More analogies

WORLDmag.com readers are focusing on the National Association of Evangelicals' surprising decision to make a deal for $1 million from contraception-for-the-unmarried promoters, and then negotiate for more (see "The money trail," June 21). Tuesday's best analogy was crash suits for drunk drivers (see "An analogy). Today we have filtered cigarettes, bibs for chocolate chip cookies before lunch, and fly-fishing.

The first analogy comes from an online commenter who wrote, "I do wish the paradigm could shift so that our approach/attitude toward premarital sex could equal the one we take with underage smoking. Could you ever imagine: "Hey, we know you're going to smoke, but at least use this filtered Camel." Another commenter followed up by noting that imagination was unnecessary: "That was exactly the advice my mother got after her first heart attack at age 39 back in 1967. And she followed it by switching from unfiltered to filtered cigarettes. … She died of a heart attack at an early age."

Next, two suggestions in a letter from Tim Sutphen. In quoting the first I'm not equating the appetites of 21-year-olds with those of 21-month-olds, but enjoy this anyway:

"Imagine if I told my 21-month-old son that he was not to have any chocolate chip cookies before lunch, but just in case he disobeyed I gave him a bib so he didn't dirty his new shirt. Does he have more incentive or less to obey my command? I confess the comparison isn't perfect but no one is under the false impression this would be a good lesson in encouraging obedience."

Sutphen then asked us to:

"… look at the work of the fly-fisherman. The effectiveness of the fly-fisherman to lure the trout is based on his ability to present the fly in a way that mimics the real insect's behavior as closely as possible. The trout believes the fly to be a true source of sustenance and bites only to find he has been hooked. Once he has bitten it is too late: He has become enslaved to another master and has lost his freedom. Christians do the very same thing when we decide to use the world's wisdom instead of God's wisdom.

"We want to reduce abortions, but encouraging the use of contraceptives will only increase sexual promiscuity by encouraging the rationalizing of the sinful nature in each of us. More sex equals more pregnancies, even when contraceptives are involved. More pregnancies equals more temptation toward using abortion as a cover. Lest we forget, Satan is the father of lies; his goal is to deceive. If someone is deceived into having sex and using contraceptives to avoid the possible consequences, then are we to expect that if those measures fail they will not likewise be deceived into using the next step (abortion) to cover their sin? No indeed!"