Thursday, February 14, 2008

Conservative Christianity = Christianity = Religion

Greta Christina's response to this has got me in a dander for a number of reasons. I'll stick with the big 3.

1. The equation in the title seems to be implicit in too many people's discussions of religion. This sentence in particular goads me, "And of course, I could get on my atheist high horse, and talk about the fucked-up effect religion so often has on sexual happiness." I'll assume she's talking about Christianity since sexual dissatisfaction is grounds for divorce in Judaism (for either partner). I'll also assume she's ignoring the Eastern religions that gave us tantra, the kama sutra, etc.

2. As someone who has chosen to forego relationships and thus sex for mature, responsible, adult reasons that have little to do with religion, I get tired of the promiscuity/polyamory/"fuck till you drop" crowd standing so haughtily in judgment of those they hypocritically condemn for judging their sexual preferences and even of those of us who could care less about their sexual preferences.

I can't tell you how many times some "enlightened" soul has told me that I'm a prude or need to be "turned out" because I prefer not to engage in meaningless and generally unsatisfactory one-night stands. I've been there, done that VERY WELL and decided it didn't live up to the hype. That's MY decision. It's MY life. It's MY body. What business is it of theirs to decide that something is wrong with me because my sexual preferences don't run towards cheap thrills with random strangers or jumping in bed with a woman before the check comes on our first date? And like that young woman's husband, I hardly need "medical attention" so that I can have sex when I don't want to, now do I?

3. I'm really tired of people like Greta deciding that the only way to deal with problems surrounding sex is to have as much of it as possible with as many people as possible as if that's the end-all, be-all, cure-all of human sexuality. The problems described in the young woman's letter (as noted in the response) could very well have been solved by mature, responsible, healthy CONVERSATIONS about sex (preferably ones where the poor man is NOT told that his not having a constant erection requires the help of the nearest little blue pill).

Anyway, that's my Valentine's Day rant. You're probably wondering why this is on Liberals in Exile rather than Cult of Melinda since my sex life is generally not polite political conversation. I think, in this case, it fits into the major social debates about sex. If I'm wrong, sue me.

Friday, February 08, 2008

Shooting at Louisiana Technical College

No details yet other than that a woman shot two students and herself in a classroom. I have a friend who attended LTC and I can't tell you how happy I am that she's at ULL now. More later.