Justin+Pullins



The general norm in society is that sexual intercourse is a to be a passionate moment between a husband and wife, that purity and virginity is a gift and testament to God, and that premarital sex is absolutely wrong and forbidden. However in modern society, new conventions are being tried, and different methods of living are evident. Just in American adolescents **alone****,** nearly 35% of high schools report as being "regularly sexually active", and nearly half of all American teenagers admit to having sex at least once in their lives.

The past's values and religious beliefs are clearly being redefined in America, and so looking to the "books", the religious texts, the data and the studies of scholars is almost a necessity.



**The Facts:**

A recent article in //TIME Magazine Online// tells one many things that are generally unknown. It is an assumed belief that the majority, if not all, of religions were completely against premarital sex. However, the article states interesting facts to state otherwise. The following quote says:

Over **70%** of all societies studied permitted sex before marriage. This shows that the obvious majority who finds that "premarital promiscuity" is not a sin the faith. This leads one to believe that the taboo of the subject does not belong in culture or society any longer.

The taboo of sex, especially premarital, is constantly alive today in society. Many have the strong belief that teenagers are the ones breaking the traditional beliefs of abstinence, and the data above does show that teenagers are not innocent. However, they are not the only ones to blame.

Studies conducted periodically from 1982 to 2002, covering a much larger demographic of people ages 15-44 shows that in the 2002 sessions, 95% percent claimed that they have had sex before marriage, and 93% did so before turning 30.

Clearly, trends are changing. The "loyal" followers of religion are almost non-existent, and the data shows that at least for the study groups, no one seems to be "following the rules". The Bible, the Qur'an, the Hebrew Bible, and countless others of all different beliefs and religions all have their own opinions about the subject, yet if no one seems to care, what's the point? The data in the the studies here clearly show what many can interpret as simply a blatant ignorance to the traditional teachings of religion. With all of this newfound data, and this new insight to the personal beliefs of American citizens, it is imperative to look into those "traditional teachings".



The Bible
Though Christianity is a wide, and spread-out religion with various denominations, its views on certain issues are usually very universal. However, it is a very rare occurrence in the Bible to see premarital sex to be mentioned directly, opposed to clever writing and slight hinting at the subject. Very early on in the Old Testament, in the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy, a story speaks of a man who seduced a woman who was neither "betrothed or married". Afterwards he was forced to "pay the woman a price and marry her at the father's consent".

In addition, it was considered a crime. In Biblical Times, a woman faced the death penalty if she was not found a virgin on her wedding night. However, unlike adultery, a vaguely similar issue, premarital sex was not considered to be an automatic punishment met by death. It could be forgiven, but only by marriage.

The Hebrew Bible

People of the Jewish faith, in correspondence to Jewish law, do not believe that sex is not "shameful, sinful, or obscene" nor is "necessarily evil". But in the Hebrew faith, sex is held to the upmost significance, and is considered to be more than the physical act of intercourse.

In some aspects, Judaism encourages sex before marriage. The Torah states a man and woman must meet once before marriage, and if either party finds the other physically repulsive, the wedding is called off. And infamously, the Torah does not state in any way that premarital sex is a sin; it is completely non-existent in Jewish law. It also, unlike Christianity, does not state that a man must marry a woman after sexual intercourse. All of this, however, does not mean that Judaism is strong favor of premarital sex. It simply means that they are not strongly against it.

**What Islam Says**

The Qur'an


People of Islam are aware of the natural attraction between two individuals can lead to intercourse, however, they believe it is an ultimate sin against God, or Allah, to act on those feelings, no matter how strong. In addition, they are required to stray as far away from temptation as possible. Followers of both genders (though of woman more infamously), are required to be clad in modest dressing at all times in public. Also, a man and a woman who are not married are not permitted to spend time together alone, in the fear of wrongdoing. Reasons for the strict prohibition of sex before marriage is often associated with the lack of wanting wedlock pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, and most importantly, the breaking up and falling out of families.

**In Conclusion:**

Through data, facts, and beliefs, premarital sex is covered in and out here. However, the true purpose of this to to show how one issue can be and usually is interpreted in so many ways by so many different groups of people. Throughout the brochure, it can also be seen how the changing times and expectations in society conflict in the teachings and beliefs of the old religious texts. The data presented early on in comparison to what the religious texts state show that in today's age, a large, reinterpretation of what the texts truly say is happening, and that more and more commonly, people are all together ignoring the texts and simply living their lives to their standards, opposed to the standards of constantly praising and obeying.