When I was a child, I thought like a child

A young woman in Texas found a provocative way to make a point about freedom of religion–or freedom from someone else’s religion.  Here it is:

That certainly got people’s attention.  Sadly, her willingness to step into this adult debate has taught her an adult lesson.  She writes:

That’s when people started calling me a “whore.”

I’m going to be honest about what it feels like to be called that as a 14-year-old girl who has never had sex and who doesn’t plan to have sex anytime soon.

I feel disappointed.

It’s hard for me to understand why adults would be calling me this. It’s hard for me to understand why anyone would use this term for a 14-year-old girl.

It’s not anyone’s business, but as I said, I am a virgin, and I don’t plan to have sex until I am an adult.

But none of those facts make me feel any less passionate about fighting for a woman’s right to choose and the separation of church and state in my home state of Texas.

I also don’t think this makes me — or any other 14-year-old girl who agrees with me — a whore.

It simply makes us people. People who believe that abortion should be safe, legal and accessible for women. People who believe women should be in control of their bodies and should not ever have to put their lives at risk so that we don’t go backwards in women’s rights in this country.

The adult lesson here is that people act like children when children expect them to act like adults.  How I hope this brave young woman does not put away childish things.

One thought on “When I was a child, I thought like a child”

Comments are closed.