At least the Bible gives a very definite line that sex should be enjoyed within marriage. Not that Christians always get it right either but where they mess up they’ve strayed from following Jesus and the teachings of the Bible. We have to realize that a moral line should be drawn. We can debate about where it’s drawn but the Bible gives the only unwavering, common sense, answer to the debate. And, it’s not just rules, it goes to the heart of why people do the harmful things that we do.

I would encourage you to take a look at the life of Jesus. If you need some help finding where to begin feel free to email me. I’d be happy to send you a Bible or point you to a few good places to begin reading. In my opinion it’s important to begin with the root causes and not just the symptoms. The symptoms are more child slavery, more exploitation of women, more rape and abuse and etc. We have to realize that there is something evil in the hearts of people that must be addressed; not through legislation, but through love and forgiveness.

Why don’t you just become a Christian, then there would be no disjunctions to resolve . . . as far as our differing value-sets .

But I agree with you, we do live in different universes; and so trying to find “common ground” becomes an difficult, if not impossible task. Btw, there’s a good little book you might want to read, it’s called The Universe Next Door by James Sire; it is a comparative study on the major “worldviews” out there (you might find it interesting).

Peace.

However, as a non-Christian, as I was reading your points, I kept thinking to the fundamental moral differences. I am very glad that your approach promotes reduction in ostracism, greater acceptance and tactical cooperation in stopping injustice and abuse. If everybody had just taken a couple of steps in this direction, the world would have been a much, much better place. And even those couple of steps are an immense goal that’s hard to achieve. So simply trying to implement your advice would make our hands full.

But if we were to take it further, it’s like we live in different universes. The concept of axioms from math is a powerful one. If parallel lines don’t cross, you have geometry of a flat surface. If parallel lines cross, you have geometry of a sphere. There seem to be some fundamental differences in what Christians and sex-positive non-Christians consider healthy, balanced, and right; and I don’t know if those could be successfully resolved.

But the good news, as I said above, is that we can accept the differences and cooperate in the areas we agree on, which alone is quite enough work for a lifetime.

Preach the Word with Love and Compassion would be great way to do it!

We’re all religious.

It was a realization that my faith was becoming more “public” than “personal”. I wish I would have come to that realization earlier, and I hope other Christians come to it sooner.