Article uncovers abstinence as a growth industry, fueled by tax dollars

[DeepModem Mom]

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: Federal funding fuels faith-based push for chastity
Goal:Abstinence for teenagers
BY MARK MINTON ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

....Under the Bush administration, the federal government has doled out $781 million to programs that discourage teenagers from having premarital sex. The steadily increasing grants, many of them to faith-based charities, are making virginity a growth industry and creating a boom for abstinence promoters like Cindy Crawford of Fort Smith.

The abstinence-until-marriage program Crawford began out of a cardboard box in the back seat of her car now boasts 10 full-time employees, a budget rich enough to fly everyone on staff to at least one conference a year and an office suite set up as a Wi-Fi zone.
With $2.4 million in federal grants, Crawford’s nonprofit Tree of Life Preventive Health Maintenance Inc. is the No. 1 abstinence promoter in Arkansas.

Tree of Life’s rapid expansion demonstrates how local charities are mobilizing to take the government-financed abstinence message to schools and streets in hopes of preventing teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases....

***

With the abstinence staff fast outgrowing its rent-free temporary quarters in Hannah House, Tree of Life requested federal funding for bigger offices. In its successful grant application, Tree of Life said that an office suite had recently become available that offered “an ideal configuration of space"...Tree of Life did not disclose that it owned the 3,200-squarefoot apartment house itself or that it intends to use it to expand the pregnancy center....

http://epaper.ardemgaz.com/Repository/getFiles.asp?Style=OliveXLib:ArticleToMail&Type=text/html&Path=ArDemocrat/2006/10/29&ID=Ar00101&Locale=
(NOTE: This entire article is worth reading.)

[bluedogyellowdog]

1. Oh the irony

Before the sexual revolution, teen pregnancy and out of wedlock birth rates were far higher than after the sexual revolution.

Pushing abstinence *causes* teen pregnancy.

"Virginity a growth industry"?? - :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[JVS]

7. That's not Ironic at all! The sexual rev was ushered in by the Pill!

There is nothing surprising or strange about teen pregnancy and out of wedlock birth rates going down with the advent of easy reliable birth control.

[williesgirl]

2. But we can't feed our poor - this is parents' job - recommended

[WinkyDink]

3. That's a lot of money to say "Just Say No".

[JohnnyLib2]

4. Have we had a "mission accomplished" announcement yet?

I've heard many teens snicker about these programs.

[kdmorris]

5. Yoga is an occult activity??

"On admission applications, girls must circle any occult activities in which they have been involved — including horoscopes, Ouija boards and yoga"

That's a pretty narrow view of the world. These are some corrupt, scary people.

[DeepModem Mom]

6. That's why I recommended reading the whole article --

can you believe???

[kdmorris]

11. If I hadn't known so many people like that while growing up

I would think that some of this stuff was made up. But it's not and that's scary.

[bluedogyellowdog]

9. hoo boy

These look like the kind of people who believe everything from Jack Chick and Pat Robertson.

[valerief]

8. Hmm, a lot pricier than Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" campaign. nt

[DaveJ]

10. They are combining Church and State

Hannah House requires its residents to attend church services twice a week at a church of Crawford’s choosing. The girls’ daily schedule includes biblical counseling and Bible studies.

On admission applications, girls must circle any occult activities in which they have been involved — including horoscopes, Ouija boards and yoga — and explain any involvement in eastern religions or groups such as Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Seems un-American to me for a government funded organization to get involved in one's spiritual beliefs.

[DeepModem Mom]

13. They are clearly violating that Constitutional principle. nt

[VeggieTart]

12. Holy shit!

Crawford said the girls who come to stay at Hannah House — some as young as 12 — have already made up their mind to have the baby

:grr:
A 12-year-old girl encouraged (bullied?) to carry her pregnancy to term? WTF?!

:grr:

And the bit about yoga being considered an occult activity pisses me off, too.

[DaveJ]

15. Seems sort of pointless

I would bet that most the girls there say they are Christian, so does that mean Christianity leads to teenage pregnancy??? My guess is the administrators would not blame the spirituality of Christians for their situation, but they would blame the spirituality of non-Christians.

This really is the epicenter of the social problems we face in this country today. If one befalls any problem, it is because of something they did wrong. Nobody is ever a victim of circumstance. This government wants us all to feel as though we deserve every bad thing that happens to us and that we are entitled to no help from others whatsoever. We are conditioned to constantly feel bad about ourselves. Of course the rich have nothing to worry about.

[undeterred]

14. Have you heard of re-virginization? Maybe its a cottage industry.

I have a friend who dated a born again Christian who had gone through a divorce. They had sex a few times, then suddenly she started a divorce class at her church. They told her she could/should become a virgin again if she went for a certain period of time without having sexual intercourse... :freak:

[DeepModem Mom]

16. weekday kick

[bleedingheart]

17. What is even more hypocrtical is the fact that the same people

funding this program are the folks who normally say..."keep goverment out of our lives"...

Now they fund programs to parent for the parents.

Personally I think the fact that parents don't teach their kids about sex, birth control, abstinence..etc at home are the problem...they are the ones not doing their job....