The Church has an obsession with sex according to an article published on timesonline by Libby Purves. He cites the church taking a strong stand against homosexuality, adultery and celibate priest. Here is the link: Link
Does the Church have an inordinate obsession with sex that leads to it ignoring other more important issues?
Yeah, I attend a church that devoted a whole sermon to sex. Quite awkward…
Like the rest of the nation…who votes for the Presidency based on gay right and or abortion issues…when other issues are seriously more pressing.
No, not at all.
No
Sex is a part of life. . . I don’t think they’re obsessed with it, though perhaps some individuals are.
Absolutely. All I ever hear about is how gay people are going to hell or how your penis will fall off if you fuck before marriage. Forget the poor! Forget the unclothed! Forget the “lesser of these”! Let’s focus on sex!
I think so.
Um, maybe a slight obsession…but it’s an obsession that would stop the argument of abortions and same-sex marriage. To the church, it’s like the root of evil. Not money, because there’s always piety and charity.
Not really.
Some are…I know mine is about sex before marriage. There’s been like 3 sermons in a row this month about it since February is “love month”.
Maybe.
My church doesnt ever talk about homosexuality. i do not think that is a big problem with the people in my church, but we get the sex talk a lot and it helps.
Sure. But it’s not just SEX that worries them. It’s sex between two humans that are not a married man and woman. Ridiculous..
Yeah, definitely. I think they should probably worry more about world hunger than whether or not two men are gettin’ it on.
ya why not
I suppose… But sex is still somewhat of a problem in our lives. I suppose I would like them try to take more of a stance on something that mattered a little more… like charity and such, helping people who are less fortunate… but oh well.
I don’t think so. Have you read Song of Solomon? He was quite focused on sex. It is an important part of life!
Probably.
As usual, Jill says it best.
Which “church” would you be talking about exactly? The Roman Catholic Church? Sure they are a little asanine about the topic!
Yeah…I’m a Christian and all, but all the crud about how homosexual people are the devil…UGHH. People like that are just jusgemental because they were taught to be like that. Pet peeve numero uno — closed – mindedness..
Sorry, a tad off-sub.
My pastor said in one sermon, “I don’t really care whether you keep your pants on before marriage. My goal is to make your marriage last.” It’s all about marriage; I swear, I was dating my boyfriend for one week when the first person asked me if we were engaged.
I’d say so…even if I am an Atheist.
yes
YES. totally agree. religion EQUALS politics.
Yeah, seems like it.
Depends on wich church we are talking about!
“My pastor said in one sermon, “I don’t really care whether you keep your pants on before marriage. My goal is to make your marriage last.” “
That’s actually a good observation. Kudos to your pastor.
Hmm…It would seem that way, wouldn’t it? They put to much stock in carnal sin.
I’d say that Western Culture has an inordinate obsession with sex that makes it very distracting for the Church in the West.
The Church is supposed to be outside of its host culture, but people within the Church don’t always realize that. What seems like the Church’s obsession is in reality the Church trying to do damage control as some of its members buy into the West’s obsession.
That’s a little backwards. It’s the culture, not the church that’s sexually overboard. Take a look at movies, TV, ads, etc.
Yeah. The Bible-beaters use anything they can to intill guilt and generate income.
As a general rule, conservative churches tend to pay too much attention to the issue, while liberal church tend to downplay it too much. They feed off each other.
lol um no. thats pretty absurd, not gonna lie
yes
Yes.
But… seeing as I haven’t gone to church in a LONG time. I probably have no room to talk. *shrugs*
I think the celibacy required with many religious leaders causes them to focus on that which they deny themselves. They aren’t having it so we are all supposed to deny ourselves except when making a baby. Stop everyone from fucking so much and all the world’s problems will melt away. Let’s focus on the real issues shall we? Fucking helps us cope with the worlds problems. Hello!
No. As one of the top 10 commandments in Bible, and an easily seen part of our lives in today’s world, it makes sense to talk about it a lot. Personally, I think people are getting more and more lax about it each day (a bad thing I think)
YES!! finally someone notices… all they ever talk about is sodomy and other people’s zygotes. it drives me crazy. i think it’s almost a little bit of a subliminal advertisement. like, “ugly? shy? can’t get enough sex?? that’s okay!!! here at church, we HATE sex!! come join us!! love god instead.”
but it is not that bad. but i always get a little bit of that underlying.
okay i take it back. people in general are obsessed with sex not just the church. understandable, but i think it’s weird how people like talking about it in a really sly way. let’s discuss the use of boobs in advertising and the politics of adultury in the church and whether it is moral to be naked… no, you know what, if we want to talk about sex so much why can’t we just talk about it.
YES.
Catholics think about sex every 2.4 sexonds…uh seconds BOOBS
not really, our church hardly ever talks about sex, if ever. Personaly i don’t think the focous on it enough, its something that needs to be discussed. I’m only speaking from my own personal experiance at church. However the church camp i went to they devoted an hour and a half long Bible study to sex and purity. It was really interesting becasuse the pastor doing it talked about nearly every old testament tradition concering sex and marrage, and the pagen beliefs back then, and thie leagion of soilders who went to thses villages and rapeing girls and goats, the last part was kind of strange. It was more of a history lession in a way
This is interesting… “Western culture” as the beholder of this “inordinate obsession” and the Church performing “damage control” doesn’t seem wholly accurate. By my perspective, Western culture is derived from The Church (I’m going to assume Catholicism, since it is the Christian body I am most familiar with and the root of most other Christian practices); therefore, these cannot be seperated and the Church itself holds the obsession, as well as powers the obsession with sex into our Judeo-Christian-Islamic dominated culture. I think if Christians in general didn’t continue to uphold the view of a god which despises that which it had created, then sex would not be an obsession or taboo. Sex is a natural, necessary, biological act of procreation and pleasure– if there were to be a god, I don’t think it would hate this beautiful act between man and woman, man and man, woman and woman. In this case the myth feeds the madness and followers find sex taboo, disgusting, dirty, offensive, or secretive because they have a belief in their god desiring it hidden. Foolishly so, because another man wrote the myth– not their beloved deity. As a whole, I find this culture does have an inordinate obsession with sex because of their man-made myth, belief in an opinionated deity, and the overwhelming focus the entire Church-based, Western (Judeo-Christian-Islamic) culture has on sex.
At the root of my thought is that I personally find a belief in a god with an opinion as silly, so I think the people with this particular sexual obsession as well… quite silly themselves. Oh, the vicious circle.
Sex is good.
Everyone knows that homosexuality is the gateway sin.
It depends on who is saying what .. but basically they have ignored the rights of others’ and played a ” deaf ” ear to the more important issues.
