You shouldn’t be allowed to use the word “health” in the title of a place that, when you walk in, makes you think you are about to catch a venereal disease. Something about that just doesn’t seem quite fitting.

That was my experience today when I walked into the Polk County Heath Dept. While there were services there for people looking to travel abroad (shots, information, etc.) and families with financial needs, (kid check-ups, dental exams, etc.), the only advertised services were for things that should be treated with a size 15 boot, not a little pill or a long needle. With signs like “Not ready to be pregnant?”, “STD’s Made Simple”, and “Family Planning the Easy Way,” I wondered if maybe I had a stumbled into a make-shift medical clinic that doubled as a clearing house for pimps and prostitutes. It seemed like the only thing being offered was an apparently easy (and tax-payer funded) way out of the physical consequences of an unhealthy, destructive lifestyle. Truth is, few people are actually there because of poor health they’re hoping to change as it relates to the natural body; most are there because of sinful habits they won’t change as it relates to their sexual appetites. Personally, I would change the name of the building to the “Polk County Department for the Unhealthy and Undisciplined,” because that’s primarily what they do and who they serve.

Ah, the good ole’ American tax system at work! Nothing like seeing your hard-earned tax dollars waste away in the abyss of cultural tolerance and moral neutrality. How sad!