Pastors Say Adultery Shouldn’t Permanently Disqualify Clergy from Ministry: Survey

Pastors Say Adultery Shouldn’t Permanently Disqualify Clergy from Ministry: Survey

I’ve said this before on this blog, and here it is again: Christians (and even secular conservatives) gave up defending, living out, or advocating sexual purity (whether marital fidelity or abstaining from pre-marital sex) years ago.

Christians do not “worship virginity” or “purity culture.” Something has shifted in the last decade or two where Christian attitudes and behavior regarding sexuality is indistinguishable from what the secular culture is saying or doing.

If Christian marriage is supposed to be this never-ending font of hot, steamy, regular, satisfying sex – as so many of the Christian books and lectures I heard from Christians claim – why then are so many married Christian preachers committing adultery? I guess that married sex ain’t all Christian propaganda makes it out to be.

(Link): Pastors Say Adultery Shouldn’t Permanently Disqualify Clergy from Ministry: Survey

Excerpts:

August 2020
by Leah MarieAnn Klett

Most pastors believe church leaders who commit adultery should withdraw from the pulpit for some time, but only a small percentage believe extramarital affairs permanently disqualify pastors from the ministry.

“Pastors’ Views on Moral Failure,” a new survey of U.S. Protestant pastors by Nashville-based LifeWay Research, finds that most pastors believe a fellow pastor who has committed adultery needs to take time away from the ministry.

However, opinions vary when it comes to the duration of the sabbatical.

Husband Takes His Own Life ‘Because of Lack of Sex’ and His Wife Is Arrested

Husband Takes His Own Life ‘Because of Lack of Sex’ and His Wife Is Arrested

This sounds like both a Christian gender complementarian nightmare AND a dream.

From the male complementarian perspective, it would be a nightmare to live without sex because the sexist douche bags (i.e., Christian complementarians) are entitled and have no concept of self sacrifice, self control, nor have any of them heard of masturbation.

The “dream” part is the notion that their wife would be imprisoned or put to death for having refused to “put out.”

This is the nightmare AND dream of sexist jackasses such as, but not limited to, Douglas Wilson, John Piper, Owen Strachan, Al Mohler, and Mark Driscoll.

(Link): Husband Takes His Own Life ‘Because of Lack of Sex’ and His Wife Is Arrested

Geeta Parmar has been arrested in Gujarat, India, after her mother-in-law blamed her for the death of husband Surendrasinh, who reportedly took his own life last month

The grieving widow faces charges in India following a criminal complaint by the man’s mother.

Do You Need a Partner to Have a Happy Life? by D. LaBier

Do You Need a Partner to Have a Happy Life? by D. LaBier

As to the part of this article that talks about how to be happy as a single adult (which I did NOT excerpt on my blog, but which does appear in the article): please take the section that talks about meeting other people’s needs with a grain of salt.

Christian women in particular are already subjected, quite frequently, to deeply codependent messages passed off as “biblical” from churches, Christian blogs, books, and pastors (Link): that neglecting one’s own needs to meet the needs of others is godly, wonderful, loving, meaningful, and will bring one joy.

However, this is not always the case.

You can actually suffer burn out, resentment, and exhaustion if you never get your own needs met – even while you may be running around doing charity work, helping your neighbor, and meeting other people’s needs.

So where this article advises you to volunteer, help other people, etc, to keep your happiness levels up, take that advice with a grain of salt and only practice it in moderation, if at all.

(Link): Do You Need a Partner to Have a Happy Life? by D. LaBier

Excerpts:

July 29, 2020

New research into happiness and well-being reveals what really matters.

…The upshot of the study [from Michigan State University] was that “…staking your happiness on being married isn’t a sure bet,” as co-author William Chopik reported.

That is, the lifelong singles and those who had varied relationship histories didn’t differ in their level of happiness.

