Alright, I've been waiting to post in this thread for a while now.
As many of you know, I'm a devout Roman Catholic, and also a virgin who has every intention of waiting until marriage to have sex. It's true that this desire, at least growing up, was heavily influenced by my faith— my parents and my church made it clear that I should wait, and the younger me listened. But nowadays, as I've matured and come into my own beliefs, I have a different rationale for staying celibate until I marry.
Let me first say, though, that I don't see anything wrong with premarital sex. Simply put, it's your choice what you do with your body and sexuality, and I neither have nor desire any authority over that decision. Sex feels good for a reason. Evolutionarily speaking, it's fun because if it wasn't no one would do it. And, as someone who firmly believes in God, I don't believe He'd give us the gift of sex only to punish us when we use it. Sex isn't bad, and having doesn't make you bad.
I've chosen to stay celibate because I can only have my first time once. My first girlfriend, my first kiss, my first real dance... All those firsts are part of old relationships, of attempts that failed. But my virginity is still mine to give, and I want to give it to the person I plan to spend the rest of my life with. It's a token of my love, and a sign that I consider her worth that wait and sacrifice. Not all couples need this token— most don't, in fact. Love isn't all about sex, and sex doesn't prove or create love. But my Aspergers means that I'm always going to have trouble expressing my love through words and actions. So I've chosen to remain chaste and let that choice say the words for me, better than I ever could. I don't care if my future wife is a virgin or not— her body, her call. I may not want to know about her past sex life, but I can't fault her for having one. I don't plan to base my whole future relationship around her old relationships.
If you've had sex before marriage, I hope you were safe. I hope it was wonderful and you don't regret it one bit. I don't have an ounce of judgement in me towards you. Just as you chose to, I've chosen not to, for my own reasons. Neither of us is right or wrong.
Also, Pastor, I mean you no mockery when I say this: What petty God would damn His creations to hell for acting on a natural desire?
