Does Abstinence Teaching Really Promote Purity?

As the old saying goes, “Abstinence works every time it is tried.” “Just Say No!” really works.

A Harvard researcher discovered the difference abstinence teaching can make:

The U.S. Agency for International Development shelved Green’s 2003 report on AIDS prevention methods in Africa and hired a condom advocate to conduct another study instead. Green had concluded that the “ABC” method — Abstinence, Being faithful in marriage and Condoms only for high-risk populations — was most effective in the dramatic reduction of AIDS cases in Uganda.

http://www.bpnews.net/20229/harvard-researcher-abstinence-and-faithfuln…

David R. Brumbelow

The article makes a great case that we need to go further than “just say no”, and I’ve got family members who had a LOT of trouble on their honeymoons because their attitude towards God’s good gift was …..”just say no.” There is a tremendous amount to be added by understanding how marriage is indeed God’s gift and a picture of Christ’s love for the church. Along with the discussion we’ve got about divorce, a lot of this has to do with the question of do we see something bigger than ourselves.

Sure, abstinence works, but it’s just one part of it—it’s like looking at the bread instead of the whole Dagwood sandwich, really. And when we’ve got something like 80% of evangelicals reaching the marriage altar without their virginity, if at all, I think we’ve got to see things a bit differently.