If Sex Is A Drug, What Isn't?
I've been too busy lately to post on topics when they might actually be fresh (novel concept, I know), but I really wanted to touch on the Pope Benedict soliloquy on sex. Having read Humanae Vitae myself, I am quite familiar with the subject at hand. The Catholic Church, while progressive in some areas, most notably science, still clings to these archaic beliefs about sex and birth control. I guess that's not surprising considering that sins "of the flesh" are considered to be more grave than others, but even within the bounds of marriage, birth control of any sort other than Natural Family Planning (which differs from the commonly known Rhythm Method and is more effective, but not by much). The HV also addresses euthanasia and abortion, rules for fair and justified war, and other issues that pertain to the creation or destruction of life.
Most interesting, though, was Pope Benedict's comment about sex "becoming like a drug" (link). There are people who deal with sex addiction, just as there are those with gambling or shopping addictions. What needs to be addressed here, though, is firstly, can a biological function become an addiction and should it be labeled as such, and secondly, the behavior of an addict is most often just the overt manifestation of a deeper issue. Often this may be a chemical imbalance in the brain, or it could also be a learned behavior primarily driven by the adrenaline rush. At any rate, if sex is a drug, then we have all the more reason to label religion as a drug as well.
Excluding those with eating disorders, which are problematic but not necessarily the result of our biological urge to eat as opposed to the ability to control oneself or self-esteem issues, is eating three meals a day a food addiction? Even compulsive overeaters can't necessarily be labeled as addicts because their issues are often much more complex as well.
Sex is a biological urge--something that we are literally driven to do, with a few rare exceptions. So, assuming that your sex life is normal and not problematic (ie not uncontrollable nymphomaniacs who can't stop themselves from having sex), how can we compare a normal bodily function to a drug to which we can become addicted? Is this just another scare tactic? The DARE program of sex ed? I guess the entire human race is addicted to shitting and sleeping as well.
Everything that a person experiences is the direct result of the release and uptake of neurotransmitters and neuronal impulses. A malfunction in that system, which is intricate and not well understood, could cause a cacophony of seemingly dysfunctional behaviors. The act of sex, or any physical contact, and orgasm in particular causes the release of oxytocin, which is a neurotransmitter that causes feelings of attachment and what we would call love. Childbirth and breastfeeding do as well. This is to facilitate the preservation of the family unit. Sex also causes serotonin and dopamine to be released in the brain, causing feelings of well-being and relaxation. In high concentrations, such as with the use of cocaine or amphetamines, it is dopamine that elicits the euphoric high. This cocktail of neurotransmitters is powerful--and necessary. Without it, who would really want to procreate? The fact that this has been selected for over millenia of evolution coupled with the success of the human race is an indicator of just how vital the pleasure associated with sex is.
A normal, healthy sex drive is not an addiction. One of the greatest sins of christianity, in my opinion, is the suppression of normal sexual behavior, which ironically tends to cause much more serious psychological problems than just admitting that human beings want to have sex.
Considering that the development of these responses is completely necessary for the propagation of the species, if Benedict considers sex a drug based on the neurochemical response, then he must also admit that religion is a drug. Religious practices cause stimulation of various parts of the brain, most notably the temporal lobes, and through repeated usage of those pathways, they become strengthened and the brain soon restructures itself to accomodate these neuronal connections, leaving one in a state in which they either cannot leave religion or just don't want to give it up. Going to church, reading the bible, and prayer could all be considered the "fix" craved by addicts of all sorts.
One of the most common excuses for the tolerance of religion in society is that it makes people happy or gives them comfort. Well, so does heroin, coke, or pot. As a matter of fact, if one takes it to that extreme, everything is a drug and we are all addicts. We're addicted to food, breathing, the beauty of nice spring days. The affection we have for our families is equally an addiction. Pope Ratzi can't just pick and choose activities of which he disapproves and label them as addictive drugs--to maintain his position, he must admit that everything is a drug, including his religion, and therefore the term drug is meaningless and obsolete.
"Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions." -Thomas Jefferson
"By not caring too much about what people think, I'm able to think for myself and propagate ideas which are very often unpopular. And I succeed." -Albert Ellis
Defecation must be a drug,
Defecation is a drug, too ! I must be totally addicted because no matter how many times I try to stop this really disgusting habit I just can't do it. It's controlling my life !
When I die I want to go like my grandfather did, peaceful and in my sleep, not screaming like the passengers in his car.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xl42z_salivaclickclickboom_music http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xysbw_ministry-lies-lies-lies_music http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8uln_drowning-pool-tear-away_music
If sex is a drug, what isn't?
