Monday, October 22, 2007

Act Utilitarianism and Sexual Morality

1) Would be concerned with specific sexual acts carried out by a person at one time.

2) Would judge the rightness of one of these acts by looking at its probable
consequences for all those who would be affected by an act.
a) negative bodily consequences include: STD’s, pregnancy, physical harm from rape.
b) negative psychological consequences include: guilt, low self-esteem from being used, trauma from coerced sex, destruction of relationships (e.g. a marriage through infidelity or a friendship).
c) positive bodily consequences include: the sheer pleasure of it, relaxation, opening one up to further sexual experiences, pregnancy.
d) positive psychological consequences include: intimacy, may boost self-esteem, an outlet for pent- up sexual urges.

3) Intense short-term pleasures may outweigh long-term unhappiness: “This is going to
Be great when I do it, and I know I’ll feel guilty afterwards, but the guilt will fade and
I ’ll have sexy memories to reflect on”.

4) Long-term unhappiness may outweigh intense short-term pleasures: rape would
hopefully be ruled out by this; think also of a one- night stand where you contract an
STD.

5) Sex without love, sex before marriage: same thing--would be justified quite often in
virtue of consequences if taken on a case by case basis.

6) female circumcision: would be ruled out often; the clitoris is the most sexually
sensitive area of a woman’s body, hence sex between a man and a woman where the
woman had a clitoris would invariably be more pleasurable than sex where the woman
had no clitoris.

Monday, October 15, 2007

What's wrong with sex before marriage?

There are a lot of good reasons to save sex until you are married.
• spiritual (your relationship with the Lord)
• mental and emotional (preserving virginity of mind and feelings until you present your body as a gift to the person you marry)
• Save sex for marriage is health. Here is a list of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) that you can become infected with by having sex outside of marriage.

If you have sex before marriage you will never know whether the relationship is based on a true "kinship" with that person or just sex.What is wrong with sex before marriage? How about: 'What is wrong with anything?' In other words, where do you get the moral code by which you live your life? There may be a whole number of different responses: 'I do what I feel is right' - my morals are entirely personal and arbitrary. Or 'society decides what is right and wrong' - laws are made and as long as I stick within them everything is correct.

For us as Christians, right and wrong are not purely up to the individual; after all, what you feel is good for you may hurt me. It is not only up to society either; lots of societies have allowed things to be 'legal' that you or I might take issue with. Right and wrong for the Christian come from a higher standard than any individual or group of humans - they come from God. The creator is also the moral lawgiver. So when I say that I believe that sex is designed to be expressed within marriage, I am not setting myself up as judge and jury and deciding to make life difficult for single people - I am trying to follow the maker's instructions.

This is not to say that ethical objections to becoming a Christian are not sincere or heartfelt. I have met many students close to becoming a Christian who have asked, 'If I become a Christian, do I have to stop sleeping with my boyfriend?' This is a real question which cuts to the heart of meaning and happiness.

In the other hand, when we detect something is pleasurable, we tend to want to have our fill of it, to be completely sated with it. So, if we like to ski, we become "avid skiers," or if we like tennis, we become "tennis addicts." If a man enjoys kissing his sweetheart, it's a given that he will sleep with her.Why is sex outside of marriage wrong? Briefly-and we'll cover this in greater detail later- it's immoral because 1) sex is a symbol of committed marital love and 2) sex may produce children who should be conceived and raised in the stable love community of marriage.

Okay, so premarital sex is wrong. What about other things? What about foreplay? Are these things sinful? Yes, any directly intended sexual arousal outside marriage is wrong.Some have argued that the question of how far you may go on a date is not a good one. They say that asking that is like asking how close you may come to the edge of a cliff without falling off. Not so. Drawing near to the edge of a cliff has no intrinsic value. Sharing affection on a date does. This is a healthy thing, one which helps bonding. As such, it should be pursued reasonably.


The immorality of using pornography should be a no-brainer for a Catholic, but today you can't make any assumptions. You have to spell everything out. So, what about pornography? Is viewing it for recreation seriously sinful? In a word, yes, because it corrupts the mind.

Pornography consists in removing real or simulated sexual acts from the intimacy of the partners, in order to display them deliberately to third parties. It offends against chastity because it perverts the conjugal act, the intimate giving of spouses to each other. It does grave injury to the dignity of its participants (actors, vendors, and the public), since each one becomes an object of base pleasure and illicit profit for others. It immerses all who are involved in the illusion of a fantasy world.

