Celebrity Gossip Shines a Light on Society's Real Values

Yes, I must cave in and write about this. It has nothing to do with international affairs but I think its an important glimpse into the role of the Christian faith in American society.

Jamie Lynn Spears, the 16 year old sister of Britney Spears and Nickelodeon television star, has announced that she is pregnant. Why do I care? Because the public reactions to this news are troubling. Jamie Lynn and her mother are professing evangelical Christians, who advocate abstinence until marriage. Mrs. Spears was even in the midst of writing a Christian parenting book for a Christian publisher.

Gossip hounds are eating the story up, excited by the failings of the “righteous”. Fans are shocked and appalled. What is going to happen to her career with Nickelodeon? What message is this going to send to her fans? What does this say about “Christian parenting”?

The girl made a mistake, and she’s lucky that she has the money to handle it just fine. It disturbs me that so many people assume her life is over because she’s having a baby at 16 and is most likely going to be raising it as a single mom. I find it even more disturbing that there are still people out there who believe abstinence education IS birth control.

If a teenager wants to wait until marriage, great. But they should also be taught what to do if they mess up. Safe sex and birth control should be taught universally, it is the best way to protect ALL kids from such experiences they are not ready for, and to stop the spread of any STD’s.

It is WRONG to make these kids feel worthless when they don’t adhere to the abstinence standard. So please, let’s not make Jamie Lynn Spears the instrument with which we shame and blackball teenage girls in similar situations who may not be as fortunate.