Why is masturbation not focused on in the mass media or in science?

[CuriousMike]

All the sexual clinics in high-school suggested it was “normal” and “okay.”

I don’t believe its right. There are folks here claiming there is nothing wrong, including Catholics. Please do understand that this is considered heresy, and in itself is wrong, as you are leading people away from God’s Grace.

Why don’t I believe its right:

• Its a part of this " instant gratification" society we have today. Everything is for “now,” not “oh, I guess it can wait.”
• People claim its natural and healthy. Well, my Priest, who also has a degree in psychology told me that Masturbation often arises in our lives when things get out of control; when we feel helpless. We do it instead of fixing the problems in our lives.
• Its addictive. Even though whatever pleasure obtained is short-lived, and you feel rotten afterwards, you always want to do it again.
  And if history has it correct; practically every thing that was ever addictive seems to have been destructive
• It destroys the meaning of sex. Sex exists for a reason. Masturbation is taking advantage of our bodies’ natural means of “going through the motions” when we have sex, and using it to waste life. By masturbating we are willfully destroying life, whether or not you call sperm life.
  By masturbating we take away the second person and it into perverted self-pleasure.
• Apes and other animals do it. SO WHAT?
  Humans have a moral compass. A soul. True understanding of past, present and future. Not instinctual drives all by themselves.
• Me, myself and I
  People are complaining that people are too self-obsessed. You see it in plenty of teens that obsess over what “brands” they wear. Who their “friends” are. They are obsessed with themselves. Masturbation is focussing in on the self and purely that.

During my teen years, it never happened. Yes, thats right. I’m not interested either way. Sure, I can see, "Gee that person looks “nice,” but that doesn’t mean I feel some need to visualise them or try and “get in.”
After I became Catholic; the temptations started. So in my opinion, it is clearly rooted in evil.

Catholics are “hung up” on it because we are taught it is wrong. Since we know what is wrong, we want to help others overcome it. Also remember that with God’s help, anything is possible. There are plenty of testimonies to that here! We ALL have a cross to bear, and that is different for each person. Some don’t have issues with it, but may have a violent temper. Other might do and appear to be perfect.

Many people masturbate based off pornography or visualisation. Isn’t that lust? And isn’t that a sin? (Nevermind the Commandment on “coveting they neighbor”)
Protestants teaching its “natural” are misguided; they are clearly oblivious to how people are masturbating.

 

[Galnextdoor]

Im sorry that this is the case for you but your situation is quite unusual. For most people masturbation is a normal harmless part of growing up.

Masturbation is far from harmless, because it separates the sexual functions from the self-giving meaning of sex. In a normal, healthy situation, sex is about making love. It is the mutual self-giving of one person to another that expresses an emotion so deep and spiritual that words cheapen it. It bonds those two people together.

The Me generation of our hedonistic society has separated out the pleasure from the commitment and meaning of sex. It is like buying a pie and eating the jellied part and leaving behind the fruit. The fruit is the important, healthy part of the pie. You need the fruit to sustain you. Another analogy would be like eating sweets everyday can cause cavities. Seeking selfish sexual pleasure has created enormous cavities in our society. It has become a game in which there is no compassion or caring about another who may or may not be consciously involved.

Masturbation is a major part of the sex lives of gay and lesbian relationships. (If you want to talk about how detrimental to society these types of relationships are, start another thread.)
I know a coach who walked in on his players sitting around masturbating. They went to the gym to workout on the equipment. It was not a scheduled practice time.
On two different occasions, at this same school, coaches walked in on girls giving the whole team hand jobs. Not a single kid in the room saw anything wrong with what was going on. One of the girls received ISS the other was suspended from school for three days in the one incident. The other incident involved suspension for all three girls. The students who talked about it at school didn’t think it was any big deal, except that maybe it shouldn’t have been done at school. (These incidents have occurred in the last 10 years.)

The more that meaning and purpose is stripped away from sexual stimulation, the more the lines blur. Monogamy becomes a joke, because sex has no meaning. When I was in college at a major university, many of the female students saw nothing wrong with “helping out a guy” by giving him a hand job. When sex is ripped down to nothing but a bodily function, then it becomes no big deal to enter into adulterous relationships.

