Friday, February 22, 2013

Abstinence is Offensive

I came upon this story on Yahoo today about a middle school girl who was forced (loved that...forced!) to change the t-shirt she was wearing because it was deemed inappropriate.  The t-shirt reads on the backdrop of a stop sign, "Don't drink & park. Accidents cause kids."  She received the t-shirt after attending a "Silver Ring Thing" conference which promotes the (wonderful) message of abstinence before marriage and centering relationships around Jesus Christ himself.  That's really awkward, but... okay.

Hey, I'm not out to bash abstinence.  Wait... yes, I am.  It's a terrible concept.  In short, it doesn't work.  My parents threatened the fires of hell, the guilt of sin, this, that and all the other preachy crap to me and it didn't work.  In fact, if anything, it made me more promiscuous.  Good thinking, folks!

But that's neither here nor there.  Now back to the t-shirt.  Whether or not I agree or disagree with the concept of abstinence and having awkward relationships centered on Jesus Christ, I am trying to decipher if her shirt should have been deemed inappropriate.  The principal says that the t-shirt has a sexual innuendo to it.  Has anyone ever sat in a parking lot of a middle school or high school lately?  Almost every kid that goes into or comes out of one is a walking sexual innuendo.

It would be nice to have dress codes, but rarely do the schools stick to them.  Are these kinds of t-shirts truly distracting to other students?  Do they really take away from the other students' learning process?  The only thing that I am pleased about is that in a state like Florida, it's nice to see that Jesus freaks are being treated fairly.  If an atheist would have to remove a non-Christian t-shirt, then a gawd-fearing peep should have to remove their wacky message as well.  So for that, I say... LYNCH THE GIRL!!!!!!






12 comments:

  1. I'm with you all the way on this one! Most high schools have dress codes here in Scotland, meaning the only time T-shirts are displayed in all their glory is during P.E. and to be honest the school would have turned a blind eye to your aforementioned slogan. I think the worst I can remember from my high school days was getting detention for wearing a badge on my lapel reading: 'I get my Mucking Words Fuddled.'

    Fabulous blog, by the way!

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    1. Do the schools in Scotland stick to the dress codes? I know at my son's school they have them in place and try to stick to them, but I'm not sure how well it works.

      Thank you for your comment and for stopping by! Funny about the detention you received. I would say it was worth it. =D

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  2. I think that may be have been a bit of an overreaction - deeming the shirt to be inappropriate.

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    1. Of course... but that's the point. The schools overreact on most of their deeming of inappropriateness. They have dress codes, yet don't really stick to them. My point here was at least for once they were being equally stupid on both sides.

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  3. typical, bitching about dress codes while urging capital punishment. you freak. :D

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    1. You know me. I like gettin' freaky. Oh wait. You meant something entirely different, didn't you...!?

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    2. with your freak off or on, it's one and the same. to show how old i really am i used to say "abstinence makes the heart grow fonda". oh, you don't like stupid war protesters in usa do you...but check out barbarela. heh

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    3. I know what Barbarela is, unfortunately. I don't mind war protesters, I just don't like bad '80s workout videos :D

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  4. hi rebeka - schools overact 90% of the time. imo it has to do with the fact that most schools are filled with children and women - who men-the bureaucracy feel a deep need to control.

    in short - I agree with you.

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    1. Yes, men in control of women is never a good idea. They can't win. ;)

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  5. I say whatever you believe in, believe in it. Fly the flag/wear the shirt proudly. But yes, if Atheists and others are not allowed to offend Christians, then Christians certainly should not be allowed to offend Atheists. And the concept of a dress code (other than the physical attributes of the clothing - too short, too saggy, etc) is ludicrous because something always has the potential to offend others. I'm a proud member of the generation who regularly offended others with my attitude and clothing and was offended by others for the same reason, and if we didn't like it? Oh well. Too bad. Live and let live.

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