‘Wokefish’ Dating Trend: Shady Men Are Pretending To Be Progressive On Apps

‘Wokefish’ Dating Trend: Shady Men Are Pretending To Be Progressive On Apps

Why would anyone do this? If you’re a right of center person, a moderate, or a classical liberal, why would you even try to date a progressive?

(Link): ‘Wokefish’ Dating Trend: Shady Men Are Pretending To Be Progressive On Apps

Excerpts:

by Ben Cost

Online opportunists are redefining the “politics of love” by weaponizing being woke to lure unsuspecting men and women into the sack.

Yes, horny guys are using progressivism as a virtual pickup line.

The latest in a long line of dirty dating tactics to emerge is “wokefishing,” a term coined by writer Serena Smith. “People masquerade as holding progressive political views to ensnare potential partners,”(Link): Smith told Vice.  Wokefishermen can be thought of like catfishers — those who use fake online personas to defraud victims — but only for sex instead of money.

Do You Feel Shame About Being Single? By John Amodeo, PhD

Do You Feel Shame About Being Single? By John Amodeo, PhD

(Link): Do You Feel Shame About Being Single? By John Amodeo, PhD

Excerpts:

If find yourself single, are you ok with that or distressed by it? Do you feel judged by others — or perhaps judge yourself for your current status?

Growing up in our society, it’s hard to avoid the message that being married is required for happiness. We may feel pressured to believe that if we’re not in a partnership, there’s something wrong with us — that it’s shameful to be single.

Husband Admits Having Sex With Chickens Three Times While His Wife Filmed It

Husband Admits Having Sex With Chickens Three Times While His Wife Filmed It

Let’s reflect on how news stories such as this one (I also have a blog post about a news story about a married man who has sexual intercourse with his pet horse, and his wife knows about it), demonstrates the falsehoods of teachings and opinions about marriage by Southern Baptist Al Mohler, other marriage-idolating Christians, and secular pro-marriage think tanks, such as Bradford Wilcox and his “National Marriage Project” group….

First of all. That this man is married to a human woman and yet also having sex with chickens goes to show that God does not grant marriage as a reward or gift to those who reach some level of maturity or godliness
(yes, this is a common teaching among Christians in much of their dating and marriage material I read while a teen and in my 20s – and I still sometimes see this same view even now, in the past few years.
Such Christian material suggests if you’re not married by some age or the other, it’s because God is intentionally with-holding a spouse from you, until you mature more, or become more godly, or more “whatever.”)

Secondly, marriage obviously did not make this man more mature, godly, or responsible than someone who doesn’t marry.

I’ve never married but would never have sex with an animal – it’s a form of animal abuse, it’s gross, and in this situation, a grown human man’s penis in an orifice of a much smaller being (including chickens or human infants – yes, some grown men have been known to rape infants) can physically injure or even KILL the recipient.

There is NOTHING about marriage that forces or causes everyone to suddenly become more loving, ethical, mature, godly, or responsible. Being married sure didn’t keep the guy in this story from being an animal abuser and a pervert, after all.

Also contrary to some guy who dropped by this blog of mine years ago – the Bible teaches that when people engage in sexual sin, their offense is not just hurting the person (or animal) they are molesting, but they are degrading THEMSELVES in the process.

I’d rather stay single than marry a man who has sex with animals.

(Link): Husband Admits Having Sex With Chickens Three Times While His Wife Filmed It

by John Davies

August 2020

Rehan Baig and his wife Haleema appeared at Bradford Crown Court, where he admitted to a series of disturbing offences involving animals

Rehan Baig, 37, appeared at Bradford Crown Court with his wife Haleema, also 37, on Friday.

Pharmacist Allegedly Sexually Assaulted Woman He Met on eHarmony (Dating Site)

Pharmacist Allegedly Sexually Assaulted Woman He Met on eHarmony (Dating Site)

According to this article, this rapist – a man who raped a woman he met on dating site ‘eHarmony’ was previously married – his wife died years prior.

