Mortal Sin?

[Inquiringperson]

Fictional Scenario: You are a man and find a website with naked women. You enjoy the pictures, but you don’t masturbate? Is this a mortal sin?

 

[Vico]

Fictional Scenario: You are a man and find a website with naked women. You enjoy the pictures, but you don’t masturbate? Is this a mortal sin?

Three elements necessary for mortal sin, applied to this: serious matter (yes), full knowledge, willful enjoyment rather than turning away.

 

[EmeraldWings]

Fictional Scenario: You are a man and find a website with naked women. You enjoy the pictures, but you don’t masturbate? Is this a mortal sin?

Yes, all sins against chastity, which are done with full knowledge, and full consent, are mortal,
here is a list of mortal sins against chastity, venial sins which lead to impurity, and helps and counsels -

I. MORTAL SINS

1. Have I deliberately taken delight in impure thoughts and images in my mind after I recognized them to be evil?
2. Have I knowingly consented to a desire for impure experiences, without any effort to suppress the desire?
3. Have I taken part in impure conversation for the express purpose of giving others bad thoughts or with the realization that they would probably consent to bad thoughts?
4. Have I gone out of my way to hear impure conversation or taken sinful pleasure in it when I heard it?
5. Have I read obscene books or looked at obscene pictures after I knew that they would cause serious temptations to sins of impurity?
6. Have I gone to places where I knew the entertainment was lewd and immoral, or attended obscene stage shows or movies?
7. Have I touched others impurely, or taken part in prolonged and intense kisses and embraces?
8. Have I caused or consented to solitary lust?
9. Have I taken part in sins of lust with others, and were they married or single, of the same sex or the opposite sex?
10. Have I sinned with someone related to me by blood or affinity?
11. Have I added sacrilege to the sin of impurity by desiring, or attempting, or consenting to sin with a person consecrated to God?
12. Have I made animals a means or an occasion of seriously sinful actions?
13. Have I forced another to submit to my lustful actions?
14. Have I encouraged others to sin against purity or told them that they could not avoid it?
15. Have I exposed others to grave danger by impure signs, actions or exposure?
16. (FOR MARRIED PERSONS) Have I used contraceptive means whether natural (such as interruption) or artificial (such as instruments) in performing marriage duties?
17. Have I, without a good reason, refused or neglected to render the marriage obligation when seriously asked?
18. Have I, as a married person, committed sins of impurity with others, and were they married or single?
19. Have I failed to correct or train my children in regard to chastity when it was evident that there was need of such correction or training?
20. Have I exercised no watchfulness over the company-keeping of my adolescent sons and daughters, permitting and encouraging them to spend long hours alone and in dangerous circumstances?
21. Have I bought or sold, lent or given, obscene books or magazines or other objects to be used for impure purposes?

II. VENIAL SINS

1. Have I, without a reason, read books or magazines that were at least dangerous, or concerned only with impassioned love?
2. Have I allowed my eyes to wander in curiosity over dangerous objects?
3. Have I been slow and half-hearted in trying to banish bad thoughts and desires?
4. Have I permitted decent expressions of love or friendship for another to be prolonged to the point of danger of lust?
5. Have I gone to shows or movies that I knew to be somewhat dangerous, at least in part?
6. Have I been careless about my clothing, posture, appearance, thus exposing others to some danger?
7. Have I shown half-deliberate interest in the evil conversation of others?
8. Have I, on the spur of the moment, uttered double-meaning words or phrases?
9. Have I sought out or continued companionship with others whom I knew to be inclined to evil jests and words?
10. Have I supported the publishers of daring and dangerous picture magazines or ofborder line periodicals by buying or spreading their publications in any way?
11. Have I neglected to use special opportunities of grace and prayer when I was passing through a period of more than usual temptation?
12. Have I failed to check vigorously impulses and daydreams of unruly love and affection?

III. HELPS AND COUNSELS

1. Have I learned the necessity of praying daily for the grace to remain pure?
2. Have I acquired the habit of saying an ejaculatory prayer when evil thoughts, desires or inclinations arise?
3. Have I made regular or frequent use of the Sacraments of Confession and Holy Communion as a means of strength against impurity?
4. Have I practiced any special devotion to Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, whose example and intercession are powerful aids to purity?
5. Have I trained my will power for strength in temptation by practicing some form of voluntary mortification?
6. Have I tried to avoid idleness, daydreaming, sloth, knowing that to keep occupied is one of the best defences against impurity?
7. Have I made known even my serious temptations in confession, realizing that to reveal temptations is to gain strength against them?
8. Have I been diligent in observing even the smaller rules of modesty, such as not to touch others even carelessly, and not to let my eyes wander too freely in public?

 

[Inquiringperson]

Okay. Now, what happens if the website only had immodestly dressed women?

 

[Theophilus777]

Okay. Now, what happens if the website only had immodestly dressed women?

You can’t hold fire in your hands without being burned. That is why we put flames on things like candles which enable us to use fire for our benefit. Likewise, you are made for one woman in a lifetime commitment of marriage and outside of that context you cannot avail yourself of sexual pleasure. Sexual pleasure has a context, and it is marriage. God did not create women to be a spectator sport. He created them to love and be loved.

 

[EmeraldWings]

Okay. Now, what happens if the website only had immodestly dressed women?

