Is masturbation a sin?

[Solon]

So is masturbation the only "emotional stress relief" available? Leave it to human imagination and people can get creative with this stuff.

~Victor

Creative, well that's one way of putting it. There are many forms of emotional release, this is just one of them, nonetheless, it is highly pleasurable.

S

 

[john63]

You can be creative with masterbation.


Solon, what flavor of Pagan are you? Just curoius.

 

[jeffrey]

With masturbation, you know how and what you want. That's why cloning might be fun, because I know what I like!

 

[MdmSzdWhtGuy]

From the creation myths Of Amun, carved within Ipet-Swt ( Karnak Temple):

' He took his penis in his hand. He made love to his fist. He took his exquisite joy with his fingers. From the flame of his fiery blast which he kindled with his hand, the universe was formed'

I follow Amun, his sacred rites were sexual, he gives me my lead. I'll have a fiery blast as often as I so wish.

Solon

I think I have finally found a religion I can wrap my hands around!!! (rimshot)

Thanks, I will be here all week, be sure to tip your waitresses and bartenders. . . . Good night!!!

B.

 

[anders]

Finding this thread quite late, my views might have been already expressed several times, but please bear with me.

Being an atheist, I don't sin. There's no Superiour Being(TM) against which I could trespass.

I think proof of masturbation should be compulsory before allowing any couple to explore their sexuality together. If you don't know what to expect from yourself, and how to accomplish it, how could you ever try to understand the workings and needs of your partner?

Mind you, I'm not advocating classes of more or less public masturbation, but mainly that judgmental attitudes from centuries having long since disappeared into history should be forgotten.

 

[Solon]

You can be creative with masterbation.


Solon, what flavor of Pagan are you? Just curoius.

Mostly Egyptian and Greek pantheons. I'm a double ' A ' pagan, Amun and Athena, are my personal deities, but I'll call on whoever when I need to to. I like many of the Hindu Gods as well, especially those that are carry the divine Shakti.

Yes, you can be very creative with masturbation.......

Solon

 

[mr.guy]

I think proof of masturbation should be compulsory before allowing any couple to explore their sexuality together. If you don't know what to expect from yourself, and how to accomplish it, how could you ever try to understand the workings and needs of your partner?

Please bear in mind that being a prude is a legitimate excercise of personal sexual ethics. As is exclusive (decisive) masturbation in lieu of a partner, of course. Now, as for cloning to produce a sex partner....ask victor or jgallant.

 

[TashaN]

Is masturbation a sin?

Yes it's so sin but some would not believe it. Here are a few of the dangers of masturbation that some have listed:

• 1. Psychic effects. Masturbation has a tendency to isolate its captives psychologically and socially. In masturbation, the person is focused on self-alone even though he or she usually is fantasizing about someone else at the same time.
  
  2. Emotional deprivation. It is impossible for the one who is practicing this habit to experience the full extent of sex emotions. Therefore, in short-circuiting the emotions one can easily be removed from the world of reality.
  
  3. Damaged sensibility. The habit of masturbation has a tendency in numbing the mechanism of the sexual organs if practiced excessively. This lessens the sensibility and thus detracts from normal sexual relations of married life.
  
  4. Self-gratification. The emotional background of self-gratification is not the least bit healthy and usually militates against the home, wife and family because it is focused only on self.
  
  5. Control of the mind. Along with the act of masturbation comes the fantasy of the mind. When practiced often, a pattern or cycle seems to become established within the individual’s mind. Thus, perversion has a tendency to control the mind and this in turn initiates the act. The real danger lies in the guilt that increases as the individual dwells in this world of fantasy.
  
  
  So, what do you think of it now?

 

[pdoel]

So, what do you think of it now?

I still don't think it's a sin. And the medical community disagrees with all of your points.

That's what I think.

 

[Cynic]

I've tried to stop masterbating several times when I was Christian, but it made it much harder because my libido would progressivley increase. The longest I went was about two weeks, and by that time I was going crazy whenever a girl walked into the room. I mean, sex is a bodily need, your body craves it like food or water. Going without it is just like starving yourself. It's like saying eating food is a sin.

 

[retrorich]

I still don't think it's a sin. And the medical community disagrees with all of your points.

That's what I think.

Well I'm not a Doctor, but I play one in the forums:

Dr. Jack Meoff.

 

[Cynic]

Well I'm not a Doctor, but I play one in the forums:

Dr. Jack Meoff.

:biglaugh:

 

[Quiddity]

Creative, well that's one way of putting it. There are many forms of emotional release, this is just one of them, nonetheless, it is highly pleasurable.