This goes to show that contrary to what conservatives and Christians teach, being married does not make people more mature, responsible, godly, or loving. Nor does a person have to obtain some kind of perfection (moral or otherwise) to have to “merit” a spouse from God.

(Link): Pharmacist Allegedly Sexually Assaulted Woman He Met on eHarmony

Excerpts:

July 9, 2020
By Yaron Steinbuch

A Colorado pharmacist allegedly lured an Indiana woman he met on dating site eHarmony to his home with the promise of providing treatment for an ailment — but instead plied her with drugs to sedate her during sexual assaults, according to reports.

Brent Stein, 46, who owns Mountain Key Pharmacy in Florissant, was already on probation after a 2019 conviction for a domestic violence incident when he met the woman on the site on June 8, The Gazette reported.

Stein told the woman he wanted to “court her,” but she told him she was not interested in a sexual relationship at the time and decided to fly to Colorado Springs two days later, according to Fox 21.

Married Couple (Man, Woman) Rape and Murder Eight Year Old Girl

Married Couple (Man, Woman) Rape and Murder Eight Year Old Girl

I am not opposed to marriage, but I am in strong disagreement with the many conservative persons or groups who keep arguing that marriage is necessary to make people godly, loving, ethical, or responsible.

The Bible, first of all, does not teach that concept at all (it actually says per 1 Cor 7 that the state of singleness is preferable to marriage).

Secondly, as the many examples on my blog show of married couples who rape and murder each other or other people, there is nothing about marriage that manifests good, moral behavior in those who are married

(Link): A little girl’s last moments: Russian child, eight, who ran away from her parents following an argument is raped and killed ‘after she was picked up in a car by a married couple’

Excerpts:

July 10, 2020

An eight-year-old Russian girl who ran away from home following an argument with her parents was raped and killed after being picked up by a married couple in their car, Russian police have said.

More than 500 people volunteered to search for missing Vika Teplyakova after she was seen in for a final time in CCTV footage walking alone along a road. 

Black Lives Matter Vs. All Lives Matter

Black Lives Matter Vs. All Lives Matter

Does the phrase “Black Lives Matter” suggest that white lives, and other non-black lives, do not matter? Yes, that is exactly what the phrase now suggests, despite claims to the contrary by its supporters; explanation to follow.

There is a difference between the sentiment (lower case letters) “black lives matter” (which I think, Neo-Nazi skinheads aside, most people agree with – yes black lives do matter) and the organization or group who call themselves Black Lives Matter (their site is (Link): here).

The leaders of the BLM group have (Link): admitted to being Marxists.

For further research: (Link): (video on You Tube): Black Lives Matter is a MARXIST, Anarchist Movement and They Admit It! 

The BLM (Black Lives Matter) group is not really about racism, fighting racism, and at this point, the many protests (affiliated with them or not), are not about fighting racism, or about George Floyd.

It’s all about overturning the entire American nation – ditching all of American history, free market capitalism, and ushering in some kind of Maoist, socialist hell-scape. That is their goal.

(Some of the black members of BLM, or those sympathetic to their group, are not above trying to exploit white guilt to get monetary funds – I may be mentioning more about that in a future post.

So, their concern is not about equal opportunity for, or gaining respect for, black people with this crowd; it’s about Marxism and getting money.

White, left wing authors who sell books about “white fragility” are also con artists, getting a piece of this pie. )

Black Man Shoots, Kills Two Homosexual Men and One Transwoman Because Of Their Sexuality

Black Man Shoots, Kills Two Homosexual Men and One Transwoman Because Of Their Sexuality

The news site published a (Link): mug shot photo of the man police arrested (the police 99% of liberals want to defund) for shooting two homosexual men and one transwoman (biological man), and the photo shows a man who appears to be black. The headline from NBC says this man shot the three people over their sexuality.

