On the heels of Holy Saturday comes this astounding revelation: “Sex is better when couples see one another as equals, says an international study.”
Now remember the first reading from Holy Saturday (in the PNCC it’s referred to as the First Exhortation) and its conclusion:
God said, ‘Let us make man in our own image, in the likeness of ourselves, and let them be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven, the cattle, all the wild beasts and all the reptiles that crawl upon the earth’.
God created man in the image of himself, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.
God blessed them, saying to them, ‘Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and conquer it. Be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven and all living animals on the earth.’ God said, ‘See, I give you all the seed-bearing plants that are upon the whole earth, and all the trees with seed-bearing fruit; this shall be your food. To all wild beasts, all birds of heaven and all living reptiles on the earth I give all the foliage of plants for food.’ And so it was. God saw all he had made, and indeed it was very good. Evening came and morning came: the sixth day.
God created man, male and female, in His image.
The Judeo-Christian message has taught this through the ages. Men and women are not ‘the same’ in the common definition of sameness, yet each is in the image of God. Each bears the human dignity inscribed in us by God and His likeness.
As the report shows, those who are immersed in the cultures created in and based upon Judeo-Christian values had more satisfying relationships (i.e., Western culture).
It comes down to human respect. This is the basic level of respect Christianity teaches. A person is not an object to be used and manipulated. Relationships are not something we can dream up and redefine according to our own desires. A relationship established in true Christian fashion, within marriage, male and female, is the way to go.
For those disaffected and unsatisfied Middle Easterners and Asians —“ time to throw off the false idols and prophets. Convert, life will not only be better, but it will be everlasting. 🙂
Some excepts from the story at SAGA:
Older couples who live in Western countries where there is more equality between men and women are most likely to report being satisfied with their sex lives, according to researchers at the University of Chicago. The team surveyed about 27,500 people aged between 40 and 80, including equal numbers of men and women, in 29 countries.
The respondents answered questions about how physically or emotionally satisfying their relationships are and how important sex is to them. They also were asked about their overall happiness; physical and mental health, including sexual dysfunction; their attitudes toward sex; and their attitudes toward various social and demographic factors, including age, education, income and religious affiliation.
Within relationships based on equality, couples tend to develop sexual habits that are more in keeping with both partners’ interests, said lead author Professor Edward Laumann.
Disclaimer: The study’s authors draw their own conclusions and mine are not necessarily in agreement with theirs. However, they were approaching this from the secular, do-it-if-it-feels-good perspective. People of faith tend to look at this from a whole life (now and eternally) and life in God perspective. It takes a bit of reading between the lines. For instance the line in the last paragraph quoted above: “in keeping with both partners’ interests” can be read many ways. The interests could even be selfish. I would think however that the security and harmony of a true relationship would better enable the partners to feel secure and valued.
Ad-hominem: Professor Edward Laumann draws a stupid conclusion in stating that pleasure is lower in male dominated cultures because of their focus on procreation. As I’m sure this conclusion is no more than the professor’s personal politics coming to the fore it’s almost not worth commenting on. However, that’s never stopped me before. Wouldn’t the better conclusion be that western (Christian) values, that have planted the seeds necessary for such equality, would be better protected by an emphasis on strong families and more procreation? Maybe the good professor is looking for a side job as the pied piper. Unfortunately no tune will lead the horde out of Europe.
[dels]blogs4god/ministry[/dels]