ABSTRACT
American laws in the past classified many sexual acts as “against nature” or as crimes “not fit to be named.” Some of the same concepts used to demonstrate that celibacy was the most desirable form of sexual activity were used to bolster the idea that most forms of sexual activity were unnatural. Tied in with these pagan ideas was the biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah, which also deeply influenced Western ideas about “unnatural sex.” Church legislation on sexual matters also adopted the catch-all category of activity against nature, although in enactments the sin against nature is so broadly defined that all sexual activities not leading to procreation are included. There is sexual activity that some would regard as undesirable, other activity that might be physically harmful, and much that many would classify as immoral, but to base assumptions on ancient Greek philosophy or Jewish mythology is to build a castle on shifting sands.
