dear sabastious...
you said: "To have many simultaneous sexual relationships could also indicate use of sex to progress in some secular manner. I personally don't think the term should be limited to the mixing of commerce and sex. There is a broader principle to be found within society's general rejection of prostitution and it most certainly involves a religious reverence for the act"...
the pursuit of chastity and abstinence is, at its core, a christian desire to be Holy and "set apart" like the God that is worshipped. when the goal is chastity or abstinence the strict designation fornication or prostitution wouldn't matter.
sabastious do you favor a return so to speak to a "modern roman" society where the government and society is endoctinated to be permissive of an individuals personal desires...regardless. history shows that someone or a group that does take a stand for certain principles or "sets themselves apart" from the predominant societal "movement" draws negative attention they aren't tolerated (think nero et al) ...hey that situation has started to unfold in our society today hasn't it?
honestly, listening to you, sometimes I wonder if I am witnessing a beast trying to talk like a lamb or a christian in the middle of an epic fail. rev. 13:3-10
love michelle