Monday, August 17, 2009

Chastity: We Must Focus on the Spiritual, Not the Physical

There are pockets within our society now where the illegitimacy rate is reaching 90%, and sex as an activity divorced from reproduction is just as widespread throughout most of our society. Those who are contributing to that rate (especially men, but also the women who are participating actively by sleeping with and/or bearing multiple children from multiple men) apparently do not place the same degree of value on these things as we do. Until they experience a mighty change of heart that changes their actual behavior, I don’t see that changing - especially if we continue to empower them financially in the name of “taking care of the children.”

As a society, we have trivialized sex to such a degree that we commonly use the term “sexual partner” - which, by its very nature, offers a “legitimate” option to a “wife” or “husband” and reduces “mate” to its biological definition. When “partner” no longer even implies a contract of any kind (but merely contact of a certain kind), I’m afraid the only choices available to change people’s actions are severe social measures (like eliminating welfare payments and/or levying taxes for any children following the first one to someone who was receiving welfare at the time of - or within an established time frame prior to - conception of the additional child) or deep conversion to the Gospel standard of chastity. Given our obsession with enabling illegitimacy and taking care of all children, regardless of the circumstances of their birth (a twisted version of compassion, imo), I’m not optimistic that the first will happen; the latter might be the only option - and that is a very difficult thing, as well, since it requires an unyielding call to and acceptance of repentance.

Again, that simply highlights the need to find a way to make an argument that appeals to the spirit, since we are losing the argument with those who are focused on the body. I just don’t see a way to change or “control” sexual behavior if we focus on the physical / political reasons for chastity. We must maintain chastity as a religious principle.

4 comments:

Christy said...

Absolutely. It took awhile for me to completely understand the Lord's law of chastity. I guess I grew up with different values, and even though I knew in theory that it was wrong, and was living the law, I did not have the spiritual change of heart. The Lord patiently and lovingly taught me it's importance.

Bunny.Smith said...

So you're into punishing the child for the sins of the parent?

How many people do you really believe when they're in the throes of illicit sexual behavior stop to think "maybe if I'm lucky I'll get knocked up and I'll be able to collect a welfare check for the next 18 years?"

I'm all for chastity but I think it's inhuman to deny welfare to needy children because they happen to have been born out of wedlock. In addition, how do you propose encouraging chaste behavior by those people who are financially able to care for their illegitimate offspring without government assistance?

Papa D said...

No, Bunny, I'm not into punishing the children for the sins of their parents. Their parents do that all on their own. I also said EXPLICITLY that I was talking about those who are NOT teenagers or first-time parents - only about those who continue to have more children out of wedlock after they already have had one for whom they are receiving assistance.

Please, if you are going to comment on a post, at least read it carefully and address what it actually says.

All I said is that there shouldn't be a financial INCENTIVE to have additional children while already being on public welfare assistance, and I am speaking from experience. I know FAR too many people who have children intentionally and ONLY for the extra money they will receive.

I never said a word about punishing the children; all I said was it's wrong to reward the parent(s) and encourage the production of children strictly as a business venture - and it is explicitly that in MANY cases in the US today.

Ignoring the central point of the post in order to cast aspersions doesn't work, and it never will. Please offer a constructive comment

Please don't insult me by over-simplifying this and calling me a child punisher. The children about whom I am speaking are the VERY children I have spent MUCH of my professional AND personal life trying to help. Until you know more about my efforts to help them, please don't cast stones.

Papa D said...

As to your final question, I addressed that directly in the post.