Criminalizing thought intensifies the power of the church, because laws against thought cannot possibly be followed. Jesus himself promulgated two rather devious thoughtcrimes, both of which humans have little hope of obeying. First, an impossible prohibition on sexual thoughts. Looking “at a woman with lust”50 is adultery. He forbids even the briefest sexual thought flitting across the mind. This criminalizes the most basic of all human impulses, the sexual impulse. Second, Jesus sermonized on the Mount, “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and
...more
