Aly Raisman, former Olympic gymnast and one of the many victims of serial abuser Larry Nassar, offered this troubling defense of her appearance the in Sports Illustrated (SI) soft-core porn “swimsuit” issue wearing nothing but dumb slogans written on her body:

Women do not have to be modest to be respected–Live for you!… The time when women are taught to be ashamed of their bodies is OVER.

She’s right. Women don’t “have to be modest to be respected.” We should respect humans because they’re human. But not all behavioral choices should be respected. Choosing to be immodest—like appearing nude in a men’s magazine—is a choice that ought not be respected.

I’m not quite sure what Raisman means in tacking on the words “Live for you” to her first statement. I guess she lives to be immodest.

Modesty is not synonymous with shame. Modesty in this context means “regard for decency of behavior or dress.” Shame refers to “the painful feeling arising from the consciousness of something dishonorable, improper etc.”

Modesty is a virtue to be cultivated, and women should feel shame over stripping for SI. (Men too should feel shame for stripping, but we’re discussing female SI strippers.)

I’m not sure who Raisman thinks is teaching women to be ashamed of their bodies, but I’ll tell you who I think is: advertisers, the modeling industry, women’s magazines, pornography, and the soft-core porn issue of Sports Illustrated—all of which depict images of a very narrow segment of the female population. They depict young, beautiful, well-proportioned women with dewy, flawless skin—you know, like Aly Raisman.

Raisman and other strippers shouldn’t feel ashamed of their bodies. They should feel ashamed of choosing to expose their bodies to the public for the sexual pleasure of strangers.

Journalist Britt Henry offered this tepid criticism of the SI stripper issue:

Why does a woman have to pose nude to feel “empowered”? Isn’t it more empowering to keep your clothes on, go into an office or classroom like everyone else and excel? 

In response to Henry, former pro-golfer Paige Spiranac defended stripping for SI:

Different women feel empowered in different ways and it’s not right to tell someone what they can and cannot do.

Didn’t Spiranac just tell Henry what she ought not do? What if Henry feels empowered by criticizing stripping?

And what about women who feel empowered by starving or cutting themselves? What about women who feel empowered by being naked at public pools? What about women who feel empowered by their sexual relationship with their brothers or fathers?

(BTW, Henry did not tell anyone what they “can and cannot do.” She asked questions that implied stripping isn’t a good thing to do.)

What SI strippers are saying is that there should be no moral evaluation of any action they autonomously choose. No questions asked about whether stripping is a moral act or not. No questions about whether stripping contributes to the objectification of women or encourages male lust. No questions about whether strippers serve as good role models for young girls. No questions about whether stripping for SI contributes to women feeling ashamed of their average, imperfect bodies. Nope, all that’s permitted in response to purportedly autonomous choices is affirmation.

Empowerment seems to mean nothing more than “I feel good.” These strippers probably don’t want anyone to ask why they feel good about exposing their bodies to strangers who use those images to engage in onanistic activity. And they surely don’t want anyone to suggest it’s shameful to facilitate the poisoning of the minds and hearts of boys and men.

As porn of the soft- and hard-core varieties proliferates, young men who began being exposed to porn starting in middle school are finding themselves unable to perform sexually with real women, and marriages are being destroyed. The “autonomous” choices of “empowered” women to be immodest for money play a part in this mess. And for that, they should feel shame.

Listen to this article read by Laurie:

https://staging.illinoisfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Sports-Illustrated-Strippers.mp3

RESCHEDULED: IFI Worldview Conference May 5th

We have rescheduled our annual Worldview Conference featuring well-know apologist John Stonestreet for Saturday, May 5th at Medinah Baptist Church. Mr. Stonestreet is s a dynamic speaker and the award-winning author of “Making Sense of Your World” and his newest offer: “A Practical Guide to Culture.”

Join us for a wonderful opportunity to take enhance your biblical worldview and equip you to more effectively engage the culture.

Click HERE to learn more or to register!

Two years ago on BreakPoint we told you about a promising young Christian football player. On Monday, he was the hero of Alabama’s national football championship win.

Alabama’s stunning come-from-behind NCAA championship victory over Georgia was fueled by freshman quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. In a remarkably humble interview after the game, especially given what he’d just accomplished on national television, he said: “I would like to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. With him all things are possible.”

Now two years ago, on BreakPoint, I talked about Tagovailoa’s faith—back when he was still in high school. Here’s a part of that broadcast from 2015:

Sports Illustrated recently told the story of Tua Tagovailoa, who is considered to be the best high school football player in Hawaii. The junior quarterback at Honolulu’s Saint Louis High School is drawing comparisons to the school’s most famous alum, Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota.

On the surface the comparison is understandable. Besides playing for the same high school, both quarterbacks share a similar style that makes them a threat on the ground and in the air. And like so many great players in Hawaii, they share a Samoan heritage.

And it’s this last bit that’s the most intriguing and inspiring part of the story, at least for Christians.

At the heart of the Sports Illustrated story about Tua is his relationship with his late grandfather. It’s a story about a Christian from one generation passing a spiritual legacy to the next generation. The article is filled with Bible verses. It tells readers that the entire Tagovailoa clan gathers “every evening for prayer and teaching,” and to sing a Samoan hymn that “asks God to be present in everything they do.”

This is something that Tua has in common with his hero, Marcus Mariota. Mariota, as we’ve said before on BreakPoint, is also a Christian whose goal is “to go out and show the world that Christ lives.”

Football fans have long noted the disproportionate number of Samoan players in the NFL and in big-time college football. By one estimate, “a Samoan male is 56 times more likely to play in the NFL than an American non-Samoan.” Football greats like the late Junior Seau and Troy Polamalu are only two members of this illustrious line.

Less known, and even more important, is the role that Christianity has played in the lives of so many of these players and in Samoan society as a whole. Stories like that of Tagovailoa, Mariota, Polamalu, and former Raiders quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo are a testimony to the extraordinary success that 19^th and 20^th century missionaries had in converting the Samoan people to Christianity.

When the first missionaries from the London Missionary Society arrived in 1830, they found that there were already some Christians on Samoa. In keeping with Polynesian culture, it arrived via longboat, probably from places like Tonga and Tahiti, where Wesleyan missionaries had already been at work.

Western missionaries then built on the Samoans’ attraction to Christianity. By 1855 the entire Bible had been translated into Samoan. And before long, native Samoan religion had been replaced by Christianity.

Today, virtually every Samoan self-identifies as a Christian of some sort. More than 60 percent describe themselves as “very religious.” Prominent Samoans frequently refer to Samoa as a “Christian nation.” The preamble to Samoa’s constitution describes Samoa as “an independent State based on Christian principles and Samoan custom and traditions.”

What’s more, 91 percent of all Samoans agree with the statement that Samoa is “one of the most religious nations on Earth.”  Thus, Christianity’s influence on Samoan life and culture is hard to dispute. This legacy and heritage are on display in stories like that of Tagovailoa’s. The missionaries who brought Christianity to the Polynesian world wound up transforming an entire society.

Now, I’ve got no idea whether Tua Tagovailoa is the next Marcus Mariota on the field. But what matters is that he seems to be following an even more important Samoan tradition off of it. And that is worth celebrating.

This article was originally posted on BreakPoint.org.