No doubt today’s culture is challenging for many youths! It seems the more “liberated” we become, the more depressed we get! Why? Katy Collins joins Beau on this edition of the Better Pleasure Podcast to discuss Church culture and its effects on women and challenges with our youth. This is just the beginning of many good Podcasts with Katy!
Katy Collins
Beau mentions a book by Mary Eberstadt titled, “Adam & Eve after the Pill.” Paradoxes of the sexual revolution. Mary points out the great paradox; Sexual liberation has brought about a most un-happy culture. Be sure to pick up the book for a very interesting read!
In writing about our current entertainment culture, “All reveal a wildly contradictory mix of chatter about how wonderful it is that women are now al liberated for sexual fun – and how mysteriously impossible it has become to find a good, steady, committed boyfriend at the same time.”
“Numerous authors have also shown that widespread divorce and unwed motherhood – two more offspring of the sexual revolution – are not only detrimental for many individuals but also costly for society.”
Who is Mary Wollstonecraft and how did she influence our culture? Could one of the most influential feminist be a Christian?
She was a British writer, philosopher, and advocate of women’s rights in the 1700’s! Today Wollstonecraft is regarded as one of the founding feminist philosophers, and feminists often cite both her life and her works as important influences.
Peter and Beau take a look into her writing and how it relates to the Biblical teaching of male/female roles. Also they discuss how many of today’s feminist forget to mention Mary’s foundational worldview in Biblical truth. Is the consequence to neglecting such a foundation seen in today’s gender/sex wars?
An idea that I cannot seem to shake, concerns itself with equating attraction with sexual identity, or even gender identity. It’s common more today, so it seems, that if we find a person attractive, we potentially might be a certain kind of sexual person. And with that comes a sexual label. I’m this, that, or that other thing! Go online and find the “How to know you’re really hetero or gay,” videos out there. There are many of them! What if we actually believed the hype on these sites? If I equated my sexual identity with those I am attracted to or those I can picture myself having sex with, my life would be insane.
We are forever creatures that are looking to seek peace within ourselves aren’t we? And we accomplish this peace by doing things that make us feel good, creating in us an identity through the things we do to, and for ourselves. Identity is important to many of us. The Christian is concerned with identity too. But we realize that identity is one of faith. We can never do enough that will bring us the peace we need. Jesus alone has done what we could never do and in being what we could never be. We trust that our identity is found in what He says about us, not from what we think about ourselves.
I was in the sixth grade when I pierced my left ear. I think the next year I did my right. Why? I wanted to be something I was not at the time. I was insecure and discontented with myself. But in my mind, I saw myself as a heavy metal guitar player! It’s what I looked up to, it’s what I liked, it’s what I wanted to be. I pondered how cool it would be to be thin, thin enough to fit into tight leather pants! I desired my hair to be long like a lady. The earring too was an important part of the act. Many of us young boys saw that looking like a girl could give us an identity that seemed so cool. As with most Southern California kids, identity was everything. So, as we grew up, we became part of groups and sub cultures. Piercings were a part of creating an identity when I was a kid. Later tattoos became a way for others to develop an identity. Of course, these are still in full force today. Why do people get tattoos, or piercings anyway? It’s because we want to. We see ourselves with it, and like it on us. It is a part of our self-seeking.
Today I would like to propose that sex identity and gender identity are similar in today’s culture. When I hear people talk about their sexual or gender identities it sounds so familiar to me, as trying to find ourselves. Things were always done because of my feelings. We forever are looking to feel better. Is there something in us that compels us to do so? Why are we so incomplete? One of the reasons I enjoy old people is that there is no pretense with them. No gel in their hair (if they have any). Their eye for fashion is mostly gone and I don’t see many concerned about getting tattoos or piercings. Do you?
Could the choosing of our sexual or gender identity be simply a graduation from tattoos and piercings? It’s interesting to chat with Jr. High students about life. They come out with some interesting things. In today’s world of Youtuber’s and pop culture, they see sexual identity as important. So important that they too are willing to go out on a limb and share their own sexual identity and gender online. They’re much more comfortable revealing what they see as important just as their teen idols do. “I’m bisexual, I’m homosexual, I’m heterosexual, I’m pan-sexual,” yet they do not fully know what those terms mean yet! They just see themselves as fitting into a subculture to which they can be comforted and feel a part of something. Isn’t this why we did what we did when growing up? We think to ourselves, “this is who we are,” and in turn do things to conform.
With my fascination with metal music, it influenced me to conform to what it looked like at the time. Can that work for sexual issues too? In our world, sensuality is everywhere. Not just sensuality, but sex too. When we discuss porn today, it is hard not to see that porn is everywhere. So many things in our world are invented to cause sexual arousal. With the amount of pornography available on the web, many grow up watching hard core porn of many kinds and genres. I would imagine within this sex saturated culture there would be a subculture within it as well. And in turn, it would be another avenue to find an identity that makes us feel good. Is this only a construction in an economic prospering place such as the United States of America? I tend to wonder if in the remote parts of the world… “do they have people who make the identity claims that we see here?” Is this sexual and gender identity universal? Or is sexual identity and gender identity just a product of a bored culture that needs to find other ways to be satisfied and happy?
