A couple of weeks ago, Katy Perry told Rolling Stone that "when you put sex and spirituality in the same bottle and shake it up, bad things happen." While the comment was directed toward Lady Gaga's antics with a rosary, we couldn't help but feel as if she had a point. Have music videos like Gaga's "Alejandro" turned spiritually-tinged sex into a gimmick? Perry, a pastor's daughter gone wild, would know a thing or two about the intermingling of friskiness and the Christian faith, after all. As it turns out, a market for Christian sex toys exists, and it's serious business. The Huffington Post recently published a short piece on Book 22 , an online sex aid shop that's been around since 2006. The store's name comes from Song of Solomon, the Bible's famously erotic twenty-second book. We weren't sure what to expect before logging on—would they sell essence of frankincense and myrrh massage oils? Dildos shaped like the staff of a shepherd? The possibilities are endless, perhaps borderline offensive. The Best Sex Toys for Couples Alas, our expectations met an anticlimactic end. Book22's offerings are more or less indiscernible from those of any other sex shop. Lotions and oils are labeled benignly with names like "Ounce of Passion" and "Oil with Pheromones." The description for "Happy Penis Cream" promises a warm, tingly effect, making for "one very happy penis" indeed. An array of pastel-colored, waterproof vibrators come in all shapes and sizes. Noticeably missing, however, were BDSM aids, nude pictures, or references to the forbidden fruit. The sex toy's lack of ostensible Christian references makes us wonder why Bible-believing couples can't just log onto Babeland and take it from there. In the website's "About" section, founders Kevin and Joy Wilson explain that their business is a product of prayer and counsel with couples who struggle with intimacy. As a Christian sex shop, Book22 encourages "God's plan for people to remain sexually pure." That is, the company's policy requires that products be purchased exclusively by married couples. Book22's sex aids aren't just fun playthings, they're means by which Christian couples can enjoy the intimacy they believe God has given them. What Do Men Think About Vibrators? To find out what other Christians think of these products, we logged onto a popular evangelical blog, Jesus Needs New PR , which features an interview with "Sensuous Wife Shula," a sex toy proponent who founded her own Christian sex shop . According to Shula, wives should embrace their God-given sexuality. "The idea of 'spirit good body bad' is all over our culture and we have to guard against it," Shula says. "Our bodies are created and redeemed by God. No reason why we can't use technology in the bedroom to give each others' bodies pleasure and to celebrate oneness in a beautiful erotic way." Regardless of their religious beliefs, most long-term couples can attest to occasional dry periods in the bedroom, and Shula says that toys can help enhance sex while building self-awareness in women and honesty between married couples. Now there's something we'd like to hear in a sermon one day. True Tales of Sex After Kids
