Moore allegations prompt reflections on fundamentalist culture in which some Christian men date teens
"We should probably talk about how there is a segment of evangelicalism and homeschool culture where the only thing Roy Moore did wrong was initiating sexual contact outside of marriage. 14-year-old girls courting adult men isn't entirely uncommon," Kathryn Brightbill, who works for the Coalition for Responsible Home Education, tweeted Friday, prompting a flurry of responses from other people who also had watched teenagers date much older Christian men.
Ashley Easter, who grew up in a fundamentalist Baptist church where courting was the norm for teenagers, said, "That was the first thing I thought of with Roy Moore." In her church community in Lynchburg, Va., Easter said, fathers had complete control over whom their daughters were allowed to date, and she could see how a father might set his teen daughter up with a much older man.
"A woman's role is to be a wife, a homemaker and someone who births children. The man's role is generally to be established and someone who provides the full income," said Easter, who runs the Courage Conference for survivors of church sexual abuse. "It may take longer for a man to reach stability. While a woman of 15 or 16, if she's been trained for a long time looking after her younger siblings, in their eyes she might be ready for marriage."
For most of them, a relationship such as the ones Moore is reported to have pursued with teens is far beyond the norm. But the idea recurs frequently. Even "Duck Dynasty" star Phil Robertson, a conservative Christian who married his wife when he was 20 and she was 16, caused a firestorm years ago for advising men, "You got to marry these girls when they are about 15 or 16."
Well, people, thoughts?
"We should probably talk about how there is a segment of evangelicalism and homeschool culture where the only thing Roy Moore did wrong was initiating sexual contact outside of marriage. 14-year-old girls courting adult men isn't entirely uncommon," Kathryn Brightbill, who works for the Coalition for Responsible Home Education, tweeted Friday, prompting a flurry of responses from other people who also had watched teenagers date much older Christian men.
Ashley Easter, who grew up in a fundamentalist Baptist church where courting was the norm for teenagers, said, "That was the first thing I thought of with Roy Moore." In her church community in Lynchburg, Va., Easter said, fathers had complete control over whom their daughters were allowed to date, and she could see how a father might set his teen daughter up with a much older man.
"A woman's role is to be a wife, a homemaker and someone who births children. The man's role is generally to be established and someone who provides the full income," said Easter, who runs the Courage Conference for survivors of church sexual abuse. "It may take longer for a man to reach stability. While a woman of 15 or 16, if she's been trained for a long time looking after her younger siblings, in their eyes she might be ready for marriage."
For most of them, a relationship such as the ones Moore is reported to have pursued with teens is far beyond the norm. But the idea recurs frequently. Even "Duck Dynasty" star Phil Robertson, a conservative Christian who married his wife when he was 20 and she was 16, caused a firestorm years ago for advising men, "You got to marry these girls when they are about 15 or 16."
Well, people, thoughts?
