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The Rationality Of Traditionalist Sex

Now that I’ve got your attention, let me draw it to Damon Linker’s column in which he, a progressive on matters of gay marriage and contemporary sexual mores, puts in a good word for trads like Your Working Boy. He says people on his side of the debate are too dismissive of the trad critique. […]

Now that I’ve got your attention, let me draw it to Damon Linker’s column in which he, a progressive on matters of gay marriage and contemporary sexual mores, puts in a good word for trads like Your Working Boy. He says people on his side of the debate are too dismissive of the trad critique. Excerpt:

The objections aren’t trivial. Western civilization upheld the old sexual standards for the better part of two millennia. We broke from them in the blink of an eye, figuratively speaking. The gains are pretty clear — It’s fun! It feels good! — but the losses are murkier and probably won’t be tallied for a very long time.

Is the ethic of individual consent sufficient to keep people (mostly men) from acting violently on their sexual desires?

What will become of childhood if our culture continues down the road of pervasive sexualization?

Do children do best with two parents of opposite genders? Or are two parents of the same gender just as good? Or better? How about one parent of either gender? What about three, four, five, or more people in a constantly evolving polyamorous arrangement?

Can the institution of marriage survive without the ideals of fidelity and monogamy? What kind of sexual temptations and experiences will technology present us with a year — or a decade, or a century — from now? Will people be able to think of reasons or conjure up the will to resist those temptations? Will they even try? Does it even matter?

I have no idea how to answer these questions.

What I do know is that the questions are important, and that I respect those who are troubled by them.

And maybe you should, too.

Read the whole thing. Damon really has become one of the most interesting columnists writing today.

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