NoCalOwner
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Well, God is kind of a perv, by most modern standards. There was no age of consent, although girls couldn't marry before they were 12, or 13 for boys. There were no restrictions on sex outside of marriage, although being a prostitute was a no-no, and it was considered sinful (porneia, usually translated as "fornication") to have sex with someone who you totally didn't care about as a person. There could be mitigating circumstances, though, like when Lot tried to get the mob outside his house to gangbang his adolescent daughters rather than worry about the angels who were visiting. Or one might consider that to be one of those Old Testament-New Testament conflicts, since there are no prohibitions against porneia in the Old Testament. There was no sin in Lot's subsequent drunken sex with his daughters, because there is no biblical rule against father-daughter sex, or against them bearing his children. There was a rule against marrying one's sister, but it was only considered to be as sinful as having sex with a woman who was on her period. That was how Abraham could marry his sister and still remain God's favorite. God even expressly blessed the marriage. There was a rule against sleeping with your sister-in-law, but if your brother died you it was your duty to marry her and do your best to get her pregnant. Yes, these rules have a lot of contradictions and loopholes. Rules against marrying one's mother, stepmother, or mother-in-law were, not surprisingly, respected. Oh, wait. Who was the mother of Cain's children? Yes, adultery was strictly forbidden, as were bestiality and sex between men. Sex between single women was not forbidden. Sex between married women I can't find any definite answers on. Men could, of course, marry as many women as they liked, although marrying both a woman and her daughter was forbidden. Everything not forbidden above seems to have been allowed. Gay men, and women who wanted to have multiple husbands, would have to be unhappy with this list. But, all said, God seems to approve of a lot nastier stuff than most people would have guessed. References: Deut. 27, Lev. 20, Gen. 20:11-12, Gen. 17:15-16, 1 Cor. 6:9, Gal. 5:19-23, Gen. 19, Deut.25:5, Gen. 38:7, and a few others which I forget.
< Message edited by NoCalOwner -- 11/9/2004 10:14:33 PM >
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"Find more pleasure in intelligent dissent rather than passive agreement; for if you value intelligence as you should, the former implies a deeper agreement than the latter." -- Bertrand Russell
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