Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Common Interests When did sex become wrong?

I couldn't even begin to address any other society than the US on this topic (and can barely do that justice), so here's my VERY limited understanding of things:

Sex for pleasure and not procreation almost always got a bad rap, starting with the Puritans during the 17th century it seems. It was an almost shameful activity or "urge" and one that certainly was never overly discussed or addressed, except to demonize it and warn of the "sinful" nature of it.

Much of this attitude has to do with Christian biblical teachings that strech over the centuries, so if you're looking for a source, go little no than the Bible as it was the "de facto" cornerstone of education in conjunction with the Catholic church for most of Western civilized society. Sex as a topic to be "educated" on, to the best of my knowledge, didn't even enter the minds of Western Judeo-Christian based culture until good 'ol Sigmund Freud starting rambling about it in the mid 19th century. Note that other societies had literature and art based on sex milennia before Western culture really even took it's first steps towards addressing the educational aspect of it.

Thank organized Christian religion for screwing up one of fulfilling and exciting activities that couples can take part in and turning it into a topic of non-discussion for centuries. Many churches today are addressing this blatant failure on their part, but "too little, too late" is where they mostly are at. I think the Christian religion plays a VERY important part and role in US society (like it or not), but this failure certainly stands out as a rather large one, given the HUGE role that sex plays in the course of a human life...

It constantly kills me that the topic of sex was historically demonized in Christian religion, since one of the books of the Bible is SOLELY dedicated to the concept in an abstract fashion. It's called the "Song of Solomon" and it's a beautiful read in it's simplicity and colorful descriptiveness. True, it talks of love and physical yearning in a very "proper" and pure fashion, but it addresses it nonetheless and touches on the sexual gravity that lovers share. It's certainly not the Kamasutra (the Hindu book of marriage, love and sexual pleasure), but the visuals the language brings forth leave little misunderstanding on what topic is being touched.

There's a balance and the Puritans were on the extreme side of it, just as the Roman orgy cults were on the other extreme side. I'll give you two guesses on who had more religious, political and social impact on US thought, but you should only need one at this point...