Rev Herro Blair Jr and Bishop Joseph Ade-Gold

Rohan Brown*, 23, a member of non-denominational church Overcomers Christian International, is one of a rapidly dying breed in a world of postmodernism, materialism and sex.

Brown is a virgin, not exactly the badge of honour a young man wears in a Jamaican society where sexual prowess and fertility inflate the chest-thumping egos of Everyman.

Brown credits the influence of his church in charting the path of chastity, which has earned him jeers from peers and respect in some quarters.

He concedes that despite mockery from some of his friends, his desire to be a standard bearer drives him to stand out, not fit in.

Brown's reasons for staying out of the game, leaving his first sexual experience for his future wife, might draw snickers from naysayers, who regard such views as sappy sentimentality of a bygone era. But, others view it as a breath of fresh air in an atmosphere clouded by sensual smog.

Positive life lesson

Peta-Gaye Clachar/ Staff Photographer

Morality mouthers and Bible-thumpers are determined to prove that The 40 Year Old Virgin is not just a good script for the big screen, but a positive life lesson.

To help remain celibate, Brown says he magnifies the negatives of premarital sex to keep a mental block on the issue.

"I build up the fears of having sex, like unwanted pregnancy and diseases, when people tell me how fun sex is," he explains.

Brown, a university graduate, says he has encountered difficult temptation. With the male-female ratio at universities about 1:4, the odds were literally against him. Being a virgin can also draw not-so-genuine attention, as some women, desperate for a good man, are quick to snap up a rookie instead of gambling on philanderers.

One woman even proposed to him just to have sex, he says. And, another was so aggressive he had to run with his tail between his legs.

"I had a female who forced herself on me and pushed me against a wall. I didn't know what to do so I ran. Afterwards, I found out that girl had a disease," he reveals.

'Shock treatment'

Ironically enough, the 23-year-old says he gets pretty much the same reaction from women inside the church as those outside. When they cross the line, Brown says he gives them "shock treatment" - the forget-about-it straight face that terminates the 'lust bug'.

The Reverend Herro Blair Jr, national director of Jamaica Youth for Christ, a parachurch organisation, is imploring young people to consider the long-term repercussions of premarital sex instead of short-term gratification.

Blair is calling for a national campaign to encourage, among youth, the adoption of an oath of abstinence to preserve spiritual and sexual purity and, more important, cut the incidence of teenage pregnancy.

Blair, who descends from a long line of clerics, said in his 12 years of pastorship, only one woman in his congregation has fallen through the cracks and got pregnant outside wedlock.

"Being a youth pastor, I have to be open. Abstinence is the only way to avoid unwanted pregnancy," Blair said Thursday.

Bishop Joseph Ade-Gold, head of the Overcomers Christian International, says the values of Western society throw cold water on male virginity.

Ade-Gold, who said he stayed a virgin until marriage at age 31, credits his parents for instilling in him mores that condemn premarital sex.

The pastor told The Gleaner on Wednesday that the stigma that dogged unmarried women who had sex in his native Nigeria discouraged them from giving in to advances from men.

He has a warning for today's youth: "Our young people are endangered and the advice of elders and the (role) of the neighbours need to be reinstilled into society."

Peer pressure

Brown blames peer pressure and the influence of older persons in communities as major factors that fuel curiosity and promiscuity. Seat-belt measures such as contraception and abortion make it easier for youth to take the plunge. Abstinence is often presented dead last on the list, Brown argues.

Despite the perceived frills of maturity and responsibility that are allied to chastity, it's not quite the drawing card for many women. Eight of 10 women, who participated in a five-minute informal poll yesterday, said they would prefer to marry a man who had a proven record in bed than a rookie who might flop on the big stage.

That's a tough pill to swallow for squeaky-clean choirboys who are told that the stud image is an affront to 'decent' women.

But there are still a few women who want to kick-start marriage with a clean slate.

Melissa Campbell, a 24-year-old Jamaican working with Christian outreach group Youth with a Mission in Costa Rica, said, "I would prefer a virgin because I have learnt that if you have multiple sex partners, and then you get married, you will bring in the personality of those persons in your marriage.

"I am not worried about him not being more exposed than I am. We can work it out because that can't stop love and marriage," says Campbell.

Though dancehall music tends to glorify promiscuity, one deejay says he agrees with the notion of men abstaining from sex until marriage.

"Keep it fi di right (woman), yuh nuh wah go and regret it. When yuh find you dream, yuh can do it," Oneil Bryan told The Gleaner on Friday.

When Bryan talks, young people sit up and listen. After all, he is the multicoloured, zany dynamo, better known as Elephant Man, the 'Energy God'.