Christian sub-culture

Having wittered on the other day about commercialism, Christian media, etc. I was struck by the following in an article about myths in youth ministry.

Does this explain where the whole sub-culture came from? Is it all YFC's fault?????? Whatever happened to the word 'petting'?

Using the powerful evangelical concept of witness, the leaders of YFC managed to mobilize and protect young people at the same time, although this success came with some hidden costs. Youth for Christ leaders condemned dancing, rock music, drinking, smoking, going to the movies, petting, and going steady.

But they cast the negative task of avoiding these activities as a positive way to be a powerful witness for Christ, thereby making an impact on the world. Youth for Christ sermons, films, and magazine articles made much of teenagers who stayed pure by avoiding dancing or other contaminations and through their witness "won" their friends to Christ.

Like virginity, a pure Christian witness could be easily lost, but not easily restored. YFC member Jerry Oas advised young people to avoid even the religious songs that made it to the top 40 charts in his day because these songs could "draw Christians into a place where they would not go and to do things to ruin or cheapen their testimony."

On the other hand, Christian teenagers demanded a fair exchange for all of their abstinence. The leaders of Youth for Christ found themselves providing alternative forms of entertainment, such as banquets (complete with "kings" and "queens") to substitute for the prom and Christian records, movies, and celebrities to substitute for worldly ones. In the process, they legitimized an entertainment-oriented version of Christianity that later infiltrated the Evangelical church as a whole.