Why is the power to procreate so powerful?

[Dusty52]

I've been told the power to procreate is strong to encourage women and men to commit and have children, isn't it too powerful? Outside the bounds of marriage the power is used in terrible and destructive ways against others. If this feeling wasn't so powerful then maybe it wouldn't be so misused?
What do you think?

[mes5464]

The power of procreation is one of the things that makes us the most like God.
If we can't learn to control our urges in this controlled environment then we would never be able to control ourselves in the eternities.
One thing to remember about God is that no one else polices Him, He polices himself. We too, must learn to police and govern ourselves.

[MMbelieve]

I've been told the power to procreate is strong to encourage women and men to commit and have children, isn't it too powerful? Outside the bounds of marriage the power is used in terrible and destructive ways against others. If this feeling wasn't so powerful then maybe it wouldn't be so misused?
What do you think?

I do not believe that lowering the "power" or urge will prevent it from being misused. And there is a difference in perception. The urge to procreate vs. the urge to just have sex for the feeling.
I don't think those that misuse it are in it for the procreation part.

It's powerful for good and powerful for bad. Both sides capitalize on this fact. I will add, the worst of the worst evil I have seen or understood is the evil around improper used of the gift of procreation and the gift women bring to men. Very very powerful evil that grabs hold of those who violate and abuse human sexuality. On the flip side, a couple holding and looking down upon their new little creation is the most spiritual and wonderful moments they will ever share together.

The greatest I have ever felt in my life was when I had my newborn baby to my bosom, I felt like I reached and had obtained the measure of my creation on this earth.

Nothing like the fruit of righteous creation and nothing like the fruit of unrighteous use of those powers!

[Dusty52]

I've been told the power to procreate is strong to encourage women and men to commit and have children, isn't it too powerful? Outside the bounds of marriage the power is used in terrible and destructive ways against others. If this feeling wasn't so powerful then maybe it wouldn't be so misused?
What do you think?

I do not believe that lowering the "power" or urge will prevent it from being misused. And there is a difference in perception. The urge to procreate vs. the urge to just have sex for the feeling.
I don't think those that misuse it are in it for the procreation part.

It's powerful for good and powerful for bad. Both sides capitalize on this fact. I will add, the worst of the worst evil I have seen or understood is the evil around improper used of the gift of procreation and the gift women bring to men. Very very powerful evil that grabs hold of those who violate and abuse human sexuality. On the flip side, a couple holding and looking down upon their new little creation is the most spiritual and wonderful moments they will ever share together.

The greatest I have ever felt in my life was when I had my newborn baby to my bosom, I felt like I reached and had obtained the measure of my creation on this earth.

Nothing like the fruit of righteous creation and nothing like the fruit of unrighteous use of those powers!

Well said
I like your interpretation
I just wonder if the power was just turned down a notch or two then it wouldn't have the same impact!
It doesn't need to be as powerful as it is?
I'm not questioning the wisdom of Heavenly Father
It's just an idea I've had

[MMbelieve]

I've been told the power to procreate is strong to encourage women and men to commit and have children, isn't it too powerful? Outside the bounds of marriage the power is used in terrible and destructive ways against others. If this feeling wasn't so powerful then maybe it wouldn't be so misused?
What do you think?

I do not believe that lowering the "power" or urge will prevent it from being misused. And there is a difference in perception. The urge to procreate vs. the urge to just have sex for the feeling.
I don't think those that misuse it are in it for the procreation part.

It's powerful for good and powerful for bad. Both sides capitalize on this fact. I will add, the worst of the worst evil I have seen or understood is the evil around improper used of the gift of procreation and the gift women bring to men. Very very powerful evil that grabs hold of those who violate and abuse human sexuality. On the flip side, a couple holding and looking down upon their new little creation is the most spiritual and wonderful moments they will ever share together.

The greatest I have ever felt in my life was when I had my newborn baby to my bosom, I felt like I reached and had obtained the measure of my creation on this earth.

Nothing like the fruit of righteous creation and nothing like the fruit of unrighteous use of those powers!

Well said
I like your interpretation
I just wonder if the power was just turned down a notch or two then it wouldn't have the same impact!
It doesn't need to be as powerful as it is?
I'm not questioning the wisdom of Heavenly Father
It's just an idea I've had

I understand completely, I think most of us have wondered the same thing. I tend to lean towards if it was lowered, men wouldn't get married as readily, haha.

No doubt, it's powerful but I believe Satan has twisted it and fed it improperly to make it seem so powerful we can't control it. Which is completely false but real enough to acknowledge the perversion and abundance of influence the world has.

People who don't do improperly have an easier time doing it right and staying right. Why is this? Because they enter Satan's territory and Satan makes us feel helpless to control anything.

[Sarah]

I've been told the power to procreate is strong to encourage women and men to commit and have children, isn't it too powerful? Outside the bounds of marriage the power is used in terrible and destructive ways against others. If this feeling wasn't so powerful then maybe it wouldn't be so misused?
What do you think?

I've been pondering this same question for the last few days. It seems like there is so much awful suffering that comes from the misuse of these powers and desires. But I think MMbelieve made a good point that when we do sin and misuse that power, Satan immediately gains control, and makes it even harder to resist the temptation. At some point, his minions are in complete control of those who have given themselves over to his power and seek to use and abuse and hurt others.

