Is masturbating a sin by itself?

Question

I know it is but when I was in a youth group as a kid, somebody asked the leader if it was a sin to masturbate while thinking about a doorknob. He pointed out that it wasn't lust if you think about an inanimate object. It honestly stumped the youth leader. He said it was still a sin but I don't remember exactly why. Do any of you have thoughts on this?

Answer 1

Personally, I think it's 'The thought that counts" but, if I had to find an answer he may have given, my guess would be:

1.)Tt "leads to sin" therefore you are willing heading towards a direction that could cause you to sin.

2.) You should only do what furthers the glory to god, and that does not.


That's ok. I am sure he just pulled the answer out of his ear. Theoretically a doorknob SHOULD NOT COUNT.

I did hear about a story about a teen that had a relationship with the family car.
I kid you not.
His deeply religious family forbade him relationships outside marriage and masturbation- so ... I don't know how; he did it with the car....

And since his first experiences were with the car, he found he could only "get there" with the car, and humans were no longer desirable.

If getting weird kinks about doorknobs is a reason not to think about doorknobs, I dunno, I guess that's a good enough reason NOT TO.

I have run across so many people with answers, but with no reasons behind them. So insistent they were with their answers, and held on to their answers even while stumped, reaching for any reason to explain why they believe why they believe.

I was talking with some southern Baptists. they believed if you said "I don’t' believe in God" you can NEVER be forgiven, EVER- even if you take it back, even if you come to Jesus afterwards, it doesn't matter. You are going right to hell. It is the one unforgivable Sin.

So I put this to them:

What if a true believer- and actor who never doubted God EVER, makes a movie where he plays a 'Doubting Thomas', a sinner, where he says in the movie:” I don’t' believe in God"

This movie is so fantastic, people flock in droves to God, and it moves mountains, converts people on the spot!

But..... He said "I don’t' believe in God". He personally NEVER doubted, but his character did.....

Is he going to hell?

This scenario had them going. They were completely stumped.

Lots of people have lots of "answers” without knowing the theological reasons behind them. They just parrot off what they were told.

If you can't get a solid answer from one person- find someone else.... not a parrot.

Answer 2

The term narcissism was originally taken from the Greek myth about a beautiful young man who fell in love with his own reflection in a pool of water, jumped in after it, and drowned. The term was used to denote the attitude of a person who takes his own body as an object of attraction and desire, and centers on the practice of masturbation. Since then psychoanalysis has broadened the definition of narcissism to mean an excessive self-love or concern for the self and lack of concern for others.

In this hedonistic society, some persons need no further justification for sexual activity beyond the fact that it's fun. "If it feels good, do it!" says the bumper sticker. But the fun syndrome forces us to sacrifice the permanent on the altar of the immediate.

If sex is merely a physical thing, then masturbation or other forms of autoeroticism should provide true and complete sexual satisfaction. Such is not the case. Masturbation leads down a slippery slope of pornography or pre-marital sex.

Answer 3

According to scripture "porneos" which can be unchastity or any sort of sexual uncleanness, is a sin.

Why do all these mountain and sky gods hate sex?

Pastoral cultures lived and died by the practice of animal husbandry. Strict control of mating and emissions of semen from masturbating male livestock is a big deal if you want to maintain and improve the quality of your herds. Still is. So the gods of these mountain and hill tribes in the 2nd millenium BC, where agriculture grew in importance later, were really concerned about controlling insemination.

There were also practical taboos put in place because children born out of wedlock became a burden on the tribe as a whole instead of its parents. There was the problem of sexually transmitted disease and no medicines for it. Also when inheritance is according to primogeniture, being certain your first-born son was in fact your son and not someone else's was important to amassing and preserving familial wealth.

As for masturbation, spilling your seed on the ground was considered robbery, denying the tribe the growth in numbers it needed to dominate its enemies.

Most of these factors are no longer so looming. We really don't need to mulitply to fill the earth today. Yet we are left with people following these taboos out of a twisted sort of piety thinking they have something to do with god hating or barely tolerating sex.

In any case, I don't think the physical act is an issue. But I do think the way you objectify other persons as targets of sexual fantasy does shape your attitudes toward them, not always in ways that are healthy or fair. On the other hand, if you can get off thinking about a door knob, I would really be concerned that your wiring was crossed.

Answer 4

I have bean on some fishing boats (so called party boats)
where you are given a rod and expected to bait it yerself.

I have seen some couples where tha dude helped the wife bait her hook because tha bait was too "squishy".

In that case "self baiting" turned to "husband baiting".

So I would say as long as the two are married it is ok for the man to be the "primary baiter".

I know that this does not address the question, but why don't you read tha Bible.

Probably some good fishing lessons in thar.

dave

Answer 5

It is not listed anywhere in Scripture as a sin. As long as it is done without the thought of any specific woman in mind it is not lust. The Catholic Catechism lists masturbation as a venial sin. The idea that RC considers it to be sinful probably is a result of a reference in one of the deutero-canonical books in their canon. I have found nothing in the canon of the protestant church to support this claim however.

Answer 6

Some have stated that the bible says it is a sin to spill your seed on the ground. Not true.

Answer 7

I have to think back to my Catholic school days for this one, lol. Apparently, it's a sin if your seed is wasted. In other words not used to try an impregnate your wife.
Personally, I don't have any thoughts on this.

Answer 8

According to the bible it is a sin to 'spill one's seed on the ground'. It is the same bs mentality that has the catholic church condemning birth control... Pushing the rights of the non-existent over the rights of the living...

Answer 9

If it is, then 99.99% of all men do it. Masturbation is a natural, healthy way of releasing sexual tension, short of intercourse.

Of course, religious leaders want to make everything a sin. They condone pedophiles in the church, but if you masturbate, you are going straight to hell, or so they try to make you think.
Some religious leaders need to clean up their own acts, before casting stones.

The Mormons suggest that you should have your hands tied to the bed at night to avoid masturbation!

Answer 10

Masturbating is no sin. Coveting a married person is though.

Pet the trouser snake, but don't get caught by your Mom, though. That is something she does not want to see and it is something you do not want her to see either.