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Sex and Religion

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Submitted By clbeletti
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Pages 6
Courtney Beletti
REL 265.104
Essay #2
Regulation of the Sex Act
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In our culture today there is a large disagreement over how society treats sex and how religion treats it. The biggest argument during this time is whether or not same-sex marriage should be allowed. Political officials in each state have the duty to make the decision without having the voice of religion chime in. However, religious officials and religious citizens are letting their own beliefs decide whether or not someone else is allowed to do what they want. Another argument where the state and church collide, but is not as heated at the moment, is if the act of intercourse should be regulated. In regards to this question the answer is no, at least when it comes to two people in a relationship. The reasons why this should not be regulated are because (a) contrary to many religious beliefs the act is not impure, (b) sex is for more than just procreation, and (c) there is no logical way to regulate sex without combining church and state and merging social norms and individual morality. The book Genesis (ESV translation) 1:27 says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created [man].” A few verses later verse 31 reads, “And God saw everything he had made, and behold, it was very good.” Since God created man and saw everything he made as good then man himself is inherently good. A man named David Ribner who is an Orthodox Jew and an AASECT-certified sex therapist put it this way, “…as God created the human body—male and female—it was by definition good. Thus any departure from that belief was an unacceptable act of denial. As a consequence, no body part could be considered gross, nor could any permitted activity, such as marital sexual intercourse, be deemed intolerable,” (Melby 1). If sex in marriage is permitted, then the act is not impure in God’s eye. The

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