text: If Jesus himself taught this, why should true Christians not take him at his word, i.e., literally?  In fact, when we put the passions aside, why isn't Christian teaching the most reasonable position to take?  It avoids many huge problems:  children out of wedlock; fatherless homes; the uncertainty of paternity; sexually transmitted disease; the de-linking of love and sex; the special-ness of sex with a spouse.  Most of Western Civ., until recently, accepted that these factors outweigh the pleasure of extramarital sex.