Reviews, Interviews, News, Commentaries, Excerpts, My Top 5 Books, Wilson's Bookmarks, Book AwardsThe Consequences of Contraception
When it comes to good PR, 2012 has been a great year for Christian sex. Between Mark and Grace Driscoll's new book Real Marriage and Ed and Lisa Young's Sexperiment, married sex has assumed a central place in the public spotlight and in our daily conversations. It is affirmed by visible evangelical pastors and exalted as the glue that holds our marriages together.
These books and others have encouraged candid conversation about sex. Younger Christians now talk about sex openly and in a way that might make their grandparents blush. Yet with all this talk about sex, with all the teaching and writing about sex, are we really getting to the core issues of Christian sexuality? Does the sheer volume of conversation necessarily entail substance?
Mary Eberstadt's new book, Adam and Eve After the Pill: Paradoxes of the Sexual Revolution (Ignatius Press), addresses these questions, though indirectly so. Throughout the book, Eberstadt pieces together the societal fallout of the sexual revolution. Examining the consequences of sexual liberation for women, men, and children, she systematically catalogues a whole host of social ills ranging from out-of-wedlock pregnancy, to divorce, to addiction to pornography. The result is a concrete set of "empirical evidence" with which the culture must reckon.
Eberstadt presents the data in a short and digestible format that will hopefully equip more lay Christians with the sociological arguments for biblical teachings on sex. Because she chose this more accessible format, Eberstadt (admittedly) sacrifices the time and space that a comprehensive study of the sexual revolution deserves. At times her summaries seem reductionist, giving only a nod to complicating factors such as affluence, individualism, and narcissism, all of which arguably contributed to the collapse of the American family and rampant female unhappiness. Sexual libertinism cannot be the sole culprit in our nation's moral failures.
What's more, Eberstadt frequently critiques an unidentified group that she labels the "academic elite" or the "enlightened," a vague category of people who deny the sexual revolution's negative consequences. Her persistence in accusing this unclear group of Americans comes dangerously close to a kind of anti-intellectualism. Her broad-brush condemnations also take aim at "modern feminism," a term that is about as precise as "evangelicalism" and therefore runs the risk of demonizing an entire movement of diverse voices who surely cannot be categorized so narrowly.
Gradual Unraveling
These issues aside, Eberstadt mounts a compelling case. The book includes a wide spectrum of consequences wrought by the sexual revolution, and is therefore a terrific one-stop shop for anyone interested in understanding the big picture of American sexual mores.
Returning to the opening question of Christian discussions about sex, Eberstadt's final chapter is a major contribution. It is her argument's coup de grace as she pinpoints the moment when Pandora's Box was first unlocked: the creation of the Pill.
La complejidad hispana: Todo cambió en el 2012
The Latest in Movie News, May 20, 2013
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Staci M
I agree with what Brent White said (except the comment about the Pope). NFP helps women avoid pregnancy. Whether it be to space children out or to try and achieve pregnancy, still on one side of the coin NFP helps women avoid pregnancy. People say that NFP leaves a woman open to God's plan for her in having children. Well if that's the case NFP stands in the way of that if you are using it to not have kids or "space them out". If one really trusted God then there would be no need for NFP. If you use NFP then it's a form of birth control no matter how you dress it up.
Jennie Pappas
So, what century are we living in? Perhaps we should not avail ourselves of any medical or scientific advances, like anesthesia in child birth. Is sterilization okay? For males anyway, right? Those who are born eunuchs and those who are made eunuchs?
John Holmes
Bit of a problem here, as we have increased the nutritional levels of humans, we have observed that fertility levels increase, just as when we feed our sheep or cattle to increase the lambing or calving %. I feel that we are being seduced by some, to neglect the insight from the Puritans that sex is not just about reproduction but also about bonding with partners. I have observed that people from the heritage that sex is for reproduction only; often have severe hang ups re sexual issues. Often quite exploitative. That sex has a serious part to play in bonding couples together almost seems a novel idea. Also at 7 Billion and counting, we are getting fairly over stocked now, and unless you have seen range-lands or similar over stocked, you have no idea of what happens when resources runs out for all concerned. Back to the Puritans please and get rid of these ideas originally based on sex for reproduction only.