One of the big repeating news stories of the past few months has been that of Lydia Playfoot, a sixteen year old girl who went to the High Court, in a campaign to wear a chastity ring to school, and who won the support of many people concerned about underage sex and teenage pregnancies.
The ring, in case you haven’t followed the news, refers to the Biblical quote from 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4.
For it is God’s will that you be sanctified: You must abstain from sexual immorality; each of you must know how to control his own body in holiness and honour.
This quote is also used by Evangelical Christians, as a claim that God prohibited homosexuality, although religious scholars seem to be undecided about the exact translation and meaning.
Anyway, regardless of how you translate and interpret the quote, it seems that Lydia may have been a part of a publicity campaign orchestrated by her parents.
Lydia is the daughter of Phil and Heather Playfoot, who it turns out are the founders and Directors of the UK branch of the same chastity ring organisation, called ‘Silver Ring Thing’.
Further, even more surprising details can be found at the Ministry of Truth blog, including the fact that Denise Pfeiffer, a senior member of the Silver Ring Thing, and described variously as “Media consultant” or “Assistant national director” is in fact a Lingerie model.
A quick Google even turns up further stories that Denise Pfeiffer is an ex-convict, who lives with Clive Potter, who turns out to be the president of the British National Party’s trade union Solidarity.
Finally, it should be mentioned that Lydia only brought this case to court, after she had completed her exams (she is sixteen after all), so the whole event does seem to be something of a non-issue.
Posted by Jonathan in Art & Literature, Sociology