LAS VEGAS SUN: Physical intimacy is not simply a biological action and reaction. It is bigger than that. It is more about the value system that one prefers and adopts because it affects not only the individual, family and the society but human civilizations and cultures as well as the rise and fall of nations.
On the one hand are Freudian followers who argue that civilization is a byproduct of repressed sexuality and on the other hand are those who in the words of J.D. Unwin believe that “in human records there is no instance of a society retaining its energy after a complete new generation has inherited a tradition which does not insist on pre-nuptial and post-nuptial continence.”
Unwin, a sociologist at Cambridge University, published “Sex and Culture” in 1934. He studied 86 societies and found no exceptions to the rule that the cultures flourished during eras that valued sexual fidelity and discipline. He demonstrated through empirical data that whenever sexual mores loosened, the societies declined, and whenever they followed rigid sexual discipline they rose again.
In our recent history, the fall of the Soviet society offers a recent example where Vladimir Lenin espoused a “glass of water” theory about sex, explaining that sexual desire is just like desire for food or water. The theory collapsed, and with it collapsed the Soviet society.
However, new interpretations are being offered to explain the Freudian ideas. Barbara Ehrenreich, a widely read and award-winning author of 21 books, wrote not very long ago that sex, preferably among affectionate and consenting adults, belongs squarely in the realm of play. This “de-moralization” of sex is promoting a new sexual ethics that legitimizes and justifies everything in the name of pleasure and freedom.
What was presented as his personal opinion by President Barack Obama about same-sex marriage is an effort to legitimize the de-moralization of sex to develop a new culture where every sexual activity is fine as long as individuals engaged in the act have their consent and pleasure. » | Dr. Aslam Abdullah | Sunday, May 13, 2012
