Living in Champaign-Urbana for the last 30 years of come to appreciate this community. Although it's a small community the location of the University of Illinois here lends many attractions to what would otherwise be a typical small Illinois town, good bookstores, fine restaurants and occasionally first rate college sports teams. Although the towns are relatively liberal the surrounding area is right on the edge of the bible belt. There is a quite diverse community with people of all faiths running the range from evangelical Christians to devout Illini fans.
http://media.www.dailyillini.com/...
It has been the Christians in the news here this week with a Channel 3 focus on a bizarre mating ritual known as a "Purity Ball", during which a father takes his teenage daughter to a dinner dance in exchange for a promise from her not to have sex until she is married.(and after that presumably only with her husband). More effective than a chastity belt? Who knows?http://en.wikipedia.org/...
http://illinoishomepage.net/...
"Guys are thinkin' about one thing. They're always thinkin' about that one thing, and they never stop thinking about that one thing."
Always? Well, mostly always. That is one bit of truth from the story and it's not about to change. Still the whole story was creepy in a real disturbing way. What sort of man is that focussed on his young daughter's sex life? What kind of kid wants to speak openly and honestly to their parents about sex anyway? That's what the street corner and locker room are for.:). Still the best came near the end of the segment when the interviewer was speaking to Janet Hellige,a Purity Ball organizer for Peoria's Christian Center. As is often the case during the 10 o'clock news my wife and I are watching from bed, well she's watching, I'm drifting off to slumberland but Hellige's statement woke me up. She said:
"Their dads need to engage in their lives, and statistics show when they do, they have less need for young men to fill that hole."
As I wiped the sleep from my eyes I looked over at my wife who was poking me in the ribs and laughing and I asked her, "Did she really say that?" Yes she did and you can see it for your own eyes if you follow the link and watch the whole damn segment. Either the editor at WCIA has a wonderful twisted sense of humor or is just clueless.
http://illinoishomepage.net/...