Quick! Let’s kill ourselves!
One of my rants is Mormons misusing the word addiction, like spouting off absurd nonsense about sex addiction. And then there are those tired old anti-porn rants. Given that sex is essential for life, Mormons might as well be spouting off about addictions to clothing, shelter, food and other essentials. I could tolerate this with lay Mormons, but when our GAs lead the cheer, it just insults the intelligence.
But today I was heartened to know we’re not the only intellectual masturbators out there.
An epiphany: we’re all addicted to air and water! Quick! Let’s all kill ourselves and rid the planet of all this unrepentant sin!
I partially agree with you in the sense that sexual urges are a normal appetite like the urge to eat, and that having them and acting on them is not evidence of addiction.
However, based upon my anecdotal experience, there are some people who have urges related to sex that are very similar to addiction. Whether the word addiction is appropriate can be debated, but there seems to be a pathological element to some types of “hypersexual” behavior. It’s pathological in the sense that it interferes with normal life. Would you agree that pornography use is pathological if it becomes the only way in which a man can function sexually, i.e. he can’t have relations with his partner unless he uses pornography? I would at least call that unfortunate. Some people call it addiction, but there seems to be a pathological aspect to it.
Still other people who display “hypersexual” behavior seem to share the common characteristic of having been sexually abused as children. These sometimes appear as histrionic types or people who use sex just to make themselves feel acceptable to others. Again, the term addiction may or may not apply, but there seems to be a pathologic element to their behavior.
Aside from these caveats, I agree with your sentiment. Victor Hugo used to do it 8x/day and churned out some marvelous work. On the other hand, Newton died believing that his greatest achievement was to remain a virgin. Now that seems pathologic.
Comment by Jake — February 17, 2007 @ 9:28 am