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Gentleman's Philosophy

Stop Treating Sex as Purely a Health Issue

Evening gents, it’s Max from the Young Gentleman’s Guide here! I know you’re probably tired of reading this, but I am so incredibly sorry for the lack of posts on the blog over the past few weeks. Not only was I finishing up with my first semester at San Francisco State which was incredibly stressful, but I also wanted to take a break for Christmas and spend more time with my family. In any case, we should be back to our regular posting schedule after this oddball week of posting (expect a new post from Jonah on Saturday).

So the topic of today’s post is a bit more serious and mature than some of my other posts, so I’m warning you now that this may be a little inappropriate for any younger readers out there, though I doubt we have that many young readers in our audience. Even so, I thought it would be smart to warn you. This vpost was inspired by another video from Prager University, titled Every High School Principal Should Say This. In the video, Mr. Prager himself speaks as if he is a high school principal, and says that if every principal gave the speech he gives in the video, then America would be a much better place. In almost every issue he brings up, I tend to agree, especially with a very small point he makes near the end of the video. At the 4:53 mark in the video, Mr. Prager states that “No more classes will be devoted to condom-wearing, and teaching you to regard sexual relations as no more than a health issue.” This statement, as small and subdued as it was in the video, really struck a chord with me as it brings to light an issue that is all too present at public schools in the US. They teach the youth that they can have as much sex as they please as long as they “use protection” and “stay safe”. This disturbs me to no end. Gents who are reading, if this is all you’ve heard regarding your sexual desires and/or activities, please continue reading because there are some very important things that you need to be told.

Now, I should preface this by saying that yes, I am a virgin, and I intend to stay a virgin until the night I consummate my marriage, call me a Jesus freak. However, being taught about sexual responsibilities from my parents as well as the church has taught me that sex and sexual relations are so much more than a health issue. Now, don’t misunderstand me, there are some very important health issues regarding sex that you should address and be aware of, but the problem is that most public schools only focus on those issues, and nothing else. But here today, I’m here to tell you why that approach to sex is incredibly dangerous.

First and foremost, the primary purpose of sex should be reproduction. I understand that humans are one of only two species on the planet that have sex for pleasure (the other being dolphins if you were curious), but that should not be its only purpose. Sure, it may feel great during and a little bit after the act, but the consequences that are likely to follow are more or less connected to its purpose. People, especially young men, should not be having sex simply because it makes them feel good. Not only can guiltlessly having sex like this lead to things like STIs and unwanted pregnancies in women, which public schools teach in spades, but there are huge moral issues that come with it too. Here is a hypothetical scenario.

Say you take a lady home after a night out and you end up hooking up. After she leaves the next morning, you never speak to her again. You think to yourself “Eh, it was just a one night stand, we can both just forget about it and move on.” You get a text from her a few weeks later, and she tells you that she’s pregnant. Now there’s a slew of questions that run through your head. “Is she going to get an abortion? Is she going to go through with it? If she does, will she want me to raise the child with her? Am I even ready to raise a child?” This can obviously create a lot of stress not just for you, but also the woman you hooked up with. Plus, if the woman decides to have the child out of wedlock, then that can cause an even bigger number of problems for both the mother and the child, even if you stay around to help raise the child. So it’s not just an issue of avoiding STIs. The results of sexual activity can be a huge responsibility for both the man and woman involved. Even if you use protection, said protection is prone to failure, and if it does fail, those responsibilities can quickly show their faces again. And all of this stems from what is possibly the biggest problem surrounding sex today: general sexual ignorance.

Like I said, public schools will try to teach you that the only thing you want to avoid when you have sex is pregnancy and STIs. While avoiding STIs is of course a good thing, teaching people how to avoid pregnancy shows a huge problem that young people have today: they’re having sex while not being ready to accept the results of it. People are having sex while not being anywhere near ready to have or raise children. Why even have sex then? Like I said, even if you use protection while casually having sex, that protection may not always work. And since you weren’t ready to accept the responsibilities of sex, hence why you used protection in the first place, your life just became much more stressful and difficult. And let’s not forget that the schools are also teaching people that having sex outside of marriage is perfectly fine, again, if you use protection.

