- The under 18 and 61+ responses were relatively small in number, so the results are not as reliable as the other age groups. (As reliable as those may or may not be)

- That said, it is interesting to see the high percentage of “Almost” in the young age group. Is that because of proximity to the experimentation? More inherent experimentation? or perhaps a high degree of relative guilt for the same acts, guilt that may diminish over time? Who knows, with only 7 percent of respondents in this age group, it certainly could be skewed.

- The lowest number of “Almost” responses came from the 30-45 age group. That’s my age group. Way to go, people! We are a decisive bunch. None of this middling around, we pretty much do or do not.

- Of those age groups that constitute 83% of the responses, the numbers are fairly close. In the 19-60 combined age group, 52% engaged in premarital sex, another 11% reported enough activity to constitute “Almost” having premarital sex, and 36% reported no premarital sex.

This survey was created on a whim. I wish I had taken some time to think more about this, perhaps there is a better LDS-focused survey with numbers already. If I could do it again, I’d change the following:

- Better age group breakdowns - they are not consistent
- Additional demographic information, including Male/Female breakdowns
- Better defined responses. What, exactly, is “Almost”? I threw that up to be funny, but it would be interesting to see what those respondents considered “Almost”. Is it kissing? Groping? Fondling? Oral sex? This was a poorly thought-out question on my part.

I will admit to being a bit surprised at the responses. Even with the AP-reported survey having such a high number at 95%, having only roughy one-third of respondents here saying “No” opens my eyes a bit. Over half saying Yes and nearly two-thirds saying yes or almost is fairly significant.

…besides, Santa likes me.

You just sound like a rabble rouser that likes to cause controversy. You need to be placed on Santa’s naughty list.

I was the teacher of the Elders Quorum in AaFort Collins, Co. Ward. The lesson in the manuel was on the role of womens in the Church. I decided to divide the Quorum into small groups and assign stories about women in the scripture to each group, then have them teach a five minute lesson on what we can learn from these great women in the scripture.

The first group read the story of Tamar that Bount references. (I also gave the group Biblical cross references, to passages in the Law of Moses about the duty of a man “raise up seed” with his dead brother’s childless widow.)

The looks of the faces of these guys were priceless. They couldn’t even recite the plot line of the story without blushing or giggling like twelve-year-olds. Their conclusion? They couldn’t find anything righteous in what Tamar did because both she and Judah violated “the law of Chastity” (the LDS law of Chastity.) When I pointed out that in the story Tamar is praised as having been righteous for having played the harlot, no one said a word. Finally one fellow said he didn’t understand why the story was in the Bible to begin with–since we can learn nothing from it, and it only confuses people about chastity.

(When we gpt to the story of Deborah–who was a Judge in Israel–and the cross references [in the D&C, I believe] which implies that the Israelite Judges held the Priesthood–the silence was deafening.

….Good times….good times!)

So far we’ve had just over 70 responses. The current picture by age group:

19-29
Yes - 50%
No - 35%
Almost - 15%

30-45
Yes - 63%
No - 23%
Almost - 13%

46-60
Yes - 48%
No - 40%
Almost - 12%

61+
Yes - 40%
No - 60%
Almost - 0%

We’ve had the most responses in the 30-45 age group, the least in the 61+ group (zero in the under 18 crowd).

Maybe we should have one for the repentance process: “I’ve forgotten”

Parker, your symposium session has stuck with me, and I’m glad to see it published in the magazine. Not only did I find your paper affecting, but the comments from the audience also.

The standard we have is a good one, especially considering the need for a mature approach to sexual relations that is lacking in younger people. My questions relate to the tendency we have to take it too far with our rhetoric, to spiral it up until we have these ideas that are so difficult to manage.

Of course, I could wish you had expanded your questions a little further… after all, if we’re going to dredge up these good (or bad) memories, you might as well make it worth our while!

Possible additional questions:

4.) How old were you when you first had premarital sex?

5.) Do you regret having premarital sex? (Taking a cue from Parker in #1)

6.) Are you Male or Female?

I can think of others, but this is SSB, not the more provocative and titillating FMH.

I read somewhere recently that a study of the elderly revealed that as they looked back to their youth, the thing they regretted was not that they weren’t more virtuous, but that they hadn’t committed more vices. I wish I could recall the source. I am positive it was from scientific journal, but then again, maybe it was a dream. The next time you conduct your survey, perhaps you should add the question, “I wish I had.”