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| The Ideal | |||||
| The Good and the Bad | |||||
| Sexual Satisfaction | |||||
| Of Human Diginity | |||||
| The Concept of Marriage | |||||
| Self Control | |||||
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The Ideal:
Jesus said, "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." (John 15:11), and then Jesus tells us that we would be better off not having sex. (Matt 19:12). How does that work? Unlike much of the world, Jesus doesn't see sex as the climax of human existence, and His Church is a reflection of that attitude. Life obviously has far more to offer, and Jesus said that sex isn't even a part of death (Mark 12:25). Sex won't make us happy, but if we allow it, sex will prevent us from finding happiness. We will most likely have dark and unreasonable thoughts when our appetites don't align with God's rules and expectations. The Church bends over backwards to accommodate us in every way possible, but of course, the perfection of Jesus can not improve. In other words, the ideal remains firm. We might think that Jesus has crazy ideas about sex and marriage, but our attitude is driven by our appetites. If we come to our senses, we would realize that we are not smarter than God. |
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The Good and the Bad:
Those, who take a position on sex that is against Church teaching, usually try to convince themselves that the Church is wrong. For example, they might think that everything comes from the Bible and that the Church doesn't have an accurate translation or interpretation of the Bible. In reality, the Church knows that she is correct in a number of different ways. One of those ways is the concept of good. What is the concept of good? When God was making the world, at the end of each day He would say that his creation was good (e.g., Genesis 1:31). God wasn't bragging. When He said that they were good, He was saying that they were perfect. They would flourish. All good things are simple and thrive (among other attributes), and all bad things are complex and die (among other issues). When Adam and Eve sinned, they threw a complexity into the system and death came into the world. In the complexity of our era, we can not look at the biography of any person and make a determination unless the person was perfectly simple. A perfectly simple person lives forever, because they are good. We can, however, use statistics (if we have them) to discover all sin (remember, sin kills things), because statistics uncover the correlation which mathematically must exist unless the world was perfectly complex or random (in which case it would be dead). In other words, statistics can be used to discover Catholic morality. No, mathematicians did not write Catholic morality, but the identical deductions of mathematics and theology should make a believer out of any person who respects reality. To put this in a longer and simpler form, we can mathematically test whether the Catholic theologians got it right. Let's put them to the test! The Catholics believe that you should go to church every week (ideally more often than that). We need to be fed by the Word and Body of Christ so that we become the Body or Christ. All parts of the body needs to work together as much as possible. By praying together, our hearts are moved to care for each other. Jesus did not teach his disciples to practice their Faith as some type private meditation system; He started a Church. We should use it.Those who go to church live longer [ see report]. All public high schools teach that the homosexual lifestyle is healthy. In this case, we can pit Catholic theologians against the elite of modernism. The mathematics show that homosexual sex is more unhealthy than cigarettes [ see report]. Some people, who are ignorant of mathematics and homosexuality, will argue that gays die sooner because of AIDs, but AIDs is only one of many problems that these poor souls have, and correlation doesn't accept excuses. For example, in the 1970s the homosexuals lobbied Congress for a law that forbade health insurance companies from discriminating against them. The homosexuals, themselves, argued that a homosexual had about 25 times more health care costs than a moral person. Let's look at one more issue. Is it a sin (bad) to use birth control? The Church knows that recreational sex is bad. All parts of our body demand respect. No part of the body can be used for the entertainment of other parts of the body. That lack of respect degrades all parts of the body, and creates friction in relationships. For example, it has caused of thousands of divorces as the following chart [ see source] shows, because every recreational sex act deepens the selfish appetites. Marriage is a call to service which is irreconcilable with selfishness. |
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No person wants to be a sex object, and no part of a person wants to be used that way, either. Jesus does not want us to fast from sex as a discipline; He wants all parts of our body to have a relationship with God (James 4:1-8). No one or part can serve two masters. Some of the manufacturers of birth control pills did a study (would that be biased?) that reached the conclusion that women who used birth control lived 4.5 hours (that's hours not years) longer. This "study" was repeated at least 100 times in the press. Let's skip their funny math, and look at the cold hard numbers. The study included old women who had not used birth control for 30 years. In these cases, the prior use of birth control may have helped, but the numbers are not clear (e.g., they lost about 1/3rd of their data). The study showed clearly that young women who used birth control were 3 times more likely to die while they were on the pill. We can, therefore, conclude that the active use of birth control by women of child bearing age is a sin, but the offense is overlooked if the transgression occurred years ago. These numbers enforce Catholic teaching, and Catholics are becoming one of the few moral voices in this area.[ see report] We could carry the concept of good and bad on to infinity, but as a matter of practicality, we have made our point. Neither Jesus nor His Church is guessing. The mathematics backs them up every time. The concept of good and bad is clear, scientific, simple, and always accurate. |
