It's pure, it's chaste and it's heading your way

Sign up your daughters! ;D

'Purity' camp to promote chastity
By PATRICK CREWDSON - The Dominion Post | Saturday, 31 March 2007

America's growing Christian "purity" movement has landed in New Zealand, with a girls-only camp that will extol the virtues of modesty, femininity, and chastity.

The "Purely Girls!" camp, to be held at Waikanae's El Rancho Christian Camp during next month's school holidays, is believed to be the first local version of a phenomenon sweeping the Bible belt in the United States.

It is the brainchild of Wellington doctor Ate Moala, supported by Elim Church, where she is a member, and the local branch of US Christian group Focus on the Family.

It was inspired by father-daughter "purity balls", at which tuxedo-clad men pledge to protect their daughters' chastity till they marry and the girls vow to remain virginal.

More here .

1. Creepy.
2. Creepy.
3. Did I mention, it's CREEPY?!?!

Seriously, I thought I'd escape all that sort of foolishness in NZ. I hope in NZ it's the sort of thing that's tolerated but with more than a little bit of eye rolling.

Quite frankly, I wish such an organisation was popular in my teenage years. Not that I was overly 'wild' in my youth, just that the pressures were always there to do what you really didn't want to do. I think many women can admit to that.

:-/

I agree with Glenda in some respects. It would be good if girls could be given coaching regarding how to rebuff persistent approaches by the opposite sex, but I do have a bit of a problem with dads and daughters 'bonding' together in this way. Why not mums and daughters? There is something creepy about it being the fathers who are involved, I must admit.

If girls can get together to find ways to maintain their virginity and yet not feel outcast and old-fashioned in this, it would be better and 'healthier' than forming an exclusive father/daughter club. How does the daughter know that Dad will automatically shut off his protective instincts once she's married? It could become an obsession with him if it went the wrong way.

Don't get me wrong. Equipping kids with the skills to say 'no' to anything they don't want to do--be it sex, drugs, alcohol, smoking, reckless driving, general hooliganism--is a good thing.

I was more concerned about the purity ball (and the other things that go with this purity movement). My problem with this fake wedding (really, that's what it is) is the implication that the daughter and her sexuality belong to the father. :shudder: Besides, there have been studies that show gilrs (or boys, because there is a larger movement here that includes both) who participate in this sort of thing are more likely to engage in other forms of sexual behavior as a way of preserving their 'virginity.'

The other problem is that it really puts the girls in a place of weakness rather than strength. It doesn't say 'your body and sexuality belong to you, so *you* decide when you're ready'--again, not just for sex, but anything. Instead it gives the girls the message that they need a man or other authority figure to control them. That's not true strength and is likely to fail them when they need it most.

Uhh Jeeeez!
NZ is really quite a religious place. I was surprised just how much so when I first arrived, churches everywhere. There are 4 on some roads around here. I didn't know there were so many variations/names for Christianity alone!
Ummm the story you posted Motherbear, disturbs me.

Why have women been through all that they have to ATTEMPT to achieve equality to still have to rely on men to 'protect their virginity'. What the hell has it got to do with them? The very same fathers were very probably quite keen to get into someones knickers when they were 16 - typical male hypocracy. 'These young women belong to me and I will take control of their bodies because they're only women and can't do it themselves, they're so weak they're bound to give into temptation at the first hurdle. I will decide who they can give themselves to and when because I am scared of giving up my testosterone filled control of this young person. How dare these young women be so attractive as to turn most mens thoughts to their bodies. How can they have so much control over us - we must not allow them this strength.' Maybe they're actually trying to control their own feelings through displacement. Maybe they should recognise their own weaknesses and start thinking of ways to keep their own pants on.
This sex is a sin thing in religion is a much deeper issue than a health issue or a self-esteem issue, it's an attempt to control people and it creates more problems than it solves with the way it sets sex up to be a wicked, dirty, sinful and depraved act. Religion itself is just a control measure and most religious factions are set up, run by and ministered by men. How many women are mentioned in the bible that aren't merely a terrible, sinful, temptation to a good, God-fearing man. Throughout history (male dominated) religion has done it's best to rid itself of the curse of woman including trying to burn us, drown us and disfigure us. Poor blokes, having to fight their natural, inate, pre-ordained, gutteral instincts unless they want to burn in hellfire for eternity. No wonder they're a bit confused eh? ::)

I, for one, have never had a doubt about who is the weaker sex ;)

Be afraid, be very afraid....

Well, I'm all for co-ed sexual education, but as mentioned above, it's a bit creepy. I'm not suprised though, considering its origin. Some of those devout 'God fearing folks' will do anything they are told is 'Gods will'. Oddly enough, as Dawn mentions, most of these groups are run by men, and most of which will most likely make up the documentarys of the future, like the ones we are seeing now where the girls end up being victims of the sexual predators who run the groups.

Teach them how to be safe, teach them respect for themselves, and then let them get on with making their own decisions.

I can just imaging this trying to be adopted in the UK... dont make me laugh!

[selchie]

I don't think I can add anything new to the discussion except "Amen, sisters and brothers". This whole abstinence only (so-called) sex education in US schools is horrifying. Nowadays the schools cannot truly educate kids about sex, so that the kids can make their own intelligent, well-prepared decisions about sex. All they can teach the kids is "save yourself for marriage". Wasn't this sort of thing tried in the Victorian Era and during the Eisenhower years? It didn't work so well even then.

If parents and churches really want to teach this in private, then I can't do much about it. But if NZ starts adopting this sort of notion for public schools, then I don't have much hope of it being any better than the US.

OK, so maybe I had a cent or two to add.

[Taffy]

I don't think NZ schools will adopt this policy somehow. Kiwi's are not fond of people telling them or their kids how to live. You've only got to look at the anti-smacking bill trying to go through at the moment to see that kiwis will do what they think is right, not what Nanny State tells them to do.