Lust by looking?

[westboro]

There was a time women and men did walk around each other stark naked, but Adam and Eve bit the apple and they became ashamed of there naked bodies . God then created clothes to mask the grand beauty that we were not supposed to see. However, there are nudist colonies in some parts of the world. I always wonder why they choose to do this, but then I realized how we were originally created.

Do you think that lust also came from that awful shame? I mean it was the the fruit of knowledge of good and evil. Maybe lust and other evil thoughts came from that fruit bringing shame.

Shame is a ‘good’ thing…a gift from God to help lead us back to Himself one day. Too much shame is a bad thing…which could lead to viewing ourselves as unloveable. It is important to realize that we can ‘rid’ ourselves of that ‘sense’ of shame, by repeated sinning…thereby killing our conscience. That is why some people feel comfortable in nude beaches. While we cannot judge them, we certainly can judge their actions as deplorable! The same principle applies to guilt. Guilt is a good thing…a gift from God in order to lead us away from sin and back to Him. Too much guilt is a bad thing…which leads us away from God ultimately to despair. We need to see the ‘good’ in all things in order to be balanced. I think the question you posed is aimed at the source of lust. Its source is good…which God instilled in us as a mere desire leading to pro-create. The devil takes any and everything that is good and distorts it the way he did with the original apple for Eve. In other words, lust is ‘exaggerated’ desire, which is not good…not coming from God.
You started your statement by referring to lust and shame as ‘fruit’. I think that would be a misstatement. Fruit is a good thing, such as the ‘fruits’ of the Holy Spirit. Lust and shame are more along the lines of ‘consequences’ of the sin of dis-obedience. To view them any other way could confuse and lead someone in the wrong direction!
I hope these thouhgts help you sort these things out!

 

[FRATER_PAVLVS]

:
Do you think that lust also came from that awful shame? I mean it was the the fruit of knowledge of good and evil. Maybe lust and other evil thoughts came from that fruit bringing shame.

My whole view of what happened in Eden is a bit different. I think Adam and Eve’s mistake was in missing an opportunity to confess, to come back to God when He was looking for them after the incident. The fruit itself might have been an ordinary apple, but tasting it broke the trust which they failed to restore. It seems that that was an extremely long-ripening fruit, the fruit of trust, which took a lot of time and the Son of God getting killed for the ‘fruit of trust’ to become edible.

Augustine says that said shame comes from the disobedience of man’s sexuality to man’s will, a Pauline idea. Aquinas holds the same:
St Thomas:

The shamefulness of concupiscence that always accompanies the marriage act is a shamefulness not of guilt, but of punishment inflicted for the first sin, inasmuch as the lower powers and the members do not obey reason. Hence the argument does not prove.

 

[CTA1967]

I found this to be useful for my situation:
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=141055

 

[red_eye_chimera]

And you too are in about women only. As if only men are looking at women and not women at men.
Where’s the Church’s universality and expectation of the sexless state of the future life?
Also, lusting after women offends me as a celibate person. My own dignity makes me respect the dignity of women.

P.S. I’m not creeping in to preach anything close to ordination of women, as it may seem.

Father, I think the reason why everyone here is focused on mainly men because men are considered weaker to lust than women are. Statistics show between 60 and 90% of men struggle(d) with it. We know there are women with lust problems, but there are a lot more men.

 

[Nickkname]

I know it isn’t lust to look at an attractive person, otherwise we’d be covering our eyes everywhere we went (my general compliment to God’s Creation there ), but is there a point when you start sinning by over-indulging in staring a beautiful bodies say at the pool or beach (since we’re in the summer months)? My current moral “assessment” is that it would be only an occasion of sin. Not sure though. It’s especially hard for me being only 18 when we see other people’s bodies as very important in how we perceive our peers. Just wondering.

There are two ways to commit lust: objection and subjection.

Objection: Objectifying the person, such as ogling a certain body part or the physical figure of the individual.

Subjection: Subjecting the person to carnal desires, such as undressing them, talking dirty to them, or having sex with them.

By these you’re already committing adultery in your heart.

Protect yourself through prayer and penance, and especially devotion to Mary!

 

[SimonArizona]

Pornography poisons the human heart, imagination, and soul. It is pure poison. It should be controlled like any other toxic waste.

 

[outcast]

yah… i’m 16 and i feel ya scapularkid, espcially if your a shy, loner like me( i’m like THEE shyest person you can ever think of…i have like no friends at all). its almost impossible to have lustful thoughts. sometimes i think “why the heck am i looking… i don’t stand a snowball’s chance in (heck) anyway of getting girl like that” so sometimes i just get very pessimistic,depressed of people cuz of the “beautiful” gift of shyness God has bestowed upon me, that NO ONE appreciates

okay my whinefest is over. just wanted to get that off my chest.