The sin is not merely seeing an immodest or naked person, but having lust for them, for example, as you described “You enjoy the pictures”, the lust consists of taking pleasure in it sexually, either by thought, desire, or action,
Lust according to the Catholic church is defined as - “An inordinate desire for or enjoyment of sexual pleasure. The desires or acts are inordinate when they do not confirm to the divinely ordained purpose of sexual pleasure, which is to foster the mutual love of husband and wife and, according to the dispositions of providence, to procreate and educate their children.”

lust is bad for that reason, and also because it is treating either someone else or yourself as an object, which is bad whether it’s sexual or not, we should never treat others as objects or “property”, even if we don’t know them…God knows them and loves them, and they should be prayed for, not lusted after.

although, even if the sin does not consist in merely seeing a naked person, it would still be a sin to willingly look at porn, there is no excuse for that, and i’m sure we can all agree that it shouldn’t even exist, God does not want it, and we must seek what God wants.
and the church teaches also that “Looking at impure pictures” is mortally sinful, so there is a difference between just seeing someone naked, and looking at impure images, and i think it’s safe to say that they are referring to porn.

does that help?

 

[thecrossofjesus]

this is my point in other forums concerning homosexuality how it may be hidden in the recesses of the heart. For in the heart is where evil eminates from thru consent of the will…

anyone claiming to be homosexual is implying they are actively participating and practicing the sin although it does not arise to the surface or is visible sin…it certainly still is mortal sin…

It is considered a trial that can certainly be overcome as I have witnessed and helped…

These urges, inclinations, desires and passions are to be seperated by the person…

so we should call a man or woman a soul that has or is struggling with homosexual tendencies …to say one is homosexual implies practice and participation of the heart…

 

[Jimbo9889]

What if one finds oneself viewing nd touching, and then catches oneself in the act, struggles and then stops oneself: Mortal or venial?

 

[Sister_Terese]

To put one’s self deliberately in a situation of temptation is sinful. It would be the same as if you decided to play “russian roulette” in heavy traffic. You decide to go sit in the middle of an expressway during rush hour. You are deliberately putting yourself in harm’s way playing around with your life. The likelihood of getting hit and injured or killed is very high. Same goes when you put yourself deliberately in situations which may cause you to sin. We are not to play with the devil’s “toys”. The devil knows what our weaknesses are and will use them against us. Eventually, our fallen nature has no strength anymore to fight the temptation and will then fall into sin. Not smart!

 

[Sister_Terese]

What if one finds oneself viewing nd touching, and then catches oneself in the act, struggles and then stops oneself: Mortal or venial?

Temptations are not sins no matter how strong they might be. However, there is a very thin sheet of ice between temptations and sinful acts. That is why we must “avoid the near occasions of sins.” That means we avoid, persons, places, and things which may cause us to be tempted or sin. If I am an alcoholic and I purposely go sit in a bar everyday at 3:00 p.m. until closing, eventually my weakness is going to overcome me and I will drink alcohol again. And, one more thing: we all know what our weaknesses are and what stimulates our passions. We must avoid those situations at all cost. If not, we are playing “pickle in the middle” with our immortal souls.

 

[Jimbo9889]

But near occasions of sin, are not mortal sins, plus its been a force of habit that I have been trying to fight for the past year now especially during this Season of Lent, so this to me sounds Venial in my case at least.

 

[Charlemagne_II]

Jimbo

**But near occasions of sin, are not mortal sins, plus its been a force of habit that I have been trying to fight for the past year now especially during this Season of Lent, so this to me sounds Venial in my case at least. **

Venial sins ought also to be confessed. When in doubt … shout it out!

 

[Vico]

“There can be no doubt that in general the same obligation which binds us to refrain from sin requires us to shun its occasion.”

“All theologians are agreed that there is no obligation to avoid the remote occasions of sin both because this would, practically speaking, be impossible and because they do not involve serious danger of sin.”

“It is certain that one who is in the presence of a proximate occasion at once voluntary and continuous is bound to remove it. A refusal on the part of a penitent to do so would make it imperative for the confessor to deny absolution.”

Delany, Joseph. “Occasions of Sin.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 11. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 18 Mar. 2013 http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11196a.htm.

 

[Sister_Terese]

But near occasions of sin, are not mortal sins, plus its been a force of habit that I have been trying to fight for the past year now especially during this Season of Lent, so this to me sounds Venial in my case at least.

Of course occasions of sin are not mortal sins, but if we constantly put ourselves in a situation which tempts us, we are asking for trouble. We WILL fall. We may fall even if we do everything we’re supposed to do, but we certainly shouldn’t play with fire. Come on…you know what I’m saying. And, to constantly allow ourselves to be tempted CAN very well be a venial sin and even MORTAL. This is no small matter. You don’t walk into a room that has people who are infected with ebola. The likelihood of becoming infected yourself is monumental–you’d be asking to be infected.

 

[Sister_Terese]

Jimbo

**But near occasions of sin, are not mortal sins, plus its been a force of habit that I have been trying to fight for the past year now especially during this Season of Lent, so this to me sounds Venial in my case at least. **

Venial sins ought also to be confessed. When in doubt … shout it out!

Especially when those venial sins are habitual–which in your case, (Jimbo), it appears to be so.

 

[Sister_Terese]

“There can be no doubt that in general the same obligation which binds us to refrain from sin requires us to shun its occasion.”

“All theologians are agreed that there is no obligation to avoid the remote occasions of sin both because this would, practically speaking, be impossible and because they do not involve serious danger of sin.”

“It is certain that one who is in the presence of a proximate occasion at once voluntary and continuous is bound to remove it. A refusal on the part of a penitent to do so would make it imperative for the confessor to deny absolution.”

Delany, Joseph. “Occasions of Sin.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 11. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 18 Mar. 2013 http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11196a.htm.

Absolutely correct. There’s nothing like the 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia, is there?