Tag Archives: sex

The Separation of Church and Sex

Masturbation is liberation. In light of the fact that God appears to be hidden and silent, what could be the (non-question begging) foundations for proscribing sexual behavior? Sex seeks to hijack the mind and body to a very particular agenda … Continue reading

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Human Nature vs. Human Institutions: Camille Paglia on Sex and Rape on Campus

Since abandoning her monthly Salon gig a few years back, Camille Paglia hasn’t had much of an Internet presence, but when, beyond her book writing, she does surface, she writes thought provoking things. Here’s a bit of what Paglia recently … Continue reading

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Foxy Sex vs. Hedgehog Sex: Free Will, Edward Feser, and Evolution

Thomist philosopher Edward Feser has a curious way of defining free will and what it’s for, writing in a recent blog post the following: “[O]n the conception of free will as ‘freedom for excellence,’ which is endorsed by Aquinas, the … Continue reading

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Thomistic Essentialism and Sex in the Real World

Virtually every healthy human adult on the planet has a sex life of some sort, and the effect of Thomistic sexual ideology (use sex organs for procreation only), were it to be seriously followed everywhere, would be the generation of … Continue reading

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Sex, Thomistic Essentialism, and the Demographic Maintenance of the Catholic Church

With regard to sex, Thomism is a question-begging exercise that puts a veneer of essentialist metaphysics over the question, “Why is God upset if humans don’t make use of their sex organs in accord with their primary and essential function?” … Continue reading

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What are Sex Organs For? Thomism vs. Evolution

We know that evolution high-jacks organs all the time to different purposes depending on context. The first tongue may have had the singular purpose of tasting, then it got used by the cat for cleaning the pelt, then by humans … Continue reading

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If You Oppose Gay Marriage, Justify Your Position

Gay marriage is not just an abstract question. We’re talking about the lives of real gay people, their equality and dignity, and their right to flourish openly as who they are. Are you in solidarity with gay people’s assertions of … Continue reading

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Atheist Andrew? Is Andrew Sullivan on His Way to Becoming an Ex-Catholic?

The grotesque story coming to light of the sexual shaming of single mothers and their children in Tuam in mid-20th century Catholic Ireland–and the septic tank there that was used as the collective and unmarked grave for bastard children–800 of … Continue reading

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From the Neuron to the Coffee House to the Internet: Steven Johnson’s TED Talk on How Ideas Have Sex

Great, great TED talk. From the neuronal network in your skull to the coffee house to the Internet, the idea world is rhizomatic.

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Men Are From Africa, Women Are From Africa

In Christopher Ryan’s TED talk on human sexuality and evolutionary psychology, I like his closing quip: “It’s time we moved beyond Mars and Venus, because the truth is that men are from Africa and women are from Africa.” __________ Ryan’s … Continue reading

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Tennis and Freud

After watching the men’s Wimbledon final today, I would say that tennis is sublimated sword fighting with the addition of ball control.

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A (Dark) Thought for Spring

Sara Davis, writing for The Smart Set website from Drexel University, links contemporary zombie fascination with vanitas still life Dutch paintings (and Ecclesiastes in the Hebrew Bible): [T]oday’s bogeyman and morality tale is a decaying body, a walking (or running) … Continue reading

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Note to Easy-Bake Oven Makers: Boys Cook Too

Why the pink packaging on Easy-Bake ovens?

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Tasteless (But Amusing)

Drudge today accompanied news of General David Petraeus’s affair and resignation from the CIA with the following image:

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An Angry, One-Eyed Monster

Sometimes an angry, one-eyed monster is just an angry, one-eyed monster, but what would Freud say?

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Is Evolution Not Just True, But Good (Something To Be Embraced)?

Jared Burton has written a beautiful and soulful folk song capturing humanity’s uncomfortable and ambivalent relationship to evolution. I find the lyrics emotionally and intellectually challenging. But I can’t decide if I agree or not with the orientation to Nature … Continue reading

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Three Religiously-Charged Jokes and a True Story That Functions Like a Joke

For a bit of flavoring, I tell these three religiously-charged jokes a tad differently from where I stumbled on them (see here). They’re pretty good, I think. How do fundamentalists drive agnostics from a neighborhood? They burn question marks on … Continue reading

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Chinese News Report Mistakes a Sex Toy for a Mushroom!

No, this is not the Onion. And no, it’s not a meaty sea mushroom of some sort. It’s a hot pocket. _____ Yes, this is amusing, but it’s also enervating philosophically, don’t you think? How human it is to be fooled! It … Continue reading

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Ted Haggard Links Sexual Behavior to Belief in Evolution

He appears to have fingered the wrong culprit.  

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What, Exactly, Is Wrong With Bestiality?

__________ The above video is amusing, but also raises an interesting question: what is it, exactly, that’s wrong with bestiality? Notice that the perpetrator isn’t getting it on with women and fantasizing about animals; instead, he’s getting it on with … Continue reading

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