This was one of the questions I answered for a discussion in AP World History which I wrote today:

Why, and to what extent do you think, have religions influenced cultural perceptions about sexuality?

Before there was ever anything like the globalized and greatly developed religions we have nowadays, in fact even before the earliest of religions, it was normal for people to have children when they were still only teenagers. The reason for this was once the men realized when women developed their reproductive systems they thought they should have children. Back then, people died much earlier like in their 30’s (I’m talking about the Stone Ages and such). It seems quite reasonable for people to have children at such a young age but look at society today: most people think it is very odd and immoral when even an 18 year old has a child or has even had sex. That’s where religion comes in. Through the centuries, religions have created laws for sexuality and now these laws have become the general norm for even non-religious people. Let’s take the Roman Catholic Christians for example. They believe very strongly that followers should not have sexual intercourse until marriage. Not following this “rule” is considered a “sin” and is something that you have to “confess”.

But it’s more than just sex. Sexuality refers to a lot of things. Circumcision is one of them. Circumcision of males is a religious requirement of the Muslim and Jewish faiths. That’s a religious reason but religion has also influenced people of neither that religion or a nationality where that religion is not practiced much. It is “… practiced by the majority of Americans, South Koreans, and Filipinos. #” What this fact shows us is that these ideas have spread out of religious beliefs and into mainstream beliefs of today’s societies. Some other religions i.e. Protestant, Catholic, do not prescribe circumcision.

There are a lot of other examples of how religious beliefs about sexuality have found their way into our society but I don’t have enough information and knowledge on those topics so I won’t touch on them.