Why are Christians such prudes?

[seekingagnostic32]

It's not just Christians, but religious people in general. I find they are very prudish when it comes to matters of sexuality, the human body and so on. Very repressed. In countries where Christianity and religion are not dominant, the people experience a lot less guilt and repression over their human desires. But in nations like America, where Christianity is the majority of the populace, sexuality is stifled, repressed and people are made to be ashamed of their bodies and carnal desires. I'm just wondering why that is exactly.

The views of birth control being sinful, sex being sinful, the human body being sinful and needing to be covered up at all times is very real within Christianity and most religions in general. I don't understand it at all. I never have, even when I was a practicing fundamentalist Christian.

I know grown adult Christian women that are fearful of holding hands lest it lead to... God knows what. How does that work? I don't know. But it remains that I have met many a Christian who think it's sinful and evil to even kiss prior to marriage. Some may think it's cute; I think it's crazy. (Not to mention grossly unrealistic in our day and age! But that's another matter entirely.)

I just want to know why Christians are so prudish when it comes to this aspect of life. Thoughts?

 

[1watchman]

Probably, the reason is that many who claim to be Christians are not true "born again" belivers in Jesus Christ (see Matt. 7:21). Real believers always want to keep the Word and honor the Lord.

 

[ChristianT]

That sex in it's natural form are not sinful, as it is from G*d. But seldom in America or anywhere in the world do you see its intended purpose and setting take place / occur. In many cases, we have taken it and twisted to meet our (in general throughout time, not any one people at any one time like Israel, Germany, America, etc) desires and pleasures than what it was intended for- marriage.

Sure, couples should date first to see if they are compatible and committed before marriage, but as Christians, we need to remember that when we do date, this woman/man may be someone else's future spouse. While we are courting, we should treat them with the respect (emotionally, personally, sexually) that we'd want our possible future spouses to receive from their dates.

Peace

 

[leftrightleftrightleft]

But in nations like America, where Christianity is the majority of the populace, sexuality is stifled, repressed and people are made to be ashamed of their bodies and carnal desires.

Remind me again where Playboy, Hollywood, Cosmopolitan Magazine, and the motto "Sex Sells" came from?

I wouldn't really say sex is all that "repressed" in America. Its pretty much plastered everywhere. In every ad, movie and TV show.

What country do you live in? Where are you getting these bizarre views of America being "sexually repressed"?

I just want to know why Christians are so prudish when it comes to this aspect of life. Thoughts?

Because sex is meant to hold spiritual value. The body is a temple. I just recently got called a prude and I took it as a compliment.

Although the no-holding-hand-rule and no-kissing rule seems a bit extreme to me. I think you should still be physically attracted to your partner whether married or dating and I think you should be able to express that attraction in some ways. And lets be serious...I'm a 22 year old guy

 

[elopez]

OP,

What does anothers sexual life have to do with you? Why do you really care who is sexually active and who isn't? I don't get it...

 

[seekingagnostic32]

OP,

What does anothers sexual life have to do with you? Why do you really care who is sexually active and who isn't? I don't get it...

Fair question.

Because I want to be a Christian, so I need to know the ground rules and why I have to adopt such a prudish attitude towards these things before I convert entirely. If I'm required to mentally castrate myself (figure of speak only), then I had at least know WHY I am doing so, yes?

 

[seekingagnostic32]

Remind me again where Playboy, Hollywood, Cosmopolitan Magazine, and the motto "Sex Sells" came from?

I wouldn't really say sex is all that "repressed" in America. Its pretty much plastered everywhere. In every ad, movie and TV show.

What country do you live in? Where are you getting these bizarre views of America being "sexually repressed"?



Because sex is meant to hold spiritual value. The body is a temple. I just recently got called a prude and I took it as a compliment.

Although the no-holding-hand-rule and no-kissing rule seems a bit extreme to me. I think you should still be physically attracted to your partner whether married or dating and I think you should be able to express that attraction in some ways. And lets be serious...I'm a 22 year old guy

America IS sexually repressed, go live in Europe. I'm not from the U.S. anyhow, thankfully.

Teen pregnancy is huge in the U.S. yet America is 90% Christian (as far as most polls go). How does that work? It is clear sexual repression DOESN'T work.

As Christians, we're told to hate our bodies, and everything natural.

I just don't understand. It reminds me of a death cult, no offense. In a death cult, people become obsessed with death, heaven/the afterlife, etc. and they shun anything that is focused on producing life. Sex is the ultimate life producing act, yet we are to hate it. Why is that?

 

[98cwitr]

Here are your answers:

Mark 7:21
For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder,

Acts 15:20
Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.

Romans 13:13
Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.

