30 Dec 2008
Virginity pledges don't mean much, study says

I can't say I'm surprised by this, but one little bit of the study did surprise me:

Five years after the initial survey the study subjects were aged 20 to 23. Eighty-two percent of pledge takers denied (or forgot) they had ever taken such a vow.

Heathenry holds oaths in the highest regard: if you make a vow, you're supposed to do your utmost to keep it, and if you fail, you can bet there'll be Hel to pay. Getting released from an oath is certainly possible, but only after satisfaction is offered to the oath holder. In the case of one of these silly "virginity pledges", that would be the pledge taker. What kind of satisfaction can you offer yourself? Another vow?

The net result of such things is to devalue the entire notion of an oath or a pledge: and that doesn't bode well for any society, Heathen, Christian or otherwise.

As many as one in eight teens in the United States may take a virginity pledge at some point, vowing to wait until they're married before having sex. But do such pledges work? Are pledge takers more likely than other teens to delay sexual activity?

(link) [CNN.com]

19:27 /Asatru | 2 comments | permanent link