Evangelical Churches Push Kinky New Sex Challenges--But For Married Couples Only

By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog.

More evangelical churches are pushing sex—in some cases, rather risqué sex, on married couples. The formerly straight-laced church is changing with the times and now promoting, even urging, married couples to have more varied sex and more of it. According to alternet.org, a progressive media website, "Christian sex shops, Christian sex advice columns, and Christian sex blogs" abound on the Internet.

Tampa, Florida pastor Paul Wirth made headlines earlier this month issuing what he called the 30-day sex challenge, urging married couples to have sex every day for 30 days, and single parishioners to stay celibate for the same period.

Evangelical churches still condemn pre-marital sex, lesbian and gay sex and lobby for federally-funded abstinence-only sex education, which made some critics wonder whether this is just a promotional push for more membership. I also wonder how married couples feel having their pastor push sex on them? Perhaps there is Biblical precedence with the "be fruitful and multiply" line. Whatever.

Alternet.org also reports that female evangelical sex advice-givers have a kindler, gentler approach than their male counterparts, reasoning that men in the church use sex to control women--so this is hardly a move to liberate evangelical women. But I believe it's more of a marketing tool than anything else. The times have spoken and the church is getting with the times, in its own straight-laced way.

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