h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Things were starting to worry me.

For a few years Ive slowly been becoming a pillar of the community. I hardly ever do drugs and Im pretty much a law abiding citizen.

The womens rugby team had asked about doing a saucy callender and I vetoed it on grounds of seism and setting a poor example to younger girls in the club. They weere here as athletes and would be respected as such.

Two of them had the hots for me and even though they are both attractive women I put proffessionalism ahead of pleasure.


I was starting to think there was something wrong with me.




Then last night I got the "blasphemer" look from a room full of people.

etc...etc...


We had just been given a presentation about the rise in STIs and the hig rates of teen pregnancies in the borough and nationally.
This man sat in the same room as me and said:

"Regardless of the Fraser guidlines I wouldnt give condoms to a fourteen year old in a scenario where she told me she was going to have sex because that would be condoning it."




The room was full of people who are in a forum for voluntary youth organisations, as we run a youth rugby team we are part of it. Most of the people there were from church organisations, so I guess he thought he was on safe ground.
Wrong.

I held myself together and managed to ask "Would you give a crash helmet to a child who was going to jump off a ramp on their bike even though other people had done it and got hurt."

"No" says he "Because it'd be dangerous and that would encourage him"

"Yeah but you're not listening, he doesnt need you're encouragement he's going to do it anyway! Someone has enough trust and respect for you to talk to you about it and you arent going to do what you can to make them as safe as you can. We know that children have sex whether we tell them to or not, you have the power to protect them but you're going to put your morals before their safety"?

Another faither warned about young women ruining their lives by getting pregnant.



I lectured them about not souring the relationship with young people by being judgemental and using prejudical language like "ruining your life". Particularly as we had just been told about the high rates of PND in teen mums and that there were other options for career developement still open to young mothers.

There, a safe, nuetral answer, that did not upset anyone. Sadly I had become what someone who shall remain nameless likes to call "an angry atheist". So I couldnt resist asking a final question to the forum.

"Anyway did being a teen mum ruin Mary's life"?

An excellent article by George Monbiot in yesterday's Grauniad, blaming faithers for the increase in abortion rates:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/feb/26/health.religion

Amongst interesting points:
- The religious, conservative US has higher abortion rates than liberal, licentious Europe.
- Abstinence-based programmes *increase* teenage pregnancy rates because teens are denied contraceptive advice.

It would have been handy to have had a copy to wave in their faces.

They say that the Netherlands is the European country which allows abortion up till the longest time in pregnancy (?? After more weeks than other countries) but has the lowest abortion rate too.

I guess it is just a matter of education, as in knowing what are the options (and not being brainwashed that some options shouldn't be used anyway). If you're not told what you can do to avoid pregnancy (or diseases for that matter) then, well, no wonder "accidents" happen.

I mean, should we also not tell young drivers about safety belts or drink-and-drive, and just hammer to them 'be CAREFUL and drive SAFELY' and give them moralising looks? Ha!

Or maybe we should deny sick people access to medication because of evil pharmaceutical groups and just let them go to forests and gather whatever plants they find to cure themselves?

Oh no, I'm making myself all angry now

I'd thought, or at least hoped, in the UK at least, we'd actually bothered to learn from previous experiances... Giving people information, allowing them to make choices is th eonly way to go on such issues, even if people BoB-forbid sometimes decide to take what others might view as the 'wrong' choice... Goes for drug education goes for sexual health/sex education... really, what goes aorund comes around and then goes around again and again and again and we all get quite dizzy, if only looking at history in terms of learning from the past could for once be actually seen as a good thing

But if you look at history you might get dodgy ideas from the past, too

I've come across a couple of cases in my semi-professional capacity, in which I don't think that young women in Local Authority care have been given sufficient advice on sexual matters. For some reason, this seems to be regarded as a sensitive topic, and I don't think they have a legal requirement to do so. So given that these women don't have access to parental guidance - not that all parents are up to it - where the **** else are they meant to get it?

yep, sure can... find dodgy idea, E.G., going to war for the wrong reason in a way that won't ever work.... Only teaching people abstanance and not giving information about contraception... but we could* learn from such things too

Better be on the safe side and not learn anything.

What am I saying Of course it's better to know and make informed choice! Even if you end up doing the same choice you would have done anyway, it's not the same.

I'd have done drugs had we had drug education at school or not.... As we did at least I was able to make some kinda informed choice over what I was doing of course, now I'm an adult you'll never find me doing things like that, heck I can't make a trip out of the house until I've done a cost-benifit analysis and health and safety audit of the trip just to ensure its absolutely safe within the relms of statistical probability yeh... reight...

>>safety audit of the trip


A friend was telling me that someone at his son's college died recently. They organised a bus to take people to his funeral, and so had to do a risk assessment. One of the categories was 'Potential for emotional distress.'

The only answer to that is the same as given by (damn! who was it? Brendan Behan?) when he was asked by US immigration whether he planned to overthrow the US government:
'Sole point of trip'.

