From: doel@ausable.crd.ge.com (Michael Doel)
Newsgroups: alt.politics.bush,talk.politics.misc,alt.politics.clinton,alt.politics.elections
Subject: Re: Passing out Condoms  (Was Re: Better Off Than Four Years Ago NOT)
Date: 27 Aug 92 17:38:03 GMT
Reply-To: doel@crd.ge.com
Organization: GE Research & Development

In article <l9pv66INNl3a@spim.mips.com>, mpolen@suntory.mips.com (Michael Polen) writes:
> Michael Doel) writes:
> |> james.a.parker) writes:
> |> 
> |> Perhaps you don't understand what I mean when I talk about our traditional
> |> values system.  I'm not including anything about Jesus Christ being the
> |> son of God, or don't eat meat on the Fridays of Lent, or any other
> |> RELIGIOUS belief or practice.  Our values system is much more fundamental
> |> than that.  Despite what you say, I think there are traditional values that
> |> just about everyone would agree with:
> |> 
> |> 	good things:                   bad things:
> |> 	   honesty                       cheating
> |> 	   responsibility                stealing
> |> 	   hard work                     unprovoked violence
> |>            the "golden rule"             promiscuity
> |> 
> |> and so on.  Some people will try to put controversial things in one category
> |> or another (e.g. Pat Robertson and the like would surely put homosexuality
> |> in the bad things category), but for the most part people agree on most
> |> categorizations.
> |> 
> |> I believe that we as a society usually suffer when things move out of one
> |> category and into the nebulous middle.  There are exceptions of course,
> |> but I don't think that condoning promiscuity is one of them.  You are
> |> free to disagree.
> |> 
> I'll disagree.  Why is promiscuity necessarily bad?  It does not violate
> or interfere with others, it is not inconsistent with your list of "good
> things," and it is impossible to define.

This is starting to get off the subject of condom distribution, but I'll
give it a stab.  Promiscuity is the behavior of having sexual relations
with many people to whom you have little or no commitment.  Promiscuity
is bad because it cheapens both the sex act itself and the relationship
between spouses.  It cheapens the sex act because promiscuous sex is
rarely an expression of love, but rather it's just a way to feel good.
It cheapens the relationship because sex no longer becomes a unique bond
between its participants.

Now if you believe that promiscuity is really ok, then I doubt my
arguments will change your mind.  Nonetheless, I can assure you that
you are in the minority in this thinking.

I'm of the opinion that our government's actions encourage citizens
to do the good things while avoiding the bad things.  The government
should not, however, enforce these actions.  Thus, I don't think the
government should outlaw promiscuity, but it shouldn't be encouraging
it either.  I'm of the opinion that handing out condoms in schools
encourages promiscuity (see a related posting with the USA Today
article in it for some initial evidence which starts to back my opinion
up).


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Mike Doel				<doel@crd.ge.com>
P.O. Box 8
Schenectady, NY 12301			(518) 387-6203

"For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat
 and wrong." - H.L. Mencken
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Newsgroups: alt.politics.bush,talk.politics.misc,alt.politics.clinton,alt.politics.elections