Ah, but therein you have the 'choice' in keeping the baby. She (or her parents, maybe, especially considering that she's a minor) has chosen to keep it as opposed to putting it up for adoption. (This is why pro-life does not equal anti-choice. There are still choices, it's just that abortion is not considered a moral option.) But that was off-topic.
I do agree that a baby is not a punishment, and I absolutely agree that a baby is a human being before and after birth. But I'm unsympathetic with a guy who's angry because he helped create a life. If it helps you understand where I'm coming from, I'm mostly concerned that if _her_ life is going to be disrupted, then _his_ should be too--they both chose to have sex, and if stereotypes are to be believed, he may have even had more of a say than she did (though I'm being careful to give him the benefit of the doubt for the sake of argument). It's not fair that she should have to live with the consequences of their actions and he shouldn't. Hopefully that clarifies things a bit.
Anyway, if I understand this correctly, it could have gone much worse for him. Technically, if he's 18 and she's 17, he could be charged with rape of a child and carry the sex offender label for life. Not that I think he should be, but I've heard of that sort of thing happening.
With that said, though, not 'everyone' has sex out of wedlock. I managed to run the culture gauntlet and still wait until I got married. There are plenty of people who abstain for religious, personal, or safety reasons. Teenagers do have crazy hormones, but they still have brains. Sex ed may be abstinence-only or safer-sex-oriented, but last I heard most schools still teach basic biology as a matter of course.
Of course, I have no idea what goes into 'abstinence-only' education, I guess. For all I know, it's a one-day course consisting of one word: don't. But the Catholic school I went to (where you'd expect such things) started getting into the basic biological aspects way back in 4th grade. Sexual morality was taught in middle school (sex is a good, sacred thing but should be shared with someone you're willing to merge your soul with for life, etc.). By the time we got to high school, it was mostly review coupled with "this is why the church teaches that birth control is selfish, immoral and ungodly." I wish we'd have gone over the sanctioned alternatives, frankly, because then I wouldn't have gone into my Natural Family Planning class afraid that I'd have to take my basal temperature any way other than orally. But anyway, _that_ was our abstinence-only education. As in, it actually felt like education, not total silence. Some students still ignored it, but some didn't. I guess at that point, your informed choice is, in fact, your choice and living with it is the only thing you can do.
Also, you are correct in saying that celibacy only applies to religious who have taken vows. But it's not unreasonable to expect chastity of everyone. Simply, that means waiting until marriage. But generally it means respecting yourself and others, and respecting sexuality as the sacred, creative, bonding force that it is.
no subject
I do agree that a baby is not a punishment, and I absolutely agree that a baby is a human being before and after birth. But I'm unsympathetic with a guy who's angry because he helped create a life. If it helps you understand where I'm coming from, I'm mostly concerned that if _her_ life is going to be disrupted, then _his_ should be too--they both chose to have sex, and if stereotypes are to be believed, he may have even had more of a say than she did (though I'm being careful to give him the benefit of the doubt for the sake of argument). It's not fair that she should have to live with the consequences of their actions and he shouldn't. Hopefully that clarifies things a bit.
Anyway, if I understand this correctly, it could have gone much worse for him. Technically, if he's 18 and she's 17, he could be charged with rape of a child and carry the sex offender label for life. Not that I think he should be, but I've heard of that sort of thing happening.
With that said, though, not 'everyone' has sex out of wedlock. I managed to run the culture gauntlet and still wait until I got married. There are plenty of people who abstain for religious, personal, or safety reasons. Teenagers do have crazy hormones, but they still have brains. Sex ed may be abstinence-only or safer-sex-oriented, but last I heard most schools still teach basic biology as a matter of course.
Of course, I have no idea what goes into 'abstinence-only' education, I guess. For all I know, it's a one-day course consisting of one word: don't. But the Catholic school I went to (where you'd expect such things) started getting into the basic biological aspects way back in 4th grade. Sexual morality was taught in middle school (sex is a good, sacred thing but should be shared with someone you're willing to merge your soul with for life, etc.). By the time we got to high school, it was mostly review coupled with "this is why the church teaches that birth control is selfish, immoral and ungodly." I wish we'd have gone over the sanctioned alternatives, frankly, because then I wouldn't have gone into my Natural Family Planning class afraid that I'd have to take my basal temperature any way other than orally. But anyway, _that_ was our abstinence-only education. As in, it actually felt like education, not total silence. Some students still ignored it, but some didn't. I guess at that point, your informed choice is, in fact, your choice and living with it is the only thing you can do.
Also, you are correct in saying that celibacy only applies to religious who have taken vows. But it's not unreasonable to expect chastity of everyone. Simply, that means waiting until marriage. But generally it means respecting yourself and others, and respecting sexuality as the sacred, creative, bonding force that it is.