Why second life never excited me…

This is from an article on the BBC website How do Avatars have sex? the problems are as old as chatrooms – cybersex leads to a real life divorce etc etc. What is so great about online sex? Isn’t it much better offline? Maybe I am just too conservative or maybe its just…

So how do computerised characters have sex?

“First you need to buy genitals,” says technology journalist Adrian Mars, explaining the process in Second Life. “You start off with no genitals and then you buy some.

“You can touch and jiggle about a bit and you can emote and gesture in a way the other person would see. And you can have intercourse.”

The article is a silly piece but it does touch on some interesting questions – without actually meaning to…

And infidelity is not the only thorny ethical issue thrown up by virtual sexual – some players have had sex with animals.

If we are talking about computer representations, or avatars you are not actually having sex with anyone other than yourself. Just becuase their is a screen and the Internet is involved we are supposed to be excited but in reality its the same as it ever was…


Pompeii ancient sex photo by Thomas Reichart

Acceptable sex for priests

This must have catholic priests sniggering in their vestries.

Swedish priests are allowed to be married. Swedish women are also allowed to be ordained as priests. Therefore it is not strange for two priests to be in bed together and know each other in the biblical sense (ooh, that’s a bad pun). Apparently there are unacceptable sexual acts among priests.

The whole thing started when a priestly couple. To be clear: a husband and wife both priests. Anyway the priestly couple had a threesome together with a male acquaintance (not for the first time). The husband priest took pictures of the act with his mobile telephone. Reports are a bit hazy but the wife later attempted to delete the photographs and the husband lost it and started beating his wife. Naturally all this ended up with the police and the tabloids had a small snigger at the whole affair. Even for swedes this raised a few eyebrows. What can I say: Sex sells.

What makes the whole thing much more interesting is the response of a Swedish bishop (also a woman) who stated that the priests may be dismissed. What is queerer is that even the wife priest may face the same end or at least be given a warning. The dismissals are not only due to the wife beating but also are due to the threesome.

It appears that the the couples sex acts “exceed the boundaries for what may be accepted within marital relations” (my translation) The Swedish church does not have general rules for what priests may or may not do but they may not act in a way “that harms the reputation a priest should have. Also having something like group sex breaks the vow of sexual fidelity in marriage” (again my translation). Maybe they should write a manual of acceptable sexual acts.

I’m sure that the catholics are clucking sanctimoniously but let’s not forget the many, many, many sexual scandals they have caused. Isn’t it incredible? It does not matter which priests or which religion they are all really mad. Religion is not only a total waste of space it is also a harmful activity.