Shame and guilt isn’t all we’re talking about here…
There are other very apparent damaging repercussions, such as the unwanted children that come from these unions. Or the emotional harm that often occurs. Sexual activity is, for many, a way of bonding, and when one partner is left for another, feeling “used & thrown away”, mental & emotional dysfunction can arise.
But these aren't the reasons for the biblical admonitions against extramarital sex, and aren't relevant to the priesthood, who don't care if you wanted that baby and don't mind if you feel emotional distress for what they consider sin rightfully punished. Moreover, those don't need to be problems if one proceeds mindfully, which requires sexual education and access to contraception. For the mistakes, we have medical clinics.
The argument against extramarital sex from the church is religious and political, not based in what's best for people, which would be the humanist concern, and why it promotes no such values. The sexual don't with humanism is nonconsensual sex, which includes both forms of rape.
Just who do you think is the Great Harlot of Revelation chaps 17 & 18? The descriptions given, only fit one thing:
It is religious thinking, including it’s institutions, that is alienated from our Creator, Jehovah….. “in her was found the blood of…everyone
who has been murdered (Revelation 18:24)”; that would include Abel, who was murdered by Cain due to twisted thinking.
I'll take your word on the scripture. And I agree that religions can be alienating. My chief criticism of the Abrahamic faiths is its transference of the concept of the sacred from the universe to a personage living outside of nature who intends to destroy it, who controls the fates of souls after death, and who gives commandments.
The polytheistic alternatives like the pagan and dharmic religions don't do that to my knowledge. These more nature-oriented religions are not a problem in my estimation, and eliminating them wouldn't make the world a better place or generate better people. But I do believe that the Abrahamic religions are destructive. Promoting faith and discouraging education and critical thought is destructive. Teaching homophobia, atheophobia, and misogyny are destructive. Imposing theocratic tendencies on what were meant to be secular governments is destructive.
These ideas are the basis for antitheism, or the belief that we are better off without these ideas being promulgated.
How could religion be called a “Harlot / prostitute”? Any ideas?
I don't know what the New Testament writers meant, but I can give you my opinion. The Abrahamic religions are what can be called self-licking ice cream cones: "a process, department, institution, or other thing that offers few benefits and exists primarily to justify or perpetuate its own existence." They don't exist to benefit mankind or even their adherents. They exist to promote themselves and grow in influence.
The evidence for finding God is in the heart of the seeker.
Heart and gut are code for intuition, which is not enough for the critical thinker to justify belief.
“With primitive man, even polytheism is a relative unification of the evolving concept of Deity; polytheism is monotheism in the making. Sooner or later, God is destined to be comprehended as the reality of values, the substance of meanings, and the life of truth.”
On the road from polytheism to monotheism, man took a destructive detour as described above. Now, we need to undo that by having this deity evaporate away quality by quality until it is indistinguishable from nature as per your description, and then the concept of a god as a person ruling nature and beyond can be dropped, which concept is not only not needed to consider values or truth, but interferes with a rational approach to each.
Scientific analysis of spirituality doesn’t work.
It's a philosophical matter based in human psychology. When something becomes evident to the senses (evidence), the mind fleshes it in cognitively then affectively, that is, what does it signify about reality, and how do we feel about it. These latter feelings include several dysphoric feelings like anxiety, regret, grief, etc., but also positive experiences such as finding something beautiful or valuable. The spiritual experience is one of these. An informed experience of the night sky begins with an understanding of what that drop of starlight signifies about its source and the times and distances involved, as well as our connection to it as the source of the heavy elements that comprise our bodies and surroundings. And then comes the affective component - the spiritual experience, a blend of connection, belonging, mystery, awe, and gratitude.
And here is where the Abrahamic theist and this humanist part ways. He calls that experience an experience of God. I call it experiencing my mind, and find no value in speculating beyond that. What value is added by calling nature a god or a person? Isn't it sacred enough without that? And the justification? "I feel it in my heart," "My gut tells me it's true." Translation: "I have an intuition, a belief for which I can offer no evidence or give a supporting argument, that what I'm experiencing is a being of some sort out there rather than just the product of my mind, and that is evidence or proof enough for me. I have private evidence of a god."