All I will say is that I remember going to several youth functions as a kid and always hearing the same thing about saving yourself for marriage and if you’ve already given your gift away, God will forgive you and purify you. I was always thinking, “Why am I here? I haven’t even so much as kissed a guy. When are they going to talk about something relevant to ME?” I just felt like that was just about the only thing they preached on for youth-centered events and I often felt out of place because of it.
The “church” is a SINagogue of Satan
Who doesn’t? But then again, the Church speaks out against greedy covetousness, and that just falls on deaf ears. Maybe all that the Church says on sex is just picked up by those who are already obsessed with the subject.
Yeah, I think there is a lot of emphasis on sex in the church, but that could be because there is a lot of emphasis on sex in popular culture, so the church may feel the need to respond to that. Basically, sex is everywhere. This is reflected in your blog, too; you have a ton of posts relating to it.
they’re probably obsessed that they’re not getting any.
yes.
There are so many more important issues that the church should be focusing on other than sex. I think they do get a bit rediculous about it.
Anyone else find it funny that the chick’s last name is “Purves” ?
Not my Church.
Not at my church, but probably at some.
Don’t forget divorce. That’s sort of related to sex.
whoopee a whole sermon devoted to sex…I’ve heard one or two in my day. They want to make the church community aware of what’s going on, and preaching about it and showing the points in the bible where things are wrong. There’s nothing wrong with it, and the pastor has the children dismissed for sunday school in the middle of the sermon so an not to undermine the parents authority on their knowledge of it if they weren’t ready.
Sex is out there, so’s homosexuality, the bible preaches against that, and warns of sexual immorality, what’s wrong with letting the people know what the bible teaches? There’s no obsession…it’s the homosexual community that makes it such a big deal that it gets blown out of proportion….and the world is shocked that the word sex is used in church.
I’d rather my kid hear a biblical standpoint on it than be told about it at school in a secular setting.
Pretty much. I don’t know if I’d call it an obsession, but there is a lack of balance. Many problems need to be addressed within the church (greed, hypocrisy, etc.), not just sex.
another thing too: the world changes, but the bible doesn’t. the church can’t mold itself to the world……which is why on the outside people think they’re stuffed shirts.
The Church is obsessed with sex. Sex sex sex.
The Church does not ignore other issues. It takes such a strong stand on sexuality, I feel, for everal reason. Firstly, it is the wordly source of human life; sex is where people come from. Secondly, it is something that most people, rich or poor, engage in. Not everyone can abuse drugs or alcohol, but just about anyone can abuse sexuality. In this age, especially in the United States, sexuality has long been regarded with little respect. People forget how precious and important it is as a great and wonderful gift from God and how much responsibility is involved with sex. Life comes from sex; it is not just an act of pleasure with an “unfortunate” side effect of children. Sex is enjoyable, yes, but that is not what is most important about sex. The life-bringing nature of it is most important, and much of our world seems reluctant to accept that. They would rather stop and/or ignore that fact completely. It’s really quite sad. But, this is all only my opinion, and I do not yet know enough about the Church’s full position to be able to speak for it.
And the Church doesn’t hate sex.
Maybe some of the church does. The Bible focuses a lot on sex, to enjoy marital sex and to avoid sexual sin, so the church isn’t wrong to teach about sex (assuming you believe in biblical Christianity). It’s wrong when churches act like sex inside marriage is dirty, or ignore Scripture’s other teachings (like spreading the gospel and feeding the poor.)
No.
Sex is an important part of life. There is a whole book in the Bible about it!
i think everyone on this planet is obsessed with sex- including me
“Western culture is derived from The Church (I’m going to assume Catholicism, since it is the Christian body I am most familiar with and the root of most other Christian practices); therefore, these cannot be seperated and the Church itself holds the obsession, as well as powers the obsession with sex into our Judeo-Christian-Islamic dominated culture. I think if Christians in general didn’t continue to uphold the view of a god which despises that which it had created, then sex would not be an obsession or taboo. Sex is a natural, necessary, biological act of procreation and pleasure– if there were to be a god, I don’t think it would hate this beautiful act between man and woman, man and man, woman and woman…
Sex is good.” Posted 2/21/2007 5:50 PM by ktandie
Ah, where to begin?
A) Western culture as it exists today can hardly be considered synonymous with the Church. Currently the culture is not dominated by Judeo-Christian-Islamic mentality but by postmodern pseudo-Buddhist “spirituality” which is anything the person wants it to be and has no objective overarching Truth to guide it.
B) The Christian God does not “despise” the act he created. On the contrary. The biblical Christian view is that sexual intercourse is beautiful and wonderful and sacred. The taboos placed on sex are placed on it because it is beautiful and wonderful and sacred, not because God is some sort of cosmic killjoy.
Food, too, is a beautiful thing, and consumption of food is meant to be pleasureful. But if one were to go eating out of moderation until one became obese, or if one were to rub the food on one’s body instead of eating it, the pleasure of the food would be diminished because it is being treated in a way it was not intended.
That is the Christian view of sexual taboos–that they are not the way sex was meant to be and therefore will diminish the pleasure and abuse a sacred and holy thing.
C) You are right. Sex is good. So good, in fact, that it’s worth waiting for.
A) Western culture as it exists today can hardly be considered synonymous with the Church. Currently the culture is not dominated by Judeo-Christian-Islamic mentality but by postmodern pseudo-Buddhist “spirituality” which is anything the person wants it to be and has no objective overarching Truth to guide it.
Is this perhaps, the result of our personal perspectives? Perhaps we’re both generalizing this too much… in my personal view, most (let’s say 90% approximately) people I know in my life are practicioners of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic culture and teachings; not of the “pseudo-Buddhist ‘spirituality’” persuasion. I also live in Texas, which I’m sure impacts my view further. I do feel that culture is guided by The Church, at least, by looking at how people are raising their children– a very large indication of how culture is passing. By “Western Culture” I think of Europe, the Middle East, and West– where the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition was born, thrived, and imported into the United States. Therefore, our culture here in the United States has been born of Christianity; the Church.
Worth waiting for… what? Marriage? That to me, is absurd and downright laughable. I personally like to test drive my ride first; furthermore, marriage is an institution I am NOT looking forward to, but my biology craves sex. So I’m going to satisfy my desires. To a Christian, this is wordly. To me– agnostic, and scientifically minded– so what?
I appreciate how diverse the commentors are on your Xanga, Dan. Nice draw.
God created sex… sex is a gift from God… sex is good… sex can be abused… the gift can be perverted (changed from its intended purpose)… God doesn’t want us to abuse sex, not because he is a meanie and is waiting for us to break his rules so he can smite us, rather, he doesn’t want us to abuse sex because He knows the pain it will cause us if we do… even the atheists I’ve polled say that sex is more than a physical act.
