About 20 million Americans are diagnosed with sexually transmitted infections each year, according to new stats from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. About half of those impacted are youth between the ages of 15 and 24—and the numbers keep climbing. One CDC researcher says the United States is confronting an “ongoing, severe STI epidemic.” In 1996, 15 million such infections were reported; in 2000, there were 18.9 million. Treating such diseases isn’t cheap: About $16 billion is spent each year on STIs. (Daily Mail)

Paul Asay has covered religion for The Washington Post, Christianity Today, Beliefnet.com and The (Colorado Springs) Gazette. He writes about culture for Plugged In and wrote the Batman book God on the Streets of Gotham (Tyndale). He lives in Colorado Springs with wife, Wendy, and two children. Follow him on Twitter.