Condoms the New Diploma

The essay by Rush Limbaugh entitled “Condoms: The New Diploma” is about the authors claim of how condom distribution promotes sex by teens and bypasses abstinence. This essay is created to depict the idea of free condom distribution throughout a school, in hopes to promote safe sex. Limbaugh provides hard evidence to his essay and strengthens his side by providing life relating examples and statistics such as air travel, Magic Johnson, and teacher’s views on sex education. The fluidity of the Limbaugh’s essay and his ability to use his strengths of vivid imagery creates a strong toned argument, making a very effective essay. Rush Limbaugh claims that condom distribution promotes sex by teens and bypasses abstinence. He provides a rhetorical example intended to demonstrate that school distributed condoms will sanction sex and gives a definition of gender sex rules. Limbaugh then claims that sex has negative consequences, and brings the specific example of Magic Johnson claiming abstinence is the only safe sex.

Limbaugh then claims that some people oppose teaching abstinence, while using New York, and Jacksonville Florida school teachers as specific examples: thus the information being giving to students are inaccurate and basis off of trickery. Limbaugh claims that his opposition is involved in a cultural war and characterizes them as wildly irresponsible. His most compelling source is a statistic about condom failure and provides an analogy between condom failure and air travel with kids. Limbaugh finally claims that condom distribution has failed and that the opposition is moving closer toward ridiculous alternatives to abstinence. Rush Limbaugh’s argument is a stern and traditional approach on values and personal beliefs. The essay is designed to have a radical approach to the reader and gives off a strong tone of sternness; making the reader feel like Limbaugh is the authority and the reader is wrong. Although Limbough uses strong analogies and statistics, he also shows examples that appeal to the reader, thus creating an effective essay..

Rush Limbaugh quickly uses his stern tone and gets to the point of his first argument of how public school are corrupting teenagers by passing out condoms, sanctioning sex, and disregarding abstinence. The usage of his tone essentially grabs the reader and shows that what you have learned is wrong and abstinence is the right way and the only way. Limbaugh uses this strong belief in comparison to the negative effects of sexual encounters and shows that it is the more beneficial method. Limbaugh constructs a reductio ad absurdum argument to show the illogic of condom distribution. A reductio ad absurdum is a tool that contradicts a hypothesis, thus showing the absurdity of the thesis. Limbaugh uses this tool by stating if the schools are going to distribute condoms because they believe the kids are going to eventually have sex, we might as well provide them with drugs and guns, for they will eventually run into those too.

This tool brings out the flaws by relating it to other situations, thus illustrating the insensible idea of condom distribution and strengthening his argument.. Limbaugh uses a common example of what an ideal situation is between two teenagers on a date, a boy wanting to have sex and a girl not ready yet. Limbaugh then points his finger at the school, stating that they have a school provided condom and that everything will be ok if they use it, for the school says it is ok to have sex. Limbaugh uses this example to show that if there was no condom distribution the girls word would be final and she would not have to second guess whether to have sex or not. Thanks to the school wide distribution of condoms, the boy put more pressure on the girl and got what he wanted—all thanks to the school.

This example shows how schools should not distribute condoms, for teenagers will more likely experiment because they have condoms, than not experiment cause they do not have them. Limbaugh then uses a consequences for actions tactic to strengthen his previous arguments, while bringing a credited celebrity to strengthen his beliefs. He states how sex can cause AID’s, venereal disease, and how parents are doing a poor job of warning their children about the consequences of sex. He then brings in Magic Johnson and provides an example of giving him a condom to have sex with a girl with AID’s. Then asking the question “would anyone have sex with a woman who has AID’s with just a condom protecting you from the disease.” This effective method is designed to shock the reader and show the consequences of sexual actions. Limbaugh then attacks the source of the escapade; he attacks the teachers and facility that want to pass out condoms, stating that the facts and reality being giving to teenagers through schools is false.

He shows how the teacher’s methods of teaching safe sex with condoms are absurd, and the only 100 percent method of safe sex is abstinence. Teachers said that if abstinence is being taught within schools, it can cause great damage to the students by increasing their chance of AID’s or sexually transmitted diseases. Limbaugh then claims that the false knowledge being taught is ridiculous, and if the students are taught abstinence there is zero percent chance of getting any sexually transmitted disease. Limbaugh shows the false reality compared to the true reality, and insists that the truth be taught, instead of the false methods. The final and yet the most effective method of Limbaugh’s essay is his personal relating examples to the reader. Limbaugh uses an example of relating condom failure being 20 percent and air traveler having a 20 percent death rate. He gives a blunt and powerful example of putting kids or loved ones on a plane knowing it has a one in five chance of a passenger being killed.

This tool hits the reader’s heart and personal life and is the most effective part in Limbaugh’s essay, proving that his argument of condom distribution within schools is an absurd idea. Rush Limbaugh’s persona in “Condoms: The New Diploma” seems old fashion, and firm morals. He seems as a very religious and peaceful person, and a man that wants to help other people in the right path that he has chosen—a path of abstinence. He disbelieves in sexual encounters before marriage and feels that the methods being taught are far from what he has been taught, thus being harmful to teenagers. Rush Limbaugh creates a very effective essay in “Condoms: The New Diploma” by using statistics of condom failure and sex related diseases.

He gets personal by using examples of putting loved ones on a plane knowing they may not make it to their destination. He brings in credited sources and gives them and option when encountering sex, and provides his own solution to the corrupt learning system of safe sex. Limbaugh introduces his own abstinence ideas and how irrational the ideas being taught to teenagers are. His way of fixing the sex drive is the right way and only way to protect teenagers and produces an effective essay attacking the source of it all.