Why do churches preach that it's wrong to indulge in pleasure?

Question

Will I go to hell for having fun & enjoying myself? I'm tired of being miserable & I feel I deserve some happiness. My happiness is always ruined by some jerk!

Answer 1

To be happy, is our birthright.
It's not easy to see happy people. Value it, if you can. It's Divine.
To hurt anyone, is wrong.

The heart of Buddha's teaching is to help us get rid of sufferings, to attain Nirvana, the ultimate bliss.

Answer 2

I believe that there's a Talmudic statement that God will hold you accountable for *not* enjoying the lawful pleasures you were entitled to have in life. Certainly, Sabbath is a time when special pleasures are to be savored: if you can afford a delicacy on only one day, you save it for then; the nicest items are put out in a clean and pretty house to honor Queen Sabbath.... And the idea of having a blessing to say, for just about ANYTHING wonderful or spectacular you see, does seem praiseworthy. Why shouldn't people celebrate and take pleasure in the gorgeous world/universe we've been given to play in?(Show me someone who doesn't smile when they see a raccoon.)

The Christians (fyi, was raised Lutheran and now consider myself Pagan), in many cases, do seem to be quite into doom and gloom. Fortunately, this has diminished from the "no secular books at ALL on Sunday" which was common in the Victorian period. Suspect a lot of the frowning on "pleasure" is twofold: some activities people enjoy can be demonstrably harmful if misused (e.g., alcohol consumption, gambling, sexual release), and if people are having fun, they're NOT listening to your sermons and messages ("and putting money in the collection basket", the nasty little cynic inside me whispers).

Answer 3

Not all churches believe this. And jerks will try to ruin your happiness wherever you go. Some people think happiness is a pie that there are only so many pieces of, and more for you means less for them. They don't know that happiness is a perpetually renewable resource.

Take this for what it's worth--I'm a Pagan--but our minds are designed to find happiness and pleasure. We are designed to feel good in a number of ways--our taste buds and the clitoris, for example. So as long as nobody's being exploited or deliberately harmed, why would the pursuit of pleasure be an offense to the Creator who thought of taste buds and seratonin and the clitoris?

Answer 4

Because the early Church Fathers believed that pleasure derived from the devil. *shrugs* Yea, they were a little crazy. They also believed that women are second class citizens and often traded them along with goats and wheat (what a package!) as wives. Of course, it is obvious that all pleasure comes from G-d.
G-d gave us the gift of pleasure and then some stupid old men decided it was sinful. It is the nature of the human to strive for pleasure in life. What good does it do to be miserable just because you're promised something when you are dead! Ecclesiastes says to enjoy life and live in the moment because G-d gave us life and we should use his gift to be happy, not miserable.
You will not go to hell as long as you don't murder or steal. Enjoying yourself is no sin, and being happy is a good deed. G-d wants us to be happy. He knows best, after all. :-)

Answer 5

Well, if you want to please yourself, do not let anyone stop you. Some people might and that is MIGHT mean well, but it does not mean that they are trying to screw you over.

Listen some things we do here will either hurt us or make us feel good. That is the difference in Glorifying God or Glorifying the World.

Lets take a good example - Riding a motorcycle at 140 MPH - it might be exciting, but if you hit that rock, bump, deer.....you will either die or be really messed up. Now for that time you were speeding it felt great, but then there is the afterwords - you crash, you burn, you die, and the fun you have is no more.

It is the same for anything the more you do something that is so called fun you will have to face the music later on and it might not be as fun as you thought.

We can also take credit cards and pleasing yourself. The thrill lasts only until the bill comes and they you have to pay up later and the interest - whew that can be a nightmare.

So, what is your pleasure and are you "purchasing it" on credit only to pay for it later???

Answer 6

You allow some jerk to ruin your happiness? Shame on you!

Churches don't preach that indulging in pleasure is wrong. I have many pleasures that I indulge in. However, if the pleasures that you are talking about are also sinful, then you have a problem with God, and not His churches who merely tell people what He has said about it.

Here's an example: "Is indulging in sexual pleasure wrong?" The answer is "No." (Unless it is outside the covenant of marriage, then it is.)

"Is it wrong to drink alcoholic beverages?" The answer is "No." (Unless you are doing it to get drunk, then it is.)

Why does God put limits on what we indulge in? For our health and safety. Not because He's some killjoy up in Heaven trying to ruin our fun. Remember, everything that God tells us, is out of His love for us. He wants us to have His best. When we settle for anything else, we are settling for less.

Answer 7

How do you define "pleasure" and "happiness"?

Obviously you are not as "happy" as you would like to be AND you blame it on "others". Dr. Murry Banks (Psyciatrist and comedian!) sais happiness is not a station you arrive at but the manner of traveling. What makes us happy or unhappy is not the problems we face but the way we react to the problems. If you could get hold of some of his soundtracks I would recommend you do so. They used to be out on LP records some years ago. Look on ebay.

I found that happiness has a lot to do with how we deal with other people. I try to be friendly with everyone, even if we don't agree on some things. I help where I see others in need whenever I can.

Try an experiment. At a shopping mall go out of your way to hold the door for someone and see their reaction. If there are double doors they go in ahead of you and open the next door for! You are both happy! In the parkinglot stop for pedestrians even if they are obviously willing to let you go by and see their reaction. You can see surprise (maybe) but certainly gratitude and appreciation. That makes me happy every time.

To me happiness is being at peace with myself and what I do. Don't worry, I'm not perfect - yet :-), I haven't arrived yet, still traveling.

Many "religions" and philosophers have been teaching that compassion and forgiveness are essential quailties to achieve happiness, perfection, eternal life, Nirvana etc.. To me Jesus expressed it best when He said to love God, your Creator, above all things and to love your neighbour even if he is your enemy. If you strive to do THAT you can engage in "pleasures" if your conscience is at peace and you don't offend anyone.

Try it! Judge by the results. I think you will get to like it.

Answer 8

It all depends on what you mean by pleasure, enjoying yourself, happiness? I get pleasure from helping out at my church. I enjoy myself when I go on mission trips. Happiness is just an outward appearance, you need to learn joy. Happiness will only get you so far, Joy will get you through almost anything.

Answer 9

Because they don't want you to enjoy this life. You've got to have a sad life here, in the promise of a alleged future life. That's why they make you feel guilty about everything, and they tell you everything that is good is sinful, and so on. If I were you, I'd give a damn about religions, and I'd enjoy the only life we are all sure about.

THERE IS A LIFE BEFORE DEATH.

Answer 10

What churches preach that? Not mine! I have a great time!

The problem is that much of what you likely consider to be pleasure is sinful. The good news is that we all have sinned: "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." - Romans 3:23

The even better news is that Jesus came to save us from those sins and all we have to do is: 1- Accept that we have sinned, 2- Believe that He came to die for our sins and 3- Confess those sins to God. Then we will be seen by God as sinless. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but shall have everlasting life." - John 3:16

Answer 11

You might, depending on the type of fun you're trying to have... find a hobby (like writing poems, dance).... you do deserve happiness.... the only reason you can't have certain types of 'fun' is because it'll hurt you in the future in some way... and by the way, you should stay on the right path... it'll pay off one day ;)