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Sex, Rape, and God

There's an interesting article in Washington Post that discusses the nuances and history of Mormon polygamy. I found the comments below it sufficiently compelling to respond. I'm reproducing here what I said there:

All this talk about what the religion or the sect says is a red herring in my view. The only issue is what is legal, and what should be illegal.

The core problem with this incident and others before it isn't whether polygamy is or should be legal.

* The problem is adults having sex with children *
* The problem is _systemic_ RAPE of children. *

No society should condone in any form sex with children.

Polygamy, Polyandry, Polyamory, Bigamy and any kind of sexual union between *consenting adults* is not the issue, and shouldn't be illegal in the first place.

The problem is that laws exist on books in several US states that make these various kinds of sexual activity illegal - including fellatio and sodomy - even between consenting adults.

Updating our legal systems and eliminating sexual prejudices from the society would go a long way towards eliminating sexual crimes against children. Whether it's religion or a cult, an ancient tribe or an oppressive society, sex is the most fundamental of human needs that's the most "regulated", ironically leading to oppressive rules of sexual engagement in practically every society and country.

Treat sex as a basic human need - no more, no less - and you'll have taken a giant step towards eradicating most ills of societies, especially sexual crimes against children.

[Originally posted on my personal blog at muralikd.blogspot.com, April 09, 2008] 

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