AMDG
Presentation as a member of a panel on “Human Sexuality” at the
University of Rio Grande on February 21, 2013.
Televised live by the University of Rio Grande on Time-Warner Cable
which covers the campus, the village of Rio Grande, Wellston, and Jackson,
Ohio.
HUMAN SEXUALITY: A CHRISTIAN POINT OF VIEW
I would like to present to you a Catholic
Christian perspective on human sexuality that may be new to some of you since
much of it goes against today's secular culture. No matter what your opinion is, every college
graduate should be aware of the conflicting points of view in our society.
Sex as God intended is pure and
beautiful! The abuse of sex is
evil.......and causes a host of other evils in our society and in our
midst......too numerous to mention in the limited time I have here.
There is nothing more beautiful than on
that wedding night, for the first time and always.......she exclusively for him
and he exclusively for her. But today
with recreational sex so common in the college hook up culture, so often it's a
matter of what else is new? It's old
stuff and the wedding is not as fulfilling.
The probability of a lasting marriage is
much greater when the man and the woman go into it as virgins. According to an article in the Wall Street
Journal, divorce is over 50% more likely when the couple has cohabited before
marriage. Why? Because as they state it, the couple goes
into marriage with a renter's mentality.
Before marriage, the attitude is, “We can always break up”; there is no
commitment. After marriage that same
mentality continues and divorce is the result when they hit the inevitable
rough spots.
When a couple has sex for the first time
on that wedding night, it's a new and shared experience, much more meaningful
that seals the marital bond and strengthens it.
Theology of the Body. One of the
major contributions of John Paul II was his introduction of the “Theology of
the Body”, a restating of Church teaching on human sexuality in a more
positive, vibrant, and beautiful way. He
affirmed that the sex act is a complete self-giving of the man to the woman and
vice versa. This makes marriage not
50-50, but 100-100......a complete commitment of love and service until death
do they part, no matter how tough things get.
In the ideal, it’s dying to self. This mutual self-giving and commitment, the
marriage covenant are renewed each time the couple engages in the joy and
pleasure of intimate marital relations.
To do that, to really mean it, and to put it into practice can only
solidify a marriage and help it to weather any marital storm that may occur.
Through the sex act, husband and wife
become one flesh, the most intimate union possible between a man and a woman. This is the unitive aspect. The product of that intimate union under God
may be another human being with great dignity. By being open to children, even
with natural family planning, the couple confides in the will of God and
cooperates with Him in the possible creation of a real person with a tremendous
dignity because that baby, born or unborn, is created according to the image
and likeness of God with a special purpose in life and for eternity. We call this participation with God in creating
a human being as procreation. Thus the
gift of sex is sacred, not to be abused.......not to simply be used for fun,
going from one partner to another. That
promiscuous mentality makes mutual self-giving a joke because it's a “what's in
it for me?” attitude……in other words, old fashioned selfishness. .
Recreational sex is a big lie,
empty of meaning. According to the
Theology of the Body, recreational sex is using another person as an
object for one's own selfish pleasure. That
is a gross violation of the dignity of the person. Saying that young people are incapable of
controlling themselves unwittingly puts them at the level of animals, who are
guided by instinct rather than a rational free will. Usually the single woman looks for love and
commitment in sex; the single man looks for conquest and pleasure. The guy gets what he wants and the woman is
cheated by a smooth line, only getting a broken heart out of it.
Even if the couple is going steady and think they are committed and marriage seems to be not far off, I would strongly advise: WAIT! You won't regret it. Breakups are all too common and the bond is not as strong if they do get married. If the couple has the self-discipline and mutual respect to be chaste before marriage, the probability of being faithful and committed after marriage is much greater.
Even if the couple is going steady and think they are committed and marriage seems to be not far off, I would strongly advise: WAIT! You won't regret it. Breakups are all too common and the bond is not as strong if they do get married. If the couple has the self-discipline and mutual respect to be chaste before marriage, the probability of being faithful and committed after marriage is much greater.
Common is the guy who brags in the
locker room about all of his conquests.
Interesting is that many if not most of them still have the ideal that they
want the future mother of their children to be a virgin before marriage. Be men and women of God; maintain the
beautiful ideal of purity. Your friends
might make fun of you and you may not be popular, but they will respect you,
especially the true man or true woman, the type that you would want to be your
future spouse for good.
Believe me! Wait until marriage and save yourself for the
man or woman that is meant for you.
