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Christian scripture and tradition have overwhelmingly shaped American attitudes toward sexuality. And in the past year, our national attention has been riveted on sexual scandal within the Catholic Church. In this hour of Speaking of Faith, we crack open the difficult subject of Christian tradition and healthy sexuality. What is the positive sexual ethic of the Bible, beyond the identification of sin? What does sexuality have to do with the human spirit and how might this change they way it is discussed in communities of faith? Listen
We welcome your reflections on the topics of
this program.
Please share your thoughts.
Of flesh and
spirit (January 2, 2003)
As a Catholic I struggled for years with how to be a healthy sexual being and
an "obedient" Catholic to the point, in college, I felt I had to give up my
religion to maintain sanity, to unload too much guilt. But some 20 years
later returned to the Church (a changed one) as a liberal, "cafeteria"
Catholic.
Love the reading of John Donne's "Batter my Heart, Three-Personed God", which
I included in a talk and poetry reading for the laity who attend a local
monastery for mass, as I do. I also included Yeats' "Crazy Jane talks to the
Bishop", also excellent for discussing sex and spirituality, full of
paradoxes of the flesh and spirit.
Frank Anastasio
Important in parenting (January
2, 2002)
I just finished listening to Speaking of Faith on
the connection of spirituality and sexuality. My 15
year old daughter also listened to some of this excellent
show.
I've grown up confused about the place of
sexuality in my faith, wanting a more relaxed, part-of-life view of sex
as I saw in Sweden and in the the recent movie, "My Big Fat Greek
Wedding". As a parent of 2 teenage girls I appreciated the information
and opinions voiced in this show to help me along my parenting path. I
plan to look into the books mentioned.
Lynne Graham
Told of the dangers, but never the joys (January 16, 2003)
I want to commend you for the Speaking of Faith report on "Spirituality and Sexuality". I am a single student and a virgin, but I found the coverage to be very informative and helpful as I date and look toward marriage. At first I was skeptical since none of the interviewees were of a "conservative" tradition (which I still think would have been good to have), but I think the approach and guest list complimented each other nicely. I was especially impressed with the comments made by the orthodox priest.
Throughout high school, I was always told about the dangers of sex before marriage, but never of the joys of sex after marriage. The media portrays sex as something dirty, and the church either skirts the issue or inadvertently points to the media portrayal as being true. Aside from other small fragments, this report really gave me a glimpse into the wonderful part sex can play in a healthy relationship.
Jacob D. Haqq-Misra
Understanding our goal (January 16, 2003)
As a Catholic married man, I deeply enjoyed the words of Anthony Ugolnik, the Orthodox Priest. He speaks as a person who understands the power of the sexual impulse to either enrich or shipwreck one's life. As a Christian my ability to follow Christ in heart-felt devotion to him and loving service to others, can all too easily be misdirected by the inordinate sensuality that pervades our modern culture. To find a sensuality that's well-ordered is truly a challenge. It is indeed easy to safely enjoy certain sensual pleasures, but as a man I find my sex drive will gladly devour any diet I place before it. A simple "bread and water" diet of sexual sensuality keeps my sex drive in check and my marriage as my primary preoccupation. The loss of certain sensual pleasures is a small price to pay for my family's cohesion and the safe passage of my soul to its eternal destination. It is better to enter heaven...
Dan Wegner
Maple Grove, MN
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