I sometimes think about what it would be like to take away all the technological amenities that we have today. What would that be like? Sometimes, on the TV I will watch a channel that shows a family that says, “the heck with it, we’re moving to the sticks of Idaho,” and go back to living like it was in the 1700’s! Amazing and fascinating! But what if we all did that? Would the same issues that we see today be present? It makes me seriously think that today we have issues that are constructed due to many cultural and economic factors, which if removed, we might not have.
Without technology, then it would be vital to have children the old fashion way. Homosexuality might not be seen as a growing accepted way. Or monogamy might be looked down upon too. As the more babies the better work crew you’ll have working the land! Many things might be different in a different social cultural context. Without TV or the internet, then we would not be inundated and influenced by a narcissistic philosophy that says, be like me and find yourself! Instead, we might be focused more on our kids and their kids and their kids… We would be interested in creating a life for our future descendants. This today is quite lost. I imagine we are living in a time that is like no other. We are more selfish, so selfish, that we do not realize it. Everything is concerned with us at the present moment. And we actually are glad about it!
Does this intense looking through the narrow lens at ourselves result in a constant feeling of inadequacy and incompleteness, which moves us to try and find something else that will help us feel right?
Jesus offers us a path off of this roller-coaster of self-diagnosis by giving us a new identity which is in Him! I love how the New Living Translation puts it in Colossians 2:10, “So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.”
Isn’t that just beautiful! You and I can have a union with Jesus! Instead of trying to fit in, Jesus offers you and I friendship like no other! We can be complete (fulfilled) in Him!
“But as many as received him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:12).
This passage tells us that when we receive Jesus as our LORD, we receive a new identity! We are now children of God! What an awesome joy to know that I don’t have to find my identity in my feelings, or by what the latest pop culture trends. Jesus gives us a new identity as a part of His forever family!
We can be made new because we are now children of God. “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2nd Corinthians 5:17).
I hope you think about Jesus today and choose to find your identity in Him instead of your culture.
Beau Ouellette
Founder of Running Light Ministries, Associate Pastor at Calvary Christian Fellowship of Tucson, AZ – beau@runninglight.org
Glad to be back on the Better Pleasure Podcast! In this episode Peter and Beau talk about Trans Age Identity and Artificial Intelligence Intimacy! How does this relate to the Bible you might ask! We get into it on this edition!
What is the real you? Is it the way you see yourself, or is it your physical body?
The Bible says that we are made in the image of God. Would Satan desire to distort this image of God in humans and in turn create a image that bears him? What would this look like?
You might think we are in the Twilight Zone but we are really in today’s world!
Instead of finding our identify, are we loosing it?
Peter and Beau take a moment to sit down and do a live Facebook Podcast on the term; sexual immorality! Should these words be used today? And what is being defined as sexual immorality today?
How does the current culture define sexual authenticity? What is popular in sexual thought? Is the Biblical idea of monogamy between a male and female popular? Or is it seen as the patriarchal power that must be other thrown?
The culture today reminds me of when I was a teenager fitting into my heavy metal culture. To be cool, was to be different from the ideal, or what we thought was the ideal. For instance, people of good reputation and leadership wore their hair short and clean, we grew it out. Government leaders were Alpha males. We tried to look feminine and have more emotion. You get the picture. Could it be this is what we do with our sexual identity too?
But should we throw out the ideal? And can we really throw out a standard for sexuality that has been in human behavior for thousands of years?
Beau & Peter discuss on this Episode of the B.P. Podcast!
Peter and Beau talk about many of the moral issues surrounding abortion and the male on this Episode.
What is our abortion on demand world saying about men? Where are the men who are responsible for these children? Why is abortion not spoken about in the male culture? Could it be that in seeking to be free from males, females have once again fallen into a system of male dominance?
How is the Pro Choice argument being framed in a world of subjective moral right and wrongs? How can anything really be wrong? Can humans live in a world where we do not believe in a objective right or wrong?
Is our country reaping what has been sown over years of sexual irresponsibility? And in trying to fix it, will we just push more government oversight into our sex lives?
All this and more on this episode of the Better Pleasure podcast!
Abortion is the hot topic at the moment! Again… And really it should be!
Peter brings up a really interesting Article from a mother on the, “traumatic” experience of adoption as opposed to abortion!? Is adoption more traumatic on a mother than abortion? Who says? And is this kind of argumentation good? What does what do articles like this say about women in a society? Why is being a mother such a offense?
We hope you find the conversation with Beau and Peter interesting and thought provoking as to where our culture is at and its relevancy to Biblical scripture.
Is sex identity changing? Peter Martin walks us through a article on the younger generations sexual identity. And wouldn’t you know it…. the results are all over the place! But are you surprised? What do you expect in a existential sexual philosophy. One thing we can learn from this survey is that education and discipleship works! Where do youth get educated today as different from prior generations?
30% of millennials identify as LGBTQ+
39% of Gen Z identify as LGBTQ+
Religious beliefs had no bearing on this survey by the Barna Group.
