Wednesday, November 11, 2009

"We think we can have sex without emotion and emotion without sex"


"In our times, as boundaries are becoming hazier, less stringent, and less powerful, many forms of sexual behavior are proliferating.

Whether you call them deviations or alternatives, they all clearly demonstrate that the connec­tion between the biological purpose and the practice of sex is becoming looser over time.

As these inhibitions, prohibitions, or limits have weakened, sexual desire has gained complete independence.

In some places, it has even be come the ruler of the society.

Physical sexuality—pleasure without purpose—gets a lot of advertisement, and it is glorified in our popular culture.

We humans are astute beings capable of making abstractions, even if they do not always make sense.

We can conceive of matter that exists without form, and form without matter, but the fact that we can imagine them does not mean that they can actually exist.

Because the sexual act can be done as a physiological exercise with anybody, in any form, without any emotional content, we think we are capable of separating sexual activity from emotion, both conceptually and in practice.

We think we can have sex without emotion, and emotion without sex.

However, this complete separation exists only in theory.

In reality, emotional relationships, physiological compulsion, and sexual activity (or even sexual fantasy) interconnect and create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

When we cut them asunder, each aspect becomes a one-dimensional monster."

--Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz


From
Simple Words by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz