In <1pkqe2INN54n@lynx.unm.edu> cfaehl@vesta.unm.edu (Chris Faehl) writes:  >In article <1993Apr3.081052.11292@monu6.cc.monash.edu.au>, darice@yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au (Fred Rice) writes: >[deleted, to get to the point:] >>  >> Therefore, in a nutshell, my opinion is that pre-marital sex makes the >> likelihood of extra-marital sex more probable.  Furthermore, >> in my opinion, extra-marital sex helps break down partnerships and leads >> to greater divorce rates.  This in turn, in my opinion, creates trauma >> and a less stable environment for children, who are then, in my opinion, >> more likely to grow up with psychological problems such as depression, >> etc.  And thus, sex outside of marriage is, in the long run, harmful to >> society.  >I think that you are drawing links where there are none - having sex before >marriage has nothing to do with adultery once committed into marriage. The >issue as I see it is more of how committed you are to not foisting pain on >your spouse, and how confident you are about yourself.  >	In addition, what someone does within their marriage is their own  >business, not mine, and not yours. I have witnessed strong relationships >that incorporate extra-marital sex.  >	I would agree with your assertion about children - children should not  be witness to such confusing relationships - if adultery is stressful to  >adults, which I assume it in general is, how can we expect children to  >understand it? >>  >> Where is the evidence for my opinions?  At the moment, there are just >> generalities I can cite.  For example, I read that in the 20th century, >> the percentage of youth (and people in general) who suffer from >> depression has been steadily climbing in Western societies (probably >> what I was reading referred particularly to the USA).  Similarly, one >> can detect a trend towards greater occurrence of sex outside of marriage >> in this century in Western societies -- particularly with the "sexual >> revolution" of the 60's, but even before that I think (otherwise the >> "sexual revolution" of the 60's would not have been possible), >> particularly with the gradual weakening of Christianity and consequently >> Christian moral teachings against sex outside of marriage.  I propose >> that these two trends -- greater level of general depression in society >> (and other psychological problems) and greater sexual promiscuity -- are >> linked, with the latter being a prime cause of the former.  I cannot >> provide any evidence beyond this at this stage, but the whole thesis >> seems very reasonable to me and I request that people ponder upon it.  >Why is it more reasonable than the trend towards obesity and the trend towards >depression? You can't just pick your two favorite trends, notice a correlation  >in them, and make a sweeping statement of generality. I mean, you CAN, and  >people HAVE, but that does not mean that it is a valid or reasonable thesis.  >At best it's a gross oversimplification of the push-pull factors people  >experience.    My argument is mainly a proposal of what I think is a plausible argument against extra-marital sex -- one which I personally believe has some truth.  My main purpose for posting it here is to show that a _plausible_ argument can be made against extra-marital sex.  At this stage I am not saying that this particular viewpoint is proven or anything like that, just that it is plausible.  To try to convince you all of this particular point of view, I would probably have to do a lot of work researching what has been done in this field, etc., in order to gather further evidence, which I simply do not have time to do now.    Also note that I said that I think extra-marital sex is "a prime cause" (in my opinion) of the generally greater levels of psychological problems, especially depression, in Western societies.  I am not saying it is "the prime cause" or "the only cause", just "a prime cause" -- i.e. one of the significant contributions to this trend.  I think when you say you think my view is simplistic, you have forgotten this -- I admit that there are probably other factors, but I do think that extra-marital sex (and, IMO, subsequent destabilization of the family) is a significant factor in the rise in psychological problems like depression in Western society this century.