On August 12th Peter and I took some time to give our commentary on two videos about Gender. One was done by Laci Green the other by the DarkHorse podcast with Bret Weinstein & Heather Heying. Have you ever been confused on the subject? What is gender and how many genders are there? How does gender different from sex? And how many sexes are there? The questions can go on and on.
On this 117th podcast we found our conversation quite stimulating! C.S. Lewis came to mind (The Abolision of Man).
“A great many of those who “debunk” traditional or (as they would say) “sentimental” values have in the background values of their own which they believe to be immune from the debunking process” ― C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man
“When all that says ‘it is good’ has been debunked, what says ‘I want’ remains. (…) The Conditioners, therefore, must come to be motivated simply by their own pleasure. (…) My point is that those who stand outside all judgements of value cannot have any ground for preferring one of their own impulses to another except the emotional strength of that impulse. (…) I am very doubtful myself whether the benevolent impulses, stripped of that preference and encouragement which the Tao teaches us to give them and left to their merely natural strength and frequency as psychological events, will have much influence. I am very doubtful whether history shows us one example of a man who, having stepped outside traditional morality and attained power, has used that power benevolently.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man
The DarkHorse podcast video brought about some real interesting ideas as to the potential ramifications in medical education and the military if we continue down the current path. While Laci showed us what the American Psychological Associations current definition of gender is. The question is…will it change again? And is it a definition based on facts or opinion? And if what is true about gender is based on person identity, then how do you define it? There are allot of identities on the planet. (Almost 8 billion and growing!)
But what does this all mean for us who are Christians? Glad you asked! Peter and I get into an interesting side of the Gender issue and it’s consequences on legislative government and the science community. We ended up looking at Apocalyptical prophecies in the Bible the discuss a one world order with a intellectual leader who will perhaps be not be into marriage!
Daniel 11:37, which says that Antichrist will “Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all”, will the Antichrist be androgynous?
Of course it is purely theoretical, but interesting non the less!
The Bible stresses the idea of procreation being one of the first commands given to humans. Why is this important? What is the consequences of not valuing procreation?
Is the cuurent gender ideology in education moving us directly into what the Bible says about the last days?
May 2021 Already! Can you believe it! This week on the BP Podcast from Running Light Ministries we share our commentary on the sex educator Justine Ang Fonte and her video for six year old’s!
Do you remember being six years old? It’s difficult to remember much of being a little kid let alone thinking about an erection that you might have had! Our point being made was ‘are young children even ready to discuss sexual organs?’ Isn’t it enough for parents to simply be fearful of having your kid in kindergarten/1st grade? Now we need to discuss there genital’s?
The video brings up many questions! What are appropriate sexual topics for a teacher to share with your student? Are you comfortable with the new ideologies that today’s sex educations have? (Intersectional, LGBTQetc…, Social Justice, Gender Identity etc…) This is not the health class of 1985!
In the video that we listen to on the show, Peter points out that a moral judgment is being made on masturbation. The concept of what is right is subtle but in the video. And if there is a right, then there is a wrong. Can kids contextualize sexual pleasure as a recreation?
In the video, a cartoon boy is asking, “Hey, how come sometimes my penis gets big” and points in the air. A cartoon adult responds “That’s called an erection.” The boy then adds, “Sometimes I touch my penis because it feels good.” A cartoon girl responds “Sometimes, when I’m in my bath or when Mom puts me to bed, I like to touch my vulva too.” The adult cartoon character then intimates the little girl, “You have a clitoris there, Kayla, that probably feels good to touch the same way Keith’s penis feels good when he touches it.” She then adds: “Have you ever noticed that older kids and grown-ups don’t touch their private parts in public? It’s okay to touch yourself and see how different body parts feel – but it’s best to only do it in private.”
As Beau listens to the video a second time he points out that there is not a direct reference to masturbation being made. But why do young kids need this kind of education? Is it due to the free distribution of pornography in our world? Do young children need to know about how their body works and its relating to sexual pleasure? Even though I (Beau) was a sexually adventurous young lad growing up in Southern California, I am glad that I didn’t know much about how my genitalia worked. I wonder what would I have done if I did know the functionality of my genitalia. Sometimes when we are unsure, we do not pursue. When young people are confident about the sexual organs then they tend to feel comfortable using them. That rings true from posteriori knowledge in my crew growing up! The young boys I hung out with that knew there body parts better then others tended to use them.
Peter points out that we have laws that assume that youth are not able to consent to sexual decisions. Statutory rape is the example Peter gives. What are the consequences if we did assume that kids could make the right decisions regarding there sexuality? Are there topics that kids are not ready to understand at six years old?
Sharing this kind of sex education in a classroom in front of all kids of kids with all kids of backgrounds has its problems as well. Some kids will know more about there bodies then others. Peter and I have spoken in many public school classes on sensitive topics and half of the students in the Jr. High class are oblivious to the things we are talking about. We at times have felt bad that we brought up topics that could have sparked a curiosity in the kid!
What is the agenda behind this kind of sex education? Is there? Take a listen on the Running Light Better Pleasure Podcast!
