My Mother's Attitude on Sex

Image via WikipediaWhen I was about 6, I asked my mother the meaning of the words on the restroom wall.  She assured me they were not anything I needed to be concerned with.  Nice people did not engage in that behavior or write about it on the wall.

Now that I am all grown up, I find that everybody engages in the behavior and many, additionally, write about it in newspapers and magazines and depict it visually in photos and movies and on TV.  There seems to be no limit to the extremes people will go to for the sake of those words I first learned from the restroom wall.

My mother was right.  Nice people don't devalue sex.  That doesn't mean they don't enjoy it or engage in it.  It means they see it as valuable and meaningful.  Sex has two fundamental functions:  It offers us the method of reproduction, and it strengthens our bond with the person we will raise the child with.  We human beings reproduce ourselves, and we don't need a computer or even instruction to get the job done, but it takes two to do it.  No, I guess it doesn't, but it is so much easier that way.  It really makes much better sense.

Our society has taken this sacred act and made a parody of it.  We can do that, but the cost is high.  We wind up with lots of children who don't have the security of two parents. 

Not every sex act ends with a baby.  Sometimes the pleasure is all there is to it, but if the sex is spread around to all your acquaintances, there is no building of a relationship.  It is the cheapest kind of travesty on the intended purpose.  It is selfish and empty.  Sex in the context of a marriage relationship is used as a symbol of the union of Christ and the Church.  It is the most complete and sacred physical union we can experience.  It is a waste to turn it to casual and carnal uses when it deserves an exalted place.

I am sure that there are contrary opinions, and everyone is welcome to his or her own.  This is mine.