Hypothetical question about lust and it's degree of sin

[Josh316]

Ok, so say a person goes on a website that is not known for inappropriate sexual pictures, maybe a football website. Now say that a picture of a woman in a very small bikini pops up as an advertisement and this person clicked on the picture. Now say this person looked at the picture just long enough for “bad” thoughts to enter his head but felt guilty and clicked off of that particular site and told God he was sorry and did not dwell on the picture. How sinful would this be?

 

[Scoobyshme]

Josh,

Here's where the rubber meets the road in this sort of situation:  

You look at the picture.  (Not a sin yet.)  You feel an instant temptation by the picture.  (Still not a sin.)  You consent to the thought of what you would do with the girl in the picture ("Boy, if I had half a chance, I would...!")  Now you've stepped over the line and need to go to Confession.  IF, on the other hand, you reject the temptation, ("No! I wouldn't do that.  That's a sin!") then you haven't sinned, and have grown in virtue.

Does this help?

 

[francisca]

Ok, so say a person goes on a website that is not known for inappropriate sexual pictures, maybe a football website. Now say that a picture of a woman in a very small bikini pops up as an advertisement and this person clicked on the picture. Now say this person looked at the picture just long enough for “bad” thoughts to enter his head but felt guilty and clicked off of that particular site and told God he was sorry and did not dwell on the picture. How sinful would this be?

Not sinful at all. The picture just poped up on him, he did not look for it, and after he did not dwell in it. He did not need to go for confession for that.

What he need to do is to block the pop-up windows and to set restriction to prevent worse pictures to appear.

 

[Josh316]

Josh,

Here's where the rubber meets the road in this sort of situation:  

You look at the picture.  (Not a sin yet.)  You feel an instant temptation by the picture.  (Still not a sin.)  You consent to the thought of what you would do with the girl in the picture ("Boy, if I had half a chance, I would...!")  Now you've stepped over the line and need to go to Confession.  IF, on the other hand, you reject the temptation, ("No! I wouldn't do that.  That's a sin!") then you haven't sinned, and have grown in virtue.

Does this help?

What if it’s sort of a combination of the two? You didn’t think “boy if I had a chance” but you thought “boy her breast looks nice” but then you thought “no, women are more than a peace of meat” and clicked off the picture?

 

[ClayPots47]

What if it’s sort of a combination of the two? You didn’t think “boy if I had a chance” but you thought “boy her breast looks nice” but then you thought “no, women are more than a peace of meat” and clicked off the picture?

Venial maybe, but not mortal, since full consent was most likely lacking. You entertained a lustful desire, but stopped short of giving fully in to it. But once this happened, you would be obligated to either use software to block pop-ups or avoid that website since you now know that there are inappropriate pop-ups there; since we are to avoid not only sin, but the near occasions of sin. When in doubt, ask a priest in confession.

 

[slywakka250]

my advice is don’t worry at all about “weather or not this is a sin,” or “the degree of this sin”. I don’t think your mind should be focused on sin like this. it seems unhealthy. Better to focus on God. And out of your thoughts about God, purity will arise. don’t split hairs like this. don’t be obsessed with little things. God understands that our thoughts will wander. A strong sex drive is a very good thing, and a source of much energy and creativity. This is how God made us.

don’t worry about this situation. I think it creates too much a battle in your heart. I say there is no need to get all worked up about things like this. If you feel the thoughts are inappropriate, that’s fine. distract yourself. focus back on God, and move on!

 

[underacloud]

In closing the picture the person has done the right thing and resisted temptation. This should be a source of encouragement and not an occasion to question how sinful it was to find the picture stimulating for a fleeting moment. Thank God for the strength to resist temptation, and ask for the grace to do so again in the future.