when I tell them how much the hospital charges for a “normal” delivery.
Peace
Saulnier
Attempting to curb such a strong natural desire by shear will power is only effect for those with very strong will power or very little temptation. Why not have someone with a weight problem sign a fasting pledge it would have similar long term results. Normal desires are never overcome only replaced by greater desires. Unless you can build a desire and belief in something better within the heart of a teenager you are spending a great deal of energy for a very small result. Remember “Thou Salt Not“ was replaced with “All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient”.