The Brown Daily Herald, November 18, 2003, Link to Original Article Unavailable
Panel explores religion and sexuality
By Alexandra Barsk
Religious traditions may pervade people's views on sexuality, but the morals they impart are by no means uniform, said Professor of Religious Studies Ross Kraemer in the Monday night discussion "A Conversation about Religion and Sexuality."
Kraemer and Associate Chaplain Jennifer Rankin led the event, sponsored by the Interfaith House.
Event coordinator Priya Cariappa '05 asked panelists to explain how they believe religion influences people's choices in determining their sexual practices.
"All religious traditions have ideas about people's sexual practices and these become part of the way in which people raised in these traditions are brought up," Kraemer said, but religions "don't have a singular thing to say on these issues."
She added that religious traditions draw on different authorities to determine their views on sexuality. Even within Christianity, she said, sex can range from being viewed as a necessary evil to being perceived as a good and healthy act when within a proper marriage.
A student asked if the group felt that engaging in sexual activities outside of marriage inhibits or promotes spiritual enlightenment. Michaella Matt '06 responded that many religions teach, "If God is in everything and if everything has a spark of the divine in it, then sex too has a spark of the divine in it."
But "that doesn't mean that every time you have a sexual impulse you should follow it," she said. Rather, "you should refine that sexual impulse and find out what is divine in it and with the right intention you can make it holy."
Other issues addressed by the group included traditional views of sexuality as they relate to those in religious service, the obstacles religion poses to homosexuality and the taboos surrounding non−monogamous and non−marital sexual relations.
Nicole Corea RISD '04 said the discussion gave her insight into different faiths' perceptions of women and men in society.
Rankin told The Herald she hoped students would not leave the discussion believing they needed to change their sexual behavior, but rather feeling as if they had challenged the traditions they normally take for granted.
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