Discovery:

Can you believe I've never seen this before? There is something kind of interesting about discovering a film, as an adult, that you should have spent your whole childhood watching.

P.S.

I have a really bad habit of being dogmatic. Just take everything I ever say with a grain of salt.

plus, here's a link to a great article that Amanda sent out to a bunch of us about sex and intimacy in marriage that I think is germane to this discussion.

Why? Part one.

Why can’t members of the church learn to talk about sex in healthy, open ways? I really want to know. Why do we grow up listening to a million youth firesides about how necking and petting and masturbation (yes, I just wrote that) are wrong, and yet nobody ever explains to youth what on earth these things are? It’s not helpful, and quite honestly our NOT talking openly about what these things mean and why they are wrong only imbues them with a sense of fascination—or grossness. Why do I get the sense that so many members of the church go around pretending like they’re asexual beings, like they have no sex drive, and that part of keeping the law of chastity is to never even feel tempted? That’s ridiculous. Why, in all of our discourse about chastity, is there this hint that if you ever ARE tempted you must have done something wrong?

If this blog post has made you uncomfortable in any way, then I have made my point.

It’s just that I’m convinced that by wrapping up the subject of sex in this aura of mystery and taboo-ness we’re raising—and perhaps have already raised—a generation of youth who, unable to get their answers from healthy sources, are turning elsewhere to get their information. Is it any wonder that pornography addiction is so rampant? (And I don’t care what your religion is, porn is degrading to everything that is good and sacred about sex.)

I’m not sure there is a good answer to any of these questions. I believe very strongly in my faith. But I would lying if I said I was okay with a lot of the culture many Mormons build up around the simple, beautiful truths of the gospel.