Teenage Sweethearts or Hell Bound Sinners?

Update: Pandagon also shares her thoughts on this master piece of 'Christian' literature

Found an 'interesting' article on Dating from the love-experts at the Bible Study. The writer starts the article off by wistfully looking back at the good old days:

Dating was invented within the last 200 years. Prior to that time, marriage always involved much more input from the parents, and "trial relationships" leading up to marriage (what we now call "dating") were not conducted at all.

Heh... I got a new pickup line "Hey baby, you wanna go out on a trial relationship with me?" ::sigh:: Why don't people talk like that anymore? Am I the only one who longs for the good old days when we had "trial relationships", much like today's free 30 day trials for house hold applainces, and weight loss pills? And am I mistaken, or does "much more input from the parents" sound suspiciously similiar to "Men using daughters as marry-away currency to strengthen their own business relations?" Anyhow, there's more:

The modern dating system also leaves the father of the young girl out of the loop. The father, who should be protecting his daughter's sexual purity, instead sends her off into the dark with some 17 year old boy whose veins are chock full of testosterone.

Yes... a daughter who has lost her virginity is much less valuable in an 18th century trade-your-daughter for a good business connection exchange. For Heaven's sake, Fathers own their daughters right down to their sexuality! A daughter can have sex, but only with a man of Daddy's choosing. My god... look how far our views have crumbled since the good old days...

And Daddy should worry, because the modern dating system expects a certain amount of physical involvement.

Blasted "Modern Dating System"! Before it, humans were never motivated to have sex with each other outside of marriage.

Virginity was an inheritance to be brought into a marriage, and the father of the bride was responsible to preserve that inheritance. If a new husband slandered his bride and claimed that she was not a virgin, the bride's father and mother would defend her name and the name of their family. They would present the evidence of her virginity to the elders of the city (Deuteronomy 22:15). But if the charge was true, and the woman was not a virgin, then the bride was to be executed in front of her father's house. "But if the thing is true, and evidences of virginity are not found for the young woman, then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done a disgraceful thing in Israel, to play the harlot in her father's house. So you shall put away the evil from among you" (Deuteronomy. 22:20-21). Why the doorway to her father's house, rather than her husband's house? Because she had rebelled against her father's authority, and dishonored him.

In scripture it is obvious that daughters are to submit to their father's authority, while the father's responsibility is to protect their daughters.

Holy shit... these people are fucking nuts... I think I'd rather keep my modern dating system.... A little bit of good sex sounds a hell of a lot better than murdering young girls with stones. Jesus Christ...

What, were you expecting a profound conclusion?