Mug shot of guy who shot three LGBT persons

 Well, well, well. What will the far left, social justice, cancel crowd do with this? Probably nothing.

 Because far left liberals, who subscribe to (Link): Critical Race Theory pit one group against another, they put groups into (Link): a Hierarchy of Victims, and they deem some groups as more worthy of excuse than others. 

In this case, who knows, maybe the social justice warriors actually will “call out” this guy, because last I checked, they do seem to favor the safety and well-being of trans persons over black men.

(Link): Detroit man sentenced to life in prison for killing two gay men and a transgender woman

DETROIT — A 19-year-old Detroit man has been sentenced to three life terms in prison with no chance of parole for gunning down two gay men and a transgender woman who authorities believe were targeted because of their sexual orientation.

Study Finds Women Are Less Likely to Date Men Who Pose With Cats in Their Dating Profiles​

Study Finds Women Are Less Likely to Date Men Who Pose With Cats in Their Dating Profiles​

(Link): Single men with cats less likely to find love on dating apps, study finds 

(Link): Study Finds Women Are Less Likely to Date Men Who Pose With Cats in Their Dating Profiles​

“Men holding cats were viewed as less masculine; more neurotic, agreeable, and open; and less dateable,” the authors of the study wrote

By Claudia Harmata
June 22, 2020 03:55 PM

A new study conducted by researchers at Colorado State University has found that women are less likely to swipe right on men if they’re posing with a cat in their dating profiles.

The researchers showed a total of 708 women — aged between 18 and 24 — photos of two men, both posed in two separate photos. One showed them with a cat and the other had them posed without one.

How Breaking Up Can Wreak Havoc on Whole-Brain Dynamics

How Breaking Up Can Wreak Havoc on Whole-Brain Dynamics

(Link): How Breaking Up Can Wreak Havoc on Whole-Brain Dynamics

Excerpts:

by C. Bergland, June 2020

Romantic breakups may disrupt spatiotemporal brain dynamics, a fMRI study finds.

Anyone who’s ever gone through a traumatic breakup knows that breaking up is hard on your psychological well-being and feels like it throws your brain into a tailspin.

Now, a new fMRI brain imaging study (Martinez et al., 2020) sheds light on different ways a romantic breakup may disrupt whole-brain dynamics. These findings were published online May 26 in the journalNeuroImage: Clinical.

People Who Get Divorced Are More Likely To Die Early Than Those … Who Never Got Married In the First Place, Study Shows (2020)

People Who Get Divorced Are More Likely To Die Early Than Those …  Who Never Got Married In the First Place, Study Shows

(Link): People who get divorced are more likely to die early than those who drink heavily, have money problems or never got married in the first place, study shows

Excerpts:

By Luke Andrews

People who get divorced are more likely to die than heavy drinkers, people with money problems and those who never got married in the first place, a study has shown.

Scientists revealed the disparity after asking 13,611 American adults aged between 50 and 104 about their lives over the previous 16 years, between 1992 and 2008.

They then collected data on those that died between 2008 and 2014, either through national mortality records or interviews with relatives.

Why Is It So Difficult To Believe Single Men Can Have Paternal Instincts Too? by A. Mahdawi

Why Is It So Difficult To Believe Single Men Can Have Paternal Instincts Too? by A. Mahdawi

Single women get slammed with the reverse stereotype as what this author  describes about unmarried men in this editorial: we’re (single women) all expected to be really maternal, even if we find babies and children annoying and weird and prefer the company of adults only. 

I have other posts on my blog with articles about the negative stereotypes that culture and married people have about singles – and ones that pertain to single women.

For example, some restaurants with bars (Link): forbid single women from sitting at the bar, because the management insultingly assumes any woman sitting alone at the bar is a prostitute (I am not joking). See the links under “Related Posts” at the bottom of this page for more such unfortunate examples.

