# Political Compass #56: Sex outside of marriage is usually immoral. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 3, 2005, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-56-sex-outside-of-marriage-is-usually-immoral/302212 "2005-05-03T11:24:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2005, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-56-sex-outside-of-marriage-is-usually-immoral/302212/101 "2005-05-04T21:08:05Z")
I don’t have a pre-conceived notion. I have no emotional investment in what the text says or means. I’m just trying translate objectively. It would be ok with me if the Bible condemned “fornication” because I don’t recognize the Bible as having any moral authority anyway. In this case, though, the weight of lexicographical evidence, including the definitive entry of Liddell and Scott, defines _porneia_ as prostitution. Even if it refers to all prostitution and not just cultic prostitution, that still does not support a definition of “fornication,” and “sexual immorality” is just a place holder at best if we don’t know what was meant by “immorality.” I don’t have a need to make the Bible fit my prejudices. There is plenty in the Bible which i think unambiguously contradicts my personal ethos and in those cases, I just say the Bible is wrong and I’m right. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2005, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-56-sex-outside-of-marriage-is-usually-immoral/302212/102 "2005-05-04T21:17:01Z")
I meant to say “lexicological,” not “lexicographical.” ---
**Author:** ![Taber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@Taber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taber)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2005, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-56-sex-outside-of-marriage-is-usually-immoral/302212/103 "2005-05-04T23:05:28Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > I meant to say “lexicological,” not “lexicographical.” I was totally just about to call you on that, too! ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2005, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-56-sex-outside-of-marriage-is-usually-immoral/302212/104 "2005-05-04T23:51:52Z")
-2.88, 0.41 Agree I make allowances for people in long-term, committed relationships- meaning couples who have grown to care about each other deeply _before_ engaging in sex- and for those who aren’t _allowed_ to marry ('cause they’re gay, usually) and are likewise in long-term committed relationships because people in those cases are likely to care enough about themselves and the other to make healthy choices, but other than that…casual sex causes too many problems, and leads to too many unwanted pregnancies which in turn leads to other immoral things like abortion and child abuse/neglect, to be taken lightly by me and see it as morally neutral. If sex had no baggage to it, it could be morally neutral, but sex doesn’t exist in a vacuum. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2005, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-56-sex-outside-of-marriage-is-usually-immoral/302212/105 "2005-05-05T03:02:34Z")
(-3.38, -5.54) **Strongly disagree**. I believe sex is morally neutral in the absence of any coercion or breach of trust. Modern medicine has mostly changed sex from a reproductive act that must be carefully restricted to a recreational act that requires only minor precautions, and IMO that’s nothing but good. ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2005, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-56-sex-outside-of-marriage-is-usually-immoral/302212/106 "2005-05-05T08:24:40Z")
I pretty much agree with that, **Captain** , although as you suggest, it might have been more appropriate in the other thread (don’t worry, I’l be opening a new “Ultimate Political Compass” thread after the last proposition). One thing I would quibble with briefly: > [@](#): > > you’re still saying, “Your freedom to spend your money as you like needs to be limited for the good of society.” I say that that portion which is spent on “the good of society” is _not_ ever “yours” in the first place (see, and if necessary _reply_ in, [#53](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=311319)). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-56-sex-outside-of-marriage-is-usually-immoral/302212.md?page=5)