Monday, 10 October 2011
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Sexuality and Purity: C.S. Lewis, on Strip Clubs and Food
Maybe the presence of strip club indicates that we're sex starved, and not that we're sexually corrupted. Lewis replies that while that theory sounds nice, it doesn't match up with the facts. We aren't sex starved; in fact, most of what we do for entertainment is write, sing, and watch movies about sex.
Christianity tells us to commit to "either marriage or absolute abstinence" says Lewis. That instruction strikes us as going totally against our instincts. So either Christianity is wrong or our instincts are wrong. Lewis argues that it's our instincts need change.
"Now suppose you came to a country where you could fill a theater by simply bringing a covered plate on to the stage and then slowly lifting the cover so as to let every one see, just before the lights went out, that it contained a mutton chop or a bit of bacon, would you not think that in that country something had gone wrong with the appetite for food? And would not anyone who had grown up in a different world think there was something equally queer about the state of the sex instinct among us?"Well, someone might reply, a country where people gathered together to watch food slowly being revealed on a platter is a country that's suffering from a famine.
I'm not sure that Lewis' generalization is right. My restrictive childhood was part of why sexual temptation was my weak-spot; without exposure, I hadn't developed much sense of what's wrong or right about my sexual urges.
But there's something to be said for Lewis' point: Our sexual instincts have been messed with.
"There is nothing to be ashamed of in enjoying your food: there would be everything to be ashamed of if half the world made food the main interest of their lives and spent their time looking at pictures of food and dribbling and smacking their lips."
Just like our appetite for food tends to go beyond ensuring the natural function of survival, our sexual appetite tends to go beyond our natural functions of creating intimacy with our mates and having children. What strikes me as odd, then, is that we're all for dieting, but we reject chastity (literally a sexual diet) as backwards or outmoded. Scripture encourages us to run the opposite way. "Do not conform to the pattern of the world but be transformed by the renewing of your minds. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing, perfect will."
What do you think of Lewis's words on sexuality? Have our sexual instincts been messed with? How do we manage to stay pure despite our sexual instincts?
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Comments (10)
Yes, our instincts have been messed with. There is nothing wrong with wanting to look at a naked body. Is the strip club where to find it, no... for a married man or someone trying to be more pure. The key to all this stuff is to admit what we like and then to get that from our spouses.
My restrictive childhood was part of why sexual temptation was a weak spot for me too. Part of the reason why the information that we have about sex is so warped, is because our parental figures or legal guardians are not giving us the right information.
An idle mind, or a mind void of the right information, is the devil's workshop.
Great twist on the dialogue. Like everything in my life, I blame all these issues that I have on my family. [that was comical but it's also very true.]
Thanks for the great blog!
Christian teachings regarding sexuality are hardest of the hard.
Although you say we're keen on dieting, I can't say that I really agree with you all the way. There are a lot of diets that are popular. Most of them, however, aren't very healthy in the long run... since moderation (in all things) seems to be the best bet. And, as a culture, we aren't very good at that.
That is a really interesting way of looking at it.
Something that I disagree with, and it strongly bothers me when I hear Christians say it, is that their "temptations" came because they had too restrictive of parents and that they benefited from exposure to sex (in whatever form). Sin brings death- always. When does someone benefit from their own death? The only death that ever benefit anyone was Christ who died for us, but he resurrected!
No, I don't think having a "proper exposure" is a good idea. Jesus said that He made the disciples clean by His word (John 15:3), and that if they continued in His words, they would be His disciples (John 8:31). If we want to resist temptation, then we should train ourselves in the Word of God. The problem is that many people think that they have trained themselves in the Lord's word, but have not, and then lose faith in the power of the Word to cleanse them because they still continue to sin.
Anyway, to keep a long comment from getting longer, I'll just say "where your heart is, there also is your treasure" (Mt. 6:21); you will be pure if you remain in the Word of God, because it is God that makes us pure- His purity is real and true, those who lack it must seek it from Him.
ha, clearly you've never heard the term "food porn" before.
Amen, man. Thanks for the post.
@too_pretty_to_die@xanga - i did, and figured SOMEONE would point it out. but then, somehow i don't think the food-porn addiction is as much a problem in the world these days (but some of us are pretty unhealthy in our eating habits... like myself.)
@Ktothetin@xanga - qualification well-noted.
It's all fine and good to talk about it... but as a young man fighting some incredibly strong desires it does make me ask the question why I (and other young Christian men no doubt) have to repress these incredible desires/needs for so long....
I guarantee you that every young christian man, whether he denies it or not does think about sex a lot! Sex has been turned into such a taboo subject by Christians.
Young Christian men often don't even know how to approach girls because they're "forbidden" things in many Christian homes. Coming from that background myself, I have relied heavily on my college roommate (a very solid Christian) to help me with that.
I feel that Christians need to relax a bit (obviously without compromising sexual purity) but understand that at some point as a man you will need to be able to romance the opposite sex as you find your wife one day.