Many religious conservatives are very vociferous about the dangers of teen pregnancy. It will ruin your life, they say. Here’s a little story to illustrate their point.
This is the story of Jose and Maria. Jose was a common laborer, doing carpentry jobs where ever he could. He didn’t work for a reputable employer, had no health insurance, no bank account, no retirement plan. His girlfriend, Maria, was 14. She had no job, and didn’t go to school.
Jose and Maria insisted that they loved each other and that they’d get married eventually. Well… they did. Before Maria turned 15. They kinda had to. Maria was pregnant. Jose, however, wasn’t the father. Even knowing that, he still married her.
Throughout her pregnancy, Maria didn’t go to any doctors; she didn’t get an ultrasound, or blood tests, or step on a scale. She had no insurance (and neither did her parents, who are noticeably absent from all of this), and couldn’t afford any fancy doctors. She couldn’t even use any of normal parenting magazines, since she didn’t have any money of her own, and couldn’t read anyway.
When Maria was in her 9th month, Jose received a court order to return to his home town to deal with some legal issues. Piling into Jose’s old Pinto, no money to their name, they headed off to deal with the summons. Jose never bothered to make reservations for a hotel, and a convention in town had booked up all the hotels. With nowhere else to go, they ended up sleeping a farmer’s barn. And that’s when Maria went into labor. With no hospital, no doctor, not even an EMT, she gave birth to Jesus in a pile of hay surrounded by farm animals and manure. The little boy was wrapped in rags and they just prayed that he’d grow up to be a strong boy.
Maria and Jose continued to wander around in search of work, dragging Jesus with them wherever they went. Jose would sometimes use Jesus as a helper when he worked–despite modern child-labor laws. Jesus, of course, never went to school. He did, however, learn how to read from some of the old Jews in the neighborhood. He was a handful. He ran away, he talked back to respected members of the community telling them they didn’t know what they were talking about, and he made a point of telling his mother that Jose wasn’t his real father.
When Jesus finally left home, he became a bum. What else would you expect from the child of a teen mother?
He had no job. He hung out with pick-pockets and prostitutes. His favorite was a young hooker named Maria; perhaps she reminded him of his mother… who knows? He was known for his love of wine, and was known as for bringing enough to get even a large party drunk. Of course, he constantly had run-ins with the law, and started gaining a reputation as someone who was willing to “stand up to The Man”. His little group of rabble-rousers grew. He and about a dozen of his closest “crew” formed the heart of the movement, though; the Inner Circle of the gang. They were constantly under observation by the law because of their activites. At one point, Jesus even went into a church and started vandalizing the church store and beating up on people.
It got to the point that the actions of this illegitimate child of a teen-age mother even disgusted one of his inner circle. Julio went to the feds and turned states evidence against Jesus. In return for a reward and a full pardon, Julio told the feds where to capture their man alone and unarmed.
Before he even reached 35, he was tried and convicted of treason. He was executed in accordance with the law.
Pretty much what you’d expect from the kid of a teen-age mother, isn’t it?
Especially some little Jew kid from Bethlehem…..
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