hermionesviolin: animated gif of Buffy standing on the balcony of the Bronze, Spike coming up behind her, and Buffy looking turned on, with text "I'm not saying that I'm a saint / I just don't want to live that way / No, I will never be a saint" (not that innocent [purple_smurf])
Elizabeth (the delinquent, ecumenical) ([personal profile] hermionesviolin) wrote2005-10-24 12:04 am

sex and religion

I read Lauren Winner's Real Sex a while back and sadly got no discussion on it.  [Note: I get comments e-mailed to me, so you can always comment on old stuff of mine.  And anything of interest is likely in my Memories.]  The topic of sex-having has come up yet again on the flist, so I'm making a poll.  Clarifications are delineated beneath the poll.

[P.S. Speaking of polls: Layna, you can tell Chris that Charging Rhinos beat the U.S. Supreme Court 9-8 if we don't count my vote, though my parents both voted for Charging Rhinos though they're not represented in the LJ poll.]

[Poll #596927]

The poll is spurred by knowing so many people who identify as some flavor of Christian and yet don't seem to have any qualms about having sex.  I grew up in a Christian tradition, and NO SEX outside marriage always seemed a full-stop for me [though I honestly can't point to any specific instances of that being taught], so I'm curious about this disconnect (hence the poll lumping together everyone who does not have religious prohibitions on non-marital sex).

I know non-hetero couples in most states/countries don't have official legal marriage as an option, but I tend to think that replacing "marriage" with "relationship both parties have (publically) committed to intending to be permanent" works fine for having the non-marital sex discussion.  So please read "non-marital" in the poll as appropriate shorthand.

As for whether or not you are part of a religious tradition . . . I trust your judgement.  If you go to Mass because your parents make you but actually you're an atheist, I think the "not a part of" option is yours.  If you identify yourself as Catholic even though you disagree with the official line on a number of issues, pick from one of the first three.

The would/would not question is intended as a hypothetical.  I'm purposely being good and not doing the nosy "Have you had non-marital sex?" question (though honestly, I already know the answer for most of the people on my flist) but if you wanna elaborate in comments with personal experience, I'm not gonna tell you not to.  I pretty much don't have a TMI threshhold, so share or not as you wish.  And obviously if you wanna e-mail me privately, go for it.  I am not gonna bother screening comments on this post, though.

Some of you are currently married, but I trust you to be able to think hypothetically (or not so hypothetically if you're poly).

Basically, I trust you all to be intelligent people.  Please do let me know if I should clarify anything about this poll, though.

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