Reply to Tyler

Tyler, I'm going to address your comment point by point, then give you some general feedback/opinion about what you said. Feel free to wait until after finals to read through and respond to this comment. I don’t want (a) to interfere with your studying or (b) you to read this too quickly without thinking carefully about what I’m saying.

Let's Talk About Sex

Introduction

            The Bible is extremely explicit on sex. From the Genesis 2 passage to explain that a man and woman will become one flesh, through to the sexually immoral dogs of Revelation 22, sex is a constant topic of conversation in this book. The current culture has redefined and perverted sex beyond the point of recognition. This perversion has caused some to misunderstand the church’s view, saying that the Bible condemns sex or that we aren’t meant to enjoy it. But, a proper handling of the word of God reveals the true view of sex, and this view is the subject of the following paper. To begin, we will discuss the pertinent passages to the issue, and then, from these passages, we will define the biblical model of good, moral, sex. After this, we will look at the boundaries that should not be crossed, boundaries that protect us from the perversions of sex, which carry physical, emotional, and spiritual consequences. Then, some of the most common perversions of sex will be addressed from the biblical standpoint.

Don't Be Who You Are. Be Someone Better.

            There is a cultural phenomenon sweeping through our world today, and I think it can best be epitomized by a comment made by Taylor Swift in an interview discussing her hit music video “Shake it Off.” The comment was, “I wanted it to be—kind of—unapologetic about like, ‘you don’t like me for being who I am, watch me be who I am more.’” [1]

            It’s the phenomenon of being who you are… unapologetically. Some female celebrities who have spearheaded this phenomenon are Jennifer Lawrence (known for her wacky behavior and outspoken nature on unhealthy body image), Taylor Swift (quoted above), Miley Cyrus (whose antics are well known). Many pop-stars fall into this mold. Justin Beiber is so used to steering into the skid that he decided to strip at a fashion show because he was being booed.[2] Talk about individuality!

            It’s a philosophy that says, “I’m not going to let other people tell me who to be. I’m going to decide who I am.” The hilarious and ironic subtext of this proposal is that most decide to be who they are by being the opposite of what everyone tells them to be, which means that they are still allowing public opinion to determine their personality.  

            It’s also a philosophy that has been adopted by the homosexual community, the transgender community, and the feminist community. From the feminists we often hear ‘positive’ descriptions of women who live by this philosophy as strong, sassy, feisty, and independent. From the homosexual community we hear comments about being ‘born that way’ and the transgender community says that it’s wrong not to be true to ‘who you are on the inside.’

            The problem with a philosophy like this is that it encourages people to look to themselves to determine right behavior. Unfortunately, the self is corrupt and wicked. Rene Descartes’ fatal idea ‘I think therefore I am,’ has encouraged humanity down through the ages to turn inward for the source of truth instead of turning to the author of truth, and we see the imports of such a philosophy lived out in our culture.