Cart, Cart, Cart, HORSE!

Christians have really messed up the last thirty (40?) years or so, to increasing degrees as we retreat in the "culture war" (ugh). We really seem to be people obsessed with sex, and specifically, other people's sex lives. "If you're not into X, then don't X - don't try to stop other people from X" is something I hear people say (usually meaning don't get gay-married, but the formula would fit all sorts of things). Why can't we mind our own business?

So non-Christians, lapsed Christians, casual Christians, and heck, even dedicated Christians who've gotten cart-focused, here's the horse that goes unsaid, the reason for this "obsession" we have with sex, sex ed, marriage, etc.

Christianity teaches that God loves you, more than you ever thought anyone would love you, and because of that he wants you to have the best life you can*. And one of the biggest parts of your happiness, or lack thereof (I really like what Robin Williams said - the one thing worse than being alone is being with someone who makes you *feel* alone), is your emotional connections to others - and sex is a huge shortcut, or potentially, a short-circuit, for those connections.

So what you do with it is important - who you do it with, when you do it, all that is very important. But it's important because God wants you to be *ultimately* happy - like a dietician won't tell you to go ahead and stick with your Taco Bell diet (even though that always leads to short-term enjoyment), or a financial planner won't tell you to put 20% of your investments in lottery tickets (even though, well, they *could* all come up winners, maybe). God has advice, about sex and marriage, because he loves you and wants you to have the best life you can**.

Christians might disagree about things that go in the cart - sex ed, divorce, gay marriage, etc - with differing positions on those things. But the horse*** - love for people and wanting what's good for them - is worth our focus, attention, and concern.

That's an oversimplification. There are other factors, and other angles, but that's far and away what does drive the cart of "Why won't Christians shut up already and mind their own business when it comes to sex and relationships?"

* Within the scope of whatever things you're going to go through (that is, he doesn't magic away things like war and unemployment, normally).

** I believe God is probably a utilitarian, wanting the greatest good for the greatest number of us, with some constraints and variations. But unlike us, he's good at math and calculating all the impacts. Where we say, "Taco Bell is delicious", he sees the 3 hours shorter *that* beefy 5 layer burrito makes our lives, leading up to a painful heart attack. For most people, utilitarianism in practice boils down to, "Here's a thing that makes my nerve endings happy - and I don't have to stab anyone for it - so I should do it!"

*** More broadly, the horse also includes things like feeding the homeless and housing the hungry, but 1) Keep in mind our leader told us to do our good deeds in secret - a lot of Christians do a lot of amazing things there, and 2) Much as I disagree, it's fair and allowable to believe that's not the role of government, and so we can be compassionate, caring and charitable while voting to shrink those programs.