Josh McDowell, renowned Bible teacher, apologist and author, posted some absolutely fascinating research on his site. Teen depression and STD’s are of epidemic proportions, and as parents, teachers and concerned Christians, we must persistently and passionately promote sexual purity:
“Dr. Meeker, author of the new book ‘Epidemic’: ‘In 2003 we are living in the midst of a public health epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases amongst 12- to 18-year-old children, and an epidemic of depression related to much of the promiscuous sexual activity amongst our youth.’”
“‘What I have seen in my beautiful quiet and suburban northern Michigan practice is occurring nationwide, and when I turned to the medical literature two years ago to see if what I was experiencing was unique I found that the Center for Disease Control talks about the hidden epidemic of 15 million Americans getting a new sexually transmitted disease every year and two thirds of them being in people under 25, my patients, your children, the kids on your kids’ basketball teams and soccer teams and ballet recitals.’”
- “According to the New England Journal of Medicine, one in five Americans 12 years and older test positive for genital herpes.”
- “Forty-six percent of young teen-age girls after just one episode of intercourse contracts human papilloma virus (HPV), and 14 percent of them will go on to develop signs of cervical cancer, and more women’s lives are given over to cervical cancer every year than to HIV and AIDS.”
“This, she warns ‘is not a time for mothers and fathers and doctors and teachers and politicians to be silent about the sanctity of the life of our teen-agers.’”
“What has been our answer to this out-of-control scourge, she asked. Condoms. ‘We have taught 14-, 13-, 12-year-old kids to put condoms on bananas. We have done this for 15 or 20 years.’”
“In 1960 there were just two sexually transmitted diseases, syphilis and gonorrhea. After 20 years of teaching our kids how to use condoms, we now boast 30 or more sexually transmitted diseases among 12- to 18-year-old children. Condoms have failed as an answer.”
“‘A little over a year ago the National Institutes for Health reviewed all the best condom literature available in the world. They found that condoms, if used 100 percent of the time correctly, may reduce the risk of HIV by 87 percent in men and women, and it may reduce the risk of gonorrhea in men, but for all of the other sexually transmitted diseases which infect beautiful heterosexual children across the country there is insufficient evidence that condoms work at all.’”
“‘Yet we are still teaching condoms and more condoms in our schools. As a physician I consider it malpractice to hand one of my patients a condom and tell them that they will be safe when the NIH doesn’t say so.’”
“‘We have the answer. It is abstinence education. Many opponents of abstinence say it doesn’t work—it does work—all the time. The kids are willing to learn it. Are we willing to teach it?’”
“Sex among girls is leading to an epidemic of cancer, she revealed. ‘The 14-, 15-year-old girl’s cervix cannot handle bacteria and viruses. They flourish and turn into cancer much more quickly than in a 25-year-old.’”
“All of this promiscuous sexual activity among youngsters is having another deadly effect: serious depression and sometimes suicide.”
“‘We are living in an epidemic of depression, where one out of three American teen-agers have thought of killing themselves, much of this related to sexual activity.’”
“‘Are we willing to tell teen-agers that sexual health trumps sexual freedom?’ she asked, adding that we’d better be.”
(Brenna, Phil, “Doctor: Teen Sex Is Killing Our Children,” NewsMax.com, February 3, 2003, www.newsmax.com/
http://www.josh.org. Used by permission.
