Is Cohabitation Immoral?

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

As Ernest eloquently explained, the primary reason for faithful monogamy was economic, and that is assuming a child is involved.  If people were promiscuous, then many children as well as their mothers could have easily ended up without support because no one would be sure of who the fathers are.

Actually, I said economics was the primary non-religious reason for the immorality of cohabitation, not that it was the primary reason. I said it that way because different people place different weight on religious reasons and I was trying to make my argument as broadly applicable as possible. Also it wasn't just the economic security of the children, but the woman that was protected by an insistence upon marriage instead of mere cohabitation, even if no children at all were involved.

Again, that is my view.  But the bottom line is morals can and should be rationalized.  It makes very little sense to follow them if there's no reason to.

On the other hand, we humans sometimes have insufficient data to understand the rationale of God, so just because we can't comprehend the reasoning is by itself an insufficient reason to reject the moral teachings of one's religion.  I'm also going to have to disagree with you Scott in your belief that cohabitation is not immoral according to the scriptures.  However, like all sins, cohabitation can be corrected, in this case either by marrying or by ceasing the sin.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

But do all women who cohabitate need to be married and economically dependent on the man in order to live a good life?

While there is no need for one way economic dependence in either direction, marriage is to a large extent about interdependence, regardless of whether or not we have rigidly defined roles for what men and women do.  The mutual support and the ability to count upon it are important.  As God says in Genesis 2:18 "It is not good for the man to be alone."  While marriage is not the only cure for aloneness, I would say that cohabitation is insufficient to address that problem.

I suppose we have different philosophies in regard to what makes sin sin, though I should ask you: how can we be sure that cohabitation violates the Judeo-Christian God's law?  Even Jesus said nothing about cohabitation, IIRC.  His main issue was with lust, which doesn't necessarily result from cohabitation (though it certainly can if taken the wrong way).

Well, most people don't interpret cohabitation as being platonic.  Certainly if it were only a living arrangement and nothing more there would be no sin, but that isn't what most people mean when they think of cohabitation.  If it weren't, would people be wondering when Bert and Ernie are going to come out of the closet on Sesame Street?

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

There are also alternate explanations for those statistics.  First, people who abstain until marriage are generally less attractive.  They have to stay married because they don't have other options.  Second, people who abstain until marriage are more willing to stay in a horrible marriage.  Staying in a horrible marriage is worse than divorce. 

I haven't such a load of BS since last year when Republicans were trying to explain why the Romney landslide didn't happen.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

From the thread "Ermahgerd, Rick Santorum's on The Colbert Report".

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