tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3415815443006499013.post6591354290053403571..comments2023-04-27T04:14:30.583-07:00Comments on Straight from the Heart: Chastity and AbstinenceDonna Farleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11884647995104136193noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3415815443006499013.post-27981974648142228042015-08-27T22:26:13.959-07:002015-08-27T22:26:13.959-07:00The question "Why haven't you gotten marr...The question "Why haven't you gotten married?" is addressed to people who have rushed into living together without marriage. I have no problem with delaying marriage, but delaying marriage involves delaying sexual intimacy as well. Life is indeed messy and complicated today, which is all the more reason not to sunder sexual activity from marriage.Fr. Lawrencehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13933248163052873060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3415815443006499013.post-20734591567581485102015-08-27T13:49:05.032-07:002015-08-27T13:49:05.032-07:00"Why haven't you gotten married?" Is..."Why haven't you gotten married?" Is putting a guilt trip and pressuring Christian youth to rush into marriage only to end up in a divorce a healthier alternative? There are many reasons why marriage is delayed - school, careers, work relocation, long distance relationships, legal delays with a divorce, fights with a ex spouse over assets, child custody battles. Life is more messy and complicated today. This isn't to disagree with you, only that unfortunately there are many cases of pastoral care where a lack of understanding and compassion drive people away from the Church instead of helping them through these challenging situations.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3415815443006499013.post-45504197433745140122015-08-27T10:40:16.363-07:002015-08-27T10:40:16.363-07:00In St. Paul's many exhortations to sexual puri...In St. Paul's many exhortations to sexual purity, he denounces any sexual activity outside of marriage (1 Thess. 4:1f), and that would include such things as co-habiting with your mother-in-law (1 Cor. 5:1f), and resorting to the famous prostitutes of Corinth (1 Cor. 6:12f). The issue is not pre-marital sex but extra-marital sex.<br />My question for anyone "being together in a committed loving monogamous relationship" would be, "Why haven't you gotten married?" If you are truly "committed", why have you omitted this step, which is how commitment is expressed in our culture? Sleeping with one's boyfriend or girlfriend is wrong precisely because being one's boyfriend or girlfriend is not a committed relationship. It can be ended simply and quickly, and one often has several such relationships before marriage. Moreover "the problems associated with abstinence" utterly pale before the problems associated with fornication and an acceptance of casual or non-committed sex. The issue is an old and perennial one: will Christians let the world squeeze them into its mould or will they live differently? Fr. Lawrencehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13933248163052873060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3415815443006499013.post-7711801273352589282015-08-26T22:55:06.054-07:002015-08-26T22:55:06.054-07:00When St. Paul writes about fornication, is he simp...When St. Paul writes about fornication, is he simply talking about premarital sex? In that culture, people got married at an early age, maybe 15 or 16 years old. Is he really preaching to all the 13 and 14 year olds out there, or was he referring to something more deviant such as the temple prostitution and orgies common to that time? What about in today's culture when people take longer to marry, what is really so wrong with being together in a committed loving monogamous relationship leading up to marriage? In some regions, the government recognizes common law relationships as a legal joining together, is the couple still "living in sin" even after they are legally regarded as being a couple? What about problems associated with abstinence such as emotional difficulty sharing and opening up to another human being or temptations with pornography? This almost seems more harmful to a person than sleeping with one's boyfriend or girlfriend in a committed loving relationship.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com