no, it's not a religious thing; like i said, he's scared of losing a part of him, forever, with kisses/sexual acts that don't lead to marriage. he said that he's never had a girlfriend because he hasn't met anyone who seems like she could be his future wife. i was telling him about one of my exes, and how we barely had a functioning relationship (i made sure to point out that we never had sex ). i eventually broke up with that guy because i lost my attraction to him. my co-worker thought that was horribly scandalous. but i told him, too, that the relationship was messed up anyway, because we never really knew that much about each other. we spent most of our time together going to the movies or watching them at home on the couch, and basking in glorious, extremely comfortable silences. "if i were going out w/ a girl," said my co-worker, "all i'd do would be talk. no going out, no movies. i'd just wanna know everything about her." i told him that's the wrong approach, and that she has to be his friend, too, not just some seperate kind of pretty thing that shares his values. he disagreed. "you guys have to have fun," i said, but he wasn't w/ me on that, and made it all sound like it was just a big interview process for the future father of his kids and lifetime companion. but also, as i said above, his being 20 knocks him out of the running, no matter what .