Not many shades of gray for adultery

The seventh commandment of God to us, “You shall not commit

adultery,” sets forth an ideal: to live a more and more fully human

life. Many humorous stories about this commandment circulate within

the Episcopal Church. A serious one has God reading the Decalogue to

angels before giving it to Moses. About this commandment, the angels

say, “Lord, you have made mortals only a little lower than the

angels, but you have also made them only a little higher that the

beasts. It is too hard to ask them to be sexually faithful.” To which

God replies, “If they cannot be faithful with one another in sexual

matters, how will they be faithful in their spirits and souls with

me?”

Love for our most beloved is to be as faithful, as enduring, as

passionate as God’s love for us. Our bodies matter so much to God

that God came among us as one of us and lived a fully human life and

died a fully human death. Our bodies matter so much to God that as

God raised Jesus from the dead, so God promises to raise us from

death to a life beyond our human imaginations.

THE VERY REV. CANON

PETER D. HAYNES

St. Michael & All Angels

Episcopal Church

In Islam, adultery is considered one of the cardinal sins. It is a

gruesome violation of God’s law. It has a devastating effect on the

perpetrator, his or her family and the society at large. The Koran

describes the adulterers as the aggressors against themselves and

against their societies. A healthy family is one which the husband

and wife are deeply committed and faithful to each other.

IMAM MOUSTAFA AL-QAZWINI

Islamic Educational

of Orange County