Four panelists of different religious affiliations from the United Campus Ministry addressed their religions' stances on sexual intimacy and premarital sex Friday at a discussion titled "Sex and Religion: What Does God Think about Sex ... And What Does that Mean for You?"
Nicole Leonard, from the Provision Christian Fellowship, stressed the importance of waiting until marriage.
"The human sex drive is one of the strongest drives we have, but God never intended us to be slaves to our sex drive. [Sex] is a gift that he's given us with boundaries; I believe that boundary is marriage," Leonard said.
Leonard said she believes marriage is a covenant, and partaking in intercourse is the consummation of that covenant.
Erik Turnberg, from the Episcopal Campus Ministry, disagreed with Leonard. Turnberg said he believes the sacrament is sexual intercourse between two people, not marriage.
"Sex is something that should be entered into with a great deal of care, a great deal of honesty, a great deal of love," Turnberg said.
In light of his comments, Turnberg defended homosexual relationships, which he said also depend on care, honesty and love. Although that is sometimes not the case, he said, it is also not the case for heterosexual couples on many occasions.
"Start to think about how you're choosing to bring yourself to this act and whether this is something you're willing to be really honest about as an act of love -- love for your partner, love for yourself and love for God," he said.
Rabbi Moshe Gray, who runs Chabad, the Jewish Orthodox group on campus, spoke about Jewish traditions that both celebrate and admonish sex. Any premarital intimacy, anything that could potentially lead to intercourse, is forbidden.
Traditionally, women are seen as "spiritually unclean" for 12 days of each month -- the time that they are menstruating and the days following. On the other hand, Judaism views sex as the woman's right, not the man's. Men are supposed to please their wives whenever and as often as they want it, Gray said.
"A man may do whatever he wants to please his wife," he said.
Gray also explained that the main reason for intercourse is to create a bond between the two people.
"If [the intercourse] is physically good then hopefully emotionally it will be good and spiritually it will be good," he said.
Nancyrose Logan, who spoke on behalf of the Quaker group Society of Friends, said sex is not tied into marriage.
"It's not whether or not you're married. It's whether or not you have a truly loving relationship," Logan said, adding that without this trust and love, people expose themselves to hurt.
Logan posed rhetorical questions based on these ideas.
"When you look over at this person that you've had this one night stand with, how do you feel?" she said. "When you cross this person on campus and they act like they don't know you, how do you feel?"
Logan focused on when a couple should engage in intercourse rather than stressing any religious prohibitions.
"Sex should happen when you know everything about the person. You know their dreams, you know their faults, all the irritating things and all the fun things, and you love them. And, most importantly, they love you too," she said.
Logan also pointed out that Quakers have been marrying homosexual couples for "years and years."
"If it's two consenting adults who love each other and respect each other, then love is beautiful," she said.
The Office of Religious and Spiritual Life sponsored the panel as an alternative to running an abstinence booth at February's Sex Festival. Kent Dahlberg of Campus Crusade for Christ moderated the discussion.
