A woman bans Mill from taking his 9-year-old daughter to a church ‘chastity ball’, calling him a jerk.
There are good reasons most people avoid The Three Evils of Argument: Politics, Religion, Music. Sure, it can be a meaningful and good conversation that takes you away from having learned something, but most of the time it ends in tears. at least.
The same thing happens to religious families who refuse to read the room and to adapt to changing social norms that turn slightly more individualistic. It means that people don’t enjoy the beliefs that are forced down their throats.
A Redditor shared a story on the subject of: Faith stuck in their throats written throughout.
More information: reddit
There is only so much one can tolerate on a religious level until it is forced to draw a line and offends those behind it.
Image credit: Warren LeMay (not actual image)
Back in 2020, Reddit user u/ashley-indigo shared a conundrum on the r/AITA subreddit.
Ashley has a 9-year-old daughter named Tess who has been attending church with her mother-in-law several times since she was little. She says Ashley has never taken a liking to her religion or religion, all the more so because her mother-in-law is an “aggressive Baptist.”
There is also the added bonus of having free time on Sundays. But that is beside the point.
A mother outraged MIL when she drew the line against her mother-in-law from taking her 9-year-old daughter to a ‘ball of chastity’.
Image credit: u/ashley-indigo
Image credit: Ketut Subiyanto (not actual image)
As the pandemic raged and the services went online, Tess would often go to Grandma’s house and set up her laptop so they could watch. She also attended her Zoom call for girls’ Sunday school.
After one such visit to Grandma, Tess went home and muttered something about “balls” and how to go shopping for it with Grandma. At that point the OP didn’t think anything of it. Perhaps it was just a child’s imagination. But she heard her husband say something about her $50 budget. Questions followed as confusion began.
The poster explained that she is not against her daughter participating in local church activities with her mother-in-law.
Image credit: u/ashley-indigo
After a quick back and forth, she learned that the Sunday school Tess used to attend had “pure balls” for ages 10-14. of a raging pandemicbut also because the OP was of the opinion that the ideal of purity is just toxic to girls.
The husband elaborated that his sister’s going to the ball was fun, “no big deal.” This is where the OP started fuming, explaining her position on “purity”.
However, unbeknownst to her, her mother-in-law also had plans to sign her daughter up for a chastity ball, but her mother didn’t like it one bit.
Image credit: u/ashley-indigo
To make matters worse, my husband seemed to have hidden this from his mother.
Image credit: VIKTOR KONDRATIUK (not actual image)
The OP picked up her phone and texted her mother-in-law asking about it, and MIL hadn’t signed Tess up for the ball yet, but was planning on it. The OP put her foot down and forbade her from doing it. Indiscriminate and poor parent.
“[Am I the jerk] To ban “purity balls”? I think the only reason I’m an asshole is because I unilaterally decided to go against her husband’s opinion, and Tess will be disappointed,” the OP concluded.
People online didn’t blame mother, but her husband and mother-in-law had a line
The post got quite a bit of attention, with nearly 18,000 upvotes (96% of which are positive… As for feedback, not positive for COVID, but don’t worry) and over 45 Reddit Awards Did. And the community decided that in this situation he wasn’t OP wrong.
There was one commenter who decided everyone sucks here because the OP mentioned how he enjoyed adult time on Sunday, but aside from that, it was all my husband and mother-in-law’s fault.
Some said it was her husband’s fault for supposedly hiding this information, as the OP suspected. Others pointed the finger at the mother-in-law, suspecting MIL was keeping her daughter away from her mother based on how she claimed the OP was a negative influence on her son-husband. In addition to people pointing out how creepy the Purity Ball is, not to mention mentally damaging.
You can checkout the full post for context Herebut you can’t help but share your take on the situation or the Purity Ball, or whatever else you see fit, in the comments section below!