You say the church has an obsession with sex, does that explain the multi-billion dollar pornography industry? does it explain the adverts using sex to sell everything from butter to cars? no, the church doesn’t have an obsession with sex, people have an obsession with sex… the church is made up of people… so there you have it…
i’m catholic and all, and i’d agree that they do miss some of the more important issues because of their obsession with sex. but sometimes they just fuck stuff up.
Nope.
The Church herself is not overly concerned with sex, rather the society that it is set within, is obsessed with sex, sexual attraction, sexual infatuation, and perversions of sexual intercourse.
no, sex is in the media ALOT! so it gets talked about, ALOT!
Sex is an important issue. And the chuch, in general, has a pretty unhealthy approach overall. But so does our culture.
eh… i think sexual sins are more prone for the media to attack or attach too. It is not often that lying, gossip, gambling or the like would get as much news converage as a sexual scandel, especially a minister, who is supposed to be holy, perfect… blah blah blah. yes, leaders should be responsable but they are NOT perfect, they are HUMAN and still live in the FLESH. It shows a lack of good biblical theology and doctrine to say otherwise.
so, Yes AND NO!!! ha ha
- Daniel (doubledb)
“A) Western culture as it exists today can hardly be considered synonymous with the Church. Currently the culture is not dominated by Judeo-Christian-Islamic mentality but by postmodern pseudo-Buddhist “spirituality” which is anything the person wants it to be and has no objective overarching Truth to guide it. Judeo-Christian principles are not part of Western Culture? Is it not against the law to commit murder (thou shalt not kill)? Is it not against the law to participate in theft (thou shalt not steal)? Is it not against the law to be an accessory to a crime and not report the truth; to perjure; to commit identity fraud (thou shalt not bear false witness)? I know there is a post-modernist view on many things in today’s society, namely relativism.
B) The Christian God does not “despise” the act he created….The biblical Christian view is that sexual intercourse is beautiful and wonderful and sacred. The taboos placed on sex are placed on it because it is beautiful and wonderful and sacred, not because God is some sort of cosmic killjoy. In complete agreement here. [...] C) You are right. Sex is good. So good, in fact, that it’s worth waiting for. Amazing, then that some people choose to never experience it while other squander it the first opportunity they get.
Oh god, yes… and not in a natural “sex is a normal part of life” sort of way. They are obsessed with their own ideas about the extreme sinfulness of sex. Maybe they ought to shut up about sex long enough to think about the sin of judging other people’s personal decisions.
Yes.
They have an inordinate obsession with abortion
another thing too: the world changes, but the bible doesn’t. the church can’t mold itself to the world……which is why on the outside people think they’re stuffed shirts. Posted 2/21/2007 6:41 PM by Loves_Quest
I’ve seen it do it. “Oh, Evolution has a ton of facts in it’s favor? Well, then God set it in motion!”
I assume when you refer to “the church” you are talking about the Catholic church? Or do you mean God’s church which is the people who believe in God? Name me what part of society that IS NOT obsessed with sex?
sex is one of the main reasons we’re alive…so i think a reasonable amount of talk about sex is perfectly natural. I think the church feels like it doesnt have as much power as it used to, so it wants to stir up discussion, i guess.
whether that is the cause of ingoring or not, they do ignore very important issues…or as pointed out to me tonight, the world is ending soon so the issues wont matter much longer. Well, great stand. I proud of that statement. It is profound, intellectual, and has much deep thought behind it…
This isnt a bias
Derek
Titties are where it’s at. Jesus is just jealous.
no. i hear about the issue only when it is brought up usually.
I think a large part of the problem is that our culture is obsessed with sex, and so it is one of the most controversial issues no matter what type of organization you are. It’s worse with a lot of churches because of their traditionally conservative views on the subject. People today are too quick to throw out anything they see as “outdated” without examining why it was put there in the first place.
Well conservative churches do, they seem to get caught up in morals issues to a point of obsession, and sex is by far the favourite one to pass judgment on.
The church has to combat the things which are most prevalent in our society.
no
I suppose with a last name like Purves you probably need to think that everyone else is obsessed with sex to make yourself feel better. Or something.
20% of the 10 commandments focused on sex.
I think the Roman Catholic Church focuses on issues that are at the forefront of society. Our society puts sex into everything and so the church must address these issues. Just because the RCC states these does not mean that it can forget the corpal or spiritual works of mercy nor do they. The RCC is at the lead in protecting unborn children, advocating for immigrant and worker rights, providing food and water to illigal aliens in the SW USA, and helping inner city poor get a meal. They were in the lead with helping children get adopted, but many states are forcing them out of business since they are requiring them to violate their moral code.
my church doesn’t.
i think the church is no more obsessed with sex than the average person. as people we are naturally obsessed with sex. its human nature.
lyssa, the yellow one
“Is this perhaps, the result of our personal perspectives? Perhaps we’re both generalizing this too much… in my personal view, most (let’s say 90% approximately) people I know in my life are practicioners of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic culture and teachings; not of the “pseudo-Buddhist ‘spirituality’” persuasion. I also live in Texas, which I’m sure impacts my view further. I do feel that culture is guided by The Church, at least, by looking at how people are raising their children– a very large indication of how culture is passing. By “Western Culture” I think of Europe, the Middle East, and West– where the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition was born, thrived, and imported into the United States. Therefore, our culture here in the United States has been born of Christianity; the Church.
Worth waiting for… what? Marriage? That to me, is absurd and downright laughable. I personally like to test drive my ride first; furthermore, marriage is an institution I am NOT looking forward to, but my biology craves sex. So I’m going to satisfy my desires. To a Christian, this is wordly. To me– agnostic, and scientifically minded– so what?” Posted 2/21/2007 7:14 PM by ktandie
Ah, see, that explains it a bit. I’m in New York, here, where most of our “Christians” hit church once a year and don’t even know what their own faith believes. In my region, to say that any religion guides the bulk of the culture is laughable. I’d say the statistics are reversed–let’s say 10% of the people I run into are a devout anything.
If you expand it as you have, the Middle East, sure, they’ve got a powerful Muslim influence, but they’re not considered part of the West. And Europe? Christianity’s dying in Europe. I visited churches in England and they had attendance of like two or three, even though the state funds the churches… There are more African Anglicans in the single nation of Nigeria than there are in the entirety of Europe and North America combined, and this is the “Church of England” we’re talking about… Even if Christianity was once a Western religion, it wasn’t originally (Middle-Eastern), and it isn’t anymore.
