Is the Age of Purity Rings Over?
Is the age of purity rings over? According to at least one Akron, Ohio teenager, it’s free love that’s passed society by. The rings once fashionable with Baptists are popular nationwide. At last count more than 100,000 had been sold. The rings are usually given to girls on their 16th birthdays.
Still there are others who don’t see the point of them, saying that the rings are not a measure of one’s values. Oftentimes, they are given in connection with Purity Balls and are accompanied by vows of chastity. The idea is that the girls are to remain virgins until their wedding days.
So is the age of purity rings over? It is quite possible that quite a bit of damage has been done to the power of the movement over the years. It is highly unfortunate that so much of the movement's support was backed by the conservative American US political party that lost favor in the eyes of many Americans because of war and other negative things that happened under the Bush/Cheney administration.
What is a purity ring? A purity ring is also called a ring of abstinence, chastity or promise. Purity rings are often associated with Christian Faith organizations. Purity rings and promise rings are sold to teens and adults as gifts. Each ring is sold with a promise packaged in the box. The rings require the wearer of the ring to make a vow before God to remain abstinent until the purity ring is replaced by a wedding ring. Many organizations that were selling purity rings received funding from the United States government to promote their efforts. The Silver Ring Thing was one organization in particular that received over $1 million. A law suit was brought about the ACLU stating that there was a violation of church and state. This kind of political funding raised eyebrows and anger levels for many Americans because the charity was selling an item and turning a profit as well as imparting religious beliefs as opposed to generic promotions of public service.
Times have changed since purity rings were very popular. Programs like True Love Waits, that grew to 2.5 million members since 1993 are not cropping up with the same voracity that they once were. In order to appeal to this public dissension, some groups are now not approaching the idea of chastity or purity rings with a religious view. These organizations are using arguments and statistics to convince people to remain celibate until marriage.
There are those that believe--regardless of religious affiliation--that it is important to provide young people with abstinence training only. These groups tend to feel that standard sex education training encourages extra-marital sex and the negative consequences that can come with it.
Still there are others who don’t see the point of them, saying that the rings are not a measure of one’s values. Oftentimes, they are given in connection with Purity Balls and are accompanied by vows of chastity. The idea is that the girls are to remain virgins until their wedding days.
So is the age of purity rings over? It is quite possible that quite a bit of damage has been done to the power of the movement over the years. It is highly unfortunate that so much of the movement's support was backed by the conservative American US political party that lost favor in the eyes of many Americans because of war and other negative things that happened under the Bush/Cheney administration.
What is a purity ring? A purity ring is also called a ring of abstinence, chastity or promise. Purity rings are often associated with Christian Faith organizations. Purity rings and promise rings are sold to teens and adults as gifts. Each ring is sold with a promise packaged in the box. The rings require the wearer of the ring to make a vow before God to remain abstinent until the purity ring is replaced by a wedding ring. Many organizations that were selling purity rings received funding from the United States government to promote their efforts. The Silver Ring Thing was one organization in particular that received over $1 million. A law suit was brought about the ACLU stating that there was a violation of church and state. This kind of political funding raised eyebrows and anger levels for many Americans because the charity was selling an item and turning a profit as well as imparting religious beliefs as opposed to generic promotions of public service.
Times have changed since purity rings were very popular. Programs like True Love Waits, that grew to 2.5 million members since 1993 are not cropping up with the same voracity that they once were. In order to appeal to this public dissension, some groups are now not approaching the idea of chastity or purity rings with a religious view. These organizations are using arguments and statistics to convince people to remain celibate until marriage.
There are those that believe--regardless of religious affiliation--that it is important to provide young people with abstinence training only. These groups tend to feel that standard sex education training encourages extra-marital sex and the negative consequences that can come with it.