Recently, we reported on an ABCNews.com hit piece on House Speaker Mike Johnson, and how a German TV network reported in 2015 that he took his teenage daughter Hannah to a purity ball, which ABC described as "a controversial formal dance event, popular among some conservative Christians, that gained notoriety in the early 2000s." Democratic members of the House with "trans kids" were treated with great respect and the term "controversial" was reserved for the conservatives insisting boys were boys and girls were girls, and there was no real in-between.
MRC founder and president L. Brent Bozell III has written a letter to ABC News President Kim Godwin -- last noticed at a celebratory dinner for Biden press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre -- lamenting that ABC would engage in this kind of religious bigotry, attacking a Christian family for paying tribute to the idea of delaying sex until marriage. A number of conservative leaders have signed to Bozell's open letter, as you can see below (or click here for the letter in PDF):
Ms. Kimberly Godwin
ABC News
7 West 66th Street
New York, NY 10023
Dear Ms. Godwin,
We write to object to an article attacking House Speaker Mike Johnson and his daughter Hannah for engaging in “notoriety” when he took her to a “controversial” event when she was 13.
At issue was a “Purity Ball,” a common celebration within the evangelical community to honor the ideal of chastity. The father aims to model how a Christian husband and father should behave. The daughter often signs a pledge to remain chaste until marriage. The daughter wears white to symbolize purity.
ABC could have, and should have, praised Speaker Johnson for his strong Christian faith. But you chose to go in the opposite direction. "This looks like a wedding," your reporter Will Steakin wrote, quoting a news reporter from a German news segment in 2015. "But they are not bride and groom -- but rather father and ... daughter," implying they are engaged in something dark. In that same dark tone, ABC projects as extremist Johnson’s wife Kelly stating "We don't talk to her about contraception. Sex before marriage is simply out of the question."
ABC could have, and should have, found Christian leaders to explain why many Christians believe in the importance of chastity and the beauty of the Purity Ball. But you chose the opposite. ABC selected as its expert someone who wrote a book touting how she “broke free” of “purity culture,” and argued Christian parents who teach their children to pursue abstinence are pushing “eternal girlhood” within a patriarchy.
Continuing the attack, ABC found another ex-Christian author who “sparked” the purity movement, but then “pulled his once-popular book from circulation and has apologized for any role it may have played in causing harm.” This article is pure religious bigotry.
We call on ABC News to retract this story and apologize to Speaker Johnson, his wife Kelly, and their children.
Only a society that rejects virtue views the pursuit of chastity and holiness as controversial. Perhaps that is why no society on Earth endorses ABC's world view.
Sincerely,
L. Brent Bozell III
President and Founder
Media Research Center
Morton Blackwell
President
Leadership Institute
The Hon. Bob McEwen
Executive Director
Council for National Policy
Tom McDevitt
Chairman
The Washington Times
Kelly Shackelford
President and CEO
First Liberty Institute
J. Kenneth Blackwell
Senior Fellow for Human Rights and Constitutional Governance
Family Research Council
Kristan Hawkins
President
Students for Life of America
James N. Clymer
National Chairman
Constitution Party National Committee
Kevin Roberts
President
The Heritage Foundation
Tony Perkins
President
Family Research Council
The Hon. Russell Vought
President
Center for Renewing America
Cleta Mitchell
Senior Legal Fellow for Election Integrity
Conservative Partnership Institute
Kristen A. Ullman
President
Eagle Forum
Ed Martin
President
Eagle Forum Education & Legal Defense Fund
Gary L. Bauer
President
American Values
David Bozell
President
ForAmerica
Jake Hoffman
State Senator
Arizona Senate
Mike Hill
Former Member
Florida State House
Ken Harrison
Chairman
WaterStone and Promise Keepers
Steve Berger
Pastor
Ambassador Services International
Rick Green
Founder & President
Patriot Academy
Jason Rapert
Founder & President
National Association of Christian Lawmakers
Khadine Ritter
Chairman
Eagle Forum of Ohio
Mike Wolfe
Former Trustee
Harris County Texas Schools
Garland Tucker
Member
Council for National Policy
Michael P. Farris, J.D., LL.M.
Attorney
