Adultery
<p>Adultery is generally defined as consensual sexual intercourse by a married person with someone other than his or her lawful spouse. Thus, adultery is a special case of fornication, which refers to consensual sexual intercourse between two people not married to each other. The common synonym for adultery is infidelity as well as unfaithfulness or in colloquial speech, "cheating."
Views on the gravity of adultery have varied across cultures and religions. Generally, since most have considered marriage an inviolable if not sacred commitment, adultery has been strictly censured and severely punished. For any society in which monogamy is the norm, adultery is a serious violation on all levels—the individuals involved, the spouse and family of the perpetrator, and the larger community for whom the family is the building block and the standard or "school" for interpersonal relationships. The Sexual Revolution of the mid-twentieth century loosened strictures on sexual behavior such that fornication was no longer considered outside the norms of behavior and certainly not criminal if both parties were of age. Nevertheless, adultery still has serious ramifications and is considered sufficient cause for divorce.
From a spiritual perspective, however, the act of adultery causes more than just emotional or legal problems. The violation of trust involved in sexual activity with someone while married to another is deep, and sexual intimacy is not just a physical and emotional experience but a spiritual one. When one has a sexual relationship with another it is not just their "heart" that is given but their soul. While the heart cannot be taken back and mended without difficulty, it is all but impossible to take back the soul.</p>
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