In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a recent New York Magazine article titled “A Practical Guide to Modern Polyamory.” This article was what prompted Dr. White to write a blog on this topic titled “The Swinging Twenties,” as well as today's podcast conversation. Polyamory is defined as having multiple, intimate relationships with consent from all parties involved. To use the question posed by the NYMag, “What can go wrong?” A lot, actually.
Episode Links
For starters, a fascinating article in The Wall Street Journal titled “How the Sexual Revolution Has Hurt Women” researched how “the free-marketization of sex” has truly gone mainstream and is only serving to harm women - and even children as well. It's worth the time to read the full article.
Much of this cultural change has to do with how Generation Z views sex and sexuality. In his book Meet Generation Z: Understanding and Reaching the New Post-Christian World (which you can find on Amazon HERE), Dr. White wrote about how one of the defining marks of Gen Z is that they consider themselves sexually fluid. This is why 30% of them identify as LGBTQ+. They also view marriage as outdated and too expensive (see an article in The Messenger), and certainly not what the Bible defines as holy matrimony.
It's the denigrating view of the sanctity of marriage that is causing a host of issues, and something that the church needs to address. Dr. White has delivered a number of series on marriage at Mecklenburg Community Church. We'd specifically recommend a series titled “Holy Matrimony” as it relates to this conversation, but you can also find his other series on marriage and family HERE.
Finally, Dr. White mentioned a book written by Philip Yancey titled Fearfully and Wonderfully Made where the author looks at the intricacies of the human body, including the wonder and beauty of God's creation when it comes to sex.
For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.
