czgibson,
How can one say that sexual immorality has been "eradicated" when it is still perfectly possible for people to sin in private without fear of prosecution?
It may be that people commit sin in the privacy of their homes but the fact remains that there would be a deterrent on a societal level. For example, consider the following acts that occur nowadays which people are very desensitized to and wouldn't usually bat an eyelid about:
- pornography
- kissing/cuddling in public
- use of (usually female) human body as an advertising tool (basically selling oneself)
- nudism
These things are immoral in Islam and even according to other religions/cultures. They involve fornication or draw near to it. These kinds of things would never happen in a state where stoning is a punishment for such a crime.
Can you imagine a muslim film-maker putting an ad out in the local paper wanting to cast people for a porno?
Likewise for the other three examples (cuddling, advert/modelling, nudism). Nobody would dare do these things in public due to the implications.
Even if people go underground and do their sins, at least the innocence of society is maintained. So from that perspective, I can agree with Ansar when he says immorality gets eradicated.
I have no doubt that the threat of stoning effectively deters people from committing adultery in public view, but does driving the action into private quarters do anything to prevent the sin from occurring?
Probably not. I would argue more for deterrence against changes in the collective public opinion on sexual morality.