As for the marriage issue… When your desires are sated, I think you will eventually find beneath them a craving for something deeper. There are many factors involved in this sort of thing–like the Law of Diminishing Returns, our human desire for security and intimacy and permanence. Sex is so much more than biology and desire. It was originally intended as the ultimate expression of love (short of dying for a loved one). And so your idea of “test-driving” is (to my perspective) akin to reading the ending of a mystery first, or secretly opening Christmas presents the night before: you may find it a less enjoyable experience in the long run.
Forget the Christian designation of premarital sex being “worldly.” If you’re not a Christian then the opinions and designations of Christians shouldn’t matter. I don’t expect non-Christians to act like Christians. What matters more from your perspective is the Christian warning of premarital sex being damaging and dangerous to your own well-being.
Christ said he came to give people abundant life. When Christianity says not to do something, it’s not because God doesn’t want people to have fun and joy, but because if we do things His way we’ll have better fun and fuller joy.
pretty much everything about sex is a sin…so whats the point?
better yet…everythings a sin.
the best Christians are dead.
probably.
where do ppl come up w/ this stuff?
Definitely. But then religion is an unhealthy addiction to begin with.
Pfft, the CHURCH is obsessed with sex? Have you taken a look at the media, and how it affects people? “10 ways to improve your sex life!” “Is your vagina happy?” “How to have longer orgasms!”. Oh, please. The Church is just responding to all the sex obsession in America. The Church isn’t scolding you and make you be a “prude”, contrary to popular belief. As hard as it may seem to imagine, they want you to be happy. Sleeping around and being at risk for pregnancy, HIV viruses, and abortions doesn’t sound all that great to me. People have no idea what type of problems sex with more than one person causes. Take a look: http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m230/Tallon5/sexualexpchart.jpg. There have actually been studies done on this.
Yeah, there’s pressing issues – does that mean the church doesn’t look at them? No, it doesn’t.
“Everyone’s doing it.” Really now? Last time I noticed, that wasn’t quite so. But yeah, sex is an important part of life. So everyone, not just the Church, is rather focused on it.
“Oh, Evolution has a ton of facts in it’s favor? Well, then God set it in motion!” Posted 2/21/2007 7:53 PM by ryoma136
Yeah, because evolution totally disproves God. After all, if evolution really is so true, it can’t possibly be that over 3/4 of the population are all just stubborn and ignorant and the rest, atheists, are enlightened.
Yeah…I’m a Christian and all, but all the crud about how homosexual people are the devil…UGHH. People like that are just jusgemental because they were taught to be like that. Pet peeve numero uno — closed – mindedness.. Posted 2/21/2007 5:08 PM by WAAAH000
One more thing. I have never heard a Christian call a homosexual “the devil” or an otherwise offensive term. In fact, my brother, who’s atheist, calls homosexuals fags. But I’m sure he’s part of the minority of atheists. Therefore, don’t say that all Christians hate homosexuals, either, because we don’t. My best friends are gay, and while I may not accept their views, that doesn’t mean I want to cut their heads off for being “evil”.
Do not nearly all human beings try to avoid the difficult in favor of the easy?
No, because it’s just changing to fit what today’s society focuses on [sex]
I, quite frankly, do not care what “the church” says. I do care what scripture says because that is all I have to follow. I can read and understand for myself. If I don’t understand, I pray about it, and wait until God makes it clear. Each “church” (as in building or denomination) has their own set of rules and regulations. However, God says those who believe in His Son, Jesus, make up the true church. For that, we have the scriptures to follow. The scriptures are pretty balanced on whatever you might need to know. There is sex all through the Bible. There are also passages on finances, home care, work, raising your children, helping widows and orphans, gluttony, eating right, music and poetry, birth, death, and eternal life. If you look at the Bible as a guidebook, I really don’t think you need to look at what a formal group becomes obsessed about. The Scriptures speak loud and clear.
doesn’t everybody?!
ahahaha.
ok that was in bad taste.
No, I would say that they seem to be more about resisting temptation than sex itself.
Why man, not only Christian church but the entire Western world is obsessed with sex, the latter having been brainwashed and tainted by the former.
First it quotes a generalised directive from the book of Genesis, “go forth and multiply,” to demand incessant copulation and child bearing, then it cites Christ’s unmarried status – of which there is no certainty – to praise the virtue of celibacy (80% of the Christian world is Catholic, by the way, so -thought the protestants may howl – Christian and Catholic are 80% the same thing.)
Christ himself said much about the power that created us, and little about sex, as did Prophet Mohammed and the Buddha. When asked to give a ruling a ruling on an adulterous woman, he famously got her off the hook by kicking the question onto a higher level: “let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”
well, I don’t think the church completely neglects other issues… it’s just sex, or at least premarital sex is for pleasure. just like drinking or smoking. it feels good. so the church believe that if you have the Lord, why would you need these things? plus sex is dirty.
It has an obsession with sex, but probably not an inordinate one. “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” I Corinthians 6:18-20
An argument can still be made that they’re not fulfilling the other goals/objectives of the church, but sexual sin is serious sin.
i guess so.. are there any other issues that the church shud be focusing on??
well i think so…i dont really ave a reason this time haha
I don’t follow the RC Church that closely. From what I can gather though, I wouldn’t call it an “inordinate obsession.” The Bible says certain things about sexuality. They should stand behind those things.
The whole celibate priest thing, though, isn’t in the Bible, so I’m not wild about that.
I’d never name my son Libby.
Sex is a definite obsession with our society as a whole, religious and non-religious.
The church is a fundamentally perverted institution.
IDK if people didn’t get preggers in the first place there wouldn’t be as many abortions.
Ohhhhhhhh
Idk, the church should reconcile the Ideal with reality and unfortunatly there are compromises that must be made
PEOPLE are obsessed with sex.
Are you kidding? The topic is so prevalent because sex is everywhere you go. Obviously they’re teaching re: things that need to be addressed, thus it’s spoken about a heck of a lot.
And actually, there are very fewq churches I have been to that have really touched one the subject. I think it needs to be talked about because for so long it was such a hush hush thimng…. but it’s reality these days and we can’t pretend it’s not because then you have ppl not receiving accountability (for meany reasons, yes I know) and falling.
YES! And let’s not forget the church’s obsession that there’s no way on God’s green earth that Jesus could have ever had sex or have been married AND still could have been the messiah.
Libby Purves is lady, by the way. Nice to see her doing more journalism rather than her radio presenting (she works for the BBC) and also, as she and her TV presenter husband live near where I do, sometimes shops in my shop! Seems to be a nice lady.
As far as the church goes, seems to me “it” spends a lot of time worrying about what people do in private far too much.
In my very limited opinion (I’m only 34 and worked at a church for 6 years with young adults) the church has a skewed view of sex that is in large part shaped by socially conservative and yet theologically liberal groups like Focus on the Family, etc.
