The Barometer Online

Sarah,

Thank you so much for being the only one so far willing to provide the "other" view of things. I'm talking about the view that is not Dan Fitzpatrick's. I do not think it is fair that Dan has been the only one stating his views, permeating our minds with all this extremely conservative, Christian, judgmental, bigoted information. I have been waiting so long for this. You have been just and non-judgmental and I commend you so much for that. It just takes a lot of guts and great intelligence to stand up against him. His type seems to be pretty domineering and even I would be intimidated to stand up to his line of thought because unfortunately, he's not the only one.

I appreciate you so much! Thanks again and keep up the great work!

One other thing: Planned Parenthood is also a great source for getting tested for STDs, getting treatment for STDs, and getting family planning for those who choose not to have an abortion. These are the other great services that PP provides. It's really a matter of public health and has nothing to do with liberal or republican views when STDs are simply the most common diseases and infections that are affecting our age group today.

Nicole

I would argue against the statement that the U.S. is behind our European counterparts regarding the openness to sexuality and sex education. I lived in Europe for half a year recently, and half of my family is first and second-generation European, and I know that the majority of European society is much more traditional/conservative about sexuality. Never once in Europe did I see a TV commercial encouraging adolescent and young adult females to be vaccinated against HPV, never once did I see an ad in any form, TV, newspaper, magazine, billboard, etc, about Viagra or a certain strip club, and on and on, and the impression I got from living there was that Europe's traditional tendencies paved the way for a better understanding of sexuality and the right way to "use" it. Which European counterparts? Maybe one or two countries in Europe would be categorized as "liberal" in our terms -- legalizing marijuana, legalizing prostitution, legalizing plenty of things -- but the effects on their societies, which are mostly negative, are enough to convince me that comparing the U.S. to Europe might not be the best idea, and encouraging the U.S., especially college students, (in whose hands is the future of American society, however corny that sounds) to follow in the footsteps of those few European countries might not be the best way to go. The societies of those few "liberal" European countries are not more open about sexuality; they are more damaging. The majority of Europe is not this way.