What I Learned from Christian Sex Guides (Hint: Bigotry)

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/sex/153816/what_i_learned_from_christian_sex_guides_%28hint%3A_bigotry%29/

Pastor Ed Young and his wife, Lisa, climbed to the rooftop of their Texas church last week and staged a 24-hour bed-in. Their aim was to encourage other married couples to undertake seven straight days of sex, all in the name of the Lord — and to promote their new book.

There was no nudity, and certainly no nookie, during the webcast stunt, but it nonetheless got the pair on CNN and earned invaluable advertising for “Sexperiment: 7 Days to Lasting Intimacy With Your Spouse.” It’s the second Christian “sex advice” book to be lavished with attention this month for allegedly being edgy and oh so sexy. “Real Marriage: The Truth About Sex, Friendship, and Life Together,” written by pastor Mark Driscoll of Seattle’s Mars Hill Church and wife Grace Driscoll, similarly sings the praises of sex as a form of communion with God.

But having actually read these books, I can tell you they are not the wild sex manuals the media frenzy suggests — in fact, they are treatises against homosexuality, pornography and premarital sex. None of this is exactly surprising, but amid the sexy buzz surrounding these books, it’s important to underscore just how sexually stunted they are.

Now, I may not be the most impartial judge — I’m an arrogant, unrepentant atheist and fornicator, after all — but throw my sex reporting credentials in the mix and I am specially poised to sniff out the most anachronistic and bigoted sexual beliefs espoused in these books.

[msongs]

1. "...and to promote their new book." It always comes down to $$ nt

[Scuba]

2. Sex is vile and disgusting and you should save it for the one you most love.

[flying rabbit]

4. Well played!

[Scuba]

5. Stolen.

[Matariki]

3. Before I even got through the 1st paragraph I thought it sounded like Mars Hill church

I had a friend who went to that church for a while and she told me all sorts of kooky and kind of sexist "courting rules" that they taught. A specific dating schedule was to be followed. Women weren't allowed to initiate dating but were supposed to show interest in specific ways and then wait to be asked out. Then after a specific number of dates or weeks or something the budding relationship had to either end or become something on the way to engagement. After a set time (I think a year) it had to become an engagement or end. Once married, couples were supposed to have sex a specific number of times a week.

That's what I remember her telling me any way. I thought it sounded way too cult like.