Msgr Pope made a statement: That said, I don’t think it fair to blame the Church wholly for the mess. Our culture clearly went over the cliff in 1968 and 1969 with the sexual revolution and no fault divorce.
While he is correct that the culture went over the cliff, the Church did (and does) very little to hit the brakes: the tendency to be "nice" and "loving" and the "de facto" abandonment of all standards of individual moral conduct did and does not help matters at all.
Msgr Pope ping!
Truths long repudiated by the American people, and so shall it remain.
I agree with what you say, and with what the Msgr says.
Much as the libertine part of me says yes to free sex, the moral intelligent part of me sees it as a trap and a nightmare for the participants and our society.
The trick to fixing this is getting peopel to think with their heads and their spirits and not with their genitals.
I just wanted to point out how cool it would be if he were elevated to the pontiff. Pope Pope!
I don’t mean to cause a flame war, but I wanted to ask a serious question among FReepers who are older and wiser than my 33 years.
What about cohabitation is sinful insomuch as the act itself? Is it that cohabitation between a man and a woman is immediately considered sexual and therefore assumed to be sinful, or is there actual scriptural or canonical law that states that a man and a woman not ever live together before they wed?
I ask, because many young adults find it necessary if not convenient to “shack up” with another person, regardless of gender, leading to an overall lower cost of living, shared responsibilities, and the ability to be “free” of their parents while whittling social skills. I’m not saying that these young adults are not without sin, as it’s universally understood among youth culture that a man and a woman can’t just “be friends,” and if you’re living with someone of the opposite sex, it’s no holds barred.
My now-wife and I were living together for several years before we were married. She was in an abusive marriage before we met, and she could not find security in a home of her own, as her ex was a felon and had people who always knew where to find her. I drove a few vagabonds off my porch with a shotgun when she first moved in, but the situation ultimately benefited us both in the end; as she had the physical and financial security blanket in me and I had a house frau and friend in her. The first year was a very cordial, very innocent relationship that blossomed into a loving friendship and ultimately a marriage after her ex was found dead of a drug overdose.
My point is that it seems to me, as an outsider, that there are assumptions being made as to the relationship between cohabitating adults of dissimilar gender. I wonder if there are exceptions permitted when it benefits the life of a person or if the ultimate assumption is that they’re going to have sex at some point so why even bother cohabitating in the first place?
Inquiring minds genuinely want to know.
bookmark
A big problem is that Christians, generally speaking, have lost confidence in the truth of the Gospel. As a result there is the temptation to compromise with the society or at least to remain mute against popular societal trends. This goes across denominational lines. It is time for all Christians to stand up and proclaim that the gospel teaching about sexual morality is the truth and that it comes from God. This was something that, despite the dogmatic divisions, once united all Christians. This unity and self-confidence started to break down with the acceptance of birth control by the Church of England at the Lambeth Conference in 1930. The rest has been a logical outcome of that decision.
Ping!
Yet another thread by Catholics about sex? Sheesh!
There is a real cost in getting married legally. I know some who have gone the “Married in the church but not the state” route, but that is the minority.