In my last post, I referenced a nice discussion over at Alte on the pleasures of married love. I mentioned in her comment section that I found this to be nice to hear, especially since so often we have an image of Christian women as prudish or frigid when it comes to sex. If you read the comments there, you will see that is far from true. The key to appreciating this discussion is to understand that all this is taking place in the context of marriage. I don’t think we hear enough about this, the power and value of marriage, and married love and sex. Eroticism is not limited to the world of casual sex, rather, within the context of the most stable of relationships, marriage, eroticism can find its fullest and healthiest expression. Those who can discuss this in a way that is down to earth, realistic and even humorous, yet still faithful to the basic tenets of the Christian understanding of sex, are doing a valuable service to the spreading of that same Christian message. Yes, sex is great, hot and exciting, and most especially among married couples.

I think this is best summed up by a comment David Collard (see my blogroll under Social Biology) made during that discussion. It is well worth repeating.

“Racer X, the wimpy image of Christians really bothers me. I think about sex a lot. I still notice women. But being a Catholic with a long marriage helps keep it all in a healthy context. If you are sleeping with the one woman for years, you can get to do it all, with the same woman. It is also rather sexy to have the same female cooking for you and screwing for you.”

And he added another interesting point:

“As Evelyn Waugh once said, more or less, I am bad but I would be much worse if I were not a Catholic. I think it is God’s grace that has kept me reasonably moral.”

In a world of rampant promiscuity, of which I myself have often engaged in, this is a refreshing thing to hear.