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THE IDEAL OF INDIAN WOMANHOOD
done. To have no control over the senses is like sailing in a rudderless ship, bound to break to pieces on coming in contact with the very first rock. If mutual consent makes a scx-act moral, whether within or without marriage, and by parity of reason, even between members of the same sex, the whole basis of sexual inorality is gonc. There is hope for a decent life only so long as the sex-act is definitely related to the conception of precious life. This rules out of count perverted sexuality, and to a lesser degree, promiscuity and condonation, if not endorsement, of unnatural vice.”
It is not a very original doctrine to refer morality to religion. The fallacy of this fundamental doctrine of dogmatic ethics is the assumption that man is naturally immoral. Therc is no difference between this moral philosophy and the Christian dogma of original sin. The assumption that man is naturally immoral or sinful contradicts the idea of soul. Goodness or virtue has little merit if men are to be cocrccd to be good or virtuous. It is an insult to the intelligence of man to say that he can behave decently only under fear or compulsion. Morality is real only when it can stand by itself, when it docs not require any metaphysical or religious sanction. The free self-respecting and dignified individual prefers the old Epicurean conception of morality : his or her desire to be good, virtuous and noble as
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