Of course, she might have just thought it was only immodest for a girl espousing “conservative values” such as marriage. That’s true, of course…which makes me wonder about how many other girls in that pageant were Christians that compromised the same way Carrie Prejean did, and are being let off the hook because they didn’t get asked a controversial question.

~Amanda~

Thanks for linking my article on modesty!

I did see your article and appreciated your perspective (I commented on it too awhile back). The debate I had with Jeremy gave me some ideas for my article on modesty, as a matter of fact.

I’ll explain once again that my intention for writing this article, “The Uncivil Rights Issue”, was more so to point out the ridiculous debate for same-sex marriage than to point out Miss Prejean. I didn’t intend to hold Carrie Prejean up as a heroine or standard-bearer. I think her statements in this interview actually sounded more interesting than her controversial answer in the contest:

“At that moment, I was getting ready to answer my question, and I started saying I think that Americans, you know, we have the right to choose, but then something inside of me said, ‘Carrie, stand up for what you believe in and say what you feel and represent the majority of California. You’re Miss California! The majority of voters believe that a marriage is between a man and a woman.’”

She actually said in the competition, “In my country and in my family I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman”. In another interview she said that for her it was about being “Biblically correct”.

While her answer in the competition wasn’t actually that impressive to me either, I did find the media’s response to her answer noteworthy. After all, look at how offended Perez Hilton got over such an in-offensively posed answer! How could such a tiny shred of truth coming from such a worldly woman stir up such a hornet’s nest?

In Carrie Prejean’s situation, we see an example of what happens when a believer has compromised with sin in an area of her life: it makes her convictions and witness dull. That is what I meant when I wrote:

“As a Christian woman, modesty is an area that I personally would refuse to compromise on, as we can see from the mistakes of prominent women that immodesty can give the devil an opportunity to hinder your mission and turn things to his advantage – and giving the devil an opportunity is one thing we are admonished against (Ephesians 4:27).”

But of course, I don’t think of modesty as being merely my “personal taste” – it’s much more than that, and I hope that women such as Carrie Prejean will come to realize it.

Thanks again for the linking and the comment!

~Amanda~

I linked to your article, How Shall We Then Dress, and came to check out some of your other articles here. I noticed this one about Miss Cal. and wanted to add another perspective. I wrote a post last month discussing this issue from a slightly different angle and thought I’d share it here.

Another thing that seems to go unnoticed is that Miss California, while sharing what she beleived for “her family,” also said to the judges:

“I think it’s great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. We live in a land that you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage …”

Then she went on to say what she PERSONALLY believed for her family. Who said she wasn’t politically correct? Sorry, I wasn’t all that impressed.

And Leah, I for one, am not “ruthlessly criticizing” Carrie for “past mistakes.” But if she is going to claim Christ, representing the purity and holiness of our Lord, she needs to stop taking her clothes off for millions of people and then asking to be rewarded for it. And I’m not talking about the lingerie photos. Personally, I don’t see the difference between lingerie shots and what she does on the runway.

If you’re interested, here are a few more thoughts from my July post:

http://yoursacredcalling.blogspot.com/2009/07/contemplating-miss-california.html

It reminds me of when Bathsheba was taking a bath on the roof in full view of King David (even though money wasn’t involved, she was still doing it relatively in public). She might not have meant any harm, but I’ve always wondered what on earth she was thinking when she exposed herself like that (surely she knew some people might see her). Most likely she was preoccupied with herself and just wasn’t thinking about the consequences. Now that we have photography that can preserve such mistakes, women ought to be far more thoughtful. There is a market for tasteful clothing that models can promote, and if they’re going to model at all, they should promote things that are respectful to men and women rather than wasting their time on shameful things.
Hmm…maybe this topic deserves a whole new article.
Thanks for the comments!

~Amanda~

With comments like “A liberal woman questioned Carrie Prejean’s Christianity because she appeared in the Miss USA contest wearing a two-piece swimsuit (along with the other contestants, I might add).” and “Some of the dirt dug up by Miss Prejean’s opponents included scantily clad photographs that Prejean said were a requirement for a modeling resume and not intended for publication” seemed to be an attempt to overlook the blatant and obvious sin that her entire life centers around (which is why I commented in the first place).

