h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Religion - Agnostic

Sex Before Marriage: Yes! Enjoy your life for goodness sakes!

Religion - C of E (ish)

Sex Before Marriage: probaly best not too, but ...

Religeon: Christian, a more conservative branch.

What Religeon Says: In the Bible it says not to have sex before marriage. The church holds that view and teaches that view.

Me Personally: I want to wait until marriage. Not nessisairly because of my Christian faith (though that helps) but because it will be more special to share it with only one person. That and the fact that regardless whether you use condoms or whatnot, there is still risk of pregnancy and STDs.

but I think that it is a personal choice.

peace.

Does it really say that in the bible? I have forgotten a lot of that stuff since I left the convent (yes, really) but I don't recall what it actually says.


I have a problem with rules made because it says so in the bible, there is a lot of contradictory and odd stuff in there. Aren't we forbidden to eat shellfish or something?


You are right though, it is a personal choice to wait or not.

According to the bible, female (but not male) adulterers should be stoned.

Thinking about it, maybe the bible is on to something. Some of the best sex I've had has been when me and my partner have both been stoned

That is what makes reading the Bible interesting. You have several seemingly conflicting angles, however, if you look into it, it can actually make some sence. I have to think historically, compare Old Testament vs New testament (before Jesus and after Jesus), and try to understand what God is trying to tell me.

Which is why when you add all of that together, there are many different views concerning what the Bible is trying to say. Some of it is historical, some poetry, some first hand accounts of what happened...

But that is just my view.



peace.

Actually, Loonytunes, the Bible does not say that is ok... there is a story of Jesus stopping a stonning of a woman saying, "Let him without sin, cast the first stone." which is not at all telling them to do that.

peace.

Sir T, if you carefully read all of John 7 (The Feast at the Tabernacle) you may come up with a different interpretation of what Jesus was trying to achieve. In any case, his boss, God, ruled that adulterers should be stoned to death

Religion: Well I think I'm Catholic. My Mum stopped going to church after the priest told her when her marriage to my father broke down that she should, "go back to your man and beg for forgiveness". She told him to stuff his prayer book in a place where the sun don't shine.

Sex before marriage: Well if this is wrong, I'm in deep s**t now.

In reading chapter 7, I hear Jesus saying that his doctrine "is not Mine, but His who sent me." (verse 16)

Doesn't say anything about killing adulterers.

peace.

Sir T, check out http://www.jesusis.net/news.html The relevant bit is the article at the bottom. It explains, among other things, that the bit in the bible about Jesus trying to stop one woman from being stoned in accordance with God's earlier ruling was a late addition to the bible.

Thanks for posting the Article, Loonytunes.

I personally think that that guy is a joke.

However, I respect your opinion.

peace.

It may be interesting for everyone to know that it does say no se before marriage, and when i write this up in the article i will be putting bible verses and explanations etc about this. However - there are always conflicting interpretations of the Bible, so it'll be interesting to see what u all think.

Keep the comments coming!

Thank You!



spook

Religeon: Weekender/agnostic

Sex before marriage: I don't see anything wrong with it.

Sex should involve people mature enough to decide for themselves they want to do it, who are able and willing to deal with any consequences (new lives, STDs, relationships...). I am a natural pantheist, happy with any connection between sex and marriage that is acceptable to all participants. As FABT said: 'And ye harm none, do what ye will'.

Sex (reproduction) is an instinctive thing; marriage is an invented concept. Any connection between the two is surely 'in the eye of the beholder'? [Not that there's anything wrong with that. ]

The puzzling thing is why this topic is provoking so much discussion. Are we trying to take other people's sexual/marital decisions for them? If so, why, and by what right? I suggest instead that we take control of our own behaviour, and accept responsibility for it. The benefits would far outweigh hours spent here in empty moralising, IMO.

Pattern-chaser

"Who cares, wins"

I still think it is interesting how we are all basically saying the same thing.

what's right for some is not for others

we dont have the right to decide anything for others regarding this

everyone makes mistakes

dont make mistakes for others

etc.





we seem to be very like minded for such a diverse group, wonder how that happened.....



FABT

I think it is more important to wait for the right person then the right time...

These are admirable sentiments.

Jesus had a number of interesting things to say, and I'm pretty sure that one of them is that it's OK to live with your partner before marriage as long as the intention is to marry. This kind of implies that if you live together as husband and wife you're likely having sex too.

He also says that if your partner is of the faith but you are not, your choice to be with that person effectively sanctifies you in God's eyes. This is a good deal for us poor sinners.

I have a question for those who have chosen to wait: are you looking for someone with the same convictions as yourself? Or would it matter to you if the Right Person had already had sex?

I have no religion - although I have been brought up having to listen to C of E christians through school.

I just have a problem with the fact that - assuming most other blokes feel the same way as me, i.e. spend much of their time thinking about getting into girlies' underpants. That the only way to do this is to get married seems horrific, and unfair on both parties.

On the other hand though, I have actually got a lot of admiration for people who do wait until their wedding night, but as long as the decision is made by them, and not forced upon them by anyone or any institution.

But it doesn't seem a very good thing for marriages either. If it is true that the people who wait often get married early, that is probably because they are getting quite desperate. While the rest of us have time to find the proper person.