Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.
–Proverbs 30:20, KJV
Several readers have asked for a post on the recent season of the reality show Bachelorette. I don’t follow the show, but according to the news accounts Christian bachelorette Hannah B is outraged at being slut shamed by fellow Christian Luke Parker. The Christian Post characterizes Luke as “polarizing” for suggesting that Christian sexual morality matters. From Bachelorette slams haters who label her bad Christian: ‘We all fall short of glory of God’
This season of “The Bachelorette” with Hannah B features polarizing Christian contestant Luke Parker, known as Luke P, who is outspoken about his Christian faith which has forced the bachelorette to own up to what she believes about her own faith and some of her actions.
…she declares that “Jesus still loves” her despite her decision to have sexual relations with some of the contestants when questioned about her purity by Luke P.
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“I refuse to not stand in the sun. I refuse to feel shame…
In a second article the Christian Post explains the comment by Luke that outraged Hannah:
“Let’s talk about sex and how the marriage bed should be kept pure,” the 24-year-old, who traded his player ways to follow Christ, told Hannah B.
“Let’s say you have had sex with one or multiple of these guys, I would be wanting to go home,”…
Hannah B, also a professing Christian, immediately took offense to Luke P’s comments and confessed that she has had “physical relations” with some of the other contestants but “Jesus stills loves her.”
While Hannah has received what she considers intolerable online rebukes for her lack of repentance, nearly all modern Christians would normally remain silent on the subject, especially if it is a woman who is committing sexual immorality. For many feminism is the proximate reason for this, as we are now regularly lectured on the evils of “slut shaming”.
But for other modern Christians the reason is perhaps less obvious. Like feminism, chivalry also teaches that slut shaming is abominable. This goes back to the very birth of courtly love (what we call chivalry) circa 1177 in Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart. On his quest to save the adulterous queen Guinevere, Lancelot encounters a sexually liberated noblewoman who proposes a roll in the hay in exchange for information he needs. The narrator explains that her sluttiness is a wonderful gift (emphasis mine):
Then the damsel said to him: “Sire, my house is prepared for you, if you will accept my hospitality, but you shall find shelter there only on condition that you will lie with me; upon these terms I propose and make the offer.” Not a few there are who would have thanked her five hundred times for such a gift;
Later in the same poem Guinevere is slut shamed after evidence of her adultery with Lancelot is discovered. This sets up the iconic scene where Lancelot fights for her honor, vanquishing slut shaming.
This is why Hannah is so outraged, and why the Christian Post is careful to call Luke, and not Hannah, polarizing for his view of sexual immorality. In speaking the truth Luke was terribly unchivalrous, which is the greatest sin of our era.
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