seeingeyes
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Go for it .
Marriage itself has evolved - what it is, and how we govern it as a church and as a legal entity - so I'm interested in how to have an appropriate Christian sexual ethic in today's world.
Love God and love others - gives us what for a sexual ethic?
Let's start with what sex actually is. Or rather, with what it is not. Sex is not everything. It is not the be all, end all of the human experience, it is not the reason to get up in the morning, it is not the extent of marriage, nor the definition of marriage, it is not the definition of purity, nor of corruption.
Sex is also not nothing. It is not mere entertainment, like tennis or watching "friends", it is not just a habit, or just a physical reaction like burping after soda or having a craving for cheese.
Both the world and the church fall to each of these extremes on a regular basis. They both act like it's everything one minute, nothing the next. I reject both ideas, no matter who's preaching.
Sex is a bond. It is not as strong as a marriage bond, but it is also not as weak as a handshake (as evidenced by the fact that no one knows how many people they've shaken hands with, but they all know how many they've slept with, regardless of their views).
Sex is a physical drive, to be sure, affected by hormones and health and age and what have you, but it is unique among physical needs in that it requires another person to fulfill it. (I won't get into masturbation here except to say that if it were truly the same as sex, no children would ever be born. )
So sex is both a physical and a social drive that creates a small bond.
(I'll get to the theology in my next post.)
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