2. Young People Should Be Abstinent before Marriage

World Scripture

How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to thy word.
Psalm 119.9

So shun youthful passions and aim at righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call upon the Lord from a pure heart.
2 Timothy 2.22

Those who abstain from sex, Except with those joined to them in the marriage bond… These will be the heirs who will inherit Paradise.
Qur’an 23.5-11

Let those who cannot find the wherewithal for marriage keep themselves chaste, until God gives them means out of His grace… Do not force your slave-girls into prostitution when they desire chastity, for your profit in worldly goods.
Qur’an 24.33

If any man takes a wife, and goes in to her, and then spurns her, and charges her with shameful conduct, and brings an evil name upon her, saying, “I took this woman, and when I came near her, I did not find in her the tokens of virginity,” then the father of the young woman and her mother shall take and bring out the tokens of her virginity to the elders of the city in the gate… But if the thing is true, that the tokens of virginity were not found in the young woman, then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has wrought folly in Israel by playing the harlot in her father’s house; so you shall purge the evil from the midst of you.
Deuteronomy 22.13-21

The Buddha said, “Of all longings and desires, there is none stronger than sex. Sex as a desire has no equal. Rely on the Oneness. No one under heaven is able to become a follower of the Way if he accepts dualism.”²⁴
Sutra of Forty-two Sections 25 (Buddhism)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

When a girl grows up and becomes a young woman, she looks for a young man. But will she really find true love in him? Can a young man be confident that he can trust his girlfriend? Without true love, men and woman cannot trust each other. Why? They do not understand that a man and a woman exist for the sake of each other. Instead, they are accustomed to using their partners to serve themselves. People use the opposite sex as servants or slaves because they do not know the value of true love. One’s first love should last eternally.
(297:145, November 19, 1998)

When you are a young person nearing twenty, where do you take your clean and unstained purity, all wrapped up? You take it to the altar where God will be most happy to receive it. Then you join with your spouse, who has also guarded his or her purity. Then when God binds you together at the holy place [your sexual organs], you become a holy husband and wife. Your purity should be your pride. Nevertheless, if you think that you can use your sexual organ freely in the manner of dogs or pigs, it would be better to cut it off or dig it out.
(64:85, October 24, 1972)

You should not sully your innocence during adolescence. It is the precious period when you can overcome and indemnify the sorrow of Adam and Eve, who lost their innocence during their youth. You should preserve your innocence, precious and clean. You should have the integrity and resolution to say, “Even if I have to live alone for a thousand years, I will not allow anyone to violate my love.” My tradition and teaching is that you cannot hold your partner of love unless you have loved your people and your nation. You cannot hold you partner of love unless you have loved the world. You cannot hold your partner of love unless you have loved God. Once you have loved God, loved the world and loved the nation, then you can love your spouse. This is a fundamental rule.
(37:108, December 22, 1970)

The time has come when men as well as women should keep their chastity. If a man takes a wrong step and loses his chastity, it is as if his entire clan committed a serious offense against God’s Will. The time has come when it is no longer acceptable for an elderly man to have a secret affair. A man’s philandering will ruin his entire clan. Once you understand the Unification teaching, you cannot do that.
(Blessing and Ideal Family 1.2.6)

I am thinking that your children should be married at an early age, because I want them to be certain of marrying their first love. If each of you had met your spouse during adolescence with your first love intact, you would be so happy. First love is so pure! You would approach your spouse like a pure child loving its mother and father. Such a loving man and woman create an ideal couple and give birth to wonderful children.
(118:310, June 20, 1982)