Why Premarital Sex Should Not Be Accepted
Premarital sex is defined as when two people begin to engage in sexual intercourse before marriage. In todays society premarital sex has become part of the norm and has been accepted. Many young adults are living together before marriage and engaging in sexual activity. It has become apparent that more people are involving themselves in premarital sex and do not acknowledge that it is an immoral act. Sex has become a symbol for pleasure and is no longer considered sacred in today’s society. I believe sex before marriage should not be accepted and that abstinence should be promoted more.
According to civil law, the church/divine law and the teachings we learned in Grade 12 religion class, premarital sex is an immoral behavior that should not be tolerated. Premarital sex has become common and acknowledged in todays society. In the Canadian government there is no law nor criminal offence towards premarital sex. The moral issue of sex before marriage has become critical in society and has become accustomed to peoples lives. “Canadian survey indicates fewer than one in 10 engaged women in the country agrees with the statement “sex before marriage is not a good idea. Weddingbells Magazine said its survey of 1,241 people found 8 percent of engaged women agreed with the statement, with only 4 percent saying their strongly agreed, CanWest News Service reported Wednesday” (UPI) This explains how many people do not take premarital sex as a wrong action but instead as a good idea. Very few people follow the moral doings of saving sex before marriage. Since the government does not have a specified law against this act it is not followed nor respected. Society has socially accepted that people, including young teens, are involved in sexual activity before marriage.
Society promotes “safe sex” by engaging the use of birth control and condoms. Society gives the impression that premarital sex is tolerable as long as you’re protected. Sex has become a symbol of lust instead of what it is truly meant for, which is love. Society has taken over the meaning of intimacy and has overwritten it. The media endorses sex through famous artists, television shows as well as music. It has become apparent that most songs underlie the meaning of sex and portray the immoral act. Society constantly sends a bad message to the public causing the increase of premarital sex. Today 67% of youth are sexually active before marriage. Teenagers are about as good at contraception as they are at making their beds, doing their homework and doing their chores. Teenage girls have an average of six sex partners in high school. In 1966, 6% of white babies were born out of wedlock, now its up to 25%. In 1967, 22% of black babies were born out of wedlock. Now 66% of black babies are born out of wedlock. “(Macdonald, D) This proves the increase in sexual activity over the years and how vital it has become in our society. Statistics have increased proving that people mostly do it for pleasure instead of love.
The realism is that there is no consequence regarding the law against this decision, which greatly impacts peoples choices. Society continues to acknowledge the immoral behavior causing it to become socially accepted. Premarital sex is looked upon as a sin in regards to the Catholic Church. Growing up most were always told that abstinence was a must and marriage was not acceptable if purity wasn’t present. Sex before marriage is referred to as fornication in the Bible. As Christians, The Bible is a primary source that we look to for guidance. The Bible teaches us the teachings of God as well as the sins.
Premarital sex is a sin when we refer to the Bible. In the Bible it states, “Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without (outside) the body; but he that commiteth fornication sinneth against his own body. “(1 Corinthians 6:13). This means that as Christians we should use our body in ways to glorify God. By committing the act of fornication we are committing a sin and are considered as evil. According to God, sex is supposed to be meant for reproduction and love, not for pleasure and lust.
The act of sex is behavior that goes against our faith and beliefs. The bible is our standard of what is right and wrong. In the bible it states, “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. ” (Revelation 21:8). This means that God views the sin of premarital sex as equal to murder, prostitution, and lying. Even though society accepts fornication, it doesn’t mean God does. As Catholics we are to follow his blessings and teachings regardless of society.
God wants us to be pure until it is the appropriate time and to flee from our selfish desires. “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:18-20). This scripture means that premarital sex is not only a sin against God but it is also a sin against your own body.
Our bodies are sacred and pure; once we have sex we loose our purity and wholesomeness. God gave us our body and we are to cherish it and respect his rules by not having sex until marriage. We are to honor God and thank him for the gift of life by becoming abstinent until married. Over the course of the grade 12 semester we learned many things that interchange with the moral reasoning of premarital sex. We learn that having sex before marriage is a maxim, something that we shouldn’t do but people do anyways. Morality is defined as the ways people obtain good through rules and laws.
Ethics is defined as the search for the infinite good, which guides to morality. Growing up we learn different morals and values that we are supposed to respect and follow. Abstinence is something we learn to follow based on our religious beliefs. The morality of premarital sex is that it is wrong and it goes against our morals. Our ethics and morality is supposed to lead us to happiness and good and it is said that if we disobey the value of abstinence then we will not reach this goal. We also learned about Sigmund Freud and the three parts of our unconscious mind. When people have sex before marriage “the id” is in recognition.
This part of the mind focuses on the pleasure principle and our strong desires. People are not concerned with the consequences but instead acting upon their satisfaction. When Christians have premarital sex they may form a guilty conscience. Knowing that they have disobeyed the laws of their faith they form a “well formed conscience”. A well-formed conscience is formed through Church, Scriptures and Community and usually entails recognizing ones own guilt from past wrong doings. One has a conscience knowing that they have committed a sin and went against God’s teachings.
Our conscience helps us show that we recognize our wrong doings and know that we violated the church scriptures. In conclusion premarital sex has been proven that it is an immoral act and should not be accepted. There is no civil law or offence against it which makes it that much more common in society. Society promotes safe sex causing an increase in premarital sex. Society sends a sinful message to the public, impacting their decision about sex. The church boldly represents premarital sex as a sin and recognizes it as evil. According to God, sex is supposed to be meant for reproduction and love, not for pleasure and lust.
We are to save our sacred bodies for marriage and anything before is referred to as disobeying God as well as your body. Premarital sex goes against our beliefs and morals. The morality of premarital sex is that it is wrong and if we deny that then we will not reach our ultimate happiness. Overall sexual activity is sinful behavior and should be saved until you marry the one special person that you are appropriately able to share your body with. Works Cited “Life is Sacred. ” 16 March 2004. www. troubledwith. com/Web/groups/public//@fotf_troubledwith/docume nts/articles/ ? Macdonald, David. What’s wrong with sex before marriage? Why Choose Chastity? ” October 6, 2011. http://www. davidmacd. com/catholic/chastity. htm Mcllhaney, Joe S. , Jr. M. D. “Testimony of Joe S. Mcllhaney, Jr. , M. D. ” 16 March 2004: 3- 8. 23 April 2002. www. medinstitute. org/media/testimony. htm “Poll: Premarital sex OK with Canadians”, June 9, 2010. http://www. upi. com/Odd_News/2010/06/09/Poll-Premarital-sex-OK- with-Canadians/UPI-77871276111501/ “The Benefits of Chastity Before Marriage. ” 17 March 2004. www. foreverfamilies. net/xml/articles/benefitsofchastity. aspx
