Virginia’s General Assembly convenes again later this month and, as usual, there are a host of new bills ready for their consideration.
This one in particular, though, strikes me as the most ridiculous:
Expands the definition of adultery to mean any person, being married, who carnally knows another person not his spouse. Currently, the definition of adultery is limited to sexual intercourse only. This bill also clarifies that a person may be guilty of adultery regardless of the gender of the person with whom he engages in such conduct.
That’s right, in Virginia, adultery isn’t just grounds for divorce it’s an actual crime. I haven’t heard of anyone actually prosecuted under this statute, though, so one wonders why it’s even on the books or why Delegate Marshall, a Republican, wants to amend it.
Quite frankly, I can’t see any good reason why adultery should be a crime to begin with.
H/T: Bored Young Professionals
Well, fresh off his marriage amendment victory, Bob Marshall is continuing his crusade to find more and creative ways to attack gays. This expansion is obviously targeted towards those “down low” husbands or wives that cheat on their spouse with a lover of the same sex. Hence the expansion of types of sex performed…so all those married men getting BJs via the internet best beware….
Well, I can say this much. Divorce can be very damaging to families. Don’t believe me? One of my family members got divorced, and many other relationships he had were either damaged or destroyed (even though he appears mostly responsible for it). Divorce is a very common result of adultery, and divorce tends to lead to other problems. While likely not a crime, adultery does prove to be a horrible injustice that one person does to another, and potentially to others as well.
I agree with you that adultery should not be a crime, but our culture is becoming too permissive of it, and the damage will only multiply until we as a people begin to shun it again.