Teens flock to California church to hear Bristol Palin

"I liked... the way she presented her opinion without forcing her ideas on us"
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The Whittier Daily News reports that teens from across the Southwest made their way to Our Saviour Lutheran Church in Arcadia, California Saturday to hear Bristol Palin speak about the dangers facing today's youth:

The speech was part of Lovefest, an annual two-day church event that focuses on teens and values. The event held in a church tent familiar to the revival circuit, where youngsters listened to Palin's speech.

From there, the children broke into smaller classes to focus on a array of teen issues - from dating to safely navigating the Internet.

Palin was brought in to serve as a role model and to talk candidly about her experience as a teenage mom. Children came from across Southern California and from as far away as Nevada, church officials said.

"She came right out and said, `I've been criticized and called an hypocrite because I was taking a stance on abstinence and I said I don't want you to go through this,"' said Dave Sweeney, co-founder of the Love Fest. "She implored young people to not to listen to those who say abstinence is not a big deal."

[...]

"We didn't want this to turn into a political event," said Roger Sonnenberg, pastor of Our Saviour Lutheran Church.

But there was no denying the effect of Palin's star power on the children.

"I liked her story and the way she presented her opinion without forcing her ideas on us," said Haley Gould, 17, of Glendora.

[More]

- JP

Bristol in the lion's den February 7

“We thought a big name like Bristol’s would help to start a dialogue”
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One of the things we admire most about Bristol Palin is that she, like her mom, is fearless. She will need that famous Palin spunk when the visits Washington University in St. Louis next month:

Bristol Palin will address Washington University as the keynote speaker for this year’s Sexual Responsibility Week.

Student Union Treasury on Tuesday approved a $20,000 appeal by the Student Health Advisory Committee (SHAC) to sponsor a four-person panel featuring Palin. The appeal was initially set at $25,000 and renegotiated.

[...]

The panel will also include representatives from the Catholic Student Center, Missouri Right to Life, and Planned Parenthood and will address the issue of abstinence in a college setting.

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The event will be held in Graham Chapel at 7 p.m. on Feb. 7. to end the first day of Sex Week. The week, which seeks to start an open sexual dialogue, encourage students to experiment with sexual viewpoints that differ from their own and to provide wide-reaching sexual education, will continue through Feb. 12.

The event will begin with a 25-minute speech by Palin on her life story to be followed by an hour-long panel discussion and a half hour question-and-answer session. A reception will be held after the question and answer to allow students to interact with Palin one-on-one.

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By hosting Palin as the keynote speaker, SHAC hoped to appease concerns with previous Sex Weeks while also highlighting this year’s series.

“We thought a big name like Bristol’s would help to start a dialogue,” SHAC President Scott Elman said. “We also wanted to target abstinence because SHAC and Sex Week have been criticized for being too liberal and too one-dimensional, and that the abstinence conversation hasn’t been brought up.”

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Too liberal? Washington University? Say it isn't so, SHAC...

Seriously, it is to the student organization's credit to try to find some balance in the events it sponsors. And it is to Bristol's credit that she is willing to put herself in a setting where some hateful leftists in the peanut gallery will use the opportunity to attack her. But the same Lord who helps us pick ourselves up when we stumble is also our Shield against those who make themselves our enemies.

- JP

The Eagle: Bristol Palin talks abstinence at Brazos fundraiser

Mayor Bienski: Bristol's accomplished more in 20 years than most people in a lifetime
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From deep in the heart of Texas, via Bryan-College Station's The Eagle:

Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol, who became a single mother at 18, came to the Brazos Valley on Saturday with a message for other young girls: Abstinence is the only sure-fire way to avoid pregnancy.

"I just want girls to know abstinence is a reasonable alternative and that all life has value," Bristol Palin said toward the end of her 10-minute speech at a charity fundraiser benefiting the nonprofit Central Texas Orphan Mission Alliance, which takes an anti-abortion stance.

"Abstinence," Palin added, "is not about morality, it's about reality, because it's the only thing that works every time."

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The difficulties of being an unwed teen mother, she said, were compounded by the media's depiction of her family as one from "outer space."

Karen Hall, president of CTOMA, said she and the board decided last May to book Palin for the fundraising event that Hall described as the largest yet for the organization.

Beyond helping orphaned and neglected children in third-world countries, CTOMA on a local level will soon operate a free health-screening clinic out of its new headquarters on 29th Street in Bryan. The organization also will provide ultrasounds and health education information free of charge when construction and renovations on the new building are complete.

CTOMA also operates a program to get food to needy elderly in Bryan-College Station.

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The Eagle's report notes that the crowd responded to Bristol's speech with a round of "loud" applause.

- JP