Sex, Drugs & Rock & Roll, Not necessarily in that order.
kellym78 wrote:Pope Ratzi
I dreaming of the day when the Pope can be extradited and jailed just like the Cocaine drug lords. The pope doesn't like sex and narcotics cause they are competing drugs.
Stop global whining.
Quote:At any rate, if sex is
While all your points are great, (as usual) I'd like to see the religious address this one in particular. How is it that we catch so much shit for calling theism a mental disorder, and theists are free to toss around the word "drug" as if it has no definition at all?
Double standard, anyone?
Never Mind, trust to chance -- keep a sharp look out -- There is many a happy slave.
--Charles Darwin, on whether or not he ought to marry.
Suicide is the only cure,
Suicide is a sure cure, life is a nasty drug.
..... 
Life is a sin, just smell your shit. ((( Prozac ....
Crucify the Pope, we need more saviors.
Science progress is the solution to abortion, and STD's , after all, we are wired to fuck fuck fuck, and fuck.
Science created the rubber, the Pope doesn't like rubbers. ( WTF? )
The Pope wants followers and murders for his lust drug.
Calling all girls, fuck the Pope's brains out, heal him. "Fuck" the enemy good, I meant "L O V E" .... ( a message from Jesus )
Did I say I want to fuck?
Kelly is a favorite dream of mine, She is REAL GOOD ! True LOVE ....
I have only one standard, do what feels "good", rationally. ((( buddha/hamby
I AM GOD AS YOU
Rubbers make it difficult for him to feel the inside of alter boys.
Stop global whining.
This is not a joke, I sadly
This is not a joke, I sadly tell you truly, in all honesty, because I care about all of us, the Pope and his are evil .... an arch enemy of me and my atheist old friends jesus and buddha, as we are "ONE" in the spirit of L O V E, as in caring and compassion and peace and kindness and happiness and comfort and equality and justice and .....
I ran out of rum, damn it .... that shouldn't happen to no one,
and people starve while the church and gov and controllers roll in mega cash ???
Want a GOD lesson? , seek a scientist ; Want a lesson in EVIL, go to church ....
"FIX MY WORDS" , said a buddha .....
An interesting piece.
An interesting piece. Thanks for the compliment regarding the progressiveness of the Catholic Church. It's one of the few positive things I've seen regarding religion on this site.
Understanding Benedict XVI's comments requires a deeper reading of Humane Vitae. Specifically, it rquires that one understand the danger of the separation of the unitive and procreative aspects of the sex act.
Religious views towards birth control were fairly uniform among all denomonations until the early 1930's. Until the Lambeth Conference of 1930, all major denominations of Christianity considered birth control to be sinful. The Anglican Lambeth Conference of 1930 (I think it was 1930) broke with that tradition and other denominations were quick to follow suit. In the Catholic Church, the question was considered for a further 30 plus years. Pope Paul VI, author of the eventual definitive Ctaholic teaching on the subject, Humanae Vitae (On Human Life), realized the importance of a resolution to the issue and agonized over what that teaching should be. So we see that the Catholic decision to keep with the original teaching was not a hasty one.
Paul VI realized that the separation of the unitive and procreatve aspects of the sex act had a couple of far reaching ramifications on the humman view of sexuality. First, since no form of birth control is 100% effective, there were bound to be failures to prevent conception, or what are euphemistically called "accidents". These accidents would require a "plan B" to prevent couples from being "punished" (to borrow an Obama-ism) by an unwanted pregnancy. That plan B is abortion which has led to an overall degradation of the human view of the value of life; a degradation which has reached the point that euthanasia is legal and some nations and seriously considered in many others, and the state has assumed the right in some cases to terminate the life of disabled persons.
Secondly, and more germane to this particular conversation, Paul VI, realized that rendering the sex act sterile, that is rendering it incapable of concieving new life, removed a sense of the sacred from the act and would lead to persons using others merely as objects of pleasure rather than as persons with a purpose, deserving of dignity. Certainly the soaring rates of teen sexual activity, marital infidelity, and sexually transmitted disease would seem to bear this out.
It is that aspect which seems to concern B16 the most about those who deny the foresight of his predecessor, Paul VI.
I find it ridiculous that folks think that the Catholic Church takes such a dim view of sexuality. Quite the contrary, the Church sees sex within the bonds of marriage as cooperation of himanity in the very act ofCreation with God. Further, the Church is aware that it is through sexual activity that more little Catholics come into the world.
I find it very interesting that Kelly would then follow this article with one extolling the health benefits of pregnancy for women. Another interesting article might look into the positive danger posed to women's health by some forms of birth control.
