Naming—and Not Naming—the Act
Religious traditions have long wrestled with how to talk about anal sex, often circling it with euphemisms that signal horror without detail. Medieval Christian writers labeled it peccatum contra naturam—the "sin against nature"—or Sodomitica luxuria, "sodomitical lust," drawing on the story of Sodom and Gomorrah as a symbol of sexual excess.
Some texts went further, speaking of "that horrible sin that among Christians is not to be named," effectively defining anal intercourse as unspeakable even as they legislated against it.
Judaism: Permitted, Yet Cautioned
In Jewish legal tradition, the picture is more nuanced. The Mishneh Torah, an authoritative text, states that a man may behave with his wife "in any manner whatsoever," including intercourse "naturally or unnaturally"—terms commonly understood to include anal and oral sex.
The main restriction is against "wasting seed"—ejaculating with no reproductive purpose—which complicates, but does not categorically forbid, non‑vaginal acts. The text praises piety and restraint, urging that even permitted acts be approached without levity and with a sense of sanctity.
Christianity: The Archetype of Sexual Wrongdoing
Christian doctrine often elevated anal sex to the status of archetypal sexual sin. By framing it as the ultimate "sin against nature," theologians like Thomas Aquinas positioned it beyond the pale of acceptable erotic expression.
This did more than police behavior; it set up a mental hierarchy in which certain acts—especially non‑procreative ones—became shorthand for everything dangerously sexual. Laws and punishments followed, folding anal intercourse into the broad category of "sodomy," sometimes regardless of the genders involved.
Islam: Lot’s People and Legal Codes
In Islamic discourse, liwat—the sin attributed to the people of Lot—is commonly read as describing same‑sex anal intercourse. Passages in the Qur’an that mention divine punishment of Sodom and Gomorrah are interpreted as warnings against "unnatural" sex.
Hadith and later legal traditions often classify male practitioners of anal sex, known as luti (plural lutiyin), as criminals akin to thieves, prescribing severe penalties. In some contemporary legal codes influenced by these traditions, anal sex between men remains a punishable offense.
Takeaway
Across these faiths, anal sex has been a lightning rod for debates about nature, purity, and the purpose of sexuality. Whether cautiously permitted within marriage, cloaked in euphemism, or treated as the very emblem of sin, it reveals how theology can turn one particular act into a battleground for much larger moral anxieties.