Feature
Sexed Messages
The True Meaning of Sexuality Consists of Father, Mother & Child
by Pete Jermann
"That doesn't speak to me." Such was the reaction to my assertion that sexuality is necessarily defined by three words: father, mother, and child. In a time when we expect art and literature to "speak to us," we might expect definitions to do likewise. That is not usually the case, however. For example, if I define the word "nail" as a small metal spike used to fasten pieces of wood together, my listener might agree or might suggest that my definition is wrong or inadequate. But he would never respond by saying, "That definition doesn't speak to me."
Yet people do insist that the definitions of certain words "speak to us." These tend to be words that suggest moral values we would prefer to ignore. In our time, these words are often related to our sexuality. Because sexual words are critical to who we are as persons, we do not want their definitions to tell us what we should be, but what we want to be. Since time-honored definitions regarding human sexuality do not quite allow many of us that latitude, those definitions must be obscured and replaced by ones that tell us what we want to hear.
THIS ARTICLE ONLY AVAILABLE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
FOR QUICK ACCESS:
A Journal of Mere Christianity—Delivered to Your Door
- Essays on theology, culture, and the Church
- Contributors from across the Christian traditions
Six print issues (one year) of Touchstone, plus full online access and PDF downloads for only $39.95.
Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives for only $19.95.
bulk subscriptions
Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.
Transactions will be processed on a secure server.
more on family from the online archives
32.1—January/February 2019
on Down Syndrome & the Lives That Matter by David F. Watson
31.5—September/October 2018
Errands into the Moral Wilderness
Forms of Christian Family Witness & Renewal by Allan C. Carlson
36.1—Jan/Feb 2023
A History of the Protestant Debate over Contraception by James A. Altena
more from the online archives
27.5—Sept/Oct 2014
The Culture of Death's Campaign Against the Catholic Church by Brantly Millegan
31.6—November/December 2018
The Slow Vindication of Leon Podles by S. M. Hutchens
calling all readers
Please Donate
"There are magazines worth reading but few worth saving . . . Touchstone is just such a magazine."
—Alice von Hildebrand
"Here we do not concede one square millimeter of territory to falsehood, folly, contemporary sentimentality, or fashion. We speak the truth, and let God be our judge. . . . Touchstone is the one committedly Christian conservative journal."
—Anthony Esolen, Touchstone senior editor
