Perspectives on Marriages - Term Paper Example

Celibacy discrimination on the other hand seems to have no significance to me.
Callahan (chapter 13) implies that greed and sexual desire often tend to distort the human mind. This is a significant and valid point since the urge for sexual satisfaction often produces self-deception that blinds or affects the mind. For example, the Catholic Church has continuously been plagued by cases of sexual abuse. The need for sexual gratification is the major reason for these crimes. When under sexual arousal, people mostly do not think in a straight manner hence they often commit actions that are against the church teachings. The catholic priests molest their young children since they need to be satisfied sexually. Therefore, the desire for sexual satisfaction leads to various forms of abuse such as rape, sexual harassment prostitution and transmission of diseases.

Equality in marriage is a necessity for any successful marriage. The church advocates for equality in marriage. This progressive Christian sexual tradition is unappreciated since people are used to equality between sexes, autonomy and free consent. However, the tradition is appreciated in societies where the female population is oppressed and controlled. As such, equality in marriage is a significant and valid point put across by the author. The church prefers celibacy to marriage. This point is retrogressive and backward since it describes celibacy as the best and maybe only way to achieve or attain holiness. The notion is a result of the prejudices put forward against the female body. The concept as such demeans women and depicts them to be unholy and dirty.

To begin with, people often confuse the notion of love with committed love. They tend to think that one is mainly attached to the other. However, this is not the case. On the other hand, there is a clear difference between love and committed love. As a sentiment, love is generally difficult and harder to clearly define, whereas committed love is an action and hence easier to define. Love is the main sentiment that drives people to committed love. On the contrary, it does not mean that love will always lead to committed love. Love is defined as a great feeling of care and affection towards someone. With time, love turns to committed love where a person commits only to a single specific individual. Lust as a notion is the easiest to define and differentiate from love. Lust can be defined as an intense feeling for sexual gratification or craving. When compared to love, lust implies sexual desire. Secondly, unlike love, lust is associated with only physical chemistry over a medium or short period of time. Lastly, a lustful relationship refers to the enjoyment of a mutually pleasurable but short-term relationship.

The four mischievous theories of sex are; sex as divine, sex as demonic, sex as a nuisance and sex as casual. Sex is divine means that it (sex) should only be shared with someone whom you love. Additionally, the person should look for a long-term commitment. Sex as casual theory implies that the people involved are doing it for fun, with no promises, plans, or strings meant for the future. Sex as demonic theory implies that sex is taken to be unholy and dirty. In order to ascend to heaven, a person must desist from engaging in any sexual activities since they represent evil. Therefore, sex as demonic theory champions the need for people to practice celibacy. A celibate person is taken to be clean, impure and holy. This concept has been applied in the Catholic Church, which requires all their priests to practice celibacy. Lastly, sex as a nuisance theory refers to the sexual behaviours which do not cause any physical harm to the victim and practitioner. A lot of sex offenders commence with indulging in nuisance sex before upgrading to bigger crimes.

Johnson (chapter 19) argues that human love is that intense feeling people experience at the start of a new love life or relationship while the Christian agape is the love for god or god’s love fr mankind. The term agape normally describes the love extended to another man, unlike human love which is between a man and a woman.

Objective standards are determined by the nature and acts of the person. The objective standards are meant to preserve human procreation and mutual respect in the aspect of love. The use of birth control is one of the objective standards. The Catholic Church forbade or forbids its followers from using birth control methods. Read More