Sexual immorality should not be encouraged in society
Martin Luther, Christian reformer of the 16th Century, once stated, “(Godless people) pay attention to the punishment and are afraid of it, but they aren’t concerned about their sin.” In essence, fear of punishment or consequences imposes fear of sin.
For example, a little child would not be afraid to steal cookies from a cookie jar, but would fear being caught and punished for taking the cookies.
What would happen if punishments were taken away? Certainly, no good would come of that.
In today’s world, pre-marital sex is the “cookie” we love to steal. We don’t mind activities like pre-marital sex, just as long as it does not end up producing a pregnancy or a sexually transmitted disease.
We love the pleasure involved, but don’t appreciate the consequences.
So what do we do? We dispose of the consequences and personal responsibility through scapegoats such as abortion, contraceptives and condoms.
We have seen this through many examples, including the 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, which made abortions legal in the U.S. and increased sex content in movies, television and books — and it is wrong.
Abortion, contraceptives, condoms and similar means of preventing or ending pregnancies and STDs only encourage us to dwell in the sinfulness of free sex.
This is especially true for those in unwed relationships. People in such relationships already prove they are sexually irresponsible by giving in to their lusts before marriage.
Even if they are using contraception like condoms or birth control, are we going to let them continue to avoid responsibility at another level through abortions?
If an unwed couple wishes to be sexually active, then let them also bear the responsibility for such a decision — the men and women in relationships should be ready to become parents. The life of an unborn child is much more important than one’s lusty feelings or emotions.
Couples in such relationships should also prepare for possible STDs. Naturally, I don’t wish to see the spreading of STDs and hope that we can help those who become infected. However, it is better for couples to contract STDs and discontinue any pre-marital sexual relations than it is for them to prevent STDs and continue in such sinful relationships.
There are treatments for such cases after contraction, but we should not be handing couples condoms, vaccines and the like to prevent it. Offering scapegoats removes consequences and fear of sin, and thereby encourages sexual immorality.
According to safelabcentre.com and abstinence.net, there are approximately 12-15 million new cases of STDs annually in America, more than 60 percent of which occur among people 25 years old and younger – this should be a wakeup call for those who wish to engage in pre-marital sex.
These figures show us that pre-marital sex has consequences, even if “protected.”
Contraception and condoms do not work half as well as abstinence or marriage.
I am not saying we should ban contraceptives or condoms, but hope that we might discourage others from using them – and in doing so show them the path to responsibility and sexual purity. Here’s a hint: the Bible is an excellent source of help in such situations.
Consequences help us to grow and steer away from bad decision-making. We all make bad decisions in our lives, of course, but was it not the consequences for such decisions that helped us avoid repeating those same mistakes?
Naturally, none of us can make decisions for others – nor should we – but let’s refrain from supporting immoral decisions. No one can learn to grow in a consequence-free environment.
Push yourself, and support your friends to take that hand out of the cookie jar. We should encourage abstinence or marriage instead of abortion, condoms or contraception, responsibility instead of scapegoats, and godliness instead of godlessness.
Andrew Jenson can be reached at [email protected]