Baha'is,
Is there any sexual activity, any at all, that would negative effect us in the Afterlife?
Does any sexual activity negatively effect our Afterlife?
Re: Does any sexual activity negatively effect our Afterlife?
Yes, there is.
According to the Kitab-i-Aqdas:
If you read the notes to the Aqdas, the word "adulterer", can refer also to premarital sex, and the specific punishment is referring, according to the interpretation of 'Abdu'l-Baha, to premarital sex, as the punishment of adultery is left to the Universal House of Justice to decide in the future... Note that these laws are not in effect at the moment in the West.
The laws, it should be pointed out, are meant for our benefit. Research has shown that those who live together before marriage are significantly more likely to break up. It is for the sake of our own happiness and that of our spouse and wider family, that we should not come to a marriage without having been firmly committed to marriage, and without unnecessary intimate experiences beforehand which may weigh on us or disturb our family (though those who have had to go through a divorce, are widowed, etc., can and are encouraged to remarry). The Baha'i Writings emphasize the importance of reward and punishment, not only in this world, but as applied to expectations for the next world, for the sake of shaping our behavior in a way that makes us aware of wider consequences for our actions, particularly for those of us who are not naturally and fully inclined to do good and avoid evil without some added incentive (i.e., the vast majority of human beings).
I think the following quotation might be interpreted as referring to consequences in the next world as well, indicating that while there is nuance (the preceding quotation, in a similar vein, speaks of forgiveness), such actions outside of (heterosexual) marriage (where the man and woman, in their natural diversity, can, in perfect complementarity, meet the needs of one another and any children they may have) are forbidden:
best wishes,
Brett
According to the Kitab-i-Aqdas:
God hath imposed a fine on every adulterer and adulteress, to be paid to the House of Justice: nine mithqáls of gold, to be doubled if they should repeat the offence. Such is the penalty which He Who is the Lord of Names hath assigned them in this world; and in the world to come He hath ordained for them a humiliating torment. Should anyone be afflicted by a sin, it behoveth him to repent thereof and return unto his Lord. He, verily, granteth forgiveness unto whomsoever He willeth, and none may question that which it pleaseth Him to ordain. He is, in truth, the Ever-Forgiving, the Almighty, the All-Praised.
(Baha'u'llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, par. 49)
If you read the notes to the Aqdas, the word "adulterer", can refer also to premarital sex, and the specific punishment is referring, according to the interpretation of 'Abdu'l-Baha, to premarital sex, as the punishment of adultery is left to the Universal House of Justice to decide in the future... Note that these laws are not in effect at the moment in the West.
The laws, it should be pointed out, are meant for our benefit. Research has shown that those who live together before marriage are significantly more likely to break up. It is for the sake of our own happiness and that of our spouse and wider family, that we should not come to a marriage without having been firmly committed to marriage, and without unnecessary intimate experiences beforehand which may weigh on us or disturb our family (though those who have had to go through a divorce, are widowed, etc., can and are encouraged to remarry). The Baha'i Writings emphasize the importance of reward and punishment, not only in this world, but as applied to expectations for the next world, for the sake of shaping our behavior in a way that makes us aware of wider consequences for our actions, particularly for those of us who are not naturally and fully inclined to do good and avoid evil without some added incentive (i.e., the vast majority of human beings).
I think the following quotation might be interpreted as referring to consequences in the next world as well, indicating that while there is nuance (the preceding quotation, in a similar vein, speaks of forgiveness), such actions outside of (heterosexual) marriage (where the man and woman, in their natural diversity, can, in perfect complementarity, meet the needs of one another and any children they may have) are forbidden:
God judges each soul on its own merits. The Guardian cannot tell you what the attitude of God would be towards a person who lives a good life in most ways, but not in this way [engaging in homosexual relationships]. All he can tell you is that it is forbidden by Baha'u'llah, and that one so afflicted should struggle and struggle again to overcome it. We must be hopeful of God's mercy but not impose upon it.
(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, 26 March 1950, at http://bahai-library.com/uhj/homosexual ... ssion.html )
best wishes,
Brett
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BritishBahai
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Re: Does any sexual activity negatively effect our Afterlife?
Interesting. I didnt know that.brettz9 wrote:.
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If you read the notes to the Aqdas, the word "adulterer", can refer also to premarital sex, and the specific punishment is referring, according to the interpretation of 'Abdu'l-Baha, to premarital sex, as the punishment of adultery is left to the Universal House of Justice to decide in the future... Note that these laws are not in effect at the moment in the West.
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"I have desired only what Thou didst desire, and love only what Thou dost love"
Re: Does any sexual activity negatively effect our Afterlife?
I should clarify that the notes state that it can refer to both in the original Arabic (though the punishment was clarified as being for premarital sex), even though in English "adultery" is only understood as sexual relations between married persons... I've wondered why "fornication" wasn't used instead... Maybe the translators thought "fornication" would be exclusively interpreted as premarital sex (see http://bahai-library.com/writings/bahau ... tml#note36 ) even though the Arabic can connote both, but "adultery" could also be argued as being narrow as well as unrelated to 'Abdu'l-Baha's interpretation here... Maybe someone else has insights into this...
Brett
Brett