College Kids, "100% Organic Sex," and Me

I grew up in the '60s, and learned that something can be "legal" and be wrong. I still think that's true. (June 29, 2012) I also learned that sex was good. Which it is. (January 23, 2012)

I'm a practicing Catholic, have good reasons for 'all of the above,' and I'll get to that.

Sex And College Kids

I haven't been 'one of those crazy kids' for a long time. Quite a few years ago I visited a college I'd attended. The professors looked like kids to me.

The college kids? They haven't changed all that much. They still want to change the world:

"100% Organic Sex"
Aggie Catholics (June 29, 2012)

"...If anything can be said of our generation, it's this: We want sexy back. Our parent's generation, well, they lost it. They delivered to us a world with sky-high rates of divorce, abortion, and STDs; a world bored with sex and bored with romance; a world in which more and more people are turning to pornography to find sexual satisfaction; a world in which 1 in 5 women report being sexual assaulted, and the human body - the sexiest thing in the universe - is used to sell cars.

"After extremely little consideration, we decided we don't want that. We want awesome relationships and mind-blowing sex lives. We want women and men to be respected and loved for who they are...."

This video's embedded in the Aggie Catholics post:

"Sex Drive and Contraception "

video, 0:57
1fleshfilms, YouTube(June 5, 2012)

I checked out links in the post and video, and I agree: women deserve better. These 'crazy kids' know what they're talking about:

• 1Flesh
  (www.1flesh.org)
  • The Pill and Female Sex Drive

Men, Women, and the 'Good Old Days'

The pale men who ran America talked about old-fashioned values: which included the idea that sex was a bond between husband and wife, and blessed couples with babies.

They also cherished the "double standard." They'd married a "nice" girl, and expected their daughters to be "nice," too.

These pillars of the community often believed it was okay for their sons to enjoy the company of 'loose women:' as long as junior followed father's example, and settled down with a "nice" girl.

Sometimes the ethically-changed man would stop having fun with 'naughty' women after he married. Sometimes following the "thou shalt not get caught" principle was good enough. For men.

"Harper Valley PTA" expressed the sort of respect those 'good old-fashioned values' had earned.

"She's as smart as a man" was a 'compliment.' Even so, quite a few men realized that "the little woman" might wonder why sexy coeds and secretaries had to take unexpected nine-month vacations.

"The pill" must have looked like a wonderful solution. Suddenly "baby, you know you want to" might not sound quite so selfish. Since "liberated" women got pregnant anyway, they needed to be 'fixed.' So 'when the boyfriend tells you to' abortions became legal.

Cynical? Maybe. But I think men were the 'winners' in the sexual revolution. In the short term, from an extremely selfish point of view.

(A tip of the hat to @aggiecatholics, St. Mary's, on Twitter, for the heads-up on "100% Organic Sex")

But it Says in the Bible - - -

I've read Ephesians 5:22, by the way. I know that some men use that verse as an excuse to treat their wives like a household appliance, with a status somewhere between their dog and their favorite chair.

Incredibly, some women went along with the idea.

I don't, since I've read Ephesians 5:21-30: and never learned that women were inferior to men.

I'm also a Catholic. There are some things I have to believe:

" 'God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.'²¹⁸ Man occupies a unique place in creation: (I) he is 'in the image of God'; (II) in his own nature he unites the spiritual and material worlds; (III) he is created 'male and female'; (IV) God established him in his friendship. "
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 355)

Yes, I noticed the word "man," and the personal pronoun. The Catechism is translated into English: not the language today's establishment prefers. I've been over that before:

• " 'Man?!!' Political Correctness and Getting a Grip "
  (April 10, 2012)

I'm convinced that men who see their wives and girlfriends as servants, at best, are wrong; along with the women who play along with that belief. The Catholic Church teaches that men and women are people, with equal dignity. (Catechism, 2335)

But even if I had the power to "make them believe" something different, I wouldn't.

More accurately, I couldn't. The Church also says " 'Nobody may be forced to act against his convictions, nor is anyone to be restrained from acting in accordance with his conscience in religious matters in private or in public....' " (Catechism, 2106)

Sex, Dignity, and the Image of God

The idea that sex and sexuality is good, but can be misused, runs through Catholic tradition. Here's a quick overview:

• Sex is good
  (Catechism, 2331-2336)
• Lust is a disorder
  (Catechism, 2351)
• Sex is special
  (Catechism, 2348-2350)
• Rape is bad
  (Catechism, 2356)
  (June 8, 2011)

Yes, I know about pedophile priests.

