Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #PurityCulture
Most recents (13)
#KatherineBushnell vs #evangelical #purityculture 🧵
@kkdumez #ANewGospelForWomen
“…in opposition to the perceived promiscuity of contemporary society, which they attribute to the influences of modern feminism and its sexual ethic of liberation,
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@kkdumez #ANewGospelForWomen
“…in opposition to the perceived promiscuity of contemporary society, which they attribute to the influences of modern feminism and its sexual ethic of liberation,
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many evangelicals have attempted to resurrect the nineteenth-century idealization of female purity. Through an elaborate “purity culture” consisting of scripted purity pledges, father-daughter balls, purity rings, and the rhetoric of warriors and princesses,
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evangelicals have worked to reinstitute an ethic of feminine restraint.” Some similarities to Bushnell, “However, whereas contemporary evangelical purity culture focuses chiefly on the purity of young women—
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🧵
TW/CW: real sex talk
we're talking about sex and #purityculture today folks so pull up a chair. I need to spill a couple of things that have been going through my brain the last couple of days... 1/?
TW/CW: real sex talk
we're talking about sex and #purityculture today folks so pull up a chair. I need to spill a couple of things that have been going through my brain the last couple of days... 1/?
1. let's talk about "virginity loss shame" bc after all the purity messaging, did anyone else open the sex door and then go, "well, i've already fallen to the pit of hell by doing the worst thing ever & there's no way to undo that so I might as well just go wild" (my mid 20s) 2/?
this leads to
2. the "bad sex experience confirmation bias" bc w/out learning consent + communication you may have shitty experiences & ur evie voice says "this is why we don't have sex unless it's by the book" (& by the book means "what the purity author of the week wrote") 3/?
2. the "bad sex experience confirmation bias" bc w/out learning consent + communication you may have shitty experiences & ur evie voice says "this is why we don't have sex unless it's by the book" (& by the book means "what the purity author of the week wrote") 3/?
i was born into the southern baptist church. my grandfather was my pastor for the first decade of my life. i was "born again" when i was 6 after a particularly terrifying sermon about hell. i spent 32 years in white evangelical churches, and it fucked me up in a lot of ways 🧵
i attended bob jones academy, a conservative fundamentalist christian school where interracial dating was banned until the year of their lord 2000. i was taught that the bible is 100% literally true/historically accurate and that the earth is 4-6k years old don't ask questions
the #purityculture movement of the 90s and 00s shaped the way i viewed sexuality, gender, marriage, and divorce--basically that sex is a sin anywhere outside the context of a cis/het monogamous marriage. and it motivated me to get married at 21, which is my single greatest regret
The relationship with God people have in evangelical systems can be equated to a term often used in therapy: Trauma Bonding.
Wikipedia's simple definition for trauma bonding is "strong emotional attachment between an abused person and his or her abuser, formed as a result of the cycle of violence." Now when we think of this cycle of violence hell comes to mind.
What more violent thing is there than the threat of being abandoned to torment forever?
Hi all. This is a thread about what is commonly referred to as "deconstruction," Joshua Harris' new "course," and the grifters of the post-evangelical internet. Buckle up. #purityculture #churchtoo #deconstruction
I've been holding my tongue and biding my time on the "deconstruction" movement for a while now. Language evolves and we needed a useful term for the process many of us have gone through that involves unlearning, deconverting, and/or reconfiguring the toxic faith we once had.
What I'm about to say is in no way meant to imply that one must have specific credentials or certifications to be an expert in one's own experience, nor is it meant to imply that credentialing orgs are free of white supremacy, queerphobia, classism, and general vileness.
The @nytimes is joining us in reporting on the purity culture trend of the 1990s and 2000s and how pervasive evangelical movements like True Love Waits still impact many adults across the South today.
trib.al/jz1dg9Y
trib.al/jz1dg9Y
You can read our entire series on #purityculture here, where we interviewed representatives from the Southern Baptist Convention, @HarrisJosh, sex and mental health therapists, and more.
reckonsouth.com/purity-culture…
reckonsouth.com/purity-culture…
Dr. Sean McDowell said he wishes more church leadership had publicly questioned some of the purity culture messages that were promoted in Christian circles without a deeper examination of how Biblically sound they were.
reckonsouth.com/christian-lead…
reckonsouth.com/christian-lead…
There’s a direct line between Christian #purityculture and the racist Atlanta shooter. Purity culture is not conducive to a healthy sexual ethic. Men raised in it are taught to view women with suspicion, as objects whose purpose is to draw them into sin.
