There's plenty of nuance and forgiveness in traditional religion. Speaking of which, Asimov was certainly aware that "thou shalt not covet" and "whoever looks

There's plenty of nuance and forgiveness in traditional religion. Speaking of which, Asimov was certainly aware that "thou shalt not covet" and "whoever looks at a woman lustfully..." had been preached for a couple of thousand years, so it's not like he had no idea what he was doing could possibly be wrong.