KISSING

 

Kissing.

 

A pleasant pass time. Quite enjoyable.

 

Anything so popular and good is not without its detractors. There were persons and institutions that attempted to ban kissing.

 

At the beginning of civilization, men would sniff and smell each other. People were identified by their body odors.

 

At some point in time, the heads slipped during the smelling process and lips touched. Kissing was born.

 

Early kissing continued to be part of the identification process. Romantic kissing did not come into existence till around 1,000 B.C. India was its birth place.

 

The first identification of kissing as a romantic sense of expression was contained in a poem. The poem was written by an Indian poet, Mahabharta. He wrote "...she set her mouth to my mouth and made a noise that produced pleasure in me."

 

Alexander the Great conquered the known world at his time. Kissing was known in certain of the middle east countries he conquered as romantic in nature. Alexander and his men enjoyed the experience so much that they introduced kissing through out Europe.

 

By the time of Julius Ceasar, Romans had become big time kissers. Romans of Ceasar's time have been described as "kissing fools." The Romans especially enjoyed "soul kissing." The soul kissing of Ceasar's time is the French kissing of today.

 

Emperor Tiberius did not like kissing. Leprosy was a problem during his reign. He believed kissing caused the transfer of leprosy from one person to another. Tiberius banned kissing.

 

The ban was ineffective. The people enjoyed kissing too much.

 

The biggest romantic kissing killjoys were the Christians. Sex has always had an evil connotation of sorts in the Catholic Church. Pope Clement V in 1312 decreed sensuous kissing a mortal sin. "...kissing done with intent to fornicate is...a mortal sin."

 

From Pope Clement V forward, the Catholic Church sought to ban romantic kissing. Just as some Christians of today would ban pleasurable sex.

Of course, the ban did not fly with the people. Interestingly, the missionaries to the New World are credited with the spread of kissing here. It is humorous to learn that the early missionaries were responsible for spreading kissing, as well as the word of God. For what ever reason, they encouraged those they sought to convert to indulge in it.

 

There is a corollary between yesterday and today. Just as early law makers and the Catholic Church failed to effectively ban kissing, today's politicians and Catholic Church will fail similarly with regard to pleasurable sex.