How Christian Purity Culture Enables Sexual Abuse

[jingerdoe]

A nothing-new-here takedown of Purity Culture and how it conditions women to see their fathers as boyfriends (and vice versa, for extra ick factor.)

Link not broken because it's news?

[link=]

http://www.alternet.org/how-christian-p ... 1#bookmark[/link]

[Toothfairy]

I really hate stories like this. Again this whole fundie/purity movement can be dangerous.

[roddma]

I had already read this story, but sad. So it's ok as long as they don't touch the goods?

[TrueRebel1]

Even when I was into courtship/purity stuff, the dad/daughter stuff creeped me out. The daddy dates, the purity balls, the physical affection -- it just didn't sit right with me.

[snuggles911]

I'm not surprised she received no help from her mother and pastors.

At the fundie church I attended about 10 years ago, there was a woman who found out her husband was molesting her daughter from a previous relationship. She reported the abuse to our pastor.

He told her that if she would have sex with him more often he would stop molesting her daughter. To his credit, he also suggested moving the daughter out of their home to protect her.

I remember worrying about being raped when I was a teen. It wasn't so much the thought of assault that terrified me but the thought that I would be "ruined" and no one would ever marry me.

[Laurabelle]

Wow. That's just dispicable.

It reminded me of when I was about thirteen or so, my dad bought me the Botkin girls' So Much More (I believe that's the title, someone correct me if I'm wrong) book to read. He told me right up front that he didn't agree with everything in it but thought it was overall good. I skimmed it a little, but was pretty turned off by the premise, even at that age, and never actually read it.

I wonder just how heavy-handed they are in that book about this whole father-daughter relationship thing. Has anyone actually read the book and can say? I may need to dig out my copy and actually read it just to see....and then burn it right after that.

[Jana814]

I really hate stories like this. Again this whole fundie/purity movement can be dangerous.

Completely agree!

[misslady]

A response to the article from a young man who grew up in a similar culture (I feel like we don't hear from the men as often, why is that? Maybe they're less likely to leave, since they have the power. Just speculating.) From Reddit:

reddit.com/r/TrueAtheism/comments/240vvj/how_christian_purity_culture_enabled_my_fathers/ch2nuru

[ems]

The article I just posted on Purity Balls said something about a leader witnessing girls/young women "needing physical touch, and from a male being," and concluding that was the father's role. Soo disturbing. And then there was the "married to the Lord, and the father is the boyfriend" concept...so they've got both incest and adultery going on??? The whole concept is, of course, f--ed, and in some cases truly dangerous.