The America Family Association is coming out with a new magazine, called TeenVirtue.  You can tell it is "hip" and "rad" because the words "teen" and "virtue" are smashed together, a surely boss way to get in with the kids.

From the picture to the left, you can see that the magazine is "by vicki courtney" — who doesn’t bother to capitalize her name because it is "hip" and "rad", I suspect.  (Just like the magazine article "r u alive" which is teenspeak for the question "Are You Alive?")

Let’s visit Vicki Courtney’s website to learn about this new magazine.  Ah, Vicki has an excerpt:

A common question we get at our events from Christian girls is this:

Q: All my friends are getting their belly button pierced but my parents won’t let me. I don’t understand what the big deal is- I mean, they let me get my ears pierced. What’s the big difference?

A: There is not a Bible verse that says, “Thou shalt not pierce thy belly button”, but

…fortunately, people like me are here to teach you that the Bible says that anyway.

[H]ere are some important factors to consider:

What is the purpose? 1 Timothy 2:9 tells women to dress modestly, so technically, girls should not be wearing clothes that expose their midriffs.

Actually what the passage says is: ⁹I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, ¹⁰but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God. ¹¹A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. ¹²I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.

So I guess that means you shouldn’t be giving advice, Vicki.  You whore of Babylon.

If you are living by God’s Word, why pierce something that you are going to cover up all the time? Most girls who pierce their belly buttons do so with the intent of showing it off—not covering it up. 

What about girls who do things to make themselves feel good?  They don’t do that anymore?

Consider the actual effect it has on guys. Some Christian girls try to justify piercing their belly buttons by saying they intend to cover it up except for when they are wearing a swimsuit. Piercing your belly button is different than piercing your ears.

Right.  It’s on your tummy.

While I understand that many girls innocently want to pierce their belly buttons because it is the current fashion trend, believe me, it will send a different message to the guys.

Vicki, apparently, knows a lot about today’s teenage guys.  Don’t ask how though — it’s best left undiscussed.

There is no arguing that a pierced belly button is considered by most to be sensual and even sexual. Case in point: If you put two girls side by side who are wearing the same swimsuit and one has a pierced belly button and the other one does not, and then line up a group of guys and ask them which girl was more likely to have loose morals, the majority of the guys would pick the girl with the pierced belly button.

Well, I’m not sure that’s true.  A pierced belly button doesn’t send a signal to me at all.  I don’t judge people that way, and neither do most guys I know.  Especially non-Christians.

And you know what?  If you placed the girl on the cover of your magazine beside a woman in a burka, the girl on the cover of your magazine would be the hussy.  See, it’s all relative.

In the end, do you want to risk sending a signal to guys that you may be willing to compromise sexually? I hope not.

That’s what they said about lipstick, too.

But I have a question, Vicki.   If teen girls shouldn’t be worrying about what guys think, why is the banner article in the magazine (picture above) entitled "25 GUYS Tell All"?  Just asking…

Think about the future. One sample group of students who opted to have their belly buttons pierced indicated that it took approximately thirty-eight weeks for it to heal verses the standard six weeks for pierced ears. Again, that’s a heavy sacrifice for a Christian girl who plans to cover it up.

Come again?  A hole in a belly button that is covered up is a "heavy sacrifice" how?

For those who are willing to assume the risks and attempt to justify it with the claim that it can always be removed, it is not uncommon for a navel piercing to tear or leave a permanent scar.

A scar on a belly button?  How can you tell?

Many girls fail to think past the moment and evaluate what a pierced belly button would look like ten, twenty, thirty-plus years later.

Don’t get pregnant either.  That reaks permanent havoc with your body, too, I’m told.  Right, Vicki?

You will spend the majority of your years in adulthood and the truth is, most adult women are not running around flashing their midriffs to show off their pierced belly buttons. Try to picture yourself ten to twenty years from now at the neighborhood pool party with your kids. Better yet, try to imagine your mom with a pierced belly button. OK, you get my point, right? 

I think so.  Teen girls shouldn’t get their belly button pierced because their moms would look silly with a pierced belly button.

No, I’m not sold yet.

What would God say? First Corinthians 6:19–20 says this: Do you not know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God with your body.  This is a hard concept to understand but the truth is, if you are a Christian, your body doesn’t belong to you—it belongs to God.

In the end, you must ask yourself, Would piercing my belly button bring honor to God?

Interesting, especially since an awful lot of women in the Mediterranean during biblical times wore belly button rings.

Just as we discussed with the issue of immodest fashions, God wouldn’t want you to decorate his temple with something that has sexual undertones. Life is full of situations where your desires and God’s will won’t always line up and you will be faced with choosing your way or God’s way. The temporary and fleeting satisfaction of piercing your belly button could never match the long-term and lasting satisfaction of submitting to his good, pleasing, and perfect will (See Rom. 12:2).

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."?  That’s talking about, you know, minds, not belly buttons, Vicki.  I guess she figures nobody is actually going to look up scripture, so she can feel free to quote it (and interpret it loosely) at will.