The shame is not from God, it is from conditioning.

Posted By BLAIX on April 13, 2009

I posted this comment on the original site but it did not show up. I figured I'd repost it here as well:

Why such forced guilt over something that isn't hurting anyone? Obviously, taken to excess, masturbation causes problems like most other things taken to excess. But occasional relief of sexual frustration through masturbation is healthy. I do not understand why it is seen as sinful. And it even angers me that children are taught that it is wrong and something they need to repent of. This only causes misery. The misery described in this poem and in many of the comments.

If the argument is lustful thoughts, this is impossible to avoid. Especially at the initial onset of puberty, it is impossible to avoid these thoughts. Again this falls into the same category of causing nothing but misery by preaching that occasional lustful thoughts are evil. I don't care what it says in the Bible about this.

When it comes to male masturbation, even if you avoid it entirely, you will still be producing sperm that needs to be released. If you are not having sex, and not masturbating, it will still need to come out. This will happen in a nocturnal emission usually. Is this a sin as well?

This is one of the areas that makes it hard for me to call myself a christian, lest people assume I have beliefs like this.

Response to first poster

Posted By UAPROPHET on August 14, 2009

Of course there are anomalies, but I don't know any male (in my age range particularly, I'm in college) who masturbates occasionally to relieve sexual frustration. I am a porn addict (once an addict always an addict) who can attest to how the sin of masturbation slowly but surely consumes one. What started out as doing it "occasionally" to maybe PG-13/R rated material led to more frequent acts. Then I progressed to soft porn and then full fledged pornography. At its peak, I was doing it multiple times a day. I'd do it 30 minutes before class. It even effected my relationship with my girlfriend. It wasn't until I began having small men's Bible studies that I was able to admit my addiction to anyone and begin taking steps to stop. So to say it is harmless is a truly underestimating it.

Now of course going through puberty you begin to have lustful thoughts. That doesn't it make it any less sinful or harmful. Sin has now become "natural" because of our fall from God's original intentions. Furthermore, masturbation only makes one yearn more for that feeling. I mentioned it effected my relationship with my gf, looking back, I realize that we started going further sexually. Why? Because my addiction was causing me to need more.

As far as the whole nocturnal emissions, I think there is a verse in the Old Testament that mentions that a person is to cleanse himself thoroughly if that habits or something about that. I'm not sure if that really applies to us now, I'm no scholar so I'll stop talking about that. I will say though that at some point we ask questions that are irrelevant to the whole picture. We try to be "smart alecs" by asking "what about this". We have zero control over nocturnal emissions, but we can control masturbation, which is the problem at hand, not nocturnal emissions.

Response to response

Posted By BLAIX on August 14, 2009

As I said in my first comment, anything taken to excess is damaging. If you are addicted to pornography and masturbating so much that it is interfering with your life, obviously there is a problem that needs to be addressed. I stand by my original comment.