Please don’t misunderstand me. If you choose to have sex outside of marriage, I’m ok with that as long as you’re smart about it. However, there have been multiple studies to show that married couples not only have more sex, but have more satisfaction in their sexual lives than unmarried partners. And not only that, but both sides of a married couple are less likely to contract STIs. On top of that, married couples are generally more prepared to raise children, and as a result, a child raised by two biological parents is significantly more likely to do better in school, graduate college, and raise a family of his or her own.

So to make a long story short, the responsibilities of sex go beyond just the issue of STIs, despite what public schools may have you believe. This is what Mr. Prager was trying to say in regards to sexual education in schools in the PragerU video. So gents, whether it’s a one night stand or a meaningful relation with a long-term partner, ask  yourself these two questions: Am I willing and/or planning to marry or already married to this person? Am I ready to raise a child and a family? If your answer to either of those questions is “no”, then I would advise you to NOT have sex with her.

Apologies for how long-winded this post was or how harsh it may seem, this issue just really gets under my skin. Thank you to Dennis Prager and Prager University for giving me inspiration to write this. This is in no way sponsored by them or anything, I just thought their video served as the perfect basis for what I wanted to say. In any case, I hope you enjoyed reading today’s post. Please be sure to share the post, follow the blog, and follow The Young Gentleman’s Guide on Facebook and Instagram. And on that note, this is Max from The Young Gentleman’s Guide, and I’ll see you next time!

#PragerFORCE

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Gentleman's Philosophy

Lessons in Manliness from the Vikings: Silence

Evening Gents, it’s Jonah from The Young Gentleman’s Guide here!

Today is my first blog post. I’ll be running a series of posts on lessons from Viking mythology and culture, taken from literature and historical reports, because I love history, literature, mythology, and stories in general.

“But Jonah, the Vikings were little more than barbarian warriors who ravaged the coasts of England!”

Not so, dear reader, not so.

The Vikings, or more properly, the Norse, were a Germanic people from Scandinavia who excelled at seafaring, trading, exploration, navigation, and yes, fighting. However, many aspects of Norse culture may surprise you, some things which I will explore over the next few weeks. You will find that we have much to learn from the Norse.

Like many cultures, the Norse had a  rich tradition of stories handed down from generation to generation, often in poetic form. The most common poetic form in those days was alliterative, meaning lines would contain many words starting with the same syllable. Many of these works were written down and adapted by the Icelandic poet Snorri Sturluson in the twelfth century.

One of these poems was called the Hávamál, which means “Sayings of the High One”. The first eighty verses are wisdom sayings, everyday maxims which were said to be told by the Norse god Odin in the myths. They are concerned with hospitality, etiquette, and living well. The Norse considered etiquette and courtesy a matter of honor.

For the first post, I will write about the value of silence. The Norse knew that to listen more than to speak is powerful.

For example, the 7th stanza of the Sayings of the High One advises,

7. “A wary guest to refection comes, keeps a cautious silence, and with his eyes observes: so explores every prudent man.”

A little context: the word refection is similar to refreshment, and means “refreshment by food or drink” (dictionary.com.) In this context, it is used in a party setting – a gathering at someone’s house or hall with food and drinks involved.

Consider also stanza 29:

29. “He utters too many futile words who is never silent; a garrulous tongue, if it be not checked, sings often to its own harm.”

If a person speaks overmuch, his words will not be taken as seriously. Also if a person talks excessively, he may say things that he regrets, things that hurt  other people, or cast a discolored light on his own reputation.

The Norse understood this, and that is why it was thought wise to be silent and listen more then you speak. If you speak less, your words will mean more. To be silent a little more often means letting other people speak and express their ideas. This shows that you value the other person in the conversation, and showing that respect is what being a gentleman is all about.

