For those who believe, you maybe surprised to learn that the bible has much harsher laws on adultery than the Qur’an.

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It would be interesting to have facts on other religions to add to this list. Please ensure you quote from your religious book, with the exact verse.

Judaism

In Judaism, adultery is considered one of the most grievous sins.

Adultery (sexual intercourse between a married woman and a man other than her husband [the biblical prohibition does not include sex between a married man and an unmarried woman]) is the only sexual offense recorded in the Ten Commandments. It is again recorded in the “Holiness Code” of Leviticus 20. The Book of Genesis (20:9) calls adultery “the great sin” and the Talmud calls adultery ha’averah (the sin par excellence). According to rabbinic tradition, it [along with incest, in the category of gilui arayot] is considered one of the three sins (along with idolatry and murder) that people should avoid even at the pain of death.

One of the strangest of all biblical ordeals was that of a woman suspected of adultery (called a sotah in Hebrew). The procedure is described in graphic detail in the Book of Numbers 5:11‑31. Here the suspicions of a jealous husband may be proved or disproved by giving his wife a mixture of sacred water, earth from the floor of the Tabernacle, and the script of curses, and by observing the results of this ministration. If the woman had defiled herself by entering into an adulterous relationship with another man, the Bible states that her body would distend and she would become a curse among her people. But if the woman was not guilty, then she would remain unharmed and able to retain seed. Ordeals of jealousy were known in the ancient Near East, although not in the precise form described in the Book of Numbers, and there were parallels in many other cultures.

One thing made clear from this biblical ordeal of the suspected adulteress is that the Torah gives the male partner clear prerogatives by laying the burden of proving innocence on the woman. And, while both the wife and her adulterous lover were subject to capital punishment if guilty, no reverse ordeal was instituted: a wife suspecting her husband of infidelity had no recourse. The standards were not the same and men were allowed to be polygamous.

One major problem inherent in the law of the ordeal is the underlying assumption that by invoking the procedure a husband could force God, so to speak, to make the truth known. No other Torah law is dependent on such a divine manifestation.

Laws of adultery continued to be developed in talmudic times. The unfaithful wife was dealt with extensively in a talmudic tractate called Sotah (the faithless wife). Before the penalty of death could be administered, the rabbis stated in the Talmud, a number of strict requirements needed to be met, including such necessities as the crime having to have occurred before two valid witnesses and a warning that must be given to the couple concerning the punishment for the crime in very specific terms. The probability of carrying out the death penalty was, therefore, quite remote.

Marrying a person born of an adulterous or incestuous union and having sexual intercourse with him or her was a criminal offense punishable by flogging. The offspring of a forbidden sexual relationship is called a mamzer, usually translated as bastard. In Jewish law, though, the mere fact that a child is born or conceived out of lawful wedlock does not make him a mamzer and he is not an illegitimate child, i.e., one whose status or rights are impaired. The Bible says that a mamzer shall not “enter into the assembly of God; even unto the tenth generation shall none of his progeny enter into the assembly of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 23:3). “Enter into the assembly” is the biblical idiom for marrying into the Jewish community; the “tenth generation” is a large number indicating an infinite time.

It is also for this reason that the rabbis made every effort to solve all cases of the mamzer. The Talmud implies that the biblical verse (Deuteronomy 23:3) that states the mamzer may never marry into the Jewish community refers to “tenth generation” rather than forever, because in the future world mamzers will be purified.

Source : Adultery 

Qur’an

God declared adultery to be punished with 100 Lashes

“The woman and the man guilty of unlawful sex (adultery or fornication), flog each of them with a hundred stripes; let not compassion move you in their case in a matter prescribed by Allah if ye believe in Allah and the Last day; and let a party of the believers witness their punishment”. (24:2)

There is nothing to prove the contention of stoning to death being the punishment for adultery in the Qur’an. On the contrary there are clear indications in Qur’an that punishment of 100 lashes is for all adults, be they married for unmarried, men or women.

Bible

God Declared Adultery to be a sin Deserving Death.

The gravity of adultery is evident by the fact that the Bible describes the offense as being punishable by the death penalty for both the man and the woman.

“If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death”

(Leviticus 20:10; cf. Deuteronomy 22:22).

“You shall not commit adultery”

(Exodus 20:14)

I am a christian, and currently hold a leadership position in my church. I can tell you that in the churches eyes, I have wronged and tarnished the church because of my actions. I have wronged God. I broke one of the ten commandments. Knowing that I need to work on myself, I am choosing to step down from my leadership position for a while. It will give me time to focus on what God wants for me.

Adultery is one of the ten commandments given to the people by God. With only ten direct commandments, it is not difficult it misunderstand how God feels about adultery. Enough said.

Religious Beliefs & Infidelity

In a survey on sex, religion, and infidelity conducted by Euro RSCG Worldwide took a peek into the bedrooms of five countries–the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, and China–and found that more than anyone else, Americans’ sexual behavior is very much influenced by their religious views. 

A substantial 39 percent of Americans said they agreed that “my religious beliefs factor into my sexual behavior,” while at the other extreme, a very meager 3 percent of French respondents agreed and an overwhelming 91 percent disagreed.

No other nation surveyed came close to the United States in terms of allowing religion into the bedroom. The nearest was the United Kingdom with 16 percent in agreement. In Germany, just 6 percent agree that religion influences sexual behavior.

“If the last few years have proved anything, it’s that sex and religion are highly charged subjects that need to be handled with great care,” said Ira Matathia, managing director of the New York office of Euro RSCG Worldwide, in a news release announcing the survey findings.

Perhaps the most surprising finding of all was that fully 15 percent of the Chinese respondents said that religion plays a role in their sex lives. Chinese authorities have long discouraged religion (and, for that matter, sex) so it’s striking that even 15 percent acknowledged this was true for them.

Other findings about sex, religion, and infidelity:

• The Chinese are by far the most likely to think that monogamy is the natural state for human beings: 70 percent of them agree, compared with 57 percent of Americans, 44 percent of the French, 42 percent of Brits, and 40 percent of Germans.
• Almost 60 percent of Britons think it is normal for a 30-something to have had 10 or more different lovers over the course of his or her single years. This compares with 52 percent of Germans, 49 percent of Americans, 30 percent of French, and 17 percent of Chinese.

• Oddly, 23 percent of the Chinese think that extramarital affairs in which no one gets hurt are acceptable. Compare this to 11 percent of Brits and 9 percent of Americans. (The French and German samples were more in alignment with China than with the United States or the United Kingdom.)

• In all the countries except the United Kingdom, higher proportions of men than women are tolerant of extramarital affairs that cause pain to neither party.

Source:

• Sex, Religion, & Infidelity – http://webcenters.netscape.compuserve.com/love/package.jsp?name=fte/sexreligion/sexreligion