Creepy Religious Nutters Were On The Taypayer Dole
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) rightly suspended the funding of the weirdly named "Silver Ring Thing" program after the ACLU of Massachusetts filed a lawsuit:
The lawsuit cites the organization's own documents describing the use of SRT "as the primary outreach" by which it is bringing "our world to Christ." Many such examples are documented in the complaint, but the real proof is in the actual SRT event. The young people who attend the events and pledge virginity until marriage receive an "Abstinence Study Bible" and a silver ring inscribed with a reference to the Bible verse, "God wants you to be holy, so you should keep clear of all sexual sin. Then each of you will control your body and live in holiness and honor." Participants are also encouraged to accept Christ as their savior and become born again.Furthermore, the Silver Ring Thing program, as well as most other taxpayer funded abstinence-only-until-marriage programs, tells young people that condoms are ineffective, promotes out-dated gender stereotypes, ignores LGBTQ youth, and includes anti-abortion rights messages, among other egregious ideologically driven information. Moreover, no abstinence-only-until-marriage program, including SRT, has ever been proven to be effective, and in fact, some have been shown to cause harm. Recent research has shown that virginity pledges, a common component of abstinence-only-until-marriage programs, including SRT, significantly undermine contraceptive use when pledgers become sexually active, and that pledgers who have not engaged in vaginal sex are more likely to participate in oral and anal sex than "virgins" who have not pledged.
"The Silver Ring Thing's program activities are just the tip of the iceberg in exposing what the federal abstinence-only-until-marriage programs are all about," Smith said. "The American people have endured a lack of oversight of these programs by our government for far too long. It is our hope that the decision to suspend funding to the Silver Ring Thing is the first of many, and that HHS will reexamine its entire portfolio of these unproven, and potentially harmful, programs," Smith continued.
Since 1982, the U.S. government has spent over a billion dollars on unproven abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. Of that billion, more than $750 million dollars has been spent in just the last eight years. The President is seeking an additional $206 million in his proposed Fiscal Year 2006 budget. However his request has been rebuffed by both the House and Senate Appropriators. While still funding these programs at an inappropriate level, lawmakers approved far less than the president's request.
"HHS is the nation's premier health care agency and should be funding programs that do not promote a particular religion or ideology, but provide young people with medically accurate and inclusive information that will promote the health and well being of all of our nation's youth," Smith said.
I have read about this outfit and several like it. They are delusional and promote delusions. It will be interesting to see how the Bushies try to get around this ruling.
Frank at September 8, 2005 8:19 AM
Amy, I hope, if you haven't already, you get a chance to see the documentary "The Education of Shelby Knox" It's about an amazing teenage girl in Lubbock, Texas, who decides to expose this type of government-funded non-sex education and try to educate people. I might have a copy of it.
Pat Saperstein at September 8, 2005 11:34 AM
That sounds just great. If you have it, I'd love to borrow it. Let me know, and I'll drop you the postage in the mail.
Amy Alkon at September 8, 2005 12:10 PM
"HHS is the nation's premier health care agency and should be funding programs that do not promote a particular religion or ideology, but provide young people with medically accurate and inclusive information that will promote the health and well being of all of our nation's youth," Smith said.
Well goodness, next thing you know some of you radicals will be asking for the FDA to base its approval or denial of over-the-counter status for a drug on *science.* What good could possibly come of that?
JenL at September 8, 2005 3:15 PM
is any one else pissed that the government is wasting hunndereds of millions of dollars on the dumbas faith based initiatives which have been proven time and time again to have the opposite of their intended effect
and yet for some reason couldnt come up with the cash to reinforce and upgrade the levees to withstand stronger storms?
john at September 8, 2005 4:45 PM
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