Premarital Sex


Introduction

As for the definition of Premarital Sex, it refers to the sexual morality that which is a belief and practices by which a culture, group, faith, etc. regulates their members’ behavior in matter of sexual activities.

In this part of the post for our blog, we would mainly discuss about the “For and Against of Premarital Sex” and the “religious Views” for Premarital sex. In the “For and Against Of premarital sex”, it would discuss and give a layout about the reason why Premarital sex has existed in the world around us and the risk that is involved for having premarital sex. Whereas in the Religious view, we had gathered all the relevant facts from the three main religions which are the Buddhist views, the Islamic views as well as the biblical views.

In the last part following with all the relevant points that we have made, comments would be provided from us as our point of view about the issue “Premarital Sex”.


For And Against Premarital Sex

Would it be ok to have premarital sex? This would be a common question among the teens and engaged couples. Perhaps, you are in a relationship that is progressing to that direction, but you are not sure about what to do. For premarital sex, there are both pros and cons of this issue. In the positive side of scale, Sex could fulfill your peers, hope for pleasure and the fulfillment for sexual desire. Vice versa, on the negative side of the scale, it weights of moral, fear of pregnancy or diseases, and guilt. How do these scale balances? In the following part, facts would be discussed further more.

Is it Moral to have premarital sex? Morality is a factor for many people when deciding whether or not to have premarital sex. After all, the messages we receive from most TV shows and movies these days tells us "everyone is doing it." In light of today's permissive attitude, people’s peers may think you're weird to even question it.

The Bible refers to premarital sex as fornication. That's a word we don't hear much these days, so what does it mean? Fornication is sexual intercourse between people who are not married to each other. The only distinction the Bible makes between premarital sex and adultery is that adultery involves married persons while fornication involves those who are unmarried. Premarital sex is just as much of a sin as adultery and all other forms of sexual immorality. They all involve having sexual relations with someone you are not married to.

Is it Safe Physically and Emotionally? Another consideration when deciding about premarital sex is safety. Did you know that 50% of the people who currently have HIV are between the ages of 15 and 24?1 Using a condom only reduces the risk of contracting HIV by 85%. Condoms do not significantly reduce the risk of contracting other sexually transmitted diseases.2 Take these statistics into consideration when making your decision. Most people don't consider the emotional effects of premarital sex. You see, sex is an emotional experience and it affects our lives in ways we don't understand. After engaging in premarital sex, many people express feelings of guilt, embarrassment, distrust, resentment, lack of respect, tension, and so much more.

Recreation or Re-creation? In discussing premarital sex, we often focus on the "recreation" aspect of it. Yes, sex is pleasurable. God, our Creator, designed it that way. It may be hard to think of God creating sex, but He did! In God's plan, sex was designed for married couples to enjoy the pleasure and excitement of sexual relations. The Bible talks about this in Hebrews 13:4, "Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral." God created sex to be fun, exciting, and pleasurable. At the same time, though, it is clear in the Bible that God restricts sexual activity to married couples.



Religious Views


In the religious views that I have gathered, it is mainly based on the three religions which is the Buddhist views, the Islamic views and biblical view. After reading all the three views, you would realized that all the three main religions does not agree with premarital sex. As following, facts are gathered to analyze each of the religion’s view for each religion.


Buddhist Views


In the Buddhist view, As with Buddhist ethics the five perverts form the basis for making moral decisions. In this instance it is the third precept, ‘I undertake not to engage in sexual misconduct’, and its positive aspect, 'With stillness, simplicity and contentment, I purify my body’, are the guides (but not commandments), for understanding right and wrong behaviour with regard to sex for the Buddhist. Sexual misconduct is clearly going be largely decided by the opinions of individuals. In the third precept and its positive aspects the people can begin to build a picture of what it might be:

  • 'stillness'- Sexual relationships need to be thought about. Who are you going to have sex with? Why are you having sex with them? Is it right to have sex with them? These are examples of questions which clearly demonstrate a thoughtful approach to sexual relationships.
  • 'simplicity' - Sexual relationships should not be complicated. A person having an affair will need to lie about that fact that they are married or lie to their partner where they have been and who they have been with. Illegal sexual practices are hidden from the necessary authorities. If one cannot be honest about one's sexual partners then complications will almost certainly arise.
  • 'contentment' - Having sex with someone should not result in a guilty conscience. Sex should be an enjoyable experience for all concerned. One should consider whether one's partner wants to have sex. This also links in with the notion of stillness' considered earlier.

