Wow, those statistics are very surprising (I’m from the Netherlands). Although I always attributed the USA’s high murder rate to the gun laws (see the case of Switzerland, where banning guns decreased the overall murder rate significantly; or research which shows that just seeing a gun in a room makes people more agressive). But really, only 13% of Americans accept evolution? Even if the figure is off by, well, 200%, I’m still surprised. Actually, I think the 60% quoted for the Netherlands is still pretty low.
But yeah, we get sex ed when we’re 11, and later in high school biology it comes up again of course, as well as in a course called ‘Care & Maintenance’ (I know, really weird, it was basically about how to be a responsible adult and not set stuff or people on fire and such). I NEVER heard an ‘absintence only’ message – and I went to a Christian school. The message was basically ‘don’t do stuff if you don’t feel ready, but when you’re going to do it, here’s how to keep safe’. Also ‘boys, if you’re old enough to screw around, you’re old enough to take personal responsibility and wear a condom, okay?’. Some classmates said they wanted to wait until marriage, but it was firmly understood by everyone, including them, that this was a personal decision. This whole ‘abstinence only’ thing coming from teachers in the USA is pretty… odd. Although I can’t imagine they don’t also teach kids about contraception.
Dec 22, 2010 @ 08:08:51
Wow, those statistics are very surprising (I’m from the Netherlands). Although I always attributed the USA’s high murder rate to the gun laws (see the case of Switzerland, where banning guns decreased the overall murder rate significantly; or research which shows that just seeing a gun in a room makes people more agressive). But really, only 13% of Americans accept evolution? Even if the figure is off by, well, 200%, I’m still surprised. Actually, I think the 60% quoted for the Netherlands is still pretty low.
But yeah, we get sex ed when we’re 11, and later in high school biology it comes up again of course, as well as in a course called ‘Care & Maintenance’ (I know, really weird, it was basically about how to be a responsible adult and not set stuff or people on fire and such). I NEVER heard an ‘absintence only’ message – and I went to a Christian school. The message was basically ‘don’t do stuff if you don’t feel ready, but when you’re going to do it, here’s how to keep safe’. Also ‘boys, if you’re old enough to screw around, you’re old enough to take personal responsibility and wear a condom, okay?’. Some classmates said they wanted to wait until marriage, but it was firmly understood by everyone, including them, that this was a personal decision. This whole ‘abstinence only’ thing coming from teachers in the USA is pretty… odd. Although I can’t imagine they don’t also teach kids about contraception.
Dec 28, 2010 @ 17:15:00
There are a lot of Christian Response Articles that haven’t been debunked yet, just saying.