(Link): Why Is It So Difficult To Believe Single Men Can Have Paternal Instincts Too? by A. Mahdawi

Excerpts:

The widespread mockery and suspicion of Gaetz’s relationship with Nestor isn’t just due to the congressman’s personality, however; it reflects sexist assumptions about parenthood.

A Table For One: A Critical Reading of Singlehood, Gender and Time (podcast and free book on singleness from author Kinneret Lahad)

A Table For One: Critical Reading of Singlehood, Gender and Time (podcast and free book on singleness from author Kinneret Lahad)

The author was also offering a free (yes, free – and it’s totally legal) download or copy of her book about singleness (a book which I have not read; I may do so later).

I did listen to the interview she gave for the podcast linked to here:

(Link): A Critical Reading of Singlehood, Gender and Time
^ Podcast on that Page

Why are you still single?

This question is often asked of single women, especially those who are deemed by loved ones or friends to be too old to be single.

In her newest book, A Table for One: A Critical Reading of Singlehood, Gender and Time(Manchester University Press, 2017), Kinneret Lahad analyzes this undertheorized aspect of the gendered experience.

Singlehood is inextricably linked to a post-structural analysis of time: not only are single women judged on their single status based on how old they are, but Lahad argues that being single often ages women at a faster rate in the eyes of others.

Coronavirus: Even Married People With Children Die All Alone

Coronavirus: Even Married People With Children Die All Alone

There have been several news reports over the last two or three months reporting about how so many people – especially elderly people – are dying all alone due to Covid-19 (Coronavirus), whether they are dying in hospitals or nursing homes.

Due to wanting to contain the virus, medical facilities are not permitting family (if any) of the dying Covid patient to visit their sick loved one. So, a lot of people – even married parents! – are dying alone. (Links with examples to follow.)

I bring this up because one scare tactic I’ve seen used off and on by marriage-promoters, such as Southern Baptist Al Mohler and others, is to tell single and childless adults that we will die all alone, unless we marry and have children. They tell childless, never married adults like myself to be very afraid, because unless I marry and have a child, I will be all alone on my death bed.

Well, my mother – who was married and had adult children – died all alone in the wee hours at a care facility she was staying at. Despite the fact my mother was married with kids did not guarantee that she had the “Norman Rockwell” death so many marriage-pushers suggest one will have, where one will be surrounded by loving spouse holding their hand while adult children surround the bed tenderly looking on.

People dying all alone sans children and spouse (if they are married with kids) has definitely been a thing since the start of Covid 19.

Here are links about the situation, including a link or two from marriage-pushing, conservative sites such as The Federalist:

(Link): ‘Patients dying alone’: The frightening reality of many COVID-19 patients’ final moments  (March 2020)

(Link): ‘I’m Sorry I Can’t Kiss You’—Coronavirus Victims Are Dying Alone

(Link): Coronavirus Patients Are Dying Alone, Leaving Loved Ones With Grief And Guilt

It was the last time Beaudette saw her father alive. He died two days later, and she couldn’t be there.

(Link):  Loneliness and suffering in the hospital during the coronavirus crisis

“I’m already downstairs, doctor. Can I see my mother just for five minutes?”

I told him that I would ask the nursing manager; given the fact that Mrs. A couldn’t speak or understand, perhaps that would fall under the list of reasons why an exception could be made.

But five minutes later, the nurse was on the phone trying to calm him down. “I just want to be there for five minutes to tell her why I can’t visit anymore, that she shouldn’t worry when I stop showing up!”

The nurse tears up as she says that he cannot visit. She turns to me, and I motion that I would take back the call.

Southern Baptist Al Mohler Intimates That Childless And Childfree Adults Are Not Human (2019) – and He Thinks This is a Good and Biblical Worldview

Southern Baptist Al Mohler Intimates That Childless And Childfree Adults Are  Not Human (2019) – and He Thinks This is a Good and Biblical Worldview

I am amazed that (Link): Mohler’s tweet / blog post / podcast from August 2019, where he indicates that anyone who doesn’t biologically pro-create is not fully human, did not get far more blow-back and attention than it did. Because it most certainly deserved a lot of push back.

