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To: Chancellor Palpatine
Those are all good points. Does it address the roots of abnormal sexual urges? Whether one accepts Augustine and uniate vs. procreative, the fact remains in Christianity that licit sex was only for the married men and women.

Also it has never been addressed that some of our species have vastly stronger sexual urges than others. Some sexual urges emerge sporadically at different times in one's live; at other times they are quite amenable to self-control

Do the eastern Christians have a problem with homosexuality as prevalent as it has become in the west?

Is it a normal thing to segregate the sexes in society (although it certainly controls heterosexual attraction) with monks and nuns? How did that practice get started, do you know? Both east and west encouraged separation of unmarried singles and convents and monasteries were a good way to do so.

It seems to me that it has all gotten worse, as exemplified by our prisons. I don't think we had the problem in our prison populations in the past with same-sex acting out like we do now. What happened?

Nevertheless homosexuality is evidently here to stay and we are going to have to face it.

Has Christianity historically been so uptight about enforcing sexual morality and adding nuances to it that it has spilled over into perversions?

None of the above really has any meaning other than to conservatives of all cultures who wish to preserve healthy morality. It seems to me we will continue on our downward sexually promiscuous spiral.

And I guess I don't understand how most couples have lifelong sexual desires only for one another. That's where deeper bonding and true fidelity enter the picture.

Marriage doesn't necessarily seem to cure immorality (it sure helps); in bad marriages (sexually/spiritually incompatible) it is more likely to erupt in perverted desires perhaps.

134 posted on 12/11/2002 12:22:04 PM PST by Aliska
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To: Aliska
I have to ask myself what kind of young man in his teens or early 20s makes a decision to forego, for life, his most basic biological impulse? Is he normal, with a calling, or is he immature, abnormal, and full of hubris as to what he can deny? My suspicion is that the kind of young men drawn to that life are not stable, well balanced individuals - and that if they were required to work in the world and be normal, productive citizens into their 30s, you'd get a sexually mature cleric who understood human life and society (this would help in the interaction with the laity as well - they'd all know how to balance a checkbook).

As to gays in cultures where Eastern Christianity is most prevalent, I know they exist, but also tend to think that they tend to be more subdued, less flamboyant, and aren't out to crush the rest of society. Why? I have no idea.

As to your comments on the gender separation in monastic societies, there isn't a real analogy between the West and the East. Superficially, they're similar, but underneath, they're quite different. In the East, it was a place of honor - a pinnacle representing a level of devotion that very few could ever reach. In the West, I always got the feeling that they were far less "choosey", and that they'd take anyone as a default position.

I do think you're getting somewhere about the overnuancing of sexual morality in the Latin West. When every activity (no matter how mundane) is a grave sin, no activity is sinful. In ther words, be careful about how many rules you make - if you make too many, all will be ignored.

As to the married couples and attraction, I can say i know some who still maintain that physical attraction - but you're right about that emotional bonding and fidelity - it maintains you even when that chemical spark isn't so bright anymore.

147 posted on 12/11/2002 12:54:39 PM PST by Chancellor Palpatine
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To: Aliska
Hi,I know I am a little off topic but your questions were good and got me to thinking further about a thought that crosses my mind fairly often. Within my lifetime,and I'm not eligible for SS yet,the average height of females has gone from 5'2",to 5'5"" to 5'7". I wonder if it's good food,vitamins or something in the water or additives in our foods that is responsible. And, drawing on that increase in height,could it correspond with an increased sexual drive,and then could this be natural or contrived?
150 posted on 12/11/2002 1:02:41 PM PST by saradippity
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