The crisis amongst us: premarital sex

Shaniqua Powell, '10

First off, I would like to state that I am not perfect and I acknowledge the fact that everyone has faults. It has come to my attention that consensual premarital sex is becoming more acceptable and prominent in America; many consider this act even permissible. This is not only disturbing because of its direct relation to religion and health, but also because of the illusory rationale used to deem premarital sex as acceptable.

Time and again, young women especially associate sex with creating intimacy and as the building block of connecting with their partner. True intimacy is derived from verbal and emotional communication. True intimacy is built on commitment to honesty, love and freedom, which, contrary to popular belief, are not obtained through sexual relations. Intimacy is commonly considered a result of sexual encounters, but in reality a prostitute may expose her body, but her relationships are hardly intimate.

Sexual contact and general sexual exploration early in a relationship don’t exemplify sex at its finest. Yes, there is satisfaction for those who engage in premarital sexual experiences, but I believe they are missing out on the best route to marital bliss. Many arrive at the end of the road, looking for the everlasting happiness promised to them but only find disenchantment and sorrow.

Physical intimacy can dominate a relationship consequently making other parts of the relationship suffer. In healthy marriages, sex is balanced with the intellectual, emotiona and realistic characteristics of life. Married couples spend less time in bed than they do in conversation and emotional unity.

The lie that premarital sex prepares you for marriage refutes the fact that sexual happiness develops only through years of intimate relationship. The Bible uses the words “to know” to describe sexual intercourse: “Adam knew his wife Eve and she conceived…” (Genesis 4:1).

This choice of words raises human sexuality from mere animal sex where accessibility is the main requirement to a full intimate expression of affection and dedication. This is the major misconception amongst those who have premarital sex, misconstruing accessibility with life-long expectations.

What stuns me is that many are willing to call out the indecencies of gay marriage or abortions because of its direct violation of religions but still consider premarital sex justifiable. Scripture undoubtedly asserts that sexual intercourse outside the bonds of marriage is sin.

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews wrote, “Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept pure, for god will judge the adulterer all sexual immoral” (Hebrews 13:4). So, I pose the question to those who have premarital sex but consider themselves devout followers of their religion: “Are you capable of judging anyone else about their wrongdoing in relation to the principles of your religion when you are also going against the principles of that faith?”

Sexually transmitted diseases and teenage pregnancies have received abundant interest in current years. Equal time ought to be given to the judgment held by many medical experts that extra-marital abstinence is the best way to avoid STDs and pregnancy. This is a result of the fact that, there is still 15 percent chance of disease or bearing of children at a time when you are unprepared for either.

I believe that those who have premarital sex and consider it undamaging are deceiving themselves because the long-term effects are imminent. Their future husbands and wives are not receiving their mind, body and soul when they have shared those things with another person. Their companions are only receiving a portion of them, and no amount of reasoning can change the fact that they can no longer have marital purity. It’s irreversible. So in closing, your body is a temple worthy of reverence; treat it accordingly.