Book Review of "The Thrill of the Chaste"

What non-fiction book can rivet your attention so that you suspend normal activities until you have finished it without the 'obligatory sex scenes'?"The Thrill of the Chaste" of course!

Dawn Eden, former agnostic, NYU graduate, Sex in the City practitioner, writer for Rolling Stone, The New York Post and the Daily News was the least likely candidate to become a pro-life, chaste Catholic single woman.

"The Thrill of the Chaste" takes the reader back into her past when she was a typical professional urban woman looking for lasting love in a series of sexual encounters where each found herself lonelier than the last. She found herself holding back more and more of her herself as a relationship became more sexually intimate, in order to prepare for the inevitable emotional wreckage of the breakup. Dawn shares with the reader the poignant details of the emotional cost of the lifestyle which fails to satisfy, and her painful, yet steady climb out of it. Her evocative storytelling ability makes the story a great read as well as a valuable guide to those who are leaving sexual immorality behind for something far better. Her book draws from the wellspring of Pope John Paul's Theology of the Body as she

discovers her true vocation as a single woman and her renewed hopes for a future of true intimacy in married life.

This book should be on the bookshelf of every high school. So many young women today are suffering the painful loneliness inherent in unchaste lifestyles and fear that there is no starting over. Dawn's intimate testimony is proof that God's merciful grace is always sufficient to begin anew, and has awakened hope in thousands who have had the experience of reading it, or attending one of her talks.

I first met Dawn when I lived on Long Island, and she gave a Faith on Tap talk on her book. Because of her 'coming out' as a pro-lifer while working at the New York Post, and subsequently losing her job, I summoned up the courage to come out as a pro-life writer at Suffolk County Community College where I was an adjunct professor. We next met in 2007, as we gave presentations on the Catholic blogosphere at the Annual Meeting of the Catholic Society of Social Scientists at St John's Law School. Dawn has an engaging humility about her, she never acts like the celebrity, no matter when we meet, she warmly remembers me as a fellow blogger, further evidence of her profound conversion. She is a wonderful role model for single Catholic women striving to live a life of grace in a hostile, pornographic society.

Last fall Dawn spent some time in Baltic, my hometown in Eastern CT and was interviewed by Friar Roderick on AIR MARIA. We just met in Washington DC in January in the John Paul II Cultural Center where she was conducting a chastity workshop, and I promised to review her book here. Dawn recently held her own on The Today Show where the Sex and the City practitioners gave her a run for her money.

She blogs at The Dawn Patrol.

American Idol's Anti-Virgin Bias

By Jean M. Heimann

I am not much of a TV watcher. Other than EWTN and an occasional classical movie, the only program I really enjoy watching is American Idol. I am a music lover and like listening to the different genres of music presented on Idol, as well as having the opportunity to vote for the contestants. Recently, however, I was irritated by the Idol judges' reactions to 19 - year - old contestant Bruce Dixon.

Dickson, a contestant from Bostrop, Texas, at the American Idol Dallas auditions was asked to share something interesting about himself. He told the judges he had never kissed a girl.

Catholic News Agency shares the dialogue:

"What?" Randy Jackson asked. "On purpose?"
“On purpose," Dickson said.

"On my wedding day, that will be my first kiss."

Jackson's advice to Dickson after the judges sent him packing: "Go kiss some girls."

Simon Cowell, eyebrows raised, told him: "Avoid Ryan (Seacrest) on the way out."

Seacrest himself ended the segment featuring Dickson with these words: "Maybe next year he'll come back less a boy and more a man."

Dickson told Cybercast News Service "A real man would rather wait than just do whatever with whoever."

Sarah Preston, a writer and editor for Playboy’s web site, spoke about Dickson’s decision on Thursday on the “Fox Report” television show, asking how he could compete in the contest without “sex appeal.”

"I'm not belittling Bruce's Christian beliefs, but I do think being in tune with one's own sexuality goes a long way in being confident with yourself," Preston said.

"Confidence is key, especially for 'American Idol.'”

