Kissing Dating Goodbye?

Responses to Harris’s book

• Kissing Nonsense Goodbye – Seems to be somewhat critical
• Dateless in Christianville – Again from ChristianityToday.com
• State of the Date – Again from ChristianityToday.com

I searched google for "response" “Kissed Dating Goodbye” and many of the non-blog links are from ChristianityToday.com

My friend, Adrienne, recommended this book and I read it in one sitting—Harris wrote it when he was only 21 and it’s nice bit of prose, but still a quick read. I’m not certain what to think of the book yet—I may read it again. Above, I’m trying to collect some critical comments on the book as most people seem to praise it—but I’m not sure if they’re trying to implement the “conviction” in their lives.

One of the things that concerns me about trying to apply the principles of this book to my life is the confusion that will undoubtedly arise in relationships. The book seems to advocate never spending time alone with an interesting single woman (or man). I spend LOTS of time with single women—and I don’t spend much time with boring people. How should I handle this? If we’re alone, are we dating?

The book seems to be written for someone say, aged 16-23 or so. As a 27 year old who did give up on dating, basically, for the last 5 years, how should I approach this? At the time, I knew that I lacked the maturity to pursue a relationship toward marriage—and emotional attachments without any hope or plan of a future were pointless. I have embraced my “singleness” and accomplished quite a bit. I still don’t see any point in pursuing a romantic relationships simply for the purpose of companionship. I can’t imagine, at this point in my life, investing myself emotionally in someone who I couldn’t marry.