Handy Hint: Libby Purves is a She, not a He. Libby is short for Elizabeth in Britain.
Comments (122)
No.
no
Yeah, I attend a church that devoted a whole sermon to sex. Quite awkward…
Like the rest of the nation…who votes for the Presidency based on gay right and or abortion issues…when other issues are seriously more pressing.
No, not at all.
No
Sex is a part of life. . . I don’t think they’re obsessed with it, though perhaps some individuals are.
Absolutely. All I ever hear about is how gay people are going to hell or how your penis will fall off if you fuck before marriage. Forget the poor! Forget the unclothed! Forget the “lesser of these”! Let’s focus on sex!
I think so.
Um, maybe a slight obsession…but it’s an obsession that would stop the argument of abortions and same-sex marriage. To the church, it’s like the root of evil. Not money, because there’s always piety and charity.
Not really.
Some are…I know mine is about sex before marriage. There’s been like 3 sermons in a row this month about it since February is “love month”.
Maybe.
My church doesnt ever talk about homosexuality. i do not think that is a big problem with the people in my church, but we get the sex talk a lot and it helps.
Sure. But it’s not just SEX that worries them. It’s sex between two humans that are not a married man and woman. Ridiculous..
Yeah, definitely. I think they should probably worry more about world hunger than whether or not two men are gettin’ it on.
ya why not
I suppose… But sex is still somewhat of a problem in our lives. I suppose I would like them try to take more of a stance on something that mattered a little more… like charity and such, helping people who are less fortunate… but oh well.
I don’t think so. Have you read Song of Solomon? He was quite focused on sex. It is an important part of life!
Probably.
As usual, Jill says it best.
Which “church” would you be talking about exactly? The Roman Catholic Church? Sure they are a little asanine about the topic!
Yeah…I’m a Christian and all, but all the crud about how homosexual people are the devil…UGHH. People like that are just jusgemental because they were taught to be like that. Pet peeve numero uno — closed – mindedness..
Sorry, a tad off-sub.
My pastor said in one sermon, “I don’t really care whether you keep your pants on before marriage. My goal is to make your marriage last.” It’s all about marriage; I swear, I was dating my boyfriend for one week when the first person asked me if we were engaged.
I’d say so…even if I am an Atheist.
yes
YES. totally agree. religion EQUALS politics.
Yeah, seems like it.
Depends on wich church we are talking about!
“My pastor said in one sermon, “I don’t really care whether you keep your pants on before marriage. My goal is to make your marriage last.” “
That’s actually a good observation. Kudos to your pastor.
Hmm…It would seem that way, wouldn’t it? They put to much stock in carnal sin.
I’d say that Western Culture has an inordinate obsession with sex that makes it very distracting for the Church in the West.
The Church is supposed to be outside of its host culture, but people within the Church don’t always realize that. What seems like the Church’s obsession is in reality the Church trying to do damage control as some of its members buy into the West’s obsession.
That’s a little backwards. It’s the culture, not the church that’s sexually overboard. Take a look at movies, TV, ads, etc.
Yeah. The Bible-beaters use anything they can to intill guilt and generate income.
As a general rule, conservative churches tend to pay too much attention to the issue, while liberal church tend to downplay it too much. They feed off each other.
lol um no. thats pretty absurd, not gonna lie
yes
Yes.
But… seeing as I haven’t gone to church in a LONG time. I probably have no room to talk. *shrugs*
I think the celibacy required with many religious leaders causes them to focus on that which they deny themselves. They aren’t having it so we are all supposed to deny ourselves except when making a baby. Stop everyone from fucking so much and all the world’s problems will melt away. Let’s focus on the real issues shall we? Fucking helps us cope with the worlds problems. Hello!
No. As one of the top 10 commandments in Bible, and an easily seen part of our lives in today’s world, it makes sense to talk about it a lot. Personally, I think people are getting more and more lax about it each day (a bad thing I think)
YES!! finally someone notices… all they ever talk about is sodomy and other people’s zygotes. it drives me crazy. i think it’s almost a little bit of a subliminal advertisement. like, “ugly? shy? can’t get enough sex?? that’s okay!!! here at church, we HATE sex!! come join us!! love god instead.”
but it is not that bad. but i always get a little bit of that underlying.
okay i take it back. people in general are obsessed with sex not just the church. understandable, but i think it’s weird how people like talking about it in a really sly way. let’s discuss the use of boobs in advertising and the politics of adultury in the church and whether it is moral to be naked… no, you know what, if we want to talk about sex so much why can’t we just talk about it.
YES.
Catholics think about sex every 2.4 sexonds…uh seconds
BOOBS
not really, our church hardly ever talks about sex, if ever. Personaly i don’t think the focous on it enough, its something that needs to be discussed. I’m only speaking from my own personal experiance at church. However the church camp i went to they devoted an hour and a half long Bible study to sex and purity. It was really interesting becasuse the pastor doing it talked about nearly every old testament tradition concering sex and marrage, and the pagen beliefs back then, and thie leagion of soilders who went to thses villages and rapeing girls and goats, the last part was kind of strange. It was more of a history lession in a way
This is interesting… “Western culture” as the beholder of this “inordinate obsession” and the Church performing “damage control” doesn’t seem wholly accurate. By my perspective, Western culture is derived from The Church (I’m going to assume Catholicism, since it is the Christian body I am most familiar with and the root of most other Christian practices); therefore, these cannot be seperated and the Church itself holds the obsession, as well as powers the obsession with sex into our Judeo-Christian-Islamic dominated culture. I think if Christians in general didn’t continue to uphold the view of a god which despises that which it had created, then sex would not be an obsession or taboo. Sex is a natural, necessary, biological act of procreation and pleasure– if there were to be a god, I don’t think it would hate this beautiful act between man and woman, man and man, woman and woman. In this case the myth feeds the madness and followers find sex taboo, disgusting, dirty, offensive, or secretive because they have a belief in their god desiring it hidden. Foolishly so, because another man wrote the myth– not their beloved deity. As a whole, I find this culture does have an inordinate obsession with sex because of their man-made myth, belief in an opinionated deity, and the overwhelming focus the entire Church-based, Western (Judeo-Christian-Islamic) culture has on sex.
At the root of my thought is that I personally find a belief in a god with an opinion as silly, so I think the people with this particular sexual obsession as well… quite silly themselves. Oh, the vicious circle.
Sex is good.
Everyone knows that homosexuality is the gateway sin.
It depends on who is saying what .. but basically they have ignored the rights of others’ and played a ” deaf ” ear to the more important issues.
All I will say is that I remember going to several youth functions as a kid and always hearing the same thing about saving yourself for marriage and if you’ve already given your gift away, God will forgive you and purify you. I was always thinking, “Why am I here? I haven’t even so much as kissed a guy. When are they going to talk about something relevant to ME?” I just felt like that was just about the only thing they preached on for youth-centered events and I often felt out of place because of it.
