Talking about sex
Last week Christopher West, a popular proponent of John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body” was profiled on ABC’s Nightline. When I watched the piece (video available in the link provided), I have to admit I was a bit disappointed. The whole segment seemed to be completely focused on sexual acts, devoid of any serious context. It even presented Mr. West as being a fan of Hugh Hefner and made him appear to be supportive of the sexual revolution. I do not know Mr. West, although I am vaguely familiar with some of his work, but I do know the media and I assumed that ABC was to blame. Considering our culture’s distorted obsession with pelvic issues, it is not surprising that they would divorce issues of sexual acts from the context of male-female relationships as intended by God.
Well, it appears that Christopher West also takes issue with ABC’s presentation. On his website, he notes some errors with a number of points in the report. He also granted an interview with Catholic News Agency in which he gives further corrections to ABC’s sensationalism of his work.
However, some Catholics are still not happy with Mr. West’s apostolate, including Alice von Hildebrand. Her main objection seems to be that she does not think Mr. West is “reverent” enough in his discussions of sexual issues and does not take seriously enough the problem of concupiscence.
This is clearly an important issue. We live in a culture is that is incredibly sick when it comes to sex. You cannot walk in a mall without seeing semi-pornographic images and you cannot watch more than 15 minutes of prime-time television without some message urging sexual relations without any responsibility. High schools and colleges are deep in the “hook up” culture, which reduces the God-given gift of sex to an animal urge. How are we as faithful Catholics to respond to such a culture?
On the one hand, I am uncomfortable with some of the Catholic responses to the sexual revolution, which try to be like a “Catholic Dr. Ruth” or as “edgy” in its language as Howard Stern. Dr. Hildebrand has a point when she urges us to be reverent when speaking of sexuality and to always remember that we are all afflicted with concupiscence. Yet I also think that one of the beauties of JPII’s Theology of the Body is that it breaks free of the Puritan demeaning of sex. Sexual relations between a man and a wife is a wonderful gift from God and one of its purposes (along with begetting children) is to unite a man and a woman as “one flesh.” St. Paul tells us that marriage is a “mystery” that reflects the relationship between Christ and His Church – how incredible is that? The response to culture’s worship of sex is not to proclaim that “sex is evil” or even to avoid talking about sex, but instead show how sexual relations can and should point people to worship of sex’s creator. From what I have seen, this is the ultimate intention of Christopher West’s apostolate.
Inevitably, good people can make mistakes and perhaps go beyond the proper boundaries when discussing sexual relations. We need to pray that everyone involved in this type of apostolate stays close to the Lord and helps others to understand God’s gift of sex in its appropriate context.
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Let me preface this by saying that I’ve known Chris for a long time, and am therefore not terribly objective. I’m not name-dropping here, just trying to be honest about my bias.
Having said that, I can tell you that the ABC piece was unfair but not exactly a distortion. Chris very much likes to say things that are shocking or provocative (e.g., linking our late Holy Father and Hugh Hefner) in order to get your attention, and then follow that up with an explanation that is much less inflammatory (and very solid, more on that below). I’m not competent to say whether or not this is effective as a pedagogical strategy, but I can tell you that it doesn’t do him any favors in contexts like this. When people are exposed to some of his “quotable quotes” without having access to all the surrounding explanation and nuance of the full presentation, they have a tendency to react very negatively, and it’s not unreasonable for them to do so. So yes, ABC chopped and cut to make it into “good TV”, but given the way he likes to express himself this was (to some extent) a nice fastball over the middle of the plate for them.
Having said that, if you take the time to get the full presentation (whether at a talk or in one of his books) there’s no question but that he knows what he’s talking about, he is very much in line with JPII’s thinking, and that his intentions are absolutely of the best.
Personally, I have some misgivings about the whole enterprise. I’m just not sure that what we need right now, culturally & historically, is more talk, time, & energy devoted to sex. He would say I’m dead wrong and that the exact opposite is true, and he has the late Holy Father’s opinion on his side, so I don’t make too much of my misgivings.
But that’s neither here nor there – the main thing I wanted to point out is that, whatever you think about his style, in terms of content you can’t treat him as some sort of wing-nut without tarring John Paul II with the same brush.
Good points, Dean.
I think there is no question that West is a sincere, orthodox Catholic who desires people to follow the Church’s teachings in all aspects of their life, including in the bedroom. I also think there is no question he has helped a large number of people conform their lives more closely to Christ and his Church. I wish more of us spent as much energy as he does in trying to bring Christ’s Gospel to the multitudes.
I think my concerns are similar to yours, though. Our culture has devalued sex greatly and I’m concerned that the language West and some others use at times contribute to that devaluation. Sex is a mystery, and frankly, it should remain mysterious on some level. I’m not saying ignore the subject, but treat it like a woman’s heart – gently, and with great care and respect.