Sociologist Speaks on “Forbidden Fruit? Sex and Christianity in the Lives of Young Americans”

“Few adolescents, no matter how religious, articulate a deep, nuanced sexual ethic.” So began a presentation by sociologist Mark D. Regnerus entitled “Forbidden Fruit? Sex and Christianity in the Lives of Young Americans,” which was held at Fuller’s Pasadena campus on the evening of May 5. Regnerus is associate professor of sociology at the University of Texas at Austin and author of Forbidden Fruit: Sex and Religion in the Lives of American Teenagers. Faith communities, he said to a Fuller audience of over 100, including many students and youth ministry workers, often simply exhort teenagers to abstain from sex until marriage, without providing sufficiently compelling reasons as to why they should indeed abstain. “Christians have long approached the topic of sex with a defensive mentality,” he said. “We don’t appreciate the mystery of sex. This mystery thing bothers us.”

As a result, according to Regnerus, Christian adults sometimes squash the mystery of sex in the minds of adolescents by trying to control what cannot be controlled. “We don’t like our sexuality very much—it seems dangerous, and we try to control it,” he said. But given his claim that teenagers will sin sexually in some way, at some point, “our job is to model and teach rightly, to pray for them, to walk alongside them, and to teach them grace and truth.”

According to Regnerus, the situation for young people today is significantly impacted by the effects of what is known as the “sexual economy.” “Sex is part of an economic and social system,” he explained, since people are always checking the normalcy of their expectations and experiences with their peers. “As a Christian, I would like to think that the social economy doesn’t exist—it shouldn’t be that way,” he clarified, “but when I look around me, that is what I see.” Young people therefore experience significant pressure toward sexual involvement.

Encouraging the church to take more seriously its responsibility to nurture children to become socially mature, responsible adults, Regnerus spoke of the difficulties generated by what he calls the “sexual economy.” A marriage between chaste individuals is a major social achievement, and “the church offers little assistance in making that social achievement possible. It is in the church’s power to be strategic” in this arena, according to Regnerus.

Regnerus’ presentation was followed by responses from two Fuller faculty members: Erin Dufault-Hunter, assistant professor of Christian ethics; and Steve Simpson, an adjunct faculty member in the School of Psychology whose research and teaching centers around issues of sexuality. The event was cosponsored by Fuller’s Graduate School of Psychology and the Center for Youth and Family Ministry (CYFM).