The Purity Culture and “Lust”

August 16, 2012 By 19 Comments
lust

Growing up, “lust” was a big no no. No lusting allowed! Absolutely none! Lust was sinful, shameful, evil. It was the kind of word that was whispered. And what exactly was lust? Joshua Harris, the man who single handedly normalized the term “courtship” in evangelicalism, wrote a book called Sex Is Not the Problem (Lust [...]

Filed Under: Evangelicalism/Fundamentalism, Purity Tagged With: , , , , , 19 Comments

Missing the Point: Sex Maniacs and Shamed Boys

May 3, 2012 By 17 Comments

Some time ago, a reader offered the following comment on one of my posts. You emphasized in other posts that you were taught that all that men think about is sex, but that is not true. In this post, you feel sorry for your brother because everyone knows that all men think about is sex, [...]

Filed Under: Evangelicalism/Fundamentalism, Purity Tagged With: , , 17 Comments

Christianity, Sin, and Thought Crime

November 10, 2011 By 37 Comments

Growing up in a fundamentalist evangelical home, I had little chance to commit any serious sins. To some extent this didn’t matter: I was taught that a sin is a sin is a sin, and talking back to your mother is just as bad in God’s eyes as was murder. Practically, though, what sins I [...]

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The “Problem” of Lust

August 4, 2011 By 34 Comments

Note: I am defining lust as “a feeling of sexual desire” and lustful thoughts as “sexual thoughts or fantasies.”  This is actually the dictionary definition, when devoid of all the shame talk religion gives the word “lust.” Just recently I tried to show some of my brothers a movie I really enjoy. After watching the [...]

Filed Under: Purity Tagged With: , , 34 Comments