S

There certainly is and that is all it is, an "emotional release". It is pointless if you sit there and try to prove that masturbation is healthy when I [and others] have pointed out that the body can't make the distiction between sex and masturbation. Isolating it to the word masturbation is not telling the whole story, something more broad like "the body wants sexual pleasure" is more accurate in my opinion. Those of you who take that to an extreme stay away from my animals.

~Victor

 

[pdoel]

Those of you who take that to an extreme stay away from my animals.

~Victor

Boy. Talk about taking things to extremes.

 

[michel]

I thought I would try and inject a bit of sensible stuff in this thread....a "revival"

These sites are, I think you will accept, 'reliable'
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn3942

Masturbating may protect against prostate cancer

• 19:00 16 July 2003
• Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition
• Douglas Fox, Adelaide

will make you go blind. It will make your palms grow hairy. Such myths about masturbation are largely a thing of the past. But the latest research has even better news for young men: frequent self-pleasuring could protect against the most common kind of cancer.
A team in Australia led by Graham Giles of The Cancer Council Victoria in Melbourne asked 1079 men with prostate cancer to fill in a questionnaire detailing their sexual habits, and compared their responses with those of 1259 healthy men of the same age. The team concludes that the more men ejaculate between the ages of 20 and 50, the less likely they are to develop prostate cancer.

The protective effect is greatest while men are in their twenties: those who had ejaculated more than five times per week in their twenties, for instance, were one-third less likely to develop aggressive prostate cancer later in life (BJU International, vol 92, p 211).

The results contradict those of previous studies, which have suggested that having had many sexual partners, or a high frequency of sexual activity, increases the risk of prostate cancer by up to 40 per cent. The key difference is that these earlier studies defined sexual activity as sexual intercourse, whereas the latest study focused on the number of ejaculations, whether or not intercourse was involved.

The team speculates that infections caused by intercourse may increase the risk of prostate cancer. "Had we been able to remove ejaculations associated with sexual intercourse, there should have been an even stronger protective effect of other ejaculations," they suggest. "Men have many ways of using their prostate which do not involve women or other men," Giles adds.

Macho exaggeration

Giles accepts the possibility that the men who completed the questionnaires could have lied about their habits. But he doubts this skewed the results, since questions about masturbation are unlikely to evoke the same macho exaggeration as questions about, say, number of sexual partners.

But why should ejaculating more often cut the risk of prostate cancer? The team speculates that ejaculation prevents carcinogens building up in the gland. The prostate, together with the seminal vesicles, secretes the bulk of the fluid in semen, which is rich in substances such as potassium, zinc, fructose and citric acid.

Generating the fluid involves concentrating these components from the bloodstream up to 600-fold - and this could be where the trouble starts. Studies in dogs show that carcinogens such as 3-methylcholanthrene, found in cigarette smoke, are also concentrated in prostate fluid.

"It's a prostatic stagnation hypothesis," says Giles. "The more you flush the ducts out, the less there is to hang around and damage the cells that line them."

Sexual repertoire

His findings suggest an intriguing parallel between prostate cancer and breast cancer, as recent studies indicate that lactating reduces a woman's risk of breast cancer, perhaps because this also flushes out carcinogens. Alternatively, ejaculation might induce prostate cells to mature fully, making them less susceptible to carcinogens.

"All these mechanisms are totally speculative," cautions breast cancer expert Loren Lipworth of the International Epidemiology Institute in Rockville, Maryland.

But if the finding is confirmed, future health advice from doctors may no longer be restricted to diet and exercise. "Masturbation is part of people's sexual repertoire," says Anthony Smith, deputy director of the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society at La Trobe University in Melbourne.

"If these findings hold up, then it's perfectly reasonable that men should be encouraged to masturbate," he says.

Also: http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSIHW000/9105/28955/266765.html?d=dmtContent

What Your Doctor May Say

In general, the medical community considers masturbation to be a normal part of human sexuality, as long as it is not practiced excessively or under inappropriate circumstances. If you are an adult, your doctor probably will not ask you about masturbation unless you bring up the subject. This is because masturbation is a form of normal sexual behavior, and it is not usually a symptom of illness. In adult patients, doctors usually see masturbation as a healthy, acceptable way to relieve sexual tension, especially when a patient's sexual partner is ill, absent, or otherwise uninterested in regular sexual contact. The National Institute on Aging emphasizes that masturbation actually "can help unmarried, widowed or divorced people and those whose partners are ill or away."

And last:-http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Masturbation?Open

Sexual benefits
Some of the known sexual health benefits of masturbation include:

• Solo masturbation is a safe sex practice that carries no risk of sexually transmitted infection and unwanted pregnancy. As part of lovemaking between two people, it is known as 'mutual masturbation'.
• Sexual tension is released. Masturbation allows a person to express their sexuality by themselves and is valuable if, for example, they don't have a partner or if sex with their partner isn't available, or if they want to (or have to) abstain from sex for any reason.
• Being familiar with your own sexual responses allows you to better communicate your wants and needs to your partner.
• Masturbation is a popular treatment for sexual dysfunction; for example, women who don't orgasm can learn by masturbating. Men who suffer from premature ejaculation can use masturbation to practice control.