Speaking less in conversation also trains us to be good listeners, and to be humble. We ought not to be the center of every conversation. We will learn much by listening to what people have to say. We could learn profound things about who a person is, or realize important life lessons in a few words –  things we may have missed if we spoke more, or thought only, “What will I say next?”

To speak less is to be selfless, which is what a gentleman does – puts others ahead of himself. Again, selflessness is what being a gentleman, what being a man, is all about.

So let’s all speak less in conversation and listen more.

I hope you all enjoyed reading today’s post. Please be sure to share the post, follow the blog, and follow The Young Gentleman’s Guide on Facebook and Instagram. And on that note, this is Jonah Blessum from The Young Gentleman’s Guide, and I’ll see you next time!

 

 

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Meet our New Admin!

Afternoon gents, it’s Max from The Young Gentleman’s Guide here! First off, I am so sorry for not having any posts up last week. For one, we wanted to take  a week off for the Thanksgiving holiday, and we were also working on finalizing this little piece of business. So if you’ve read the title of the post, you know that The Young Gentleman’s Guide has a new admin! Everybody say hello to Jonah Blessum! Jonah is a friend of mine who I met at my church, and like myself, is also an Eagle Scout. He is also a huge supporter of The Art of Manliness and Prager University, just like I am. He’s also a devout Catholic, loves his family to no end, and is a huge advocate of traditional gender roles as well as some elements of medieval chivalry. In other words, he was the perfect candidate to be a new admin for The Young Gentleman’s Guide (If he allows me, I’ll also put up some photos of him down below). Keep an eye out, Jonah should have his first post up for us on Saturday. In any case, I hope you enjoyed reading today’s post. Please be sure to share the post, follow the blog, and follow The Young Gentleman’s Guide on Facebook and Instagram. And on that note, this is Max from The Young Gentleman’s Guide, and I’ll see you next time!

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Jonah and I at an event with our church youth group (with our friend Paul photobombing, lol)

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Jonah teaching a friend of his how to fold Old Glory

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Jonah at his Eagle Scout Board of Review

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Go Check This Out!

Morning gents! So, earlier this week, I told you that I was originally going to put up a post about a blog that a friend of mine had started, but decided to put that off since she was having some technical issues with it. But as of now, said technical issues have been resolved, and she actually just put up a new post just a few days ago that you should definitely check out. But anyways, here’s the post I was originally planning for Monday, just slightly modified.

I wanted to tell you about a blog that a good friend of mine has started. It’s called A Vintage Athenian, and the name is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a young Athenian woman telling you all about all things vintage, for ladies and gents alike! Now, it should come as no surprise that I love all things vintage; in fact, that’s practically the reason I even started this blog! All things like vintage fashion, cars, and music, are absolutely my cup of tea, so when I heard that my friend was doing this I absolutely had to check it out! She posts some wonderful content, a lot about vintage fashion, and while a lot of what she posts would obviously appeal more to you young ladies out there (I know there are some ladies out there who follow my content too), she also has plenty of stuff coming down the pipeline for you young gents as well! If you are a lover of anything vintage, or are just interested in seeing a young woman rave about her love of all things vintage, I highly recommend you check out the Vintage Athenian. Read, follow, share, do whatever you need to do!

In any case, I hope you enjoyed reading today’s post. Please be sure to share the post, follow the blog, and follow The Young Gentleman’s Guide on Facebook and Instagram. Also be sure to send an email to younggentlemansguide@gmail.com, send us some feedback or suggestions for future posts. And on that note, this is Max from The Young Gentleman’s Guide, and I’ll see you next time!

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Change of Plans

Morning gents, it’s Max from the Young Gentleman’s Guide here. I was originally was going to put up a post about a blog that a friend of mine had started, but in an update from her this morning, she said that she has been having some technical issues with it that she’s trying to fix as we speak. So for today, this will be the only thing I post today. I just wanted to let you guys know about the situation, and I will let you know of any updates as soon as I get some. But on that note, this is Max from The Young Gentleman’s Guide, and I’ll see you next time!