A universal commandment. . .

It’s pretty hard to find a real faith tradition that doesn’t disparage sexual relations with someone to whom you are not married.  Judaism to Christianity, Islam to Buddhism, Sikhism to Taoism, they all say pretty much the same thing when it comes to adultery.  Don't do it.  So much for the religious.  I guess the spiritual kind of folk have joined with those who have no spirit to heavily influence modern thinking on the matter which goes directly against the prohibition.  Maybe it is the fruit of all that free love and sex from the 1960s.  Modern thinking is remarkably less set against adultery (all things in moderation?) than the religions of old or the population overall for a very long time.  But this just might be changing.   The end result of sexual liberation in the 1970s declined a bit as people began to think adultery is always or almost always wrong and now approval seems to be growing a bit.  The data suggests that those who once thought adultery always wrong are now thinking more almost always or sometimes wrong.  It is, in fact, a 10% drop just since 2010 among those who back off from always to almost always or sometimes.

The question asked since 1973:  “What is your opinion about a married person having sexual relations with someone other than the marriage partner--is it always wrong, almost always wrong, wrong only sometimes, or not wrong at all?”

The answers?

Oddly, evangelicals and Black Protestants are more likely even than mainline Protestants and Roman Catholics to say it is always wrong but even there the same groups have eroding views of adultery always being wrong.  How did this happen?  When all the major religions of the world are united in their disapproval of adultery, how did it end up that adultery became almost respectable?  Could it be that the fruits of the spiritual but not religious and the nones is not simply in theory but in practice?  Could it be that the universal prohibition has waned precisely as religion has waned over all as an influence over values and views?  Twice as many nones find nothing wrong with adultery as other religious adherents.  So, yes, the fading religious complexion of America does have an impact on something more than bodies in the pews.  Again, age is not quite the prominent indicator of views as you might think.  Young and old, those under 40 and those over 40, have very similar views on this subject.  Yes, we know that views change and even Boomers are more conservative in age than they were in youth.  That said, it would seem we have a problem.  The trust issue between partners (remember when we called them spouses) is one of those or the continued separation of sex from love (and sex and love from marriage and children) is hard to address.