His friends call him Ronni. But to most of us, he is known as Ronaldo, the 2009 FIFA Player of the Year who cost Real Madrid a record breaking ninety five million euro to pluck him from Manchester United. On a trip to Los Angeles, less than a year before the World Cup in Africa, Ronni walks his way in a restaurant, eyes an American waitress and seduces her , drawing a love heart on a misted-up window and said “Me, you, kiss! Me, you, this and that ……..”

The Mirror reports she was a penniless American waitress. Ronni managed to whisk her back to his hotel for a one-night stand which left the girl pregnant and cost him approximately a twelve million euro paternity bill. But we know that one night stands don’t just take place in Los Angeles, they also seem to be thriving especially among vulnerable adolescents.

Unexpected pregnancy may only prove to be the tip of the iceberg. Research shows there are more than fifteen sexually transmitted diseases that can easily be transmitted out of casual sex. The use of contraceptives diminishes but stand far from eliminating total risks. Besides the physical effects, the psychological and social consequences it can bring especially on young adults can be devastating. Unexpected pregnancy within a stable marriage can already prove to be life changing, let alone for teens who have to reposition their whole lifestyle to reap the seed of an unbridled impulse of passion.

Then surface the emotional hazards of both victims and perpetuators. Renowned developmental psychologist, Thomas Lickona, claims “ This relative silence about the emotional side of sex is ironic, because the emotional dimension of sex is what makes it distinctively human” One night stands and similar sexual activity, basically, sex without the slightest trace of commitment is what dehumanises it and makes our body cheap merchandise!

Emotional problems ensuing from chaotic sexual activity may prove to have crippling effects on a person’s ability to lead a happy and productive life. Research shows the majority of women who consent to one night stands feel cheated, abused and dumped the day after the event. Others feel hooked by the sexual relationship finding it difficult to break the cord after so deep an intimacy. Emotional scars of frequent uncommitted sex do not augur well in the attempt to form steady and committed relationships later on in life. Both participating partners experience a loss of self- respect, a loss of dignity and self-worth. When sexuality is debased, and merely exploited for the sake of gratifying momentary cravings, the sacred character of sex is corrupted. Guilt, a sting of conscience embedded by the Divine as a healthy moral response accompanies the act. It is a signal that the Divine temple is being traded as cheap merchandise.

Christ was slow to anger. But He could not stand the sight of the Temple, His Father’s house, being transformed into a market place. He overturned the stalls, threw out the traders and admonished them. In the same way our bodies, as Temples of the Holy Spirit, are transformed into cheap merchandise when sex is devoid of self-control, respect, responsibility and an honest commitment.

As we find in Paul’s letter to the Galatians, ‘the acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, ……and the like. I warn you, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.’ Again in his letter to the Thessalonians, he goes further to say ‘Each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honourable, not in passionate lust like the heathen who do not know God’

The same tone is echoed by St Vincent De Paule ‘Whoever wishes to make progress in perfection should use particular diligence in not allowing himself to be led away by his passions… To succeed well in this, resistance should begin while the passions are yet weak; for after they are thoroughly rooted and grown up, there is scarcely any remedy. He who allows himself to be ruled or guided by the lower and animal part of his nature, deserves to be called a beast’

(THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN PINK MAGAZINE – 2011)(AUTHOR GORDON P VASSALLO)