I do not identify as a reddit-fedora brain nor have an intense dislike of religion (at least the mostly harmless ones like Christianity), but I'll take a crack at this --
Even the simple notion that human individuality or self-expression mean anything at all in the universe (rather than being purely epiphenoma, that we can freely suppress or destroy as needed to achieve broader goals) does not come from anything in the natural world or sciences, but entirely from the intellectual & moral inheritance of religious thinking that establishes the person as a locus of essential, transcendent value.
I agree. But I also don't believe that human individuality or self-expression "mean anything", not in the broad sense of things. I still have goals and values, but am not a being of
transcendent value. I do not pretend that the universe cares about any of this. I'm just a bit of anti-entropic froth bubbling about.
The natural world teaches nothing but brutality of the powerful over the weak, & even rape as legitimate ways for stronger beings to succeed and spread. Be honest about the origin of your beliefs; even back in Plato & Aristotle, the organizing tenet which cannot be removed from their elevation of ethics is a thoroughgoing theistic conception of the universe.
I agree, so fuck the natural world and instead shape the world according to your
own values. Well, you may ask, how can my values be considered
legitimate if not handed down by divine providence? Didn't I just stochastically happen upon some set of morals that have no basis in the natural world? Aside from tribal reciprocal altruism being a thing, yeah, pretty much? But why the fuck should I care? They're still legitimate to me, and I only answer to myself. See, I can be honest about the origin of my beliefs and not be a hypocrite.
More on point: sex is the most critical centerpiece of ethical systems in every single civilization on earth for quite rational reasons. It's the only human activity which creates new human beings--whether consciously intended or not--and therefore should always have equal centrality under the law as acts of murder or destroying human beings; they are symmetrical ends of all human morality.
Prohibitions of various kinds against unfettered sexual activity have everything to do with basic social order, ensuring children are given due weight and that their biological parents are mostly united (we live in the world possible era today on this point, unsurprisingly), and ensuring that the strong & attractive don't totally overpower the weak. That last point is particularly salient today: the distorted sexual marketplace simply means that the attractive and wealthy, who can weather the market, run off with the benefit, while an increasingly massive portion of the population remains alone. But that's another topic about the reality of sexual economy and the way that "liberalized" systems simply throw most ordinary people to the wolves or shrug at their solitary lives.
You hit the nail on the head for why
moral panic about free sexuality exists - which is that it's not because it's
inherently bad to sleep around or be a camwhore, but only insofar as it potentially disrupts the fabric of society. So, over the generations we have collectively adopted this pearl-clutching thing while forgetting the actual
function upon which it was predicated. But you're also forgetting one thing: since contraception and abortion were "invented", many of these concerns are now moot since children are out of the picture. Casual sex still tends to be looked down upon, with some justification, because we have not eradicated
all of the downsides, like STDs. But it bears to keep in mind the origins of
why you feel the way you feel about sex; and it isn't due to the act in and of itself being immoral. Sex = immoral is an outdated shorthand for low-IQ dummies pushed by church and state to keep society functioning.
Regarding 5% alpha males banging 80% of the pussy, that's not really my problem. I certainly don't feel the need to demonize the entire act of sex to save some of Chad's sloppy seconds for the average man.