Bristol Palin, the famous Alaskan teen-mom-turned-abstinence-advocate, and Levi Johnston, her baby’s father who has carved out his own niche in the spotlight (posing for Playgirl, giving salacious interviews about Sarah Palin, etc.) – those crazy kids are trying to make it work again. And, of course, they’ve announced their wedding plans by talking to US Weekly, supposedly before informing Bristol’s parents.

Evangelical Christians, Palin supporters, incurable romantics and fans of tabloid drama: rejoice? Even Sarah Palin issued a reluctantly supportive statement, crediting her daughter for believing “in redemption and forgiveness to a degree most of us struggle to put in practice.” Fellow Beliefnet blogger Rod Dreher seems to view this as a silver lining.

Maybe it’s my cynicism rearing its head again, but Christian forgiveness strikes me as an overly ambitious reading of the situation. The girls on MTV’s 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom also keep taking back their baby-daddies, despite those relationships being extremely dysfunctional. To paraphrase from Lifetime’s The Pregnancy Pact, based on a true story about misguided Massachusetts high school girls, when you’re a teen mom, you don’t have a lot of good choices. On the other hand, the Palins have plenty of money these days, so at least Bristol can’t possibly be doing this to ensure that baby Tripp is financially secure.

What do you think? Share your thoughts in the Comments section below.

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