Douthat on Sex

An interesting piece, although none of the articles seem conclusive. The legal status of prostitution and other sexual activities is just one of those things people have to exercise their judgement on when they vote, and judgement is more than good enough for Democracy. The idea that kids are in the same category as adults is creepy, though. I'm not convinced the age of consent should be thirty.

I don't get it. At one level it seems just another version of the cliché "if we don't have moral absolutes, there are no morals" slippery slope fallacy.

It looks like a smart and reasonable argument on the surface, but it isn't. The real problem is the assumed perspective, which is the philosophical "I" in search of a criterion for righteousness.

It isn't "we, a society of 300 million people with a variety of conventions which are matters of tradition and necessity". Or, on the other hand "what is the wise thing to conclude from the stories of the daughters of Noah, and of Judah and Tamar, and of the adultress who washed Jesus's feet?"

OK, been thinking about this while I cleaned house all day. I figure I still have about a week of housecleaning left to do before the anxiety of disorder leaves me alone. Now, what, pray tell would Thinker's really icky kitchen have to do with all this?
The questions are about trust, intimacy, the belovedness of God's creation and about a sort of current existence in which none of those things exist. Perhaps the last 50 years have been a time when we move from trust (in employers, government, education) to a feeling of being very alone in the world ( I believe many call it post modernism) . Sex seems to echo this isolation created to keep economies and countries powerful and afloat. The institutions of church, school, etc have been destroyed - not by the tensions of liberal / conservative (false dichotomies indeed), but by the failure to care about anything larger than our very small worlds. Small worlds have no generosity of spirit, little compassion, a reduced sense of empathy, and a fascination with self as opposed to the bigger picture of what I see as "the Kingdom of God).
Having worked with families where incest was multi-generational, where sex was simply the way of creating momentary pleasure rather than intimacy, I must say that we are all at fault here. Our fascination with the sex lives of others - hey- those guys are way more perverted than me- is in fact the issue. How many times a week does th local news tell us about those sex offenders out there. How strange are the laws that make a 17 year old arrested for the statutory rape of a 15 year old girlfriend - -that make him a pariah for life. No military career, no ambition will work. He is forever labeled by our culture as unworthy of any forgiveness. Forever on the sex offenders list along with the man who raped his four year old niece. Cared for a child once who had been raped - she died of infection as her mother protected the boyfriend at all costs and let the child lie suffering for days until it was too late. Cared for prostitutes who had no alternatives in life - none - and who were brutalized by men to a degree that I still can hardly comprehend. Have watched young women used, abused and young men dehumanized by a culture that requires "doing it" rather than care. All of this is not new, but it is the new norm.
This administration is simply a symptom of our systematic disease. It is evil, because we refuse to be part of a more moral system. We lie to ourselves constantly about things like guns, or health care or a war created to make some rich. We find reasons not to be moral, but to be self centered. And then we create a moral tone to accuse those who oppose us. Might I point out any statement by Cheney in the last 6 years. His only tool is a rather cool, fearmongering, accusatory power and the secret society that it needs to continue.
OK, so what does this have to do with my icky kitchen - it sneaks up on you. Suddenly you can't stand it anymore. You have to clean it up and tell the truth about the it. Not the truth that will make you feel better, but the truth that will make you feel a bit worse - a bit guilty - and - you have to assume your responsibility in the whole thing. It's not somebody else - it is all of us - in need of trust, of intimacy, of a sense of our own goodness. I think Paul nailed it in Romans. But Paul often does that. Ok, I look back at this note and it too needs cleaning up. Will come back later - hopefully with clearer thoughts.

Day 23

Dear Thinker:

Ever since my wife and I embarked on that 30 Day Non-Stop Sex Marathon Dave recommended a while back, the housework around our place has gone to Hades in a Safeway bag.

Mind you, there's not a lot of laundry to do.

Oops, duty calls.

Is there anywhere in the Bible from Old Testament to New, where a prostitute was seriously condemned for what "she" did? Jesus is related to quite a few prostitutes. Paul (BTW) is a better theologian than anyone born after AD 100. Peter, James, Jude and John followed the teachings of Jesus and never once condoned, supported, encouraged, or offered path for accepting homosexuality but a reprobate-pagan one or a new one where repentance and forgiveness preceded either a life committed to the Church or a good opposite sex spouse. There are enough gay bars and AIDS victims, and enough pederastic military history for any rational mind to know why to reject homosexuals from the military environment. That being said, God still has the consistent desire for unity and commitment in the monogamous marriage situation as the ideal situation for a moral and godly life. Read the quotes attributed to Jesus for sound theology on marriage.

. . . and both of them affirming that "marriage" is immutably a man and a woman. No phobia need apply. Just plain Biblical fact.

I should add, too, that over in "Virtual Talmud" there is an article on the condemnation of prostitution in Jewish tradition (in regard to the Old Testament part of your question.