Sex & God: How Religion Distorts Sexuality Read Online Free Page B

part of a network of conditioned responses. A conditioned response can be programmed into a rat, a dog or a person. Teach a creature that it must have a particular token to feel safe, and it will seek out the token whenever it feels threatened. Much like a child’s security blanket or a dog’s favorite toy, a token can be anything that we have learned to feel comfortable with or that we associate with protection and security.
    Many cultures have tokens; it is a common behavior but one designed to make a person feel secure within a particular religious context. A Hindu would not feel comfortable or secure with Catholic prayer beads in his pocket. A Muslim woman would probably feel violated with a crucifix around her neck. A Buddhist wouldn’t find a Baptist prayer meeting inspiring. Tokens are specific to a given religion and even a religious subset. For example, some tokens may only be worn by one gender, not by the other. Some may be used by Protestants and not by Catholics. Some may only be used at certain times of the year or during certain times in life. And most important, tokens are paired with specific beliefs. The crucifix is paired with belief in death and resurrection along with other ideas. A Bible or Koran represents a belief that the deity can and does communicate directly to you.
    As humans we want to feel secure. We learn early in life to associate security with things and behaviors. We associate security with our home, with owning property, having money in the bank, going to work every day. In reality, these do not make us secure. We create them to feel more secure. When we feel insecure, we do things to increase security like save money, improve our home, install a security system or take a second job. In each case, these help us feel more secure.
    In these examples, our sense of security has some basis in reality. And there is direct evidence that having money in the bank helps protect us from financial stress. Owning a home ensures we have a place to seek shelter when it rains or snows. Security systems can warn us of a fire or an intruder
and
there is direct evidence that they work.
    On the other hand, tokens don’t reduce the likelihood of burglary, put money in the bank or decide where to invest a tax refund. Tokens simply evoke a conditioned response that helps us relax and feel secure and remindsus of beliefs such as: “We will be rewarded in the afterlife,” or “a god or angel is watching over us.” Early childhood teaching and years of practice convince the religious that these actually work. “I prayed a hundred times and my son got well” – never mind that a hundred prayers were said to keep him from getting sick in the first place.
    The rituals associated with a token are believed to be mandatory. You cannot just pray to Mary every few years or take your beads with you when you feel the need. “Pray without ceasing,” St. Paul said (I Thessalonians 5:27, NIV). 6 The token takes on a life of its own. It must be attended to or it will not work. It demands attention. If you miss a prayer meeting or mass, forget to pray or read the Bible, you will feel anxious – you forgot to press the button. God may not protect or reward you.
Sex and Pushing Buttons
    What do buttons or tokens have to do with sex? Tokens keep the mind focused on religious requirements, ensuring that the person behaves according to the dictates of the deity. If the deity says masturbation is a sin, then having a set of prayer beads or a Bible next to your bed at night is a powerful reminder of what is and is not sinful. When the person eventually succumbs and masturbates or has sex, he will count two hundred beads for forgiveness. If a woman has the urge to bring a boyfriend to her apartment, she may take the picture of Jesus down before he comes over. If she leaves it up, she may not be able to reach orgasm because Jesus is watching her.
    The more the person uses the tokens and prayer to resist sexual temptation, the