Should adultery be a jailable offense?

[Amazing Rando]

So how about it? If one can be proven in a court of law to have committed adultery, should they be put in prison if the cuckolded spouse presses charges?

If we come at this from a purely secular position, marriage is a social contract in which two people agree to be faithful to one another. We have legal stipulations to jail people who break business contracts, but should we also have such stipulations for people who break marriage contracts?

[Ghettochild]

no b/c biology and instincts support it.

[BeHereNow]

You usually don't go to jail for breaking a contract.

[Amazing Rando]

no b/c biology and instincts support it.

That's a flimsy argument! Biology and instincts also support me killing my neighbor if I like his car.

[Amazing Rando]

You usually don't go to jail for breaking a contract.

No? Hmm. That's news to me.

[Bob Jenkins]

So how about it? If one can be proven in a court of law to have committed adultery, should they be put in prison if the cuckolded spouse presses charges?

If we come at this from a purely secular position, marriage is a social contract in which two people agree to be faithful to one another. We have legal stipulations to jail people who break business contracts, but should we also have such stipulations for people who break marriage contracts?

I believe the "contract" is a simple statement of a desire to be married - except, of course, in Louisiana where a "conenant marriage" imposes much more difficulries to disassemble.

[Amazing Rando]

I believe the "contract" is a simple statement of a desire to be married - except, of course, in Louisiana where a "conenant marriage" imposes much more difficulries to disassemble.

Is it? Hmm. In 45 days or so, I'll be heading over to the courthouse to apply for a marriage licence myself. I'll get to see the process firsthand then!

*Rando is so happy, he does the Dance of Joy!*

In any case, what about the vows you take? Are they legally enforcible like the oath before a judge?

[Bob Jenkins]

Is it? Hmm. In 45 days or so, I'll be heading over to the courthouse to apply for a marriage licence myself. I'll get to see the process firsthand then!

*Rando is so happy, he does the Dance of Joy!*

In any case, what about the vows you take? Are they legally enforcible like the oath before a judge?

I don't believe the vows made before a marriage celebrant carry any legal weight (only an assigment of status - how romantic is THAT!!) and I'm only guessing that the statements on the application may be punishable if proved to be willfully false.

[Blemonds]

That's a flimsy argument! Biology and instincts also support me killing my neighbor if I like his car.

What kind of car are we talking about?

[Amazing Rando]

That's a flimsy argument! Biology and instincts also support me killing my neighbor if I like his car.

What kind of car are we talking about?

I was responding to Ghettochild's statement that since biology and instinct "support" adultery, than it should not be illegal. Say my neighbor has a brand new Corvette for example. My biology and instinct tell me to kill my neighbor and take his Corvette. Should we decriminalize murder as well?

[spl_cadet]

Yes, they should be. Same for fornication and sodomy.

[Blemonds]

I was responding to Ghettochild's statement that since biology and instinct "support" adultery, than it should not be illegal. Say my neighbor has a brand new Corvette for example. My biology and instinct tell me to kill my neighbor and take his Corvette. Should we decriminalize murder as well?

You said a Corvette, right? Let me think about it.

[Amazing Rando]

Yes, they should be. Same for fornication and sodomy.

Hmm. How about gossip?

[PhilA]

Of course we should not jail people for adultery.

Matt 5:27-28
27 "You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.'
28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

If God does not differentiate between what is in our hearts and what our actions are, neither should we. After all in a court, mens rae needs evidence as well as actus rae in order to secure a conviction.

Well, that’s (almost) every man I know in prison then. I would in fact go so far as to say that any man who claims to have never ever looked at a woman lustfully is either homosexual or a liar.

[jason]

I'm not sure prison time is a workable solution.

But we should bring fault back into divorces to prevent spousal abandonment, and adultery should be grounds for fault in a divorce.

Jason