Respect for the Gift of Sexuality 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.

The Sixth and Ninth Commandments 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.

The Sixth and Ninth Commandments 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. 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. fidelity

The sharing of love between the spouses The Sixth and Ninth Commandments Two Purposes of Sex in Marriage The sharing of love between the spouses Transmission of life Purposes of Sex

The Sixth and Ninth Commandments 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.

The Sixth and Ninth Commandments Offenses Against Marriage: Adultery – sexual relations with someone other than one’s spouse or an unmarried person with a married person 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.

Allowing our sexual thoughts and desires to control us. Chastity, Purity, and Modesty The virtue that helps us control our sexual desires and use them according to our situation in life. chastity 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. modesty Allowing our sexual thoughts and desires to control us. lust

Offenses Against The Sixth and Ninth Commandments 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 The people involved in the pictures, performances, films, etc. as well as the viewer can be exploited and harmed

Offenses Against The Sixth and Ninth Commandments Prostitution – engaging in sexual intercourse or other sexual activity for money or some other advantage Rape – forcing another to have sex ; a crime of power that uses sex; freedom and respect are removed

Homosexuality There is a difference between homosexual orientation and homosexual activity. Those with homosexual orientation are people who are attracted to the same gender The medical community since the 1970s does not consider homosexual orientation to be a mental disorder

Issues: There is a difference between homosexual orientation and homosexual activity. Homosexual orientation is not a choice; The Church is informed by the medical community Homosexual activity is a choice; it does not fit the Church’s definition of marriage

The Church is consistent in its teaching about sex outside of marriage: for heterosexual as well as homosexual people Any sex outside of marriage is not acceptable because it does not meet the purpose of sex

Issues: There is a difference between homosexual orientation and 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.

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