Relationships

I find myself more and more pondering issues without always coming to a definite conclusion. Lately I have been aware of unsettling attitudes developing throughout society centered around sex. Before hitting the teens, I was barely aware of what sex was. I figured there were boys and there were girls and sometimes they liked each other and sometimes they found each other annoying. Kissing and holding hands were the extent of interaction between members of the two groups that I was really aware of. Hormones kicked in as I hit the teenage years and I was aware of more parts of the body. I remember watching a parade at Disneyland when I was 14 and a man came up- CLOSE- behind me and I kept feeling a prodding in my backside. I was startled to glance around and see that the area of his pants below his waist was swelling and that was what he was poking me with. It gave me the creeps but I wasn't really sure why. I just moved away from him and closer to my parents. I have seen a doctor on tv counsel a single woman that, if she was having unfulfilled sexual desires, she could "take care of that herself". It gave me the creeps. I stopped watching that show- permanently. I saw a letter to an advice columnist from a female telling about a relationship where her partner had "cheated" on her with a former lover and she wasn't sure how to deal with it. She stated that they were lesbians. I pitied the columnist having to write a "helpful" response. I felt uncomfortable about it. For most of my life I have pondered this whole "sex" issue. Homosexuality was once scorned by society but is now forcibly embraced in order to avoid "homophobia", which is the hatred of people. I don't get that at all. In order to be considered loving, you must accept actions that are perverse to you? Pornography was once scorned by society but is now becoming more and more pervasive to the extent that there are CHILDREN being exposed to it in their homes and becoming addicted, influenced in their actions, and sadly warped in their perceptions of relationships.
So, what is sex?? What is it for?? Is it just a physical desire like enjoying a salty or sweet taste in the taste receptors on your tongue? Does it matter who you have excite or satisfy your desire- a paid "professional", a person of the same or opposite sex you may or may not know, yourself, a dog or a child?? In order to avoid "hatred" of people who have different desires/tastes from you, is it a requirement to simply accept desires of different people, without opinion?
So far, the only answer I feel really good about, is that our sex organs are for the purpose of binding us, physically and emotionally, to a mate. We have a desire (lust) and rely on one other person to know us and that we trust to satisfy that physical and emotional desire. Love is not a necessary part of sex. But without love, sex is simply an animal instinct being pursued. Marriage is not required. Commitment is not required. You simply seek a scratch for your itch. THAT gives me the creeps. I realize I have a lot in common with other creatures of the earth but I really feel like I am not simply another species inhabiting the planet. If I am subject to my animal instincts without control, I am simply an animal. I want to be more than that. People often try to ascribe lofty analyzing, motivations, and thought processes to animals. Research has not been able to substantiate that any other living creature is capable of as advanced thinking as humans.
So, other than binding us- making us "one flesh", what is sex for? Again, the only answer I feel good about is creating more of our species. We combine our differing DNA's to bring about a body to house another human being which starts out helpless and totally ignorant. We teach that new being how to survive, just as other creatures do, but we go further. We hope they will learn all we have to teach them and MORE. We hope they will be able to advance the world in ways we were unable to do. Two females cannot make another human. Neither can two males. Neither can one person alone. This is not just a commitment. This is creation. It is a major responsibility. Not all humans grasp the significance of it. Children are too often just the accidental result of two lustful beings satisfying an urge without thought beyond what feels good/exciting. I'm not saying this in a judgmental way. I have fallen prey to this form of self-gratification in my life. The results were a very confused teenager, even an unwanted pregnancy. Following the advice of adults that I thought were more capable than I, and certainly having a nice solution to my problem, I went out of the country to obtain an abortion in a country where it was legal at the time. With the "religious training" I had at the time, I still was horrified. I was not taught that abortion was murder. But I felt really bad about it. I was greatly scarred by the procedure- maybe not physically but definitely emotionally. Making children is NOT just a by-product of achieving physical satisfaction.
It concerns me greatly to see good people of the world heading, like the proverbial lemmings off the cliff, toward accepting sex as acceptable under any circumstances. Inside my head I scream, "NO!" I know it's getting way out of hand. I don't know if I can do anything to stop it. I know there is ONE who can. And I know the time will come when we will hear, in the booming words of Bill Cosby, "All right- everybody out of the pool!"