Ok, this is just creepy. I find it ironic that many
conserviative christians look down their nose at Muslims for
subjugating women, and then participate in ceremonies affirming that a
woman is a wedding gift to her husband! It seems to me that the only
difference between this and a burkha is a matter of degree.
Responding to the odd, disturbing nature of the Father-Daughter Purity Ball, about which I posted below, PZ Myers says:
"Daddies
of the world, keep your hands off your daughter's sexuality, OK? Raise
them to be independent and thoughtful and informed and able to make
their own decisions, and then just trust them."
That
sounds like common sense to me. Girls pledging to their dads to stay
virginal in ritualistic ceremonies just doesn't seem like a healthy
thing to do. It's striking how young many of these girls are, some look to be no more than seven.
Apparently, this is common. Here's a testimonial from Generations of Light magazine:
"How
can you measure the value of your eleven year old looking up into your
eyes (as you clumsily learn the fox-trot together) with innocent,
uncontainable joy, saying, 'Daddy, I'm so excited!' wrote Wesley Tullis
in a letter describing his grateful participation. 'I have been
involved with the Father-Daughter Ball for two years with my daughters,
Sarah and Anna. It is impossible to convey what I have seen in their
sweet spirits, their delicate, forming souls, as their daddy takes them
out for their first, big dance. Their whole being absorbs my loving
attention, resulting in a radiant sense of self-worth and identity.
Think of it from their perspective: My daddy thinks I'm beautiful in my
own unique way. My daddy is treating me with respect and honor. My
daddy has taken time to be silly, and even made a fool of himself,
learning how to dance. My daddy really loves me!"
I
can understand why the little girls would want to do this. It's a
chance to dress up and spend time with their father. If it were for
another purpose, it might be sweet. But this is what that little girl
is reading to her father from that card:
I pledge to remain sexually pure...until the day I give
myself as a wedding gift to my husband. ... I know that God requires
this of me.. that he loves me. and that he will reward me for my
faithfulness.
And this is what Daddy says in turn:
I,
(daughterâs name)âs 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 as
the high priest in my home. This covering will be used by God to
influence generations to come.
He's the "high priest" in his home. Are we getting the picture?
What about the sons and the lack of mother-son purity
pledges. Commenter Llamajockey hits the nail on the head with this:
The
truth is is that in most Red-State/Fundy households the Dad is just as
obsessed if not more so with the possiblity of his young son being gay
as with his daughter's virginity. Therefore teenage males feel an acute
pressure beyond their already out of control hormones to prove their
heterosexuality. That is why athletic over anything resembling academic
or intellectual, acheivement is so highly prized. It improves the young
man's standing in the eyes of the young females and reassures Dad his
son can not be gay. However, with it comes a double edge, for the young
man is now supposed to act the role of stud.
Virgin girls and studly boys. Can we all see the problem with this?
"Virgin girls and studly boys" means there is going to be a class of
girls for those boys who are by definition not virgin; my prediction is
they won't be white and they won't be middle-class, and the family
values creeps will go out of their way to be sure they won't be
protected or respected. I wonder what the sisters of the Duke lacrosse
players are like.
Aside from the creepiness, these little girls can't possibly have any
idea what they're promising. What does any 7-year-old girl know about
either virginity or sexuality?
And, what happens when an 18-year-old girl regrets her decision made at 11 and gets herself laid?
Are we like, one step away from honor killings? Because, here we are
seeing girls treated as though they are family property. I would assume
they are trained to grow up and be property of the husband?
Looks like we are a heartbeat away from chastity belts. This is unbelievable.
What a wonderful thing for a girl to feel secure in her father's love.
The time
will come in the lives of these girls when this intrusion will cause
confusion and sexual tension. But of course the purity ball is not about that. It's about Daddy as
controlling and judgemental. It is also about Daddy having an unhealthy
fixation and idealization of his daughter as a sexual object.A healthy reaction to this may be a
rejection of the father and his proscribed behaviors.She might then
find herself looking for love in all the wrong places.
If
a girl is to truly be celebrated, let it be for her spirit, mind and
accomplishments. If she is valued by her family for her humanity, she
will value herself. Let her sexuality blossom unconciously in the
context of full personhood, rather than the defining characteristic of
what she offers in theway of gifts to the world. Please!
State Board of Education member Connie Morris took exception
Wednesday to a picture of a made-up creature that satirizes the state's
new science standards hanging on a Stucky Middle School teacher's door.
Fellow board member Sue Gamble told The Eagle that Morris asked for the picture to be removed.
The creature, called the Flying Spaghetti Monster, is the creation
of Bobby Henderson of Corvallis, Ore. It looks like a clump of
spaghetti with two eyes sticking out of the top and two meatballs
flanking the eyes.
Henderson created the entity and an accompanying mythology on the
origin of mankind to make fun of Kansas' recent debate over the
teaching of criticisms of evolution, including intelligent design.
In November, the board voted 6-4 to allow criticisms of evolution to be taught in Kansas schools.
Morris, who voted for the new science standards, saw the picture
during the tour. She did not return phone calls for this report.
Gamble, who voted against the new standards and was also on the
tour, said that Morris asked principal Kenneth Jantz to have the
picture taken down. Board members toured Stucky before finishing two days of meetings in Wichita on Wednesday. Gamble said that when she saw the picture during the tour, she knew that some board members wouldn't approve of it.
