Purity Ball

[MommaSquid]

I saw this in the paper the other day and got the heebie jeebies.  Then I saw a response to the artice, which made me laugh, so I thought I'd share.

Father-Daughter 'Purity Ball' comes to Chandler
Mara Hedblom
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 30, 2007 06:48 PM

Girls will have a unique excuse to put on fancy dresses and prepare for a night of ceremony and dancing in Chandler next weekend at the Valley's first Father Daughter Purity Ball.

The First Southern Baptist Church of Scottsdale and New Life Pregnancy Centers are sponsoring the Sept. 7 event at the Castle at Ashley Manor. Girls and young women ages 10 and older who attend make commitments to live a pure life before God and set personal standards for themselves.

According to event's Web site, fathers also read covenants over their daughters and promise they will protect the girls' commitments and serve as positive role models of purity and spirituality. Their dedication is symbolized by commitment cards the girls sign during the ceremony and white roses laid at the foot of a cross

"The dads or mentors commit before God to be a living example of purity," coordinator Mona McDonald said. "The daughters are going to try to do their best to honor their fathers' involvement in their life."

Purity ball pledge
"I, (daughter's name) father, choose before God to cover my daughter as her authority and protection in the area of purity. I will be pure in my own life as a man, husband and father. I will be a man of integrity and accountability as I lead, guide and pray over my daughter and my family as the high priest in my home. This covering will be used by God to influence generations to come."

Linkage:  

http://www.azcentral.com/community/chan ... 0831.html#



One response to the above article:

Plugged In - Kymberly Levesque
Purity ball heavy on the creepiness scale

My my, all sorts of thoughts are tumbling in my head after reading about the "purity ball" that a Baptist church is throwing in Chandler.
Apparently, this shindig is supposed to promote the father-daughter relationship and commit the daughter to "a pure life before God". The fathers say covenants "over" their daughters that go like this:
"I, (daughter's name) father, choose before God to cover my daughter as her authority and protection in the area of purity. I will be pure in my own life as a man, husband and father. I will be a man of integrity and accountability as I lead, guide and pray over my daughter and my family as the high priest in my home. This covering will be used by God to influence generations to come."

I'm down with the whole father-daughter relationship thing, but if my father had taken on the role of "authority and protection in the area of purity" and was "the high priest" in our home when I was a teenager, wow, I'd have just laughed at him, um, constantly.
High priest? I keep trying to imagine my dad as a high priest and all I can picture is him in the giant green M&M costume he wore for Halloween one year. Wait, is that possibly the appropriate "high priest" vestment? Because, if so, my dad's set.

This purity ball thing creeps me out. How exactly are these proud papas going to ensure purity? Are chastity belts due for a comeback?
Tolerance, Kym, tolerance. Remember: To each their own. Religion ain't my bag, baby, but it's the bag of choice for many.
What I really, really do want to know is this: When is the Mother-Son Purity Ball?

Linkage:

http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/KymLevesque/6269

Kym is my kind of girl!  

[Will]

If you don't want your daughter to have sex, lock her in the basement. 'Cuase I'm coming for her! Muhahahah!!!

How about instead of shielding your children from the realities of the world like authoritarian "priests", you teach them about how a responsible adult understands that sexuality is natural and, so long as one is mature about it, a wonderful experience for two people to share? Is that so difficult to understand?

Good question about the mother-son ball. But that'll never happen. Why? Because Christianity is still patriarchal. The boys can do it, but not the girls! And they wonder why some of their little ones end up lavender.

[SteveS]

As the father of two daughters I can say, without hypocrisy, that this purity ball cracks me up as well.  I find Willravel's response far more rational.  My daughters are going to have sex one day --- and I'm okay with that.  I'm not okay with the idea of them having a baby (and VD) at age 15, but that's why I'd rather take Will's approach than just try to "protect their chastity".  And, let's be honest, I'm really not "high priest" material.

Isn't understanding better than rote obedience?

[rlrose328]

Oh... My... GAWD... what a crock!  The girls in my HS (lo these many years ago) who had sex before marriage and got pregnant were ALWAYS the girls who were church goers, highly religious, and usually had come from the Catholic school.

That's SOOOO creepy.  Yes, teach children that god will protect them from sex... heaven for-freaking-bid they learn to be responsible adults with real, honest-to-goodness information.  Ugh!

[SteveS]

My local park district has a thing they call "Daddy Daughter Date Night" --- you can take your young daughters to a dance and eat cookies and drink juice - its fun.  But it doesn't have any of this weirdness about it....just a good way for a dad and his daughters to have some fun and bond.

[donkeyhoty]

But it doesn't have any of this weirdness about it

Really?  It sounds pretty weird.

Can't dads just take their daughters out to a crappy movie(or anywhere) without labelling it and being at a group event with a bunch of other losers?

[SteveS]

 Sure, donkeyhoty, and I do this (crappy movies etc.) with my daughters as well.  But the dance is fun, and in all fairness not all the other parents (and kids) are losers.  I met plenty of neighbors there and had a good time.  The kid got to horse around with her friends while I talked with the other dads and wished I had the nerve to spike the punch (for the adults of course, not the kids  :roll:  ).  Anyway, you have to pay to go, so its not really costing anybody who doesn't participate.

What I meant by "no weirdness" is that there was no mention (let alone emphasis) on promoting "family values" or chastity.  Why not view it just like I would a crappy movie or the zoo or whatever?

Actually, I just took the whole family to the Chicago Shedd Aquarium last weekend - it was really nice.  A new baby beluga whale was recently born there; so the animals don't seem to be very chaste at all   :wink:

[LSchune]

If you don't want your daughter to have sex, lock her in the basement. 'Cuase I'm coming for her! Muhahahah!!!

How about instead of shielding your children from the realities of the world like authoritarian "priests", you teach them about how a responsible adult understands that sexuality is natural and, so long as one is mature about it, a wonderful experience for two people to share? Is that so difficult to understand?

Good question about the mother-son ball. But that'll never happen. Why? Because Christianity is still patriarchal. The boys can do it, but not the girls! And they wonder why some of their little ones end up lavender.

That's brilliant.  Come for me, because I'm bored.

I asked my own father about this sometime when I was sixteen.  He said it was the weirdest thing he'd ever heard of and went back to reading his paper.  Then he asked me if I was interested in it.  I hit myself on the head then and I'm doing it now.