GOD created man and woman with opposite sexual organs so that man and woman can have sexual relationships and give birth to babies; without which, GOD’s will for the human population to grow and thrive on Earth would come to an immediate halt, after the creation of the first seven pairs of human beings. The sexual desire that drives men to seek out women to fulfil GOD’s will is also the source of many confusions and misunderstandings about the nature and boundaries of sexual relationships.
Laws are created by man for the purpose of protecting the fundamental rights of the people and maintaining harmony in a diversity of opinions by introducing what is allowed and what is not allowed in a country. Generally, laws related to sexual relationships are in accordance with the Divine Law of Nature whereby rape, statutory rape, sexual assault, prostitution, molestation, incest, possession of child pornography and internet sex crimes are considered a crime in many countries. They are considered crimes because the sexual act of the perpetrator violates the fundamental rights of their victims. What about sexual acts that do not violate the rights of others, but consensual like fornication, homosexuality, bestiality, buggery, wife sharing, group sex, pornography, fetish or even polygamy?
BAITIANGONG Sexual Relationship Guidelines
The BAITIANGONG Sexual Relationship Guidelines was met with strong resistance when Xian Sheng first introduced this guideline. Some followers claim that the guidelines were unfair to female BAITIANGONG followers; others claim it’s rather loose when compared to other religions. Xian Sheng explained that the sexual relationship guidelines are meant to ensure we do not ignorantly violate the Divine Law of Nature while ensuring that everyone is given the opportunity to pray to the CREATOR. Xian Sheng kept explaining week after week until all questions and dissatisfaction to the sexual relationship guideline were finally answered. The BAITIANGONG sexual relationship guidelines are not meant to be the movement’s spiritual laws to complement the country’s law like the Syariah Laws. Xian Sheng gave us the sexual relationship guideline to guide us through the confusions and misunderstandings that stem from differing ethical and moral positions taken by religious groups, human rights groups, LGBT groups, social groups and especially the western view of sexual relationships.
The Sexual Relationship Guidelines are
- Monogamy. One husband and one wife is the best.
- Fornication and celibacy acceptable, but not encouraged
- One mistress
The following are sinful sexual acts
- Prostitution and solicitation for prostitution
- Adultery, incest and wife sharing
- Homosexual and bestiality
- Rape, statutory rape, sexual assaults and offences
Xian Sheng has a liberal view on sexual relationships as from a spiritual standpoint, an individual’s sexual preference and fetishes, and the sexual relationship between two consenting adults or married couple is private and personal as long as it’s not forced upon or paid for. GOD made sex a beautiful and pleasurable experience for us, but people still need to practise responsibility and not abuse it. In BAITIANGONG, sexual relationship is a trivial matter and followers should not impose their personal ethical and moral views to interpret the sexual relationship guidelines, as they could prevent people the opportunity to pray to the CREATOR.
Monogamy
The best practice that will ensure a harmonious society would be the marriage between a husband and a wife. The husband and wife would have to reach the maturity age of 21 years old and 18 years old respectively. It is generally acknowledged that at that age, both the male and female would have reached puberty or sexual maturity, and more importantly intellectual, emotional and social maturity. Xian Sheng explained that he wanted the male follower to be older than the female follower so that he can have sufficient time to earn a living to look after the family before he considers marriage. The 18 years old guideline for female followers will protect girls from being deprived of their childhood or teenhood if they were taken as wives before 18 years old. On a medical note, Xian Sheng explained that girls should not have sex so early in life although they have reached puberty. Masturbation is medically proven to keep a person young and healthy, and a girl having sex at a younger age will have interrupted this natural cycle if they have sex early in life.
The misconception that adolescents will sin if they have sex before the age of maturity is illogical as maturity is the determining factor to when a person enters into adulthood and becomes responsible for their actions. Adolescents could not sin as they are immature, but immaturity could lead to pregnancy. Teen pregnancy is a social problem, as both the baby and the mother would face social, emotional and financial problems. Hence, we should not interpret that sex before the maturity age as sinful. And as we understand, a person who sins in ignorance is not really sinful, moreover so if they are immature. This guideline serves as a guide for their parents to teach their children early in life so that they could avoid a potentially disruptive event to their lives.