1 Corinthians 6:12
“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything.

1 Corinthians 6:13
You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

1 Corinthians 6:18
Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.

1 Corinthians 7:2
But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband.

1 Corinthians 10:8
We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.

How did they die? STDs I assume....AIDS kills 43 people per day alone. (CDC Vital Signs - New Hope for Stopping HIV)

Galatians 5:19-21
New International Version (NIV)
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

You are a sinner OP, just like a true Christian was. You are dead in your sins, just as a true Christian was. The fact is that this is your present, while this is their past. They have been reborn of the Spirit (Titus 3:5, John 3) through faith in Jesus Christ. Through this rebirth, they have unwavering faith in the One whom God sent....Jesus Christ. His blood is sufficient to cleanse all sins for all eternity, by which eternal life is obtained irrevocably.

No one is saved unless being reborn of the Spirit of God. This is work of God, and the work of Christ is that He paid for the transgressions of all those who will be redeemed to God through Him (John 6).

Repent and believe...as I pray you and I both do.

 

[elopez]

Fair question.

Because I want to be a Christian, so I need to know the ground rules and why I have to adopt such a prudish attitude towards these things before I convert entirely. If I'm required to mentally castrate myself (figure of speak only), then I had at least know WHY I am doing so, yes?

You know, historically "prude" had connotations of being noble. I believe it became the opposite the more and more sexuality with multiple partners became acceptable in society. Because let's face it, you come off as if being a prude is somehow a negative trait as you do not hold to the same moral values as one who you would call a prude.

I'll tell you what it means to me in regards to sexuality. I don't go out looking for girls to have sex with, and even if I were to come across such a situation, I would deny it. If that is being considered a prude then so be it but I don't think going out and having multiple partners is any more moral. I guess you could say I "mentally castrate" myself from society, but that doesn't mean I have no intentions of acting as if I am literally castrated.

Sex just isn't that big of a deal to me.

 

[elopez]

Also, as Christians we are not to hate our body in any way but in fact treat as a temple of God. Neither is sex to be hated in the same degree as God told Adam and Eve to fill the earth. As a life producing act, that's the only Christian purpose of sex.

 

[seekingagnostic32]

Here are your answers:

Mark 7:21
For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder,

Acts 15:20
Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.

Romans 13:13
Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.

1 Corinthians 6:12
“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything.

1 Corinthians 6:13
You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

1 Corinthians 6:18
Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.

1 Corinthians 7:2
But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband.

1 Corinthians 10:8
We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.

How did they die? STDs I assume....AIDS kills 43 people per day alone. (CDC Vital Signs - New Hope for Stopping HIV)

Galatians 5:19-21
New International Version (NIV)
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

You are a sinner OP, just like a true Christian was. You are dead in your sins, just as a true Christian was. The fact is that this is your present, while this is their past. They have been reborn of the Spirit (Titus 3:5, John 3) through faith in Jesus Christ. Through this rebirth, they have unwavering faith in the One whom God sent....Jesus Christ. His blood is sufficient to cleanse all sins for all eternity, by which eternal life is obtained irrevocably.

No one is saved unless being reborn of the Spirit of God. This is work of God, and the work of Christ is that He paid for the transgressions of all those who will be redeemed to God through Him (John 6).

Repent and believe...as I pray you and I both do.

So, sex is evil?

Hmm, anyway. I have no interest in joining a Calvinist Baptist church, although I am tempted to one day stop by one to see exactly how awful I might find their services. Perhaps I'll do that and get back to you. I find their theology disgusting.

 

[seekingagnostic32]

I swear, religion makes no sense.

It's like asking a leopard to become a camel. No sense at all.

But it is fun to watch leopards struggle to become camels as they often do in this analogy.

 

[grasping the after wind]

It's not just Christians, but religious people in general. I find they are very prudish when it comes to matters of sexuality, the human body and so on. Very repressed. In countries where Christianity and religion are not dominant, the people experience a lot less guilt and repression over their human desires. But in nations like America, where Christianity is the majority of the populace, sexuality is stifled, repressed and people are made to be ashamed of their bodies and carnal desires. I'm just wondering why that is exactly.

The views of birth control being sinful, sex being sinful, the human body being sinful and needing to be covered up at all times is very real within Christianity and most religions in general. I don't understand it at all. I never have, even when I was a practicing fundamentalist Christian.

I know grown adult Christian women that are fearful of holding hands lest it lead to... God knows what. How does that work? I don't know. But it remains that I have met many a Christian who think it's sinful and evil to even kiss prior to marriage. Some may think it's cute; I think it's crazy. (Not to mention grossly unrealistic in our day and age! But that's another matter entirely.)

