There is far more information than I have space to discuss in the paper I'm currently writing. Foremost among these topics is how the church practically deals with my subject matter. This paper is a response to the validity of homosexual marriage. To begin this paper though, I have to encounter the Christian sexual ethic. It's making me question (and even reject) the validity of procreationism; it is requiring me to engage in an uncensored, honest dialog about sex and its implications within the Christian church.
This is far more terrifying than it might seem. Sex is not talked about enough, and ever mentioning sex within the walls of the often degrades into conversations about abstinence exclusively. When is the last time you've heard a sermon or a legitimate discussion about the pleasure of sex? About how good sex can include more than intercourse? No! These things do not belong in the church. And we wonder why teen pregnancies, divorce, and STDs are growing at an alarming rate within the church.
My paper begins to reconstruct the Christian sexual ethic, so I won't do that here. however, I will present a quote that didn't make it into my final paper. This section from Christine Gudorf's Body, Sex, and Pleasure: Reconstructing Christian Sexual Ethics deals with what I believe is the greatest barrier to genuine dialog about sexuality within the church:
Ignorance is chosen. Maybe if we start choosing knowledge and understanding things will begin to change and sex won't seem like such a taboo topic. And that's all I've got to say about that...at least here...
This is far more terrifying than it might seem. Sex is not talked about enough, and ever mentioning sex within the walls of the often degrades into conversations about abstinence exclusively. When is the last time you've heard a sermon or a legitimate discussion about the pleasure of sex? About how good sex can include more than intercourse? No! These things do not belong in the church. And we wonder why teen pregnancies, divorce, and STDs are growing at an alarming rate within the church.
My paper begins to reconstruct the Christian sexual ethic, so I won't do that here. however, I will present a quote that didn't make it into my final paper. This section from Christine Gudorf's Body, Sex, and Pleasure: Reconstructing Christian Sexual Ethics deals with what I believe is the greatest barrier to genuine dialog about sexuality within the church:
"Unnecessary sexual ignorance is chosen in our society - by school systems which fear parental opposition more than student ignorance, by churches which see sexual ignorance as evidence of virtue, and by parents, themselves ignorant, who fear that sexual education may lead their children to sexual attitudes and choices different from their parents'."
Ignorance is chosen. Maybe if we start choosing knowledge and understanding things will begin to change and sex won't seem like such a taboo topic. And that's all I've got to say about that...at least here...