Fornication (cohabitation) and celibacy
Sex between two consenting adults is a beautiful and pleasurable experience. Sex must be pleasurable so that copulation will lead to babies that would give souls in hell the opportunity to be reincarnated. In the past, two people in love could get married prior to engaging in sexual intercourse, as marriages were considerably less complicated. However, in our contemporary society, a couple in love must plan ahead before raising a family, but as the sexual attraction can be overwhelming, they would indulge in fornication. Fornication or more specifically cohabitation in our context is allowed in the sexual relationship guidelines so that loving couples could enjoy the company of each other as well as getting to know their sexual compatibility before getting married and doing it without going against the Spiritual Guidelines. Fornication in the true meaning, that is sexual intercourse between people not married to each other or a promiscuous lifestyle is not encourage as fornication can lead to irresponsible lifestyle.
Xian Sheng explained that if fornication were not allowed in the guidelines, many people would not be able to pray to the CREATOR. He gave an example that many Christians cannot be Christians if they fornicate. If BAITIANGONG has strict guidelines that categorise fornication as sexual sins, then the majority of young adults cannot be BAITIANGONG followers as the Council could not accept them into the movement when we know they sin willfully. However, a couple that cohabited for more than nine (9) months is considered as husband and wife to the movement. If they decide to separate, they must observe the required nine (9) months separation period. Sometimes, couples that cohabitate do not intend to get married. This is also acceptable, but not encourage, as they would have lost the chance to bring children and raise them up as BAITIANGONG followers.
Celibacy is not encouraged, as children raised by BAITIANGONG families would have the best opportunity to come to know and understand BAITIANGONG and to pray to the CREATOR. Xian Sheng consistently reminded parents to bring their children along when they come for BAITIANGONG activities especially on Sunday, so that volunteers can teach the children BAITIANGONG knowledge.
One Mistress
One of the most contentious of the sexual relationship guidelines is that male follower is allowed to have one mistress. The guideline about one mistress will always be a social issue if you think bad of this guideline as gender bias. Xian Sheng explained that GOD created man and woman unfairly as they have different roles to play. A man can enjoy sex without getting pregnant, but only a woman can have the joys of pregnancy. Is GOD being unfair to the man or to the woman? Xian Sheng gave this guideline for a few reasons. If the wife is infertile and cannot conceive children or the wife developed a terminal sickness and is unable to consummate the marriage, the husband is allowed to find a mistress to give birth to children. The emphasis is about giving the children raised in BAITIANGONG families the opportunity to save their own soul. If any male follower abuses this guideline just to satiate his lust, the wife is allowed to divorce him as its’ her rights to free herself from the marriage and to find another husband. Furthermore, knowingly abuse the Spiritual Guidelines is to sin willfully, which means your sins will weigh heavier upon death.
When Xian Sheng introduced this guideline, the female population was larger than the male population and this guideline allows female followers that are unable to find a husband to be a mistress. This guideline makes a lot of sense when we consider the possibility that a woman who is unable to find an unmarried man may break up the marriage of another couple just to get her husband. Most married women would think that this guideline is unfair, regardless of the situation. However, if the roles were to be reversed and the wife is now the unmarried woman and there is no suitable husband, would the guideline still seem unfair? The guidelines are meant to allow more people the opportunity to pray to the CREATOR and to have a harmonious society. Xian Sheng stated that most female followers would object to her husband taking on a mistress and this would result in a broken family where the children would suffer the most. Hence, both the husband and wife must discuss this seriously. The wife must maintain a cool head and consider the situation logically while the husband must consider whether he is able to provide for them financially and treat them fairly or else his examination in life would have been considerably harder.
Xian Sheng stated that it’s better for a female follower to be a mistress to a BAITIANGONG male follower instead of marrying a husband that is not praying to the CREATOR. If we apply Think Good, See Good and Hear Good to understand Xian Sheng’s intention when he gave these Spiritual Guidelines, you will see that the emphasis is on saving more souls and not about gender equality. On the bright side, if the wife allowed her husband to take on a mistress for purely the right reasons and she does so happily, she would have gotten positive merits as she has done her part to save the souls of others. If the husband does it because of lustful reasons, then he would have to suffer the consequences upon his death.
