Who Would Jesus Fuck?
article by Kitty Stryker

I have a lot of difficulty with religion. Nay, let me correct myself- I have a lot of trouble with religions that recommend denial as the way to make oneself get into "heaven" or some similar, blessed state. The idea that suffering and refusal is a way to eternal happiness (even though it screws with your chances in this lifetime) seems to be... well, counterproductive, insane, and just plain cruel. My arch-nemesis is the vicious and underhanded villain... Guilt.
I've had several relationships in which this guilt has manifested itself sexually... and it just drives me up a wall. These poor folks feel like sexual enjoyment will send them to hell, or that having multiple lovers will cause them to spontaneously combust. Now, I've fucked a whole lotta people, and I don't smell burning yet. If a person having sex DOES smell burning- well, I'd say it's time to get out some lube.
But seriously... why guilt? Does God hate sex? If God DOES hate sex for pleasure, and not just childbirth.. why make it enjoyable? Why the clitoris? Why orgasm? It just doesn't make any kind of logical sense to me. I was reading online that if you're in a class, and are asked to write down something you're ashamed of, the answer tends to be sexual. Most parents won't discuss masturbation with their children, instead choosing to tell them just to "stop it". We install this guilt early on, and continue to have it throughout our lives- after not learning much about sex, except not to have it until we're married, virgins feel guilty for not performing "up to par" during their first experience.
Speaking of first experiences- isn't it terrible that most people think of their first and think about how awful it was? Wrong person, wrong time, wasn't ready, was drunk... I have to wonder if that's also the result of a nation brought up in guilt. I was brought up in a pagan family where nudity was normal, condoms were available to me early on and I knew how to use them, I had the "What's Happening to my Body?" book for boys AND girls... and, well, the only thing I was told about masturbating was not to be so loud when I did it. I was experimenting early with markers as insertables, figuring out what was enjoyable and what wasn't and having very vivid fantasies about being tied up, kidnapped and raped. Did I feel guilty? Hell no! I had read not only "The Joy of Sex" but "Women on Top", which is a collection of women's fantasies- I knew I wasn't the only one and that my imaginings were completely normal. I also learned that my pleasure was important and that I wanted to have fantastic sexual experiences with people who were determined to make me cum explosively.
One would imagine that such a childhood of sexual adventurousness would lead me to a life of UTTER DEPRAVITY! Especially if one listens to the abstinence-only, sex-noneducation class promoters who are usually from... wait for it... a guilt-loving religion. Actually, I had my first sexual experience when I was 16 with a friend I loved dearly and had loved for about 2 years. I still love him to bits. We were sitting on his bed, bickering about socialism and society when suddenly we were both seized by the desire to have sex. A towel and a condom were fetched, and he and I had some bed-thumpingly awesome fucking. We literally broke the headboard off the bed. My first time? It rocked. No wonder I'm such a slut now- if I had felt guilty, I'm sure it would've been awful like everyone else. Drat.
Now here I am, 21, polyamorous, kinky and bisexual, and I still haven't been swallowed by flames. But it's sad that I still encounter, in 2005, people who believe that sex is not meant to be pleasurable and is, in fact, bad for you; women who believe that sex is something you suffer through for your husband! It shocks and appalls me. And honestly, I blame religion.
I want to bring to my readers' attention something I found on the "Family Research Institute"'s page online. Sounds like a wholesome, scientific name, right?
Wrong, folks! It's Fundamentalist propaganda, my FAVORITE!!!
Some delightful questions by the folks pushing this bullshit on our children-

"Some people talk about getting "addicted" to drugs or homosexual activity; can people get addicted to prostitution or going to prostitutes?"
"Why do you think that most societies made drug use, homosexuality, and prostitution illegal? Why has no society made chastity illegal?"
"Why do most people prefer someone who has not "gone all the way" as a potential spouse?"

I'm going to stop there-
WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?! Homosexuality is an addictive behavior now? I'm just... just... speechless.

No, not quite speechless.
This is the next attack on people's simple, human desire to have sex and enjoy life. You can, contrary to what the Fundies believe, have sex before marriage and not turn into a disease-ridden monster. You can live a life without feeling guilty for, say, having an erection, or enjoying kinky sex. You, too, can live a life without feeling that you're a terrible person for fucking! Yippee!
This is a political fight, folks. This isn't just a bedroom issue anymore. This has become a form of mind control given out in schools. Does it work? ACTUALLY scientific studies those are ones done by scientists who went to college, by the way) have shown time and time again that the best way to prevent STDs, teen pregnancy and sex too young is to... *gasp* educate the kids on contraceptive options, STDs, sexual diversity, and other sexual options. Abstinence alone... well, I have a friend who lives in a town that tried that, out in Texas. He's abstinent... why? Most of the people in his town are either pregnant, have kids, or have STDs by the time they're, oh, 16 or so. Teaching abstinence doesn't seem to be the best answer.
Summary? Sex is good; education is even better. If you don't protect your rights, they WILL go away. And... Jesus sounds like a loving sort of guy. I doubt he really cares who you have sex with, as long as it's out of some kind of positive feeling, and enjoyable for you both... or all of you, depending. Guilt is a church-created, priest-enabled religious tool to keep the people in control. And that's just... well... lame. Now all I ask is you spread the word to others, before it's too late.
C'mon, folks, say it with me- Shame is Lame.

Just... don't tell the Fundies that my girlfriend came up with that.



*a resource for virgins I found really well thought out-
http://www.sexual-health-resource.org/virginity.htm

*and a resource for youth I believe to be EXCELLENT for promoting sexual awareness and health-
http://www.scarleteen.com/index.html

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