Read this and question why Christians are more likely to write about violence than sex. A simple reason would be that we write what we know about. Creative Writing 101. Few of us, though, are really personally familiar with the kind of violence that is so creatively invented. We are vicarious imbibers.

But sex, now. Sex is a moral thing, isn’t it? Most of us have experienced it, but the exectations for what sex is supposed to be are jacked up so high that we tend to come away a little…dissappointed, and who wants to write about that? And more to the point, how does one write, in a Christian way, about something that is still hidden behind layers of stigma? Several years ago one of the girls in a college group I was working with said she never wanted to have sex. She had seen a porn movie, and how sex was presented turned her off to it. But isn’t that the way Satan works? Take what is created by God, warp and twist it and turn it into something else that either turns us off or turns us away.

Of course, just what is it that makes Christian fiction, well, Christian? Is the writer Christian? Are the characters Christian? Is the moral of the story Christian? It’s like defiining a Christian Nation. If it’s Christian, aren’t there some things that just aren’t done? Is sex one of them? Why should it be? But the writer must be careful to present what God desires, and not the warped image of what God created. That is a challenge indeed. After 13 years of marriage I am beginning, just beginning, to get an idea of the incredible levels of intimacy that sex allows for. Like C.S. Lewis’ onion analogy, each layer is bigger and more detailed than the last. But always over my shoulder is the “shadow of sex” that the world presents: inviting, tempting…shallow, hollow, and empty. Write about that…I challenge you.

Marriage at a young age in Western European cultures is historically a reflection of economic conditions and societal standing. In pre-industrial times, if you were rich/upper class, the sterotypical young woman/older man or both young were common. Marriage, to the elites, was a social compact. The peasants or small holders tended to wait until their trades were established or inherited the farm to marry. The standard marriage ages for men and women were in their mid to late twenties. This acted as a default birth control, if you will, because inheritances (land) can only be divided so much.

What industrialization did was to flip this trend on its ear. A couple didn’t have to wait to gain their financial independence to marry and procreate. Post-industrialiasm (read- BC) has turned this backwards and inside out. If you want financial prosperity, wait for marriage and don’t procreate as much. Now the tendency is for the lower economic brackets of young people is to procreate a great deal and not marry at all or divorce at will.

Having dumped a history lesson on you, I will say that I agree about the education-towards and encouragement of- younger marriage is a good thing, generally. If a young man can gain a trade or support during training/higher education, why not? And with the recent surge in family-oriented church/homeschooling trends, I think this will produce a healthly marriage culture.

Anna

In addition - any depiction of violence attempts to be more and more gruesome and realistic. Any attempt at showing sex is faked.

Oh - and there is always the ‘christian’ “Left Behind: The Videogame” - which is also heavy on violence but I’m sure it doesn’t have much sex in it..