I’m not a football superfan. I don’t watch throughout the season religiously or play Fantasy like my fiance. The Pittsburgh Steelers are my favorite team largely because my dad backs them as well. Despite all of this, it was hard to get through a day of school without hearing about Tim Tebow’s practice of kneeling to praise the Lord during every game he played.

I am not a deeply religious person, but I call myself an open-minded Christian and know Jesus as my savior. I try not go get involved in religious debates because I know in these instances you can learn more from listening than you can from speaking. I chose to respect Tebow’s right to worship openly and didn’t develop much of an opinion on the matter.

Tebow began dating Olivia Culpo, former Miss USA and Miss Universe, in October. Right around Thanksgiving, Culpo broke things off with Tebow because of his virginity vow, gossip suggests.

If this is the case, we’ve got some issues. From what I’ve seen, Tebow has handled the situation with grace, pronouncing himself as still blessed and thankful. But why then does it matter that Culpo ended things?

Culpo has a history of coaxing men out of virginity, one evident example being her relationship with Nick Jonas where gossipers took note of his missing promise ring.

All gossip and rumors aside, we can’t confirm that she left Tebow because of lack of sex or that Jonas was ever sexually involved with her. But we can observe the reactions of huge social media outlets, such as Facebook and Twitter.

We can’t shame Culpo for needing attention that Tebow wasn’t comfortable giving her, and perhaps we can even commend her for leaving rather than trying to disrupt his relationship with God. This story has been circulating on the Internet for under a week, and the responses of thousands to the situation are inappropriate and sad.

By all means, give props to Tebow and the strength of his pledge because Culpo is one beautiful lady. But it is wrong to use this story to push the responsibility and blame of chastity onto young girls across the country. Just because Tebow is serious about abstinence doesn’t mean every male is waiting for marriage, although I maintain respect for those that do.

By no means am I judging the quality of character for anyone, whether they make the decision to have sex or not. No matter what, my God will forgive them. My God will open his arms and love them for who they are rather than who they’ve done.

Regardless of your personal stance on sex and Jesus, it is wrong to tell women that because we have this one abstinent public figure that is waiting to have sex until marriage, you should make sure that you are good enough for him. Chastity vows are born out of respect for God, your partner, or yourself. To me, vows are not required for anyone to be considered a decent human being, and this is what we are telling females. The backlash from the Tebow story is largely based—rightfully—around staying faithful. I don’t mean to God necessarily, but to yourself and your beliefs. We don’t get to tell women what to believe or how to carry themselves. And we most certainly don’t get to say, “You aren’t good enough because you’ve had sex."

The article that began my frustrations can be found here.