Immorality is Vandalism
“Where are you going?” asked Evangelist.
“Oh, nowhere in particular. I just go where the women are.”
“And why is that?”
The young man laughed, and his laugh seemed to be full of both mockery and shame. “What do you mean why? Everyone needs a little now and then.”
Evangelist answered him gravely. “Are you speaking of fornication?”
“Fornication? You make it sound like a disease! Sex is a normal and healthy thing.”
Evangelist replied, “To be sure, sex is normal and healthy. But I wasn’t talking about sex, I was talking about fornication.”
Randy laughed again. “And what’s the difference?”
“Fornication occurs when there is no marriage commitment. Adultery occurs when a marriage commitment is violated. But sexual activity within the boundary of marriage is something at God honors.”
“God! God! You’re not religious, are you? What does God have to do with sex?”
“He invented it. That’s like asking what Thomas Edison has to do with light bulbs.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that God is the one who designed sex in the first place.”
“Then why do you Christians have such a thing about sex? You’re always saying who should be sleeping with whom and who shouldn’t.”
Evangelist replied, “It is a common misconception that opposition to the perversion of a thing is the same as opposition to the thing itself. But of course the idea is absurd.”
“How is it absurd?” Randy asked.
“If someone wanted to draw a mustache on the Mona Lisa, would that be an act of vandalism?”
“Of course it would.”
“If you had the opportunity to stop such an act, would you?”
“Certainly.”
“Would you step in as a friend of art or as an enemy of it?”
“As a friend.”
“But suppose the vandal reviled you as an enemy of all that is beautiful. How would you answer him?”
“I would not need to answer him. The accusation is absurd.”
“Exactly so. Absurd is the right word. And if you have understood the argument, you will stop accusing Christians of being the enemy of the thing they desire to protect. Sexual immorality
destroys a very great gift of God. Immorality is vandalism.”
- Douglas Wilson, Persuasions, pp. 11-12
“Oh, nowhere in particular. I just go where the women are.”
“And why is that?”
The young man laughed, and his laugh seemed to be full of both mockery and shame. “What do you mean why? Everyone needs a little now and then.”
Evangelist answered him gravely. “Are you speaking of fornication?”
“Fornication? You make it sound like a disease! Sex is a normal and healthy thing.”
Evangelist replied, “To be sure, sex is normal and healthy. But I wasn’t talking about sex, I was talking about fornication.”
Randy laughed again. “And what’s the difference?”
“Fornication occurs when there is no marriage commitment. Adultery occurs when a marriage commitment is violated. But sexual activity within the boundary of marriage is something at God honors.”
“God! God! You’re not religious, are you? What does God have to do with sex?”
“He invented it. That’s like asking what Thomas Edison has to do with light bulbs.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that God is the one who designed sex in the first place.”
“Then why do you Christians have such a thing about sex? You’re always saying who should be sleeping with whom and who shouldn’t.”
Evangelist replied, “It is a common misconception that opposition to the perversion of a thing is the same as opposition to the thing itself. But of course the idea is absurd.”
“How is it absurd?” Randy asked.
“If someone wanted to draw a mustache on the Mona Lisa, would that be an act of vandalism?”
“Of course it would.”
“If you had the opportunity to stop such an act, would you?”
“Certainly.”
“Would you step in as a friend of art or as an enemy of it?”
“As a friend.”
“But suppose the vandal reviled you as an enemy of all that is beautiful. How would you answer him?”
“I would not need to answer him. The accusation is absurd.”
“Exactly so. Absurd is the right word. And if you have understood the argument, you will stop accusing Christians of being the enemy of the thing they desire to protect. Sexual immorality
destroys a very great gift of God. Immorality is vandalism.”
- Douglas Wilson, Persuasions, pp. 11-12
