Expert: Tom Schott - 6/19/2007

Question
I'm catholic. I go to a catholic high school and i go to church every weekend and i respect everything. Recently in religion class we had the "sex unit" (kind of famous amoung the catholic schools) ANYWAYS i understood the unit, i understand the consequence, i understand why god wants you to wait for marriage to have sex, and that anything involving "les organs sexuelle" (i take religion in french i think its sexual organs or something like that in english) One day a few of my friends and i were talking about "Well what about Kissing?" and i went and asked the teacher "Mme. mais les bizou?" so she told us yes that is alright before marriage, but i was really really embarresed and it was a very awkward moment so i never got around to my other question... waht about getting felt up?

By the way i would have asked a woman if there was one who was an expert in this area!!

Answer
Elizabeth, I was profoundly hurt by the ratings you chose to give me for my response. And I do wish you would give some thought to revising them. Why I should be marked down on "politeness" is a mystery.

I've been doing this, giving free advice here on Allexperts for seven years. No one has ever rated me below an "8" on knowledge. The Catholic Catechism itself, which I did not consult when I gave my answer the first time, is not cut and dried on the things you asked about. It says: "Sexual pleasure is morally disordered when sought for itself, isolated from its procreative and unitive purposes." The catechism also says, when speaking about the engaged but this would also apply to all unmarried people: "They should reserve for marriage the expressions of affection that belong to married love."

And a "1" for helpfulness is just beyond belief . . . simply because you did not like the answer I gave? Does that mean I didn't try to be helpful?

In any event, if you think you're going to find a more "left wing" adviser than I out there, be my guest. I am afraid you'll be disappointed. I'm as left wing as they come. I, too, disagree with the church and many of its positions, but I cannot in this public forum--is open for the entire world to read--say anything that contradicts what the Church teaches. There are some very vindictive right-wingers that lurk here reading answers just looking for the opportunity to cause trouble. I had one of these types write my pastor because I was not orthodox enough to suit her!

Anyway, Elizabeth, I just wanted you to know that there's a human being with feelings on the other side of your computer screen. If you do see fit to revise your ratings, the URL is:
http://www.allexperts.com/user.cgi?m=10