Virgins Decend on Vegas

[Guest Lil Naitch]

From AOL:

LAS VEGAS (June 28) - In a city known more for sin than virtue, a group of virgins from around the country gathered this weekend to send a message: wait until marriage.

 

It was a clash of the ``Good Girls'' and the sin-seekers as about 200 teens, parents and youth counselors descended on the Strip to pass out cards promoting abstinence.

 

``What better place to bring this than Sin City?'' said participant Deanna Grimm, 24, of Sioux Falls, S.D. ``They need to hear it.''

 

About 750 people traveled to Las Vegas to attend the seventh annual National Abstinence Clearinghouse Conference, which runs through Sunday. Featuring seminars on the history of abstinence and the consequences of premarital sex, the convention's theme is ``Beyond the Neon: Creating a Culture of Character.''

 

Convention exhibitors displayed various abstinence items, including ``Keep It'' underwear depicting a large red stop sign with the message ``No Trespassing.''

 

``(Abstinence is) a very important message to spread to teens all over,'' said Grimm, who works for the Abstinence Clearinghouse. ``A lot of kids don't know about the dangers of premarital sex.''

 

The reception was mixed Friday night as the virgin brigade passed out about 5,000 ``Good Girl Cards'' to mostly female passerbys, many clad in short skirts and low-cut tops. The event was designed to counter dozens of people who routinely hand out color ads for scantily clad entertainers and escorts on the Strip.

 

``I like being handed these (Good Girl Cards) more than the porn ones they usually hand out,'' said Corrie Bouma, a 23-year-old teacher's aide from Hawthorne, N.J., who was in town on vacation.

 

But Clare Rose disagreed with the group's message, saying it should focus more on sex education.

 

``They're being narrow-minded and naive,'' said the 21-year-old who was walking by with friends. ``People in this day and age are not, not going to have sex.''

 

But the movement has grown in recent years, with more than one million teens and college students registering their virtue with True Love Waits, one of several abstinence campaigns. While True Love Waits is a faith-based organization, the Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Abstinence Clearinghouse is not.

 

Many supporters cite increases in sexually transmitted diseases as reason enough to wait until marriage. Studies show that in the United States there are about 45 million cases of herpes, 20 million cases of human papillomavirus (HPV) and 900,000 people living with AIDS.

 

``There's no condom on the face of this earth that can prevent HPV. It's so highly contagious,'' said Melodi Hawley, a 21-year-old director of a sex and family education office in Denham Springs, La. ``And we're not told this. I tell kids, and they say, 'human papa-what?'''

 

A national study published last week by the conservative Heritage Foundation found that girls who begin sexual activity at age 13 are twice as likely to become infected by a sexually transmitted disease as girls who begin having sex at the age of 21.

 

The study also found nearly 40 percent of girls who start having sex at ages 13 and 14 will give birth outside of marriage. And they're more than three times as likely to become single mothers.

 

``The earlier a girl had begun sexual activity, the less likely she was to be happy in her life many, many years later,'' said Robert Rector, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation and a speaker at the convention.

 

For Luis Galdamez, a 36-year-old abstinence educator from Wildomar, Calif., it was important to stress that anyone can practice abstinence until marriage, even if you're no longer a virgin.

 

``It doesn't matter who you are, what you believe. It's your body. It's your choice,'' said Galdamez, who spoke at the event. ``You're worth the wait.''

 

06/28/03 21:56 EDT

 

 

Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.[/qoute]

 

 

Where's Kurt Angle when you need him?

[Guest Cancer Marney]

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,

Old time is still a-flying:

And this same flower that smiles to-day

To-morrow will be dying.

 

The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,

The higher he's a-getting,

The sooner will his race be run,

And nearer he's to setting.

 

That age is best which is the first,

When youth and blood are warmer;

But being spent, the worse, and worst

Times still succeed the former.

 

Then be not coy, but use your time,

And while ye may go marry:

For having lost but once your prime

You may for ever tarry.

 

- Robert Herrick, To the Virgins, to make much of Time

[Guest MrRant]

I used to live in Las Vegas. I loved it. If I ever am single again... my ass is going back there. Pronto.

[Guest Scarlet Pimpernel]

Their concerns shall be noted, and ignored. Somebody sacrifice them for something.

[Guest Bannable Offense]

For Luis Galdamez, a 36-year-old abstinence educator from Wildomar, Calif., it was important to stress that anyone can practice abstinence until marriage, even if you're no longer a virgin.

 

But doesn't that nullify the concept of abstinence?

 

"Sorry, I'm not going to have sex with you until we get married. I want it to be something special when I'm with you...even though I did bang that whore a few months before I met you. Then there's that time...(list goes on for several minutes) But the important thing is, I'm saving myself for you until we're married."

[Guest JMA]

I can't stand faith-based organizations. I can't believe the goverment gives these wackos money.

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

I would kill for some No Trespassing underware.

[Guest Choken One]

I fucked before I was married...and LOOK MA! No STD'S!

[Guest TheMikeSC]

Their concerns shall be noted, and ignored. Somebody sacrifice them for something.

I'm not sure I get this open hostility towards this group. You think it's silly? Fine. I don't much like the idea of a guy boning another guy -- I'm not going to waste my energy giving a darn. If that is what they wish to do and as long as I don't have to watch it, knock yourself out.