The mistress is accepted to join in all movement’s activities and not treated any differently. However, if the husband were to have another mistress, the movement will not accept them into the movement. Xian Sheng said that she can still pray to the CREATOR as anyone can pray to the CREATOR, but the movement will not accept her as a follower as she has clearly gone against the Spiritual Guidelines. The Council have a responsibility to encourage more people to join the movement but must ensure that those who join the movement sincerely follow the Spiritual Guidelines.
The best and most harmonious society
The best society in most people’s mind would ideally be one with one husband and one wife. However, the conditions where an ideal society can be implemented would be if the ratio of man to woman is 1:1; people do not commit extramarital sex; zero divorces; birth rate of 100% so that men do not look for another woman to give him an offspring; the laws governing marriage are extremely strict in every country; prostitution, homosexuality and rape are outlawed and man does not have free will. An ideal society would be impossible simply because the CREATOR intended for people to live to go through an examination in life and sexual desires is one of the examinations in life.
As an ideal society is not viable, the best society would have to be a harmonious and implementable society according to the Spiritual Guidelines. Xian Sheng asked us to pray to the CREATOR to give us a society with the ratio of man to woman of 1:1.2. Visualise a scenario with a group consisting of 10 men and 12 women. All 10 men are married, with 2 unmarried women. If 1 man out of 10 men has a need for a mistress, due to the reason as stated under the heading One Mistress, the above social harmony of the group is still maintain due to the availability of the 11th woman. If the scenario with the 12th woman is that she decided she wanted a husband and one family accepts her as the mistress or one of the married men have a sexual desire for extramarital activity and the 12th woman is available, the social harmony of the group will still be preserved. We can see the ratio of man to woman of 1:1.2 would be the best to maintain a social harmony so that the examination in life would be easier for everyone.
The sinful sexual acts
Why are prostitution, adultery, incest, homosexual or bestiality considered as sinful sexual acts in BAITIANGONG?
Prostitution is considered the oldest profession in history and many countries do not list prostitution as crimes but instead considered them as sex workers in the sex-for-sale industry that is entitled to legal and human rights like any other jobs. Prostitution raises many ethical and moral questions, but it is also a billion dollar industry that caters to a growing demand. People who frequented brothels claims that they are seeking sexual comfort or sexual reprieve and they paid for services rendered and the transaction is willing buyer willing seller.
Adultery is generally defined as voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a person who is not his spouse or her spouse. In BAITIANGONG, the term adultery only applies when a married female follower is involved. The BAITIANGONG definition would be voluntary sexual intercourse between a married woman and a married man or unmarried man who is not her spouse. Adultery does not apply to voluntary sexual intercourse between a married man and unmarried woman. The reason is that BAITIANGONG allows a married man to have one mistress for the reason as stated under the heading One Mistress. Adultery, incest and bestiality, similar to prostitution are not listed as crimes in many countries provided that minors are not involved, else the laws on statutory rape will be applied.
Buggery is defined as anal intercourse, oral intercourse or sodomy by major dictionaries. The Spiritual Guidelines listed buggery as sexual sins in the 6th Anniversary book. Does that mean that private sexual relationships between a married couple involving anal or oral sex is a sin? To get a clear understanding of the definition of buggery in this context, we would have to look at The Laws of Malaysia Act 574. Section 377 of Unnatural Offences list buggery with an animal as a voluntary carnal intercourse with an animal. The term Buggery should therefore be replaced with Bestiality in order to avoid confusion in the modern definition of the word buggery.
Homosexuals are people attracted to the same sex and popularly known as gays or lesbians. The majority of western countries legalised same sex marriages and gays are actively being promoted in many western TV shows and movies. Although the religious communities argue that homosexuals are against the natural order, where only men and women can have sex and can be married, the western political view is mainly focused on human rights. Xian Sheng said that some people are born with homosexual desires while some are born as transgender. The reason is simply that it is their examination in life and how they will choose when they come of age will determine whether they pass or fail in their examination. The parents are responsible to teach their children the Spiritual Guidelines so that their children can refrain from indulging in their homosexual desires. A transgender can choose to undergo a sex reassignment surgery or SRS to change their sex and then have sex with the opposite sex without going against the Spiritual Guidelines. However, if they change their minds after performing the surgery and have sexual relationship with the same sex, they would be classified as homosexuals. Bisexuals are people who have sexual attraction to both men and women and if they have sexual relationships with the same sex, homosexuality applies as well.
