Are you tired of seeing the Religious Right claim the moral high ground through abstinence pledges that don’t work? Statistics show that teens who take abstinence pledges–such as the infamous “Silver Ring Thing”–are no less likely to engage in premarital sex, and in fact are more likely to engage in irresponsible, unprotected sex.

Secular Americans, especially nonreligious kids, have strong morals and values that are based on reason, not dogma. And as a humanist, you know that attempts to control teens’ behavior through fear, intimidation and outdated doctrines and institutions are wrong–and futile.

But thanks to a group of young humanist activists from Georgia, the Silver Ring Thing has now clearly met its match. Please take a moment to watch the video below, which contains the humanist community’s answer to abstinence pledges–the Secular Principles Pinky Swear!

The Pinky Swear is a direct challenge to dogmatic religious pledges, demonstrating how secular kids can have strong values rooted in reason. These kids are NOT taking any kind of pledge in the traditional sense. Instead, they are just declaring their humanist values–values that include a commitment to being true to themselves, to being honest about their beliefs and values and to taking a mature approach to life’s important issues. In the Pinky Swear, there is no promise of loyalty to any institution or philosophy, no dogma of any kind.

Please do what you can to expose everyone you know, especially young people, to the Pinky Swear. Let’s hope in the coming months and years we see millions of young people wearing their “pinky rings” as a symbol of their commitment to secular values!