, on Amazon.com’s MP3 store. No DRM, just plain, high quality MP3 files.
Jesse can be pretty funny. I feel compelled to point out, however, that he’s being way more rational about this than proponents of abstinence only education.
Abstinence-Only Driving School
Abstinence education annoys me because it presumes that we can teach sex unlike we’d teach…well, anything else. Imagine if you received driver’s education like this:
Circle the item(s) that can be totally eliminated through the use of a seat belt:
Head injuries, neck injuries, chest injuries, arm injuries, leg injuries, pelvic injuries, back injuries, road rage, depression, falling asleep at the wheel, drunk driving, transmission problems, engine problems, running out of gas, getting a flat, getting a blowout, driving out of the range of your favorite radio station, spilling a drink on your lap while driving, getting rear-ended, rear-ending someone else, skidding, screeching, your brakes going out, your car getting stolen, not being able to find a parking space, losing your car keys.
Correct answer? None. A seat belt isn’t designed to handle 85-90% of the things on this list, and the ones it is designed to handle, it won’t absolutely prevent.
Circle the item(s) that can be totally eliminated through abstinence from driving:
Head injuries, neck injuries, chest injuries, arm injuries, leg injuries, pelvic injuries, back injuries, road rage, depression, falling asleep at the wheel, drunk driving, transmission problems, engine problems, running out of gas, getting a flat, getting a blowout, driving out of the range of your favorite radio station, spilling a drink on your lap while driving, getting rear-ended, rear-ending someone else, skidding, screeching, your brakes going out, your car getting stolen, not being able to find a parking space, losing your car keys.
Now, you can avoid every single thing on this list if you never get into a car. However, any driver’s ed program that taught that seat belts were useless because they didn’t work 100% of the time and told you to abstain from driving until such point as you felt you were ready to drive, and then to use no safety precautions whatsoever would be a terrible fucking driver’s ed program that would end up endangering every driver on the road. Why is it okay to teach sex like this? [Pandagon]
February 26th, 2004 at 11:12 am
Sure, why not! I am sure our fearless leader waited untill marriage to have sex, and then he went by the catholic motto (done nicely in a famouns song known to all) “Every sperm is sacred.”
March 1st, 2004 at 8:54 am
the problem with the analogy is that it’s not just about prevention of unwanted consequences. Driving is not a moral issue. Sex is. It’s not just a physical activity, it has emotional, moral, and spiritual issues. I don’t advocate abistinence just for prevention of STDs and pregnancy, but because I believe sexual intimacy is something special that should be reserved for a lifelong partner.
March 1st, 2004 at 9:30 am
Then you should teach that to your own kids… at home. Look, no one is denying that people believe sex has moral consequences. Sex education isn’t taught, however, to bolster the morality of our youth… it’s taught because it’s the best response to a growing public health concern… youth pregnancy and the spread of STDs among the young. Sex education mentions abstinence as the best way to remain safe and, at least when I was a kid, mentioned the emotional and moral aspects as well.
You also missed the point about the analogy… the analogy isn’t talking about sex ed in general, but about abstinence only sex education that claims that condoms are not 100% reliable and are therefore useless. That’s the focus of this analogy, and that’s reprehensible.