Iconoclasm and the Evangelical Preoccupation with Sex
Evangelical Christians ( by "Evangelical Christians" I am using the term in the sense that modern demographers use it, not in its more theo-historical usage that describes the evangelical activity of the church catholic ) are well known for their strict sexual ethic. In fact, this might be the main thing known about them in the popular imagination. Evangelicals don't have sex before marriage, don't believe in abortion, insist on abstinence only sex-ed, are against gay marriage, and have the highest teen pregnancy rates in America. It is easy to caricature evangelical sexual ethics and too often evangelical institutions get themselves into trouble with the media over their positions on sexual ethical issues ( IVP , TWU , ETS , etc.). While it is easy to poke holes in the logic (or lack thereof) of much that passes for evangelical sexuality, I think this is getting the real issue exactly wrong. The real problem evangelicals have created for themselves is a latent form...