(Please note: this post has been edited a few times since I published it, so that I could add more commentary and more links, and I may (or may not) edit it more in the future.)

At the time Mohler’s comment about this happened (August 2019),  I was too busy at the time to blog about it (or even months later). Hence, my post tackling this issue now, in June of 2020.

Mohler did (rightfully) get a lot of flack under the tweet at the time (I would ask that you (Link): click on the tweet link and read the replies he received), and one or two blogs ripped his attitude apart, but by and large, most did not tackle this.

Here is how Mohler’s tweet read (it is also embedded below):

Americans are basically, by the millions, giving up on the fact that to be human is to be a parent, eventually to take on that responsibility to get married and have children, to take on the responsibility of passing on civilization itself.
— end Mohler Tweet content —

Mohler also had a (Link): web page with either an essay or a podcast about this topic, but as of June 2020, the page does not seem to be working (you might be able to view an archived version of that page (Link): here – or view Mohler’s page on (Link): Google Cache).

At this point in time, I do not care to re-explain, for the billionth time, why the Bible and the God of the Bible does NOT support the “nuclear family,” marriage and natalism (and parenthood) to the insane degree that so many social conservatives and Christians and guys like Al Mohler assume.

I refer you to these older posts of mine which explain that no, the Bible does not endorse “the nuclear family,” marriage or parenting, not in the way conservative Christians presume it does (I have many more blog posts discussing this, I will only be sharing a few of them here – also some related posts here):

(Link): Conservatives Have Now Abandoned All Pretense of Advocating For Sexual Abstinence and They Actually Lament the Lack of Fornication – The Bradford Wilcox Piece, 2019

(Link):  “Who is my mother and who are my brothers?” – one of the most excellent Christian rebuttals I have seen against the Christian idolatry of marriage and natalism, and in support of adult singleness and celibacy – from CBE’s site

(Link):   If the Family Is Central, Christ Isn’t, by John B. Carpenter, CP Guest Contributor

(Link): Salvation By Marriage Alone – The Over Emphasis Upon Marriage by Conservative Christians Evangelicals Southern Baptists

(Link): Why Christians Need To Stress Spiritual Family Over the Nuclear Family – People with no flesh and blood relations including Muslims who Convert to Christianity – Also: First World, White, Rich People Problems

(Link): This Christmas, I’m Defining Family by My Single Friends by L. Wilbert

(Link): Family as “The” Backbone of Society? – It’s Not In The Bible

(Link):  Ever Notice That Christians Don’t Care About or Value Singleness, Unless Jesus Christ’s Singleness and Celibacy is Doubted or Called Into Question by Scholars?

(Link):  Really, It’s Okay To Be Single – In order to protect marriage, we should be careful not to denigrate singleness – by Peter Chin

(Link): Parents Who Regret Having Children Speak Honestly About Why It Was A Huge Mistake

(Link): The Bible Does Not Teach Christians to “Focus On The Family” – The Idolization of Family by American Christians (article)

(Link): Why Having Kids Won’t Fulfill You

Mohler Judging If Someone is Human Or Not Based on Their Childed Status

I’m pretty sure that the Bible says all humans are fully human because God deemed them so, and because all humans are created in the image of God.

The Bible says nothing about one’s value or worth or humanity being defined by marital or parental status.

God does not love childless or childfree people any less than he does people who have children.

No Surprise There: Bradford Wilcox Deems Married People Better Off During Pandemic Than Single Adults – Rebuttals

No Surprise There: Bradford Wilcox Deems Married People Better Off During Pandemic Than Single Adults – Rebuttals

I have made several blog posts in years past discussing some of Bradford Wilcox’s articles about marriage for various publications.

