"Catholic Kama Sutra"

One of the issues I have with religion is the contradiction between the discourses around sex outside of marriage and sex within marriage.

Through my research into sexual health education I have seen the abstinence-only movement, although small compared to the people who support comprehensive sexual health education, continue to grow and gain power. The best example is in the USA where the purity movement in the south has gained strength and a large number of young people have made pledges that they will wait until marriage to have sex.

This does not work. Research has shown that although these teens may wait a year or two longer before having sex they are ill-prepared because they do not have the knowledge to protect themselves and this leads to more STIs and more unplanned pregnancies than among those teens who were educated about sex.

I think part of the problem may be the attitude to sex itself. Sex (among unmarrieds) is portrayed by the abstinence-only movement as a sin with all sorts of negative consequences (from STIs, to prostitution and suicide, to killing your future wife and children). Yet sex within marriage is meant to be holy and a gift from God and a celebration of life and love. I think it is this contradiction (sin vs holiness) that causes confusion among young people. 'If it's so great then why shouldn't I have sex' may be a common thought.

A Catholic priest in Poland just published a book that has been hailed as the "Catholic Kama Sutra". His lesson is that sex within marriage should be "saucy, surprising and fantasy packed". I commend him for doing this and I think it's a great idea to promote sex as a positive celebration of love.

What is the solution to reducing the confusion among religious teenagers?

I don't know, but I would love it if a common ground could be found between religious groups and sexual health educators; a combination of sexual health facts and statistics from a religious point of view rather than the distortion and lies that are often espoused.

Let's work together to create courses that help rather than hurt the health (physical and psychological) of teenagers without compromising their religious beliefs.