|
Post by manic on Dec 6, 2007 16:18:35 GMT -5
CD, thanks for this insightful piece.
|
|
NGA
Full Member
Posts: 204
|
Post by NGA on Dec 7, 2007 3:04:59 GMT -5
I read a Swedish articleon Sexual Addiction, and the terminlology here is sexual malfunction.
Inga
|
|
|
Post by completelydone on Dec 7, 2007 17:36:46 GMT -5
I read a Swedish articleon Sexual Addiction, and the terminlology here is sexual malfunction. Inga It would be if I were talking about sex, but I'm speaking of emotional intimacy; just to clear things up.
|
|
|
Post by completelydone on Dec 29, 2007 11:34:12 GMT -5
bump
|
|
|
Post by cindyandben on Dec 31, 2007 6:36:44 GMT -5
The older I get, the more I think that our brains and bodies were not evolved for the stimuli we are shoving on them. We have employed masses of smart people in a bunch of industries specifically to fool and bypass all the natural brakes and buffers on our nervous systems, We do this through addictive games, addictive and highly refined chemical substances, or intensely focused images used to sell often spurious items that effectively separate us from our true selves and our fellow humans (toys that take the place of a parent's soothing presence come to mind as a nasty example). None of this exonerates us - we are complicit as a society in buying (literally) into most of this. What it tells me is that we have to exert even more governance over our thoughts, our eyes, our speech, and our behavior NOW than back when such advice was given in the Bible and in the venerable and time-tested spiritual texts of other religious traditions.
I think intimacy is both harder today and potentially easier than ever before. We have all the resources at our disposal for communication, including the absence of former structural barriers between the genders. But we also have the lure of all these contemporary artificial distractions to draw the energy and attention of a susceptible mind. And an awful lot of minds are susceptible. As I try to find something for the kids to watch or an appropriate toy, I realize just how pervasive the distractions and un-constructive messages are. Should we become a fortress family? Move to the wilds and disconnect from the grid? These are not realistic for most.
I think we have to evaluate every message that is being presented to us, every product and image, in light of solid values, whether based on a specific faith or on some other sound moral ground. I am trying to keep in mind the following as I move through the stores in this season: The world's industries do not make money from intimacy - that is the one thing I am sure of now.
|
|