Furthermore, I don't know what it's like for the ladies, but for the men (at least some of us, anyway), when you're in that kind of close contact with the right someone if you don't do what your body is screaming for it punishes you by making your groin ache for a few hours thereafter.
I speak from experience.
HA! I love it.
However, you forgot the most common reason...
"Because I don't have enough self-confidence to ask anyone to have sex with me."
However, you forgot the most common reason...
Well, yeah. The most common denominator is lack of opportunity for all sorts of reasons. And that's the issue: virginity pledges made in school or at church or at viginity balls or wherever don't take into account how little they're going to mean when the opportunity (no pun intended) arises. They don't actually prepare young people at all for the reality that, at some point, they will be in a situation where they could have sex.
As an aside, I know several "late virgins," whose stories are all of The 40-Year-Old Virgin variety: "It didn't happen, and then I got freaked out about how it didn't happen, and then it really didn't happen..."
None of them were holding out because of virginity pledges. It was, across the board, shyness. And their wanting to have sex didn't get them into the situation where they could have sex any more than a virginity pledger's not wanting to have sex will keep them out of the same situation, especially if they're still doing normal dating stuff--which most virginity pledgers do.
The schools here started this abstinence only bullshit this year.My son is in 7th grade,of course I don't want him having sex right now,he's 12 fer chrissakes.But what might work at age 12 ain't gonna mean squat by the time he's 16,right now he's scared of girls,but that's not gonna last forever.We already talked about condoms and stuff this summer,so he's ahead of alot of the other kids.We'll keep having these talks too,it's no one time deal.
I read somewhere once that well informed kids are probably more effective in teaching their peers than some health class is.When kids talk to each other is when they end up learning the most(for good or bad).
Wait til his health teacher gets a load of me,lol,I have an appt to see her next week about this idiotic curriculum.
The lady intends to deliver some heartburn with her common sense........ 
Can someone please explain the guy on the right's original comment? (The revision makes more sense.)
How does abstinence give anyone "a second chance"? Was his first "chance" with men? Or animals?
Or is there some girl in Taos or Albuquerque saying, "Yeah, you got the second chance, I got the kid, *******!"
How does abstinence give anyone "a second chance"?
I believe it's a reference to the "Born-Again Virgin" movement.
Something I've noticed about the sexually inexperienced: They commonly believe that informing perfect strangers of the details of their sex lives isn't tacky if they do it.
I know you are going directly to hell after what you did to that wonderfully inspiring photo. 
The poster with the pregnant boy is priceless!
http://www.ichoosemyfuture.com/y...ages/
poster.jpg
I'm imagining that the guy from South Park have started an advertising agency and they're conning these people into running with these lame-ass campaigns -- laughing at every one of them.
Seriously, this couldn't be better satire. If these posters appeared in National Lampoon 30 years ago we'd all think they were far too silly.
I swear to Dog I've seen the guy on the right with a profile on Gay.com.
(I only go there to read the articles, by the way.)
I can't for the life of me understand how abstinence is a virtue.
Anybody?
If successfully carried out it removes one set of serious risks from a student's life while they're working on other priorities. (But you can almost count on one hand the number of people in a high school who are successful.)
... it removes one set of serious risks from a student's life ...
Ok, that makes it qualify as a safety tip, but not a virtue.
Ok, but following a safety tip when it's plainly very difficult to do so can be construed as a sign of good character (a virtue).
(Or a foolish consistency...........)
Sis
Please tell me your 40 year old virgin friends are living happily ever after.
My sister turned 40 on the tenth and is still a virgin a quite miserable.
I keep telling her not to give up hope.
Can you divulge something positive from their experiences?
I see. That explains why people think that never drinking is a virtue. I never got that either. Of course, I totally disagree that its virtuous. But I can see how some people might.
Thanks.
(But you can almost count on one hand the number of people in a high school who are successful.)
I made it through high school pure in body, if not in thought.
Of course, I got knocked up a year and a half later.
Nik E Poo, the other thing going on here is a particular religious ethic contained in parts of both Christianity and also Judaism. Not all versions contain it (yet some do very strongly), but there's a line of thinking that denigrates the material and claims that focusing on it distracts one from spiritual issues which matter far, far more. Consequently, if done the right way and for the right reasons, denying yourself the material and the sensual can benefit your spirituality in ways nothing else can.
Some Christian denominations have championed this idea in certain ways. Methodists (originally) in particular were famous for what they would NOT do in their daily lives:
no swearing or profanity, no drinking, no smoking, no dancing, no gambling, no playing cards, no attending plays (theater), no going to the movies.
Please tell me your 40 year old virgin friends are living happily ever after.
Yep. They are. They all found someone eventually. Not necessarily lifelong somebodies in each case, but people who finally helped them dive into the pool.
nik e poo, in addition to oddjob's cogent summary of the religious significance of abstinence as a virtue, I would add that abstinence demonstrates and fosters strength of will, self control and discipline.
One of the core teachings of almost all spiritual traditions is that to achieve any level of spiritual awareness we must strive to rid ourselves of desire.
Not drinking alcohol (which you also claimed to be unable to understand as a virtue) can be understood as a virtue if one accepts that alcohol diminishes discipline and self-control, and increases the power of desire. A non-smoker of many years may smoke again while drunk, a devoted husband may be tempted to submit to the sexual desire he feels for another woman. Drinking diminishes the self-control that normally holds these desires in check.
In response to the old saying "in vino veritas", I would argue that the true character of a man is his sober self. Drinking strips away layers of civility.
"My sister turned 40 on the tenth and is still a virgin a quite miserable.
I keep telling her not to give up hope.
Miserable because she hasn't gotten laid? Miserable because she hasn't found a significant other and gotten laid several times?
I'll take the plunge here: I've never had intercourse. And the last time I had any kind of touchy-feely was 1988 or 89. And I'm far from miserable.
My reasons are many: bad experience and then depression followed by refocus on my college and then my work. Couple that with a general tendency to be a loner and, well, the opportunities are pretty scarce. Now I have loner and my weight among other issues to keep me occupied.
And, despite some people trying to analyze me and convince me otherwise, I'm perfectly fine with all that.
Will I ever find that special someone? Will I let loose and spend several years having flings to catch up? I don't know. Right now I have, in my personal opinion, more important things to worry about (job, money, etc.) than whether my penis gets a little action.
If your friend is miserable, I hope she finds someone and can be happy. For me, though, I've had people classify me miserable because I'm alone and it really ticks me off. 
I'm perfectly happy, and I don't like it when people tell me I'm in denial or something. Argh.
Amen, Dean. Solitude isn't some curse or anything.
At least, being male, your decision to remain single doesn't detract from your value as a person. For women, credibility, mental stability, and even perceived job performance all hinge on whether or not they have a man in their lives (just look at the way many criticisms of Condoleeza Rice begin by emphasizing her single-for-life status, as opposed to her dismal understanding of modern politics).
I'd be thrilled if the only thing people thought about me as a result of my singlehood was that I'm not happy. It would sure beat being seen as some incompetent, hysterical, habitually lying shrew who needs a man and some babies to bring her to her sensibilities.
justicewalks -- you bring up a good point. A single man is often portrayed as a bachelor (or a playboy if he's the sleeping around, outgoing type). A single woman is often portrayed as a shrew or a spinster. That IS just wrong.
I can still get odd labels if people find out I'm single and I don't date. ("What? Are you gay?" As if not dating at all is an indicator of whether I'm straight or gay?) But a single man in the business or political world certainly doesn't get similar labels from some people that single women do... Sigh.
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