A thought came to me when I was posting in the polygamy thread about the curses men and women received in the garden. It seems like women have more of a curse of suffering pain and men have more of a curse of having to work harder, and not just for bread, but spiritually work harder for the bread of life. They have to work harder at controlling their more powerful bodies. If you think about the two greatest types of sins - murder and sexual sin,the giving or taking of life - men have the most tendency to commit these sins because they are simply more aggressive in nature and have a more powerful sex drive. So it doesn't seem right that they would have a more difficult chance of passing the tests of life. But I have to imagine that spirit prison and the next sphere will equal everything out more. There might be more men suffering for their sins, but the potential is still there for them to be redeemed through the Savior and the forgiveness of those they have harmed. Women might have more temptation with more freedom, so perhaps the tables will be turned.

[Davka]

Elder Holland said in an address at one point (I don't think he was an apostle at the time, but President of BYU) that we are never closer to Gods than when we are using that [procreative] power. The talk is called "Of Souls, Symbols, and Sacraments" and was very helpful to me when I was a hormonally-driven, unmarried young adult. I haven't read it for years, so I hesitate to recommend it, but I remember it being very meaningful to me at the time.

[jsk]

The honest answer is that most men and many women would not marry if the drive weren't as strong as it is. Let's face it...marriage is hard even when you are with someone you love intensely. It is fraught with peril on both sides. I'm generalizing....but a woman is taking a terrible risk that the man she marries will be faithful to her, will be kind, will be a good provider for the family and father to her children. The man is likewise taking a big chance that his wife will accept his best efforts and be satisfied with what he is able to provide, and won't seek a man who is better looking, richer, etc. He is also taking a risk that she will love and care about him enough to meet his sexual needs, which is a big deal for most men (for many women too).

So...without the constant and unrelenting sexual drive, the simple fact is that most men and many women would never get married. Sorry....but this is a simple truth.

[Juliet]

I think the power to procreate is misused as a way to deal with suffering. I think pain and suffering is the real culprit behind all abuse. Therefore it is eliminating pain and suffering and not eliminating procreative powers that will stop this type of abuse. If we eliminate desire then people will take their pain out on others in some other way.

Sexual perversion comes because usually in childhood a child is forced to endure pain and can't escape and because oxytocin drives pain out of the brain the child will produce it to compensate for the pain. The problem is it is also the bonding hormone and that is why a bond to suffering develops.

So the solution is to stop suffering especially in childhood. Not to stop bonding in general.

I think humanity has accepted pain as a way of life. It is so sad because suffering could so easily be eliminated if we made it a priority to eliminate it instead of spending all our time blaming each other for what small pains we have and then complaining about having to work so hard when a few hours of work per person could easily feed and clothe a community if that is what we wanted. But no, pain is part of life and that is the way we have believed ever since the beginning because of Eve, and that is also partly why women are first to be abused because of the repressed blame of all our problems on her for eating the fruit first. Even Paul blames Eve in what has to be one of the best fruedian slips in the Bible. You can't believe in Jesus Christ and His power to end suffering and simultaneously blame Adam and Eve for their transgression.

The solution is always Jesus Christ who has been preaching eternal life since the beginning of time and yet we still don't seem to get it.

[Arenera]

I've been told the power to procreate is strong to encourage women and men to commit and have children, isn't it too powerful? Outside the bounds of marriage the power is used in terrible and destructive ways against others. If this feeling wasn't so powerful then maybe it wouldn't be so misused?
What do you think?

I do not believe that lowering the "power" or urge will prevent it from being misused. And there is a difference in perception. The urge to procreate vs. the urge to just have sex for the feeling.
I don't think those that misuse it are in it for the procreation part.

It's powerful for good and powerful for bad. Both sides capitalize on this fact. I will add, the worst of the worst evil I have seen or understood is the evil around improper used of the gift of procreation and the gift women bring to men. Very very powerful evil that grabs hold of those who violate and abuse human sexuality. On the flip side, a couple holding and looking down upon their new little creation is the most spiritual and wonderful moments they will ever share together.

The greatest I have ever felt in my life was when I had my newborn baby to my bosom, I felt like I reached and had obtained the measure of my creation on this earth.

Nothing like the fruit of righteous creation and nothing like the fruit of unrighteous use of those powers!

A woman would only do one pregnancy if they didn't get the feeling you mention.

A man on the other hand, needs the strong drive in case plural marriage is justified and he has more than one wife.

[MMbelieve]

I've been told the power to procreate is strong to encourage women and men to commit and have children, isn't it too powerful? Outside the bounds of marriage the power is used in terrible and destructive ways against others. If this feeling wasn't so powerful then maybe it wouldn't be so misused?
What do you think?

I do not believe that lowering the "power" or urge will prevent it from being misused. And there is a difference in perception. The urge to procreate vs. the urge to just have sex for the feeling.
I don't think those that misuse it are in it for the procreation part.

It's powerful for good and powerful for bad. Both sides capitalize on this fact. I will add, the worst of the worst evil I have seen or understood is the evil around improper used of the gift of procreation and the gift women bring to men. Very very powerful evil that grabs hold of those who violate and abuse human sexuality. On the flip side, a couple holding and looking down upon their new little creation is the most spiritual and wonderful moments they will ever share together.

The greatest I have ever felt in my life was when I had my newborn baby to my bosom, I felt like I reached and had obtained the measure of my creation on this earth.

Nothing like the fruit of righteous creation and nothing like the fruit of unrighteous use of those powers!

A woman would only do one pregnancy if they didn't get the feeling you mention.

A man on the other hand, needs the strong drive in case plural marriage is justified and he has more than one wife.

I disagree