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<h3>A religious war on Oral Sex?</h3>
<small>by <a href="http://tucsoncitizen.com/freethought-arizona/author/donlacey/" title="Posts by Don Lacey" rel="author">Don Lacey</a> on Jun. 17, 2012, under <a href="http://tucsoncitizen.com/freethought-arizona/category/az-politics/" title="View all posts in AZ Politics" rel="category tag">AZ Politics</a>, <a href="http://tucsoncitizen.com/freethought-arizona/category/biblical-inerrancy/" title="View all posts in Biblical Inerrancy" rel="category tag">Biblical Inerrancy</a>, <a href="http://tucsoncitizen.com/freethought-arizona/category/christian-self-righteous-arrogance/" title="View all posts in Christian Self-Righteous Arrogance" rel="category tag">Christian Self-Righteous Arrogance</a>, <a href="http://tucsoncitizen.com/freethought-arizona/category/religion/christianity/" title="View all posts in Christianity" rel="category tag">Christianity</a>, <a href="http://tucsoncitizen.com/freethought-arizona/category/critical-thinking/" title="View all posts in Critical Thinking" rel="category tag">Critical Thinking</a>, <a href="http://tucsoncitizen.com/freethought-arizona/category/education/" title="View all posts in Education" rel="category tag">Education</a>, <a href="http://tucsoncitizen.com/freethought-arizona/category/ethics/" title="View all posts in Ethics" rel="category tag">Ethics</a>, <a href="http://tucsoncitizen.com/freethought-arizona/category/faith/" title="View all posts in Faith" rel="category tag">Faith</a>, <a href="http://tucsoncitizen.com/freethought-arizona/category/fundamentalism/" title="View all posts in Fundamentalism" rel="category tag">Fundamentalism</a>, <a href="http://tucsoncitizen.com/freethought-arizona/category/gay-marriage/" title="View all posts in Gay Marriage" rel="category tag">Gay Marriage</a>, <a href="http://tucsoncitizen.com/freethought-arizona/category/god-bible/" title="View all posts in God & Bible" rel="category tag">God & Bible</a>, <a href="http://tucsoncitizen.com/freethought-arizona/category/government/" title="View all posts in Government" rel="category tag">Government</a>, <a href="http://tucsoncitizen.com/freethought-arizona/category/history/" title="View all posts in History" rel="category tag">History</a>, <a href="http://tucsoncitizen.com/freethought-arizona/category/logic/" title="View all posts in Logic" rel="category tag">Logic</a>, <a href="http://tucsoncitizen.com/freethought-arizona/category/mormonism/" title="View all posts in Mormonism" rel="category tag">Mormonism</a>, <a href="http://tucsoncitizen.com/freethought-arizona/category/nature/" title="View all posts in Nature" rel="category tag">Nature</a>, <a href="http://tucsoncitizen.com/freethought-arizona/category/reason/" title="View all posts in Reason" rel="category tag">Reason</a>, <a href="http://tucsoncitizen.com/freethought-arizona/category/religion/" title="View all posts in Religion" rel="category tag">Religion</a>, <a href="http://tucsoncitizen.com/freethought-arizona/category/science/" title="View all posts in Science" rel="category tag">Science</a>, <a href="http://tucsoncitizen.com/freethought-arizona/category/separation-of-church-state/" title="View all posts in Separation of Church & State" rel="category tag">Separation of Church & State</a></small><br>
<p><span style="color:#0000ff">Editor’s note: In November, FreeThought Arizona will be hosting a speaker locally in Tucson, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrel_Ray"><span style="color:#0000ff">Dr. Darrel Ray</span></a>, author of <em>The God Virus</em> and <em>Sex and God:</em> <em>How Religion Distorts Sexuality</em>. Dr. Ray is also known for his <em>Sex and Secularism Survey; </em>you can read his interview on that survey <a href="http://livinglifewithoutanet.wordpress.com/2011/05/31/darrel-ray-responds-to-critics-of-sex-and-secularism-survey/"><span style="color:#0000ff">HERE</span></a>.</span></p>
<p><span style="color:#0000ff"> Jim sent me this in May while Rick
Santorum was still seeking to be the Republican presidential candidate.
