By Scott Tibbs, October 16, 2014
Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. -- 1 Corinthians 6:18
Much has been said about the "affirmative consent" law in California, whether it will be effective in preventing sexual assault and whether such a law is appropriate. What is not being talked about as much (but what needs to be addressed) is the rebellion that got us here in the first place.
The underlying problem is that sex, instead of being special, has been trampled under foot and is ordinary and commonplace. Instead of teaching young men that they are to respect and honor women, we have created a culture of sex on demand without consequences. Our culture gorges on a never-ending stream of pornography. The female body is "available" because the Sexual Revolution has made it so.
Is it any surprise, then, when men go too far? Is it a surprise when fraternities create lists of which women will be drugged with "roofies" so they are vulnerable? Sex is a fundamental human right, after all. Eliminating what used to be an ingrained cultural disapproval of fornication has largely vanished, replaced by an anything-goes mentality. The few remaining cultural restrictions on sexual behavior are being chipped away.
If we are serious about fighting rape culture, then we need to teach our young men to respect and honor women. We teach young men to show these women respect and honor by refraining from having sex with a woman until she is his wife. We teach young men to be sexually pure and that sex is a gift from God that is meant to be shared and enjoyed within the boundaries He has set for that activity.
This is not something we can do by having the state legislature pass a law, or having the state university run educational programs. This is something that must be done family by family, and church by church. This means it must come from the pulpit, from fathers and mothers, and from church youth groups and college ministries. We have spent generations creating this mess, but it can be cleaned up.
