Sexual Ignorance: Like Lightning, It Can Strike Anywhere

Ed Raymond

There has been a spate of laws restricting or eliminating abortions in over a dozen states, a subject very important to millions of women. States that have passed such laws are governed by male-dominated legislatures. The Nevada legislature, “dominated” by a 51% majority of females, is one of the few states passing legislation to make access to abortion easier. The current 50 state legislatures are made up of just 28.7% of women. What would happen if they were split 50/50 by sex?  We already know that many men elected to those legislatures voting on those anti-abortion laws are blissfully ignorant of what happens to female bodies after puberty. It seems, Laura Kelley writes: “For those who want to regulate women’s bodies, ignorance has been no obstacle.”

Kelley in her article “America’s Leaders Need Sex Ed” recalled a few incidents of ignorance from the mouths of those who make laws. There was the Texas representative who thought every abortion required a cesarean-type operation. An Alabama lawyer who helped draft the very restrictive Alabama law recently passed, expressed the ridiculous idea if a couple were taken to a clinic immediately after sex it could be determined that “the egg and sperm had come together.” A pregnancy test will not be positive until the embryo is implanted in the uterus, which ordinarily happens a week or more after fertilization. An Idaho lawmaker wanted to know whether a woman could have a gynecological examination by swallowing a tiny camera. He reminds me of that statue called “The Thinker.” Other artists seem to think he represents philosophy. I think Rodin was suffering from constipation sitting on that bronze throne.

A male Maine representative in a hearing said he thought women in jail should go without menstrual products such as tampons and pads, otherwise jails would become “country clubs.”  Maybe there are men from Mars after all. Maybe Texans are too used to feedlots, but one lawmaker thought a rape kit was used to treat a woman to end her pregnancy.  These guys are voting on policies involving sex when they seemed to be exhausted from masturbating. They could at least look at the dirty pictures.

And the Noballs Prize for Ignorance goes to Missouri Congressmen Todd Akin who said: “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” Well, first, you send a little camera down to the site and turn the lasers on….”  But Tweeter Trump said it all when he announced mothers gave migrants from Central America “massive amounts of birth control pills because they know their daughters are going to be raped.” This was Ignorance #10,801.

The Vatican Just Added To The Male Ignorance About Sexual Matters

Now the ignorant old men in the Vatican, actually surrounded by gays when they enter St. Peter’s to pray and contemplate, have labeled about 10% of the population as under complete control of Satan and his minions. Stupidity reigns in the Department of Catholic Education. For centuries the Vatican cardinals and popes have said all gays are “intrinsically disordered.” The church has taken the position that all individuals on earth can choose their gender. If the Vatican continues to preach its current positions on abortion, homosexuality, and contraceptives in this scientific age it will be on terminal hospice in every developed country. American white evangelical Christians have followed the Vatican line on sex and have added race to the equation.

At last count we have about 800 billion humans on earth who do not have a choice of those gender identities. There is no such thing as gay conversion therapy. We have to learn to understand that sex under any conditions can be very dangerous to both your mental and physical health. We have lots of ignorant humans who believe the only safe sex is between married couples. The average male now marries at 30, the female at 28. That means they both have to deal with the overwhelming power of hormones for about 15 years. Sex is risky business for both male and female regardless of status. Out of a hundred pregnancies 20 will end up as miscarriages and 900 babies will go home without their mothers in the U.S. each year. Safe sex?  What planet are you from?

For those who want to understand what homosexuals go through each hour of every day, please read an “anonymous” column in the Guardian titled “My Catholic, Trans Child Is Living Proof Of How Wrong The Vatican Is On Gender.” A few key points in this mother’s words: “I have two teenage daughters. Their dad is Catholic, and they have been raised in the Catholic faith. When our youngest came out as transgender, we struggled. This was five years ago, and there was limited coverage 0f trans people in the media. We struggled in our own minds—how can our child know so young? What if she’s wrong? What does this mean? We struggled with our families—unsure of how to tell them, or how they would react. We struggled with our church—would we still be welcome? Should we find a different one? A different school?”

