General Discussion

lapislzi

(5,762 posts)

36. The idea that sex should be for procreative purposes only has nothing to do with religion

Tue Mar 13, 2012, 10:04 AM

Mar 2012

You either believe it or you don't.

Religions co-opted this idea centuries ago for reasons good and bad. You can hold the entirely secular idea that the only reason sexual relations exist across the board, is to produce offspring.

Not too many species mate just for pleasure, humans being notable among them, and as far as I know, humans are the only species to go out of their way to prevent the production of offspring.

Disclaimer: I am an atheist.

I have sex for pleasure, but I'm aware that my desire to do so is evolved. Gametes making gametes. The purpose of life itself.

So, you could make the argument that contraception MAY be counter-evolutionary. I don't buy it, because there are many reasons not to produce offspring, and humans just happened to evolve the cognitive powers to devise methods to prevent conception.

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Is There A Non-Christian Reason To Be Against Contraception? [View all] stopbush Mar 2012 OP

Nat Hentoff comes to mind. He was secular and anti-abortion. immoderate Mar 2012 #1

Hentoff, like a lot of medically ignorant antiabortionists Warpy Mar 2012 #15

Agreed. Hentoff kind of romanticized the fetus as a "person." immoderate Mar 2012 #22

I think if you really take the time to research, you'd find few Christian denominations are against hlthe2b Mar 2012 #2

This message was self-deleted by its author Tesha Mar 2012 #3

There are no non-religious reasons AFAIK Proud Liberal Dem Mar 2012 #4

Jesus spoke often about abortion... orwell Mar 2012 #5

I must have missed the Christian reasons gratuitous Mar 2012 #6

Saying "I'm a D, he's an R" is hauling out a broad brush. stopbush Mar 2012 #14

No gratuitous Mar 2012 #16

The Bible is make believe. All religions are based on make believe. stopbush Mar 2012 #27

Yeah, that whole "serve one another in love" gratuitous Mar 2012 #30

Oh, please. The ethos of reciprocity dates back to ancient Egypt. stopbush Mar 2012 #32

So? gratuitous Mar 2012 #34

You're offering the broken clock argument for religious belief. stopbush Mar 2012 #35

Broad brushes for narrow minds. LanternWaste Mar 2012 #18

the only non-christian reason... Beer Snob-50 Mar 2012 #7

There might be. And people who have such reasons MineralMan Mar 2012 #8

Yes, egotism could be behind anti-contraception. And also abortion. sinkingfeeling Mar 2012 #9

I'd be willing to bet there are some "back to nature" types who are against family planning Recursion Mar 2012 #10

Nothing comes to mind sakabatou Mar 2012 #11

On contraception, I got nothin'. On abortion... FATNED Mar 2012 #12

A further extension to that is SATIRical Mar 2012 #17

Yes, and it's the most common reason to oppose contraception, even among Christians. IT HURTS PEOPLE saras Mar 2012 #13

Not sure about the first... JSnuffy Mar 2012 #19

Not just Christians OPOS Mar 2012 #20

Roman Catholics, Mormons, and some fundamentalist groups are the only Christian groups I know of Lydia Leftcoast Mar 2012 #21

No Aerows Mar 2012 #23

Contraception? I'd say it isn't even an issue among most Christians, so I'd lean toward no and TheKentuckian Mar 2012 #24

I've spoken of my atheist tea-party friend before OriginalGeek Mar 2012 #25

I wouldn't want to see contraception or abortion forced on women Cleita Mar 2012 #26

Thoughtful, reasonable people will be outbred by careless idiots? FarCenter Mar 2012 #28

Since most Christians aren't against contraception onenote Mar 2012 #29

Yes, but such reasons probably don't feature much in America LeftishBrit Mar 2012 #31

The most conservative Islam clerics oppose contraception muriel_volestrangler Mar 2012 #33

The idea that sex should be for procreative purposes only has nothing to do with religion lapislzi Mar 2012 #36