Kids should not be engaging in such activities and he is absolutely right
that a girl's reputation would be ruined by doing such a thing, which
would actually be the least of her problems in such a situation. Are
you dumping on this rabbi merely because he is conservative?

I am not a prude about sex, but that is in regards to sex between
consenting adults, not kids who are being bombarded with it via the
media in ridiculous amounts these days without simultaneously being
told what to do and how to handle their feelings and actions.

I give that rabbi a lot of credit for being so bold and forthright in
warning kids on this subject.

As for the Newsweek article, to be honest it was much more like an
op-ed piece for religious tolerance than an actual news item. Perhaps
I was expecting something a bit more scholarly, such as more evidence
about how men and women behaved towards each other in that era.
Instead we got Biblical quotes that quite frankly I could see being
taken in either direction.

I have to wonder if the author actually understood that back in
ancient times right up until about a century ago, men were much more
open in showing their feelings and affections towards one another.
It did not necessarily mean they were gay or in actual love, but many
people, especially modern Americans, who read these letters and works
interpret them that way.

It was nice to read something that tried to get people to look at the
other side of an issue which, to me anyway, seems way blown out of
proportion in terms of how seriously people take it. If you are not
harming anyone and you are a reasonably stable adult, I could not
care less what you do in the bedroom or elsewhere with your whoever
your partner is. On the other hand, it was not exactly news.