CHAPTER NINE. Respect for the Gift of Sexuality

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1 CHAPTER NINE Respect for the Gift of Sexuality The Goodness of Sex God created us as sexual beings. Sex is derived from the Latin word secare which means to separate. Both created in God s image, men and women are complementary beings who are equal in dignity. According to Genesis, sex was intended to be very good. The Goodness of Sex Our sexuality involves our emotional and spiritual makeup. Sexual activity involves respect: looking at ourselves as creations of God and looking at others as persons and not objects to be used. 1

2 You shall not commit adultery. You shall not covet your neighbor s wife. These commandments serve as safeguards of God s intention for human sexuality. They warn against the disrespectful and harmful actions involving sex. Sexual Intercourse is for Marriage God intended sexual intercourse and all actions leading up to it to be shared exclusively by a man and a woman in the union of marriage. fidelity Marital faithfulness between husbands and wives that requires reserving all sexual activity and affection for each other and also asks couples to be loyal to each other through good times and bad. Two Purposes of Sex in Marriage The sharing of love between the spouses Purposes of Sex Transmission of life 2

3 Two Purposes of Sex in Marriage Moral means of birth regulation must be in harmony with the two ends of marriage: openness to life and sharing of love. Periodic abstinence and Natural Family Planning methods are effective, natural ways of regulating birth. It is wrong to use immoral means to conceive a child. Any procedure that separates sexual love making from the act of procreation is disordered. Offenses Against Marriage: Adultery sexual relations with someone other than one s spouse or an unmarried person with a married person Divorce dissolution of the marriage contract Polygamy having more than one spouse Incest sexual intimacy between relatives or in-laws within a degree that prohibits marriage Free unions extended relationships where couples refuse to have their commitment formalized or sanctioned by law. Chastity, Purity, and Modesty chastity The virtue that helps us control our sexual desires and use them according to our situation in life. modesty The virtue of temperance, related to the virtue of purity, applies to how a person speaks, dresses, and conducts himself or herself. Protects the intimate center of a person by refusing to unveil what should remain hidden. Allowing our sexual thoughts and desires to control us. lust 3

4 and Ninth Masturbation the deliberate stimulation of the genitals to obtain solitary sexual pleasure Fornication sexual intercourse engaged in by an unmarried male and female Pornography media that s motivation is to depict sex acts in a way that causes sexual arousal and Ninth Prostitution engaging in sexual intercourse or other sexual activity for money or some other advantage Rape forcing another to have sex Homosexual activity sexual activity between members of the same sex. Lacks unity between a husband and wife and openness to the transmission of human life and Ninth Homosexual Activity Those with homosexual orientation are not morally guilty for who they are. Prejudice against someone who has a homosexual orientation is wrong. We must accept persons of homosexual orientation as our brothers and sisters. 4

5 Vocabulary Fidelity Fecundity Infertility Adultery Divorce Polygamy Incest Free unions Chastity Modesty Lust Masturbation Fornication Pornography Prostitution Rape Homosexual activity 5