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Stop dumping on the teen age girls; they did not get pregnant alone. As I said, teen age humans have been having sex with each other, and some adults, since the beginning of time. I believe unwanted, and not all are, pregnancies are the result of ignorance. Teach the kids, boys and girls, all about sex before they are fertile. Tell them sex can be very exciting and satisfying but can also be dangerous. Tell them about STD's, injuries and pregnancies. Tell them the facts and leave the non-productive moralizing out of it. Informed people generally make reasonable decisions.
I personally, believe that religious views influence issues of teen pregnancy to a certain extent. Teen pregnancy has become a societal issue rather than a religion conflict. However, I believe the clash between teen pregnancy and relgion occur when the discussion of means to prevent teen pregnancy arises. Many religious have strict rules and expectation when talking about preventive measures for teen pregnancy. Is it religious invovlement to steer teen away from deliquenct behavior. Although the overall rate of teen pregnancy has been declining, the rates have remained high for teens that are most vulnerable. The great majority of Americans believe that teen pregnancies are a serious national problem, indeed a problem that is the major component of what is thought to be national moral decline. However, what causes these teens to become pregnant at such a young age? A large body has identified a number of factores that underlie teen sexual and contraceptive behavior, pregnancy, and childbearing. There exists a two part framework of the factors underlying teen pregnancy. There are biological antecedents, including gender, age, testosterone level, and timing of puberty. These factors are causally related to adolescent sexual and contraceptive behavior and pregnancy. A second group of antecedents can be viewed as “manifestations of social disorganization or advantage” These include factors in the community and the family such as violent crime, poverty, unemployment, family marital disruption, parents’ lack of education, poor child rearing practice, lack of parental support, and inappropriate sexual pressure or abuse. The second group also includes factors in the individual teen such as lack of religious affiliation, drug and alcohol use, engaging in risk behaviors and deviance, delinquency, poor educational performance, and low expectations for the future.
Return to God as the pillar for american living., just as the Nations Founders declared.
What makes you think that the ideas and values of a group of wig wearing, slave owning, upper class agrarian landowners of the 1700s is in any way relevant to a corporate controlled, technological/industrial, multi-cultural society of 2010?
There is a LOT of what is in the Bible that was a commentary on what was going on - not a command to perpetuate or increase it.
Historic context is absolutely necessary to understand BEFORE you begin condemning people and their sacred writings.
Ah, right. Ignore the bad things that happened and the terrible things the bible encourages because they're 'allegory' and 'social commentary', but keep some things and demand that people follow that.
Who gets to decide what is chose to follow and what is dismissed? Each individual? The 35000+ denominations? Do they each get to choose what they follow?
Ah, right. Ignore the bad things that happened and the terrible things the bible encourages because they're 'allegory' and 'social commentary', but keep some things and demand that people follow that.
Who gets to decide what is chose to follow and what is dismissed? Each individual? The 35000+ denominations? Do they each get to choose what they follow?
So it'd be better to have you - somebody who is obviously uneducated about what the Bible actually does say - chose what is and is not dismissed?
Do your historical research into the customs and religions of the ancient Near East. Then do some actual research into the background of Biblical writings - not just what you think the Bible says. Then you might begin to understand what was actually being said.
I'm not sure if religion could really explain much this, simply for the reason that rates of belief in the US have been consistently high (90%+) for as long as people have been polled, while teen pregnancies have risen and dipped over time.
"Religion" as a factor has been much more of a background constant than a variable. I would imagine that the demographics of girls who get pregnant in their teenaged years are similar in that regard (e.g., a large supermajority of them are at least nominal Christians, and always have been).
It seems to have more to do with other social factors and conditions.
I think a better measure wold be to see what % of teenagers who attend religious services on a weekly basis (or 3 weeks out of 4) get pregnant. I'm betting those who attend religious services regularly are less likely to get pregnant than those who don't. Lots of people are only nominally religious.
So it'd be better to have you - somebody who is obviously uneducated about what the Bible actually does say - chose what is and is not dismissed?
Do your historical research into the customs and religions of the ancient Near East. Then do some actual research into the background of Biblical writings - not just what you think the Bible says. Then you might begin to understand what was actually being said.
Until then...
I agree with what you're saying here. However, it should also be directed at fundamentalists who think everything in the Bible is 100% true.
Every time I watch a mafia movie, I can't help but wonder at the close link between very devout religious commitment, and a willingness to torture and murder people for the most trivial of reasons.
I agree with what you're saying here. However, it should also be directed at fundamentalists who think everything in the Bible is 100% true.
I'd edit that to say "100% physically literally" true. There are fundies that really get carried away with that one.
There are a lot of different genres of writing in the Bible. The Psalms, for instance, are poetry. When did we start taking poetry and saying it's physically literally true? The whole point of that genre is that it's highly emotive and expressive. It's feelings based, not statistics based.
The Psalms are 100% true, basically because feelings are true.
Every time I watch a mafia movie, I can't help but wonder at the close link between very devout religious commitment, and a willingness to torture and murder people for the most trivial of reasons.
Well if it's in a movie it has to be true.
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