If a person female/male knew they were susceptible to lust or other sins by looking at images where peoples flesh is exposed would they be walking into a near occasion of sin by looking at the crucifix or viewing Christian artwork of the passion?
If a person female/male knew they were susceptible to lust or other sins by looking at images where peoples flesh is exposed would they be walking into a near occasion of sin by looking at the crucifix or viewing Christian artwork of the passion?
Now, suppose that you give an apple to that same person and a hammer and a pair or socks and this combination is susceptible to lust or other sins by looking at the curves of the apple, the weight of the hammer and the softness of the sockes, would I be responsible by the occasion of sin and lust that the apple, hammer and socks provoked on the guy (well, let’s suppose it is a man but could be a woman if we subsitute the apple for and orange) ???
If a person female/male knew they were susceptible to lust or other sins by looking at images where peoples flesh is exposed would they be walking into a near occasion of sin by looking at the crucifix or viewing Christian artwork of the passion?
“Some Christian artwork” could be something for “some” to avoid…ordinarily though the crucifix is not any near occasion of sin.
But it is important to note too that there are some who have say a particular kind of difficulty with certain scruples in this area -where they have unsought thoughts that bother them when they look at some devotional images …and they ought to discuss the matter with their confessor etc …for often the way past such is to look at the innocent images and ignore any of the offending thoughts that come…(again one can discuss this with ones confessor if this is a problem…). (remember such unwanted thoughts are in the area of bothersome things…not sin per se…see my post on thoughts for more).
(or some just have this as a bothersome thing without struggling with scruples…one can read about such even in works from the middle ages in spiritual theology…not a new thing)
(or even such things as OCD --I knew a person with OCD --difficult burden-- more can be read on Jimmy Akin’s blog --search for post “crown of thorns”…)
Seconded: I could understand someone getting turned on by, say, Adam and Eve or the wingless angels in the Sistine Chapel ceiling murals, but getting turned on by a crucifix? As my mother said when I told her about this post, “I hope this is a joke, because someone’s got A Big Problem if they aren’t.”
Absolutely. The sad thing is, these people do exist. I don’t think it’s anything that the Church as a whole could do about it. You can’t paint the clothes back on the images in the Sistine Chapel. Sounds like a joke but I’m serious. You want to be charitable and do what can be done for the individual as well as the whole. Like how many parishes have stopped using lots of incense due to people having lung problems. I LOVE incense and yet I know some people struggle, and so I accept it. Does that work as a comparison?
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