Thou Shalt Have Sex Every Day
By CAROLINE HOWARD, AOL
When debate turns to the value of marriage, attention normally goes to the religious sanctity of the union, the socio-economic benefits to the married adults and their children and even health pluses. Married couples tend to live longer, healthier lives and are typically less depressed or anxious than their single, divorced, or widowed counterparts.
But one Ybor City, Fla, pastor has taken up the mantle of another marriage blessing. In an attempt to curb high divorce rates, Relevant Church head pastor Paul Wirth has challenged his married congregants to have sex every day for one month.
Watch the CBS Early Show report:
"A great sex life is a challenge and takes focus, determination, and planning," reads the church web site. "Some say it’s an unrealistic goal, but we disagree. We believe you can have a great sex life, in fact we believe God wants you to have a great sex life."
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the rate of divorce in the U.S. is 3.6 divorces per 1,000 people; the rate peaked at 5.3 per 1,000 in 1981. Notably, divorce rates are highest in states where many conservative Baptists live, including Arkansas and Mississippi, while the percentage dips in the more liberal and Catholic Northeast and upper Midwest.
What accounts for the overall decline in divorce rates? Many experts attribute it to a combination of the rise in cohabitation, the older age of marriage, and the overall decline in the marriage rate. Others describe a divorce-divide based on education and income levels.
Some, like Pastor Wirth, believe lower divorce rates somehow relates to higher sexual activity. "Married couples will review the obvious needs of him and uncover the forgotten needs of her," says the church web site.
One recent online study by clinical sexologist Bob Berkowitz, PhD and his wife Susan Yager-Berkowitz, authors of 'He's Just Not Up for It Anymore,' however, found that the U.S. divorce rate is well below the nation's average of married couples in sexless marriages (couples having sex fewer than 10 times per year). And it said the most frequent reason couples stop regular lovemaking was 'unadventurous sex,' or a loss of enthusiasm or novelty.
"Of course, all the guys say it's genius," Pastor Wirth told the St. Petersburg Times. "The married women think we're out of our minds."
And the singles? Pastor Wirth's 30-day challenge does not extend to unmarried congregants. Instead, they were asked to abstain from sex for the month.
But one Ybor City, Fla, pastor has taken up the mantle of another marriage blessing. In an attempt to curb high divorce rates, Relevant Church head pastor Paul Wirth has challenged his married congregants to have sex every day for one month.
Watch the CBS Early Show report:
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the rate of divorce in the U.S. is 3.6 divorces per 1,000 people; the rate peaked at 5.3 per 1,000 in 1981. Notably, divorce rates are highest in states where many conservative Baptists live, including Arkansas and Mississippi, while the percentage dips in the more liberal and Catholic Northeast and upper Midwest.
What accounts for the overall decline in divorce rates? Many experts attribute it to a combination of the rise in cohabitation, the older age of marriage, and the overall decline in the marriage rate. Others describe a divorce-divide based on education and income levels.
Some, like Pastor Wirth, believe lower divorce rates somehow relates to higher sexual activity. "Married couples will review the obvious needs of him and uncover the forgotten needs of her," says the church web site.
One recent online study by clinical sexologist Bob Berkowitz, PhD and his wife Susan Yager-Berkowitz, authors of 'He's Just Not Up for It Anymore,' however, found that the U.S. divorce rate is well below the nation's average of married couples in sexless marriages (couples having sex fewer than 10 times per year). And it said the most frequent reason couples stop regular lovemaking was 'unadventurous sex,' or a loss of enthusiasm or novelty.
"Of course, all the guys say it's genius," Pastor Wirth told the St. Petersburg Times. "The married women think we're out of our minds."
And the singles? Pastor Wirth's 30-day challenge does not extend to unmarried congregants. Instead, they were asked to abstain from sex for the month.
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