Lent thoughts 9

[mylodon]

As so often with these Lent/Advent blogs, I find myself postponing the intended post because something someone's said has sent my mind off in another direction.

nodbear's post about love inspired this thought: if God wanted sex to be entirely sinful (and only for the procreation of children) why did he make it so nice*? I don't believe in a God who deliberately sets out to entrap and the side of Christianity which has this sort of conversation:
"The earth is only 6000 years old. The bible says so."
"What about all the evidence of fossils or geology which show a much older planet?"
"They were put there by God to test your faith."
frankly makes my blood boil.

Sex in a loving context is wonderful, despite what many of our mothers and grandmothers were led to believe.

*Am aware of potential problem with that argument - will explore it next time. Assuming I don't get distracted..

Comments

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

The earth is only 6000 years old. The bible says so."
I have always had a strange fondness for Archbishop Ussher of Armagh who calculated the exact date of the creation - 23 October 4004 BC!

[charliecochrane.livejournal.com]

Bless him. I suppose it was the equivalent of doing a Sudoku back then.

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

ROFL! Something like that :)

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

Which puts me in mind of Good Omens: "One of his aides took the calculation further, and was able to announce triumphantly that the Earth was created on Sunday the 21st of October, 4004 B.C., at exactly 9:00 A.M., because God liked to get work done early in the morning while he was feeling fresh.

This too was incorrect. By almost a quarter of an hour."

I am enough of an atheist to profess myself unqualified to speculate on God's intentions about sex, but in general I agree with the principle you set forth. Sin involves harm and cruelty. Sex with love, or for shared pleasure, and with no deceit or harm? By my lights, that's nothing like sin.

[charliecochrane.livejournal.com]

Yep. And I think your description helps to identify the forms of sex (rape, paedophilia, etc) which are sinful.

And LOL to the Good Omens story. :)