Are one nights stands and premarital sex within a relationship equally immoral?

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freethinker83 said:
Is marital sex with contraception just as bad as premarital sex with contraception?
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In the first case, it is wrong because one of the main benefits of marriage is new life. In the second case it’s still as bad because it compounds the sin of fornication by denying the life that is a natural result of intercourse. Two wrongs never make a right.
Is marital sex with contraception better or worse than premarital sex without contraception?
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Both are equally bad. Both violate the dignity of the other person by using him/her as a sex object instead of giving themselves to each other in a truly unitive act of love.
 
There is a distinction, but it is easily misunderstood.

As an extreme example, is it less bad to murder someone quickly and painlessly than it is to torture somebody to death. To an extent, yes. But you better not be using that to suppress your conscience about your little “mercy killing” problem. 😉
 
freethinker83 said:
I don’t know if The Church has any sort of position on this, but the question just came to mind. For the question please assume that the one night stand is between two people who just met and the premarital sex is between two people who have been in a committed relationship for a long time (1+ years).
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If sins are cumulative, then having premarital sex outside of marriage over a period of over one year is many sins over time – a repetition of the same sin. I guess they are cumulative because when we confess we state the sin and the number of times we committed the sin. So, if the one-night stand is not repeated then it’s one sin. However, a series of one night stands (dangerous) is no different than sinning with the same person. That’s my take.

Sin is sin. I’m not compelled by the fact that they are in a committed relationship; God can judge that better than I can, whether or not he’s lenient.

1+ years is a relative number. It’s a long time if one has been out of work; not so long as to measure commitment.
 
freethinker83 said:
Is marital sex with contraception just as bad as premarital sex with contraception?

Is marital sex with contraception better or worse than premarital sex without contraception?
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Again, sin is sin. Maybe we get to plead down to a lesser degree of sin, but we cannot rationalize our sins by comparison shopping. But we know that since the Church teaches us what is sin.

So … 1) yes and 2) two different sins, both grave.
 
Just don’t hurt other people on purpose or mislead anyone. Rule of life.
 
silicasandra said:
I think that’s the point - you have two situations, both between unmarried people.
  1. One night stand between two people (who will most likely never see each other again)
  2. Premarital sex between two people in committed relationship
I would say 1 is “more” immoral than 2, but both are not right. Didn’t Pope Benedict allude to something similar to this (that was then gravely distorted by the media) when he talked about the use of condoms by prostitutes? Clearly, prostitution is a great moral evil, but taking steps to avoid the spread of disease from one person to another does indicate that someone cares at least a tiny bit about other people, which is a step in the right direction.
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He did but it had to do with passing on of disease – that was more grave than the act itself since he was addressing the spread of AIDS in Africa. So, to kill someone with a deadly disease is a far greater sin than selling your body for sex.

In any case, there was a bad translation and the term “prostitute” was taken to mean that male to male, not all prostitutes. The Magisterium did a backflip over the translation, and reclarified as to “prostitution.”

He was not speaking 'ex-cathedra" though I realize that we are bound by his teachings. However, such a statement is not license “to do” something. It assumes that prostitutes who are infected, or likely are putting themselves in a position to become infected, will do a greater good if they use condoms by not spreading the disease, with the objective that by being responsible in not passing on disease will also bring enlightenment and they will see the error of the lifestyle entirely. I’m not sure where the Vatican went with this, but I think they backed off.

The circumstances are different. Fornication, sex outside of marriage, adultery are sins. The distinction here, as I saw it, was that people are sometimes driven to prostitution (circumstances of which we don’t know; God will judge those). The act is sinful, but it would be worse to take someone’s life through the passing of disease.
 
steve_b said:

  1. *]one night stand = fornication providing neither is married. Then it is adultery
    *]sex is between two people who have been in a committed relationship for a long time (1+ years) = fornication

    sex outside of marriage is fornication and a mortal sin. As is adultery, married people having sex with someone not their spouse.
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  1. nevermind:shrug:under the hat and over the head
 
freethinker83 said:
I don’t know if The Church has any sort of position on this, but the question just came to mind. For the question please assume that the one night stand is between two people who just met and the premarital sex is between two people who have been in a committed relationship for a long time (1+ years).
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You’re asking if both actions are mortally sinful?
Yes, both actions are mortally sinful.
 
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