re: #123 thedopefishlives

I like that you used that phrasing. It highlights a big issue in the Christian community. They throw such a big hissy fit over their teen children running off and fornicating wildly with each other, but they don’t understand that these kids are doing it because they discovered that SEX IS GOOD. Maybe if, instead of demonizing it and trying to make it into a shameful and “nasty” act, Christians tried explaining to their kids how it really works and how to go about it responsibly, it wouldn’t be such an “epidemic”. And who knows, maybe the parents might actually get around to loosening their sphincters a little bit.

There’s also… ok, another one of my longwinded maybe-should-be-a-page comments.

I submit the thesis that the pill is one of the top ten, possibly top five, revolutionary inventions of humankind.

Revolutionary inventions change societies completely. This change takes generations before becoming ‘the norm’, and during the change engenders intense opposition. The opposition is due largely to fear: fear of the unknown, fear of the different, fear of the consequences. Add to this a mistrust of the invention as well; its failures are magnified, its successes diminished.

Preventing sex used to be wise. Sex => Children. Children, though loved, are a burden. Children having children breaks both, most of the time. So doing everything possible to prevent that problem was good.

The pill mooted the old defenses. But it isn’t trusted, and the change it brings is feared for numerous reasons. That fear underlies a lot of the more staid Christian (and other religious) stances about sex, and it explains the vehemence of the opposition.

I think most here know I’m on the side of fairly free sex - get and use the protections, don’t break promises, and make sure your partner is mentally competent and willing. But I understand the reasons for the objections.