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Question I
Why has Christianity rejected many expressions of sexuality as antithetical to spirituality while various
Eastern traditions — Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism — have been more accepting of sexuality, have
even embraced sex as a vehicle for spiritual transcendence? What do you think about the connection, if any,
between sexuality and spirituality? In the Christian view, is Shakespeare's mortal coil, Milton's perfidious
bark, just a weight holding us down, preventing us from achieving greater divinity, or is the body, as Blake
explains, a portion of the soul discerned by the five senses?
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I
liked Thomas Moore's comment
that one of the main problems with sex and religion is
recognizing that all human relationships — however intense, romantic, erotic and/or
spiritual — have their limitations. American romantic sex has totally unrealistic
expectations of the knight in shining armor who rescues the fair, snow-white princess so
the twin pack can fly off to ever-ever land. When the amphetamine high of being
limerent, "in love," slows down or crashes into reality, we race off in search of a new,
more satisfying adventure. The personal issue for every human is not what a particular
religion teaches about sex and spirit, but whether or not the individual admits her/his
finiteness, his/her need for transcendence, for bonding with the earth that births us, and
for creative, life-giving communion with others and the "Ultimate." Being human, at
least in this life, means always being on a pilgrimage, always searching for that ultimate
fulfillment.
So I agree with Moore when he says that to be a good Christian, Jew, Protestant,
Buddhist, Hindu, whatever, "all we have to do is be an honest, generous, present partner"
and "our spiritual lives will increase." That to me requires the openness of a child to the
potential of our on-going creation. Recognize that our sexual desire is never fulfilled with
a human partner, but then accept joyfully our sexual vulnerability, and that can be a way
of opening up to a deeper and vaster kind of love and connection. Maybe we don't have
to spiritualize our sexuality, maybe we just need the courage to be an honest, generous
and present partner.
Francoeur responds to
Paglia and
Kissling
©1999 Robert Francoeur and Nerve.com
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