241 Comments
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Joe King's avatar

"There’s also a double standard at play because there’s no version of this for Christian boys."

Of course not. His daughter is completely ignorant about sex and his son has a twisted view of women as things to be used for gratification. Disgusting.

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River's avatar

I was raised in this environment and can tell you that my life has been forever scarred by not receiving sex education. Every child should be taught their own body and its functions- from a place of exploration and not shame.

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Bill Lawrence's avatar

Barely pubescent girls making commitments they don't understand will keep therapists in business for years to come.

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Sam's avatar

Yuck. He has also claimed publicly that he and his son keep track of each other’s masturbation habits. This is a deeply disturbed and sick man. Pray to the Universe for the good health of Joe and Kamala.

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Sko Hayes's avatar

He only reflects how sick his chosen religion is...

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Joan the Dork's avatar

I would 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 for the FBI to have a peek at Mike "I Care Way Too Much About What My Son Does With His" Johnson's hard drive.

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cdbunch's avatar

I'm sorry, but 17 year old boys do not need porn to masturbate. The girls at school or on TV are more than enough to fire their imaginations.

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Maltnothops's avatar

Word!

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Bensnewlogin's avatar

Or the boys.

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River's avatar

Oh you know these people meticulously try to censor their media consumption so that their children are not experiencing “lust.” Just their boys tho, girls don’t lust /s.

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Shuzi's avatar

Doe the universe answer prayers?

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Sam's avatar

It’s just an expression.

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Shuzi's avatar

I figured. It's just kind of funny in an atheist comment section because it sounds pantheistic.

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Old Man Shadow's avatar

[The pledge also suggests that their moral worth is tied to their sexual activity. There’s also a double standard at play because there’s no version of this for Christian boys.]

There is. Just not as formal. But they harp on you constantly as a young man to "keep yourself pure". Usually it focuses on porn and masturbation. The double standard happens when you "sin". As a young man, you're given leeway, redemption, and restoration. As a young woman, you become a pariah and damaged goods.

Once again, I find myself surprised at the attention this is getting since it was all pretty normal to me growing up in the white Evangelical church. This is who they are and what they teach. Not all of them, but most of them.

You are expected to deny and hate your humanity. Because God loves you, but he hates your humanity. Sure God made your humanity, but you went and polluted it with "sin" so now he can barely tolerate your existence and wants to burn you alive forever. It's only when he sees His son's blood that he can stomach your pain-free existence and you're welcomed into His house, but he still expects you to change: deny your humanity, adopt the inhumanity of "holiness", feel guilt, shame, and grovel when you act like a human. Rinse, repeat. Until one day, you finally die, and you are completely transformed into a "holy" creature who will have no ties to your former humanity and will be perfectly happy and content watching God consign your former loved ones and friends to Hell.

Fundamentalists are either narcissists or they have adopted (to some degree) and internalized a self-hatred.

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Kay-El's avatar

This life is a one shot deal. Choosing guilt and shame in hopes of some boring aftermath is no way to go

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cdbunch's avatar

I'm hoping for reincarnation. I fucked up this life, I'd like another chance.

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NOGODZ20's avatar

I wouldn't mind regenerating. Same person with some variations.

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Kay-El's avatar

Yeah, I’d hate to come as some MAGA loon

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cdbunch's avatar

I said I wanted a chance to *not* fuck up life. That would be a fuck up to end all fuck ups.

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NOGODZ20's avatar

The Doctor always remains the same egalitarian no matter what form they take. 🙂

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Maltnothops's avatar

I want to come back as my dog. She has a great life!

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Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

I had three. Which one to choose ? The one who had a meltdown every time she was separated from DM for more than 2 minutes ? The 4 months puppy in an adult body ? Or the sweet one who would turn berserk every time she saw an animal who weighted less than 20 pounds ?

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Zorginipsoundsor's avatar

In the TV show 𝘙𝘢𝘮𝘺, his sister discusses with her friends how unfair it is that Muslim women are expected to be virgins on their wedding night, but the men aren't.

