Would You Take a "Fetish Cure" If It Existed?

[Nessie]

I've always marveled at people who think God doesn't like sex.

I never got that either. Whatever you believe, or don't believe, about God, the hole in the theory is that if sex is stopped, God's entire creation stops.

My theory is that God has been used as a cop-out. It is easy to say, "God has forbidden that, and we do not question God!" and then outlaw it for everyone on the planet so that you don't have to look at it, or think about it, or be tempted to do it.

It is difficult to admit that you have that desire, especially if you've been taught that it's shameful somehow. Admitting to it means taking responsibility for it. It means possibly (gasp) telling somebody. It means, very possibly, changing the way you do things. It will change, or at least color, whatever relationship you have, or want to have, with a "Significant Other".

Fetish management is the art of satisfying those desires without violating the rights of others. I believe very strongly in management. Management isn't anywhere near as easy as denial but it really works.

Sex is a very basic drive. It's not quite as important as eating but it's pretty strong. You can't lose weight by outlawing food either. The way you lose weight is by managing food.

Nessie

[Herzeleid]

Would I take a fetish cure? Certainly not . . .I enjoy my fetish too much !

[whizbang18]

Do I want to be 'cured' of my fetishes? Umm...no. For all their weirdness, I think it's awesome, in such a weird way to be turned on by non-conventional sights, albeit being careful about them.

[annasolesink]

Definitely no. It doesn't rule over my life, nor do I regret having it. It's just a fun thing to turn to every once in a while to add a bit of spice!

[Tim Kelly]

WE DON'T NEED A CURE!
WE DON'T NEED A CURE!
WE DON'T NEED A CURE!
(From "X-Men 3: The Last Stand")

[QuicksandMania]

I stumbled across this article at http://www.catholiceducation.org/articl ... o0003.html which delves into the history of human sexuality, and states in part:

Human sexuality, especially male sexuality, is polymorphous, or utterly wild (far more so than animal sexuality). Men have had sex with women and with men; with little girls and young boys; with a single partner and in large groups; with total strangers and immediate family members; and with a variety of domesticated animals. They have achieved orgasm with inanimate objects such as leather, shoes, and other pieces of clothing, through urinating and defecating on each other (interested readers can see a photograph of the former at select art museums exhibiting the works of the photographer Robert Mapplethorpe); by dressing in women's garments; by watching other human beings being tortured; by fondling children of either sex; by listening to a woman's disembodied voice (e.g., "phone sex"); and, of course, by looking at pictures of bodies or parts of bodies. There is little, animate or inanimate, that has not excited some men to orgasm. Of course, not all of these practices have been condoned by societies — parent-child incest and seducing another's man's wife have rarely been countenanced — but many have, and all illustrate what the unchanneled, or in Freudian terms, the "un-sublimated," sex drive can lead to.

The article contends that Judaism and its successor, Christianity, civilized large parts of the world by channeling the sex drive into the institution of marriage and family. The author argues that the current breakdown of these ancient institutions will lead to the end of civilization as we know it. This is a bold statement.

Are there any students of Western civilization here who can comment further?

I found this relevant because apparently the author thinks "uncivilized" men can find sexual stimulus from anything, including -- though not mentioned explicitly -- quicksand!

[Duncan Edwards]

Oh, I don't know. History has had many successful nations and empires without the influence of Western theology. Christianity finished the collapse of the Roman Empire and led us into the dark ages. There are far more powerful influences on civilization than sexual behavior.

[Fred588]

Oh, I don't know. History has had many successful nations and empires without the influence of Western theology. Christianity finished the collapse of the Roman Empire and led us into the dark ages. There are far more powerful influences on civilization than sexual behavior.

I will not attempt to get into the discussion here, which likely runs afoul of the forum's rule against politics and religion. However, I will make one point. As it happens I am currently reading Gibbon's "History of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire," which presents the thesis of the decline and fall as being due to the influence of Christianity. That part of Gibbon's thesis has, according to quite a lot of more recent work (Gibbon published volume 1 in 1776) been debunked as simply wrong. The fall of the city of Rome was about AD 450, which means it took quite a while for its decline if it was due to Christianity. Furthremore, the Eastern part of the Empire last for an additional THOUSAND years at Constantinople.

[QuicksandMania]

I thought the argument was brazen and obviously biased but having managed to earn both a high school and college diploma without a single credit of world history I hoped someone here could make informed comments.

Thank you for proving me right.

[Duncan Edwards]

Oh, I don't know. History has had many successful nations and empires without the influence of Western theology. Christianity finished the collapse of the Roman Empire and led us into the dark ages. There are far more powerful influences on civilization than sexual behavior.

I will not attempt to get into the discussion here, which likely runs afoul of the forum's rule against politics and religion. However, I will make one point. As it happens I am currently reading Gibbon's "History of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire," which presents the thesis of the decline and fall as being due to the influence of Christianity. That part of Gibbon's thesis has, according to quite a lot of more recent work (Gibbon published volume 1 in 1776) been debunked as simply wrong. The fall of the city of Rome was about AD 450, which means it took quite a while for its decline if it was due to Christianity. Furthremore, the Eastern part of the Empire last for an additional THOUSAND years at Constantinople.

I read this work as well while a history major in college. A lot of the final result depends on what you consider to have been the "Roman Empire" and that's an entirely different argument. My point is though that Christianity only completed what had already been a long period of serious decay in Rome. What remained as the Eastern part of the empire at Constantinople was "Roman Empire" in name only and ruled by The Church. Rome as a center of learning and enlightenment vanished for hundreds of years and the world, especially the western world, went into a long period of ignorance and decline we know as the "Dark Ages" until The Renaissance. And Rome is only a single example. There are many others that thrived beyond the civilizing influence of western religious philosophy.

History aside I don't think sexual "deviance" or the institution of marriage had that much to do with it. Christianity did not make Rome more successful and if Biblical marriage ties and sexual practices were all that important then Native American tribes and other aboriginals would not have survived long. Actually they generally did well until western influences (Christianity) came to "civilize" them and destroyed them in the process. You know well my own personal situation and I've found that our understanding of "Christianity" has done more to place a dividing line regarding sex between otherwise happily married couples than give them something to unite over.

I've been married for 24 years and I've reached a point in life where being a family man feels very pleasant and comfortable so it works for me but it ain't always been easy. After attending a fundamentalist protestant school with my future wife for 16 years and being in Church three times a week for life I find it ironic that the major problems in my sex life have come from religion.