Early "mis[s]"(1652) as title?

[Joel S. Berson]

At 8/29/2009 12:25 PM, Victor Steinbok wrote:
>OT: As an aside, I just wanted to add that, during the search for
>confirmation on the Puritan adultery/fornication distinction, I found a
>similar _current_ distinction in some Catholic materials with an
>additional twist--premarital masturbation is also classified as
>fornication.

For the Puritans, any sexual act involving ejaculation that was not
"productive" -- that is, could not result in a child of a sanctioned
marriage -- was incontinent.  All were punishable, some more severely
than others.

Joel

>This is in addition to the usual Catholic Church obsession
>with onanism. This creates an interesting (legal and philosophical but,
>alas, not philological) question as to ontological categories of various
>sex offenses.
>
>    VS-)
>
>Joel S. Berson wrote:
>>
>>The earliest law against adultery in Massachusetts was passed in
>>1631, after several cases came before the court and would have been
>>decided according to Mosaic law.  (Due to doubt about whether death
>>should be imposed for adultery, these defendants were convicted of
>>lesser crimes.).  By 1641, the written law included Scriptural citations.
>>
>>I would assume the Sharia law arises from the same "authority".
>>
>
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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org