Still have the purity ring you received as a teen after signing a “True Love Waits” abstinence pledge?

Send it to Lutheran pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber. She wants to melt them down to create a sculpture of a golden vagina… and give a few pastors a heart attack, apparently.

In certain evangelical Christian circles, the rings were given to young girls as symbols of a pledge they made to abstain from sex until marriage. But the rings — and more broadly, the Christian purity culture of the 1990s and 2000s — also shamed young girls into disconnecting from their bodies, Bolz-Weber argues. With the help of artist Nancy Anderson, Bolz-Weber said she plans to melt down the rings that people send her and recast them as a “golden vagina.” She said that the project — part of a promotion for Shameless, her upcoming book about sex and Christianity — is about “reclamation” of women’s bodies.

You can’t find a more creative book marketing campaign than that.

Bolz-Weber’s book will discuss the harm perpetuated by “purity culture”: the idea that girls are responsible for helping their brothers in Christ remain pure until marriage, in both thought and in deed. This involves curbing their lustful thoughts by dressing modestly and going no further than hand-holding or hugging, even when you’re in a serious relationship. The underlying principle of this whole movement has been so harmful to many Christians who grew up in it, that one of its most famous advocates has since apologized for the damage he caused.

Bolz-Weber plans to unveil her statue next year as a way to turn a symbol meant to shame women into a symbol of liberation.

The best part? Anyone who sends in a ring for the project will receive a “Certificate of Impurity” in return.

Almost makes you wish you had a purity ring lying around…

(Screenshot via YouTube)

