What is the source of unusual LDS sexual morality?

[LA Ute]

Not in your case, but, yes, perhaps in the case of others.

I am a lawyer. As you know, we don't do sincere, principled belief.

[wuapinmon]

wuap: You miserable vomitous mass.

YOhio, I'm gaining on you.

[SeattleUte]

There's also the possibility of sincere, principled belief and commitment to a difficult standard.

Perhaps. But what is the source?

[LA Ute]

Perhaps. But what is the source?

You think it's ultimately human, I think it's ultimately divine.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

GUESS WHAT. Marriages between veritable kids contribute to this problem, not detract from it. Do LDS have a lower divorce rate? I bet they have a higher rate of Shogun marriages.

I'm really not even talking kids growing up in homes where the parents are divorced. At least in probably a majority of these cases, the kids still know their dads and the dads are a part of their lives.

Besides that, I think I've pretty steadily suggested in this forum that the emphasis on quick, young marriage is oftentimes a mistake (though not always a mistake).

I'm just speaking about the significant portion of the population who are prime candidates to appear on the Maury Povich Show. Divorce and split families in suburbia is one thing, but the rate of children being born to young, single females in poor rural and urban areas is a totally different animal. The rates are astounding and are significantly higher than it was, say, 70 years ago. It's an enormous problem that is sourced in one practice -- rampant premarital sex at a young age.

Your criticisms of the church would probably hold more sway for a lot of people if you ever actually acknowledged anything positive about it once in awhile. But you don't. You're the Paul Krugman of people that have left the church (I don't like the term apostate). You also protest too much.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

In other words, education and planned parenthood (very much hopefully absent abortion), delaying marriage, not cruel medieveal sexual morality, is the salvation from the problem you identify.

Now, back to the question at hand, what's the source of the ultra strict and intolerant LDS sexual morality?

Do you honestly think sex education is a new thing? Guess what, it's been around for awhile. It has an effect in suburbia and in wealthy circles in urban areas, it's not especially effective in the poorer areas of this country.

You may not enjoy the fact that not everyone is jumping on your blanket condemnation of the LDS policy regarding sexual morality, but I can assure that stating that the LDS policy is "cruel and medieval" doesn't really help matters for a constructive discourse. Puritanical may be more appropriate, but still doesn't hit the mark. I guess Victorian would probably be the best.

[NorthwestUteFan]

You think it's ultimately human, I think it's ultimately divine.

There is truth in each portion of this statement. Religion has long been a champion of 'community morality'.

Indeed one of the tools used over the centuries to marginalize religion has been to declare that religion is the foundational source of morality, claim to disbelieve that religion, and thus justify the thought that the disputed morality is no longer applicable.

Personally I think that brothels should be legal and Catholic priests should marry, but maybe that is just me.

[taekwondave]

Several years ago the SL Trib quoted a study done by two BYU sociologists who said 58% of women getting married in the Temple admit to premarital sex.
It also found that less than 70% of LDS marriages are intact after 10 years, the lowest percentage among whites citing religious affilition. To say LDS have better marriages than other religious people, simply isn't true.

According to the book titled "The Way We Never Were, in the 1870s in New York, the rate of children born outside of marriage was MUCH higher than it is today. The book essentially says there is a myth that somehow this current generation has lower "morals" than previous ones. It cites several other statistics that shows "morals" in the 1800s in the US was as bad or worse than they are now.

It could be argued that controlling member's sex lives has similarities to the control tactics of cults. It seems that scamming retired people out of their money is much more forgivable than two adults fooling around. I don't get that.

BYU was much less strict in the 50s than it is now. Leadership was so afraid of hippies on campus in the 60s that they made those idiotic arbitrary rules that are still enforced today. Some of them have even taken root in the church as a whole, # of earing women can have, white shirts, panty hose, etc.

As Seattle mentioned, JS got away with a lot of "activity" so it appears we're held to a higher standard than he was.

Ha! You know, this is what it actually SEEMS like to me. I've been hearing my entire life about how Mormons have SUCH a low divorce rate. When my parents split when I was a kid they had all these talks with me about how I needed to be strong because other kids might judge me poorly for it or something. Blah. No such thing. By high school a kid with no divorce in his immediate family was definitely in the minority. Sure the numbers were lower when I was SIX, but by sixteen? Yeah.

Now, I know statistics can show anything you want them to show, but these seem pretty realistic from my own life experience in Mormondom. haha, my ex fiance even got married about nine months back and I said to myself, "Odds are I'll get a call from her in a year or two." I'm not waiting for that day.... but I'm kinda waiting for that day