In some Christian circles those colors are metaphors for one's deep political convictions--red of course, is currently conservative, blue is your liberal version, while purple purports to be something in the middle towards praxis rather than ideology. There was no question this time last year there were some pretty intense debates going on between Christians in the presidential campaign.
In the grand scheme of things, political affiliations in America are preferences we choose, not ideologies forced upon us by government. There are Christians on both sides of the spectrum who don't view their choices as merely preferences. They consider them to be deeply held convictions about a way of life, a way to live. Some even to the point of calling the other side evil. Yet, I have seen Christians who have intense disagreements about political issues worship side-by-side and participate in church community amongst each other--even with opposing passionate convictions about a way of government.
Now that I have been studying male-female friendships for over five years now and have written a book about it, and having participated in close friendships for several years, I can easily categorize the reactions I have from Christians when it comes to social sexuality and friendship into those three broad camps, er, colors: red, blue, and purple. There are people with pretty intense views of sexuality and friendship from the conservative angle. There are also people who are intense from the more liberal side when it comes to close friendships between men and women. Then there are people in between who want to see it worked out in praxis and fleshed out in life and community.
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