Science and the Bible Agree: Casual Sex Is Bad | The Institute for Creation Research
Science and the Bible Agree: Casual Sex Is Bad

Countless television programs and movies portray casual sex as “no big deal,” or even normal. But according to the scientific data, that view is all wrong. As it turns out, the brain chemistry associated with sex is exclusively conducive to marriage.

Doctors Joe McIlhaney and Freda McKissic Bush laid out the scope of current medical knowledge regarding casual sex in their 2008 book Hooked: New Science on How Casual Sex Is Affecting Our Children.1 Increases in dopamine, a brain chemical that gives a sensation of satisfaction, accompany exciting and rewarding experiences. This stimulates a desire for more of the activity that brings the sensation. However, the authors noted that dopamine is values-neutral. The same dopamine-associated sense of well-being can result from both good and bad, healthy and harmful actions.

According to McIlhaney and Bush, when a woman is touched in a loving way, her brain secretes oxytocin, which activates feelings of closeness and trust. Breastfeeding has a similar effect, encouraging mommy-baby bonding. More intimate physical contact produces more oxytocin, which leads to a greater desire for that close feeling.

Oxytocin production, like dopamine, is not controlled by conscience or consciousness, but is a physiological effect of intimate contact. When this is experienced outside the commitment of marriage, the authors noted that women can become deceived into thinking a bad relationship is good because of the effects of touch-dependent oxytocin. And when that relationship ends, the broken bond and feelings of betrayal of trust can lead to severe emotional trauma.

For men, an effect of vasopressin—which floods a man’s brain during intercourse—is that it leads to a bonded feeling with his partner. Research shows that if he has intercourse with multiple partners, the bonded feeling is dissipated, eventually imperiling a man’s ability to form long-term attachments.

Evolution is only “interested” in mankind having an effective anatomical mechanism to propagate. Any biological imperative to mate and pass on one’s genes would not necessarily be tied to a long-term relationship. On the contrary, the more partners one has, the more opportunities there are for diverse offspring.

But the human brain appears to be specifically designed to encourage monogamous, trust, and commitment-based marriages—even to the point of possessing intricately coordinated brain chemical production and detection wired to touch sensors to produce feelings of intimacy.

These intricate features of human brains match well with God’s design for marriage. The existence of these bond-encouraging physiological systems is just what would be expected from a Creator who intended a married couple to become “one flesh.”2

The texts of both Hooked and of Scripture indicate that those who follow God’s monogamous plan for sexuality—whether intentionally following the Bible’s instructions or not—have healthier and happier relationships with their spouses.

References

  1. McIlhaney, J. S. and F. McKissic Bush. 2008. Hooked: New Science on How Casual Sex Is Affecting Our Children. Chicago, IL: Northfield Publishing. For a review of the book, see Segelstein, M. The science of sex. One News Now. Posted on onenewsnow.com June 16, 2009, accessed June 24, 2009.
  2. Genesis 2:24.

* Mr. Thomas is Science Writer at the Institute for Creation Research.

Article posted on July 14, 2009.

The Latest
ACTS & FACTS
Continuous Environmental Tracking : An Engineering-Based Model...
Purpose The Institute for Creation Research is engaged in our biggest science initiative in the last two decades, and it could be our most important...

ACTS & FACTS
CET: Testing the Cavefish Model
Staff Writer Purpose The Institute for Creation Research (ICR) is testing an engineering- based model of rapid biological adaptation called...

ACTS & FACTS
Original Biochemistry in Fossils
Purpose In 1997, paleontologist Dr. Mary Schweitzer accidentally stumbled upon what appeared to be blood vessels and blood cells from a T. rex...

ACTS & FACTS
Debunking an Iconic Uniformitarian Ice Age Theory
Purpose The Milankovitch, or astronomical, theory holds that the timing of Ice Ages is controlled by slow changes in Earth’s orbital and...

ACTS & FACTS
ICR and Explaining the Ice Age
by Larry Vardiman, Ph.D., and Michael J. Oard, M.S.* Purpose There is strong geological evidence for an Ice Age, so the Institute for Creation...

ACTS & FACTS
Planetary Magnetism
Purpose In 1971, Dr. Thomas Barnes publicized a then “trade secret” of scientists studying the earth’s magnetic field, which...

ACTS & FACTS
Cosmology Research
Purpose Taking the Hebrew text of Scripture at face value without inserting gaps or revising the meanings, the universe is only about 6,000 years...

ACTS & FACTS
The Coconino Sandstone: Water, not Wind
Purpose The Coconino Sandstone is one of the most well-known formations in Grand Canyon. The blond-colored sandstone, just three layers down from...

ACTS & FACTS
Global Stratigraphy Supports a Progressive Worldwide Flood
Purpose Is there geological evidence for a global flood? Is there evidence that the waters rose and peaked on Day 150 as recorded in Genesis 8?...

ACTS & FACTS
Human-Chimp DNA Similarity Research Refutes Evolution
Purpose An oft-repeated claim of evolutionary propaganda is that the DNA of chimpanzees and humans is 98.5% identical. This high level of DNA...