A Christian critique of the sexual revolution must begin with honest self-examination.

So, quoting Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:4-5, writes Glynn Harrison.

Over the centuries, the attitudes of the Christian church have been beset by shame and hypocrisy.  These very attitudes have helped trigger create the discontent that has led to the revolution.

Too often, Christians have felt shame before issues of sex and relationships.  It was not so at the beginning.  Shame was no part of God’s original plan (Genesis 2:25), but entered immediately after the first, catastrophic rebellion against God. …

Activist groups (such as Stonewall) have been key to the success of the sexual revolution.  We need to pay attention to the ideas promoted and the techniques used.

First, they have been adept at maintaining the convictions of their own members.  They accumulate material at both an academic and popular level that explains their cause.  They build the confidence of their members through support groups.  They present attractive models of courage and persistence.  They showcase the pride they feel in their cause through festivals and celebrations:-

The flagrant sexual exhibitionism and provocative gesturing that marked (and still marks) some Gay Pride events leads many Christians to miss the point.…

Everyone loves a good story.  Not surprising, then, that storytelling has been at the heart of the sexual revolution.  Storytelling seems to fit the shape of the human mind, and to reach places that other forms of communication cannot reach.

The entertainment industry understands this, and has exercised its talents in taking complicated ideas and melding them into powerful, attention-grabbing, and persuasive narratives:-

‘And so with riveting narratives about hypocritical politicians and fossilized bishops, pitted against outsiders and the oppressed, brave men and women finding the courage to be ‘who they really are’, they appealed to the moral instincts of ordinary, decent people.’…

Behind the sexual revolution is an ideology of radical individualism.  This ideology has been driven, in part, by the philosophy of Nietzsche (‘there are no facts, only interpretations’) and Marx (‘our identity is determined by our social context’).  Berger added the idea of ‘plausibility structures’ – by means of which ideas gain leverage who endorses them, and how, rather than by the application of evidence and reason.

But:-

‘We mustn’t abandon reason simply because we have learned how easily she can be fooled…The biblical concept of human beings created in the image of God means that we expect a meaningful correspondence between the reality that God has put us in, and our abilities to make sense of it through the gift of reason.’…