What IS good, and how do we determine it?

[Catholic_Lady]

Just to clarify, I wasn't referring to abstinence only programs, I was referring to abstinence itself. Assuming you have all the right parts intact, not having sex is the only for sure way to avoid pregnancy. You can't get pregnant if you don't have sex.

The problem is that most people won't practice abstinence because sex is such a powerful urge. Sometimes it seems  that some religious people are so focused on not having sex that they actually think and talk about sex a lot more than those of us who could care less who sleeps with who.

I am about to answer in a rambling way but bear with me. There is a point, I promise.

One of my favorite books is Tom Jones: History of a Foundling. It was published in the 1700's. Anyway(I swear I am getting to the point), the story begins with a wealthy widower finding a baby on his bed. It isn't his child so his servants look for the mother. When they find the woman that they believe gave birth to Tom, the wealthy man shows mercy by not having her stripped, whipped and sent to a prison. That surprised me so I looked the prison up. Apparently, the book was correct, a woman could be sentenced to hard labor for having an illegitimate child.

Yet, there were still illegitimate births, prostitution and adultery. Even threat of harsh punishment doesn't stop people from taking a risk when it comes to sex. Many  people who intend to be celibate,  often fail and  they are less likely to use condoms when they do have sex. Abstinence doesn't work because so few people will give up sex.

https://web.duke.edu/rpc/women_and_sexua...women.html

However, under the Commonwealth, courts were given greater power to penalize sexual offenders. After this shift, “incest and adultery were made capital offenses, fornication was punished by three months’ imprisonment and brothel-keepers faced a combination of whipping, branding on the forehead and imprisonment”

I know what you're saying, and I agree that saving sex for marriage is very difficult (though not impossible, as I have seen it many times).
But I still object to the phrase "abstinence doesn't work", simply because it just is not true lol. Clearly, you cannot get pregnant or get an std if you don't have sex.

I will agree with you that abstinence is very difficult, but if followed through with, it absolutely will work in preventing pregnancy and stds.

With that being said, I do agree that we shouldn't go with "abstinence only programs" in public schools.