by Jason Stotts
I was just directed to a really interesting article by Greta Christina called “Why Atheists have Great Sex.” The article is overall a good one, even if the author does not have the best moral position (her position is not entirely clear form this article). The thesis, though, is good:
When you don’t believe in God or the soul or any sort of afterlife — when you believe that this short life is all that we have — then making the most of that short life, and taking advantage of the joyful experiences it has to offer, suddenly becomes a whole lot more important. It’s almost a moral obligation.[…] I don’t think we need to see sex as spiritual in order to see it as transcendent.
I think the point that sex has no necessary connection to any sort of metaphysically dubious entities is very important and needs to be stressed. Sex can be amazingly special and one of the best things in a human life, without being a gift from a god or communication with the divine. It is special because it is distinctly human and is a very special kind of connection with another person, as well as being one of the greatest sources of pleasure open to a person.