I almost called this post, "Of Sex and Southern Baptists," but there are a few links that don't fit into either category.
* At "Obsidian Wings" hilzoy points to an article on virginity movements in Christian America. Virginity movements are always a bit odd in some ways, since they are inevitably very arbitrary about a number of things; but it seems to me that they are actually a fairly common expression of sexuality. It would be surprising if they didn't exist in modern America. These things (in their American manifestation) are, in fact, clubs for the sexually like-minded; and are, as far as I can see, no more weird than any other sex-oriented club, along BDSM or fetish lines. In fact, the particular virginity group discussed in the article sounds very similar to a lot of casual BDSM groups. The difference is just the particular expression of sexuality involved. Yes, one could focus on virginity without surrounding oneself with the rituals; but there isn't a manifestation of human sexuality that doesn't incline to ritual: accoutrements like pins and garters, wedding rings, bridal veils, purity rings, and chastity belts (yes, chastity belts: they are a fairly common instrument in certain forms of D/s); events like mixers, honeymoons, power exchange rites, Gorean play parties, swing parties, collaring, etc. Ritual is an ineliminable part of what human beings do when they sexualize. That's one of the interesting things about human sexuality. Whether the ritual sounds creepy or repellent will depend a great deal, I imagine, on how well one's sexual tastes can stand the particular variation at hand. Or, more baldly, how prudish one is about it. But that's inevitable; everyone has a point where they go prudish. That's another interesting thing about human sexuality.
* Hugo Schwyzer had a recent post on XXX Church, which is a Christian ministry that does work on issues relevant to pornography. Quite good stuff, actually; a little too pop-and-hip at times, but it's the sort of thing that needs to be done.
* I meant to post this link before: "The Elfin Ethicist" has a series of entries called Glow-worm on a Grass Blade that attempts "to lay a foundation for a Christian view of history -- but a view that moves away from providential history." The entries are:
Humility
Conversation
Observation
Passion
Grace
* What to Do with a Reluctant Reader at "Rebecca Writes"
* Boar's Head Tavern has been discussing VBS, which is always around this time of year. I always liked VBS; it really was a vacation, and gave my mind something to do over the summer months beside sit in my room and read. In retrospect the thing I think was most wrong about the way it was usually done is that it was too often spliced with a fund-raising drive. For those who don't know what VBS is, it's safe to say you never grew up in a small town with lots of Baptist churches; it's often a way working parents keep their kids busy during the day over the summer months.
* Michael Spencer discusses the role of theologians in the SBC. I wonder if the rise of the theologian class isn't actually an inevitable by-product of the interaction between academia and Southern Baptist churches; the result is a group of people with an academia-style sense of self-importance actively involving themselves in denominational politics. I've noticed among Baptist academics, even very non-Mohler ones, a tendency to see themselves as being the protectors of doctrine, even against Baptist preachers; and, even more than this, they sometimes see Baptist preachers as a threat to their academic rights. And it is certainly not confined to the SBC. An interesting shift in power.