"With its enduring appeal to the search for truth, philosophy has the great responsibility of forming thought and culture; and now it must strive resolutely to recover its original vocation." Pope John Paul II
More science and sex
More science and sex education is the solution, and teaching ethics starting grade one .... Religion "hates life", and is based on greed, power, money, fear, ego inflation ..... etc.
GIRLS
WARNING: The Birth Control "Patch" seems a bad idea. Get back on the pill etc. I heard an hour of this on the KPFK public radio. Forward this imfo .... from www.notmypatch.org
Read this, the petition,
http://action.citizen.org/t/6578/content.jsp?content_KEY=4137
Addiction is defined by consequences
Continued behaviour despite negative consequences = addiction.
So sex within a relationship would be unlikely to qualify, while regular anonymous sex probably would (consequences include STD's and feeling like crap about yourself).
Religion may not meet this definition, as it's unclear whether there are any specific negative consequences for an individual religious person.
As for being "like a drug" - can't you say that about anything enjoyable?
ProzacDeathWish
I hated the show "Kids In the Hall" when Comedy Central first started. I thought it was a cheep knockoff of Monty Python. But, there was one skit I found extreemly funny.
It was poking fun at "Support groups". The skit shows a schoolroom, obviously after hours and shows one of the men stand up and say, "My name is John Smith", the rest respond, "Hi John". So after a few of the guys make their announcements you discover that it is a support group for guys who don't want their bladders controlling them. The skit progresses with each one being picked off by their natural need to go.
If oil flowed like deity claims gas would cost 10 cents a gallon.
MASTERBATION!!!!
Dont forget masterbation is also looked down apon, bur every other animal in the world does it... just sumthin to keep in mind
Knowledge is power
Power leads to corruption
Corrution leads to crime
Crime doesn't pay
So if you study you'll go broke.
sex sex sex oh and sex too
sex and people people and sex you can't have one without the other they go together like jelly and peanut butter
oh look an atheist poem about my fave subject sex
we should all buy fleshlights and enjoy masturbation
we should all buy sybians and enjoy masturbation
we should all have as many condoms as we want
we should all have as many babies as we can feed
we should all give back massages to our pregnant women
we should all give oral pleasure to our women
we should make a federal sex holiday
we should kill all the std's including aids
and by the time we finish this list
we should have no time left for religion or war
mohammed is mr poopy pants allah is a cootie queen and islam is a lint licker
http://seekerblog.com/wp-content/uploads/_blogger_5932_1957_1600_religion_of_peace_1-1.jpg
Ooohhh, that's cool SEX
Ooohhh, that's cool SEX wolf, did you write that ? I must write some chords for this
Pop, rap, rock? 
hey, all that .... 
sometimes the words they just flow
rock i do believe it would have a nice hip grinding effect
Understanding Benedict XVI's
Understanding Benedict XVI's comments requires a deeper reading of Humane Vitae. Specifically, it rquires that one understand the danger of the separation of the unitive and procreative aspects of the sex act.
I've read it. But, then, I was a faithful Catholic until fairly recently.
The problem as I see it is that these "aspects" are simply dreamed up. Sex performed strictly for pleasure is not only known in the animal kingdom, it is a common practice in one of our closest relatives, the Bonobo. Does this not sound striking human?
Sexual intercourse plays a major role in Bonobo society, being used as a greeting, a means of conflict resolution and post conflict reconciliation, and as favors traded by the females in exchange for food.
By attempting to stigmatize normal behavior, the Church has created a lot of damage. I can, in fact, empathize with the Popes' messages. Sex was a lot like a drug for me when I was Catholic. This was largely because I fought to repress it. I saw normal sexual reactions as a combination of demonic suggestion and the betrayal of my own fallen nature. I took about every piece of advice I could get from saints on spiritual warfare that I could. Those years were marked by constant penance. I kept my local priests busy, because I would phone them up and ask for them to hear my confessions constantly. I wonder how many full 15 mystery Rosarys I said begging Mary to intercede for me. I considered chemical castration and, at low points, even suicide, as I wanted to keep my "sex addiction" away from my children. I considered my own damnation to be a small price to pay to save them.
The funny thing is, I beat the "addiction" in the end. When my faith died, so did my attempt to repress my sexuality and, poof!, those overpowering urges disappeared. My sex life is fine now, my wife and I are a lot closer, and I will certainly never saddle my children with the suffocation I had to endure.