I just want to know why Christians are so prudish when it comes to this aspect of life. Thoughts?

I am always somewhat bemused by the term " our day and age". Please explain how the calender has any relevance to sexual morality. If you are frustrated because some Christians will not acquiesce to your sexual advances do you really think that the date has any relevance to this? Perhaps your approach is not attractive to the object of your affection and they use religion as an excuse?

 

[grasping the after wind]

What the hell are you talking about?

Your approach may be less than subtle. I can't say for sure, but from how you come off in this forum I would not discount the idea. I'm not usually one to give tips in these matters , but perhaps you might find a more receptive audience in the non Christian community?

 

[razeontherock]

Fair question.

Because I want to be a Christian, so I need to know the ground rules and why I have to adopt such a prudish attitude towards these things before I convert entirely. If I'm required to mentally castrate myself (figure of speak only), then I had at least know WHY I am doing so, yes?

This makes your thread more than fair. This is THE most difficult aspect of all of Christianity, for many.

There are lots of valid answers, and they'll all probably help you at some time. One way of looking at it, is the physical bond of a man and a woman is to represent G-d and His Church. This is not some one night stand, and if it were all our hopes would be crushed - eternally.

This is a big aspect of what Christianity IS: our actions are to establish His Kingdom. Let that sink in ...

There's a reason this is called a "high calling"

 

[razeontherock]

As Christians, we're told to hate our bodies, and everything natural.

I just don't understand. It reminds me of a death cult, no offense. In a death cult, people become obsessed with death, heaven/the afterlife, etc. and they shun anything that is focused on producing life. Sex is the ultimate life producing act, yet we are to hate it. Why is that?

What you are questioning here is gnosticism, not Christianity. I suggest learning the difference! Once you do, certain portions of Scripture make a lot more sense, esp John.

 

[razeontherock]

I swear, religion makes no sense.

It's like asking a leopard to become a camel. No sense at all.

But it is fun to watch leopards struggle to become camels as they often do in this analogy.

God has logic: "come, let us reason together."

The first stages of Christianity feel very much like a put-on: "put ye on the Lord Christ."

We indeed go through a metamorphosis: "renewing the mind."

There are many Scriptural 'pictures' of the end result, but a very relevant one for you is Galatians 5, the fruit of the Spirit.

 

[Heidiii]

Sex isn't "evil". It is reserved for married couples to share intimacy and of course to have children.

Why is that an issue anyway? Premarital sex is not only a problem in terms of the Lord, it's also got its issues from a practical point of view.
- Unplanned pregnancies
- Can lead to abortions
- Can ruin a female's career as she is now a mom before she was ready to be one
- STD's
- Worse when people are with more different people
- Some STD's are essentially a death sentence
- Embarassment/ regret
- Especially where alcohol was involved

Seriously,there's a whole bunch of reasons it's best reserved for married couples, without even looking at the Christianity side of it! The solution to these problems is obvious.

 

[seekingagnostic32]

God has logic: "come, let us reason together."

The first stages of Christianity feel very much like a put-on: "put ye on the Lord Christ."

We indeed go through a metamorphosis: "renewing the mind."

There are many Scriptural 'pictures' of the end result, but a very relevant one for you is Galatians 5, the fruit of the Spirit.

I love Galatians 5. But one question: How come almost no Christians have any of the fruit of the spirit as mentioned in Galatians 5?

A bad tree cannot produce good fruit, and by their fruits will you know them. Well, if I go by that, I must believe that this religion is false, as based on its converts. I find secular people easier to reason with, talk to and get along with than religious zealots. Go figure that out.

 

[seekingagnostic32]

This makes your thread more than fair. This is THE most difficult aspect of all of Christianity, for many.

There are lots of valid answers, and they'll all probably help you at some time. One way of looking at it, is the physical bond of a man and a woman is to represent G-d and His Church. This is not some one night stand, and if it were all our hopes would be crushed - eternally.

This is a big aspect of what Christianity IS: our actions are to establish His Kingdom. Let that sink in ...

There's a reason this is called a "high calling"

I think people misunderstand me here.

I'm not condoning a life of sleeping around or anything. Nothing could be further from the way I live my life.

I'm asking about why so many Christians condemn sex, their bodies and simple desire. Is it rooted in gnosticism? Sure, but that just means Christianity has ties and roots linked to the gnostics. Most modern scholars already know this.

Judaism isn't hung up on sex though.

Some say "Christianity elevates sex to make it sacred". Well, one... sex isn't holy or sacred, anymore than eating or pooping is. And two, sex should not be worshipped or idolized. But why the Church likes to condemn people for just being human on the other hand... I've never understood that.