“Half of Christians say casual sex – defined in the survey as sex between consenting adults who are not in a committed romantic relationship – is sometimes or always acceptable.”
According to the survey, 54% of mainline Protestants agree that casual sex is permissible. Even 36% of evangelical Protestants agree. These numbers still lag far behind the percentage of religiously unaffiliated Americans — 79% — who condone casual sex.
Self-applied religious labels are notoriously slippery. Nominal believers are counted with more committed adherents. Those who attend religious services monthly or more are much more likely to condemn sex outside of a relationship. The article notes that liberal sexual mores clash with Christian traditions which proscribe premarital sex. Even progressive Christian sexual ethics generally confine permissible sexual activity to a committed relationship. That significant numbers of believers reject the precepts of traditional Christian sexual morality reveals its weakening saliency among people in the pews.
Lutheran Guilt 