Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
The ACLU is suing the state of Mississippi for sponsoring a "teen abstinence summit" attended by thousands of teens in the state that was overtly religious.
As part of National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month, the Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS) holds an annual teen abstinence summit each May. After last year's summit, which included overt religious messages, the ACLU sent a letter to MDHS asking for assurances that future events would remain secular. MDHS did not respond to the ACLU's letter and failed to address the legal concerns in this year's event.The 2009 summit featured religious themes and overtly Christian messages, including a lengthy presentation about the Ten Commandments by Judge John N. Hudson of the Adams County Court in Natchez, MS. Judge Hudson told the audience, "Abstain, God says, from promiscuous sex - thou shall not commit adultery. But why? Is not God being a killjoy? Did He not create this great gift which is so good and wonderful? Why would He tell us not to do it? He's not. He's telling us that He created this great and wonderful gift for a special and unique committed relationship that is to last forever." The program also included several prayers and a performance to gospel songs by the Pilgrim Rest Mime Ministry.
The ACLU opines:
"The state of Mississippi cannot sponsor overtly religious events as part of its abstinence-only-until-marriage program," said Brigitte Amiri, Senior Staff Attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project. "This is not the first time the state has crossed the line in its abstinence programming, but we hope it will be the last. Instead of preaching, the state needs to start teaching youth how to make responsible and healthy decisions throughout their lives."..."By using the summit to promote a religious message rather than offer health-related information, the state missed an important opportunity to help teens make healthy and smart decisions when it comes to sexuality," said Kristy L. Bennett, Staff Attorney with the ACLU of Mississippi. "Study after study shows that abstinence-only-until-marriage approaches are ineffective at preventing teen pregnancy or the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Given the high rates of teen pregnancy and HIV infection in Mississippi, the failings of this year's summit are inexcusable."
In Fiscal Years 2007 and 2008 MDHS received $1,428,753 each year in federal abstinence-only-until-marriage funds.
"Mississippi cannot continue to act like it is above the Constitution and repeatedly sponsor religious events with taxpayer money," said Daniel Mach, Director of Litigation for the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief.
Seems obvious enough to me. You can see the full complaint here (PDF).
Politics
Comments
The horror of that event might just render the kids sterile.
Posted by: Wes | September 14, 2009 9:23 AM
Surely the work of Satan.
Posted by: kehrsam | September 14, 2009 9:59 AM
Just another reason to hate mimes.
Oh... and before anyone else gets to it... a mime is a terrible thing to waste. :-)
Posted by: Budbear | September 14, 2009 10:08 AM
The horror, the horror....
See for yourself. The abomination begins at the 2:32 mark:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ads6eCfH8TE
Posted by: Brent | September 14, 2009 10:26 AM
Budbear....it had to be said.
So Ed, any chance that a ruling on this will affect the federal abstinence only program at all? I'm guessing not, unless as potential fodder in a future lawsuit (assuming, f course, anyone can show standing...).
Posted by: FastLane | September 14, 2009 10:28 AM
That's why you use paintballs instead of buckshot.
Or, you could always go with my favorite anti-mime weapon, olive loaf. +1 internets to anyone who gets that refernce.
Posted by: Ranson | September 14, 2009 10:33 AM
Honestly Judge, I was just walking home with my groceries when... when... he started following me... You know... like they do.... He wouldn't leave me alone. I just wanted to walk home.... I don't remember anything after that until I came to and was standing over him with a shattered olive loaf... The horror....
Posted by: The Other Lance | September 14, 2009 10:36 AM
At last, my wasted teenage years reading Bloom County collections comes in handy.
Posted by: Savagemutt | September 14, 2009 10:41 AM
Q- What's black and white, explodes when you step on it, but makes no noise?
A- A land mime.
And of course, there was the news story that California had made it legal to hunt mimes, as long as you use a silencer.
Posted by: Tim H | September 14, 2009 11:00 AM
Too verbose: "a mime is a terrible thing." On the other hand, if you feel like wasting one ...
Posted by: D. C. Sessions | September 14, 2009 11:30 AM
Ranson,
The call of Opus with his olive loaf. I love that strip.
They are actually replaying that series at GoComics right now. Perfect timing - life imitating art for sure.