But her Catholic school responded: “We are talking about a child. There will be people who don’t understand. The world is changing, and the church can be slow to catch up. But your child should be treated with love, compassion and kindness. Who are we to turn our backs on her?”  Wasn’t it Pope Francis who said “who are we to judge?” when asked about homosexuality? But in the recent kerfuffle about the NDSU-Planned Parenthood funding, 89 ignorant legislators revealed their deep-seated, profound ignorance about sexual matters that affect every human being. If you are so concerned about the subject and the survival of your religious faith, make an effort to learn something about sex. It has put 7.6 billion humans of dozens of gender identities—almost a billion—on earth. Celibacy was one of the most ignorant policies ever foisted on the human race on this planet. And remember. One of those teenagers their mother is writing about started out life as a boy. It is really possible. She concludes her article: “As I said at the start, I have two teenage daughters. Both now attend our local Catholic secondary school. Both are thriving and happy. Pope Francis envisions an inclusive church. Our community is made up of people living their faith with compassion through their action. That, to me, is true Christianity.” 

The Mission Of All Agencies Dealing With Sex—Including Planned Parenthood

Most agencies have mission statements describing its goals, but none of these statements mention two cultures, ignorant religion and primitive science, that make sex a very risky business for all humans.  Bible and Koran religious sex is the most ridiculous claptrap ever published and foisted on man — and womankind. Pick almost any religion you want. Tired old gray-haired sexual Adams have attempted to control the sexual Eves of our world since males and females used backrooms in caves. Males have used physical power and ignorance for supremacy for thousands of years while females have attempted to use brain power and science to protect themselves.

I am appalled at the total ignorance of Ken Sims of Moorhead when he wrote in the Forum: “Promoting Sex is Good Business for Planned Parenthood,” as if it is on the New York Stock Exchange. Have you ever read the mission statement of the agency which has cared for the sexual health of millions of girls and women for many years in the country---  and thousands of women in the F-M area? 
The mission of Planned Parenthood (perhaps women think that’s better than unplanned!) is: “To provide comprehensive reproduction and complementary health care services in settings which preserve and protect the essential privacy and rights of each individual, to advocate public policies which guarantee these rights and ensure access to such services, to provide educational programs which enhance understanding of individual and societal implications of human sexuality, and to promote research and the advancement of technology in reproductive health and encourage understanding of their bioethical, behavioral, and social implications.” Planned Parenthood runs 600 health centers nationwide under the supervision of 54 districts.

Howard Stern To Donald Trump: “You’re Braver Than Any Vietnam Vet…..”

If you are voting on sexual matters that involve millions of people—or if you’re writing about sex to inform — or confuse — The New York Review of Books has an article in its latest issue that may straighten your curly pubic hair. Noelle Gallagher published “Itch, Clap, Pox: Venereal Disease. In The 18th Century Imagination,” a review of the powers of sex over the last 600 years. One short paragraph establishes the horror of the disease over those years: “The dread was physical—the pain and horror of weeping ulcers and the collapsed noses of late stage syphilis — but also social and religious. 
As one typical medical tract (Old English text!), by the surgeon Peter Lowe, put it in 1506: ‘For to refraine the filthy lusts of men and women, God hath permitted thys sickness to rainge among them,, as a punishment for sinne.’”  This article emphasizes the never-ending phenomenal power of sex over all of our lives. It is a concise history of the fear people had of venereal diseases and how they affected government and society. 

The best short summation of what venereal disease does to humans is a description of William Hogarth’s painting in 1750 called “The March of the Guards to Finchley” written by Fintan O’Toole: “At right, the notorious brothel keeper Mother Douglas looks out on English soldiers from the King’s Head Tavern, while prostitutes (almost all infected with venereal disease) display themselves from windows in the whorehouse. On the left, an infected soldier grimaces in pain as he attempts to piss against a wall—to which is affixed a flyer advertising the services of well-known VD specialist.” If you wish to continue your sex education at the adolescent level, Google drawings of what happens to the private parts of human bodies in later stages of syphilis, gonorrhea, Itch, Clap, and Pox. And if you want to know more about that genius Donald Trump, read Gallagher’s article — and why Howard Stern calls The fornicating Donald “braver than any Vietnam vet.”

The Main Question For 21st Century Religions: What Are You Going To Do About Homosexuality?

In 1996 only 27% of Americans supported same-sex marriage. In 2015 it became legal nationwide—and approved by 63% by 2019. In 1977 only 14% believed gay people should be allowed to adopt children. In 2019 over 75% of Americans support homosexual adoption rights. In 1977 less than 50% of Americans believed gays should be allowed to become doctors, lawyers, and teachers. In 2019 93% believe homosexuals should have equal access to all jobs. We have come a long way from 1856 when a New York female was criminally charged with wearing male apparel, of making love, and marrying another female person. Roman Catholics and evangelical Christians: the homosexual ball is bouncing violently around in your pulpit.

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