Do You Think Condoms Cause Sex?

[cgannon64]

A line in a NYT editorial a while ago really annoyed me. The writer said: "Condoms cause sex as much as umbrellas cause rain." I thought this was total bull. IMO, more people have sex because of the freedoms condoms give them - no children, no diseases. With those 'risks' (quotations for the first part... ) taken away, more people are willing to have sex.

I'm wondering what you non-Catholics think on this issue, because I'm sure I know what Catholics (at least semi-devout ones) will vote.

will this be closed? i know sex topics are frowned upon but...there is a babe thread

EDIT: Crap, there is no poll. Damn. I checked it too. Oh well, just post your vote, I guess.

EDIT 2: Edited smilie that I accidentally posted (damn o and p keys!) that people would have probably found inappropiate. Imagine if this is all for nought if its closed...

 

[Pongui]

Condoms don't cause sex. Condoms prevent pregnancy and disease; the risks of pregnancy and disease inhibit sex.

 

[cgannon64]

Originally posted by Sean Lindstrom
Condoms don't cause sex. Condoms prevent pregnancy and disease; the risks of pregnancy and disease inhibit sex.

And therefore they indirectly cause sex.

my point

 

[NY Hoya]

the widespread availability of condoms and other forms of birth control obviously lead to an increase in sexual activity. OTOH, I don't think that's such a horrible thing...

 

[cgannon64]

Originally posted by NY Hoya
the widespread availability of condoms and other forms of birth control obviously lead to an increase in sexual activity. OTOH, I don't think that's such a horrible thing...

I didn't mean to imply that it is horrible. I'm not FOR it, but it isn't the best thing, IMO. I was just mad that the guy said something as idiotic as, "Condoms cause sex as much as umbrellas cause rain." As a Catholic, I don't think its right, but... its your life not mine.

what does otoh mean?

 

[NY Hoya]

on the other hand

 

[Pongui]

Originally posted by cgannon64


And therefore they indirectly cause sex.

my point

You could say that cigarette lighters cause smoking.

 

[cgannon64]

Originally posted by Sean Lindstrom

You could say that cigarette lighters cause smoking.

Uh, not really, they are very different things. Cigarette lighters don't eliminate the risks of smoking, do they? Or do they eliminate the 'unwanted side effects'?

sorry but i have to use terms i hate here

 

[Heffalump]

Yes, cheap and effective birth control led to the sexual revolution. There's not doubting that condoms make sex easier by removing the consequences. And thus it's likely that more sex occurs. Although I wouldn't attribute this to birth control alone. Other cultural factors are at work as well.

 

[cgannon64]

Originally posted by Heffalump
Other cultural factors are at work as well.

Yes, but did the creation of reliable birth control lead to this cultural change? Its kind of like the chicken and the egg.

chic - no egg...no...

 

[Toasty]

They increase sex, obviously, teenagers would think twice about having sex if there weren't such things as condoms avaliable.

Seeing a couple of 17 year olds pushing around a baby at the auto show was all the deterrance I need .

 

[Hitro]

People didn't have less sex before, they just had more children.
Or still have, if you look at places where they are either not available or not popular...

 

[cgannon64]

Originally posted by Hitro
People didn't have less sex before, they just had more children.
Or still have, if you look at places where they are either not available or not popular...

Its still different. 5 kids means at least 5 times, although that number is always higher. Lets just say 15-20, ok?

And then you look at a recent poll in which the average American male has sex 80+ times a year. I doubt that back then they were doing it over 80 times...

i feel so...

 

[Jeratain]

Abortion levels are at an all time low since 1974. I think that in itself says a lot.

The rate among women ages 15 to 19 dropped 20 percent from 1987 to 1994, and another 27 percent from 1994 to 2000, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

In surveys of high schoolers by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the percentage saying they had ever had sex declined to 46 percent in 2001 from 54 percent in 1991.

If condoms and birth control are attributed to people having sex, I'd rather they went ahead and had safe sex than unprotected sex.

I blame movies, magazines, pop stars, television, and today's pop culture for promoting sex. I don't blame condoms or prevention methods. I think you're barking up the wrong tree.

 

[Hitro]

Originally posted by cgannon64
Its still different. 5 kids means at least 5 times, although that number is always higher. Lets just say 15-20, ok?

And then you look at a recent poll in which the average American male has sex 80+ times a year. I doubt that back then they were doing it over 80 times...

i feel so...

Sorry for laughing, but these "statistics" about sexual behaviour are the greatest junk of all.
Imagine interviewers ask a guy on the street "How often do you do it?", He (a virgin, who never even came close to sex but would be embarrassed to say so) says "Umm, ahm, I think 5 times a month, maybe?"

The polls in that section always give completely different results. I have seen ranges from 50 times to 150 times a year on average. That can't be explained with an error margin...

Furthermore why do you think people in former times did it only 5 times to "make" a child? Theoretically they can do it 6 times a day and the results would be the same.
Don't get fooled by the wicked morals of the 50s. They did it then as well.
Have you never wondered why people got children so much earlier in former times?

Also today, many people simply don't use them for various reasons.

Furthermore there are natural methods to at least try to prevent it...

Don't be naive.

 

[ozscott75]

No, crap television causes sex.

 

[cgannon64]

All very true Hitro, BUT I still think some people feel better when using a condom. Sure, there are 'natural' methods like the ones you mentioned. But I personally think that birth control seems to have made premarital sex much more acceptable. Birth control and the culture go hand in hand - you can't have one without the other.

Still, you can't deny that birth control has made it alot easier to not have a child. None of those crazy 'natural' methods needed anymore.

dang i think i am naive

 

[amadeus]

I wonder if the same person that sued the tobacco companies for "getting them addicted" would sue because the anatomy of the opposite sex "got them addicted."

If that is ever the case, I'm sure people wouldn't mind being called to jury duty then!

 

[cgannon64]

Originally posted by rmsharpe
I wonder if the same person that sued the tobacco companies for "getting them addicted" would sue because the anatomy of the opposite sex "got them addicted."

If that is ever the case, I'm sure people wouldn't mind being called to jury duty then!

Maybe women should come with warning labels now: "Warning: May caus addiction and childbirth."

i think the surgeon general wouldn't mind putting those stickers on...

 

[cromagnon]

No, I don't think that condoms 'cause sex.'

And there can never be a study that will prove or disprove this point. You just can't design one that will answer the question realistically. So the above is only my opinion.

CGannon, would you also say that Sex Education causes sex, indirectly, by informing teens about how to do it, while at the same time educating them about the risks and precautions to take (including using condoms)?