Hence mere bodily satisfaction of sensuous desire
must have a disharmonious and deteriorating effect, because it ignores
a basal fact of man, namely spirit, and leaves that side of him starved
and unsatisfied. And the same is true of all sexual aberrations and
perversions. Though they may seem at the moment to be unimportant, the
fact remains that they are sins against both the spirit and the flesh,
and are followed inexorably by their own punishment.
It is argued by some that the sexual act should be restricted to
occasions, when there is a definite intention of begetting children.
This does not seem either reasonable or desirable. Nature's plans were
certainly, in the case of human beings, not constructed on that basis.
It would introduce an element of calculation and deliberation into what
is naturally a finely spontaneous thing, and it would put a quite
unnecessary, and in some cases, at least, a harmful, strain upon two
people. As Havelock Ellis has put it: "Even if sexual relationships had
no connection with procreation whatever, they would still be
justifiable, and are, indeed, an indispensable aid to the best moral
development of the individual; for it is only in so intimate a
relationship as that of sex that the finest graces and aptitudes of
life have full scope.
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