I think david f is just trying to make everyone else jealous.

I thought the article had a reasonable degree of merit. These days people seem to prefer to play a game of Musical Beds, rather than showing respect and consideration for the feelings of others.

A lot of emotional damage is done as a result of broken relationships, to say nothing of people aborting all of the unwanted "collections of cells", and the rampant transmission of sexually transmitted diseases, some of which leave women infertile.

I recently heard of a young woman who had to notify 30+ men after she had been diagnosed with Chlamydia.

Perhaps most of these free-and-easy attitudes have been learned from the Greenies who believe human beings are only animals. No doubt Abortion, Infertility and Suicide all fit in nicely with their multiple Pro-Death, Anti-Human Policies.

you will be blessed in your relationship Bernard for acting godly. To treasure something God considers precious will set you up for a very special marriage. YOur children should God grant them to you will also be greatly blessed. As someone who did not come to Christ until my mid twenties one my greatest moment as a father was to see my son and his now wife do things God's way and receive the blessings from that. You are wise and couragous and display much wisdom.

>> "Cohabitation is about sex, let's not be confused." <<

One would hope cohabitation is more than "about sex" in an relationship; marriage, or otherwise.

One would hope cohabitation is more than "about sex" in *any* relationship; marriage, or otherwise.

An article so full of portentous generalizations simply had to have a puritanical Christian behind it, I thought. A quick glance at this gentleman's blog confirmed it.

An excerpt from a recent blog entry:

"Is it not also in nakedness that a husband and wife continue to this day to overcome the sin of our first parents? Where but in the marital embrace can a man and woman experience that pure and beautiful gaze which Adam and Eve knew every day before the fall? It is in their nakedness that man and woman approach the marital bed to make of themselves a gift in the way that Christ makes himself a gift to his bride."

With an attitude founded on this thinking, it hardly a surprise to us that he would not take his girlfriend of three months standing to bed. The odd thing is that it appears to have been a surprise to him.

Live and let live, say I. I promise not to lecture Mr Toutounji on the joy of living with a partner for 18 years, unwed, if he promises not to lecture me on the necessity of formal marital vows.

Oh, too late.

Initially, Bernard, I didn't agree with runner that "You are wise and courageous and display much wisdom" because when I read your article for the first time I decided you came across as a judgemental self-righteous prunt.

This is probably because of the way you write where you transfer onto everyone else and society at large what is obviously your inability to distinguish what love is for you and what you think is the 'easy option' of following 'the social trend' – implicitly assuming that your girlfriend would let you anyway.

I admit that I'm biased because what you wrote denies the reality that my parent's love for each other was expressed sexually (hence me) then followed by marriage and cohabitation, several other children and a long, happy and successful marriage until age and infirmity took them.

The aphorism 'We are all inclined to judge ourselves by our ideals; others by their acts' reminded me that whilst you're guilty of it, you're simultaneously acting according to your own ideals.

So, given your inability to recognise when you are "relying on tainted and corrupted information", I ended up agreeing with runner that you are displaying much wisdom in that you are not risking any chance of breeding – for the moment at least.