Blogaround

Image text: "For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. Luke 8:17" Image source.

1. This Is the Southern Baptist Apocalypse (posted May 22) "For years, leaders in the Executive Committee said a database—to prevent sexual predators from quietly moving from one church to another, to a new set of victims—had been thoroughly investigated and found to be legally impossible, given Baptist church autonomy. My mouth fell open when I read documented proof in the report that these very people not only knew how to have a database, they already had one."

This is the kind of thing that makes me want to believe in hell.

Also, when church leaders say that you shouldn't speak up about abuse because the abusers are doing great things for God / spreading the gospel / etc, and you wouldn't want to make them look bad and screw up God's mission, that's called taking the Lord's name in vain.

2. An Anonymous TV Writer Offers An Inside Look At Why Special Effects Seem So Bad Right Now (posted May 18) 

3. Is Studying Overseas Losing Its Allure for Chinese Students? (posted May 19) "Some Chinese students have spent years preparing to apply for international universities. Two years into a global pandemic, they’re asking if it’s still worth it."

4. Christianity Today’s Sexual Misconduct Problem and the Complications with Forgiving Institutions (posted May 10) 

5. Student Loan Forgiveness vs the Parable of the Vineyard (posted May 12) 

6. Phistomefel's Wall (posted January) A 1-hour-and-21-minute sudoku video. I like this one because in the middle, Simon is genuinely scared he's not going to be able to solve it- I hadn't seen that in his videos before. He gets it in the end. (spoilers?)

7. How identical twins can cause serious problems for ensoulment (posted May 18) "Most identical twins come about when the fertilized egg splits at the two-cell stage. Mirror twins (one will be right-handed, the other left, and so on) are formed when the split happens around day 5 or so. If the split happens after day 10, conjoined twins will form. This can even happen at day 13 or 14."

8. This tweet:

Purity culture led me to believe it would be a lot easier to seduce men than it actually is. 😭😂

— Carissa Has Hope? (@exfundiediary) May 19, 2022

Also this reply

Tbh was really offended when I realized Devlin isn’t constantly struggling with how hot I am.

— Kelso Is Existing (@KelseyRyan77) May 19, 2022

And this reply

Its almost like the "seduction" language is being used to excuse predation, but that can't be it. 🤔

— Jordon von helf (@Jordonvonhelf) May 20, 2022

These tweets are prompting me to wonder if the purity teaching about "if you dress immodest, boys will all be breaking their necks looking at you, falling all over themselves trying to have sex with you"... they were teaching that not because it was true (it's NOT true- now that I'm an adult, I know that men are better than that), but because they wanted to provide cover for men who rape and abuse women and girls. They wanted to allow those men to blame it on the girl and get away with it.

Yeah... I can't believe it's taken me this long to think of this, but, here's an idea: What if all those things they warned us about in purity culture had nothing to do with "respecting yourself" and "protecting women" and "loving your husband", and actually were just about controlling women and girls?

I saw the SBC report and I'm mad. All this time that I've blogged about the problems of purity culture, I really thought it was well-intentioned, though it's based on a foundation of beliefs that will ALWAYS be harmful. Many other bloggers have said "it's because they hate women" but I never did.

But what if... what if the mistreatment of women and girls isn't because "well this is the system we were given, and we are trying to work within that system- we haven't considered the possibility of questioning it" (which was where I was, when I followed the purity rules)... but... someone really designed the system that way, on purpose, to benefit men.

Can't believe it's taken me this long to think of this. I've been blogging about the evils of purity culture for 10 years. I guess I always saw it as "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Never thought to ask questions like, who actually created these rules, and what was their motivation, and what if it actually had nothing to do with helping Christians have good marriages? What actual flesh-and-blood men created these rules, and what does it say about their own personal issues, and sinful refusal to view women as human, and weird sexual hangups?

Instead, I've always engaged with the ideas themselves, and written about "here's why this is incorrect, here is why it's harmful, here is my own personal experience with why this is a bad thing to believe."

But now... I saw the SBC report, and I'm mad.

9. My 2022 Reader Survey is still open (until June 30, 2022). If you haven't taken it yet, go ahead and take it. Thanks!