#EmptyThePews #churchtoo
#EmptyThePews #churchtoo
You’re also taught that your sexual urges are completely uncomfortable, that it’s only a matter of time until you hurt someone. In my Sunday school, they taught us that having sexual thoughts was akin to “raping a woman in your mind.”
#EmptyThePews #churchtoo
#EmptyThePews #churchtoo
Combine all of that with an intense “warrior for God” philosophy, a desensitization to violence as well as emotion, and the racism baked into American Christianity, then physically violent action is sure to follow.
#EmptyThePews #churchtoo
#EmptyThePews #churchtoo
Watching @TheVowHBO and now the @STARZ docuseries on #NXVIM, I see people saying "It would never be me." And the truth is, even if you weren't part of it, if you've been affected by #purityculture you've been affected by many of the same tactics in your life. A thread:
In this self-improvement limelight, everyone is told that pain is just physical and you can turn off your emotional attachment to it and no longer see yourself as a victim.
In the world of Evangelical purity culture, that is expressed as the difference between body and soul.
In the world of Evangelical purity culture, that is expressed as the difference between body and soul.
In the same way that Raniere and Salzman told people their minds could overcome the fact their bodies wanted to fail or flee, the church for years taught me that I couldn't trust my body, my gut instincts, or my feelings. My faith was the only true thing.
Some people mistakenly believe that the opposite of purity culture is objectification, but that’s not true. #PurityCulture is one kind of objectification. In both cases women’s bodies and queer bodies are objects via the male gaze that must be controlled.
The opposite of #purityculture is sexual/gender liberation, rooted firmly in consent. The opposite of purity culture (where women’s bodies are under the control of men) is autonomy - where our bodies belong to US, for our own freedom and pleasure.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot this week because of the #bachelorette (way to go @AlabamaHannah!). My colleague @emilyjoypoetry has had compelling threads re: this too. But #purityculture sells us lies about what makes women worthy and it’s ALWAYS in relationship to men.
Okay #BachelorNation. My name is Emily Joy, I'm a lesbian with an unhealthy obsession with this show, I have a degree in philosophical theology & apologetics from Moody Bible Institute, and if you're wondering what the fuck is going on I'm here to break it down. #TheBachelorette
In last night's episode @AlabamaHannah referenced the biblical story of the woman caught in adultery & the words of Jesus when he said, "let he who is without sin cast the first stone." The story she's referring to can be found here in the gospel of John: biblegateway.com/passage/?searc…
Now a couple interesting things to note: 1) unlike a lot of other Jesus stories, this one is found *only* in the gospel of John & not the others, and 2) there is good scholarly consensus that this bit of John was added later and was not a part of the original text of the gospel.
How do you go about defining an entire way of life? How do you take concepts that were *literally* taught in the cradle and turn them into words others can understand and relate to?
Because this is #PurityCulture. This is life for a fundy child, raised by the patriarchy.
Because this is #PurityCulture. This is life for a fundy child, raised by the patriarchy.
I’m a Pastor’s child, an MK, the product of multiple generations of holiness people, most of whom were preachers.
I was served up School of Tomorrow’s ACE curriculum from grades K-12, except the year we used CLE curriculum... which is actually worse.
#ExposeChristianSchools
I was served up School of Tomorrow’s ACE curriculum from grades K-12, except the year we used CLE curriculum... which is actually worse.
#ExposeChristianSchools
It’s only with the birds’ eye view of years and philosophical distance that I can look back and say “That was abuse. Pure and simple.”
ACE is Calvinistic to the core, which made it an odd choice for a family that believed John Wesley stood next to Jesus’ cross.
ACE is Calvinistic to the core, which made it an odd choice for a family that believed John Wesley stood next to Jesus’ cross.
Me today, watching the #gc2summit on #churchtoo:
Kicking this thing off by singing the lyrics of "Amazing Grace"- a song about the repentance of a middle passage slave trader- I think is going to be pretty emblematic for today.
God loves us even thought we're BAD is probs going to be a major theme. #churchtoo #gc2summit
God loves us even thought we're BAD is probs going to be a major theme. #churchtoo #gc2summit
I have time today.
Joshua Harris is apparently discontinuing publication of I Kissed Dating Goodbye & its followups (including Boy Meets Girl which I would argue is maybe worse). Great. Eventually maybe I won't have to keep buying every copy I find in a thrift store so no one else does.
Let's take a look at his "explanation" (I won't call it an "apology" since that implies genuine repentance and a good faith effort to do something to fix the actual problem at hand but okay)… Link here or in the pictures below joshharris.com/statement/ 
