Sex and the Dissident

[The_Reginator]

I found this episode of “The Vortex” very revealing. I’ve thought along these same lines as well, but Michael expresses my concerns better than I can.

Here’s an excerpt from the script:

The open rebellion on the part of so many lay people and clerics in the Church today can
be directly attributable to their lack of sexual morality … personally.

When a Catholic loses his or her purity … they begin to lose the faith. There is a direct
link between the corruption of the soul and the corruption of the flesh. The link is our
human nature.
We are body AND soul. What happens to one happens to the other. If we keep our souls
pure … our bodies follow suit.
Plunge you body into the filth of unbridled passions and your soul becomes filthy as well.
And God help the soul that presents itself before Almighty God in a state of filth and
contamination.

“When a Catholic loses his or her purity … they begin to lose the faith.”
I’ve seen this happen in my family, and it reminds me of some of the struggles I’ve read here at CAF in the past.
I think it’s great that some people struggling with sexual immorality bring it here to discuss – it shows that they are not giving up easily.

 

[AntiTheist]

“When a Catholic loses his or her purity … they begin to lose the faith.”

…which tells you something, doesn’t it?

The discovery that exercising the natural functions of the body is quite pleasant, enjoyable, and healthy is certainly going to lead people to question a lot of religious teachings about them.

Forgive me if it’s improper of me to post a message in a forum that seems to be devoted exclusively to questions of “am I going to Hell??!” but I see a lot of posts here involving a struggle with the demands of the Catholic Church in regards to sex…demands that are, in my estimation, highly unnatural and unrealistic in all cases except those where the individual has a very weak sex drive to begin with.

By all means, if you enjoy tormenting yourself with the inability of your body to live up to the unrealistic demands your religion places on it, then knock yourself out – but if you don’t think that some people are going to really start to question some of those demands, that’s pretty naive.

 

[BillP]

“When a Catholic loses his or her purity … they begin to lose the faith.”

I think this is an obvious case of mistaking “cause” for “effect”. The article seems to believe that becoming sexually active leads to a loss of faith, when its almost certainly the other way around. Think about it. Religously devout people aren’t promiscuous.

That’s like saying “people who burst into flames are often become hot”

 

[The_Reginator]

I think this is an obvious case of mistaking “cause” for “effect”. The article seems to believe that becoming sexually active leads to a loss of faith, when its almost certainly the other way around. Think about it. Religously devout people aren’t promiscuous.

That’s like saying “people who burst into flames are often become hot”

That’s not what I took from it
It is not a question of being ‘sexually active’ but rather one of being pure in your particular circumstances
.
A husband and wife can be very sexually active and remain pure, in that they remain committed to each other.
The main impurity concerning me would be sexual promiscuity, pornography, extra/pre-marital sex, etc.
In addition, when we do fall into sin it should be our priority to go to confession.

Religiously devout people can very well become changed if they let their guard down. That can lead to loss of faith.
The more time you spend feeding your physical appetites gives less time (and thus incentive) to feed your spiritual appetite.

 

[OraLabora]

Why would sexual sins, any more than any of the other capital sins, lead to a loss of faith?

Look at the lust for power that has many Catholic politicians scrambling to ingratiate themselves with the pro-abortion movement. Do you think they really have any more, or less “faith” than someone who is “impure”?

Look at what the love of money has done. Has it made us more charitable, or less?

I think the premise of this thread is a gross over-generalization. All sin separates us from God, sexual or otherwise, and God’s forgiveness is made available to all repentant sinners, even sexual ones.

 

[The_Reginator]

Why would sexual sins, any more than any of the other capital sins, lead to a loss of faith?

Look at the lust for power that has many Catholic politicians scrambling to ingratiate themselves with the pro-abortion movement. Do you think they really have any more, or less “faith” than someone who is “impure”?

Look at what the love of money has done. Has it made us more charitable, or less?

I think the premise of this thread is a gross over-generalization. All sin separates us from God, sexual or otherwise, and God’s forgiveness is made available to all repentant sinners, even sexual ones.

All good points, OraLabora.
HOWEVER,
I started this thread after seeing the video that I linked to in my OP, which is what I had hoped to have a discussion about.
(Here’s the link again in case anyone was not able to watch it: Sex and the Dissident
The video concludes with:

No wonder Our Lady told the children at Fatima that more souls end in hell because of sins of the flesh than any other sin.

The video is mostly concerned with* loss of faith within the Church, especially in the Church hierarchy.*

 

[Lycorth]

I"When a Catholic loses his or her purity … they begin to lose the faith."
I’ve seen this happen in my family, and it reminds me of some of the struggles I’ve read here at CAF in the past.
I think it’s great that some people struggling with sexual immorality bring it here to discuss – it shows that they are not giving up easily.

Amen. It reminds me of my own struggles and those I’ve seen in close friends. Whenever lustful things are chased after, one’s faith is slowly marginalized and sacrificed, bit by bit. There is no room for both.

Sexual sins are very powerful - lust is very powerful. It can ruin a person so easily, and is so easy to fall into. I think that’s part of why lust receives so much attention - it is so very dangerous.