Mr. Russell Vellos
Editor Amandala
Dear Sir,
In response to the recent assault of condom advertisements in the media, I wrote this article that I humbly request be printed in your newspaper.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my views as a Christian on this issue with your readership.
Zelda Wade-Hill
The Truth about Condoms and Sexual Behavior, Got It? Get It!
If I were a teenager and did not know better, I would run to the store to “get it” and find a partner to have sex with. Such is the pressure being felt by our children who are being bombarded several times a day with these Got it? Get it! radio and television advertisements, deceiving our children with the message that as long as they use a condom it is okay to have sex. I am annoyed that the media could be so irresponsible to show some of these ads with scenes of youths caressing each other’s bodies and preparing for sex at a time when young children are watching the news!
I agree that condom use has its advantages for family planning and in preventing the transfer of infections and viruses to some extent, but the makers of these ads are not presenting the real choices youths have and therefore, are subtly spreading false information that condom use is the only way to prevent the undesirable effects of wanton sex.
This condom campaign is a worldwide satanic plot propelled by greed and morally-depraved secular institutions that neither acknowledge the rules of God nor care about the well-being of our children.
A few years ago, sexual abstinence was the primary message to youths, but today, we have plummeted from grade A to grade C in instructing our youth on right sexual behaviour. Have we given up on teaching our children about abstinence and saving themselves for marriage, the way God intended it?
Even if it seems that our advice is not being heeded (and I hear the excuse “kids will have sex anyway!) it is still our responsibility to tell them the truth. The truth is that in spite of all the negative messages coming through the media, especially through the sexually loaded movies that our cable providers show at any time of the day, many are still saving themselves for marriage.
The truth is that our Creator’s design and authorization of sex is intended for our own health and happiness here on earth. The truth is that a few inches of rubber can never bring true meaning to the sexual act, and it will never make right what God sees as wrong.
The truth is that whenever we live contrary to God’s Word, we destroy our lives and the wonderful plans God has for us. These truths are never more obvious than in the rebellious sexual choices mankind has made. But we are so stiff-necked, we resist the chastening of our Creator and continue to embrace and legitimize our own standards of morality to our own detriment.
It should also be very obvious by now that the condoms, which many still hope are the means of preventing and minimizing our social ills, are not all they are wrapped up to be. It has been many years now since this rubber item is being idolized as the permit to have sex without the undesirable consequences. Condoms can be found at almost every store and are being given away to children at almost every social event. Young people can get them any time. So if condom use is the solution, why do we still have increasing incidences of sexually transmitted infections and diseases and so many cases of teenage pregnancies and abortions in Belize?
Many ask, “Are people using condoms at all?” “Are condoms as safe as they say?” “Do people prefer to use them over the natural way?” I don’t think so, but the issue is beyond the use or non-use of condoms. The issue is all about self-control and using reason to make right decisions, but it seems that reason takes too much time to do. We have thrown caution to the wind and we want what we want, and we want it now! Why wait? We do not want to control our urges with food, pleasure, spending and sex, so we choose to live without restraint.
If we do not practice self-control now, what will happen when we want sex and have no condoms available? This is the main reason why the focus should not be on using condoms, but on the benefits of waiting and saying “no” to sex, choosing friends wisely, getting involved in sports and other constructive after-school activities, selecting and pursuing goals and being selective with the type of entertainment we listen to and watch.
We should teach our children to be unique and do what the ordinary young girl or boy will never do. Teach them that doing the right thing takes strong will-power to resist wrong pressure, it takes an exercise of their innate abilities and wisdom and the desire to do what is right to please our Creator. Teach them that if they take a stand for abstinence until marriage, God will stand with them and help them to keep their vow.
The health and happiness we want for our children is within our reach, but it depends on what we teach them. If we agree that it is necessary to toilet-train our children so that they can control their physical urges, then we must also teach them to control their sexual urges and to wait for the right place and time for sex. The real answer to our problems is the proper use of our mental and behavioral faculties that God designed us with.
If God desired for us to have sex anytime and anywhere, perhaps He would have made condoms or something better a part of our manufacture. But sex was not intended for trivial and meaningless encounters and for the sole purpose of gratifying our urges. Sex is special and it reflects God’s desire for our procreation, earthly happiness and security in a covenant relationship where there is love, respect, trust and commitment between partners. Doing what we want brings on a host of other social problems and the risk of eternally losing our very souls.
We are not merely physical beings without a Creator or without purpose as evolution teaches. Perhaps others believe such a lie, hence the reason why it does not matter to them if we live wantonly and without accountability. The time and resources that we need to take to teach our children properly have been replaced by a cheap, undependable and quick band-aid type fix (or rather, wreck).
But is there a quick fix for the damage that early sexual activity will do to our children’s reproductive organs? Is there a pill that they can take when they are emotionally wrecked from feeling used, misused and abused by others? Is there permanent help for the sexually promiscuous teenager who is going from partner to partner and trying to feel loved and wanted after being rejected by his or her first and consequent sexual partners? Is there an easy way to build trust in couples who will divorce because they cannot trust each other due to previous sexual experience?
What about a quick cure for the youth who is venting out his anger and hurt on his society because he had no love from the father who used his mother at a bar because he wanted sex now? If we continue to transmit these misleading messages that encourage our children to have sex, then we need to take the blame for these and more inevitable consequences that are realities in our country.
As we celebrate our 27th anniversary as an independent nation, we must realize that while it is our goal to be self-sufficient and self-reliant, individually and collectively we can never live truly independent of God and succeed. To survive and be blessed as a nation, we must do what is right because “righteousness delivers from death (Proverbs 11:4)”.
We need to depend on our Creator daily for instruction and wisdom. I urge the makers and transmitters of these condom ads to refrain from sending these dangerous messages to our children. Misleading our children and causing them to sin is a serious offense to God.
Jesus Himself said, “But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea (Matthew 18:6).”
It will be your life for destroying our children’s lives.