”These kids become sex objects, thrust into the spotlight," she continued. "And while I know they're all trying to stand out, especially during the audition period, using your Christian beliefs and the fact that you've never kissed a girl is not going to bode well for you while trying out to be America's next big sex object,” Preston said.

Dickson responded to some of the criticisms. "I respect women and don't think of them as a sexual object, and I'm the freak?" Dickson said to Cybercast News Service.

Dickson, the second eldest of six children, said his parents had challenged their children to practice abstinence.

"It wasn't anything they forced on us," Dickson said. "It was something they talked to us about. Something they taught us the importance of."

Dickson wears a key around his neck, while his father wears a matching heart, which he wears for Dickson’s future wife. The jewelry signifies Dickson’s promise to remain abstinent until marriage.

The American Idol contestant won admiration from Jason Burtt, national director of the teen abstinence organization Silver Ring Thing. The organization promotes events and distributes rings for children to wear to symbolize their commitment to chastity.

"What we are all about is supporting kids like Bruce," Burtt told Cybercast News Service. "Most kids are mentally pushed through the media and pop culture that everyone is doing it.

"Bruce has said he's going to walk the hard walk, and instead of lifting him up and praising him, we're mocking him," Burtt said. "I think that's because when someone is up on a chair, it's easier for people to pull him down than to pull everyone else up off the floor. Maybe they feel bad they couldn't do it themselves.”

Dickson is working on a demo album and could return to audition for the next season of American Idol.

I certainly hope this young man does return next year (or that is successful on his own) and I also believe that judges Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell should apologize to him for their rude remarks. I would like to add that there are many young women who would be happy to marry a man who saves himself for her and values the gift of chastity. As for Sarah Preston's remarks about being confident in yourself -- having sex before marriage has nothing to do with confidence. In fact, it's those teens who have low self esteem who tend to be sexually active before marriage. Getting pregnant or acquiring a sexually transmitted disease does little for improving one's self-esteem.

cross - posted at Catholic Fire.

Emily's Hope: A Pro-life Love Story

Emily’s Hope
Author: Ellen Gable
Full Quiver Publishing, June 1, 2005
Paperback: 360 pages

Emily's Hope is an engaging love story and a young Catholic woman’s search for the truth as she travels the difficult journey from adolescence to adulthood in the late seventies through the present day. It also depicts the story of another woman’s journey, that of Emily’s great-grandmother, who appears to be the antithesis of Emily. While Emily is an innocent, unselfish, religious young woman who seeks the truth in life and love, and discovers their real meaning via Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, her great – grandmother, journeying through the early part of the 20th century to the 1960’s, abused as a child, raised without religion, married to a man she doesn’t love, haphazardly enters into one affair after another, and embraces Margaret Sanger’s philosophy. The two stories are craftfully interwoven, creating a delightful suspense for the reader.

The target audience for Emily’s Hope is clearly the young adult, aged 16 – 30, though men and women of all ages would enjoy this compelling personal story which is written in a lucid, intimate style. Young women will most certainly be drawn into the story by the romance and the lively escapades of adolescence and adulthood presented, and at the same time, will learn about the Catholic teachings regarding sexuality and marriage.

What I found most interesting about this semi- fictitious story based on the real life experiences of the author was the relationship that Emily shares with her boyfriend, who later becomes her husband. A young, Catholic man (at the peak of his sexual drive), strongly grounded in his faith, he convinces Emily, the older, and slightly more “worldly” woman, of the importance of chastity and abstinence. He is an excellent model for male youth today – someone for them to emulate in their struggles with chastity.

There is so much to love about Emily’s Hope – the innocence of young love, the beautiful, miraculous, healing power of love, and the beauty of sacrificial married love and its life-giving splendor. The story is not a fantasy, but is a tender and sensitive portrayal of what makes love real and lasting.

My rating: ***** out of a possible 5 stars.

~ Jean M. Heimann, Copyright, 2006

Crossposted at Catholic Fire.