This is why I don't read the news anymore. It just gets me too riled up.
Kathy Martin is a member of the Kansas Board of Education. She happens to be from my hometown.
Normally, when someone from my hometown makes the national news, I'm excited.
When Kathy Martin makes the news, I cringe.
Martin made herself rather infamous during the Kansas Evolution Hearings. As a supporter of Intelligent Design, she was quoted many times in the media.
"Evolution has been proven false. ID [intelligent design] is science-based and strong in facts," says Kathy Martin, member of Kansas Board of Education subcommittee evaluating the state's science standards.
Mrs. Martin, who admitted friendly-like to an intelligent design witness that she hadn't read the existing standards word-for-word either -- that is, the standards which she and the other members of the board are supposed to approve or modify -- came up with another gem at the conclusion of the subcommittee hearings: She said that "evolution is an unproven, often disproven theory."Quivis
What we're saying is that the neo- Darwinism and some of the materialistic explanations of evolution have led young folks away from Christianity and their beliefs.PBS
Now, Martin wants the sex education in Kansas to be "Just Say No."
She has proposed that schools should teach only abstinence and any schools who teach anything more could lose their accreditation.
What the hell has Kansas turned into?
I won't even get started on my strong belief in the separation of church and state (Really, I won't but it's in the Constitution! If you're a member of the government, you are free to practice any religion you choose, but you can't be pushing your religion onto others by passing laws and such, no matter how good your intentions are!).
This proposal is just ignorant. I'm not sure what kind of dream world the conservatives in Kansas are living in, but this stuff is just not going to fly.
Sure, in some sort of no-sex utopia, there would of course be lower rates of pregnancy and STDs.
The fact is, people are going to have sex before they get married. Without information, the consequences of pre-marital sex can be disastrous.
I've known people whose parents did not allow them to take sex ed. I've known more people who did take sex ed. Guess which group has asked me questions like "Can I get pregnant during oral sex?"
"If we're truthful and we arm them with a little bit more information, that's just smart."Candee Stuchlik
Heights High School
The Wichita Eagle
Martin also provides a metaphor to help explain her position.
"We don't say, 'We know you're not going to fasten your seat belt or go the speed limit, so here's a road over here that you can drive on,' "The Wichita Eagle
We also don't say "Don't drive until you've got somebody to sit shotgun and a child seat in the back."
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