ISLAMIC VIEW


Islam has opened the door to sex education for all Muslims with respect to the sexual relations which the Quran discusses somewhat candidly. Indeed, on the subject of marriage, the Quranic terminology employs linguistic forms which suggest more sexual than contractual connotations, as in its use of the term "nikah".


Indeed, if we want to study the noble Sunna, we find that there are hadiths on sexual issues which pertain to relations, legal rulings, and ancillary topics. In more than one hadith, sexual organs are so candidly and naturally covered that one can only infer that the milieu of the (prophetic) message saw nothing immoral in the topic.


We may find some hadiths which deal with the conversation between the Prophet(p.) and someone who came to confess to having committed adultery (zina). We see that the last question directed to the perpetrator concerning the sex act used a term which people today may shy away from expressing.


We may find some hadiths which deal with the conversation between the Prophet(p.) and someone who came to confess to having committed adultery (zina). We see that the last question directed to the perpetrator concerning the sex act used a term which people today may shy away from expressing.


In this manner, we find related hadith issues pertaining to women in menstruation, pre-menstruation, the post-partum period, as well as matters pertaining to the state of man after sexual relationship (janabah)etc.



BIBLICAL VIEW


Nowhere has Christian morality come under greater attack than in the whole area of sex outside marriage. The Biblical teaching that sex is only for marriage does not even enter the thinking of most people today. The Biblical condemnation of illicit sexual acts has become for many a license for sexual experimentation. The popular acceptance of sexual permissiveness is evidenced by the introduction and use of "softer terms." Fornication, for example, is referred to as "pre-marital sex" with the accent on the "pre" rather than on the "marital." Adultery is now called "extra-marital sex," implying an additional experience like some extra-professional activities. Homosexuality has gradually been softened from serious perversion through "deviation" to "gay variation." Pornographic literature and films are now available to "mature audiences" or "adults."


More and more, Christians are giving in to the specious argument that "Love makes it right." If a man and a woman are deeply and genuinely in love, they have the right to express their love through sexual union without marriage. Some contend that pre-marital sex releases people from their inhibitions and moral hangups, giving them a sense of emotional freedom. The truth of the matter is that pre-marital sex adds emotional pressure because it reduces sexual love to a purely physical level without the total commitment of two married people.


The Biblical condemnation of sexual relations before or outside marriage is abundantly clear. Adultery, or sexual intercourse between married women or married men and someone other than their marital partners, is condemned as a serious sin. Not only is adultery forbidden in both versions of the Decalogue (Ex 20:14; Deut 5:18), but it was also punishable by death in ancient Israel: "If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death" (Lev 20:10; cf. 18:20; Deut 22:22-24). The same punishment was meted out to a man or a woman who engaged in pre-marital sex (Deut 22:13-21, 23-27).



Opinions:

  • Each person is responsible for their own doings.
  • Maturity of a person is the most important issue that they should face on their own as this is part of growing up.
  • Girls would be more risky as there would be an increase of the risk for having an unwanted pregnancy and would be invoved in high health risk that may be involved.
  • In today’s millennium, freedom is what each of us have and we are in charge or our own freedom and doings.
  • Be sure to be alert of all the responsibilities that would be involved when it comes to premarital sex. As the consequences of any mistakes made is very likely to be very bad.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Welcome to Our Blog!

Hello and welcome everyone reading our blog...!

This is the 1st blog that we are posting which would only be a short blog.

The main reason why we have created this blog due to Miss Azlin's instructions to us.. ^_^ .

As 1st and foremost, this 1st blog would introduce ourself.

Our Group is called "SUPER-LADIES" the reason why we choosed this name is because our group is only consisted of all female members...



Our 5 Super-LAdies includes:
  • Vui Mei
  • Shirley
  • Kah Ling
  • Lin Yin
  • Judith

Hello to all and that's all for our 1st blog.. Be sure to expect more of the blogs we wrote as there would be more to come... !

Thanks to all...