I know this isn't a purely mormon thing and that a lot of more conservative christians do this "no kissing until the wedding" thing too, but I still don't get it. What's the rational behind it? Where are they getting the idea from that kisses are so pure and sacred that they must be saved for after marriage?

YEAH! what about First SEX across the Alter ?

that's a LOT MORE SACRED, isn't it?

never mind.

I think it's a slippery slope kind of thing. Kissing can lead to making out, or at the very least, lustful thoughts.

I know couples that have done it, and some of them were just sincere, innocent people. I also know some that have done it mainly so they could brag about it, or so it seems.

(Not advocating for it, of course, just trying to explain.)

Just another way to control the youth and get them to marry faster and younger.

If young people can't even kiss before mariage, all the more reason (in their minds anyway) to do it quickly and not wait.

This is a manifestation of what happens when the unwashed masses respond to a dictum from on high.

Whenever the orthodoxy decrees that a certain type of underwear, or a certain ritual, or not drinking something, is pleasing in the eyes of god...

the folklore begins sprouting as the grass roots struggled to find a way to demonstrate their superior spirituality by "going beyond."

So in Mormonism you have:

Garments...becomes having sex with garments on produces a more spiritual child.

Word of Wisdom... becomes not drinking soft drinks with caffeine either, or refusing all hot drinks...

Meat best in winter... becomes a complete vegetarian year around

No heavy petting... becomes "first kiss over the alter."


In Catholicism, there are entire offshoots which have sprung up, like Santaria, which takes the praying to a patron saint up a few notches to soliciting the dead to execute vengeance on behalf of the faithful.

Or my mother, who figured praying to a statue of St. Joseph was one thing, but she would bury him in the front yard to attract buyers for the house.... upside down, of course, because nobody wants to be like Jesus.

That paragraph there is a real head-scratcher, isn't it? The folklore of religion is a quilt of urban myths crossing over each other, each building on the other until it all collapses in ridiculousness.

Like being afraid to die without wearing a scapular.*


Anagrammy

* A soft flannel square with a picture of Jesus on one side, Mary on the other (I think), attached to a long white string so that a similar flannel square is on your back.

Santeria is closer to voodoo than Catholicism.

I have no idea, but my parents wanted to have their first kiss over the alter. I personally think they were scared to kiss. My parents aren't very touchy feely at all (which makes me wonder how on earth they had seven kids.)

Anyway, the story goes, they told my grandma about it (my mom's mom), and the awesome woman that she is said to my dad, "no way! You are NOT going to try and kiss my daughter over the alter on your wedding day for the first time!" And she made them kiss right there. Haha. Not the most ideal place for a first kiss, with my grandma and all the relatives watching them kiss at my mom's bridal shower. It makes for a funny story anyway.

It will eventually get to the point where they get all teary-eyed recounting how they hadn't even seen each other until they were married. Oops, that already happens in some cultures.

It's all about who can be the very, very, VERY most righteous!

Sort of a very sick sort of ego trip.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/07/2013 12:45AM by Laban's Head.

And they're so proud to be humble, too.

Wait, for some that is their *first* kiss? Yeesh.