Don't give yourself to one person after another. Even if you are not a virgin now, you can
still become a secondary virgin by resolving to be chaste from now until
marriage. You won't regret it and you'll
have a better marriage, a more satisfying and more fulfilling one when the
right man or woman comes along.
The Challenge. Almost 50 years ago, our country went through a sexual revolution that created the mess we're in now.....rampant STDs in epidemic proportions with often permanent effects (35 different ones), unwed mothers, divorce (half of all marriages), about a million abortions per year. I challenge you to be part of a new sexual revolution.......to put the gift of sex in its proper place as God intended. Thank you.
The Challenge. Almost 50 years ago, our country went through a sexual revolution that created the mess we're in now.....rampant STDs in epidemic proportions with often permanent effects (35 different ones), unwed mothers, divorce (half of all marriages), about a million abortions per year. I challenge you to be part of a new sexual revolution.......to put the gift of sex in its proper place as God intended. Thank you.
Rebuttal
*The Bible is
explicit about sexual sin in Sodom and Gomorra in the Old Testament and in
Corinthians in the New Testament.
According to the Bible, the people of Sodom and Gomorra “did what was
right in their own minds”. That of
course is moral relativism that denies absolute truth.
*The Church has nothing
against those with homosexual tendencies.
However, it cannot condone acting it out nor the lifestyle. Homosexual sex is wrong and heterosexual sex outside
of marriage is wrong. Homosexual
marriage is wrong because there is no complementarity. It is unnatural and not intended by God. The primary purpose is pleasure. Yes, it is a sacrifice for a homosexual to
remain celibate just as it is a sacrifice for a heterosexual religious or
unmarried layperson to remain celibate.
But that is a path toward sanctity.
*They have found no
definite genetic link to homosexuality.
Conservative Christian psychologists say that boys without a strong
father are at risk for homosexuality.
There are psychologists who claim that that good therapy can change a
homosexual orientation.
Closing Statement
*I was in the Kroeger
Supermarket this morning and stumbled upon US Weekly Magazine. Its feature article caught my eye: “The
Virgin Bachelor”. It’s about Sean Lowe,
the movie star, actually a born again Virgin, i.e., a secondary virgin. A caption on the cover continues: “The girls
are stunned to learn Sean’s saving himself for marriage. Can his fiancé endure the wait?” I ask: why not? Then that marriage will be a lot more
satisfying. Sean Lowe has taken a giant
step in the new sexual revolution. Will
you take the next step in the new sexual revolution? Thank you.
Additional
Comments to Use in the Discussion
The
Consequences of the Abuses of Sex are many:
ñ Sexually
Transmitted Diseases - over 35 of them.
Condoms do not protect against many if not most STDs, including
AIDS. We have an epidemic of STDs. One of them is said to cause cervical
cancer. Would you have so called “safe
sex” with someone with AIDS? Condoms do
not provide safe sex, only safer sex.
According to J. Everett Coup, a former Surgeon General of the United
States, said: “They slip; they rip; they
tear; and they have minute holes in them, large enough for the HIV virus to
pass through.” Isn't that playing
Russian Roulette?
ñ Unplanned
Pregnancies - The failure rate of condoms is somewhere around 10% in
preventing pregnancy. Natural Family
Planning, if done correctly, is as least as effective. There's quality problems with condoms,
especially if they are stored at high temperatures or deteriorate in some kid's
wallet, waiting for his “opportunity”.
Google “the link between abortion and breast cancer” and “the link
between the pill and breast cancer”.
ñ Abortion
– Over 50 million of them since the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision
legalizing abortion. There is
considerable evidence that links the pill, an abortificent, with breast cancer.
ñ Adultery
& Higher Divorce Rates with the consequence of broken families. Most marriages end up in divorce.
ñ Pornography
– a common addiction among men.
James Dobson had a numer of interviews with Ted Bundy, the serial killer
on death row. Bundy admitted that it all
started with porn…….soft porn is not enough.
Next is hard porn and that is not enough to satisfy the addiction, just
like with drugs. Find me a rapist who
was not on porn. I’m not saying that every
person on porn will become a rapist, but the probability increases the deeper
he gets into porn.
ñ Sex
Crimes as Rape and Serial Murders
ñ Guilt
& Loss of Reputation as with
fallen congressman.
ñ Prostitution
ñ Single
Mothers Abandoned by the Fathers, who often must take low paying jobs to
support the child or children.
ñ Cohabitation
and unstable relationships
