Sex and Spirituality Go Hand in Hand with Women
In church today I had cause to wonder about the women in those pews. New research shows a relationship between sex drive and spirituality, something even Freud stressed. So that good gal in those seats might also be good under the sheets, per experts.
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This picture is labeled by the photographer in the category "ministry" pictures. It does show, however, the loving embrace that can symbolize intimacy and sexual interest that science says goes hand in hand with religion
While men might grumble about their women going to church and their interest in spiritual things, it turns out women who have this interest have also been found to have healthy sex drives according to Today MSNBC News. The Spiritual Transcendence Scale, that measure such things as connectedness, universality and prayer fulfillment, found connectedness to play a strong role in the relationship between
sex and spiritual interest. In fact it leads to sex with more partners. The study was done on university students where men didn’t show the same results. There was no mention about whether men needed spirituality or connectedness as an aid to their sex drive.
Now apparently the relationship between sex and spirituality isn’t necessarily a Western notion for places like the United States, writers from India also wax eloquently about how spirituality and sex are companionable. One writer,
Parveen Chopra, observes there is some conflict in religious camps on the matter. He writes, “ Tantrics and latter day libertarian seekers insist that without sexual yoga you cannot attain enlightenment. On the other hand, the sadhus and swamis and monks and priests have always argued that without celibacy you may as well forget about spiritual growth.”
Still while people within the religious community debate the pros and cons, science has marched ahead and given the nod to the association between sex and spirituality while faith groups continue their debate.
Despite the stereotypes that may be held about fundamental Christian beliefs and sex, there are those within the Church that believe sex is a great blessing and therefore sexuality and spirituality for them go hand in hand, but within a certain defined structure. A Christian religious educator declares, “Our text reminds me that it is only the Christian who
values sex highly enough. The unbelieving world likes to look down on the Christian, as though we have no appreciation for sex, as though we think sex is evil, or at least unspiritual. The truth is that only a Christian can appreciate the true value of sex. In the Bible, the sexual union is a part of the marriage relationship, and this relationship portrays or symbolizes the union of Christ and His church. If sex is a kind of symbol, and what it symbolizes is the ultimate value—the ultimate good—then sex is a most benevolent gift and privilege. It is a great blessing.”
But outside marriage sex is considered sinful by many Christians and others as well, even as spirituality and sexuality have been seen to have connections. The recent research explored the attitudes and beliefs of those who defined themselves as spiritual ,although not necessarily of strict Christian belief, so science shows that folks across the spectrum of spiritual belief have stronger sex drives than those without any belief at all in things beyond the material. It is, however, the contention of science that belief in spiritual things has an advantage to sexuality for women which appears to say something to that fellow nodding off in the pew as his dearly beloved sings hymns.
