Adultery
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Adultery is what adults do with adults other than their spouses (spice?) when they have sex with people they haven't agreed that it is ok to have it with.
It is also a truism that: infants do not have anywhere near as much fun in infancy as adults do in adultery.[1]
But seriously, it's not nice to cheat, it hurts your spouse. [2]
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[edit] Adultery and the law
Most ancient societies had laws proscribing adultery, since it can be major source of division and conflict within communities, and was often punished by the death penalty. The Torah law of the Old Testament is an example of this. Jesus Christ is reported to have saved an adultress from being stoned to death ("let he who is without sin cast the first stone"), although some extreme conservatives, not being happy with the concept of forgiveness or the anti-death penalty stance of the story, dispute the validity of this incident.[3]
Most modern societies have removed laws against adultery, regarding it as a personal issue rather than a societal one, although it is often grounds for a divorce or marriage annulment. However, adultery is still a criminal offense in some nations, largely Muslim ones, such as Iran and Saudi Arabia, with a harsh interpretation of Sharia law. Often no distinction is made between adultery and fornication, so any sexual activity by an unmarried couple could be classed as adultery.
In 2002, a Nigerian woman named Amina Lawal Kurami was convicted of adultery when she became pregnant out of wedlock, some time after being divorced from her husband. She was sentenced to death by stoning, but the sentence was later overturned, not because it would be barbaric, but because Sharia law recognises the concept of "extended pregnancy", asserting that a woman's gestation can last up to five years. Thus, the verdict of the appeal was that she could hypothetically have been carrying the child of her estranged husband rather than having committed adultery.[4]
Of non-Islamic nations, South Korea still has laws against adultery, with a two-year prison stint being the maximum sentence,[5] and some of the united states (Michigan, Maryland, Pennsylvania) still nominally have adultery laws, although prosecutions are rarely made.
[edit] Christians and adultery
Adultery is listed in the Big Ten. Jesus mentions it over twenty times in the New Testament. He even talks about "adultery of the mind". He mentions homosexuality zero times. Yet, the single greatest threat to fundamentalist marriages is apparently homosexuality, not adultery.
[edit] Self proclaimed conservative Christians who have committed adultery
- Garner Ted Armstrong, televangelist [6]
- Jim Bakker, televangelist [7][8]
- Paul Barnes, homophobic minister [9]
- Graham Capill, former leader of the Christian Heritage Party. Serving a 9 year sentence for assault on 2 girls under 15.[10]
- Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) [11]
- Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House of Representatives (R) [12]
- Marvin Gorman, minister [13]
- Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York [14]
- Ted Haggard, homophobic minister - with men, of course [15]
- Rush Limbaugh, conservative talk radio show host [16]
- Senator John McCain (R-AZ), presidential aspirant [17]
- Bill O'Reilly, conservative commentator and all around douche [18]
- Earl Paulk, megachurch pastor [19]
- Ronald Reagan, conservative God [20]
- Richard Mellon Scaife, billionaire bankroller of conservative crusades [21]
- Jimmy Swaggart, televangelist [22]
- Senator David Vitter (R-LA) [23]
[edit] See also
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ Says who? OK, me, I'd agree, but still. I loved my infancy as much as my (not quite, since never married) adultery.
- ↑ Martin Mull in a song of more-or-less the same name.
- ↑ See Andrew Schlafly's "essay" on the subject here.
- ↑ See the Wikipedia article on Amina Lawal.
- ↑ In 2008, Korean actress Ok So-ri was convicted of adultery, and given a suspended sentence.[1]
- ↑ http://www.religionnewsblog.com/4538
- ↑ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_bio/ai_2419200062
- ↑ http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0507/14/lkl.01.html
- ↑ http://www.denverpost.com/ci_4817067
- ↑ http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10330188
- ↑ http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/08/28/craig/,
- ↑ http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2006/0607.benen.html
- ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Swaggart#Exposed
- ↑ http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2006/0607.benen.html
- ↑ http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/05/ap/national/mainD8L72NT80.shtml
- ↑ http://glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/2006/10/mark-foley-and-unmasked-republican.html
- ↑ http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2006/0607.benen.html
- ↑ http://www.moveleft.com/moveleft_essay_2005_01_22_lust_bill_oreilly_told_his_producer_she_has_sspectacular_boobs.asp
- ↑ http://www.religionnewsblog.com/13430/sex-charges-cast-pall-on-bishop-paulk
- ↑ http://www.pensitoreview.com/ronald-reagan/
- ↑ A Vast Right-Wing Hypocrisy - Vanity Fair, Feb 2008
- ↑ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE5DA1E3BF936A25753C1A967958260
- ↑ http://blog.nola.com/updates/2007/07/former_prostitute_confirms_vit.html
