Gee, somehow it worked pretty well before our culture embraced the sexual revolution.
People will rise to the level of expectations.
Expect them to have no self-control, and they’ll do that.
Hand out condoms and abortions, and why should they even think about it?
Um, yes, self- control, and no, it’s not naive.
I would agree: Low expectations, the sexual revolution, and the handing out of condoms and abortions have had a detrimental effect on sexual morality in this nation.
That’s not “blaming the culture for an individual’s poor life choices.” It’s blaming the culture for seducing young men and women into fornication.
To expect that the young in their sexual prime will “just exercise some self-control” in the throes of this seduction is naive. One has only to look at the number of abortions, unwed pregnancies, and venereal diseases to see that self-control isn’t working.
This is, IMHO, the folly of “abstinence education”. Everyone is CAPABLE of self-control, sure. But not many will exercise it in these circumstances. Our social problem lies in our culture, and therefore will not be solved with a “just say no” pledge campaign.
In the current environment, most young people simply aren’t going to exercise self-control. It’s like setting a bowl of beef & gravy three feet in front of your dog, and then telling him to “STAY!”. How long after you leave the room do you think he’ll be able to resist?
And afterward, what’re you going to do? Yell at him for being a bad dog and disobedient? Or blame yourself for setting him up to fail?