One Huffington Post blogger is concerned that American college students may not believe in love, but he is much less concerned with the rise of meaningless casual sexual acts.
That blogger, sociology Prof. Roger Friedland wrote an article entitled “God, Sex and Love on American Campuses” May 26. In it he portrayed college students as unprincipled sex crazed zombies who have lost their ability to love.
“We now have a huge sample of sex acts,” Friedland said of a survey he conducted of a mere 1,000 students. “More than half of all sex takes place in relations stripped of any romantic intent or possibility. That's for everybody. If you break out the guys, two thirds of their sex takes place in loveless, non-romantic – typically first-time – encounters. While some girls are playing by Sex and the City rules, most hope a relationship is going to flare up out of these first frictions.”
Fitting The Huffington Post mold, Friedland provided a left-wing perspective dismissive of abstinence and traditional morality, as well as insulting to Christianity. His claims about the sexual behavior of college students dismissed the role of faith in the decision making process (particularly the decision NOT to have sex).
As for the hook-ups, booty calls and F-buddy trends among young adults, Friedland said, “I am not so concerned with young people's sex. It's their love lives that have me worried.
The article did not entertain the idea that some American college students are choosing not to engage in promiscuity. Friedland failed to take into consideration there are many kinds of colleges including secular, private and faith-based schools. What is even more varied is the moral attitudes of the students who attend these institutions. Yet, Friedland argued that college students across the board have loose sexual moral standards.
Not all undergrads are sexually active. Many college students realize that sex is powerful, it brings about life and it can also take it away.
“I believe that abstinence is always the best. People think that condoms are safe, but actually the best thing is just to say no because you don't have to think about the outcome and all of the obstacles that may come with sex outside of marriage,” Rockingham Community College student Lydia Beavers told the Culture and Media Institute.
Of course, Friedland's article would not be at home on the Huffington Post religion page without an attack on evangelical
“Jerry Falwell began his moral majority after stumbling into a stoned, orgiastic Led Zeppelin concert. For three decades now, there has been a religious political obsession with what goes on in young people's underpants,” Friedland said.
The origin of the Moral Majority was a red-herring. Religious and educational organizations can only offer information and advice to young people. It is ultimately up to the young adult to decide their moral code.
Friedland mocked the idea of abstinence-only education saying, “There has been a religious political obsession with what goes on in young people's underpants.” He also dismissed the possibility that God matters in people sexual choices.
He said that “But the more people have looked, the less religion seems to matter,” in whether people choose to be promiscuous.
But some college students are not the only ones saying no and increasing numbers of high school students are abstaining from sexual activity, according to the Family Research Council (FRC).
“In 1991, 54 percent of teens said they had had sex, compared to 47 percent in 2003. The decline was particularly notable among teen boys. In 1991, 57 percent of high school boys said they had had sex, compared to 48 percent in 2003,” according to FRC.
FRC said that, “The fact that more teens are practicing abstinence is no surprise, since most teens view abstinence favorably. Almost all teens (94 percent) believe that teens should be given a strong message from society to abstain from sex until at least after high school.”
“Also, nearly 70 percent of teens said it is not OK for high school teens to have sex, and two-thirds of all sexually experienced teens said they wished they had waited longer to become sexually active. Moreover, most teens think highly of virginity. In 2003, 73 percent of teens surveyed said they are not embarrassed to admit they are virgins.” FRC continued.
Friedland's liberal views on the sexual behavior of college students was not the only troubling portion of the article. He also expressed a left-wing view of religion and belief in God.
“To me it is more frightening that there are increasing numbers of young people who doubt the existence of love than that of God. It may be that God doesn't want us fornicating, but love's vulnerability to decay is ultimately more threatening to our political union than which sexual acts are objects of prohibitive legislation,” Friedland said.
He continued to argue that the loss of love among young adults is far worse than sexual immorality saying, “We need to be less concerned with how and when our sons and daughters cover their genitals, and much more with whether they can uncover their hearts. That it has become easier for a lot of young women to put a man's penis in their mouths than to hold his hand is the real obscenity. God's presence in our underpants is the least of our worries,” Friedland said.
Friedland should have looked harder, and then maybe he would have found that there are college students able to be abstinent and able to love.
In March 2010, Culture and Media Institute analyzed stories on the Huffington Post religion blog – where Friedland's article appeared – and found that 81 percent of stories showed contempt for Christianity and conservatives. Articles also catered to atheism and non-Christian religions in nearly 50 percent of stories.
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