Actually, there are tremendous practical reasons why a religion would include sexual ethics into its moral code.
Prime example: Fidelity within marriage (one of the Ten Commandments). People who cheat on their spouses not only do damage to their relationship, but also increase their own (and their spouse's) risk of being infected with a sexually transmitted disease.
Look at some of the sex-related stuff in Leviticus, like the prohibition on having sex while a woman has her period. Turns out, a woman is at greater risk of getting an STD during this time. So, like the Jewish dietary laws, this prohibition actually helped keep the Jewish people (relatively) healthy.
Or look at the religious rationale for prohibiting prostitution: It treats the prostitute (often a woman) as an object rather than a person with innate dignity, and even in cases where the prostitute is making a seemingly free choice to engage in the transaction, there are often hidden pressures (addiction, mental illness, a pimp) that affect her ability to make a truly free choice.
Those are just three small examples, but there are many others.
> So, like the Jewish dietary laws, this prohibition actually helped keep the Jewish people (relatively) healthy.
The kashrut laws are about morality, and not about the lack of refigeration.
In an effort to live a good and moral life, Jews are told not to eat animals that may have eaten human remains (shellfish eat whatever is in their path, pigs are wonderful for disposing of bodies).
You can get might sick from spoiled lamb or goat, as you can form spoiled pig.
Furthermore, the "no meat with dairy" is an extrapolation of the exhortation not to boil a baby in its mothers milk. So Jews extrapolate and don;t have dairy products when they have red meat.
It is about honoring the Lord, not about spoiled food.
> Or look at the religious rationale for prohibiting prostitution: It treats the prostitute (often a woman) as an object rather than a person with innate dignity, and even in cases where the prostitute is making a seemingly free choice to engage in the transaction, there are often hidden pressures (addiction, mental illness, a pimp) that affect her ability to make a truly free choice.
I don't know about this one. Few religions put a strong focus on gender equality. On the other hand, it is absolutely consistent with the emphasis on reproductive sex.
Prime example: Fidelity within marriage (one of the Ten Commandments). People who cheat on their spouses not only do damage to their relationship, but also increase their own (and their spouse's) risk of being infected with a sexually transmitted disease.
Look at some of the sex-related stuff in Leviticus, like the prohibition on having sex while a woman has her period. Turns out, a woman is at greater risk of getting an STD during this time. So, like the Jewish dietary laws, this prohibition actually helped keep the Jewish people (relatively) healthy.
Or look at the religious rationale for prohibiting prostitution: It treats the prostitute (often a woman) as an object rather than a person with innate dignity, and even in cases where the prostitute is making a seemingly free choice to engage in the transaction, there are often hidden pressures (addiction, mental illness, a pimp) that affect her ability to make a truly free choice.
Those are just three small examples, but there are many others.