(April 28, 2015 at 10:00 am)Pyrrho Wrote:(April 28, 2015 at 9:15 am)Nope Wrote: How do you not have sexual thoughts about the sex you find attractive? As long as you don't believe the person you desire owes you attention then your secret fantasies aren't hurting anyone.In your case, your thoughts couldn't hurt the woman's marriage because,I assume, you didn't tell her.
Putting so much emphasis on your imagination cheapens the reason why adultery is wrong. It is ultimately the lie and breaking your pledge that causes problems in marriage and not the actual act of sex.
Other than the last conjunct of the last sentence, you are right. But you left off the fact that actual adultery can lead to pregnancy and/or STDs being transmitted. Those are far from nothing. And they are only a potential problem when one acts, not when one fantasizes.
The idea that a fantasy is the same as an action is so ludicrously stupid it is breathtaking. But breathtaking stupidity is common in religion.
I would hope that people in an open marriage would take precautions to prevent STDs and pregnancy but admittedly, I might be giving people to much credit. Very much off topic but it would interesting to do a study to discover if people in open marriages have a higher rate of STDs and unwanted pregnancies than traditional marriages where one partner cheats. From what have been told, successful open marriages involve a lot of discussion about comfort levels so maybe the openness would mean an increased use protection. (sorry for the derail)
Equating a thought with the action is probably why some Christians insist that they can't help but sin. Of course, most people are going to have an occasional stray thought pop into their head so it is a losing battle that will cause a lot of unnecessary guilt.
When you think about it, it is a brilliant marketing device. Make people feel guilt about harmless acts that hurt no one and they will feel the need for religion even more. Worse, when you tell people not to think about something they will think about that thing even more which will mean that they feel even stronger that they need religion.
