(LifeSiteNews) — A mainstream news outlet published an entire article about recently elected U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson participating in a “purity ball” many years ago with his young daughter to reinforce Christian values and promote chastity, citing an “unearthed” news video from 2015.
In an article published by ABC News on December 20, writer Will Steakin cited an “unearthed” German news segment released in 2015 that showed “Johnson and his family preparing for and then attending a purity ball,” which Steakin described as “a controversial formal dance event, popular among some conservative Christians, that gained notoriety in the early 2000s.”
In the event, Johnson and his daughter joined other fathers and daughters for a formal event in which they danced and ate dinner, followed by the teen girls signing a document promising to remain chaste in accordance with God’s will.
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ABC reported that, in signing the document, the girls formally “make a commitment to God, myself, my family, my friends, my future husband, and my future children … to a lifetime of purity, including sexual purity.”
The German news clip cited by the mainstream outlet also included comment from Johnson’s wife, Christian counselor Kelly Johnson, who shared that the family didn’t talk about contraception with their teen daughter because “sex before marriage is simply out of the question.”
“There are predators out there, and there are prey,” Mike Johnson said in the news clip, expressing hope that his teen daughter would “try and steer clear of the wolves like that.”
The ABC article went on to cite Linda Kay Klein, an author and outspoken critic of the Christian movement to promote purity in young people. Klein said people often think of purity balls as “creepy,” and decried the notion that a young woman is under the headship of her father until she marries.
Steakin also referenced Protestant author Joshua Harris, an early advocate of the purity culture who wrote “I Kissed Dating Goodbye” but has since ceased practicing Christianity.
The ABC article stated that “criticism” of the “purity ball” trend has included suggestions “that the practice places too much of a burden on young women to accusations that the balls themselves objectify young girls.” The article didn’t go into whether encouraging or allowing teen girls to have sexual relations outside of marriage might also lead to their objectification by boys and men who aren’t committed to them.
While the events clearly have their critics, they also have their advocates, who argue that the ceremonies are based on faith and the desire of fathers to help their daughters live according to God’s plan for sexuality.
“It’s not about saying ‘no,'” Indiana pastor Ron Johnson told CBC in 2016. “What we try to share with our kids is, God’s not a cosmic killjoy. He’s the one who intends for us to enjoy sex to its fullest.”
“When I’m talking about it with my kids, I’m saying, ‘Don’t do it the world’s way. Save your sexuality for where it was intended to be expressed, and that’s in the context of a covenant relationship with your husband or with your wife,’” Johnson said.
“When I first heard about the Purity Balls, I imagined angry American fathers terrified of anything that could hurt their daughters or their families honor,” wrote Swedish artist David Magnusson, who took formal photographs of dads and their daughters who had participated in the ceremonies. “But as I learnt more, I understood that the fathers, like all parents, simply wanted to protect the ones that they love – in the best way they knew how.”
Moreover, Magnusson said, “It was also often the girls themselves that had taken the initiative to attend the ceremonies. They had made their decisions out of their own conviction and faith, in many cases with fathers who didn’t know what a Purity Ball was before first being invited by their daughters.”
In an article slamming the ABC piece, CatholicVote cited Daily Signal writer Tony Kinnett, who reacted, “Wow, imagine caring about your daughter so much that you encourage her to wait until she’s in a loving marriage and can handle family responsibilities.”
“Sounds like a fantastic father,” he said.
Wow, imagine caring about your daughter so much that you encourage her to wait until she’s in a loving marriage and can handle family responsibilities.
Sounds like a fantastic father.
— Tony Kinnett (@TheTonus) December 20, 2023
CatholicVote observed that this is not the first time the media has put a spotlight on Johnson for his conservative religious views.
Media outlets also attempted to attack Johnson after reports “resurfaced” that he and his teenage son were using the anti-pornography software Covenant Eyes and had chosen one another as accountability partners. Rolling Stone reported that “Mike Johnson Admits He and His Son Monitor Each Other’s Porn Intake in Resurfaced Video,” though the article acknowledged that neither Johnson nor his son had viewed any objectionable content.
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Legacy media outlets also attempted to make much of Johnson’s commitment to Biblical morality in informing his views.
Johnson said that if anyone wants to know what his perspective is on “any issue,” they should “go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it. That’s my worldview.”