the gapanese invasion is nigh!

"pinakamaganda ka nga sa buong kapuluan, pero latina na naman ang magwawagi ng korona at sash sa miss world! racism ba ito? lupasay!"

Sunday, September 09, 2007

no backing out single blessedness


The group is called NBSB. To me, it sounds like some secret society, if not some bookstore that’s the archrival of Powerbooks. The membership is not formal, and to be tagged as one of the group seems more of derogation than a proud mark. Potential members probably have to effect an aura that’s not truly theirs just so they get immunity from the taunting.
No Boyfriend Since Birth. A real symptom of conservatism. Coming from an exclusive Catholic school makes the possibility more imminent. The religious people are always upon you, ready to remind the duty of remaining chaste. Think of immoral things and the image of eternal flames conjures up. It pays to wait, and recklessness has a price to pay. The world today is more dangerous than can be imagined. The changing times have likewise shed much of the world culture’s clothes. Liberalism has turned into a double-edged sword. Premarital sex is popular, and based on the ill effects far outnumbering the good ones, what is popular is not always right. Call me what you want—NBSB, Maria Clara, outmoded; I feel more concern coming from the well-meaning people of the Church than all the mockers combined. We will see who regrets when bellies rise or sexually transmitted infections are contracted.
It is a wonderful feeling to be able to love and to be loved back. The wonder just gets better if this love is expressed in various ways including the physical. However, if done outside the context of marriage, the problem creeps in. The only thing seen pure in it is the equation of premarital sex with pure pleasure. Premarital sex and being guiltless do not dance the same dance floor. If I decide to have a little fun, does it follow that I must forget my responsibilities too? Who knows better about the welfare of my personality, my physical well-being, my emotional status and my spirituality than my own self?
Turning my back on chastity is committing graver sins against my own body. Stealing is a sin done outside my body. On the other hand, committing sexual immorality is sinning against my own body. Indulging in premarital sex is disrespecting my own body as well as that of my partner’s. Lacking respect for the temple of the spirit, I can stay active sexually. What does that tell then of my distorted perspective of love? Love goes beyond the physical acts, as more liberated people think.
Lacking the commitment instituted in marriage, premarital sex becomes a selfish act performed out of personal gratification. Once done, my dignity and self-value get diminished. If I feel guilty (as I will probably feel) after indulging in it, it’s the consequence of my violation of God’s law. I will feel morally guilty because I have stepped outside the boundary God has drawn for all Christians. How can I ever return to being morally sound if God has put in my heart a burden of guilt as an eventuality of sinning?
Spiritual consequences await the moment I disobey God. These include the payment to be made for committing sexual impurity. While engaged in sinning, it becomes impossible to show the love of God. Only sexual purity leads the way for the respect for others. When I am sexually pure, I can show God’s love to others. Premarital sex can prevent me from basking in the glow of God’s love.
I want a working union with my future partner that’s not less than my working union with Christ. As such, sex in marriage is not unlike participating in communion. Unless I have examined myself and am united with God, I cannot partake of the symbols of God’s body and blood. Why would I commune or partake in the intimate act of sex without being sanctified by marriage first?
Premarital sex is a sin that can lead a God’s creation to pain and perversion instead of beauty, unity and procreation. If sex can wait until marriage as a testament of Christian chastity, it does not matter if I become an NBSB member. This is better than committing an act of selfishness that lacks covenant and community. Premarital sex robs humans of genuine love.

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