Prostitution is famously known as "the oldest profession in the world". Many scholars like to nitpick and say that hunting or gathering actually deserves this title, but the fact remains that it is currently and historically ubiquitous: all ancient and modern cultures have had their own form of prostitution, from ancient Greece and the Aztecs to modern America. For example, the ancient Greek historian Herodotus in his Histories speaks of ancient inhabitants of Mesopotamia who practiced "sacred" or "temple prostitution", a cult practice that enacts the symbolic marriage between a god and a goddess with human beings who they represent the deities. In ancient Rome, prostitutes were often foreign slaves or poor, lower-class people. In ancient Greece, prostitution involved not only women, but also boys. Prostitution, in its various shapes and forms, has been and will be a part of human society, regardless of time period or geographic location. Business simply satisfies a basic human need in a professional relationship. Unfortunately, the American legislature ignores this simple truth and continues to criminalize and prosecute the profession and all those involved in it. But since prostitution shows no signs of abating in the short term, American lawmakers must take a different approach. Prostitution should not be abolished or suppressed, but legalized and regulated (or decriminalized), which constitutes state authority and control over the profession, as well as social tolerance of all aspects of the profession. Although many groups oppose prostitution in the United States, the positive effects of decriminalizing the prostitution industry would far outweigh the current harmful effects of an illegal, largely clandestine prostitute... middle of paper...'s Intelligence Wire December 5, 2006. Sanders, Teela, Maggie O'Neill, and Jane Pitcher. Prostitution: Sex Work, Politics, and Politics. London: SAGE, 2009.Spector, Jessica. Prostitution and pornography: philosophical debate on the sex industry. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2006. Sullivan, Barbara. Rethinking prostitution. 1995. December 2, 2010 .Time. "Belgium: to Brussels with love." Time October 13, 1986. United Nations News Center. A container exhibition supported by the United Nations highlights the plight of victims of sex trafficking. 6 February 2008. 2 December 2010. World Bank, International Monetary Fund. Reference guide to anti-money laundering and countering terrorist financing. Ed. Paolo Allan Schott. 2nd. Washington, DC: World Bank Publications, 2006.