When it comes to prostitution, adultery, incest, homosexual or bestiality, we can see that the line of demarcation between right and wrong is not clearly defined as compared to rape, statutory rape, sexual assault and incest involving minors. Prostitution and homosexuality, in particular, have garnered the support of many people because human rights are used to blind the people to the moral degradations of such activities. Xian Sheng explained that the sum of all the individual consciousness in a group or a community or a country is known as total consciousness and the total consciousness of a community projected upwards to GOD will become the desired consciousness of the community. As more individuals consciously accept prostitution and homosexuality because of human rights, GOD’s consciousness projected back downwards to the group or community or country will be the consciousness to accept prostitutes and homosexuals. That is why the majority of Western countries accepts and condones Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) while the Middle East and Eastern countries reject them due to the more rigid social and moral views of the people. For the sake of clarity, BAITIANGONG does not accept homosexuals into the movement because of their sexual preference, but they are free to pray to the CREATOR and they deserve a good livelihood as everyone else. BAITIANGONG followers should not oppressed homosexuals in any way, but to preach to them to change their lifestyle so that they have an opportunity to go to heaven.
BAITIANGONG Spiritual Guidelines is meant as a guide for a person to follow, to change their bad habits, wrong ethical and moral values and sexual desires so that their soul will have an opportunity to go to heaven. Everyone with undesirable past like prostitutes, homosexuals, those who committed adultery, incest or bestiality, or mediums or spiritualist, idol worshippers, thieves, and etc. can be accepted into the movement if they have stopped and changed their ways. An examination in life means that we are being examined daily until the day we die and when we do, the positive merits and negative deeds accumulated since we reach the age of maturity will be tallied up automatically and our soul will go to either heaven or hell.
We live in a communal society where any actions within the community that have negative causality degrades the good values of the society and the damages would ripple down to every fabric of the community. A prostitute enticed a young man to seek her services and he gets AIDS that sets in motion another series of negative causality. Pimps that wants to make more money look for girls that in turn drives up the human trafficking trade and destroys the lives of the families involved. A man with promiscuous lifestyle married a girl who is his daughter from his one-night stand and the baby suffers from various disorders or deficits because of first-degree incest. The actions a person takes can result in the misery of others and the negative effects compound from person to person until the whole community is affected. The Sexual Relationship Guidelines guides followers to avoid getting tangled into situations that will complicate their examination in life. If they go against the guidelines, they would not only sin willfully, but would also drag others to sin too.
FAQ
1. Why does Xian Sheng always emphasis on a 1 male to 1.2 female ratio?((Why does Xian Sheng always emphasis on a 1 male to 1.2 female ratio? Tape number: 47C-1998. Transcript Date: 1998-10-09. Time: 22:53:15 – 22:56:59))
The best society is 1 male to 1.2 females (ratio 1:1.2). It is best if female is more than male. Some said that the best society is 1 man to 1 woman. Xian Sheng says it’s good, but its not the best. Should one of these pair split, they will cause another pair to split. This will become a crazy society.If men are more than women, it will become a frustrated society. Cases like robbery, rape, abduction, prostitution, gambling will happen and also will engage in anal sex (ISA). Therefore we have to understand social responsibilities. TIANGONG creates man and woman. The best society is therefore more women than men.
2. In case of divorce, who is better to take care of children?((In case of divorce, who is better to take care of children? Tape number: 47C-1998 . Transcript Date: 1998-10-09. Time: 23:02:06 – 23:02:50))
As a mother with children, she shouldn’t neglect her responsibility towards them. In Baitiangong , both are Baitiangong followers, in the event of a breakup or divorce, it is the responsible of the mother to raise her children. If she neglects her responsibility, it would be better to let her husband raise the children.
3. A man can have a mistress. Can a woman have another man if her husband is impotent? The husband is impotent and his wife wants to divorce him for another man.((A man can have a mistress if his wife is having health problem. Can a woman have another man if her husband is impotent? Tape number: 10B-2000. Transcript Date: 2000-01-30. Time: 17:23:25 ))
It is best not to divorce, but if his wife insists to have children, then she can divorce.