As teenage pregnancy and abortion continue to damage U.S. youth,
and Catholic priests are implicated in sex abuse scandals, a large
segment of cultural critics have cited excessive sexuality and
liberal sexual values as the source of the problem.
But in reality, eliminating sexual taboos and pursuing an
aggressive contraception campaign is the only way to cure the
United States of various sexually related social ills.
In recent months, we have been bombarded with the shocking
sexual misconduct of certain Catholic priests. Conservative critics
like Rod Dreher and Michael Novak have argued that the large number
of closet gay priests has led to molestation. They see sexual
orientation as the problem and believe molestation is a product of
moral ambiguity caused by liberalization of the church.
In reality, the vow of celibacy itself is to blame ““ it is
unrealistic and ineffective. Letting priests marry would solve many
of the molestation problems and also give priests a more realistic
perspective on life. How can someone realistically counsel about
marriage if they’ve never been married?
After all, molestation cases haven’t been showing up in
religious groups that do not proscribe celibacy.
Furthermore, psychologists have shown that everyone, including
priests, has sexual feelings that are irrepressible. Yes, even
Father John notices that hottie you’re checking out in the
third pew.
If priests, the supposed moral leaders of our society, cannot
suppress their sexual desires, what makes people think teenagers
can? While abortion rates in the United States have dropped
steadily throughout the 1990s, U.S. abortion and teenage birth
rates are much higher than rates in countries such as Belgium, the
Netherlands and Sweden.
It would seem to follow that rates of sexual activity among
teenagers are appreciably higher in the United States; however that
is not the case. Teenagers in Europe have more sex but less
pregnancy and abortions. More sex equals less abortions?
Well, not exactly. According to a survey by the Alan Guttmacher
Institute, teenage sexual relationships are seen as being a normal
part of life in Europe. Contraception and sex education is more
available in schools, family and the media. This is in sharp
contrast to the prevailing U.S. attitude, where approximately 65
percent of U.S. parents strongly disapprove of their teenagers
having sex, and a majority feels uncomfortable discussing sex or
making widespread sexual education available.
What is needed is a frank acknowledgement that sex is a natural
part of life. Teenagers mostly have sex because of peer pressure
and a desire to buck societal constraints. And, most of all, sex is
known to be enjoyable ““ and it has medical benefits to boot.
Sex has been shown to prolong people’s lifetimes and lower
blood pressure. Even premarital sex, so reviled by the more uptight
among us, has its benefits.
The attempt to impose a clearly ineffective abstinent status quo
on vulnerable teenagers actually damages young lives, which are the
most precious assets of any society, by causing a higher abortion
rate and personal frustrations.
Also, the societal costs of teenage pregnancy and STDs, such as
welfare payments for teenage mothers and medical treatment, far
outweigh any marginal benefit of creating innocent, pure teenagers
who have never viewed pornography or talked about sex with their
peers.
Those who believe in sexual suppression, such as Senator Jesse
Helms (R-NC) and Strom Thurmond (R-SC) are members of the Pat
Robertson School of Political Thought. They favor restricting
funding for AIDS research since so-called degenerates are the only
ones who contract the virus. They also virulently demonize sexual
“immorality.” They believe through sermonizing,
teenagers will overcome peer pressure and natural desires and be
virginal and virtuous.
Of course, it’s unlikely that Helms and Thurmond are the
Don Juan’s of the Senate; perhaps this explains their
bitterness. Those who believe Catholic priests can be expected to
suppress their feelings share a similar phobia of sexuality, and a
misunderstanding of fundamental human nature. Hopefully, they will
wake up before any more lives are destroyed.
Bhaskar’s column runs every other Thursday.