Thursday, December 14, 2006

Judgment-Free Hurts People

By Rick Pearcey

"The young women described in Unprotected have fallen victim to one of the few personal troubles that our caring professions refuse to treat or even acknowledge: They have been made miserable by their 'sexual choices.' And on that subject, few modern doctors dare express a word of judgment." . . .

Friends With Benefits With Side Effects: "Heather, for instance, has succumbed to an intense bout of depression. The doctor presses her to think of possible causes. She can't think of anything. Then she says: 'Well, I can think of one thing: since Thanksgiving, I've had a "friend with benefits." And actually I'm kind of confused about that' . . . .

"I'm confused, because it seems like I don't get the 'friend' part, but he still gets the 'benefits.' It finally dawns on her: 'I'm really unhappy about that.'

"Heather is not an unrepresentative case" . . . .

Depression, Suicide: These girls "are following the best advice that modern psychology can offer. They are enjoying their sexual freedom, experimenting, discovering themselves. They can't understand what might be wrong. And yet something is wrong. . . .

"Surveys have found that 'sexually active teenage girls were more than three times as likely to be depressed, and nearly three times as likely to have had a suicide attempt, than girls who were not sexually active.' . . .

Anonymous: "The author of this vivid and urgent book has published it anonymously precisely because she fears that if her employers and colleagues heard her unwelcome views, they would judge her negatively -- and punish her, personally and professionally. The anonymity, however understandable, is a shame: Her cause could use a visible and vocal crusader."

The entire OpinionJournal column by Danielle Crittenden is here.


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Rick Pearcey is editor and publisher of The Pearcey Report.

3 comments:

Matt Redmond said...

I just ordered it from my local bookstore. Thanks.

William Bradford said...

How is it that we allow PC values to become the dominant values in institutions throughout the USA? It appears as if they are not the values of choice among the great masses of Americans yet those who push for them seem to have power that is disproportionate to their numbers.

Diane said...

Its all about testing the wind, I'd say.

The other day I talked with my husband about a similar question concerning homosexual behavior and AIDS. No one wants to grab the facts in their hands and tell the truth for fear of "offending" or "moralizing" behavior, yet, do we not do this unabashedly to smokers (for example)? We urge them not to smoke, we applaud them for quitting, we ridicule and and even file suit against advertisers for marketing this "evil" or "dirty, dangerous habit" to children, no doubt, and now we are entering into private homes of civilians screaming "child abuse due to second hand smoke." Why do we (should we?) approve of this outcry, based on HEALTH FINDINGS-empirical evidence-and not say the same for the obvious health issues surrounding the gay lifestyle, and others including those mentioned in the anonymous author.

Anyway, just table talk at our house in NC...