Lost in the Pelvic Zone: Catholic Thought on Sexual Ethics
In its formative days, Christians believed two things:
Christ would return to the world in their lifetime and
it was their obligation to prepare for that event by
focusing on prayer. Sex, they understood, was an obstacle
to paying attention to God. From that simple
belief evolved strict rules for avoiding sex. This presentation
will take us through that early history including,
suspicion of women as temptress, the justification of
sex only in procreation and disdain for sexual pleasure.
Even now, when Christian theologians think about
when it would be licit to have sex, the search for
“when” turns quickly to “when not”. However, some
modern Christian ethicists have adopted an approach
to sexual ethics grounded in the values we use for evaluating
other forms of relationship – especially justice.
These approaches will be explored.
Keywords: Catholicism, Sexual Freedom, Justice
Conflict of Interest and Disclosure Statement: None