I still find it extremely odd that Prejean takes a stand against gay marriage, when you could make a strong case that her life is an attempt (conscious or not) to tear down marriages through pornography. At least she did turn the Playboy job down last week.

Think of it this way – you might say that compared to Roy Moore, Carrie Prejean barely took a stand against anything. But the world media acted almost just as outraged by it. That tiny shred of truth – that marriage should be between a man and a woman – coming from the mouth of a worldly-looking young woman – drove liberals nuts! That is newsworthy, in my opinion.

What I meant by “conservative Christian” is that as far as I know Prejean supports basic ideological values – in this culture, for a professing Christian to take a stand against gay marriage is significant, because there are so many watered down liberal Christians that are abandoning such values.

I have friends that, politically speaking, are very conservative Christians like myself. But they also wear bikinis, which I do not…in that case, you wouldn’t say they’re “conservative”, but I’m sure they do not want to be called “liberal Christians”. Yet if I focus on scolding them for wearing bikinis and speak of nothing positive they do until they start dressing like me, I don’t think I will gain much ground.

It’s quite ridiculous that modesty is even an issue at all. Really, if public nudity is against the law, it shouldn’t be rocket science to figure out how to clothe yourself properly. Modesty is something that should be lived out through example more so than taught – after all, fashion trends are started by people seeing how nice someone looks and saying, “Oh wow, I want to dress like her!”.

~Amanda~

There are plenty of much better role models that you could point to – for instance, former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore. Rewrite this entire article around Roy Moore’s stand for Biblical principles, and you have an amazing testimony of a strong Christian man who stood up for what he believed in, even when it cost him a high office, and an extremely good job.

The difference between this case and the case that you referenced in John is that the woman in question was, at least, from my interpretation of the passage, repentant. Carrie Prejean shows no repentance at the blatant and repulsive sin that her life entails.

Christians should call sin, sin, and call right, right.

“But Jeremy, if that is the way we respond to every sinner (including ourselves), we’re never going to get a chance to talk about anything of good report.”

Um, that’s pretty weak. Nobody is perfect, but there are many, many people who take stands greater than Prejean’s, and also have much more consistent Christian lives. This post is akin to the Catholic’s praising their priests for being against abortion when these same priests are in court for messing with young boys. Should we praise them? Uhhh, no.

Also, calling Prejean a “conservative Christian” is almost laughable. Last I checked, conservative Christians generally don’t pose in bikinis and add to the load of pornography that has already infiltrated nearly every level of American culture.

“He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7)

JESUS did say to repent. We are not supposed to tolerate sin, but objectively noticing something positive come from a sinner is not tolerating their sin. The most I can say in my position is that I disapprove of skimpy modeling in commerce and pageants and pray that Miss Prejean comes to the same conclusion for her own good. But writing a ranting post telling her to repent would probably never affect her and only cause me to lose an opportunity to offer instead a worldview commentary on the uncivil rights issue of our day.

“Christians should be calling Prejean out for her blatant and unrepentant sin before they praise her for the one comment that she made.”

But Jeremy, if that is the way we respond to every sinner (including ourselves), we’re never going to get a chance to talk about anything of good report.

~Amanda~

The “world” taking a hard-nosed approach to Christianity’s flaws is not a bad thing. Rather, it should push us towards growing more in Christ every day. Obviously, no one is or can be perfect. However, I think that the unbelieving world pointing out obvious hypocrisy is actually a good thing. It keeps us honest and humble in our walk with Christ.

I find it interesting that you applaud Prejean for standing up for traditional marriage, and yet refuse to question the fact that her career as it stands now is in direct opposition to God. I don’t care if every other contestant wore a bikini, the “big deal” is that the self-proclaimed “Christian” contestant dressed like a prostitute. I expect women in the world to pull stunts like this, and I expect Christian women not to pull stunts like this.

Also, if, to get a job, you have to get pictures taken of yourself in lingerie, you’re in the wrong field. Period.

Maybe, instead of applauding Prejean for the one stand that she has taken, you should question the fact that her entire career is, like I said earlier, in direct opposition to God, and, in addition, only furthers the growing problem of viewing women as merely objects for sexual gratification.

Bottom line: Christians should be calling Prejean out for her blatant and unrepentant sin before they praise her for the one comment that she made.