Condom-free sex replaces the engagement ring!

So basically this is an article about leftist-loony NPR getting more leftist-loony than their leftist-loony listeners, making them upset at its leftist-looniness...

I agree with amjack if you are having sex outside of marriage it is immoral as well as irresponsible.we are all going to stand before God on judgement day and explain ourselves according to His moral standard not mans.If we are behaving like animals,well I hate to tell all you pet lovers,I dont see noahs ark mentioned in the rapture,just humans who are faithful obedient servants of Jesus Christ.

i've been with my fiance 4 years now - we're engaged 2 mth now..and ever since we've been having sex its been condom free...i trust him and he trust me.....we are really decent ppl and having sex with sum1 else is not an option

This is horrible.The rate of condom usage id own but my 15 year old sistercan end up pregnant and thats suppose to be okay with everyone. I do think that if someone is REALLY serious anout their spouse, then its ok to make that shoice, but if you there is any doubt, then cover it up. If your old enough to spread your legs, your old enough to make a choice to protect your self. So young people need to get smart and get protected.

we're meant to enjoy sex in the sanctity of marriage, not to sanctify a marriage. sex used to be a sacred way to express your undying, 100% commitment to a person, after you both mutually expressed that you would never want to be with anyone else.

what is it now? a chance to live it up with whoever you happen to be hot for in the moment.

so once a person who has had sex with multiple partners finds the man or woman they want to marry, how will they feel when they realize that they committed a part of themselves to each and every person they had sex with before they got married? i bet they'll feel a little bit guilty when they realize they are only giving part of themselves to the one person they want to give their all to.

simply "moving up" from sex with a condom to sex without a condom is not an accurate representation of a commitment. it's the farthest from it. sex comes as a reward of that commitment, not before it. that's why the divorce rate is so high right now. the idea of premarital sex is no longer something frowned upon - it's part of every day life, and that's why couples have a really hard time staying together.

and what's wrong with being a virgin at 27? or even older? it shows that you have the self-restraint to wait and give your all to the person you are meant to be with. people say that you should practice safe sex, cuz you don't know what your sex partner could have or where they've been... haha, yeah, so go ahead and have sex with them, even though you know nothing about their history. that's smart...

/sigh/

Get real people...this is advice coming from a teenage boy...what do you expect?

I think the point the essayist was trying to make is that by not using condoms you are making a HUGE commitment to the other person. Some people have been commenting that one should wait for marriage to even have sex. These are their values. Some people never want to get married but that doesn't mean they don't want to have a committed relationship to one person. There are people who are together all their adult lives as couples but never get married. I definitely say you should be careful and wear a condom but condoms are not fullproof against pregnancy or STD's. Even those who are married face infidelity. So what it is about is trust and a commitment to your partner.

Until you a TOTALLY sure that they guy is the right one - a condom is a MUST! For too many people (guys & girls)the "oh it can't happen to me" is too prevalent. That's part of the reason there are so many men who have many children by different women. Ladies - we should never let a man talk us into having sex without a condom if we aren't ready to accept the consequences. And don't depend up them to bring the condoms! Keep one with you - and you'll always be ready for those "moments". Protect yourself - you really are your own best friend!

What the hell, most men dont seem to hav a problem with having sex without a condom, why should we? Just go with the flow sista's...

Come on everyone, don't take his essay out of context. Condomless sex is not literally a new form of declaring your engagement, he was using it as a metaphor to underline the actual message: Serious relationships among young couples these days take into account the importance and gravity of sexual health.
Of course there's still flowers and diamonds, but there's also a responsible, mature dialogue going on between partners. It's new and it's important.
Condomless sex and premarital sex are personal choices. Just as we need to respect those who decide to remain abstinent until marriage, those of us who take part in premarital hanky-panky should not be judged either.
I personally don't believe that saving it for marriage somehow makes it more special. Of course, I don't go into the mall and only try on one pair of pants because it keeps the shopping experience "special" either.

PS. Foregoing the condom doesn't mean you are risking pregnancy. Condoms have only a 93% success rate, while the pill is 99.9%

I dont know were people get that sex use to be some sacred thing and now its now, nothing has changed with the way humans look and have sex we have just become more open about it. There has been adultry, rape, same sex coupling, mulitple partners since the begining. Just look at your history books the only diffrence is that back then marriage was even less sacred because most women didnt even choose thier husbands. But to get back on topic, if your 100% commited go ahead and take the condom off, I was married for 3 years and oviously condom free and he was cheating on me so even the "sacred" marriage doesnt protect you just be as safe as you can.

i love ex

A long term relationship may not always lead to marriage so I don't see condom-free sex as anything other than a committment to be an exclusive relationship. It's certainly a level of closeness and intimacy that is different than casual or even semi serious dating, but it's not a promise of marriage.

Anyone having sex, with or without a condom should only do so if they trust the person and know that person is clean of STDs. Of course, one would hope that marriage guarantees that to be true, but sane, rational people not brainwashed by their religions know that there is no such fairytale. Anyone who has had sex should have themself tested for STDs for their own safety.

Waiting until marriage to have sex might have been a reasonable expectation when people were married at the age of 15. Even then, however, the idea that religious books written only by men could dictate the behaviors of all people is ridiculous. Today, this antiquated idea forces people to marry the wrong people too soon for the wrong reasons.

The only thing that matters today is that people are educated, safe, and responsible.

"PENDARVIS HARSHAW",(if that's even your real name)
You are PENDEJO!!!!

i have only been in LONG TERM realtionships and ONLY used a condom with a random hook-up ...so I WANT A FUCKING RING!! lol
i actually picked out my ring a week ago... he already has me to sleep with so if he wants to keep me.. show me the 3 carat diamond with a cathedral setting and THEN I"LL COMMIT!!!

WELL IF THEY WAS A HAPPY COUPLE THEN WHAT THE "T" LMAO!!!

WOW! There is a reason why the world is the way it is today. Why 13 year olds are turning into mothers and the HIV rate is higher than the CDC expected it to be. People are irresponsible. This is the perfect example of that. There is a reason why you have to be 18 to get married. That's when the average person starts to think rationally. This kind of article make young people that shouldn't be having sex to begin with think that because they think they are in love they should have sex without a condom. Who thought they knew what love was when they were a child and have now come to the realization that they knew nothing? All of us I'm sure. This is paving the way for more chicldren turning into parents and having STDs becoming a bigger problem in our society.

It's irresponsible, dangerous and just plain stupid.. but it's also true. I know a lot of single ppl would agree. It's by far not the right thing to do, but it's somehow in ppl's minds that condom-free sex= committed sex. Given a 50% divorce rate, we as a nation have proven that committments aren't always equal or exclusive.
The mantra we have to drill into our children's brains is that condom-free sex should only exist when the wedding rings are exchanged.

I THINK THAT IT IS RIGHT TOWAIT UNTIL YOU GET MARRID