The “church” is a SINagogue of Satan
Who doesn’t? But then again, the Church speaks out against greedy covetousness, and that just falls on deaf ears. Maybe all that the Church says on sex is just picked up by those who are already obsessed with the subject.
Yeah, I think there is a lot of emphasis on sex in the church, but that could be because there is a lot of emphasis on sex in popular culture, so the church may feel the need to respond to that. Basically, sex is everywhere. This is reflected in your blog, too; you have a ton of posts relating to it.
they’re probably obsessed that they’re not getting any.
yes.
There are so many more important issues that the church should be focusing on other than sex. I think they do get a bit rediculous about it.
Anyone else find it funny that the chick’s last name is “Purves” ?
Not my Church.
Not at my church, but probably at some.
Don’t forget divorce. That’s sort of related to sex.
whoopee a whole sermon devoted to sex…I’ve heard one or two in my day. They want to make the church community aware of what’s going on, and preaching about it and showing the points in the bible where things are wrong. There’s nothing wrong with it, and the pastor has the children dismissed for sunday school in the middle of the sermon so an not to undermine the parents authority on their knowledge of it if they weren’t ready.
Sex is out there, so’s homosexuality, the bible preaches against that, and warns of sexual immorality, what’s wrong with letting the people know what the bible teaches? There’s no obsession…it’s the homosexual community that makes it such a big deal that it gets blown out of proportion….and the world is shocked that the word sex is used in church.
I’d rather my kid hear a biblical standpoint on it than be told about it at school in a secular setting.
Pretty much. I don’t know if I’d call it an obsession, but there is a lack of balance. Many problems need to be addressed within the church (greed, hypocrisy, etc.), not just sex.
another thing too: the world changes, but the bible doesn’t. the church can’t mold itself to the world……which is why on the outside people think they’re stuffed shirts.
The Church is obsessed with sex.
Sex sex sex.
The Church does not ignore other issues. It takes such a strong stand on sexuality, I feel, for everal reason. Firstly, it is the wordly source of human life; sex is where people come from. Secondly, it is something that most people, rich or poor, engage in. Not everyone can abuse drugs or alcohol, but just about anyone can abuse sexuality. In this age, especially in the United States, sexuality has long been regarded with little respect. People forget how precious and important it is as a great and wonderful gift from God and how much responsibility is involved with sex. Life comes from sex; it is not just an act of pleasure with an “unfortunate” side effect of children. Sex is enjoyable, yes, but that is not what is most important about sex. The life-bringing nature of it is most important, and much of our world seems reluctant to accept that. They would rather stop and/or ignore that fact completely. It’s really quite sad. But, this is all only my opinion, and I do not yet know enough about the Church’s full position to be able to speak for it.
And the Church doesn’t hate sex.
Maybe some of the church does. The Bible focuses a lot on sex, to enjoy marital sex and to avoid sexual sin, so the church isn’t wrong to teach about sex (assuming you believe in biblical Christianity). It’s wrong when churches act like sex inside marriage is dirty, or ignore Scripture’s other teachings (like spreading the gospel and feeding the poor.)
No.
Sex is an important part of life. There is a whole book in the Bible about it!
i think everyone on this planet is obsessed with sex- including me
“Western culture is derived from The Church (I’m going to assume Catholicism, since it is the Christian body I am most familiar with and the root of most other Christian practices); therefore, these cannot be seperated and the Church itself holds the obsession, as well as powers the obsession with sex into our Judeo-Christian-Islamic dominated culture. I think if Christians in general didn’t continue to uphold the view of a god which despises that which it had created, then sex would not be an obsession or taboo. Sex is a natural, necessary, biological act of procreation and pleasure– if there were to be a god, I don’t think it would hate this beautiful act between man and woman, man and man, woman and woman…
Sex is good.”
Posted 2/21/2007 5:50 PM by ktandie
Ah, where to begin?
A) Western culture as it exists today can hardly be considered synonymous with the Church. Currently the culture is not dominated by Judeo-Christian-Islamic mentality but by postmodern pseudo-Buddhist “spirituality” which is anything the person wants it to be and has no objective overarching Truth to guide it.
B) The Christian God does not “despise” the act he created. On the contrary. The biblical Christian view is that sexual intercourse is beautiful and wonderful and sacred. The taboos placed on sex are placed on it because it is beautiful and wonderful and sacred, not because God is some sort of cosmic killjoy.
Food, too, is a beautiful thing, and consumption of food is meant to be pleasureful. But if one were to go eating out of moderation until one became obese, or if one were to rub the food on one’s body instead of eating it, the pleasure of the food would be diminished because it is being treated in a way it was not intended.
That is the Christian view of sexual taboos–that they are not the way sex was meant to be and therefore will diminish the pleasure and abuse a sacred and holy thing.
C) You are right. Sex is good. So good, in fact, that it’s worth waiting for.
A) Western culture as it exists today can hardly be considered synonymous with the Church. Currently the culture is not dominated by Judeo-Christian-Islamic mentality but by postmodern pseudo-Buddhist “spirituality” which is anything the person wants it to be and has no objective overarching Truth to guide it.
Is this perhaps, the result of our personal perspectives? Perhaps we’re both generalizing this too much… in my personal view, most (let’s say 90% approximately) people I know in my life are practicioners of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic culture and teachings; not of the “pseudo-Buddhist ‘spirituality’” persuasion. I also live in Texas, which I’m sure impacts my view further. I do feel that culture is guided by The Church, at least, by looking at how people are raising their children– a very large indication of how culture is passing. By “Western Culture” I think of Europe, the Middle East, and West– where the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition was born, thrived, and imported into the United States. Therefore, our culture here in the United States has been born of Christianity; the Church.
Worth waiting for… what? Marriage? That to me, is absurd and downright laughable. I personally like to test drive my ride first; furthermore, marriage is an institution I am NOT looking forward to, but my biology craves sex. So I’m going to satisfy my desires. To a Christian, this is wordly. To me– agnostic, and scientifically minded– so what?
I appreciate how diverse the commentors are on your Xanga, Dan. Nice draw.
God created sex… sex is a gift from God… sex is good… sex can be abused… the gift can be perverted (changed from its intended purpose)… God doesn’t want us to abuse sex, not because he is a meanie and is waiting for us to break his rules so he can smite us, rather, he doesn’t want us to abuse sex because He knows the pain it will cause us if we do… even the atheists I’ve polled say that sex is more than a physical act.
