Sexual Purity

“ ‘Purity culture’ arose in the 1990s as an evangelical reaction to a broader culture that, in more ways than ever, embraced sexual freedom…. Church leaders responded by promoting virginity before marriage, as the church always has, adding in tactics of pledges, purity rings, and dances with their dads.” - Breakpoint

“I tested the waters. More than once. I dove into previously forbidden pleasures expecting joy and fulfillment. And for a short time, it sometimes felt like my choices delivered. Ultimately, I was left feeling lonely, ashamed, and used. … The little voice of my conscience whispered that I was treading in dangerous waters, but the voices of the world mocked those concerns.

Mortification of Spin: So while it may seem safe to impose rules that separate ordinary encounters with the opposite sex, it isn’t the virtue of purity. It is actually over-sexualization, or as Beaty calls it, the sanctified cousin of Weinstein-ian behavior.

Mortification of Spin: “[W]e are missing out on learning the beauty of purity by reducing it to saying no to sexual activity outside of the bounds of marriage.”