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| Albrecht Durer, 1504 |
My youngest brother and sister recently attended a ward Youth Conference full of fun, sun, and warnings against intimacy. Not too long ago this same group was subjected to a fireside wherein hand holding was likened to a gateway drug to fornication. We've been hearing stories about increasingly more frequent admonitions to youth about avoiding intimacy entirely before marriage. Most of these stories include cringe-worthy analogies about chewed bubble gum or smelly sneakers.
This needs to stop.
It doesn't work.
It simply makes some afraid of all things tender and excites others to taste of the "forbidden fruits."
In college I was introduced to talk by Elder Jeffery R. Holland given in a BYU devotional in 1988. It literally changed the way I thought about sex. It is my opinion that this talk should be pasted into every Young Men's and Young Women's manual around the world. It's tender, thoughtful, and just "right."
After a rash of weddings for close friends and the associated bridal showers and bachelorettes, it feels ever so much more important to talk about these things before the anticipated hour. Let us be educated, reach out, and tenderly educate those around us. Sex is more than just the gratification of a physical need. It is very special and should be approached with respect.
Not that I know anything. I'm just a Molly Mormon virginal old maid.
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I agree, and thanks for posting the talk. But being married, I think that there does need to be a bit of change in the way things are taught, because I certainly didn't understand any of it before I was married.
ReplyDeleteI think people in general are too cavalier with intimacy. I personally wish I hadn't kissed anyone until I was engaged, and that I'd known what they meant by dating at 16. In my mind it was finding someone you liked and going out with them. Not to the exclusion of anyone else, but you were supposed to like them a lot. That's not it at all. It just is a way to get to know lots of people. There should be no pressure, and standards should always be kept - no situations where things could even happen otherwise. Especially during teen years and in high school. That being said, we shouldn't scare people, but advise them why saving yourself is important. Warnings have their place, but intimidation is not the way. Luvs.