Comments on: Tragic and Misguided

By: Jack

Jack — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 20:07:55 +0000

sj: “Since when in the history of the world has abstinence-only education proven to be what truly works?”

When condoms fail 1 out of 7 times, that’s when. And abstinence education hasn’t been given a fair chance in the public square; those with an Epicurean agenda reject it all the time because it requires people to actually be strong. It’s parodied as “if you have sex out of marriage, Jesus will kill a puppy!”, which is a completely dishonest straw man. It’s more like this: chastity is not about following a list of rules so you’ll avoid hell. It’s about wanting heaven for the person you love.

By: sj

sj — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 15:33:14 +0000

“The public schools would be better advised to promote what truly works”

Since when in the history of the world has abstinence-only education proven to be what truly works?

By: Eileen Mechler

Eileen Mechler — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 20:28:30 +0000

Dear Cardinal Dolan,
I heard you discuss this on the Catholic Channel on Sirius radio. Great. But many, many people do not have access to you in that way. Please have all your priests in the diocese catechize their adult parishoners on this very serious threat to the children of God, by reading a version of your blog at Sunday Mass, publishing it in the weekly bulletin or by any other means of communication that are available. Your faithful laiety, particularly female, are starving for guidance and clarification from the clergy regarding all sinful sex: contraception, abortion, pornagraphy, adultery, fornication, all non-marital sexual activity, etc. etc. I think you guys are a little gun-shy because of the homosexual priest scandal, but don’t be! Speak God’s truth and we WILL listen and learn.

By: Kevin from TX

Kevin from TX — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 02:41:19 +0000

Kudos, Cardinal Dolan. Thank you for taking a strong stance against this outrageous assault on parental rights and common sense. Please consider going the next step, to speak from the pulpit to Catholic faithful about the importance of voting out of office, those politicians who perpetrate these policies.

By: Phil

Phil — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 00:12:58 +0000

Abstinence before marriage is a great plan, but it’s unrealistic to the point of irresponsibility to suggest that abstinence will ever be adopted by all teens, even all Catholic teens.

So the real world question remains, what’s the best way to avoid unintended pregnancies in these populations?

I have to agree that schools should not be doing this without written permission from parents, but now we bump in to another part of the real world, many parents are no more responsible than their kids, and do not respond to communications from the school etc.

If we’re serious about reducing abortions, we need something better than “Abstinence or hell!”

By: Margaret

Margaret — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 23:43:20 +0000

Totally agree, except for the word choice in the first paragraph. Contraception is not “medicine,” just as abortion is not health care. Instead of assisting the body’s natural processes and healing, both result in death and destruction.

Thank you for being a courageous witness to the sanctity of life.

By: John Bett

John Bett — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 21:06:25 +0000

Government can dispense powerful chemicals and pharmaceuticals with unknown side effects to minor children, but they ban super sized soft drinks. What an alternative universe these folks live in.

By: Fr. Dermot Brennan

Fr. Dermot Brennan — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 19:50:33 +0000

Dr. Rubenstein, you need to know that the alledged “long, sordid, institutional history of the Catholic Church on child abuse” in this country involved less than 2% of the clergy being accused (not convicted) and that statistics show a considerably higher percentage of child abuse among public school teachers, coaches, and most of all, within families. So please stop continuing to throw this “fact” around in defense of teaching chldren how to have “safe” sex when that “safe sex” results in over 60% abortions in that age bracket, to say nothing of the long-term harm that using the “preventive” drugs have had on those women who used them. And let’s stop the Big Brother approach to guiding our kids and let the parents exercise their parental rights.

By: Anabel

Anabel — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 18:36:04 +0000

Dear Emminence,

did you forget the part about it being a mortal sin? How about this for a last paragraph :

“Premarital sex is mortal sin. Mortal sin is the loss of Grace. Loss of Grace is the loss of heaven.

In other words, if you want to get to heaven and see God, save it for marriage!”

By: Larry b

Larry b — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 14:52:18 +0000

If the American schools want to be separate from religious teachings, they should stay away from anti moral / religious teachings. I fear this is not what they want. It seems they want to push the idea that, you are gonna have sex, so in order not to have a “problem” here is what you need to do. Take this condom and use this pill and everything will be ok. That may not be all you tell them but that is certainly all they hear. add this now to teaching that if you some how get the ” problem” you can get an abortion and as Obama says, because you shouldn’t have to be punished for life for one mistake. So now you not have committed not just the sin of sex outside of marriage, you have also committed murder. Where is the separation of church state? If the separation of church and state were to be followed then at best you could only be neutral. No condoms, no pills at public schools. Parental rights would trump what has become the states agenda. The states teaching.