[Name-withheld]

Is it inherent in Christianity? No. Influenced? Perhaps. I was raised Catholic and am drawn to S & M. I've read a lot of literature and testimonials about it, practiced it and met numerous people in the S & M community. Most of the S & M people I've met, as well as the insider-writers on the subject, come from a Christian or Jewish background, with a spectrum of indoctrination ranging from none to strict. All are atheistic and embrace a certain hedonism frowned upon by any religious upbringing. That said, Judaism and most sects of Christianity tend to value suffering. Think of the historical persecution of the Jews whose events are commemorated in Jewish holy days, and all the martyrs in the Catholic gallery of saints. In addition, most Christian religions teach that any sex outside of marital reproduction is a sin that deserves punishment. For me, the pleasure of sex combined with the indoctrination that it's a sin (and that suffering is good) took me to a place where sex with punishment and suffering is more exciting than 'vanilla' sex. But maybe my Catholic upbringing had nothing to do with it, and I just like S & M. I'm convinced that few or none of my fellow alumnae from convent school like S & M, and that the vast majority of ex-Christians, Christians and Jews I know do not practice S & M or fantasize about it. S & M is an expensive hobby requiring leisure time, toys and (for some) professional services. It's definitely more popular in Protestant cultures with mature economies, e.g. England, Germany, the Netherlands and United States. This skewed popularity may have more to do with money than religion. There's also a theory that abuse and incest survivors are drawn to S & M, but I think the sociologic statistics crunch out the same: Some are, most aren't.

User Detail :  

Name : Name-withheld, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 40, City : San Francisco, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : Computer Technician, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,