"When we went into that classroom, students were looking at rock
formations," Gamble said. "Connie stopped to talk to a teacher and I
moved on. That was when I was aware of the flyer. I thought 'she's
probably going to say something to the teacher.' "
Gamble said that when Morris saw the picture, she asked the
principal, who was on the tour, to take it down. Jantz did not comment
for this report. Gamble said she didn't see Morris talk to Randy Mousley, the
teacher, or to the principal, but that she later went up to Mousley and
asked if Morris said anything to him about the picture.
That's when Gamble learned that Morris had asked the principal to take it down. The monster's picture has hung on the door since September or October and was put up there as a joke, Mousley said.
"It's a parody," he said. "It's just making fun of anti-evolution."
Mousley said he doesn't teach students about the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
Also on the door is a Doonesbury comic strip about science, said
board member Carol Rupe, who represents Wichita. She also voted against
the new standards.
"It was two little pieces of paper on the door," she said. "It was poking good fun."
Gamble said she told the principal that it was his decision whether the monster could stick around.
"I advised the principal that Morris has no authority," she said. "I
told him to deal with his staff as he saw fit, not by what a state
board member says."
Board chairman Steve Abrams, who voted for the new standards, didn't
see the picture but said he thinks that the Flying Spaghetti Monster is
silly.
"Personally, I think it's juvenile," he said.
The picture was still on the door at the end of the school day Wednesday.
Board chairman Steve Abrams, who voted for the new standards, didn't
see the picture but said he thinks that the Flying Spaghetti Monster is
silly. What a coincidance! Bobby Henderson, all of the scientific community, and most of the country thinks that the Kansas Board of Education is Silly and Juvenile!!!
Seriously, the American Taliban's GOD sucks. They make their God so
mean spirited, small minded and as ignorant as them. They truly limit
their God to being just like the Muslim Taliban God they claim to hate.
They are in need of some SPIRITUALITY and a little less RELIGION.
The way Jesus Christ spoke, you'd think God could be a spaghetti monster if He wanted to be... I'm with Jesus!
Never thought I'd say this - but home schooling sounds like a damn good
idea. I'd rather our side have the smart kids and let the extremists on
the right teach their kids to believe in unicorns, elves, and the bogey
man.
I'm not sure, but I think persecution of the FSM is one of the signs of the last days!
In Montana, where the campaign is hard to miss, it's been credited with a 30 percent decline in use of the drug among teens. People are often more disturbed by the truth then a lie.
The gritty, in-your-face ads on television, radio, billboards and
newspapers have exposed Montana teenagers to the ugly truth about the
evil grip of meth addiction.
They're as subtle as a sledgehammer.
A billboard shows a grungy, dirty toilet with the words, "No one thinks
they'll lose their virginity here. Meth will change that."
One TV spot shows a young man covered with scabs harassing people in a
coin laundry and beating them up for loose change. At the end of the
ad, the teen runs up to his pre-meth self and screams, "This wasn't
supposed to be your life!"
Fueled by the deep pockets of software billionaire Thomas Siebel, the
Montana Meth Project has become a national success story with its
often-shocking content. Now, Arizona officials are close to bringing
the provocative ad campaign to the state, where meth has taken hold in
cities and suburbs, rural areas, affluent houses and lower-income
neighborhoods.
On Tuesday, county and state officials, including staff members from
the Governor's Office and the Attorney General's Office, will fly to
Helena, Mont., to watch the latest round of TV spots and meet with
Siebel. The multimillion-dollar ad campaign, "Not Even Once," has
saturated the airwaves in Montana, helping reduce meth use among teens
by as much as 30 percent.
"I just don't think we have time to waste," Arizona Attorney General
Terry Goddard said. "I don't think there is hardly a family in Arizona
that doesn't have some tragedy associated with meth. It's scary that
kids think this is a drug you can experiment with at parties and it
won't hurt you."
"We need teenagers talking to teenagers."
The goal is to have an Arizona Meth Project up and running by August,
Goddard said. A non-profit organization in Arizona would run the
project and continually raise funds. An advisory group, comprised of
elected officials, doctors, business owners, educators and tribal
officials, would be set up.
Dr. Marc Matthews, director of the trauma unit at Maricopa Medical
Center, has seen the physical, emotional and psychological devastation
of meth addiction firsthand.
"It's absolutely brutal," Matthews said. "The American people are
unwilling to recognize the horror that is happening every day here in
Arizona and across the country. The drug is almost maniacal. Once it
gets hold of you, that's it."
This campaign takes a lot of hits from ad professionals, which seems
strange to me. Toilet sex and flesh slicing are on the minimal end of
what meth can inspire.
I am sure that those who have issues with these campaigns have never
had a father/son/wife/grandmother who was a junkie... it is a different
animal when it is in your backyard and you have to live with it.
I haven't seen these ads but if they are an effective deterrent, then
more power to them and the agency that created them. The crack epidemic
of the 1980s was very real, and very obvious, to anyone who lived in a
city. But that's probably why nobody tried to say its existence was
being blown out of proportion. Meth addiction seems to be more of a
problem among poor, rural whites who are too often invisible to the
media or laughingly dismissed by the general population in "white
trash" or "trailer trash" jokes.
Responding to the odd, disturbing nature of the 
The gritty, in-your-face ads on television, radio, billboards and
newspapers have exposed Montana teenagers to the ugly truth about the
evil grip of meth addiction.
