The state of Mississippi, which has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the country, decided to address the problem last May with a tax-funded rally to preach to teens about abstinence. More precisely, to preach about how Christianity is the key to abstinence. Needless to say, the ACLU has a lawsuit going for this blatant violation of religious freedom.
The ACLU reports that the event included Christian prayers, a sermon on the 10 Commandments, and performances to gospel music. The fine folks at Amplify Your Voice note that Lieutenant Governor Phil Bryant didn't even try to deny it:
"I was so disappointed that the ACLU has decided that we don’t need to tell young women in the state of Mississippi about our faith; we don’t need to explain to them that abstinence, we believe, is related to our faithful Christianity beliefs."
Apparently it's only "young women" who need to learn abstinence - who knew? I thought it took two, but perhaps they had to cancel biology class for the abstinence rally.
The most amazing thing isn't that they're willing to blatantly violate the Constitution and let themselves in for a lawsuit...it's that they're doing this for a program that's so painfully, vapidly, stupid.
The organizers held a contest for a cheerleading squad to come up with the best abstinence chant for the rally. The, er, winner:
Stop! Don't touch me there!
This is my no-no square!
"No-no square?" Did they know they weren't talking to five-year-olds? (One commenter at Amplfy Your Voice observed that the region in question is more of a triangle, but perhaps they also had to cancel geometry class to accomodate the abstinence rally.)
I'm reminded of another abstinence program, Sex Respect (once described by Mother Jones as a program of "breathtaking stupidity"), which got teens chanting these gems:
Pet your dog, not your date!
Control your urgin',
Be a virgin!
Any thoughts on how likely any of this is to accomplish the stated goal of lowering teen pregnancies?