Modesty: A Different Viewpoint

Last night before going to bed, I was watching a little SportsCenter (can you believe the Rangers scored 30(!) runs in one game? And 9 more in the second game of the doubleheader? Oh, yeah: They were playing the Orioles.) and was flipping channels during commercials and came across a show on Islam on CNN.

I can't claim to know what the main point of the show was, since I only watched a small part of it, but it seemed to be a look at various facets of Islam in the world today, from the Middle East to the Midwest. At one point, a young (late-20's?) American Muslim couple is interviewed. He is wearing typical business attire; she is wearing slacks, turtleneck, blazer...and one of those things that covers her entire head except the face. (I can't remember what those things are called at the moment.)

I was pleasantly surprised to hear the woman, in a pleasant tone of voice, describe how she found the religiously-required garments to be a good thing. Her most surprising comment was something like "why would I want any man, other than my husband, to see my body?" She went on to say more about the benefits of modesty, monogamy, and avoiding many of the sensual vices of our day.

If a Christian woman said these things—and she could plagiarize them quite easily—apart from the references to Islam, we would refer to her as righteous. If she lived them, we would believe her to be righteous.

So why don't more Christian women say these things?? Why don't more Christian women live them? Why don't more Christian women teach and model modesty for their daughters and granddaughters? Although our definitions of modesty do not involve public head coverings, why do so many Christian women dress like they are unrighteous or morally loose? Do we Christians need the Muslims to remind us what modesty's benefits are??