and that the sexual deviant must not be helped to achieve sexual pleasure. In this last matter Dr. Ullerstam sets the example for actively helping people to enjoy their own personal deviations when he expresses the hope that, if nothing else, his book will meet various pornographic needs.

Ullerstam points out that it is an inescapable fact that the major blame for our poisoned attitude toward sex lies with Christianity. In his view: "... religion has many things on its conscience, such as the persecution of heretics, the Inquisition, the religious wars, and the terror directed against science, but it is questionable whether the cruelties indulged in under the banner of sexual decency do not, in the end, surpass all the others." It is not only the sexually deviant who have suffered from the myths and attitudes fostered by the Christian Church, the idea that any sexual experiance which is pleasurable is to some extent sinful, or at least naughty,(sex is for reproduction, not. for pleasure) has persisted even into modern times. Since man is, by nature, a sexual being, very few people in western society have completely escaped the feelings of guilt generated by this "Christian" attitude toward sex. While the modern church can no longer openly claim that all sexual activity is sinful for fear of being held up to ridicule, it can still lash out against the "perverts" And even though this has proved ineffectual in eliminating the "perverted acts", it has succeded in substantially reducing the pleasure which may be derived from these acts. In his chapter dealing specifically with homosexuality Dr. Ullerstam says: "When the Swedish bishops, in a letter addressed to the clergy of the church, declare in 1951 that whoever 'engages in homosexual activity breaks the commandments of God', we know very well what bloody tradition they are upholding. Now is the time for a new encyclical. Reverend Sirs! Consider that there still are homosexuals who believe in what you say, strange as that may sound! Remember that you still have the power to cause suffering! Has not Christianity created enough hell on earth for homosexuals? Would it not be a good deed, acceptable in the eyes of God, to lighten the burden of guilt these poor individuals have to carry?"

In this country there has been somewhat of a revolution in the Protestant Chruches' attitude toward the "perversion" of homowhich has gained speed enormously since Dr. Ullerstam wrote his book. It seems likely that if he had known of the changes in attitude which have recently occurred on the part of many protestant clergymen in this country, he would have been more optomistic about the possibility of the Church adopting a philosophy which would tend to make man's sexual stay on Earth a little more pleasurable.

If there is one area of western attitudes toward sex which Dr. Ullerstam considers more ludicrous than all the rest, it is the prohibition against that literature which reminds the reader too pointedly of the natural function of the genital organs, i.e. pornography. At a time in history when man has learned to be

more objective about his relationship with his environment than ever before it is astonishing that we should still find it necessary to protect ourselves from too much knowledge about this particular small part of our anatomy. Dr. Ullerstam has no use for this sort of nonsense. He reminds us that while it has never been shown by any objective scientific study that pornography is harmful in any way to the individuals who use it, we still prohibit it. On the other hand, we continue to show all manner of terror and violence to our children through movies and television in the face of some very good evidence that they are adversely affected by this. It turns out that the only thing which we can say for sure about pornography is that it provides considerable pleasure for many individuals.

In this country this book will undoubtably move the level of tolerance for those whose sexual interests differ from those of the majority of the population upward if only by a microscopic amount. Unfortunately the impact of Dr. Ullerstam's significant. and undeniable assertions may be somewhat undercut by his rather extreme way of stating them. The book is not written for those who have yet to learn to crawl before they 'can walk when it comes to sexual matters, it begins with an attack on some of our most firmly entrenched taboos. Perhaps the most severe criticism that one can make of this polemic is that Dr, Ullerstam carries his ideas to their logical conclusion. In any field but human sex behavoir this is considered to be admirable. Dr. Ullerstam's final words serve as a fitting summary: "May my final arguement on behalf of the erotic minorities be imbued with a measure of pathos. We human beings are miniscule creatures, surviving in an enormous cosmic universe, on a small planet, without knowing the reason why; and sooner or later we will all be annihilated. The conditions we live in are hard, and despite all religious public conveniences, all of us are prey to painful anxiety and fear-fear of the dark, the nothingness, the infinity at the beginning and at the end of this short episode we call life. These are the dark surroundings mankind exists in. Our only certainty is that we all share the same miserable conditions. We have one another, we have a Little company to carry us through the episode of life. And. also, we have been given the ability to experience happiness. One of its cources is our sex, and the happiness stemming from this source is of such drastic power that it at times even allows us to forget the prospect of annihilation for a while.

Why should we, then, finding ourselves in this predicament as human beings, make our mutual existance even more difficult? Should we not rejoice, instead, that we have been provided with various potentialities for the experience of joy, and help each other to achieve it in our various ways, even if these should' happen to be of a sexual nature?

I cannot see but that we should feel reverence for the sources of joy, even if they have been acquired through emotionally damaging experience.