Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site randvax.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!ittvax!dcdwest!sdcsvax!sdcrdcf!randvax!edhall
From: edhall@randvax.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.singles
Subject: Re: Christianity, Statistics, Sex and Marriage
Message-ID: <1950@randvax.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 29-Aug-84 02:10:52 EDT
Article-I.D.: randvax.1950
Posted: Wed Aug 29 02:10:52 1984
Date-Received: Thu, 30-Aug-84 12:29:48 EDT
References: <226@uwmacc.UUCP>
Organization: Rand Corp., Santa Monica
Lines: 78

+
	``Living in the abyss of ignorance yet wise in their own
	conceit, deluded fools go round and round, the blind led
	by the blind.''  --  The Upanishads

I'm going to summarize Paul Dubois' claim of validity for the statement
``Christian women enjoy sex more than non-Christians,'' as no mortal
should have to contend with a 144-line USENET article except as pun-
ishment.

Redbook Magazine, a fairly traditional woman's magazine, did a reader
survey which elicited about 100,000 responses.  One of the things this
survey asked about was sexual satisfaction.  Another was how religious
the reader considered herself.  There seemed to be a positive correlation
between the two.

Paul asserts that since most of these women were undoubtedly Christian
(the majority religion in the US, where most readers reside), that the
result extends to Christian women in general.  Also, since it seems
more likely that women would have cause for sexual dissatisfaction
than men, the results hold for Christians in general.

Then Paul goes on to explain why might this result be true.  Christians,
at least those people Paul calls Christians, believe that sex belongs
only in marriage.  Since sex outside of marriage is ``degrading and
immoral,'' it ultimately isn't as much fun, either.  And, furthermore,
those who disagree that sex belongs only in marriage will ``become disil-
lusioned later in life.''

Responses To Some Statistical Fallacies:
 1. The intersection of respondants to surveys in Redbook, and Christians,
    is neither representative of women or Christians.  Sample size makes
    no difference whatever in eliminating this skew.  A *random sample* of
    American women, even if much smaller (say 1000), would be much more
    accurate.
 2. There is no attempt to use an objective scale for either religious
    belief or sexual satisfaction.  This would invalidate the survey
    by itself, as it would allow other factors to intercede.
 3. Because of the subjective nature of the self-evaluations, there is
    simply no way that anything can be said about the self-evaluations
    of respondants' partners, especially in regard to a separate cor-
    relation.  It would be quite posible for a positive correlation to
    exist between women's and men's sexual satisfaction, yet a negative
    correlation exist between men's sexual satisfaction and their partners'
    religiousity.
 4. That any correlation is due to a particular practice is a complete
    leap of faith, especially when no evidence is given that religious
    self-assessment has any relationship to the frequency of that
    practice (i.e., marriage).  This is a dangerous assumption.
 5. Most important, correlation does not in itself imply causality.

Responses To Some Just Plain Fallacies:
 1. Sexual satisfaction does not equal sexual enjoyment.  A woman
    who doesn't know any better might consider sex ``satisfactory''
    if it doesn't hurt.  Thus the survey may well just measure that
    Christian women are less demanding of their sex lives.
 2. Women who have experienced more than one sexual partner are
    probably more likely to be critical, as they have a basis for
    comparison.  Once again, greater dissatisfaction may just be
    a matter of greater awareness.
 3. It is entirely possible, even common, for men to enjoy sex while
    their partner doesn't, even if their partner is ``faking'' it.
 4. Comparing an ideal (``Christian Marriage'') to All The Rest Of
    Reality is certainly stacking the deck.  Marriages between Christians
    go sour, too, though perhaps are more likely not to end in divorce.
 5. Paul seems to assert that the more a Christian falls in line with
    ``Christian Behavior,'' the better Christian she/he is.  Might
    I remind him that Christ himself prefered a Tax Collector and
    a Prostitute over his own religious leaders (whose *behavior* was
    essentially beyond reproach, though vacuous and hypocritical)?
    Paul is treading dangerously close to a ``salvation through works''
    attitude here.

Well, enough.  72 lines in response to 144 is still too much...but I'll
leave it as it stands.

		-Ed Hall
		decvax!randvax!edhall