Generally, Sex Before Marriage is Not Morally Sound

I will respond to anything that I think is important to this debate then allow my opponent to finish his opening argument and contend to my own. I trust my opponent will be responding to my opening arguments next round, because if he didn’t he would either drop all of my opening arguments or respond to them in the final round. If my opponent chooses to respond to them in the final round, you should not take them into account while voting because I will have had no chance to respond. I would like to note that I am not arguing from a religious or biblical point of view at all; although I do hold these beliefs as personal to my own religion I am simply arguing from an ethical point of view and nothing else. I’ll quote the main point of my opponent’s argument: “What it is ethical to do depends on the situation. It depends on what the most loving thing to do is. It does not have an unbending, careless, dispassionate stance. What it is right or wrong to do depends on what is the most loving thing to do. The Greatest Commandments say it is love that is paramount and supreme, and all else is subservient to its irresistible power. ” Contentions “I shall say now that in many situations, sex before marriage is ill advised. There are many cases in marriage it is ill advised, for that matter. Marriage itself is a union that is to promote love and cement the beautiful relationship between two people. Intercourse is an expression of this love that is shared between the couple. However, and this is the crux of my case, intercourse is still an expression of love. It is still an expression of the great love a couple share with one another, and that is what is key. If the couple are expressing the great love with one another, what reason can we possibly have to stop the purity and greatness of agape? ” My opponent agrees with me that for the most part sex before marriage is ill-advised, however he argues that sex is still an expression of love that a couple shares with each other and that that is perhaps enough to justify sex before marriage. You yourself argue that what is best in a situation is the one that produces the greatest amount of love, and that justifies doing something that may generally be considered morally wrong. However, sex before marriage almost never produces even the same amount of love that marital sex does. If sex before marriage generally does not produce the same or a greater amount of love that sex saved for marriage does, then your own arguments don’t work. Sex is an expression of love, but it can also be an expression of lust when used incorrectly. You talk about how we shouldn’t stop the “purity and greatness of agape” but sex before marriage turns something that could have been true, pure agape into something that gets muddied with lust and the desire for one’s body. The very fact that lust becomes part of the issue is why sex should be saved for when a couple chooses to make the commitment to true love. There are two types of love, agape and eros. Eros is the desire to be with someone and agape is the desire for what is best for someone. Eros without agape turns selfish, you want a person for how they benefit you; you don’t desire what is best for them. Marriage is a commitment to a perfect balance of both agape and eros. Sex before marriage put eros over agape; they desire being with a person and wanting their body more than they want was is best for the person. This imbalance of agape and eros negatively affects both the individuals because they are putting their desire for each other over what is best for the each other. Sex before marriage focuses on eros, not agape. You cannot have an agape type love and have sex before marriage because the consequences and risks of sex before marriage contend to the desire for what is best for the individual. “Empathy is by far the most important trait in forming a society. While marriage can be an expression of this virtue, it is not necessary to express it. Marriage is a social institution to express it, and so is not necessary. Its modern meaning is just that - modern. Empathy, however, is the universal value that we all know is good, and as sex is an expression of love and care for your other, it is moral before marriage. ” Marriage is more than just an expression of empathy to an individual. Marriage is the true commitment to an individual that says, “I love you and no one else. I am dedicated to you. I will never leave you. I will always work towards what is best for you. ” Yes this is empathy, but it is also a dedication to true love. Now I’m not going to say that true love is not possible before marriage. What I am saying is that marriage is a finalization, like an official stamp, to your dedication to that person. It is important to recognize a commitment like so in order to show true love through a physical intimacy as strong as sex. “sex is an expression of love and care for your other, it is moral before marriage. ” To what point is it an expression of love though? If love is the desire for what is best for an individual and sex before marriage has many risks and consequences how can you show true love? It cannot be morally sound because it negatively affects both individuals more than it has a positive effect on them. Conclusion In a very general sense, two people only practice love to some degree when having sex before marriage. Unarguably, in a general sense a couple does not have the kind of dedication to each other that marriage calls for; therefore it cannot be morally sound as understood by my opening arguments and arguments presented in this round. I await my opponent’s response.