You say the church has an obsession with sex, does that explain the multi-billion dollar pornography industry? does it explain the adverts using sex to sell everything from butter to cars? no, the church doesn’t have an obsession with sex, people have an obsession with sex… the church is made up of people… so there you have it…
i’m catholic and all, and i’d agree that they do miss some of the more important issues because of their obsession with sex. but sometimes they just fuck stuff up.
Nope.
The Church herself is not overly concerned with sex, rather the society that it is set within, is obsessed with sex, sexual attraction, sexual infatuation, and perversions of sexual intercourse.
no, sex is in the media ALOT! so it gets talked about, ALOT!
Sex is an important issue. And the chuch, in general, has a pretty unhealthy approach overall. But so does our culture.
eh… i think sexual sins are more prone for the media to attack or attach too. It is not often that lying, gossip, gambling or the like would get as much news converage as a sexual scandel, especially a minister, who is supposed to be holy, perfect… blah blah blah. yes, leaders should be responsable but they are NOT perfect, they are HUMAN and still live in the FLESH. It shows a lack of good biblical theology and doctrine to say otherwise.
so, Yes AND NO!!! ha ha
- Daniel (doubledb)
“A) Western culture as it exists today can hardly be considered synonymous with the Church. Currently the culture is not dominated by Judeo-Christian-Islamic mentality but by postmodern pseudo-Buddhist “spirituality” which is anything the person wants it to be and has no objective overarching Truth to guide it.
Judeo-Christian principles are not part of Western Culture? Is it not against the law to commit murder (thou shalt not kill)? Is it not against the law to participate in theft (thou shalt not steal)? Is it not against the law to be an accessory to a crime and not report the truth; to perjure; to commit identity fraud (thou shalt not bear false witness)? I know there is a post-modernist view on many things in today’s society, namely relativism.
B) The Christian God does not “despise” the act he created….The biblical Christian view is that sexual intercourse is beautiful and wonderful and sacred. The taboos placed on sex are placed on it because it is beautiful and wonderful and sacred, not because God is some sort of cosmic killjoy. In complete agreement here.
[...]
C) You are right. Sex is good. So good, in fact, that it’s worth waiting for. Amazing, then that some people choose to never experience it while other squander it the first opportunity they get.
Posted 2/21/2007 6:59 PM by ChrisRusso “
Oh god, yes… and not in a natural “sex is a normal part of life” sort of way. They are obsessed with their own ideas about the extreme sinfulness of sex. Maybe they ought to shut up about sex long enough to think about the sin of judging other people’s personal decisions.
Yes.
They have an inordinate obsession with abortion
another thing too: the world changes, but the bible doesn’t. the church can’t mold itself to the world……which is why on the outside people think they’re stuffed shirts.
Posted 2/21/2007 6:41 PM by Loves_Quest
I’ve seen it do it. “Oh, Evolution has a ton of facts in it’s favor? Well, then God set it in motion!”
I assume when you refer to “the church” you are talking about the Catholic church? Or do you mean God’s church which is the people who believe in God? Name me what part of society that IS NOT obsessed with sex?
sex is one of the main reasons we’re alive…so i think a reasonable amount of talk about sex is perfectly natural. I think the church feels like it doesnt have as much power as it used to, so it wants to stir up discussion, i guess.
whether that is the cause of ingoring or not, they do ignore very important issues…or as pointed out to me tonight, the world is ending soon so the issues wont matter much longer. Well, great stand. I proud of that statement. It is profound, intellectual, and has much deep thought behind it…
This isnt a bias
Derek
Titties are where it’s at. Jesus is just jealous.
no.
i hear about the issue only when it is brought up usually.
I think a large part of the problem is that our culture is obsessed with sex, and so it is one of the most controversial issues no matter what type of organization you are. It’s worse with a lot of churches because of their traditionally conservative views on the subject. People today are too quick to throw out anything they see as “outdated” without examining why it was put there in the first place.
Well conservative churches do, they seem to get caught up in morals issues to a point of obsession, and sex is by far the favourite one to pass judgment on.
The church has to combat the things which are most prevalent in our society.
no
I suppose with a last name like Purves you probably need to think that everyone else is obsessed with sex to make yourself feel better. Or something.
20% of the 10 commandments focused on sex.
I think the Roman Catholic Church focuses on issues that are at the forefront of society. Our society puts sex into everything and so the church must address these issues. Just because the RCC states these does not mean that it can forget the corpal or spiritual works of mercy nor do they. The RCC is at the lead in protecting unborn children, advocating for immigrant and worker rights, providing food and water to illigal aliens in the SW USA, and helping inner city poor get a meal. They were in the lead with helping children get adopted, but many states are forcing them out of business since they are requiring them to violate their moral code.
my church doesn’t.
i think the church is no more obsessed with sex than the average person. as people we are naturally obsessed with sex. its human nature.
lyssa, the yellow one
“Is this perhaps, the result of our personal perspectives? Perhaps we’re both generalizing this too much… in my personal view, most (let’s say 90% approximately) people I know in my life are practicioners of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic culture and teachings; not of the “pseudo-Buddhist ‘spirituality’” persuasion. I also live in Texas, which I’m sure impacts my view further. I do feel that culture is guided by The Church, at least, by looking at how people are raising their children– a very large indication of how culture is passing. By “Western Culture” I think of Europe, the Middle East, and West– where the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition was born, thrived, and imported into the United States. Therefore, our culture here in the United States has been born of Christianity; the Church.
Worth waiting for… what? Marriage? That to me, is absurd and downright laughable. I personally like to test drive my ride first; furthermore, marriage is an institution I am NOT looking forward to, but my biology craves sex. So I’m going to satisfy my desires. To a Christian, this is wordly. To me– agnostic, and scientifically minded– so what?”
Posted 2/21/2007 7:14 PM by ktandie
Ah, see, that explains it a bit. I’m in New York, here, where most of our “Christians” hit church once a year and don’t even know what their own faith believes. In my region, to say that any religion guides the bulk of the culture is laughable. I’d say the statistics are reversed–let’s say 10% of the people I run into are a devout anything.
If you expand it as you have, the Middle East, sure, they’ve got a powerful Muslim influence, but they’re not considered part of the West. And Europe? Christianity’s dying in Europe. I visited churches in England and they had attendance of like two or three, even though the state funds the churches… There are more African Anglicans in the single nation of Nigeria than there are in the entirety of Europe and North America combined, and this is the “Church of England” we’re talking about… Even if Christianity was once a Western religion, it wasn’t originally (Middle-Eastern), and it isn’t anymore.
As for the marriage issue… When your desires are sated, I think you will eventually find beneath them a craving for something deeper. There are many factors involved in this sort of thing–like the Law of Diminishing Returns, our human desire for security and intimacy and permanence. Sex is so much more than biology and desire. It was originally intended as the ultimate expression of love (short of dying for a loved one). And so your idea of “test-driving” is (to my perspective) akin to reading the ending of a mystery first, or secretly opening Christmas presents the night before: you may find it a less enjoyable experience in the long run.