The Church doesn’t “demonize” acts so they can control its people. They point out sins because these sins are detrimental to our the our health and the well-being of our souls.

 

[bigblu]

All the sexual clinics in high-school suggested it was “normal” and “okay.”

I don’t believe its right. There are folks here claiming there is nothing wrong, including Catholics. Please do understand that this is considered heresy, and in itself is wrong, as you are leading people away from God’s Grace.

Why don’t I believe its right:

• Its a part of this " instant gratification" society we have today. Everything is for “now,” not “oh, I guess it can wait.”
• People claim its natural and healthy. Well, my Priest, who also has a degree in psychology told me that Masturbation often arises in our lives when things get out of control; when we feel helpless. We do it instead of fixing the problems in our lives.
• Its addictive. Even though whatever pleasure obtained is short-lived, and you feel rotten afterwards, you always want to do it again.
  And if history has it correct; practically every thing that was ever addictive seems to have been destructive
• It destroys the meaning of sex. Sex exists for a reason. Masturbation is taking advantage of our bodies’ natural means of “going through the motions” when we have sex, and using it to waste life. By masturbating we are willfully destroying life, whether or not you call sperm life.
  By masturbating we take away the second person and it into perverted self-pleasure.
• Apes and other animals do it. SO WHAT?
  Humans have a moral compass. A soul. True understanding of past, present and future. Not instinctual drives all by themselves.
• Me, myself and I
  People are complaining that people are too self-obsessed. You see it in plenty of teens that obsess over what “brands” they wear. Who their “friends” are. They are obsessed with themselves. Masturbation is focussing in on the self and purely that.

During my teen years, it never happened. Yes, thats right. I’m not interested either way. Sure, I can see, "Gee that person looks “nice,” but that doesn’t mean I feel some need to visualise them or try and “get in.”
After I became Catholic; the temptations started. So in my opinion, it is clearly rooted in evil.

Catholics are “hung up” on it because we are taught it is wrong. Since we know what is wrong, we want to help others overcome it. Also remember that with God’s help, anything is possible. There are plenty of testimonies to that here! We ALL have a cross to bear, and that is different for each person. Some don’t have issues with it, but may have a violent temper. Other might do and appear to be perfect.

Many people masturbate based off pornography or visualisation. Isn’t that lust? And isn’t that a sin? (Nevermind the Commandment on “coveting they neighbor”)
Protestants teaching its “natural” are misguided; they are clearly oblivious to how people are masturbating.

I beleive exactly the opposite. I could care less if I am “guilty” of heresy" against the catholic church as I havr concluded the the Catholic church at best is greatly misguided and at worst possible purely evil and are the ones leading people away from the truth of our Lord Jesus Christ with their mix of xhristianity and pagonism. Just my opinion though but most likely will never change. No we are not oblivious to how people masturbate. Kust don’t obsess over it.

You said people feel rotten after masturbation. Only people who feel guilty would feel rotten. Some of us aren’t plagued by catholic guilt.

I looked up the word lust in the dictionary and it means a strong sexual desire. So that isn’t always a bad thing. We should have a strong sexual desire for our spouse for example.

 

[CuriousMike]

I beleive exactly the opposite. I could care less if I am “guilty” of heresy" against the catholic church as I havr concluded the the Catholic church at best is greatly misguided and at worst possible purely evil and are the ones leading people away from the truth of our Lord Jesus Christ with their mix of xhristianity and pagonism. Just my opinion though but most likely will never change. No we are not oblivious to how people masturbate. Kust don’t obsess over it.

You said people feel rotten after masturbation. Only people who feel guilty would feel rotten. Some of us aren’t plagued by catholic guilt.

I looked up the word lust in the dictionary and it means a strong sexual desire. So that isn’t always a bad thing. We should have a strong sexual desire for our spouse for example.

We should have a strong sexual desire for our spouse (but not to the point where we willfully “use” them, with contraception for our own selfish desires)
You are leading people astray; Lust is evil and Jesus taught against it. It goes against his teaching of Love, but also the Ten Commandments.

