• Starting today August 7th, 2024, in order to post in the Married Couples, Courting Couples, or Singles forums, you will not be allowed to post if you have your Marital status designated as private. Announcements will be made in the respective forums as well but please note that if yours is currently listed as Private, you will need to submit a ticket in the Support Area to have yours changed.

  • CF has always been a site that welcomes people from different backgrounds and beliefs to participate in discussion and even debate. That is the nature of its ministry. In view of recent events emotions are running very high. We need to remind people of some basic principles in debating on this site. We need to be civil when we express differences in opinion. No personal attacks. Avoid you, your statements. Don't characterize an entire political party with comparisons to Fascism or Communism or other extreme movements that committed atrocities. CF is not the place for broad brush or blanket statements about groups and political parties. Put the broad brushes and blankets away when you come to CF, better yet, put them in the incinerator. Debate had no place for them. We need to remember that people that commit acts of violence represent themselves or a small extreme faction.

bbbbbbb

Well-Known Member
Jun 9, 2015
31,156
14,057
74
✟440,286.00
Faith
Non-Denom
Nah, if you can't paraphrase it and give a summary, i'm not interested

Neither am I, so you are free to remain ignorant.


I am nearly 60 years old at this time and began studying middle eastern customs and languages since the age of 17 with a well known Biblical translator from Assyria. As this is a very sensitive subject, I will try to be as clear and to the point as possible without being vulgar. In many cultures around the world, marriage is much more than just a simple contract. The parents arrange the marriages and agree on the "bride price" or what we would call a dowry. Marriages are expected to be an eternal covenant and can bring not just two families together, but sometimes two tribes or countries. Therefore, it would be essential for those involved to have the absolute assurance concerning the purity of the wife. Wedding celebrations sometimes lasted a week or more and usually included the entire communities represented. Therefore, the matter of the woman's virginity was quite important. Before the new wife would be taken to her husband, at least two elderly woman in the village, who probably knew the maid and her family from the day of her birth, would bring a white linen cloth to the damsel and gently break her hymen. This would produce blood on the cloth, which was then presented to her father who would show the entire community, including her new husband, the city elders and anyone else who was interested. This issue was then settled there and then and would never need to be brought up again. However, her Father, in order to protect her honor AND the honor of her family, would keep this garment in a safe place should it ever be needed again as proof of her chastity. These custom's may seem vulgar to those from a western cultural upbringing. However, when trying to understand the near or middle eastern mindset, one must realize how important it is to see cultural issues in a more concrete form rather than the philosophical or metaphysical understanding of the western world view. I hope this answers a delicate question satisfactorily.

 
Upvote 0