When religious institutions play fantasy league with purity stats
In a stunning display of missing the entire point of spirituality, religious organizations worldwide have decided that what faith really needs is competitive virginity rankings. Because nothing says “love thy neighbor” quite like turning human sexuality into a leaderboard.
The methodology behind these rankings would make a statistician weep into their correlation matrices. Step one: Ask people if they’re following religiously mandated sexual restrictions. Step two: Believe whatever they say. Step three: Publish rankings as if they mean anything. Step four: Wonder why young people are leaving religious institutions in record numbers.
What’s particularly amusing about the virginity rankings obsession is how it reveals priorities. Poverty? Climate change? Social justice? Nah, let’s focus our energy on tracking whether teenagers are holding hands wrong. It’s like being on a sinking ship and arguing about the thread count of the life vests.
The Isle of Man contingent has reportedly entered the rankings chat with characteristic enthusiasm, as if determining the purest parish is somehow going to solve actual problems. Meanwhile, sexually transmitted infection rates in communities with abstinence-only education continue climbing faster than a prosperity gospel preacher’s donation requests.
These rankings operate on the assumption that virginity is both clearly definable and measurable, which is adorable. It’s like trying to rank people by how “authentic” they are or how much they “really mean it” when they say they like your haircut. The entire premise falls apart under the slightest scrutiny, but that’s never stopped a religious institution from doubling down on a bad idea.
The real kicker? Research consistently shows that religious affiliation has minimal impact on actual sexual behavior once you control for factors like education level, socioeconomic status, and access to comprehensive health information. But sure, let’s keep pretending these rankings reflect divine favor rather than creative survey responses.
SOURCE: https://newsstand.us/the-virginity-rankings/
SOURCE: Bohiney Magazine (The Virginity Rankings Nobody Requested)
Gina Mann