Evangelicals share something in common with every other branch of conservative Christianity. Yet most self-identified Evangelicals 1 engage in premarital sex. And doing so has become increasingly morally acceptable among them, regardless of what their churches teach. We have seen a long trend toward greater liberalization of sexual ethics among Evangelical laypersons over the past several decades, underscored in recent years by several prominent Evangelical leaders breaking ranks to embrace progressive views on sex. Unique, perhaps, only in indicating that his views are no longer Christian rather than the more typical attempt to claim that Christianity allows for pre-marital sex , Harris is indicative of a larger shift away from traditional stances on sex within Evangelical circles. These percentages were even higher for those under I summarize my findings below.

Never demean this about him. Never laugh at him or make fun of him. Accept it as a difference. It may sound like so much cliched marital advice, but this is a much-discussed idea about sexuality in the evangelical Christian community: Men and women are different.

Kelsy Burke received funding from the University of Pittsburgh and the Association for the Sociology of Religion for this research. Many headlines in the past week have speculated publicly on the sex lives of Jerry Falwell Jr. Falwell has denied these allegations. Falwell resigned as president of Liberty University , the ultra-conservative evangelical college founded by his father on Aug. As as a sociologist who has spent years studying the world of online Christian sex advice message boards and blogs, I have read stories from evangelical Christians who turn to the web to talk openly about their sexual activities and desires.