ie. The British Government since Thatcher !

This religion is far more wide spread in Iran than is visable I believe, it is very very interesting ;)

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In case the link didn't work Zoroastraism.

Cooler Heads:

Religion as a tool of the elite for oppressing the masses generates diminished returns as the masses become better educated. That is why religious fundamentalists oppose education that is not under their direct control.

Another goal shared by both the religious and the secular in this country.

Indeed. And yet, in pursuit of quite different objectives.

Is it though ? I wonder sometimes.

The trouble always is those with 'power' and it doesn't really matter under what banner they stand 'power' in its self, is a corrupter and moreish and they all seam too loose track of what they wanted in the first place. Telling people what not to do could be as destructive as telling people what to do ?

'They' are always wrong footing us, 'the they's' every where, under Islam it is still a phisical dominance with us in the west it is more subtle but is it not ultimatly with the same goal in mind ? That we no longer dare, nor trust ourselves, our own judgement ? our freedom of thought ? speech ? What we tell our children ?

. . . for the education system. If you'd like to argue that public education itself is unconstitutional, you might have a more coherent position from which to attack.

I'd still suggest that comprehensive sex education is necessary from a public health standpoint.

The condom on the banana bit, discussions on sexual positions and alternative sexual activities though....well that to me seems like the state promoting a "well they're just going to do it anyway" style of child rearing and that is overstepping the state's authority in my opinion.

Except that some of those sexual positions and alternative activities (whatever those are; one could note that the female orgasm is unlikely to occur with engagement in at least some activities that might fall under that heading) DO have a bearing on the the sort of disease prevention you're talking about; ease of transmission via oral or anal sex, for instance, can vary in either direction from ease of transmission via the most vanilla of vaginal sex.

Agreed that parents should be in charge of any moral framing. Teachers and administrators should take care to avoid advocating for activities when they're simply identifying risks. But that line is not just thin--it's dotted.

At least as long as real, solid science is the basis of the discussion. It has been demonstrated over and over again that comprehensive sex education, including discussion of birth control, is the surest way to achieve fewer pregnancies, later maternal age, fewer partners, etc. Living proof in the existing European nations that no long knuckle under to church influences. The line only gets murky when it starts to get smudged by religious propaganda.

Probably THE most impressive public health program I have looked at in the world is Ghana's. I don't know what sex ed mandates they have, but they have a lower HIV prevalence rate than Sweden does, and they are in Subsaharan Africa.....

Pogue Mahone:

konark_girl:

Maybe it's a good way to clear your country of conservative Muslims, which IMO is a worthwhile aim. America should adopt this sort of sex-ed, maybe we could get rid of the fundamentalist Muslims and Christians, too!

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Yup, much of the deep south would start to look very de-populated :) :)

So you want all Christians to leave the country?

Nah, just the ones who put personal religion before public health. You know, the ones similar to those wacko Muslims in Sweden that Truett was laughing at. Actually, I wouldn't mind a bit if Hindus with similar religious blindness left the country too.

I suspect most educated Christians, Hindus and Muslims aren't quite so wacko, so only the fringe few would leave.

This isn't the most user-friendly site, but it does have pretty much all countries if you can wade thru :) This page has life expectancy for men versus women....good place to start measuring gender inequity.

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