Bad language

Among the sad debasements of its inherited culture our society has engaged in is, I think, the sad debasement of the word "virgin."

It's not just that virginity past a certain too-young age is seen as something shameful. It's not just that virginity is generally understood in a purely negative sense (much like "laity"). These things, I suspect, have been with us for a long time.

But the word "virgin" seems to be used, with increasing frequency, to mean "someone who does something for the first time." And when "virgin" means "someone who won't be a virgin tomorrow," when virginity is by definition temporary and in the process of being disposed of, then you simply can't have a culture that comprehends, much less honors, virginity.

Which means, among other things, you simply can't have a culture that comprehends, much less honors, religious life. (Or, for that matter, childhood.)

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