Sexual debauchery leads to the collapse of a civilization within 3 generations.
TLDR: The sexual revolution was a mistake. A poison. It unleashed termites into the foundation of the west.
How do we know this?
Read on.
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Oxford anthropologist J.D. Unwin studied 86 societies and civilizations to see if there was a relationship between sexual morality and human flourishing.
What did he find?
This thread is a summary of a summary. Read to the end for the full article with additional resources.
First, Unwin defined four categories of cultures. Each is differentiated in their pursuit of art, engineering, literature, agriculture, etc.
1. Dead - these cultures are only focused on the day-to-day needs of life. They don't care about higher questions and so do not progress.
2. Superstitious - these cultures develop beliefs that help them explain the natural world. This can be represented in the special treatment of the dead.
3. Deistic - characterized by belief in gods or a god. This requires more imagination and higher-order thinking.
4. Rationalistic - characterized by rational thinking. This was the category with the most human flourishing.
Next, Unwin defined sexual ethics and restraint into two categories:
- Prenuptial - this was measured on a scale from complete sexual freedom to "remain a virgin until married."
- Postnuptial - how easy is it to get a divorce? How many wives can a man have? How faithful are the women expected to be?
What did he find?
The single most influential factor: prenuptial chastity.
If people were expected to remain virgins until they were married, the culture was more likely to have all of the markers of human flourishing.
They were more likely to be an "advanced" civilization.
The best combination, resulting in a culture that exceeds other cultures?
You probably won't be surprised.
Prenuptial chastity combined with absolute monogamy. Absolute monogamy means one spouse for life.
Why was prenuptial chastity the most important?
In cultures where virginity was no longer expected, within three generations the following disappeared:
- absolute monogamy
- deism
- rational thinking
Virginity before marriage is literally one of the prerequisites for modern civilization.
Without it, people usually regress into the lowest "dead" category as they become interested only in their own wants and needs. They become slaves to their appetites.
Cultures that have embraced total sexual freedom collapse within three generations.
They might limp along for a time, powered by some momentum, but eventually, they are conquered or taken over by another culture.
In the West, the sexual revolution started in the late 1960's. Three generations from then would put us in the 2070's.
Are we on the way to collapse?
The evidence points to "yes."
You cannot have both sexual freedom and progress.
Unwin: "Any human society is free to choose either to display great energy or to enjoy sexual freedom; the evidence is that it cannot do both for more than one generation."
Marriage is not just a private contract between two individuals. It has ramifications for the entire community and culture.
And what two (or more) people do together in the bedroom is not, indeed, a private matter. Writ large, it has consequences for that entire civilization.
Porn is cultural cancer. It rots the bones.
A healthy civilization, or one that wants to progress, will want to eradicate it or push it to the fringes of society.
This is one reason why Christendom has produced some vibrant cultures. It's sexual ethic.
The Gospel really is a leaven that gradually leavens the whole loaf.
Any culture that embraces Christianity will eventually rise up.
Can you imagine the vitality of a Christian China?
A culture can be turned around, so there is always hope. Massive repentance can bear fruit.
But based on the data, it also takes three generations for improvements to start showing up.
Sexual ethics is a powerful rudder, but it is still a rudder on a huge, lumbering ship.
Unwin's work also lines up with other literature on male sexual energy and how it must be contained and directed in order for a culture to thrive.
May we heed the warning.
For more details, check out @KirkDurston and his article on Unwin's work. Durston also provides a PDF full of notes on Unwin's book if you want to dive deeper.
C.S. Lewis once said that it is likely that children will meet cruel enemies, so let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage.
Yet modern entertainment seeks to kill the heroic impulse in boys.
Let's look at one property. Maybe THE property.
Star Wars.
Star Wars offered patterns of heroism for boys everywhere to mimic. Who hasn't swung a toy sword while making lightsaber sounds with his mouth?
Yet the sequel trilogy turned its back on this power and bowed down to another idol.
The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi both deny Finn, one of our supposed heroes, the chance to be heroic.
The Last Jedi, in particular, undermines masculine heroics at every point, giving the ultimate sacrifice to a woman with purple hair and probably a gender studies degree.
Men who display big emotions in public are selfish.
No, real men do not cry in public, barring certain situations like funerals. And they definitely don't brag about crying in public.
Showing emotions whenever it's convenient is the realm of children and the immature.
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A man's life is not about his own personal fulfillment.
A man who is trying to be masculine has taken on responsibility for other people and his actions must take those people into account.
Showing emotion is never simply “showing emotion.”
King David learned this lesson.
We'll get to the lesson soon, but let’s set the stage.
David’s son, Absalom, has rebelled and is in the process of taking over the kingship from his father. David has fled the capital city of Jerusalem and is on the run.
The revolt against spanking is another symptom of our over-sentimentality.
But a single spanking can save hours of lectures, guilt trips, and emotional manipulation. You'll be able to delight in your children again.
Here's how to spank properly.
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1. Spank in the context of love.
Spanking is like writing a check. You always have the authority to do so, but you need enough in the bank to cover it. Fill the account with lots of positive attention.
Spanking should not be the only time you pay attention to your children.
2. Do not wait until you really, really want to spank.
Do not do it in anger. This can happen when you think you are being patient with them and you wait and wait and wait and they keep bugging you until everything explodes.