Sex, Consent and Personal Responsibility
A long time ago, in what now seems like a galaxy far away, the general consensus was that the only appropriate context for sexual activity was within marriage defined as one man and one woman committing themselves to each other for life. This viewpoint was derived from the Bible and 2000 years of christian tradition.
Marriage provided a safe place for people who loved each other to engage in sex acts in an atmosphere of mutual respect. “Consent” could be negotiated by partners who knew each other intimately and were committed to pleasing one another. Marriage also provided a safe place for children to be raised, which was important because in those days sex and reproduction were hard to separate.
The system was not perfect as people were involved. Rape was an uncommon but real crime and generally despised by the public. Domestic violence was a reality that marred some marriages. People were unfaithful at times, and divorce on these grounds occurred.
Then in the 1960’s came the birth control pill and the Sexual Revolution. Sexual activity was divorced from childbirth and also from marriage. More diverse forms of sexual expression came to be tolerated and “no fault” divorce became all the rage, leading to much higher rates of marriage breakdown.
Sixty years on, we have a very weak institution of marriage being constantly undermined to accommodate same sex marriage and threesomes.
More worrying, but entirely predictable, we have people opining about the issue of consent in sexual encounters. Self-styled “experts” claim that consent must be enthusiastic at every stage of the process. If you so much as look at a person without this consent you can be accused of harassment or assault.
The NSW Police Commissioner suggested a phone app whereby people can register their agreement before hand, only to be shot down by the feminists who claim it was just a patriarchal ploy to continue the repression of women. What happens if “Yes” changes to “No” part way? If you are playing with your phone prior to sex, you might as well just cut all the risk and go straight to the porn sites.
Men have their reputations trashed by people alleging unwanted sexual approaches that took place decades before. Even the death of a complainant years ago is not enough to stop the outrage and the name calling.
We don’t need consent apps and education in primary schools. We don’t need culture change in Parliament or diversity training in corporations.
Just one simple rule will fix it: if you are not married to a person you don't have sex with them, kiss them, touch them or do anything remotely sexual with them.
An additional rule would be: you love your spouse with all your body, mind and soul until death parts you. Those words you spoke at the altar are supposed to be a binding life-long promise.
If society honoured marriage, practised the “sanctity” of marriage and taught children and youth to do likewise, many of the scandals and problems that keep cropping up would be done away with.
This is another area where God’s intention for people works out a lot better than the wisdom of mere humans.