That, totus_tuus, is the sort of damage that the Church's sexual teachings cause. You have people like me suffering in silence. You have people with problems attempting to hide in the priesthood with the naive idea that the solution to disordered sexual urges is more devotion rather than therapy. You have children experimenting with sex as all children will, but having to hide it and living with a deadly ignorance that could mean their death.
As an aside, I think that this year it is far more likely that I will send my kids here rather than the summer Totus Tuus program. Your name just reminded me to look into it.
All that is necessary for the triumph of good is that evil men do nothing.
Pope soap on a rope?
Kelly, you did a great job on this article! The thing that impresses me is that even though you are not a neurologist or a psychologist (at least I don’t’ think you are), as a lay person you were able to form a much more cogent argument to support a well thought out position than the Pope. The thing that strikes me about his statement is that it is a perfect example of how pop-psychology can be used by religious leaders to justify positions that they honestly are completely ignorant about. The fact is that sex CAN be used as a drug. However, now that the Pope has decided to label it as one, the religious community will be working to intervene in our sexual freedoms even more, and to prevent the use of contraception on all fronts. This stance is not only immoral, but it interferes with any genuine social discourse about a very real public health concern. It makes me crazy. I have to say. Again and again the dogma of religion prevents us from discussing grown-up issues, because again and again the religious zealots of the world say “I want things to be this way because God wants them to be this way, and you can’t talk me out of it.” I shudder at the social consequences of the Pope’s stance both here in the bible-thumping USA and in HIV infected Africa. Never mind it’s consequences for global suffering in general. The Pope’s statement is an excellent example of religion’s failure as a transmitter of cultural wisdom. Sex is a mind altering behavior. So is abstinence (as any frustrated teen-ager can tell you). Any behavior that alters your state of mind can be used to avoid coping with life’s stressor’s and frustrations. This is a common coping tactic that all human beings use. As such, sex can and does lead to addiction. People have been using sex to alter their mental and emotional states forever now, and sexual addiction is a very real psychological phenomena. But here’s the thing. Rather than using his status to educate the world about the nature of addiction (a worthy goal in my opinion, and one that the church is traditionally interested in), he instead uses sexual addiction to justify his immoral policy toward contraception. Of course I guess if I were cynical I might point out that a common strategy of recovering addicts is to replace their addiction to the drug/behavior with their addiction to the religion/belief. One of the functions of religion is that it helps people to structure their experience so that they can undergo psychological transformation. Granted, it does this by introducing a bunch of bullshit beliefs, but it does do this. Addiction is just the sort of behavior that religion actually has an at least not completely bad track-record of handling. Eastern religions are much better at this than Christianity in my view, but hey we are talking about the Pope here.So if the pope came out and said”“One of the great barriers toward knowing God and Christ is addiction and we need as Catholics to take this issue seriously, and start looking at what makes us addicts. This includes not only drugs and alcohol, but sex, gambling etc.” I would at least give him some props for concern for the wellbeing of his flock. If he said” as human beings we have the ability to alter our states of mind, and we have a responsibility to create a state of mental peace and harmony for ourselves and each other. This includes a responsibility to learn how to use sex in a responsible and respectful way.” I would count him as a moral teacher. Instead he said: “No mechanical technique can substitute the act of love that two married people exchange as a sign of a greater mystery:” When he starts talking like that, all I can think of is “sex is only a great mystery if you happen to be an 80 year old virgin. Edit: One thing I would like to add to this model of addiction is that the process of psychological addiction is not a simple vicious circle. It's not just that you get the "rush" or the stress release or whatever, and this leads to additional stress down the line. Most often the "rush" is something that one gets to more or less of a degree from the behavior. Think of a friday night when you went out and partied, and you started out really stressed out, and you eneded up feeling just great the next morning. Then you went out again on saturday and partied again, but on sunday you were feeling worn out and hung over. So you can see, the same behavior creates different results for the practitioner. What this does is create a random intermittent reinforcement schedule for the person (a la behavioral psych). This random payoff is what really drives the psycholgocal addiction, because the person makes the mistake of trying to chase the rush. This is all it takes to explain the existance of the city of Las Vegas.O.K.F.M.D.O.A.
Summary in Song, couldn't
Summary in Song, couldn't resist, I AM impulsive,
Tina Turner - Addicted To Love (Barcelona 1990)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgt8uWR422w
Original - ROBERT PALMER Addicted To Love 12" Extended Version 1986
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYqPy9KD72c&feature=related
Geezz , damn, girls got the moves !
The Pope needs some Hoochie Koo bad .... poor guy ....