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Maltnothops's avatar

I suspect most men wouldn’t know either way. I apparently deflowered (I abhor that term) a virgin but I know that only because she told me months later.

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Val Uptuous NotAgain's avatar

I’m sorry, you cannot convince me that these men running evangelical Christianity are not intentionally pushing this purity agenda so they can find easier victims. All purity culture does is keep girls and women in the dark about their bodies, and abilities and more dependent on men who are happily abusing their power over them. And when the lack of knowledge about their bodies causes health problems and death, all the better because now they can find a new victim to abuse. Everything about purity culture is abusive.

Sure, I prefer my children to wait until they’re ready to have sex and face the consequences of it, and probably wait longer than I did. But I am educating them and being open with them about their bodies and sex and everything. My mom never told me crap about the stuff she went through regarding her reproductive health, I wasn’t allowed to talk to my cousins about periods because their moms didn’t want them to know yet (even though she started hers early a few months after I brought it up). I’m looking at menopause with very little information because my mother was generally ashamed to discuss it. I am not doing that to my daughter. The sex ed provided at schools are light on the later stages of reproductive development information and the only real way to learn is by talking to women who are going through it. Hell, my doctors barely give me any information when I ask about it. Am I going through hot flashes? Can the fibroid be masking my symptoms? What are the symptoms beyond simply missing periods? Nothing. My daughter will know more than me, she will know what is coming. She will know what is good and natural versus what is wrong or harmful, health wise and relationship wise. Knowledge is power and purity culture intentionally limits knowledge so men can have more power.

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Joan the Dork's avatar

"𝘐’𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘴."

By the very essence of the thing- one does not seek total control of another person for benign ends. They don't want daughters, and they don't want wives. They want 𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘴. Cherished toys, at best; disposable playthings and incubators at worst.

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Kay-El's avatar

Abso-fucking-lutely. My mom made sure we knew stuff because her mom didn’t. My mom thought she was dying when she got her first period. I made sure my daughter knew about all this. When I took her to her first gyn appt, my doctor told her how lucky she was to have a mom who did. So many of her younger patients came in on the sly.

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Bagen Onuts's avatar

As Sari always said, "They are power surges, not hot flashes.

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Val Uptuous NotAgain's avatar

That was amazing.

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cdbunch's avatar

Well, I should have scrolled down. You anticipated my advice.

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Kay-El's avatar

Hilarious, but very true

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Maltnothops's avatar

Outstanding!

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cdbunch's avatar

For information on what to expect ask Bhm for the link to Menopause Rhapsody.

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Stephen Brady's avatar

Dominionist patriarchy... If we don't vote these creeps back under their wet rocks, we will be living in the Republic of Gilead.

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Donrox's avatar

Happy Solstice, everyone!

I've got my "Axial Tilt - It's the Reason for the Season" t-shirt on.

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RegularJoe's avatar

Obliquity of the Ecliptic!

Solstice hits here (Iowa) at 9:27 pm.

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Bagen Onuts's avatar

Same here

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Guerillasurgeon's avatar

4:26 PM today local time.

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larry parker's avatar

If your axil tilts for more than 4 hours, consult an astronomer.

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Guerillasurgeon's avatar

You mean astrologer?

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Bagen Onuts's avatar

Or me!

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NOGODZ20's avatar

Solstice won't hit me here until 7:27PM PST. 🙂

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NOGODZ20's avatar

Wasn't it Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol who preached abstinence? Guess what? She got pregnant out of wedlock. Twice. Her words afterward? "Don't judge me!"

So much for 'purity.'

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Kay-El's avatar

No judgment for the pregnancies, but plenty for the hypocrisy.

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Sko Hayes's avatar

Can there be anything more creepy than pledging your virginity to your DADDY?

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Joe King's avatar

In addition to the creep factor, it teaches women that they are things and can never be full adult humans.