>>"Regardless of the Fraser guidlines I wouldnt give condoms to a fourteen year old in a scenario where she told me she was going to have sex because that would be condoning it."<<

I would do. They are going to have sex regardless of whether you give them the condoms or not. At least if you do then they will be at a less risk from pregnacy and STIs.

I would however have a chat with the girl make sure she has thought it through properly. Making sure she has the facts and the condoms so she can make her own choice.

Well you seem to be rare amongst the Christians I have met who go around and talk as i their personal beliees give them a duty and right to tell other people what to do and how to live their lives.

It feels patronising to comend you on your attitude because isnt the respect to live how we each want to while respecting others' freedoms how we all ought to act as standard? So I wont but I will say its a nice change to meet a Christian who is forthright and open without being down your throat.

I don't think i'm alone amongst christians being the way I am. There is certain people on here who have no respect for people and don't allow them to have their freedom. Unfortunatly they do it under the banner of christianity. Please dont let a few people you meet with strong opionions marr your image of christians. Most of us are pretty decent people.

Honest

<< There is certain people on here who have no respect for people and don't allow them to have their freedom. Unfortunatly they do it under the banner of christianity. Please dont let a few people you meet with strong opionions marr your image of christians. Most of us are pretty decent people.>>

I hope you don't mean me, Nicky! If so, you've got a false impression of me. I'd say the same about the 14 year old that you do...
It's called "harm minimisation" in public health, and my son has studied it.

Vicky

(I don't think sex for a 14 year old is "freedom" so much as a very mistaken idea of it. So, I'd accompany the condoms with a talk, and try to find out what made her want to have sex, instead of concentrating on her education and her future as 14 year olds should be doing. )

I dont think you are alone amongst Christians and to be sure Ive met people who after knowing them a while Ive been shocked, given their attitudes Ive got to know and actions Ive seen, to find out they had any religious convictions at all.

What my problem is is that people like you dont say, and IM not expecting you personally to do this, to the wider world as aconcerted group "hey we are christians and we think the Pope (or insert public faither of your choice) is not speaking or all Christians and actually our faith leads us to a different conclusion"

Maybe its my gullible attitude to media bias, and maybe it also has a lot to do with what I see other christians and christin groups getting up to.

Then I come to the conclusion that I dont mind christians actually, as long as they back up their position a bit better than just saying. "This is right and that is wrong because my intepretation of what God wants says it is that way"

one love

(I don't think sex for a 14 year old is "freedom" so much as a very mistaken idea of it. So, I'd accompany the condoms with a talk, and try to find out what made her want to have sex, instead of concentrating on her education and her future as 14 year olds should be doing. )

Why is it a mistken idea of freedom?

Why do you imagine that a 14 year old cant give the necessary focus to studying and still ift in a bit of how's your father?

Most teenagers who freely enter into sex do it because its fun and sometimes skateboarding isnt for everyone!

One of the rights of all people is to pursue their life as they see fit despite your assertion about what 14 year olds "should" be doing.






<< There is certain people on here who have no respect for people and don't allow them to have their freedom. Unfortunatly they do it under the banner of christianity. Please dont let a few people you meet with strong opionions marr your image of christians. Most of us are pretty decent people.>>

I hope you don't mean me, Nicky! If so, you've got a false impression of me. I'd say the same about the 14 year old that you do...
It's called "harm minimisation" in public health, and my son has studied it.

"Harm minimisation", I prefer to call it supporting peoples informed decisions.

As for the description that you assume is of you why are you even here reading it. You say you're ignoring me then ollow a link to my journal, funny way of ignoring me you have Della.

Please do keep up the transparent lies and "Christian" bile any attempts I make to discredit the nasty "this is what God says" BS you regulary pour out her is greatly helped by what you do the rest of the time.

Thank you

There is a big stink over here in These United States over an HPC vaccine. Some of the states wanted to make it mandatory in middle school. The idea was to catch kids before they become sexually active. The specifics of it escape me but it has to do with preventing cervical cancer. Some people especially in the religious community freaked the F out about it. I suppose they would rather have their daughters die of a rather painful and easily preventable cancer or their sons pass along the virus that causes a rather painful and easily preventable cancer to their partners than appear to be encouraging them to have sex.

Because sex is dirty








At least it is if you are doing it right.

My ten year old daughter gets her HPV jab next week. Yes, there were some minor religious rumblings here also on te grounds that it might 'send the wrong message' - but I doubt it's going to make her want to rush out and have sex. Not for a couple of years, anyway.


This 'send the wrong message' notion is potty, isn't it? They (at best!) to be saying that things like vaccinations, barriers and contraception give the false idea that sex is safe. Isn't that a bit like saying that railings give the false idea that cliffs are safe?

"instead of concentrating on her education and her future as 14 year olds should be doing"

I thought at 14 you were still allowed to be enjoying life, and that worrying about your future and working hard wasn't supposed to kick in until you're 15?

Maybe it's different for girls though?

I don't think I started thinking about my future until I was 25. Still, I was most of the way through a PhD by that point so I guess it didn't matter...