The Sinful Sex in the World of Religion

Why is sex such a sin? In every religious book there is a mentioning of the guilty pleasures of sex. The entire or all the Abrahamic religions are monotheistic and based on the story of the “Garden Of Eden”. Adam and Eve roaming around naked in the garden guilt free, when suddenly the serpent convinces Eve to eat the forbidden fruit (sex). Then Adam eats the forbidden fruit and they both realize that they are naked?

So in other words Adam and Eve found out about their sexual parts, sex and the emotion of shame only after eating the fruit from “the tree of knowledge”? The same tree that gave them the knowledge which allowed them to realize that they are actually very sexual beings.

It just does not make sense. If Adam and Eve were to remain “innocent” forever – had Eve not eaten the forbidden fruit – would they still be able to have sex in the Garden Of Eden to make babies – even without the help of the serpent and the Tree of Knowledge?

Sex has been a taboo in all religion. Here are some excerpt from forums discussing just that.

By nastytrumpet

Many religions, especially earlier ones, view pleasure or nonproductive activity as sinful. Non-creation sex is definitely “nonproductive” activity. Others view overindulgence as sinful and classified sex as overindulging.

I also feel like humans naturally have a high desire to sexually perform and are really uncomfortable with their sexual abilities. Not many people would want to have sex in front of an audience, especially not of people they know. Because it made people uncomfortable, talking about it and engaging in it is sinful. Over time, this became more deeply rooted.

By TriciaG28 (Bean na h-Éireann)

One compelling theory: religions institutions retain temporal power by controlling the people’s sexual freedoms. Sex is a basic human drive- a need just like food and water. Control it and you control the person. So the church says that sex should only occur within marriage on the grounds that pregnancy means responsibility to the child (which, before contraception, made a good deal of sense). Marriage is the province of the church- ergo, the church controls your sex life. Abortion and contraception threaten that by making responsible extra-marital sex a realistic possibility, and are therefore condemned.

Even though we live in an age where it’s no longer realistic any more because of the increase in secular thinking, the possibility of non-religious marriage, and more liberal approaches to sex and relationships, these attitudes persist in the name of traditional values.

It’s sad. I have nothing against religion, nor religious individuals- only the way that organised religion is still used as a tool for those at the top to control people.

Then there is the argument that sex outside wedlock is the only sex that is considered as a taboo in most or all of the religion. That being said, when it comes to digital sex or internet pornography, obviously religion has no answer as religion was construed in the yesteryear’s of mankind’s non-electronic age. At present day the definition of sex is so complex and variant (out of wedlock mostly) that no one even bothers to think of sex in the context of religion.

Author: ecloudy

I live in the United States, meditate, do Zen and help people find meaning to present day religious conflicts. Read my opinions (on religion) to find out how I changed my thoughts on life, religion and God - sharing my knowledge and life experiences with you, now doing so living in a country which destiny chose for me.