Speak for yourself. When I was single, I cared if the woman I married as a virgin. My wife probably did, too. We had both waited until marriage.
My wife and I have had that conversation before-- would you remarry if I died, and what kind of person we'd want around our kids. At the time, I said I would probably remarry. If I did remarry, i would want to marry a virgin or a widow who had only been with her husband.
I wouldn't want to marry a woman who is 'one flesh' with another man. I am not saying someone else cannot marry someone who has fornicated or committed adultery. But I personally would not want to because it wouldn't feel right to me personally as far as my personal tastes and desires go. Also, statistically, previous sexual partners besides the husband correlated with a much higher rate of 'marriage disruption.' If someone has never had sex before marriage, sleeping with someone besides one's husband/wife is a big deal. I'd imagine sleeping with someone outside of marriage is a big deal for a widow/widower who has remained faithful. But if sleeping around was a lifestyle habit before marriage, I wouldn't want to be the victim of someone who fell back into a bad habit.
If finding a virgin or sexually moral widow meant living in Indonesia again, where I spent many years, and where it seems like virginity before marriage is much more common since there is a stigma attached to either male or female losing it outside of marriage, that would be okay with me. I speak the language, and have spent many years there.
It could be you have too narrow a view of 'the purity movement.' I am not sure about it, because I have never been to a church that used the term to describe what they are doing. But I would imagine there are churches that teach and promote marriage, teach fornicators to marry rather than to fornicate, and standard Biblical doctrine on the issue.... in addition to opposing certain aspects of the dating culture.
My wife and I have had that conversation before-- would you remarry if I died, and what kind of person we'd want around our kids. At the time, I said I would probably remarry. If I did remarry, i would want to marry a virgin or a widow who had only been with her husband.
I wouldn't want to marry a woman who is 'one flesh' with another man. I am not saying someone else cannot marry someone who has fornicated or committed adultery. But I personally would not want to because it wouldn't feel right to me personally as far as my personal tastes and desires go. Also, statistically, previous sexual partners besides the husband correlated with a much higher rate of 'marriage disruption.' If someone has never had sex before marriage, sleeping with someone besides one's husband/wife is a big deal. I'd imagine sleeping with someone outside of marriage is a big deal for a widow/widower who has remained faithful. But if sleeping around was a lifestyle habit before marriage, I wouldn't want to be the victim of someone who fell back into a bad habit.
If finding a virgin or sexually moral widow meant living in Indonesia again, where I spent many years, and where it seems like virginity before marriage is much more common since there is a stigma attached to either male or female losing it outside of marriage, that would be okay with me. I speak the language, and have spent many years there.
It could be you have too narrow a view of 'the purity movement.' I am not sure about it, because I have never been to a church that used the term to describe what they are doing. But I would imagine there are churches that teach and promote marriage, teach fornicators to marry rather than to fornicate, and standard Biblical doctrine on the issue.... in addition to opposing certain aspects of the dating culture.