Celibacy and the city

[CHIMO]

In British cities this week, pretty young women from America have been going up to young men in the street and announcing that they want to talk to them about sex. "Sorry, too busy..." the men reply, hurrying past, before suddenly halting and turning to exclaim: "Sorry, what did you say just then?"
The Americans are promoting the idea that young people should not have sexual relations before marriage, which is an inversion of the usual British tradition of abstaining from sex after marriage. These no-sex tourists are part of a movement called the Silver Ring Thing, so called because once you have taken the pledge you wear a ring featuring a quote from the Bible so that your mates know you are a virgin. Obviously, British teenage boys are fighting to get hold of these things.
The campaign has received $700,000 from the Bush administration, which favours "virginity training" in place of information about contraception. This represents a marked shift from the previous administration; for some reason Bill Clinton decided against a personal crusade on sexual abstinence. But now, overpaid, under-sexed and over here, the Silver Ring Thing is spreading its gospel in British cities.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,5673,1247118,00.html

[WildClarySage]

1. Please keep them there

we don't want them back.

[DustMolecule]

2. That's really a fun one to read!!!

The Americans are promoting the idea that young people should not have sexual relations before marriage, which is an inversion of the usual British tradition of abstaining from sex after marriage.

That's not just a British "tradition"!!! ROFLMAO

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. A perfect summing up of the situation

European countries such as Sweden and Holland that have the most accessible contraception and progressive sexual education programmes also have the lowest rates of teenage pregnancy. Of course, lower poverty rates may well be a more significant contributory factor, but the Republican religious right that spawned the Silver Ring Thing is no enemy of poverty. "I know I pledged not to screw the American people ..." weeps George Bush, "but I couldn't help myself. All my friends were doing it, and I finally cracked."