Atheists have been fighting for birth control a LONG time
Nice post. I linked to it in mine on "Neo-Malthusianism" (birth control in Victorian England). Funny how nothing much has changed. For a glimpse of the history, check it out.
Popes and science do not mix
The mention about sex as a drug is yet another incursion of Pope Benedict XVI in areas he does not know much about. He should not need the artificial appearance of a scientific base for his opinion (which must be taken as revealed truth by "real" catholics). This is yet another case of the argument that goes like:
"You only need faith to know this is true, but just to show the strength of my God, here goes the scientific proof."
Almost every time this argument is used, the scientific half is dismal. And Benedict is a repeat offender like no other, demonstrating that his knowledge came all from the seminars, not from acceptable high school courses in History, Philosophy, Biology, or any other subject.
So, the simple truth is the Roman Catholic Church (the organization, not the religion) desperately needs sex being a drug, not the other way around. The Church needs control over the sexual aspects of human life for its own survival. Science has no such need.
Quote:So, the simple truth
Lionel Tiger makes some interesting observations about this kind of thing in "The Pursuit of Pleasure." He notes that those in power derive pleasure from controlling other people's access to pleasure. The argument (and it's admittedly speculation) is that evolution favors males who gain a lot of power, and since controlling other people's access to pleasure is one of the easiest ways to keep them in line, evolution favored males who gained pleasure from taking it away from others.
Never Mind, trust to chance -- keep a sharp look out -- There is many a happy slave.
--Charles Darwin, on whether or not he ought to marry.
Kelly you're hot! Sorry I
Kelly you're hot! Sorry I couldn't resit. But she's gorgious
KELLY [THE BEAUTIFUL]
KELLY [THE BEAUTIFUL] STATED: Everything that a person experiences is the direct result of the release and uptake of neurotransmitters and neuronal impulses.
MY RESPONSE: If that is true, then on what basis do you critisize theists for their beliefs? After all, according to your view, we only believe in God because of the "uptake of nerurotransmitters and neuronal impulses." Second, if everything humans experience is the result of these chemicals, then all opinions are equally valid because they are nothing but the result of such chemicals. So, on what basis does the atheist give superiority to their belief [or lack thereof] over classical theism? After all, your atheism is nothing but the product of chemicals.
Well J, we lively chemicals
Well J, we lively chemicals want it our way. Arguing is part of our chemical "evolution" obviously. I know not why !
Hey, I want "beautiful" Kelley's brain preserved for future prosperity !
Jerud1711 wrote: KELLY [THE
True religion is another drug. The problem is if you take this drug, you can't understand what is happening to you. You can't study this drug and know it's effects and side effects. You can't listen to people who have kicked this drug. You can't listen to stories of how destructive religious addiction can be. You must believe that religion is not a drug in order for it to work. Religion must be the preeminent drug/thing in your life in order for it to work. There is tremendous fear placed into believers, so they won't quit the drug. This is why religion is the most destructive drug there is.
As an adult, I can study the effects of liquor, cigarettes, sex, cocaine, pot, etc... before deciding to indulge in them. I can decide to quit them without fear of what will happen to me(except maybe heroine). Religion is nearly always indoctrinated into children and very young adults prone to peer pressure. Is it OK to force children to have sex, smoke, drink, etc...? No, drugs should be something an adult studies and understands before indulging. Childhood should be about learning and playing, not having your parents drugs forced on you.
Stop global whining.
Yeah EXC, as you say,
Yeah EXC, as you say, "religion is the most destructive drug there is."
Indeed ....
Dear totus_tuusIn regards to
Dear totus_tuus
In regards to your statement:
"Understanding Benedict XVI's comments requires a deeper reading of Humane Vitae"
I hear this argument a lot from religious folk and it really frustrates me. The term "deeper", in this context, to me insinuates that just because I disagree with what has been stated by some religious leader (which is usually some irrational rant) that I've just "misunderstood" the "deeper" message. If you read the The God Delusion and said to me "I don't agree with a lot of what Richard wrote" and I rebutted "It just requires a deeper reading" would that convince you at all to review the book again? I doubt it.
Take care,
Bobby
Created sick and commanded to be well
Don't Catholics see how perverted this is (of human nature)? If their beliefs are true, we where created by God, having these urges to do certain things that He then prohibited. We where created sick (or addicted) and them commanded to be well! Does that sound like something a loving God would do?
This is actually a classic sales (and con) technique: "You my friend have a very serious problem you might not know about, but fortunately for you I have the solution right here!" It's powerful stuff.
XLINT point Nelson Cruz
XLINT point Nelson Cruz
God of Abe is an our devil invention, all of religion poison ......