I’ve been reluctant to publish it due to the subject matter. If the
discussion of oral sex is uncomfortable, please stop reading now. One of
the byproducts of so much religious influence in our society is that
frank discussions about sexual topics are distressing to many. This is
not as it should be. Here’s what Jim Wilson has to say on the subject of
religion and oral sex:</span></p>
<p style="padding-left:30px"> “Let the heathen spill theirs on the dusty ground. God shall make them pay for each sperm that can’t be found.” -<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0kJHQpvgB8">Monty Python “Every Sperm is Sacred</a>”</p>
<p> This seems to be an on again off again issue but Christianity in its
various forms has a long history of being at odds with sexual pleasure.
Oral sex is an enjoyable experience for men and women of all
orientations and a favorite pastime of so many Americans. Religious
objections to it tend to get swept under the rug but they occasionally
come out. Not long ago, Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum
inspired by his “conservative” Catholicism, likely hurt his bid for the
White House by coming out against oral sex and the right to privacy.
Also, he probably didn’t help himself when he came out in favor of state
level bans on birth control. <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/02/catholics-do-not-have-moral-objection-contraception">Surveys show that even Catholics do not have a moral objection against birth control</a>. Mitt Romney is also from a religious tradition that has a history of antagonism to towards oral sex as well.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.lds-mormon.com/worthy_letter1.shtml">In a 1982 letter</a>,
the Mormon First Presidency declared oral sex to be among the
“unnatural, impure, or unholy practices” that would keep one from
entering the Mormon temple. Apparently this letter caused Bishops and
Stake Presidents to ask about the practice in temple recommendation
interviews and the Presidency felt the need to command them not to ask
questions about specific sexual practices any longer, subtly backing
away from the staunch anti oral sex position without actually reversing
it. The Church remains anti-gay opposing same sex marriage rights while
opposing sexual feelings outside of marriage. Homosexual Mormons are
left option-less. It also has an ugly history of endorsing cruel and
ineffective attempts to convert homosexuals into heterosexuals. Some
cases resulted in suicide and lifelong mental health issues.
Masturbation and impure thoughts are also taboo. The Mormon Church has
imposed thought crime legislation on hormone fill teenagers. What could
be crueler?</p>
<p>Anti-oral sex and anti-gay attitudes are frequently accompanied by
claims of being unnatural and yet both oral sex and homosexual sex have
been <a href="http://www.sexualecstasy.org/">documented throughout human history</a> as well as in many <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexual_behavior_in_animals">species of animals</a>. Homophobia and anti-oral sex prejudices have only been found in one species making them seem far more unnatural.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+38&version=KJV">Genesis chapter 38</a>
and the story of Onan is the source most often cited to justify the
religious anti-oral sex, anti-masturbation, and anti-contraception
positions.</p>
<p style="padding-left:30px"> “Then Judah said to Onan “Sleep with your
brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to
raise up offspring for your brother.” But Onan knew that the child would
not be his; so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife he spilled his
semen on the ground to keep from providing offspring for his brother.
What he did was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death
also.”</p>
<p> It is unclear what the Lord actually finds wicked here. Is it the
mere spilling of semen or the fact that Onan did not fulfill an
obligation to his brother? This piece along with instructions to be “<a href="http://bible.cc/genesis/1-28.htm">fruitful and multiply</a>”
weakly support prohibitions against non-reproductive sexual behavior.
The Catholic Church takes these two Old Testament Biblical references to
justify opposition to condom use and demonizing loving homosexual
couples. Ironically, millions of sperm must die for a single conception
to take place. Since masturbation is more “unnatural” than rape, some
Catholic theologians who studied St. Thomas Aquinas concluded
masturbation is worse than rape. This not a generally held position as
discussed in this <a href="http://www.pathsoflove.com/blog/2009/06/aquinas-on-sexual-sins-dangers-of-speaking-formally/">ARTICLE</a>.</p>
<p>Oral sex is a perfectly natural and normal expression of human
sexuality and affection. The fact that religion would demonize such
practices is further evidence that religion is destructive to human
nature. It also is evidence that many people who claim to be Christian
reject the teachings of their religion that they find unappealing in
much the same way many self-identified Catholics reject their church’s
teachings about birth control. In human society our sexuality is used
for much more than reproduction. Religious dogma is wrong when it
vilifies this fundamental aspect of our nature.</p><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)<br><a href="mailto:art.deco.studios@gmail.com" target="_blank">art.deco.studios@gmail.com</a><br>