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Dawn Eden

(Continued...)

You crazy Christian kids. Did you ever have sex with any rock stars during your days covering the music world?
Yes, but I would rather not name names.

images/2006/11/dawn-eden-rockstars.jpg
I'M WITH THE BAND Eden with Brian Wilson, the Buzzcocks' Steve Diggle, and the Turtles' Mark "Flo" Volman

Did you sleep mainly with drummers or guitarists?

The thing about drummers is that they are easier than guitarists. There is less competition for them, and they are easier to please and not used to the attention.

I used to play drums. What's the difference between celibacy and chastity?
Celibacy is static. It's a state of grace, where nothing penetrates you.

So to speak.
Yes. And chastity is more of a fluid growth process.

Do you allow yourself the pleasure of your own company?
From the beginning, when I first started masturbating I always felt depressed afterward. As I drew closer to Catholicism I realized that masturbation was against my faith. I've done it once since I became a Catholic, and I had to confess afterward. The priest didn't bat an eye.

What inspired your conversion?
I had two conversions, really—the first in October 1999, when I became a Christian, and the second in early 2005, when I made the decision to enter the Catholic Church. The first was more dramatic. About a week after being laid off [from the Kim's Video chain], as I lay in bed early one morning, I had what's called a hypnagogic experience—that's when your mind wakes up but your sleeping body is not yet able to move. In that state I heard a woman's voice say, with perfect articulation, "Some things are not meant to be known. Some things are meant to be understood."

Your full given name is Dawn Eden Goldstein. Did you legally remove your last name?
No, not at all. Never.

Did you have to renounce Judaism as part of the conversion?
No.

Chastity is truly liberating. It's like the old Tampax ad: You can go swimming, you can go sailing, you can do anything you want and not be bound by this idea that something is a waste because I can't meet the right manDo you feel some connection to your Jewish heritage?
I have Jewish blood. And at a deeper level, Judaism represents my upbringing and my ancestors. I had a bat mitzvah, I can read the bible in Hebrew. It's all part of my spiritual makeup, and I do feel that my Christian faith is in some sense a fulfillment of my Judaism.

Except for the bit about believing in Christ as your savior, but I don't want to get technical. Should a chaste person dress modestly?
Being chaste doesn't mean dressing like a nun. The problem comes with dressing in such a way that you're saying, "I am an object and you should look at me as an object." The personal line I draw for myself is that when I'm in a dressing room in a store, and I'm trying things on, if I realize that my purpose in buying the blouse is so that people will see the way that my nipples will show through the fabric, then it's probably not a good idea.

So you advocate a nipple test. Is there a cameltoe standard as well?
I'm not smart enough to remember the cameltoe test. I probably have failed that many times without ever realizing it, because I'm too busy wondering, How does my butt look in this?

If this weren't a phone interview, I could check for you.
I think I'm okay.

Vows of celibacy haven't worked too well lately for Catholic priests. Is it possible that not having sex leads people down potentially dangerous paths?
I think that a vow of celibacy is a terrible thing for an active homosexual, which is why they should not be in the priesthood.

But these are Catholic priests, not leather-clad boys cruising bathhouses in San Francisco. I wouldn't call them active homosexuals.
I think if you research it you'll find that these are not men who went into the priesthood heterosexual and become homosexual.

Does your book and its underlying philosophy apply to homosexuals?
I think they could take something positive out of it, but the target audience is heterosexual women.


VIRGIN RECORD Eden, as a rock video girl
Do you support homosexuality as a lifestyle choice and a right?
I embrace chastity, and chastity is based on the idea that men and women were created and designed for union rather than same-sex unions. I believe that people who have gay inclinations should be chaste.

But just a moment ago you said that active homosexuals shouldn't be celibate.
Active homosexuals shouldn't. There's a paradox. The idea is that you become celibate so that you don't act out.

Act out? You make it sound like human sexuality is a game of charades. I'm guessing you don't recognize gay marriage?
No, because it's not marriage. It's changing the construct and the definition of what marriage is.

Under your philosophy, only married people can have sex that is not a "lie." So that would mean gay people should never have sex, right?
They can have sex with people of the opposite sex if they get married. Nobody's preventing them from doing that.

Yes, but see, they tend to fall in love with people of their own sex.
It's a tragedy of our modern age that there is a culture that encourages people to act out on gay inclinations. In my view, far fewer people are really gay, but they will act out that way because of the encouragement of the culture. The myth is that people can't change. People can change, at least from my own experience. I think it's wrong to tell people that once they are gay they are always gay.

Interesting.... Moving on, there is a parlor game you play called Stump Dawn. What is that?
Stump Dawn is where you give me the title of any song that hit the Billboard Hot 100 in the 1960s, and I should be able to tell you the artist, the songwriter, the record label, how high it got on the charts, etc.

Okay, let's try one. "Leader of the Pack."
By The Shangri-Las, on the Red Bird label, written by "Shadow" Morton, Jeff Barry, and Ellie Greenwich, produced by "Shadow" Morton, recorded at very beginning of 1965, it went to number one. They were from Long Island. The label was yellow with black lettering. I couldn't tell you what the b-side was though.

Very good. What about "Adam and Eve," since that seems to be appropriate?
Adam and Eve? Did it hit the Hot 100 in the 1960s?

Yes, it did. In the Year of Our Lord 1960.
Oh, then you've absolutely stumped me. Who was it by?

Paul Anka.
Oh, wow. You've stumped me. That's great.

Well, is stumping you, along with my interviewing skills, enough to make you end your vow of celibacy?
No. Not for an interview done over the phone.

Photos, from top: NickyDigital.com; Courtesy Dawn Eden (4)

Video: Youtube.com

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