Health benefits
Some of the known health benefits of masturbation include:

• Eases some of the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome
• Relief from menstrual cramps
• Muscle relaxation
• Helps you to fall asleep
• Promotes release of the brain's opioid-like neurotransmitters (endorphins), which cause feelings of physical and mental wellbeing
• Reduces stress
• Enhances self-esteem.

Masturbation in young children
Boys generally start masturbating at an earlier age than girls, since the clitoris and vagina are harder to find than the penis. Studies show that the way in which parents react to their child's masturbation impacts on the child's sexual attitudes and behaviours in adult life. Suggestions for parents include:

• Young children masturbate for various reasons, including curiosity, exploration and sensory pleasure.
• Reassure yourself that masturbation in young children is normal. It is not a sign of sexual deviancy.
• Focus on the setting, rather than the activity itself. For example, if your child is masturbating in public, tell them that what they're doing is fine if they do it in private, much like toileting and picking one's nose are private activities.
• Young children may turn to masturbation in times of stress. If your child is masturbating to the point where playtime and other activities are curtailed, you need to find out what is making them anxious and upset.
• If you are concerned about your child's masturbatory practices, consult with your doctor or paediatrician.

 

[Quoth The Raven]

It has everything to do with this subject. In order to determine if masturbation is a sin, we need to take a hard look at Jesus' life. If Jesus is an example of righteousness, then we need to know whether he obstained from any and all forms of sex. He was not married and therefore we can assume he did not have sex with a woman and I am sure he did not participate in any other form of sex. He obstained from all and any forms of sex. He is a perfect example of righteousness. We must follow his example.

How are you so sure? Read the Secret Diary of Jesus, have you? You're sure because it agrees with your argument. You can't even be sure he wasn't married, because not a thing has been said one way or another as to whether he was or not. I'd have more respect for the argument if you'd said he didn't masturbate because he was Jewish and therefore it's prohibited.
Follow the example of Jesus...refuse a pork chop today.

 

[Quoth The Raven]

This is true if you eliminate prayer and direct communication with God through the Holy Ghost. It is through the Holy Ghost that we can know the truth of all things. Masturbation is such a private matter that it is best left up to the individual to ask God, through prayer, whether Jesus did or did not do certain things. Philossophy will not answer this question only the Holy Ghost through prayer will answer this question. Jesus was a perfect example of the righteousness of God. If he did not do it, then it is a sin. We can only know if he did, or did not do it, through prayer and fasting. It would not be appropriate to put this type of information in the scriptures. It is a personal and private subject that must be taken up with God in prayer only.

Then marriage - by your definition, because you're telling us he didn't do it - is a sin then. Having children...sin. Sex between a man and his wife...SIN!!! Jesus didn't do it, must be a sin.

 

[Quoth The Raven]

Yes it's so sin but some would not believe it. Here are a few of the dangers of masturbation that some have listed:

• 1. Psychic effects. Masturbation has a tendency to isolate its captives psychologically and socially. In masturbation, the person is focused on self-alone even though he or she usually is fantasizing about someone else at the same time.
  
  2. Emotional deprivation. It is impossible for the one who is practicing this habit to experience the full extent of sex emotions. Therefore, in short-circuiting the emotions one can easily be removed from the world of reality.
  
  3. Damaged sensibility. The habit of masturbation has a tendency in numbing the mechanism of the sexual organs if practiced excessively. This lessens the sensibility and thus detracts from normal sexual relations of married life.
  
  4. Self-gratification. The emotional background of self-gratification is not the least bit healthy and usually militates against the home, wife and family because it is focused only on self.
  
  5. Control of the mind. Along with the act of masturbation comes the fantasy of the mind. When practiced often, a pattern or cycle seems to become established within the individual’s mind. Thus, perversion has a tendency to control the mind and this in turn initiates the act. The real danger lies in the guilt that increases as the individual dwells in this world of fantasy.
  
  
  So, what do you think of it now?

I think that's a load of unmitigated twaddle. And what peer reviewed journal was this pseudo psychology published in?

 

[Quoth The Raven]

Boy. Talk about taking things to extremes.

Nah, everything leads to sex with animals in the end...masturbation, same sex marriage. It's all the start of a slippery slope to screwing a goat.
Which lets face it, is what we all really want.

 

[Sunstone]

I think that's a load of unmitigated twaddle. And what peer reviewed journal was this pseudo psychology published in?

Does the Focus on the Family Newsletter count as a peer reviewed journal?