Is masturbation sinful?

[afton]

Many people have debated about this, but I have not found any conclusive
answer yet. Is masturbation sinful?

[Grand Pbuh]

Masturbation is sex with yourself and since you are the same sex as yourself, masturbation is homosexuality, thus fornication and prohibited.

1 Corinthians 7:9 But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.

1 Corinthians 7:2 Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.

[athiest_420]

all i can say if masturbation was to be a sin, then why did god make it so damn tempting? plus there have been lots of test that show it to be healthy to... release so to speak... say a man wasnt to get married until his late 20's, say he was religiouse and choose not to have sex before marrige, it would take sooo much self control not to give in in those 28 years, (last 14 paticually), i mean seriously, how many people who say its wrong here can HONASTLY reply to me and say they have never done it?
im sorry, i just couldnt believe that, you would have to be as disiplined as a monk -.-


heres the age old steriotype

sexual acts = taboo
taboo = bad
bad = sin

[Beto]

Since this is the adequate thread I will ask again to Grand Pbuh:

How is sex with a woman NOT also sex with oneself? Notice the progression... hand... artificial vagina... real vagina... real vagina with woman around it. In each instance we're also having sex with ourselves.

I could sympathize with the argument if heterosexual sex was defined with some sort of emotional empathy or romantic feeling between a man and a woman. Alas, this is not the case, and these points are completely irrelevant. If a man seeks out a one-night-stand, or even a prostitute, he is seeking neither. He is actually seeking SELF-GRATIFICATION, and only that. Her pleasure may add to his, but it is definitely not the goal. Your whole argument revolves around this "sex with oneself" issue and you've been called on it before.

I'll go out on a limb here (hope no one blushes) and point out some men like to "discharge" outside a woman's body, and according to you this makes them temporarily (at best) homosexual. Being "always right", as you've humbly mentioned before, I trust you won't actually discuss this any further, but you would earn several points if you'd just retract one stupid comment, something everyone makes every now and then.

[HaywoodJablomey]

I've been wondering about this myself. My pastor says it is sinful, but all my friends do it, and it feels so good. I don't know what to do. I don't think I can stop.

[McCulloch]

My pastor says it is sinful,

Unless your pastor provides some authority, then what he says is merely opinion. Did he find such a teaching in the Bible or did God tell him this from a burning bush?

but all my friends do it,

Surely your mother explained to you the fallacy of basing your morality on what your friends do!

and it feels so good.

Non sequitur. That has nothing to do with whether it is morally acceptable.

I don't know what to do.

How is this for a start? Think deeply about how you decide which things are sin and which actions are not. Then apply those principles to this specific case.

I don't think I can stop.

I think St. Paul suggests marriage in that case.

[JoeyKnothead]

My body, and my soap. I'll wash it fast as I wanna.

If God ain't cool with that I ask him to quit being a peeping tom.

[cnorman18]

I always liked the way Father Guido Sarducci answered this on SNL. I think he said it was a dream he had.

When you die, they take all the money you ever made in your life and they put it in a pile. Then they start taking it away according to your sins. Murder, adultery, those are like millions of dollars. Masturbation - like, twenty-five cents.

More seriously, I asked my rabbi about it. I didn't even get to the question.

"Rabbi, I'm a single, middle-aged man, I don't have a girlfriend..."

"You're wondering about masturbation? Knock yourself out."

We need to rethink our attitude about masturbation. 150 years ago, kids reached puberty at about age 16; that's also about when they got married. No problem. Now, kids reach puberty at 11 or 12, and get married in their early twenties. Problem.

"You will be at your peak of sexual interest and feel your most intense sexual urges for the next ten years. You may have no outlet for those feelings at all. You are not to think about sex or indulge in any sexual activity of any kind. That would be immoral."

Yeah, good luck with that. That's immoral.

[anotchbelow]

honestly, i don't know what the correct answer to this question is, or even, as so many have already suggested, if there is one. i have had this discussion with a number of people whose thought processes i respect quite greatly and i have gotten answers all over the place.

but something i have thought of that i would like to throw into the discussion is possibly differentiating between masturbation and pornography.

this may remove some of the "wrong" aspects of masturbation.

[asp59]

Many people have debated about this, but I have not found any conclusive
answer yet. Is masturbation sinful?

Masturbation is a form of uncleanness. It can make you a ‘slave to various desires and pleasures,’ and it fosters attitudes that can be mentally corrupting. (Titus 3:3)
:For even we were once senseless, disobedient, being misled, being slaves to various desires and pleasures, carrying on in badness and envy, abhorrent, hating one anothe;


At the same time, self-masturbation is not a form of gross sexual immorality, such as fornication. (Ephesians 4:19);17 This, therefore, I say and bear witness to in [the] Lord, that YOU no longer go on walking just as the nations also walk in the unprofitableness of their minds, 18 while they are in darkness mentally, and alienated from the life that belongs to God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the insensibility of their hearts. 19 Having come to be past all moral sense, they gave themselves over to loose conduct to work uncleanness of every sort with greediness;

Hence, if you have a problem with masturbation, you need not conclude that you have committed the unforgivable sin. The key is to resist the urge and never to give up your fight!
the text was taken from http://www.watchtower.org/e/20040722a/article_01.htm you can find tips on how to stop masturbation in that page also

[ConiectoErgoSum]

here's my one-size-fits-all criterion for deciding if a sex-related action is sinful.

sex is 100% about reproduction, be it a direct cause (fertilization) or an indirect cause (relational bonding of a male and female).

if masturbation cannot cause, directly or indirectly, reproduction, then it is either neutral or bad. if it directly or indirectly decreases reproductive tendencies, then it is bad, or sinful.

somehow i doubt that masturbation helps in the reproductive process. except for maybe sperm banks.