Wilcox works for, is somehow affiliated with, organizations such as the National Marriage Project and Institute For Family Studies. He is very much about promoting marriage, natalism, and the nuclear family.

In years past, he has promoted marriage and all the rest at the expense of singleness: he loves to advance marriage by stigmatizing singleness.

Wilcox (and guys like him, such as Southern Baptist Al Mohler) likes to try to “scare” single adults into getting married by publishing faulty and fear-mongering essays about how studies (which he sometimes misquotes or misunderstands) supposedly say that singles are more likely to suffer this or that calamity or problem than are married people.

Any time Wilcox comments on any issue, you can guarantee before you click on the headline that his editorial will say that married people have X better than singles have X.

It doesn’t matter if he’s talking about financial issues – like in the link that follows – or some other topic.

His pieces are all heavily agenda-driven: to make marriage look fabulous by slamming singleness, or by making singleness look “worse” than marriage, or by making singleness look unsafe, scary, or miserable.

Can We Stop Saying Singleness is God’s Will? by Anonymous via Sheila Wray Gregoire

Can We Stop Saying Singleness is God’s Will? by Anonymous via Sheila Wray Gregoire

A few weeks ago, Sheila Wray Gregorie, who maintains a Christian martial advice blog, shared (Link): this on twitter.

A woman who runs yet another blog (called (Link): “True Love Dates”) featured a post by a single adult woman who I guess posted under a pen name, or as anonymous.

This single woman explained in her comment that, no, it’s not God’s will for all single women to be single, and for so many Christians to keep mouthing this assumption or repeating it in their sermons, books, or blogs is hurtful and discouraging to some single women who’d like to be married but who have not met the right person.

I too have done several posts over the years attempting to correct some of the wrong, hurtful, or insensitive teachings and attitudes that a lot of Christians have about singleness –
– such as, (Link): God told you to marry your spouse;
or, it’s (Link): God’s will for most to marry;
or that (Link): single adults exist only to serve married couples;
or that (Link): unwanted and protracted singleness is a “gift” God bestows upon some. (There are so many Christian fallacies about singleness.)

Here is the featured content for this post, and I agree that Christians need to stop saying that singleness (especially unwanted protracted singleness) is “God’s will.”

(Link): Can We Stop Saying Singleness is God’s Will?

Excerpts:

[by Sheila Wray Gregoire]

If you’ve never been married, does that mean that it was always God’s will that you would be single?

I think we talk about that a lot–that people are “called to singleness”, as if God decides before you were born, “Oh, I’m going to make sure that Jennifer doesn’t get married,” or “I’d prefer Stacey never meet the man of her dreams.”

Now, I do believe that God puts on some people’s hearts to be single, and to dedicate their life to a singular purpose to serve Him, in which singleness is necessary.

But I don’t think that’s the majority of people who are single.

Valentine’s Day Messaging For Singles: Empowering Or Exploitative? by Grace Stearns

Valentine’s Day Messaging For Singles: Empowering Or Exploitative? by G.  Stearns

(Link): Valentine’s Day Messaging For Singles: Empowering Or Exploitative? by G.  Stearns

Excerpts:

Single people are finally getting the attention they deserve from marketers — but are brands exploiting a culture of singles shaming that they helped create?

For decades, Valentine’s Day has offered burnt out marketers the sweet relief of a turnkey campaign: a few animated hearts, a flirty pink font, and sultry copy pull on heartstrings (and guilty consciences) until sweethearts around the world are rushing out to buy overpriced cards and chocolates.

But in recent years, a different side of the Valentine’s Day marketing cycle has emerged: rebellious taglines and “treat yo’self” campaigns targeted directly at single people, encouraging them to eschew tradition and celebrate themselves on the international day of love.

While it may seem, at first glance, like a good thing that marketers are finally speaking to everyone (not just those that are blissfully in love), this movement warrants a bit of healthy skepticism.

Let’s unpack this new trend.