Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Practicing What They Preach

30-year-old husband Claudaniel Fabien and his new bride, 28-year-old Melody LaLuz teach abstinence at the public schools in Chicago. Proving that it is not unrealistic to expect kids to wait until marriage to horse around, the couple were never alone together in the same house before they were married on Saturday; and their first kiss -- ever -- was at the altar.

Call me naive, but this story brings to mind certain things I just don't get about marriage and sex and continence in today's society:

-- Where did we ever get the idea that it's "unrealistic" to expect kids to wait until they're married before having sex? There was a time -- still within living memory -- when waiting was generally expected, at least in respectable society. And many people throughout human history have waited until marriage -- probably most, at least during periods where this was a societal norm. In fact, for the last two thousand years, priests and monks and nuns have been proving that it is possible to live quite happily without sex for life.

-- When more people have ruined their lives and the lives of others through too much sex with too many people than through the lack of sex, where did we ever get the idea that continence was "aberrant" behavior?

-- On the KTVB website where I found this story, it comes under the heading of "Strange News." Why does a story about a couple waiting until their wedding to kiss for the first time qualify as News of the Weird? I don't understand this, any more than I understood what was so funny about a 40-year-old virgin when the movie of the same name came out.

Good for the Fabiens. They are far more likely to have a lasting, happy marriage than those who think waiting to kiss until you're married is weird.

5 comments:

  1. I came across this bit yesterday, and thought their story was quite lovely... but I, too, was puzzled on why this is 'news.'Well, all right, not puzzled. I know why it's surprising to the vast majority that a couple would wait to the extent that they save even their first kiss for marriage. But I was saddened.

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  2. What a great example. Looking back, while my wife and I did save ourselves for marriage, I wish we had remained even more pure in our courtship.

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  3. KTVB is a local outfit, right?

    Perhaps we might ask them why it was necessary to designate this as "strange."

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  4. I caught this story on three different news outlets. When talking about this, the anchors on two of them scrunched up their faces and rolled their eyes, wrinkled their noses. The other one, I saw anchors getting a little choked up, big smiles and glistening eyes. (it is heartwarming) I guess we know why I watch FOX News 95 percent of the time.
    I thought it was a beautiful story. These people discovered more about each other during their courtship than most. And that the key to a good marriage is that four-letter word that ends in K. No...get your mind out of the gutter. . . talk.

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