Exodus 20:14

 

Let me quote the 7^th Commandment from The New American Bible: “You shall not commit adultery.”

 

My response: It is natural to be unfaithful to one’s partner, be one gay or straight, married or single, but it is our duty to behave ourselves all the time, or almost all the time, to be a partner with one spouse, etc.

 

Yahweh likely wanted people, filled with natural urges and sexual desire, to behave themselves for several reasons. First, social cohesion and boundaries require that people try to live in accordance with a set of moral rules like not committing adultery to promote peace, cooperation and social functioning.

 

Second, humans are beasts more than angels, but they should try to be sexually faithful to their partner, so that the angelic side of people will be more prevalent in society, allowing goodness, civilization and the presence of godliness to rule as the prevailing norms there.

 

Third, each individual can only grow as a person, a maverizer, if she controls herself more than she indulges herself. Self-discipline is self-interest as she sacrifices her lower nature’s dominating her behavioral choices in favor of her higher, nobler calling to reason, feel and act in a sexually moral way that increases her virtue and holiness as a woman of God, or for a male, as a man worshiping and following God.

 

Here is the same commandment from the Holy Bible (KJV): “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”

 

My response: It has often been noted that the act unfaithfulness is a major cause of divorce and unhappiness in relationships and marriages. It creates a cloud of anger and resentment that likely never quite goes away: to indulge one’s carnal pleasure is sweet for a moment, but the ill effects of it can linger for a lifetime.