Sex & God: How Religion Distorts Sexuality by Darrel Ray Read Free Book Online

naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves” (Genesis 3:7). Exactly what Adam and Eve did is never stated, but it had something to do with sex!
    In the Koran we learn the myth that women have an illness when menstruating:
    The Cow 2:222, They question thee (O Muhammad) concerning menstruation. Say: It is an illness, so let women alone at such times and go not in unto them till they are cleansed. And when they have purified themselves, then go in unto them as Allah hath enjoined upon you. Truly Allah loveth those who turn unto Him, and loveth those who have a care for cleanness.
    In Romans 5:12, Paul is very clear that original sin came from Adam and has corrupted mankind ever since. “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” From this unfathomable idea come centuries of torture and deprivation for millions of humans. You were born imperfect and your very sexuality is living proof of that imperfection. It can and will damn you forever, especially if you are a woman. Woman tempted man and caused the “Fall,” therefore she is the more sinful and suspect of the sexes.
    Other myths are more specific to our sexual behavior. Masturbation is against god’s commandment not to spill your seed. It was called Onanism for centuries after the poor fellow Onan in the book of Genesis who chose to spill his seed rather than father a child by his deceased brother’s wife. A quaint practice of the day that modern religionists forget to include in their list of sins – failing to father children by your dead brother’s wife. Modernreligionists look at the spilling of seed as the crime,
not
screwing his brother’s wife, probably against her will.
    The list of myths we acquire about sex and sexuality is amazingly long. Here is a short sample:
God is watching as you have sex.
Jesus does not want you to masturbate.
Homosexuality is a far greater sin than adultery.
Women should cover themselves for modesty in the sight of the lord.
Women should be sexually available to their husbands under almost any condition.
Sex outside of marriage is always wrong.
Pornography is harmful to women and children.
Religious leaders are equipped to counsel you on sex and marriage.
Menstruation is dirty; you should not have sex with a menstruating woman.
Teaching children and adolescents about sex will encourage them to actually do it.
Teaching children about Jesus’ plan will help them resist sexual temptation.
Fantasizing is wrong. If you lust in your heart, you have committed adultery.
No one else feels the sexual feelings you feel, so you must be sinful.
Premarital sex will damage your marriage.
Too much sex in marriage is wrong.
Women don’t enjoy sex.
All men want from women is sex. Women are Jesus’ sexual gatekeepers.
Premarital purity and abstinence will help you have a long and happy marriage.
Women who have had a lot of sex partners are sluts.
Men who have a lot of sex partners just use women.
Women should be subservient to men.
Anal sex is repulsive and wrong in the sight of god.
Punishment for adultery is deserved.
Women are the tempters and lead men astray.
Oral sex is unnatural.
God inserts the soul at the moment of conception.
Sexual pleasure is dangerous.
Ministers who go astray deserve forgiveness just as Jesus commands.
    These myths and many more are part of the larger map of sex that we carry around in our heads. You may not believe most or any of these, but many people do. These myths have a direct impact on a person’s ability to enjoy and develop sexually and influence how they relate to and teach their children
and
which politicians they vote for.
    One of the most pernicious Christian myths is the myth of monogamy.
Myth: Christians are Monogamous
    Monogamy as the natural state is so deeply ingrained that most Christians and Jews are able to totally ignore the hundreds of wives and concubines of their god’s