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Sexual Satisfaction: The good and bad is one way that we can use to tell whether something is immoral, but we have many other weapons in our discernment arsenal. Another method is satisfaction. All things from God satisfy and draw us into deeper satisfaction. Sin fails to satisfy and leaves us craving for more. For example, and alcoholic needs more alcohol each time to get the same effect. All sin is the same way. Each episode requires more than the last, and the dissatisfaction grows more intense. In a true story, a priest was teaching this lesson to a high school class. He gave them all chocolate eclairs, but they could not take a bite until he gave the word. At his command, the whole class bit in at once to discover that the eclairs were actually chocolate covered dirt! He then said, that is the way sin is. It might initially seem good, but then it gets dirty. A happily married couple is content with what they have, and they look forward to their vocation as parents. It is a very satisfying and stable life. Most married couples remain faithful. [ See Study] Those who choose to practice sexual recreation (rather than procreation) are having selfish sex which is never satisfying. At first, it might seem like chocolate, but before long it tastes like dirt. [ See Study] Vice provides no satisfaction. When the satisfaction is lacking, most people try more vice. As their sin increases, their ability to turn away from the sin becomes more difficult. Whole communities (even nations) can be dragged into a downward spiral of sin. Everyone hopes for satisfaction, but sin does not provide satisfaction. Look at how far things got out of hand in Sodom (Genesis 19:5) or in Gibeah (Judges 19:22). Any country that allows perverse sexual recreation will meet the same fate with the passage of time. Since sexual perversion fails to satisfy, everything gets worse and worse. We see this today. At first, it was sex outside of marriage. That led to unmarried couples. Then came same sex couples. We can bet the molesting of children is not far away. The downward spiral never stops. Sin doesn't have a bottom. At some point, rape will not be considered assault (like Sodom, Gibeah, and other places). Societies like these are devoid of happiness, and our government is insisting on sexual perversion such as same sex marriage. |
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Of Human Diginity: About 35 years ago, when people acted in sexually perverted ways, they would claim that the Devil made them do it. After that became the punch line of many jokes, they now claim that they were born a sexual pervert. The old Devil excuse is much better than the genetic excuse, but they both deny the free will of the sinner. All humans have free will, and anyone who does not have a free will is subhuman. Most judges, legislators, governors, and President Obama claim that homosexuals are subhuman (the genetic excuse), but we again find that their contemporary logic wilts before the intellectual flame of the Catholic Church who claims that all homosexuals are fully human. Humans have human dignity, because they are trinary beings (made in the likeness of the Holy Trinity). Most of us are a little rusty on this subject, so let us take a few paragraphs to review it. Inanimate Objects: When the object has only one part, that part has no chance to relate to another part within its being. Without any relationship, no life is possible. Dead plants or animals and inorganic substances fall into this area. Life only exists within a relationship. Living Organisms: With two parts, a relationship exists between the two parts, and therefore, life exists in the being. Since life exists as a single relationship, the being has no interest in anything except that which immediately pertains to life (e.g., survival, food, reproduction). To use an example from Aquinas, dogs can smell much better than humans, but you don't see dogs stopping to smell the roses; because the sweet smell of a rose is not pertinent to the survival of a dog. On the other hand, humans will climb Mount Everest for some reason that they can't quite put their finger on. We wouldn't find a dog climbing Mount Everest, unless the dog could smell food on the summit. For if life is but a single relationship, then life only has one dimension. Living organisms are formed when a soul assumes a physical form such as a body. Plants and animals have two parts. They are binary beings. Spiritual Beings: All spiritual beings have 3 parts which have 3 relationships between them. The Bible says that man is made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). Since God is a Trinity, we would assume that man is a trinity, and indeed, we do have three parts. Spiritual souls are formed when a spirit assumes a soul, and humans are formed when a spiritual soul assumes a human body. The three relationships of a spiritual being construct a number abilities and characteritics that are not found in binary beings. One of those characteristics is free will. Free