Cheers
Posted by: MikeMa | September 14, 2009 11:32 AM
Putting hundreds of hormonal teens close together where the only subject of conversation is carnal desire. Hmmm. I wonder how much sex goes on at these gatherings.
If ex-gay "therapy groups" are anything to go by, quite a lot.
Posted by: Kapitano | September 14, 2009 11:58 AM
Why do Christians always mix up adultery and fornication. Adultery means a married person having sex with someone other than their spouse. The Ten Commandments don't say anything about premarital sex. The obsession with virginal brides is a more recent invention.
Posted by: Iason Ouabache | September 14, 2009 12:12 PM
Maybe the state shouldn't be sponsoring "abstinence summits" at all, whether they're religious or not. Countless studies have shown abstinence-only sex ed is beyond useless. They'd be far better off teaching the kids comprehensive sex ed and handing out free condoms.
Posted by: Buffy | September 14, 2009 4:35 PM
Mime Ministry: Because "Abstinence Only" just doesn't fail hard enough on its own.
I guess it fits with the abstinence clown theme.
Posted by: DaveL | September 14, 2009 4:48 PM
Iason Oubache @ 13:
Matthew 5:28 -- But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Just ''being attracted to a woman'' is a violation of the seventh commandment. So, you know, be sure to spend your time around other men, and only be attracted to them.
Oh, shit, wait, that can't be right...
Posted by: Sean Michael | September 14, 2009 5:56 PM
It's interesting that even the religious material presented is incorrect. The prohibition of premarital sex does not derive from the commandment against adultery either in Judaism or in any mainstream variety of Christianity. These fundamentalists seem to be so fixated on the Ten Commandments that they not only falsely consider them as the basis for the Anglo-American legal tradition but falsely attribute to them traditional moral norms as well.
Posted by: Bill Poser | September 14, 2009 7:01 PM
Now, I'd have to do some research into Hebrew, but how does he connect adultery, sex outside of marriage with one party married, to unmarried sex? If this is what the Hebrew word meant, then they are unrelated. I know the Church has long held this "sex is evil" thing, but I could never figure out the "adultery" part. /shrugs/
Posted by: Badger3k | September 14, 2009 8:55 PM
Sean @16, that still doesn't get to unmarried sex (although Paul covered that, IIRC, in another way). In order to commit adultery, either she or I would have to be married. Now, in a culture that had almost 100% marriage, with women being married off like cattle, perhaps that would explain it. No large proportion of unmarried people, then "adultery" would be practically guaranteed. The solution to that whole adultery thing is, or course, to ban marriage. That way, we could safely lust after anyone without infringing on the property rights of others...er, I meant, sinning.
Posted by: Badger3k | September 14, 2009 9:18 PM
Hey!
I worked with these very dedicated advocates last summer. It is nice to see their efforts being lauded outside of MS.
Posted by: dessy | September 15, 2009 2:02 AM
The advocates I am referring to are the staff of the MS ACLU, haha!
Posted by: dessy | September 15, 2009 2:06 AM
I always thought the seventh commandment was about grains and fibres. (Think about it.)
Are posts 1,2,3,6 & 8 examples of 'quote miming'? - DJ
Posted by: DingoJack | September 15, 2009 2:49 AM
That's a lot of internets to hand out. MikeMA, you are out out of luck. I only brought three bits, and I wasn't expecting such a rush.
Posted by: Ranson | September 15, 2009 7:03 AM
@Ranson:
It's the scorpion pit that does it for me; nothing less is good enough for them.
Posted by: Robin Levett | September 15, 2009 7:33 AM
Hmmm, I have to go with Robin Levett - though even the scorpion pit is too good, but what else is there really?
Posted by: DuWayne | September 15, 2009 1:46 PM
This type of religious indoctrination does not work as evidenced by the number of teenage pregnancies.
So they keep doing the same thing over and over again? With tax monies?
Posted by: Diane | September 18, 2009 11:47 AM
Diane - Isn't "doing the same thing over and over again" the very definition of crazy?
And we would expect any less from the Religious Right-wing Retards? :) - DJ
Posted by: DingoJack | September 18, 2009 12:22 PM