religious leaders show varied sexual attitudes
Remember Eden
You must know that this fire of sex
Erupts uncontrollably
Searing the eyes of common sense
But alone above this did rise voices
Past and present
"Not sex for mutual need
But from mutual devotion. "
Insisting we be truly human
So that human love might be devine.
Robert Forsberg
by mary jo howe
)nce upon a not-so-distant time, back
in the dark ages of our sexuality, many of
us had a wistful dream: that someday sex
without marriage would be permissible as
well as fun. . .Never again would we have
to murmur 'no, no' to preserve some an
tiquated notion of ourselves as respectable.
'Yes, Yes,' we'd swoon instead, joining in a
wild flight of passion.
"Well, the day finally has come. Sexual
freedom has arrived at last. . .Just about
everyone now knows that sex is not only
healthy and normal but enriching and in
vigorating, nourishing the body and soul
alike. After the revolution, sex should be
better than ever, right?
"Wrong, there is, alas, a mysterious
disenchantment afoot. Something vital has
gone out of the forbidden passion we once
knew and dreamed about. . .What is emer
ging in today's anything-goes society is a
rising degree of dissatisfaction, and, in cer
tain extreme cases, total withdrawal from
the sexual scene."
The above excerpt is from "Is Sex
Better Than Ever?" by Ziva Kwitney, in
the November issue of Cosmopolitan. What
the author is saying points to something
that religious leaders have pointed to for
over 2000 years. People need something
deeper and more lasting in sexual rela
tionships. Of four religious leaders interviewed, all
agree that the trend among UNL students
they work with has been the discovery
that traditional views towards sex are more
fulfilling.
But attitudes varied considerably on
premarital sex, homosexuality, contracep
tives, abortion and cohabitation.
o
Oex is to be used only within the mar
riage bond according to the Methodist
Church," said Mel Leutchens, Minister
Director of Wesley House.
"Basically, the church rejects anything
that will damage or destroy humanity. We
are more concerned about persons rather
than acts, wholeness about intentions,
sensitivity and respect."
Leutchens explained that sex is like the
peak of a pyramid based on a whole group
of affections.
When marriage occurs, he said, usually
this base of affections has already been
laid. If sex occurs first, it's like the
pyramid is standing on its peak. Of course,
it will fall and get someone hurt.
"But it's hard to draw the line. Pre
marital sex among two people who have a
good base relationship doesn't bother me.
It's that Friday night banger that does."
Sometimes it seems prostitution is more
honest than that kind of casual sex that
seems so common now, Leutchens said. In
prostitution everything is laid on the line
the wares, the money, and the fact that it
is only a physical relationship.
Rev. Bruce Berggren of the Lutheran
Student Center agreed that the Lutheran
Church is opposed to premarital sex.
"Their can be no arguing with that,"
said Jim Holthus, pastoral intern. "Pre
marital sex is using other people," he said.
"There's always some degree of what can
I get out of it' rather than the total
freedom to love in marriage.
Berggren said, "The church is opposed to
sin in all forms, anything that would make
us anything less than what we are
intended.
"Sex is more than just the linking of
two warm bodies. It is a spiritual union.
Photo by Tim Ford
Jim Holthus, pastoral intern at the
Lutheran Student Center.
The human being is one body and what af
fects the body affects the soul."
0 hrist said "and the two shall be come
one," Berrgren pointed out. "It is a Holy
act, sacramental. It is the means of extend
ing your very being to another person that
should not be taken lightly or with irre
sponsibility," he said.
Regarding the person who is "out to get
a piece of ass," Berrgren said they have
negated the other human being to a thing.
"There is just something dehumanizing
t
Photoby Tim Ford
Mel Leu t chins, ministerdirector of
Wesley House.
about the whole attitude of premarital
sex," Holthus added. "We want to pre
serve the sacredness that was meant to be."
According to Father Robert Hrdlicka of
the Cathedral of the Risen Christ, the
Catholic Church does not recognize
premarital sex at all.
"Sex is not a toy, it should be reserved
to marriage," he said. "Before marriage it is
only the satisfaction of concupiscence.
Each sexual act in marriage is the mani
festation of the love of a man for a woman
and should be left open for children as a
natural consequence."
Photo by Mark Billingsley
Rabbi Henry Jay Karp of the South
Street Temple.
In Judaism, marriage is a sacred insti
tution, and the ultimate good is for one
to be married, agreed Rabbi Henry Jay
Karp of the South Street Temple.
"Sex is not dirty or wrong," he said. "It
is considered the highest expression of love
between two people."
According to the Jewish Laws of Sexual
Obligations, premarital sex is not neces
sarily wrong. "It depends on the
situation," Rabbi Karp said. "But adultery
is a direct violation of the ten command
ments and highly frowned upon."
Continued on page 5
jmm'" . 'twill ' ' .vllk.
I - 1
Collaoa by Mark Billingstoy and Bob Pearson
page 3
friday, november 10, 1978 fathom