This is soooo good…really explains the way I was taught as a young person.
Growing up, I was a strong advocate for the “purity movement” of the late 90’s. This was a movement primarily in the Christian evangelical church which encouraged teenage boys and girls (predominantly girls) to avoid having sex before marriage. Some churches had purity ceremonies where teenage girls walked down the aisle and were symbolically given to Jesus by their fathers. They would wear a white dress and receive a ring and make a promise to “stay pure” until marriage. Some churches had purity bible studies where, without ever talking about healthy sexuality, young girls were told that “sleeping with someone” when you’re not married makes your heart grimy and dirty and means you are turning away from Jesus.
To make better sense of this movement, I need to go back to the Home-school Revolution of the early 80’s. In deference to James Dobson and several other fundamentalist leaders, evangelical Christians…
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