Jesus condemns adultery

https://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/go-and-sin-no-more?lang=eng#gallery=img-2

  In the liturgical reading today Jesus condemns those who commit adultery just by looking at another woman with lust. From this has derived, among many Christians, an abhorrence of sexual deviancy and pornography.  However, it seems to me that the underlying message of Jesus has to do less with sexuality than with questions of inequality. Adultery, in his day, was an abuse of a committed relationship. Women who were adulterous were often the victim of forced sexuality. Think of David calling Bathsheba to his side. The woman hardly had a choice. He was the king, with absolute power, even over life and death. The later death of her husband bears that out. The real issue was respect for equality rather than a set of sexual norms based on natural law. The question is important today given the struggle of so many sexual minorities.

     A similar line of argument is valid for the question of religious diversity. Christianity, and Catholicism in particular, has put so much emphasis on doctrinal, even metaphysical, questions that we overlook the dimension of the path to God. Religion is intended to help us find our way through life along a path that leads to communion with one another and with the Source of Life. We have often become so fixated on the question of which doctrine is true that we forget that history has provided us with many paths that lead to God. If we respect and regard them, we can learn from each other.