In the fundamentalist Christian circles that Samantha Field grew up in, the word “courtship” doesn’t evoke romantic images of men and women batting eyelashes at each other in a parlor, or writing love poetry by candlelight.

Rather, in these communities, “courtship” refers to an intricate set of rules and practices intended to help young people find godly, parent-approved spouses. While it’s meant to be beneficial and holy, this practice of courtship can also result in abuse ― particularly when it gives older men an opportunity to prey on much younger teen girls.

Field is a writer, seminarian and ex-fundamentalist Christian who attended several Independent Fundamental Baptist churches in Florida and other parts of the South as a child. In those communities, she says, a significant age difference among couples was seen as ideal for allowing men and women to carry out their God-given duties ― the husband to provide and lead, and the wife to run the household and give birth to many children.

In Some Evangelical Circles, Grown Men Pursuing Teens Isn’t All That Unusual – Huffington Post