Forget the Christian designation of premarital sex being “worldly.” If you’re not a Christian then the opinions and designations of Christians shouldn’t matter. I don’t expect non-Christians to act like Christians. What matters more from your perspective is the Christian warning of premarital sex being damaging and dangerous to your own well-being.
Christ said he came to give people abundant life. When Christianity says not to do something, it’s not because God doesn’t want people to have fun and joy, but because if we do things His way we’ll have better fun and fuller joy.
pretty much everything about sex is a sin…so whats the point?
better yet…everythings a sin.
the best Christians are dead.
probably.
where do ppl come up w/ this stuff?
Definitely. But then religion is an unhealthy addiction to begin with.
Pfft, the CHURCH is obsessed with sex? Have you taken a look at the media, and how it affects people? “10 ways to improve your sex life!” “Is your vagina happy?” “How to have longer orgasms!”. Oh, please. The Church is just responding to all the sex obsession in America. The Church isn’t scolding you and make you be a “prude”, contrary to popular belief. As hard as it may seem to imagine, they want you to be happy. Sleeping around and being at risk for pregnancy, HIV viruses, and abortions doesn’t sound all that great to me. People have no idea what type of problems sex with more than one person causes.
Take a look: http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m230/Tallon5/sexualexpchart.jpg. There have actually been studies done on this.
Yeah, there’s pressing issues – does that mean the church doesn’t look at them? No, it doesn’t.
“Everyone’s doing it.” Really now? Last time I noticed, that wasn’t quite so. But yeah, sex is an important part of life. So everyone, not just the Church, is rather focused on it.
“Oh, Evolution has a ton of facts in it’s favor? Well, then God set it in motion!”
Posted 2/21/2007 7:53 PM by ryoma136
Yeah, because evolution totally disproves God. After all, if evolution really is so true, it can’t possibly be that over 3/4 of the population are all just stubborn and ignorant and the rest, atheists, are enlightened.
Yeah…I’m a Christian and all, but all the crud about how homosexual people are the devil…UGHH. People like that are just jusgemental because they were taught to be like that. Pet peeve numero uno — closed – mindedness..
Posted 2/21/2007 5:08 PM by WAAAH000
One more thing. I have never heard a Christian call a homosexual “the devil” or an otherwise offensive term. In fact, my brother, who’s atheist, calls homosexuals fags. But I’m sure he’s part of the minority of atheists. Therefore, don’t say that all Christians hate homosexuals, either, because we don’t. My best friends are gay, and while I may not accept their views, that doesn’t mean I want to cut their heads off for being “evil”.
Do not nearly all human beings try to avoid the difficult in favor of the easy?
No, because it’s just changing to fit what today’s society focuses on [sex]
I, quite frankly, do not care what “the church” says. I do care what scripture says because that is all I have to follow. I can read and understand for myself. If I don’t understand, I pray about it, and wait until God makes it clear. Each “church” (as in building or denomination) has their own set of rules and regulations. However, God says those who believe in His Son, Jesus, make up the true church. For that, we have the scriptures to follow. The scriptures are pretty balanced on whatever you might need to know. There is sex all through the Bible. There are also passages on finances, home care, work, raising your children, helping widows and orphans, gluttony, eating right, music and poetry, birth, death, and eternal life. If you look at the Bible as a guidebook, I really don’t think you need to look at what a formal group becomes obsessed about. The Scriptures speak loud and clear.
doesn’t everybody?!
ahahaha.
ok that was in bad taste.
No, I would say that they seem to be more about resisting temptation than sex itself.
Why man, not only Christian church but the entire Western world is obsessed with sex, the latter having been brainwashed and tainted by the former.
First it quotes a generalised directive from the book of Genesis, “go forth and multiply,” to demand incessant copulation and child bearing, then it cites Christ’s unmarried status – of which there is no certainty – to praise the virtue of celibacy (80% of the Christian world is Catholic, by the way, so -thought the protestants may howl – Christian and Catholic are 80% the same thing.)
Christ himself said much about the power that created us, and little about sex, as did Prophet Mohammed and the Buddha. When asked to give a ruling a ruling on an adulterous woman, he famously got her off the hook by kicking the question onto a higher level: “let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”
well,
I don’t think the church completely neglects other issues…
it’s just sex, or at least premarital sex is for pleasure. just like drinking or smoking. it feels good. so the church believe that if you have the Lord, why would you need these things? plus sex is dirty.
It has an obsession with sex, but probably not an inordinate one. “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”
I Corinthians 6:18-20
An argument can still be made that they’re not fulfilling the other goals/objectives of the church, but sexual sin is serious sin.
i guess so.. are there any other issues that the church shud be focusing on??
well i think so…i dont really ave a reason this time haha
I don’t follow the RC Church that closely. From what I can gather though, I wouldn’t call it an “inordinate obsession.” The Bible says certain things about sexuality. They should stand behind those things.
The whole celibate priest thing, though, isn’t in the Bible, so I’m not wild about that.
I’d never name my son Libby.
Sex is a definite obsession with our society as a whole, religious and non-religious.
The church is a fundamentally perverted institution.
IDK if people didn’t get preggers in the first place there wouldn’t be as many abortions.
Ohhhhhhhh
Idk, the church should reconcile the Ideal with reality and unfortunatly there are compromises that must be made
PEOPLE are obsessed with sex.
Are you kidding? The topic is so prevalent because sex is everywhere you go. Obviously they’re teaching re: things that need to be addressed, thus it’s spoken about a heck of a lot.
And actually, there are very fewq churches I have been to that have really touched one the subject. I think it needs to be talked about because for so long it was such a hush hush thimng…. but it’s reality these days and we can’t pretend it’s not because then you have ppl not receiving accountability (for meany reasons, yes I know) and falling.
YES! And let’s not forget the church’s obsession that there’s no way on God’s green earth that Jesus could have ever had sex or have been married AND still could have been the messiah.
Libby Purves is lady, by the way. Nice to see her doing more journalism rather than her radio presenting (she works for the BBC) and also, as she and her TV presenter husband live near where I do, sometimes shops in my shop! Seems to be a nice lady.
As far as the church goes, seems to me “it” spends a lot of time worrying about what people do in private far too much.
In my very limited opinion (I’m only 34 and worked at a church for 6 years with young adults) the church has a skewed view of sex that is in large part shaped by socially conservative and yet theologically liberal groups like Focus on the Family, etc.
Handy Hint: Libby Purves is a She, not a He. Libby is short for Elizabeth in Britain.