Degrading and destructive sex: an analysis of sexual interdictions founded in Evangelical books

Abstract: This paper investigates the discourses, elaborated by Evangelicals, about the forbidden sexual practices. Considering the tradition of the published material for this group, we analyzed 15 religious books that relate sex to: abuse, transgression, danger, risk and violence (according to the socio-anthropological literature, these categories oppose the idea, shared by most of the society, of a legitimate pleasure). The 892 excerpts taken from the books were examined with the support of ATLAS.ti. Our conclusion is that the emphasis is on the heterosexual and monogamous conjugality, which is a constituent of the Christian family. When the religious authors discuss on it, violence, which sometimes is undermined by “progressive” segments, is directly and indirectly problematized. Nevertheless, “illegitimate” practices are generally interpreted as interconnected, ranging from masturbation to necrophilia, and representing a gradual process of degradation and corrosion of the individual. We named this process as the procedural character of the addiction. In turn, we found the same notion of process with regard to the healing path offered by religion.

Keywords:
Evangelicals; Sexuality; Books; Addiction; Human Rights.