Cherchez La Femme!

The dichotomy between faith and culture goes back a long way. Ancient religions of pre-history, before faith mattered, showed the relationship between religion, sex and agriculture. They formed their religions around it and it became their god or one of their gods. The cult of Baal in Canaan before the Israelite immigration and conquest of the area also showed a relationship between religion, sex and agriculture. The God of Israel became established and with it a different attitude, which was further developed when Christianity established itself through the preaching and travels of the Apostles and other missionaries and the practice of celibacy grew. Christianity teaches that the proper place for sex is as a procreative act in within marriage and family life. Cultural sensitivities around the globe vary greatly. Europe is probably more explicit than anywhere. Some Americans would be shocked at the things we take for granted. Japan is a culture of contradictions. Outwardly in public the people are shy and polite but sex is used much more liberally in their advertising. Freud observed that there seemed to be a conflict in man between the physical gratification of self and functioning as a member of society through the id, ego and super ego. His theories have been developed since then into a number of rival camps.

Against all this the message of morality and ethics is still being spread in season and out of season. It is a popular message but not with everyone. Many rich and powerful people do not like it. The principles of moral life are valid for everyone. The message is offered to all. People cannot claim not to have heard it especially in their own language. There are difficulties and objections. Paul offers 4 reasons. Some say maybe they have not heard it, but nature is still there. Some have heard it but not everyone accepted it. Some others may not have heard it in their own language. Some may have heard it but did not understand it. It may be unitelligible to some, but not others.

The fact remains - sex sells. It is not used so much at the moment. Overtly sexual messages are not that common in advertising any more. Once it was always women used in images and messages. Women are not used as much now and males are figuring more. It does not function as an attention grabber and in fact used merely to attract attention is more likely to be counter-productive. Marketers have become more correct and now also use stereotypically male and female traits in their respective markets. As the Nolan Commission shows immorality is still there in business and public life. It is used to further careers, to attain status, achieve domination and to satisfy ego needs. It is studied by motivation experts and scientists. It does not fit snugly into Maslow's hierarchy as it straddles a number of the lower strata. It may not be a motivating factor at all but the struggle between faith and philosophy and materialism and culture continues.