 

These people believe that pre-marital sex is wrong and simply choose tonot do it. Why in the heck are people PISSED at them?

 

If somebody wishes to wait until marriage --- why is this BAD?

-=Mike

[Guest Cancer Marney]

No one's "PISSED" at them. At least, I'm not; I can't speak for anyone else. I just find them ridiculous.

[Guest Choken One]

People get annoyed at when these people act like they know what we should be doing...

 

It's not their concern if people are having sex before Marriage...

[Guest NoCalMike]

I don't think anyone is pissed a these people, rather I am merely amused.

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

I used to live in Las Vegas. I loved it. If I ever am single again... my ass is going back there. Pronto.

Been there four times. Soon five. My chances of getting noticed by anyone male or female are always the same: Zip.

[Guest CoreyLazarus416]

And the Las Vegas tourists see the Abstinence Fair, and then go spend their money on booze, drugs, gambling, and hookers.

[Guest Spicy McHaggis]

I can't stand faith-based organizations. I can't believe the goverment gives these wackos money.

For an "accepting of all types of culture" liberal, you are certainly filled with a lot of intolerance.

[Guest Tyler McClelland]

There is nothing wrong with displaying intolerance for intolerant groups.

[Guest Spicy McHaggis]

And what's intolerant in this case?

[Guest NoCalMike]

I love how these organizations point to "online registry" as proof that the message is working. I mean come on, how many folks out there, falsely just sign up for something on a whim, and then completely forget about it a week later. I know about a handful of girls in highschool that were commited to the "virgin until marriage" message, and I think ONE of them actually remained a virgin through graduation.

[Cherry Blossom Viscount 0]

All I'm going to say is this; some of you are TOO hung up sex and your sexual lfestyles. It's almost pathetic.

[Guest JMA]

For an "accepting of all types of culture" liberal, you are certainly filled with a lot of intolerance.

I am NOT accepting of all cultures. I find religious fundamentalists (whether they be Christian, Muslim, ect) to be intolerant themselves.

[Guest Spicy McHaggis]

Then you're hypocritical for a leftist.

[Guest Tyler McClelland]

Fundamentalist groups tend not to be inclusive; in this case, I didn't care enough to actually read the article, so I can't make a true judgment. However, being intolerant of religious groups isn't exactly a terrible thing; after all, they're often intolerant of gays/other religions/etc.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

I can't stand faith-based organizations. I can't believe the goverment gives these wackos money.

For an "accepting of all types of culture" liberal, you are certainly filled with a lot of intolerance.

I'm an "unaccepting of a huge number of cultures" conservative, and I don't like faith-based wackos either. I'm all for vouchers applying to private religious schools, and I'm all for federal grants to effective faith-based charities; I am not for federal grants to submoronic "abstinence only education" programmes. That is a direct propagation of religious beliefs with taxpayer money, and it is wrong. There is no secular argument for this "absintence only" bullshit. None. It therefore has no place in government.

 

As for the tolerance/intolerance nonsense, the two of you are throwing around these words without even bothering to define them, which is why your argument is so ridiculous and meaningless. Tolerance of what? In what context? Which aspects? To what degree? Does "intolerance" mean dislike or criminalisation? Even a "leftist" should be free to dislike a given group without being called a hypocrite.

[Guest Spicy McHaggis]

That is a direct propagation of religious beliefs with taxpayer money, and it is wrong. There is no secular argument for this "absintence only" bullshit. None. It therefore has no place in government.

How about that abstinence guarantees you won't contract an STD or get pregnant?

[Guest Tyler McClelland]

In regard to my definition to intolerance, I would describe it as general prejudice. It doesn't have to necessarily be to an extreme degree, because I tend to dislike any relative hint of an attempt to discriminate.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

How about that abstinence guarantees you won't contract an STD or get pregnant?

How about condoms, ITDs, and birth control? How about getting to know the person you're fucking before fucking her? I'm not saying that abstinence doesn't work, but eliminating everything EXCEPT abstinence from sex education is incredibly stupid and has NO secular rationale.

[Guest JMA]

Then you're hypocritical for a leftist.

That's a bunch of BS. If you want to continue you'll have to drop the stereotypes about liberals that you have. I don't approve of A LOT of cultures. For example, I don't approve of some Middle Eastern cultures where it is acceptable to stone a woman for being raped. I find that disgusting and inhuman. The same goes for the way they torture and kill homosexuals. Come to think of it, the fundies in America would get along great with the fundies in the Middle East.

Edited July 2, 2003 by JMA

[Guest Goodear]

About 750 people traveled to Las Vegas to attend the seventh annual National Abstinence Clearinghouse Conference.

 

While True Love Waits is a faith-based organization, the Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Abstinence Clearinghouse is not.

 

Considering the meeting this isn't a faith based organization, I don't know why you all are jumping into the religous banter. Yeah, sure... some people are in it because of Jesus and whathaveyou, but its also pretty obvious that they are trying to keep religon at least on the side of the conference.

[Guest NoCalMike]

Most of these foundations are driven by religion, they just won't mention it until one asks them.

[Guest Tyler McClelland]

Honestly, I didn't read the thread. I just came to the defense of liberals.