Purity Rings Fill a Void for Some
In a world of constantly lowering standards and decreasing morals, it can become difficult to stand tall and unmovable in what you believe. Would not it be nice to have a constant reminder of your values and promises to yourself, family and God?
Purity rings, also known as chastity and abstinence rings originated in the United States in the 1990s among Christian sexual abstinence groups as an answer to that plea. Wearing this kind of jewelry is typically followed by a religious vow to practice abstinence until marriage.
Under the Bush administration, organizations that encourage teens to sign a virginity pledge, promote abstinence and wear a purity ring have received federal grants. One such group from the Pennsylvania Evangelical Church has received over $1 million from the government to promote their “Silver Ring Thing” (SRT) which promotes good behavior and selling this idea to the United States as well as abroad.
The ACLU of Massachusetts raised charges against that decision because their program did not ensure its secularization and was ineligible for federal funding because of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The settlement states that any further similar applications of similar programs must be reported to ACLU and closely scrutinized for separation of church and state.
Though controversial, many young men and women alike flock to these representations of their standards. There are many pluses and minuses to the outspoken jewelry.
These commitments made by teenagers and young adults to refrain from sexual intercourse are most common in the United States and especially among Evangelical Christian denominations.
The first pledge program instated was “True Love Waits.”
It was started in 1993 by the Southern Baptist Convention, which now claims over 2.5 million pledges internationally including dozens of countries. Many programs were thereafter instilled following the trend set by the Southern Baptist Convention.
Next was the SRT which, as we previously mentioned, ran into some legal trouble but represented a two-part program. The first part refers to abstinence while the second part refers to being a Born again Christian.
A born again Christian represents a spiritual and metaphorical rebirth, accepting Jesus as the Christ and receiving the Holy Spirit. It is also known by many as a cleansing or a conversion.
The result in the SRT’s lawsuit was that their federal grand was suspended until it submitted a “corrective action plan.” In 2006, the SRT decided to resign from seeking funding from the government so that it could continue in its original message.
So, there is something for these programs to look out for and to be aware of- the laws in this country. Virginity pledge programs take a variety of stances on religion.
Some use Brand Levitra religion to motivate action in the program with scriptures as support while others use arguments, statistics and logic to motivate viagra alternative a pledge. Many public schools are also advocates of virginity pledges and are often involved with abstinence-only sex education in their establishments.
Any advocates that differ in opinion argue that any other type of sex education would promote sex outside of marriage, which is considered immoral and risky by many. There are many differing opinions, but they agree that in schools, the safest and more moral of positions to take is to promote abstinence until marriage.
The True Love Waits pledge from 1993 says, “Believing that true love waits, I make a commitment to God, myself, my family, those I date and my future mate to be sexually pure until the day I enter marriage.” Seemingly, this is a challenge for many teenagers in today’s modern, morally decaying world, but it is a worthy goal indeed.
Author Bio: Jack R. Landry is a practicing Christian that has two passions in life. They are jewelry and books. For those that love jewelry, he recommends looking into Purity Cialis Rings.
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Jack R. Landry
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Category: Relationships/Dating
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