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oraxx's avatar

In most cases a politician's religion doesn't matter very much. However, when a politician's judgment had been totally compromised by religion, then their religion becomes a legitimate issue. We are a secular nation, and always have been. Never-the-less the Christian nationalists operate under the delusion they're going to take this country back to what it used to be. Few ideas are more stupid and dangerous than believing a particular religion could be imposed on a country as large and diverse as the United States with a happy ending. Especially so when only 47% of American adults claim any kind of religious affiliation. In addition to being a creep, Johnson is a dangerous fool.

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William McCann's avatar

Also, the guy lied about supporting Ukraine, then left town, preventing Ukraine from getting aid it needed yesterday.

Johnson's another running dog of christofascism, a liar and a creepy little sneak.

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NOGODZ20's avatar

Moses Johnson opposed Roe v Wade and opposes legal abortions, blaming school shootings on "the breakup of the nuclear family." One wonders what he would do if his daughter turned up pregnant, which is a very real scenario due to these 'purity balls.'

Away from this, Mike the Dick also opposes the scientific consensus that climate change is mainly caused by humans. Pay no attention to the fact that he received over $338,000 in donations from the oil and gas industry during his tenure in Congress. Holy Mike rejects the scientific fact of evolution and embraces YEC. He voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act. He's anti-immigration, even though his own god in his own bible tells followers not to mistreat immigrants and to instead love them and treat them as native-born. He's rabidly anti-LGBTQ and wants to see homosexuality criminalized. He voted twice against legalizing marijuana, opposes raising the minimum wage, hates church-state separation and wants to make cuts in Social Security and Medicare.

In other words, he's a Christian. A Christian who claims to love his god yet hates people. 1 John 4:20 calls believers who say they love their unseen god but hates people they can see liars.

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cdbunch's avatar

Well, there is some question whether there will be enough left in the Social Security coffers for the rest of us as we retire. Of course, I think paying a living 'salary' from SS should be supplemented by the defense budget if necessary.

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Val Uptuous NotAgain's avatar

If they would quit raiding SS for pork, there’d be plenty for everyone. It was originally created to be completely separate money, not allowed to be spent on anything else or borrowed from, but IIRC, in the 90s congress decided to change the law and open it up for plundering. And they’ve never paid back any of it. But eliminating it was the intent all along.

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cdbunch's avatar

Hence the 401(k) (or 403(b) or 457, depending on where you work). No the government isn't going to pay you when you retire no matter how much tax you paid. It's all on you and if you don't save enough then you don't retire, you just die.

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Zorginipsoundsor's avatar

From the "pro-life" party.

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Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

Where in the babble the nuclear family is mentioned ?

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larry parker's avatar

Book of Uranium, 2:38

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Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

Mendeleiev's book of prophecies ?

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Bagen Onuts's avatar

As dictated by the orange orangutan.

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NOGODZ20's avatar

"The Nuclear Family" is as much a myth as the biblical deity.

And Betty Bowers has already given us the lowdown on what constitutes a "traditional marriage" according to the bible. Nuclear families need not apply.

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Bagen Onuts's avatar

jesus says you must hate your family to be his disciple. He also claims you must love your enemies while he burns them in hell for eternity. The hypocrisy is mind boggling.

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Robert Jaffee's avatar

“The nation is in danger as long as Johnson remains a couple of heartbeats away from the presidency—and as long as Republicans control any part of government.”

These purity tests are the reason we have guys like Josh Duggar, who raped his sister for years, and then the family all forgave him, because boys will be boys and sheep; SCARED!

Or the reason we have religious apologists for people like Roy Moore, who was the highest ranking judge on Alabama’s Supreme Court before running for senator; he dated 15 year old girls when he was 35. The apologists, mostly women, telling anyone who would listen that Mary was only 15 when she had Jesus.

Enough said!...:)

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Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

I guess a widow is not supposed to remarry since she is not a virgin anymore.

