During the MTV Music Video Awards last summer, host Russell Brand, a crass comedian infamous for his promiscuity, mocked the brothers for wearing their purity rings. What Brand and his ilk fail to realize is that there is a large portion of the young adult population that have made purity pledges—and don’t appreciate being ridiculed for their beliefs. It’s hard enough to take such a challenging stand against a tidal wave of pressure to become more sexually sophisticated at increasingly younger ages.
During the same MTV program, American Idol winner Jordin Sparks took to the stage and defended the Jonas Brothers: “I just have one thing to say about promise rings. It’s not bad to wear a promise ring, because not everybody—guy or girl—wants to be a slut.” In that moment, Sparks, who also wears a purity ring, voiced the frustration of every young person who is attacked for being naïve and “missing out” simply because they aspire to a higher standard.
A generation ago, questions about virginity or morality would never have been asked because it was assumed, based upon society’s mores, that sexual intimacy was reserved for marriage. It would have been unthinkable to mock someone’s sexual innocence, since it was something still culturally cherished. In less than one generation, that standard has been so degraded that it’s considered odd or abnormal for an attractive, intelligent, successful man or woman to declare their intention to remain virgins until married.
Now, we’re told by Hollywood, media and sex education organizations such as Planned Parenthood that if you don’t think every teenager is “doing it,” then you’re extremely naïve or ignorant. And when young people such as Tim Tebow or the Jonas brothers publicly share their decisions about maintaining high moral standards, they are ridiculed or labeled hypocrites. Some cynically deride the young men, speculating that with so much temptation, there is no way they can resist. After all, lust will always overcome principles or pledges. This pessimistic view of character and principle seeks to tear down high moral standards and replace them with a cheap, easy, unsatisfying standard.
The angry, vicious attacks on purity commitments lead one to believe that there is a certain amount of jealousy and personal regret motivating such vitriol. Maybe the objective is to degrade and disparage the innocent so that the attackers won’t feel quite so guilty about the loss of their own innocence.
With the humiliating downfall of men like Governor Mark Sanford, Senator John Ensign and countless other public leaders who have succumbed to sexual temptation and infidelity, there are fewer and fewer public role models to whom young people, and their parents, can look for inspiration. Thankfully, young men like Tim Tebow and the Jonas brothers are willingly taking on the role model responsibility without embarrassment.
It’s time for a new morality: the old-fashioned kind that teaches respect and dignity. In a truly tolerant society—in which we reportedly live now—one should be respected for choosing a life of standards and morality. It’s time to reinstate old standards for a new generation.