Walt's World

It's interesting. Interacting with a person of the opposite sex, with the intent to see how attracted they are to you, is a game of subtlety, requiring attention to detail and some degree of discipline. The key to flirting is the showing of interest, though it is not solely the showing of interest that comprises flirtatious behavior. Carrying on a semi-personal conversation with someone of the opposite sex [1], especially someone attractive and congenial, is often one of the most pleasant and interesting of available ways to pass the time. (E.g., airplane or other sequestered travel, airports, online, etc.)

It's informative. Depending on how the subject of one's flirting responds, and depending on your opinion of said subject's overall attractiveness, flirting can then be used as an indicator of how attractive one is on a visual and/or conversational basis. (E.g., "if a girl that I find very attractive and intelligent also finds me attractive and intelligent, then perhaps I really am attractive and intelligent.")

But flirting, like all levels of human interaction, is addictive.

And, like all addictions, it is insatiable. Not only does one desire to flirt more once one has started, but—also like most addictions—the heart begins to long for greater and more fulfilling interaction. Especially, all things physical. But each bit of interaction not only puts emotional feelings into gear, but it sets off a chain of physical reactions as well. The body produces chemicals in response to the pleasant feelings it is experiencing. Therefore, even when the session of flirting is over, and even after the emotion has died down, the physical change that the body has undergone is not so easily reversed, nor easily pacified.

The natural drugs that the human body produces are perhaps nearly as powerful as many man-made or external drugs. They are that way by Design. Consider what could possibly cause a man to settle down and take on the responsibility of another person's life, expenses, health, and—perhaps most significant of all—their personality with its quirks and flaws? Then, in addition, the responsibility of more lives involved in the caring for the well-being of a family? Naturally, it is the promise of emotional and physical fulfillment. Only consider, for a moment, that there was no such emotional or physical remuneration for the enduring of a relationship, and it does not take a genetic physicist to see that the human race would have died out long ago.

An awareness of this reality tends to put flirting in an altogether different context than "innocent fun." How rare it is that one flirts "just for fun," even if those are the only thoughts going through one's mind. Flirting is either the manifestation of an insecurity with one's own attractiveness, social ability, or some other concern about one's ability to interact effectively with the opposite sex; or it is a conscious or unconcsious attempt to establish a relationship for the purposes of physical or emotional pleasure.

So is it wrong to flirt? My response to this question is another question: Is it "wrong" to drink alcohol in moderation? Is it wrong to smoke marijuana? While some may answer a definitive, "Yes!" to these questions, it is my opinion that neither are explicitly or directly declared immoral, Biblically. But each of these behaviors is addictive. Just as one cannot drink alcohol or smoke marijuana without a change, however minute, in one's state of mind and to one's body, one also cannot flirt without such changes occuring. And, it is possible to drink or smoke responsibly, without endangering one's own health or the health of others, just as it is possible to flirt without serious effect.

Some who avoid any association with alcohol and drugs because of lack of desire for an altered state of mind or a concern for the potential for addiction do not think twice about interacting with the opposite sex in an emotionally or physically stimulating manner, despite the fact that such interaction will lead to increased desire for such interaction and significant consequences if pursued as the body would mandate.

Therefore, it is my opinion that flirting poses a significant risk to the average person's life in the form of a distraction from proper emotional and spiritual priorities to a growing interest in the pursuit of premature physical and emotional pleasure.