Religious FundaMENTALism

MSNBC reports on studies regarding religiosity, teen birth rates, and abortion statistics expose a "strong correlation" people who identified as religious conservatives (i.e., literal interpretation of the Bible, only one way to interpret one's religious teachings) and teen birth rates, even when income and abortion rates were considered.


It turns out that teens in less religious states had more abortions, but even stripping that away, the more religious the state, the higher the rate of teen births. And, says a public health official, while there are parts of New England where religious participation is high but have low teen birth rates, those folks tend to be involved in "less conservative, less fundamentalist type[s] of congregations."


In other words, religious fundamentalism nationwide contributes more to teen births, societal problems, and the breakdown of families than moderate, liberal, or nonexistent religiosity.

As Sullivan says, the same people who want to prevent gays from marrying and forming families are the ones most responsible for teen unwed mothers (meaning more unprotected premarital sex and, one could argue, potentially more transmissions of STDs). Sarah Palin's family fits in perfectly with this model.