Sex, Sacrifice, and Male Virgins

It seems like Christianity is obsessed with human sacrifices and virginity. It is more specifically concerned with virgin male sacrifices. Allow me to first discuss a few major examples of human sacrifices. In the book of Genesis, Cain sacrifices an offering of crops and God rejects it. Abel offers a virgin lamb and God accepts his offering. So Cain decides to offer his brother's life as an offering to God. Then something strange happens. Instead of God ending Cain's life for sacrificing his brother, he allows Cain to live and build cities. The descendants of Cain were the originators of metallurgy, music, and herding livestock. Looking at the story from this vantage point allows one to see Abel as the first human virgin sacrifice. (Genesis 4)

Later on in Genesis, God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his virgin son Isaac, but God changed his mind allowing Isaac to live. One can also think of Joseph being thrown in the pit by his brothers as a figurative virgin sacrifice.(Genesis 22, Gen. 37)

Those tales were the set-up for the ultimate virgin sacrifice in Christianity. In order to appease an angry divinity, Jesus the unblemished(read virgin) lamb of God had to be sacrificed. Once the offering was accepted, Yahweh was pleased.

When one considers that the focal point of Christianity is a male virgin god, how can someone strive to be Christlike if they already have a sexual encounter? How can Christ be acquainted with the human condition if he never had a one night stand? Even Mary the mother of Jesus conceived the messiah through non sexual means in order for the virgin birth to occur.

Here is the takeaway, according to Paul: (1 Cor. 7)

1. Virgin(abstinent, most Christlike) (1 Cor 7:1, 25-28)
2. Marriage between one man and one woman( permitted but not "god's best") (1 Cor7:1-6)
3. Unmarried and sexually active(worst place, not permitted, shunned with harsh words and penalties) (1 Thess 4:3-8) (1 Cor 6:12-20)

Modern Christianity recognizes that the virgin position is untenable in today's society, so it pushes hard for the next best thing: heterosexual marriage. This is one of the motivations behind the purity pledges, the abstinence only sex education, and the push for traditional marriage.

This focus on sexual purity before marriage can stifle people from having honest conversations about sex and sexuality, especially in the church.

I have tried to show a link between virginity, sex, and human sacrifices that exist with Christianity. I hope you enjoyed the brief essay.