When it comes to the phrasing of a message, two words can make all the difference.
Last week, the CDC made a subtle change in the “Prevention Methods” section of its annual Sexually Transmitted Diseases Treatment report [1] released June 5. Whereas abstinence had once been recommended as “a” reliable way to prevent the transmission of STDs, the report now calls it “the most” reliable way.
So, why are these two words so important? And why did the mainstream media fail to even mention the change?
Well, simply put, abstinence-based sex education is not popular; in fact, it’s vilified by the media. Instead, they advocate sexual liberalism, mentioning abstinence as though it were a quaint anachronism. For heaven’s sake, who expects people to control themselves anymore?
In 2014, U.S. media fawned over a Canadian high-school student [2] who filed a human rights complaint about the abstinence-only sex education at her public high school. Just last month, The Huffington Post published an article by David Pakman called “Hero Judge Rules Abstinence-Only Sex Education Isn’t Actually Sex Education.” [3] According to Pakman’s show, abstinence-only sex ed is “almost like preaching ignorance.”
Ignorance, hm? Well, according to a 2013 report by the CDC, the U.S. deals with 20 million new cases of STDs per year, costing over $15 billion. Is it ignorant to promote the most effective method to stem the tide of this STD epidemic? When the liberal message is that whatever feels good is right, that’s anathema. It’s just too bad that what starts out feeling good often ends in a painful STD.