But this physiological change, which seems to represent a general rhythm in the life of nations, cannot explain what is most character- istic of the sexual attitude of our age, namely the general obsession with sex as the surest, shortest, and cheapest way to happiness. Until recently public opinion in the West was controlled by the Christian religion, and thus any world view which considered happiness and pleasure as the highest goal of life was effectively challenged by the Christian evaluation of man or its philosophical transformation, namely idealism. But at the turn of the century representatives of the materialistic outlook succeeded in capturing the older media of mass communications, especially newspapers and magazines, and in developing new types such as films, radio, and television. Those who craved happiness discovered that the easiest way to make a great deal of money quickly was to employ the media of mass communication for the spread of the idea that happiness was man's supreme good. By treating sex as the universally available source of happiness and by denying that, as a purely physiological function, sex had anything to do with the higher ends of life these agencies have succeeded in making their view of sex the one generally held in our days.
Sexual satisfaction comes cheaply today.
No sustained courtship and no period of long waiting is necessary. Sex has become the most inexpensive general source of pleasure and is placed on the same level as eating and drinking. Formerly the mores of society had a considerable protective and therapeutic value, since a personal moral conflict could be resolved by complying with that order, whereas the conflicts resulting from the new unlimited freedom is manifested in a biological-psychological disturbance that needs a physician's care. Another serious consequence of the modern outlook is a crippling of the ability to love, a fact that, far beyond the erotic sphere, affects the social life of our days. Similarly the fundamental principles of the Bible regulating sexual life are not dependent on the social conditions in which they were proclaimed.