 

[westboro]

yah… i’m 16 and i feel ya scapularkid, espcially if your a shy, loner like me( i’m like THEE shyest person you can ever think of…i have like no friends at all). its almost impossible to have lustful thoughts. sometimes i think “why the heck am i looking… i don’t stand a snowball’s chance in (heck) anyway of getting girl like that” so sometimes i just get very pessimistic,depressed of people cuz of the “beautiful” gift of shyness God has bestowed upon me, that NO ONE appreciates

okay my whinefest is over. just wanted to get that off my chest.

Your honesty is so refreshing! What you are feeling at your age is allot more ‘normal’ than you think. We live in a society that ‘throws’ sex at us like it would be abnormal not to participate. Keep in mind the whole reason for your creation, which is to have an intimate relationship with God, first…(first commandment). If you turn to Jesus in your loneliness, especially in His real presence in the Eucharist by spending time with Him in Adoration at church…you will discover that He will turn your loneliness into something called ‘solituude’. Solitude is a wonderful gift from God when you will no longer feel lonely anymore but ‘fullfilled’ in your aloneness by the powerful grace of God. Give it a try…it worked for me and countless others like me and we all had the exact same feelings as you describe in your comments! Remember that truth and honesty are names for God and hold tight to those qualities and God will lead you to your goal in life, which is Himself! You may even discover that eventually He will unexpectedly send a girl into your life whom you will find fullfillment with but it will happen in God’s time…so be patient! He hears your plight! God bless!

 

[Snowy]

1. Women who dress (or not) to kill hate men and don’t make good wives.
2. If you are lusting, you will know without anyone’s help.
3. When you can finish the tour in her eyes without averting yours you will be a man, my son.

 

[westboro]

1. Women who dress (or not) to kill hate men and don’t make good wives.
2. If you are lusting, you will know without anyone’s help.
3. When you can finish the tour in her eyes without averting yours you will be a man, my son.

I find your comments extremely judgemental and narrow minded.
Obviously you had a ‘good’ upbringing and were trained properly to know what you know but that is not so with many others. Many people come from upbringing that included abuse and/or neglect through alcoholism or whatever. You need to come down off your high throne and get with people who really know what ‘struggle’ means. It is not only possible but likely that many people do not entirely know the difference between lust and love due to circumstances beyond their control. I find your comments potentially damaging and destructive to one who is reaching out for help. You need to pray and THINK before you speak! I hope the young man who started this thread is not blown away by your thoughtless statements!

 

[Snowy]

I find your comments extremely judgemental and narrow minded.
Obviously you had a ‘good’ upbringing and were trained properly to know what you know but that is not so with many others. Many people come from upbringing that included abuse and/or neglect through alcoholism or whatever. You need to come down off your high throne and get with people who really know what ‘struggle’ means. It is not only possible but likely that many people do not entirely know the difference between lust and love due to circumstances beyond their control. I find your comments potentially damaging and destructive to one who is reaching out for help. You need to pray and THINK before you speak! I hope the young man who started this thread is not blown away by your thoughtless statements!

I find your comments judgmental and narrow minded as well, Westboro. Let’s thank God that we have each other to balance things out.

 

[Wirraway]

1. Women who dress (or not) to kill hate men and don’t make good wives…

not so. my wife dresses to kill (and she turns heads even when she doesn’t), and I know for a fact she doesn’t hate men and makes a great wife.

 

[The_Chicken]

I don’t want to create a new thread on this…so.
I have a thing for feet…I really love women’s feet. So when I see a pretty girl with pretty feet, I always want to looks at them. And I really appreciate looking at them, but I don’t actually imagine anything. I don’t think I am lusting…I am just looking and appreciating it, just like when I hear a song I really like. Opinions?

 

[red_eye_chimera]

I don’t want to create a new thread on this…so.
I have a thing for feet…I really love women’s feet. So when I see a pretty girl with pretty feet, I always want to looks at them. And I really appreciate looking at them, but I don’t actually imagine anything. I don’t think I am lusting…I am just looking and appreciating it, just like when I hear a song I really like. Opinions?

We all have something we all like looking at; some like nails; some like hair; some like eyes; some like a smile, and some like feet. I believe that looking at these features without lust is not sinful. If one ends up lusting by staring, one should look away in order to respect the soul of that woman.
God made all humans in his image. When Adam saw eve, he saw his purpose was to protect her. We all should protect the women we admire physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally.

 

[The_Chicken]

We all have something we all like looking at; some like nails; some like hair; some like eyes; some like a smile, and some like feet. I believe that looking at these features without lust is not sinful. If one ends up lusting by staring, one should look away in order to respect the soul of that woman.
God made all humans in his image. When Adam saw eve, he saw his purpose was to protect her. We all should protect the women we admire physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally.

Thanks for the (name removed by moderator)ut! I came to the conclusion that I am able to do it without lust.