Religions
For a broad overview, see Religion and sexuality.

[edit] Abrahamic Faiths

[edit] Judaism
In the bible, fornication is defined as idolatry or adultery, that is, the breaking of the covenant vow with God or the breaking of the holy wedding vows. To worship another god (idol) is to cheat on God, and is against the First Commandment. In the Bible, God says that those Israelites who worship idols have fornicated against Him[5].

Orthodox Judaism restricts sexual activity to a legally permissible marriage between a Jewish man and a Jewish woman. A man and woman are prohibited from being in a closed room alone together if they are not married, a law called yichud. Many orthodox Jews refrain from all physical contact with adult members of the opposite sex other than their spouses, a practice called shemirat negiah. Within marriage, there is no taboo against either the man or the woman enjoying sexual activity. Talmudic law dictates that the wife, not the husband, is to decide when the couple shall have sex.

Sexual relations between a man and a woman who are not married are considered less serious (they are referred to as zenuth) than the Biblically prohibited unions such as adultery (a married woman having relations with another man) and incest; the later are referred to as ervah (literally "nakedness"), have more severe penalties and there are serious restrictions on children of these prohibited unions (mamzerim).

Sexual intercourse is one of the ways the Talmud (Kiddushin 2a) specifies for effecting a marriage, though this method is frowned upon by the Rabbis.
[edit] Catholicism
Catholics are called to live in chastity. The Catechism of the Catholic Church indicates that sexual relationships in marriage as a way of imitating in the flesh the Creator's generosity and fecundity[1] and lists fornication as one of the "Offenses Against Chastity" [2] and calls it "an intrinsically and gravely disordered action" because "use of the sexual faculty, for whatever reason, outside of marriage is essentially contrary to its purpose."[6]
[edit] Protestantism
Translations of the New Testament say: "Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers,... will not inherit the kingdom of God". 1 Corinthians: 6:9-10. The original Koine Greek word translated as fornication is porneia. The Greek term is used by conservative churches to include a wide range of sexual misconduct including fornication, adultery, sex with prostitutes, etc., even though there is some debate as to the scope of the meaning of the word, which in Classical Greek refers to prostitution, etc. and is etymologically the same root as in the English "pornography", which literally means writings having to do with sexual immorality.
[edit] Islam
Main article: Zina (sex)
In the Qu'ran, sex before marriage is strictly prohibited. Islam stresses that sexual relations should be restricted to the institution of marriage in order for the creation of the family; and secondly as a means to protect the family, certain relations should be considered prohibited for marriage. Fornication and adultery are both included in the Arabic word 'Zina'. Belonging primarily to the same category of crimes, entailing the same social implications and having the same effects on the spiritual personality of a human being, both, in principle, have been given the same status by the Qur'an. However, one Islamic sect (Shia) covers promiscuous sex outside Nikah marriage by a contract called Nikah Mut'ah, or simply Mutta marriage while others cover such promiscuous sex outside marriage by a contract called Misyar marriage.
[edit] Dharmic Faiths

[edit] Hinduism
Hinduism preaches that the material world, also termed as maya, is responsible for all of man's sorrows. Hindu texts, such as the Bhagavad Gita, describe fornication and lust as acts of material bondage which drives a man away from spiritual wisdom.

Alternative Hindu schools of thought such as the Tantric branches of Hinduism, is markedly less reserved, teaching that enlightenment can be approached through divine sex. Divine sex is one path whereby one can approach Moksha (Nirvana), a oneness with a higher spiritual level. As such, the Tantric practices, through writings such as the Kama Sutra seek not to repress sexuality, but to perfect it. By perfecting the act of divine sex, including masturbation, as seen depicted at the 10th century Hindu temple of Khajuraho, one clears the mind of earthly desires, leaving the soul on a higher level devoid of such worries, filled with bliss, and relaxed.
[edit] Buddhism
In the Buddhist tradition, under the Five Precepts and the Eightfold Path, one should neither be attached to nor crave sensual pleasure. The third of the Five Precepts is "To refrain from sexual misconduct". For most Buddhist laypeople, sex outside of marriage is not "sexual misconduct", especially when compared to, say, adultery or any sexual activity which can bring suffering to another human being. Each may need to consider whether, for them, sexual contact is a distraction or means of avoidance of their own spiritual practice or development. To provide a complete focus onto spiritual practice, fully ordained Buddhist monks may, depending on the tradition, be bound by hundreds of further detailed rules or vows that may include a ban on sexual relations. Vajrayana or Tantric Buddhism, on the other hand, teaches that sexual intercourse can be actively used to approach higher spiritual development. Ngagpa lineages embrace this understanding.
[edit] Other

[edit] Secular humanism
Most secular humanists believe that, in the overwhelming majority of cases, sexual intercourse does no harm in this world. Secular humanism therefore considers most sex acts as morally irrelevant and up to the individual. It should be done in private or viewed with/by consenting adults.
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