By Stephen Russell-Lacy Marital happiness can be hard to sustain. Living with someone can be a lot tougher than living on your own. In a relationship, you must figure out the day-to-day stuff together—money, kids, all of it. That means making decisions as a team and learning to compromise, which isn’t always easy. Couples often have … Continue reading Marital happiness – What matters?
By Stephen Russell-Lacy. There is something that puts many people off religion. It is the notion that God is male. Feminism has alerted us to the way culture tends to prioritise the male point of view. Traditional society has been organised around male authority figures resulting in injustice for women. Translation involves interpretation In the … Continue reading Is God male or female?
By Stephen Russell-Lacy. Spiritual writer Emanuel Swedenborg is often seen as sexist. He wrote that a woman’s heart can stay longer elevated into superior heat than can the heart of a man. According to this view women, more than men, are capable of a deeper and more sustained feeling of care and affection. In contrast, … Continue reading Swedenborg – Was he sexist?
Are you in any danger of falling into a trap? There is a risk that commonly held fallacies that exist beneath the surface of the mass media will trap our minds. Could any worldly illusions trap and bind you into an unhealthy state of mind? One from which you might wish to escape? The … Continue reading Trap of contemporary values?
People in developing and third world countries have gazed upon the Western world from a much better position in recent years. This has happened through their hugely expanded access to mobile phones, internet, radio and television. They have reacted both positively and negatively. On the one hand, they very understandably desire to enjoy some of … Continue reading Western world – worthy of praise or shame?
When the women’s movement spoke up for the value of women it rebelled against the traditional gender stereotypes and proclaimed equality between the sexes. It quite rightly opposed any idea of male superiority and female subservience. Some fear that any talk of gender is only a short step from women being different to being inferior … Continue reading Gender – Are there deep differences?
It is sometimes argued that watching porn helps some adults with a low libido become more sexually aroused, and also that with some people it reduces anxiety and even adds spice and novelty to their sex life with their partner. However, such ideas perhaps need to be treated with caution, given the wide continuum of … Continue reading Where is the harm in watching porn?
Whether to allow gay bishops is currently a hot issue in the Church of England. Many people feel puzzled by this reluctance to embrace homosexuality by strands of organised religion. And some feel angry and want to promote the idea that gay people should be proud of their sexual orientation feeling this is their natural inclination. From a spiritual perspective, we might ask whether a gay partnership has the same potential for human happiness as that of a heterosexual one. So what does Swedenborg have to say about it?
Society as a whole tends to take polarised views of sexual permissiveness. Emotive language is used by those on both sides of the debate – one side being labelled as narrow-minded, prudish and moralistic and the other as being decadent, indecent, and exhibitionist.
Those with a more balanced perspective use more moderate language. They ask …
‘Women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimised’ said policeman PC Michael Sanguinetti in Toronto, whilst advising students about safety on campus. In so saying he unleashed a storm of outrage. The marchers seem to be implying that sexual signals have no meaning in the world of human interaction.