Will: Three relationships create a three dimensional life which has many interests. For example, spiritual beings (e.g., humans) might fast from food and sex in search of understanding, or their survival might be sacrificed for a cause. On the other hand, binary beings perceive a single relationship and are unable to choose anything that is outside that relationship. Choice requires at least two things to choose from, but binary beings have only one relationship to choose from; so binary beings do not have free will. If homosexuals do not have free will, they are subhuman. The Catholics teach that homosexuals are humans and, therefore, have free will. Our homosexual leaders, in their preposterous ignorance of biology, have declared themselves to be subhumans who were somehow born from humans. They intend to make our world the "Planet of the Apes", yet apes know that sex is for procreation (rather than recreation). In this way, the behavior of our homosexual leaders is significantly below that of apes. If you are struggling with immoral sexual inclinations, the chapter on self control will show you how to bring your appetites into the realization of God's plan. |
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The Concept of Marriage: In the current confusion of marriage, many have denigrated marriage as something that only relates to a sexual act. In their arrogant ignorance, they then assume that any sexual act will function as the sacrament of marriage. But this is the blind leading the blind. For the sake of sanity, let's take a look at some of the fundamentals that relate to marriage. While some men may assume that they invented sex, the whole concept of sex came from God. If we remember, it was not good for man to be alone (Genesis 2:18), so God created woman from man. Many assume that Adam was lonely without Eve, but Adam had a beatific vision of God; so Adam was in utopia, but still, it was not good (did not get stronger, bigger, and better ). Adam needed Eve to multiply, but having babies is only one part of a larger concept. At a more fundamental level, no system will propagate (much less flourish - i.e., be good) without a cycle which means that a propagating system always has phases. For example, by themselves the electric and magnetic fields go a few inches, but when they are combined into a complementing electromagnetic cycle they propagate to the ends of the universe. Both external and internal combustion engines operate from the Carnot cycle. The hot must be hotter than the cold before the engine can function. In both electromagnetic and combustion engines, the strength of engine is determined by how much difference exists between the phases. If one phases is stronger than the other, the strength of the system is determined by the weaker phase. Human beings (and many other things) propagate with masculine and feminine phases, but propagation is much more than mere multiplication which we can show in a number of ways.
It should be obvious, that we could find many different ways to show that sex is not only for multiplication, but the ones we have listed should be sufficient. Eve forces Adam into an entirely new relationship dynamic. Eve has her own spirit, and that spirit creates a desire in Adam to be by Eve's side. The relationship was probably not sexual at the very beginning, yet Eve attracted Adam's attention. Adam's thinking involved Eve, so Eve became a part of Adam's (the human) process or rational thought. Before Eve, Adam's thought was psychological; Eve added an sociological element. But we understand nothing, if we don't understand why Eve made Adam good. God couldn't make Adam good by creating another Adam. As we have already shown, the good is definitely more than multiplication. To state the obvious, Adam was masculine, and Eve was feminine. The good was created by complementing the masculine with the feminine. As we have already shown in electromagnetic and carnot cycles, we need to have an interaction of two forces to have propagation (much less good). Before we can see the interaction of masculine and feminine, we need to define masculine and feminine. Masculinity is defined by men, and femininity is defined by women. Men and women didn't invent masculinity and feminity respectively, but we see the intelligence through them. The best definition of masculine and feminine would be from the perfect man, Jesus, and woman, Mary. All other definitions certainly help, but they are somewhat more complex because of sin. For His part Jesus defined Christianity. He spent His time teaching His principles and establishing His Church. When a person defines something as a part of their personality that is the very meaning of individuation. By defining Christianity, Jesus individuated His Church. With the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, the Church spends a lot of effort reflecting on the perfect woman. Though the power of the Holy Spirit, the perfect woman, Mary, gives birth to the perfect man, Jesus. Mary urges (orders?) Jesus to perform His first miracle. Even when Jesus remonstrates, Mary orders the servants to follow Jesus orders, and Jesus obliges. It was as if the whole miracle ministry was Mary's idea and will. In the same way, Mary urges (orders?) us to follow her example from saying "Yes" to God's plan to standing at the foot of the cross. Mary was in the upper room for Pentecost which is the birthday of the Church. That is the second time we see Mary team up with the Holy Spirit to give birth. In the Bible (Acts 2:43-47), we read about a near perfect Christian community that was exploding in numbers. After Mary went to Heaven, we haven't seen anything like it. When Jesus Ascended into Heaven, He left clear