About men, women, and all that, here's part of what the Church says:

"Each of the two sexes is an image of the power and tenderness of God, with equal dignity though in a different way. The union of man and woman in marriage is a way of imitating in the flesh the Creator's generosity and fecundity: 'Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh.'¹²¹ All human generations proceed from this union.¹²²"
(Catechism, 2335)

Freedom to Act Like God Matters

I have to support religious freedom, including the right to act as if God matters. That's why I've been joining a few dozen other folks near the parish church each evening, and writing at least one post each day during Fortnight For Freedom..

Religious freedom is important. So his human life. Here's where I get those ideas:

• Religious freedom is vital
  (Catechism, 2104-2109)
  • For everybody
    (Catechism, 2106)
• Some actions are always wrong
  (Catechism, 1789)
  • Even if the President says it's okay
    (Catechism, 2242)
• Human life
  • Is sacred
    (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2258)
  • Begins at conception
  (Catechism, 2270, 2274)
• Murder is wrong
  (Catechism, 2259-2262, 2268-2269)
  • Even when
    • It's legal
    • Called something else
    (Catechism, 2270-2275, 2276-2279)
  (June 28, 2012, June 26, 2012)

Some of what I believe is very counter-cultural. That's not the same as conservative: or liberal.I'm described as a conservative more often than folks think I'm liberal: but I'm neither. I'm a practicing Catholic.

I've discussed what I believe, and why, fairly often. Including:

• "Loving Neighbors: No Matter What"
  (May 10, 2011)
• "Hating People? Not an Option"
  (December 9, 2010)
• " 'Vengeance is Mine, I will Repay, Says the Lord' - Works for Me"
  (September 11, 2010)
  Particularly
  • Judgment, being 'Judgmental,' and being Catholic
  • Religious People Always Say Others are Going to Hell, Right?
    (wrong)
  • 'Never Mind Justice: I Want Revenge?'
• "Conservative? Liberal? Democrat? Republican? No, I'm Catholic"
  (November 3, 2008)

Like I've said before, Catholics aren't Calvinists. The Catholic Church isn't what you've probably read about in the papers: see links under "Related posts - The Catholic Church."

Related posts:

• Sex, sense, and people
  • "HHS Mandate, Six Reasons Why It's a Bad Idea"
    (May 16, 2012)
    Particularly
    • Messing With the Machinery
  • "Politics, and a Sexologist's Preferred Reality"
    (May 10, 2012)
  • "Caritas in Veritate: Progress, Ethics, and Sex"
    (January 23, 2012)
    Particularly
    • Sex is Not Lust: and Other Counter-Cultural Ideas
  • "Men, Women, Differences, and Equality"
    (May 2, 2012)
  • "Hippies, Prudes, Catholics, and Sex"
    (August 30, 2011)
    Or, Sex Isn't a Four-Letter Word.
• The Catholic Church
  • "Curing the Sick, Helping the Poor; Yes: Killing the Innocent; No"
    (June 24, 2012)
  • "Adam and Eve and All That"
    (May 15, 2012)
  • "Catholics aren't Calvinists"
    (May 7, 2012)
  • " 'A Consistent Ethic of Life,' Reality Checks About Religion, and a New Widget"
    (April 27, 2012)
    Particularly
    • Death Penalty, a Consistent Ethic of Life, and Connecticut
    • Fundamentalist? Conservative? No, I'm Catholic
      • There's Old, and there's Ancient
    • "To Proclaim Christ to the World"
    • What Folks Know, That Just Ain't So
      • Ignorance and Adequate Reporting
      • "Unnamed 'Church Leaders' "
      • "Vast Oversimplification"
      • "Journalistic Infotainment-Like Art-Product"
  • "Faith and Obedience"
    (March 25, 2012)
• God and getting a grip
  • "Humans are Animals: But Not Just Animals"
    (August 31, 2011)
    Particularly
    • Animals?! Eww! That Sounds so - Beastly
  • "Sin, Freedom, and Toy Monkeys"
    (May 23, 2012)
  • "Honoring the Body, Within Reason"
    (April 25, 2012)
  • " 'Not Just Something, but Someone' "
    (April 11, 2012)
  • "God Doesn't Make Junk: Or Mistakes"
    (November 27, 2011)
• The establishment
  • "Supporting Freedom, and Other Subversive Activity"
    (June 22, 2012)
  • "Coney Island School, 'Offensive' Song, and 'Foreigners' "
    (June 10, 2012)
  • "My Way, or the Highway: Academic 'Freedom' at Iowa's Top Law School"
    (April 6, 2012)
  • "HHS Mandate, Catholic Bishops, and Foster Auditorium"
    (February 12, 2012)
  • "What's With 'the Establishment' in this Blog?"
    (September 15, 2011)