Passionate Kissing
Is passionate kissing acceptable before marriage?
President Spencer W. Kimball taught:
'Kissing has been prostituted and has
degenerated to develop and express lust instead of affection,
honor, and admiration. To kiss in casual dating is asking for
trouble. What do kisses mean when given out like pretzels and
robbed of sacredness? What is miscalled the "soul
kiss" is an abomination and stirs passions to the
eventual loss of virtue. Even if timely courtship
justifies the kiss it should be a clean, decent, sexless one
like the kiss between mother and son, or father and daughter.
If the "soul kiss" with its passion
were eliminated from dating there would be an immediate
upswing in chastity and honor, with fewer illegitimate
babies, fewer unwed mothers, fewer forced marriages, fewer
unhappy people.
With the absence of the "soul kiss"
necking would be greatly reduced. The younger sister of
petting, it should be totally eliminated. Both are
abominations in their own right."
"Immorality does not begin in adultery
or perversion. It begins with little indiscretions like sex
thoughts, sex discussions, passionate kissing, petting, and
such, growing with every exercise. The small indiscretion
seems powerless compared to the sturdy body, the strong mind,
the sweet spirit of youth who give way to the first
temptation. But soon the strong has become weak, the master
the slave, spiritual growth curtailed. But if the first
unrighteous act is never given root, the tree will grow to
beautiful maturity and the youthful life will grow toward
God, our Father. (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p.281)
Elder Richard G. Scott taught:
"When you are mature enough to plan
seriously for marriage, keep your expressions of
feelings to those that are comfortable in the presence of
your parents." (See Making Right Choices,
emphasis added)
Elder Legrand Richards taught
"[When I was a boy, one of our brethren
out in the ward] told us that we hadn't ought to be kissing
girls until we were sure we were going to marry them. Then he
used this little illustration. He said, "Which one of
you boys would like to eat a sandwich where your boy friend
had licked all the butter off?" That made such an
impression upon me as a boy that I decided that no boy friend
of mine would ever accuse me of licking the butter off his
sandwich and I kept my promise. ( BYU Speeches, October 3,
1962, p.11)
In summary, passionate kissing is a sin before
marriage. If you are doing anything with someone that you would
not also feel comfortable doing with your brother or sister while
in the presence of your parents, then you are going too far and
need to repent.
(See Daily Living home page; Dating and Courtship home
page)
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