Throughout history, certain individuals have shaped the trajectory of ideas and culture—sometimes for better, often for worse. The architects of much modern progressive thinking today continue to influence us, even as their names fade from memory. Among them is Alfred Kinsey.
Kinsey is another highly controversial figure who helped shape modern sexual attitudes. Raised in a devout Methodist home, he was serious about his faith. Unfortunately, like many young people, he abandoned it in college and embraced scientific materialism instead.
Kinsey moved from studying wasps as a trained entomologist to studying human sexuality. His landmark books—Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953)—astonished the world and quickly became cultural reference points.
What the public did not fully realize was that Kinsey’s surveys deliberately included disproportionate numbers of prisoners, homosexual men from urban areas, and college students—groups that did not adequately represent the general U.S. population. Although he acknowledged these limitations in his reports, cultural elites still treated his conclusions as authoritative.
Kinsey’s personal life was a kind of living experiment. He was bisexual and actively engaged in sexual relationships with both men and women. His marriage, while lasting until his death, was non-traditional to say the least, as both he and his wife participated in regular extramarital hanky-panky. In effect, Kinsey’s personal conduct mirrored the conclusions of his research: sexual behavior was not meant to be restrained by traditional moral standards.
His views contributed significantly to the normalization of behaviors long regarded as immoral by framing them as natural expressions. Chastity and lifelong marital fidelity steadily eroded. Kinsey’s work also helped lay the groundwork for the outrageous sexual revolution of the 1960s. Do the song lyrics, “If you can’t be with the one you love, then love the one you’re with,” sound familiar? They should, because they reflect a mindset that has only gotten worse since Stephen Stills wrote them in 1970.
Standing in stark contrast to the Kinsey Reports is Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. Where Kinsey saw only instinct and libido, John Paul II saw the Image of God. Where Kinsey treated the body as a biological pleasure machine, the Pope taught that human sexuality is a sacred and beautiful expression of love safeguarded by the covenant of marriage between one man and one woman, open to new life.
Unfortunately, the Theology of the Body is not taken very seriously today—even among many churchgoers—and the consequences have been devastating personally, financially, and culturally.
Personally, individuals are left adrift, navigating relationships without moral guidance, leading to emotional distress, broken hearts, widespread loneliness, and depression.
Financially, the destabilization of society through divorce, single-parent households, abortion, LGBTQ stuff, and the commodification of sexual exploitation has created enormous demands on healthcare, welfare, education, and other social services.
Culturally, so-called sexual freedom has devalued marriage, motherhood, fatherhood, and children while simultaneously violating human dignity. Today, it’s nearly impossible to watch television—even children’s programming—without immoral nonsense being forced down our throats.
In the end, the contrast is unmistakable. Kinsey reduced sexuality to its lowest common denominator. Theology of the Body elevated it to its highest purpose. Kinsey’s vision leaves individuals, families, and society weakened and restless; John Paul II’s teaching provides a path toward authentic freedom, dignity, and love. One diminishes; the other ennobles.
Naturally, our progressive culture prefers the Kinsey version—after all it feels so good—until it’s time to ‘pay the bill’ for our gross abuses either in this life or the next.
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.