[Sweet_Sunflower29]

But...but...How will they *know* if they enjoy s*x if they don't try it with many partners before commiting to marriage??

/sarcasm_off>

[4mycountry]

I can understand no sex before marriage, and I can sort of understand no kissing before marriage if I strain my brain, but no hugging?? That's a bit much, imo.

[John Beresford Tipton]

Whatever the Bride brings to the wedding,
he will be bringing some blue things.

[Gringo1]

"I did have some emotion for her, not a lot," said Burwell,

Minus the raging boner I presume.

[Pukin Dog]

What does one do when on their first night together, he trips over piles of tissues once stuffed in her bra, hitting his head on the Maglight he was about to hide under the bed after removing it from his trousers?

There should be one naked inspection performed to insure that the goods are the real thing?

[Califcon]

"My only concern is that it's going to be so wonderful, one of us is going to faint," said Burwell.

At least they will not have that problem on the wedding night..I am sure everything will be over before his pants hit the floor....

[kcar]

Weirdos.

[SouthernFreebird]

They agreed to date, and they both admit the first month and a half was something of an effort.

Now thats pretty scary...they are prolly the only one for each other, I can't imagine there would be another person in the world who would accept no hugging or kissing before marriage.Jeez

[Monty22]

There's a scene in Scary Movie that I feel will be played out in real life here.

[DB]

So I guess these people think hugging their children is incest then...

Sick.

[VOYAGER]

They do hold hands. And their fingers are often interlaced during their premarital sessions with their pastor, associate pastor and counselor. But that's where their physical contact ends.

What a wonderfully and refreshingly difference between these two unusually blessed couple's premarital beliefs and the depths the Episcopal church has plunged into using God's word as their source for their acceptance of a openly homosexual(with all the acceptable filthy activities that a practicing homosexual freely involves himself in)to not only preach their "gospel" but makes him a prince of their "church" with all the attending perks that go with the office such as he also "has the keys to the kingdom" and preaches only the truth, how utterly impossible is this combination!

This is a prime example of what can happen when men go outside of God's boundaries and privately interpret His Word to justify, in this case, annal sex, oral sex with the opposite sex and all the other totally subhuman activities that are attributed to closet or openly homosexual men and women!

What is the most outrageous and totally unacceptable part of this whole farce being perpetrated by the Episcopal church is their total and public acceptance of this as normal and apparently with no shame or retreat!

Back to the beginning, what a difference the observance of the truth can make in people's behavior and the almost exact opposite can occur when the unobservance of the same truths is practiced!

[shiva]

So on the honeymoon night you hear the groom say,"Hey"! and then you hear the bride say,"Surprise"!

[Hildy]

Different strokes for different folks. I don't see the "purity" in no hugging. That's not sexual, it's human. Just puts that much more EMPHASIS on sex. I don't know. Just seems stupid.

[Hank Rearden]

I give it a month. She'll suddenly discover she's a lesbian. Bummer for Blue Boy.

[Zeroisanumber]

Whoah....I'm pretty sure that I would detonate like a big, pale-skinned hand-grenade in a relationship like that. No kissing...wow.

[Tuscaloosa Goldfinch]

Speaking as someone who has been acquainted with couples who've practiced courtship/engagement this way, they do have reasons. The main reason for staying out of bed is keeping the "gift", i.e., one's virginity, reserved for a lifelong spouse. If the gift is given before marriage, it's gone forever, and, if the couple doesn't make it to the altar, then any spouse who comes along later has been defrauded.

It's very easy to criticize this belief, but then, people who have successfully run this gauntlet together won't have to worry about STD's, cervical cancer, (human papiloma virus) etc.

I'm really glad that my husband and I have known no other partners, and our physical relationship doesn't have the ghosts of past lovers haunting our bedroom.

[Scenic Sounds]

"We knew that if we starting touching, things were going to start happening."

Can't fault the logic! ;-)

[Tall_Texan]

I would be offended if such a standard (no hugging, no holding hands) was taught as doctrine. But I have no problem at all if the individuals choose to have this agreement with each other. Couples *do* need to have some commonality and something to strive for together, even if it is restraining themselves before marriage.

Shame on all these folks who would judge them or snicker at them. The more you can appreciate each other for qualities apart from the intimacy, the more likely the partnership will find some true stability and a sense of belonging. Seems to me that, once you've got that foundation, the sex would just be icing on the cake.

[LeprechaunAngst]

You know, the more I think about this the more it sounds like the taliban. I can't give any rational evidence for my feelings but it just seems... extreme.

[lifsgrt]

My wife and I were married 36 years ago. We were both virgins. We waited until we were married to have sex with each other. We did kiss and hug. We have had and still have a wonderful sex life. The rest of our marriage has been good too. We have two children and two grandchildren and enjoy many shared experiences in many arenas of life. Expectation is a good thing. Not having involved others in our romantic lives has made things refreshing and exciting. The wedding night and each succeeding experience has been very easy and experience gained with each other is so much more valuable than transferring erroneous information from some other sexual encounter with another person.

[Citizen Blade]

To each their own, I suppose. But I would never be able to marry someone if I did not know we were sexually compatible.