The author reviews a book that calls for a return to female modesty and male obligation in sexual matters: A Return to Modesty: Discovering the Lost Virtue, by Wendy Shalit (Free Press, 291 pp., $24.00).
As an alternative to enacting legal controls over reproductive technology, a national commission of scientists, doctors and citizens is needed, a commission that could develop voluntary ethical guidelines.
A religion of pleasure, no matter what the intentions of its advocates, can only inhibit the efforts required by God’s demand that we engage in the moral struggles of this world.
It is time to stop being silenced by those who roar that "sex is fun," that anxiety and guilt are created only by outworn custom, and that all we really need is better technology and better technique so that we may "enjoy" each other’s bodies more.
Dr. Freitas says it is everyone’s job to draw sex from the darkness of student dorm rooms into the public spaces of classrooms and church communities so young people aren’t left alone as they attempt to understand Christian teachings in a culture adept at "selling" sex.
Homophobia undergirds men’s tendency to reject behaviors that are passive and gentle and to "prove" their masculinity through aggressive and violent behavior. It makes it difficult for men to develop intimate friendships with other men, and it complicates men’s relationships with their sons and their fathers.
Lifestyle is life, and how we live determines who we are.
The church continues to be silent, timid and negative about sexuality.
God, the cosmic Lover, graciously embraces not just a person’s disembodied spirit, but the whole fleshly self.
Only if marriage embodies a purpose beyond the self-enhancement of the individuals constituting it is there a basis sufficient for them to be bonded in pursuit of a common good.
Can religious faith empower individuals to win inner struggles? In sexual temptation, more than religious commitment is needed.
The church needs to help teen-agers become more aware of the social and ethical consequences of sexual activities. Sexual practices can never be examined and understood independently of other social factors. Sexual behavior is intertwined with issues of education, economics, politics, national security and employment.
The new study issued by the Catholic Theological Society of America calls people of all kinds and conditions to the difficult task of using their sexuality to be fully human. Given the peculiar 2,000-year history of Christian attitudes toward sexuality, it is not at all surprising that sex-related matters have become one arena for confrontation.