orders to a group of disciples; when Mary was Assumed up to Heaven, she left a nearly ideal and unique Christian community that was rapidly expanding into every part of the Jerusalem society. It's all pretty clear, if we want to see it. Jesus individuated (defined) Christianity as a concept, and Mary integrated (implanted) Christianity into the community. The masculine role of Jesus and feminine role of Mary can not be overstated, because they were perfect. As sunlight shines through a perfect glass, every color is present that is in the sunlight. Although (because?, i.e., perfect appetites) they were virgins, we look to Jesus and Mary for the very definition of masculinity and femininity respectively. Jesus is the way for all of us, and Mary is our Mother with no exceptions. Just as it was not good for Adam to be alone, we know that the Chuch would not have flourished with only Jesus. The Church needs Mary. In traditional Catholic language, Jesus is the groom, the Church is the bride, and Mary is the Mother of the bride and groom. If Christianity is going to thrive, it needs to cycle between masculine and feminine, because all human intelligence must follow this cycle. As we have shown, human intelligence is received from another dimension, and that intelligence is realized within a person. Yet, the implementation of that intelligence into society require both the definition (individuation) and implementation (integration). The same cycle must play out inside a person. Only one part of the person receives the intelligence, then it needs to be defined and implemented to spread very far. From our molecular characteristics (it takes multiple cycles for three trillion cells to "get it"), we can see that the cycle has to continue the masculine (defintion) and feminine (implementation) for some number of cycles before we become conscious of it. Through dream analysis, Carl Jung demonstrated that in every man, there is a woman (and vice-versa). As we have just shown in the preceding paragraph, these are vital parts of our intelligence. Every woman can use her masculine side to invent (define), and every man can use his feminine side to nurture (implement). Yet over the course of years (if not minutes), the man/woman is more interested in being masculine/feminine because that is the identity cast in his/her spirit, and the spirit never changes. Since the masculine-feminine propagation cycle as it applies to human intelligence is rather new, let us examine it more closely in several mediums.
God invented families (not corporations or governments) because "It is not good for man to be alone". The family is made of human material, so the only living intelligence in the family has a masculine-feminine cycle. Of course, the masculine-feminine cycle can operated outside the family, but as we have just shown, the family still dictates whether the intelligence takes the next step into the greater community. We can't have prosperity (goodness) without following the fundamentals. The strength of our intelligence is determined by the difference between the masculine and feminine. As we have shown, every cycle's robustness is determine by the difference between the phases. With our unisex attitudes, we somehow think that we can separate our bodies from our intelligence. In other words, a common misunderstanding is that only our bodies (not our intelligence) reproduce sexually. As in many errors, the whole concept of a unisex intelligence is not even germane much less correct. We have no functioning intelligence without our bodies. Our bodies are produced by both sexes, so our bodies and intelligence are both sexes. They have to be to have functioning intelligence, because that intelligence is determined by the masculine-feminine cycle. As we have shown, the initial inspiration is received by our spirit from another dimension, but the inspiration will have to propagate with the masculine-feminine cycle if it is to ever become a conscious thought. We are products of our family. The strength of the family is determined by how robust masculine-feminine cycle is in that family. Does the family have structure and stability (masculine attributes)? Are the rights and thoughts of each person in the family respected (feminine attributes)? These things are ingrained into us. We need both the discipline of structure and empathy of others to be successful in our ventures. The masculine-feminine cycle is our functional intelligence, and we grow up in a family that hopefully provides masculine and feminine models that we can respect. The sexual models are not absolutely necessary in every case, but they make a profound difference. In the Old Testament, we did not have those models, and our understanding of God suffered from it. In the New Testament, those models were renewed with Jesus and Mary, because God knew they were vital to the Faith community. If the perfect masculine model was created without the perfect feminine model, then the masculine model is limited to the imperfection of the feminine model. In other words, if Jesus did not have Mary then our intelligence would be limited to a strong feminine personality such as Colette, Clare, or Catherine as it was in the Old Testament. Except, of course, the Old Testament doesn't have a spirituality as strong as these women, because the Old Testament women did not have Jesus and Mary. Since the masculine and feminine cycle propagates intelligence, then the balance of that intelligence plays a large part in determining the intellect of the community. In other words, if either sex is more dominant, then the intelligence will sink to the amount of respect and clout given to the suppressed sex. In addition, the amount of difference between the sexes