Why does God care who fucks who and when and where and shit? For that matter, why does he care who doesn’t fuck who and when and where and shit? Is there any other single subject in the bible that gets as much attention as fucking? Or not fucking, as the case may be. (Fucking encompasses all sexual activity for the purpose of this question; it’s easier to type ‘fucking’ than to enumerate all the possibilities although the enumeration might be more fun but enumeration is probably considered fucking and is therefore forbidden.)
Quite a few of them, actually.
There are plenty of religious people who devote a misleadingly large amount of attention to “fucking,” but it’s hardly the Bible’s #1 concern.
The Bible’s #1 concern seems to be foreskins.
Doesn’t that play a big role in fucking? Or is that ‘foreplay?’ Or is there a difference?
Chitlins?
(chitterlings)
Um, is there any other single topic that occupies more of society’s attention? Human procreation and the social norms around it are a core aspect of civilization and how we relate to each other.
In tribal cultures, it takes on even more importance. And still more when there is no birth control.
I’d argue that one of the reasons religion even evolved in the first place was to codify our sexual/family relationships and build frameworks for social norms, enforced by the threat of punishment from a deity.
There is no such thing as a sin.
Masturbation is not a sin in the Bible. God looks at the heart and not the action. What is your thoughts during masturbation, is it selfish or a desire to Love the other person. God is Love so if it is Loved based there is no sin.
That puts an interesting spin on “love your neighbor as yourself.” Of course, the implication of that phrase is that you have to be able to love yourself first before you are able to love your neighbor. So, loving yourself during masturbation appears to be ok unless it’s lust for yourself. No wonder we have such a dysfunctional view of our sexuality.
That’s… a new one to me. Saul was merely relieving himself, according to the text and every interpretation I’ve ever heard.
To add on to what cmkeller said, even in the Orthodox community there is a wide range of opinions. My friend went to a lecture by an Orthodox sex therapist, and she said in order to have a healthy sex life, a girl should “experiment” before marriage to see what works for her and what doesn’t.
As regards to Onan and onanism and all that- the rabbis interpreted that passage pretty broadly, as “All semen must go into a vagina. Semen outside of a vagina is bad.” Thus, you get your problems with masturbation, anal sex, birth control, and the like, all from Onan’s use of the withdrawal method.
Mind you, Onan doesn’t seem like a nice guy who happened to play with himself on the side. The text says he was deliberately not getting his wife pregnant so as not to produce kids for his brother. (Okay, quick summery of levirate marriage: Brother A dies without any kids. Brother B marries A’s widow, and their firstborn kid is considered the heir of Brother A. Er marries Tamar, dies, no kids. Onan marries Tamar, doesn’t want to raise Er’s heir, “spills his seed”).
(I would argue that the primary reason religion evolved was to provide priests with an easy living and a power structure that arose from fear. Emphasis was placed on sex simply because everyone had an interest.)
How about if we re-cast my question so that the word “priest” is substituted for “God,” with the understanding that ‘priest’ includes all the words normally used with referring to shamans, pastors, preachers, etc., etc, lest I be accused of attacking the RCC exclusively.
Malleus, Incus, Stapes:
Actually, the Rabbis have no problem with heterosexual anal sex. It’s not “all semen must go into a vagina”, it’s “all semen must go into a woman.” By the same token, not all methods of birth control are outright prohibited by Jewish law (for a person who has already fulfilled the commandment to “be fruitful and multiply”), only condom usage. Pills (and, presumably other drug-delivery methods, like that needle that gets implanted into a woman’s arm for a month’s dosage - I forgot the name), diaphragms and sponges are permitted (although “family planning” is discouraged, as large Jewish families are much desired by the Jewish religion).
That’s why I said problems, not prohibitions. I suppose the word I should have used would be complications.
But thank you for telling me about the rules on hetero anal sex. I did not know that.
“Sorry, but God says you can’t spit it out.”
Ah, but early withdrawal is not a guaranteed method of birth control because sperm is present in pre-ejaculatory fluid. Ergo, Herr Onan could err by launching his man chowder into the air, perhaps an errant dab landing in mujer Tamar’s hair, but in error have already created Er’s heir.
Even worse, he could have gotten it in 'er eye.
HA! Post of the month!! :D:D:p
Ownership.
God wants tithing payers. God is short of cash, and apparently, a poor money manager. So he wants to make sure that people don’t fuck out of wedlock. Because then we might not be able to tell who the biological father is. And the father might not want a not-his-son to inherit his property. So if you want to be assured of inheritances and property transfer, you create a fear-based control system. Control the sex and you control the money. Now the pope can afford a pretty new hat whenever he wants one because you had sex with your wife and only your wife and she had sex with you and only you, so we all know whose kid it is. And you will now raise your kid to be a good tithing payer in whatever church it is that you attend that expects tithing.
Neither marriage of tithing will guarantee the fidelity of either husband or wife. I don’t doubt the fear based control aspect; I suspect that’s the only thing most churches have going for them but the fear has to come from other areas. I think; you might be more right than wrong.