When Carrie Prejean first came under fire for stating her defense for traditional marriage I was one of the first to defend her. I believed, and still believe, that she was being persecuted for righteousness sake. I continued to defend her when the first provocative pictures were released. After all, she was just 17 and 17 year olds make stupid mistakes. Then additional pictures turned up. Still, I gave her the benefit of the doubt. But then I heard Carrie’s own explanation of the pictures and I decided that I needed to revisit my initial response. Understand I still applaud the fact that she has the courage of her convictions, but I must confess I am troubled at her lack of conviction.
Early on in the controversy, the Executive Director of the U.S. Pastor’s council, Dave Welsh wrote a column critical of Miss Prejean.
(http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=96305)
In it he cited another pastor, Larry DeBruyn of Franklin Road Baptist Church in Indianapolis, who questioned “just how much we should be elevating this beautiful and talented young lady…” He wrote:
The irony of this whole business is that here was a scantily clad woman…who was asked about marriage by a judge who supposedly isn’t even attracted to women. She gives the politically incorrect answer and in doing so alienated the politically correct judges and forfeited possible victory in the beauty pageant. By giving a correct answer to a loaded question about marriage, and by doing so without hardly any clothes on, Miss Prejean has now become the cause célèbre amongst conservatives and evangelicals for her affirmation of biblically correct marriage.
Welsh went on to say this:
We are blessed with three beautiful daughters and we have done our best to instill in them a standard of modesty which first of all glorifies the God we serve, also shows the respect they have for themselves, avoids defrauding the men of all ages around them and protects them from lustful predators. I am very proud of them because they have adopted that standard in their daily attire as well as their bathing attire.
Why is that important? As always, we should first turn to the standard our Creator has given us: “Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments, but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness” (1 Timothy 2:10).
I thought both pastors made good points, but I felt they were trumped a few days later when another pastor refuted them with a single word, “Esther.” But then I heard Carrie defending the Photos in an interview with Sean Hannity and I have come to agree with Pastors Welsh and DeBruyn. They were right. When it comes to modesty Miss California hasn’t got a clue.
Defending the pictures – which were taken by a girl friend when she just 17 — Carrie explained: “I was pursuing a modeling carrier. I was completely naive and very young.” But instead of saying she did something wrong or stupid, she said, “They were for application, not publication.” What? So it’s alright to have semi-nude photos taken of you as long as you are applying for a job in modeling?
The very supportive Sean Hannity quickly added, “Being a model is not a job for someone that’s concerned with modesty,” and went on to explain that the pageant has as swimming suit competition.
But that is the point, isn’t it? And how can any Christian woman or girl not be interested in modesty given Paul’s admonition that women adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly? If Hannity is correct and a model cannot be concerned with modesty, then does it not follow that a Christian woman should not be a model, and perhaps even a beauty show contestant?
Carrie’s explanation for the even more explicit photos that turned up was that a photographer took pictures of her when she wasn’t looking. He subsequently violated her trust by releasing them. I have no reason to doubt this explanation. However, she was exposed before a male photographer, was she not? And even the photos she authorized him to release were intended to appeal to the prurient interests of those who viewed them. But this was the most troubling thing of all, when asked what advice she would give to other young women pursuing a modeling career it was, basically; be sure to contract with photographers you can trust.
Until I heard Carrie Prejean defend herself I was completely supportive of her. I still am. I believe she is a sister in Christ and that she took a courageous stand which resulted in her being persecuted for righteousness sake. But my advice to any young woman who would contemplate taking such a stand in the future is: Little sister, keep your shirt on.