determines the intelligence, as we have shown. When God made the family so that Adam would become good, all these things were implemented into the design. Eve was the feminine role model for Adam, and Adam was the masculine role model for Eve. Every human system develops intelligence in the masculine and feminine cycle. If not, then no intelligence is developed. In other words, everything that is human has to be individuated (defined - masculine) and integrated (adopted - feminine). It is obvious that if either the definition or adoption is missing than the intelligence dissipates and is forgotten. A human system is an individual, but it is also a relationship as in Adam and Eve. So a marriage has to have a masculine and feminine cycle, or it will not develop intelligence. A marriage has to develop intelligence to be good (flourish). In other words, if a marriage does not use the masculine-feminine cycle to increase intelligence, the marriage failed. Let's use the Holy Family as an example. Since Joseph, Mary, and Jesus lived and died as virgins, they did not produce any children, but the intelligence is divine. For example, Joseph awakes from a dream, and takes Jesus and Mary to foreign land in the middle of the night. Yet, we do not hear Mary protest? Mary must have believed that God would direct Joseph, and she obviously believed in Joseph. How many people hear the word of God, and think that it is crazy talk. Yet, in the Holy Family, we see God directing the family with no protest from any member of the family. That is a sure sign that everyone believed in God, and they believed in each other. While Joseph wasn't perfect, he was able to take every step from the virgin conception to losing Jesus in Jerusalem without a single complaint being recorded. The obedience and Faith of Joseph can hardly be overstated. The most defining attribute of the Holy Family is their obedience. Joseph defines the obedience by carrying out wild and impossible directions from dreams which he thinks are from God. Joseph's obedience to these dreams is more than bold and borders on insane. Mary does not object of Joseph's dreams; in fact, she nurtures the abandonment to God's will as she integrates Joseph's obedience into the Holy Family. Mary was perfect and "full of grace". She knew that all generations would call her "blessed". Yet we never find Mary questioning Joseph's capricious behavior. Once when Jesus was preaching a woman cried out, “Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed.” But Jesus said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it (Luke 11:27-28)." In other words, Jesus declares the obedience of the Holy Family as blessed and the defining attribute of the Holy Family. |
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Self Control: At this point, most of us probably agree with Catholic moral teaching. The main opposition, modern elitism, seems rather pathetic even with only the few points listed here and there are many more. If high schools presented both sides equally, we would all be Catholic. Alas, we probably feel that we are too weak to live up to the Divine expectation, but we don't need to rush the agenda. That is not God's way. For example, Jesus spent 3 years with the Apostles, because He obviously was interested in a relationship with us which is the pivot point of our strategy. As St. Therese said, Jesus needs our love. That is the silver bullet (the solution to all things) which allows us to improve our lot. When Jesus said that if we love Him we will keep His commandments (John 14:15), but our guilty conscience and defensive attitude usually makes our interpretation to be backwards from what the Master intended. In other words, our ability to keep His commandments is dependent upon our love for Him. His love for us, gives us the power to do the right thing. Even the Apostles could not understand how they would keep the commandments of Jesus, and Jesus told them that it is not possible for man, but all things are possible for God (Mark 10:27). As we look at what God has planned for us, we probably think to ourselves that we don't want to change, but that is out appetites talking (not wisdom). Even if we wanted to change, we certainly don't know how to change. This change is the spiritual journey. We do not start at the end of the journey which is the self control we gain from our relationship with God; we need to start by participating in the Church and establishing a daily prayer time. For most of us, we feel that we practice the love of God by helping the poor. Every holy person would agree with that, but God is looking for a relationship (not just service). How can we show love for God. The answer is simple. We love God by spending time practicing our belief in God and our hope to know God. We need to prioritize the time, so we are consistent. When we pray, we need to pay attention (focus). We spend the rest of our time serving God. These are The Basics of Deep Prayer which you can find on this website. Deep prayer will help you to develop a relationship with God, and God will give you the control. Self control comes when all parts of our body have a relationship with Jesus and Mary. We are not hoping or guessing that we will have control; the spiritual masters (e.g., St. John of the Cross) of the Church have this down to a science. You may feel that you are in a hopeless situation. For example, you might be divorced, remarried, and excommunicated. These are difficult issues, but remember, you have a silver bullet. You only need to take the time to get to know God, and God will work through these issues for you. Faith and Hope lead to Love, and Love is all powerful. |
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