DM made sure I was well informed about sex and contraception. Do you know what happened ? I started a successful porn career at 14 because it's what we girls do when we know how our bodies work. Actually I lost my virginity at 20, I am still happily not married and I regret nothing.

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larry parker's avatar

I bet you "wake up every morning and they look at the calendar on the iPhone and it says January 6, 2021. The date never changes. And then they get into an electric vehicle and go get an abortion.”

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Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

I think about January 6th every day while shaving. I am not a Democrat thus I can't own a tesla and an iPhone 😁

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cdbunch's avatar

iPhones are the Borg. Tesla is run by a madman. If I get a pure EV, I want a EV Equinox or Cadillac Lyric.

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Kay-El's avatar

Is it Groundhog Day every day for KellyAnne? 🤔

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Kay-El's avatar

My folks did too and the upshot was that my first sexual experience was great. I can’t tell you how many women I know who can’t say the same

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Black Hole and DM mourner's avatar

Mine was meh but at least I knew how to prevent pregnancies and STDs. DM even give me money to buy condoms when I got my first boyfriend 😁

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Troublesh00ter's avatar

𝐼𝑡’𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑐ℎ - 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑒𝑥, 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑. 𝑁𝑜𝑤, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑤𝑒, 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑢𝑑𝑒 𝑗𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑠, 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑. 𝑁𝑜. 𝑊𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑡ℎ𝑦 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒. 𝑊𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑖𝑡, 𝑖𝑡’𝑠 𝑓𝑢𝑛, 𝑖𝑡’𝑠 𝑗𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑦; 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑡’𝑠 𝑎 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑘 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑡. 𝐼𝑡’𝑠 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡, 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑐𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑏𝑖𝑑𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑐 𝐶ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑐ℎ 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑙.

-- Stephen Fry, from the 2009 Intelligence Squared debate

Sadly, it would seem as though the Catholic Church isn't the only one that has an unhealthy obsession with sex. This utter determination to maintain "purity" with teens has long since proven to be not just feasible, but downright disastrous, particularly as regards the issue of teen pregnancy. Mike Johnson seems utterly determined NOT TO LEARN THIS.

And it's far more than likely that his daughter or one or more of the young participants of that "Purity Ball" will pay the price for Johnson's stupidity.

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Whitney's avatar

American Christian fascination with the sex really needs to stop; particularly where it applies to women. Applying the term 'pure' to a girl just because she's never had sexual intercourse is ridiculous to begin with, and undermines the value of the person as a whole. Women who have had intercourse are not less, nor are they ruined in some way; nor should women feel the need to perceive the men in the lives as sexual predators at all times.

The whole idea of a purity ball seems entirely too much like some tawdry version of an auction in some ways, presenting the girl for 'sale' to the highest bidder as some social event. The ages of the girls involved only make it more horrifying, and the expectation of marriage makes no difference whatsoever. It's like some sort of twisted meat market for the wealthy, and if your brain just went 'eww', well, so did mine.

I think I'll go scrub my brain.

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Joan the Dork's avatar

OT- Sorry for the first-post-of-the-day derail, but I had to spread this around. ProPublica just released a one-stop shop for information on the Supreme Court's financial disclosures- who paid whom, when, where, and for what: https://projects.propublica.org/supreme-connections/

One thing immediately leaps 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 off the page... that the sum total of compensation disclosed by the entire Supreme Court (~$150k) is easily exceeded by 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 of the extravagant 𝘶𝘯disclosed gifts accepted from Republican megadonors by one Clarence Thomas. It's not even 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦. Just the RV was $100k more, and that's before we even get to the real estate deals and the luxury vacations. If the other Justices have been grubbing for loose change, then Thomas has... y'know what? Forget the wordplay. He's more corrupt than the entire rest of the Court, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥, by at least an order of magnitude (no, I do 𝘯𝘰𝘵 consider corruption that they filed the paperwork for to somehow 𝘯𝘰𝘵 be corruption just because it's 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭 corruption).

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