Seems strange to me

[Ahriman]

How human existence is fundamentally based on lust, like none of us would even be here if our parents had not wanted to fuck each other, and yet religion (pretty much all of them) has such a stick up its ass about the fact that people have sex. Religion is anti-lust and anti-offspring.

[no one]

Us???

[GrandizerII]

How human existence is fundamentally based on lust, like none of us would even be here if our parents had not wanted to fuck each other, and yet religion (pretty much all of them) has such a stick up its ass about the fact that people have sex. Religion is anti-lust and anti-offspring.

Do you mean generally speaking? Or in the absolute sense?

What about in the case of rape? Or IVF? Or just having sex without the experience of lust?

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

How human existence is fundamentally based on lust, like none of us would even be here if our parents had not wanted to fuck each other, and yet religion (pretty much all of them) has such a stick up its ass about the fact that people have sex. Religion is anti-lust and anti-offspring.

Why does that seem strange to you? Religion, at the end of the day, is all about control. One of the most basic methods to achieve this is to make people feel bad about things they shouldn’t.

Boru

[Belacqua]

How human existence is fundamentally based on lust, like none of us would even be here if our parents had not wanted to fuck each other, and yet religion (pretty much all of them) has such a stick up its ass about the fact that people have sex. Religion is anti-lust and anti-offspring.

You're right that lust is a powerful drive. Maybe the most powerful in people. 

That's why different groups work so hard to control it -- because it's so easy to mess up your own life or the lives of others when your lust gets out of control. 

Most religions are not anti-offspring. Go forth and multiply. Sex is a good thing when channelled properly. 

Not only religions worry about misguided sex. The whole Me Too movement has been raising awareness of the ubiquity of sexual harassment in the workplace, and working to decrease tolerance for the kind of thing that used to be way more common. This is a social movement, not religious.

[FrustratedFool]

We are lumbering robots driven by the selfish gene to reproduce.

And besides, sex can feel good. Not the greatest pleasure, but pretty good nonetheless.

As for why many religions (and society in general) seek to control it, that's likely tied into its danger - childbirth used to be very dangerous, STDs too, and abuse, rape, and jealousy, and the cost of raising children, and so on. Can't really have a society with rampant lust - it'd crumble quickly.

Of course, modern science has given us the ability to mitigate many of the dangers of sex, and so we can be far more free. Remove the social stigmas and religious injunctions and we could have more sexual.pleasure than ever before.

For me personally, so long as you don't break the line of informed consent be free to do whatever you want sexually.

[paulpablo]

It doesn't practically work like that. At least I don't think it does.

There's lots of religions that emphasise having large families and lots of children.

Atheist communities have the lowest birthrates. Think about Mormons and Muslims.

I know when I got my girlfriend at the time pregnant any non religious person I knew didnt really give a fuck. Every single Muslim I knew didn't even ask about the circumstances and just congratulated me like I'd accomplished something amazing.

A Muslim couple without kids, who aren't trying for kids is something I've never even heard of but pretty common among atheists.

[FrustratedFool]

Yes, good shout, many religions seem to be OK for women to run the danger of childbirth in order to benefit from large numbers of children.

Danger was less about harm to women and more about social cohesion from avoiding jealousy inspired violence etc. Or ideas of spiritual danger. Weird stuff.

[Silver]

Be fruitful and multiply.