Affair-Proof Your Marriage
Understanding, Preventing and Surviving an Affair
Human Nature and Affairs: A Brief History
History provides perspective. While we readily assume that marriages have always been based on fidelity, historically fidelity is not the norm. In fact, the idea of being sexually faithful to one spouse throughout life is relatively new and accepted by only part of current world cultures. For example, Persian, African, Chinese, Japanese, Roman and Greek cultures all allowed men more than one wife or legitimized extramarital sexual relationships for some period in their history.
Rules or laws governing sexual behavior were based either on legal rights or religious doctrine. Legal marriage was reserved for the upper class whose property and lineage were valued by society. In Egypt common people were first allowed to marry in about 2,000 B.C., and adultery applied primarily to women.
Jewish sexual mores were originally developed to encourage men to take responsibility for the survival of women and children. In the early Jewish culture, beginning around 500 B.C., marriage was not a legal entity but the couple was recognized as married ...
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