Loading ...As noted by 92510, a group of Berkeley J-school students completed a web-based project titled “God, Sex and Family.” The group focused on how the nexus of faith and sexuality influences different people’s decisions.
Within the Moral Compass, the group features nine religions,
including the Church of the Latter Day Saints, Reform Judaism, Episcopal Church, Roman Catholic Church, Unitarianism, Buddhism, United Methodist Church, Southern Baptist Church and Islam (Sunni). Use the scaled-down version of the Moral Compass above, or access the site to experience it in full size.
The Moral Compass tackles a helping of sexual issues, from premarital sex to stances on homosexuality. On the issue of masturbation, the featured religions had varied views. Here’s the breakdown:
bq. Catholic – condemned
LDS – condemned
Jewish – discouraged
Muslim – discouraged
Baptist – no position
Buddhist – no position
Episcopal – no position
Methodist – no position
Unitarian – couple’s choice
For masturbation, the best quote attributed to any religion would have to be the Buddhists’:
bq. What is the sound of one hand clapping?
Answer: thwack thwack thwack. It gives an entirely new, raunchy meaning to the (previously) puzzling question.
The Muslims also have some pretty profound words:
bq. There is no basis of prohibiting it (masturbation) therefore it is allowed, except that I do not approve of it because it cannot be termed as good behavior.
bq. Ibn Hazam, 994-1064
bq. Muslim theologian
So it’s technically OK, but then again, it’s not really OK. OK?
We’d recommend checking out the extra videos that don’t necessarily fit into the Moral Compass. Click on the video tab at the bottom of the Moral Compass. If you’re looking for a religion that encourages boning, watch the Jewish view on sex. Or if you want to imagine the Bible as a dirty piece of erotica, choose the Catholic view on ecstasy.
No, not the drug.
Back on the main page, you can also select to travel through the Data Road Trip, an accumulation of sex/faith data about the U.S.
As if you didn’t know already, the group found that San Francisco had the most gay households in the U.S. Below is a snippet of the data, along with a few other titleholders:
bq. Most Gay Households
San Francisco, Calif.
Population: 744,041
Coupled households that are gay/lesbian: 6.91%
Dominant Religion: Catholic
bq. Fewest Gay Households
Nebraska
Population: 1,768,331
Dominant religion: Catholic and Lutheran
Only 0.6% of coupled households are gay or lesbian
bq. Most Legal Brothels
Elko County, Nev.
Population: 45,291
Number of Legal Brothels: 8
Catholic: 15.21% of population
Church of Latter Day Saints: 12.94%
Southern Baptist Convention: 3.50% of population
bq. Fastest-growing number of new AIDS cases
District of Columbia
Population: 581,530
DC AIDS Rate – 128.4 per 100,000
US AIDS Rate – 14 per 100,000
Religious Adherents: 73.16%
Dominant Religion: Catholic 27.98%
Yeah, that’s right—the worst case of AIDS is in our federal government’s very own backyard. That’s, um, how do you say? Embarrassing.
God, Sex and Family [News21 Initiative]
Exploring God, Sex, and Family [92510]
Second Life Panel Discussion, Focusing on Religion, Reaches Out to Youth [Daily Cal]
Tags:92510, Berkeley Journalism school, The Moral Compass
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