Part 2 of Where are they now?-- Pure Life Revolution

Since we're coming up on the anniversary of those famous blindfolded protests at Hustler Hollywood in Nashville, I thought I'd check up on the Pure Life Revolution. Here's how they describe themselves:

Pure Life Revolution is a prayer and repentance movement combined with holy activism and gut level honesty. These revolutionaries are tenacious for true revival and to capture the heart of their King; they are willing and able to lay down their lives in being a catalyst to see this fulfilled. Our marching orders are to fuel and advance this movement of justice and righteousness in our nation and to be a spearhead in the “greatest awakening” of our time. Through this passion and desire has come forth Pure Life Revolution.

In June of 2007 for a few days a group of young people stood blindfolded near the Hustler Hollywood Store on Church Street apparently in a "see no evil" demonstration. Nashville bloggers were critical of their action at the time. If you want "speak no evil," you can go here and see that this ministry uses red tape to cover the mouths of its followers instead of blue blindfolds over the eyes; yes, they really are called Bound 4 Life. I'm not sure if there is a ministry somewhere in Alaska that uses yellow ear muffs for "hear no evil."

Apparently the members of Pure Life Revolution were working with the Family Action Council of Tennessee and other groups in November of 2007 for the First Annual Tennessee Porn-NO Prayer Summit. Most of the events on their own site seem to have taken place in 2007. But they do link to The Call, whose site is updated regularly. Inspired by the Promise Keepers, they are another purity movement and are busy planning a march on the Mall in DC in August.

The Pure Life Revolution site links to an article by Scott MacLeod, one of their "overseers," titled Living in an 'Amoral' Society. While there is much on their site for privacy and liberty advocates to be concerned about, these lines in MacLeod's article made the point clear for me:

We can certainly see the results of this modern way of thinking in Massachusetts, where gay marriage and homosexuality are presently flourishing. Gays and lesbians are flocking there from all over America to get married. This is nothing less than an abomination in the region that was once the cradle of puritan values, revival, and great awakening in our nation.

The way in which they employ the word "pure" is no accident. They truly see themselves as inheritors of the Puritan vision of America that at once combines American exceptionalism and a religious zeal to reform culture. It didn't take Puritanism long to run out of steam in England and Americans eventually grew weary of it as well, despite some strong revivals in movements like Prohibition. Perhaps the fact that we haven't heard anything out of them in a few months means that Nashvillians aren't that interested in their message. But if these modern Roundheads become active again, the Cavaliers among us will be watching.