It seems that there is a widespread belief that sex is morally acceptable so long as it is between a man and a woman within the confines of a marital relationship. So, "illicit sex" only applies to any sexual activity outside of that relationship. Pre-marital sex, extra-marital sex, homosexual sex, and masturbation might be all grouped under the umbrella of illicit sex.

Perhaps part of the reason why this is so is the ambivalent attitudes that Americans have toward sex. Traditional views and philosophies running from Augustine, to Victorian, and even through the "sexual revolution" and right up to today, sexual attitudes have probably not been wholesome. It is probably warped one way or another.

So, what exactly is morally acceptable sex? And what is illicit sex? Does illicit sex depends on whether or not a sex act is engaged within the bounds of marriage? What causes sex to be illicit? What is the nature and purpose of sex? How and when is it illicit? Can an act of sex be not illicit if it is not engaged with one’s marital spouse? Can Illicit sex very well happen within the confines of marriage? Or is it the case that every sex act between the husband and wife is morally acceptable while sex in any other context is morally reprehensible?

I am so sad. I just heard the news that she was found dead in a parked car beside a Californian highway, of an apparent suicide. Already, conspiracy theories are starting to come in. This is because Chang is no ordinary person. She is the author of the best-selling Rape of Nanking. The subtitle of the book is "The forgotten holocaust of World War II" and it chronicles the astrocities committed by the Japanese troops against Chinese civilians in the then Chinese capital of Nanking. A reported 300,000 people were killed in a matter of days. Her book was critically acclaimed, yet without controversy. It reads like a novel, but I could not finish reading the book as it was too gruesome for me to do so. Iris was heralded as a young, promising historian. The late historian Stephen Ambrose described Chang as “maybe the best young historian we’ve got, because she understands that to communicate history, you’ve got to tell the story in an interesting way.” And now the world has been robbed of one of its greats. It is just so sad.