While you are welcome to your opinions, telling us that we are wrong and attempting to misguide us from our faith isn’t particularly nice.

There is nothing great about masturbation. For a brief flicker of pleasure, it isn’t worth it.

I also cannot believe that you disagree with every point I made. You don’t think its a part of self-gratification? You don’t think its addictive? (There are plenty of people who are addicted!) You don’t think it destroys the meaning of sex and partnerships?

Sorry, but I think you have been completely mislead. If you can disagree with all my points, then I’d be concerned about how “Christian” you are.

“Catholic guilt” is something everyone else gets hung up on. Why shouldn’t I feel guilty about sexual sin? All sin is equal, and we should ALL feel guilty, having committed it.
That said, with the sacraments AND a strong prayer life, you cannot be miserable. Non-Catholics seem to think we are an oppressed, miserable bunch. Fact of the matter is, if you are truly with God, you cannot be miserable with what He has given you.
I am thankful for what He has shown me this past year on my journey of faith. I’m also joyous.

Please do yourself a favor, and say a Rosary or two. Or some heartfelt prayers, like the Divine Office. And say them faithfully. I can guarantee you won’t feel “guilty” or “miserable” afterwards.

 

[Burdock]

We should have a strong sexual desire for our spouse (but not to the point where we willfully “use” them, with contraception for our own selfish desires)
You are leading people astray; Lust is evil and Jesus taught against it. It goes against his teaching of Love, but also the Ten Commandments.
The
While you are welcome to your opinions, telling us that we are wrong and attempting to misguide us from our faith isn’t particularly nice.

There is nothing great about masturbation. For a brief flicker of pleasure, it isn’t worth it.

I also cannot believe that you disagree with every point I made. You don’t think its a part of self-gratification? You don’t think its addictive? (There are plenty of people who are addicted!) You don’t think it destroys the meaning of sex and partnerships?

Sorry, but I think you have been completely mislead. If you can disagree with all my points, then I’d be concerned about how “Christian” you are.

“Catholic guilt” is something everyone else gets hung up on. Why shouldn’t I feel guilty about sexual sin? All sin is equal, and we should ALL feel guilty, having committed it.
That said, with the sacraments AND a strong prayer life, you cannot be miserable. Non-Catholics seem to think we are an oppressed, miserable bunch. Fact of the matter is, if you are truly with God, you cannot be miserable with what He has given you.
I am thankful for what He has shown me this past year on my journey of faith. I’m also joyous.

Please do yourself a favor, and say a Rosary or two. Or some heartfelt prayers, like the Divine Office. And say them faithfully. I can guarantee you won’t feel “guilty” or “miserable” afterwards.

Here we go again, masturbation and contraception are NOT sexual sins. Stop talking such nonsense. Ifcyou believe your soul is in danger for such thingsvi despair.Glad ive left a church that is so hung up on sexual matters.

 

[bigblu]

We should have a strong sexual desire for our spouse (but not to the point where we willfully “use” them, with contraception for our own selfish desires)
You are leading people astray; Lust is evil and Jesus taught against it. It goes against his teaching of Love, but also the Ten Commandments.

While you are welcome to your opinions, telling us that we are wrong and attempting to misguide us from our faith isn’t particularly nice.

There is nothing great about masturbation. For a brief flicker of pleasure, it isn’t worth it.

I also cannot believe that you disagree with every point I made. You don’t think its a part of self-gratification? You don’t think its addictive? (There are plenty of people who are addicted!) You don’t think it destroys the meaning of sex and partnerships?

Sorry, but I think you have been completely mislead. If you can disagree with all my points, then I’d be concerned about how “Christian” you are.

“Catholic guilt” is something everyone else gets hung up on. Why shouldn’t I feel guilty about sexual sin? All sin is equal, and we should ALL feel guilty, having committed it.
That said, with the sacraments AND a strong prayer life, you cannot be miserable. Non-Catholics seem to think we are an oppressed, miserable bunch. Fact of the matter is, if you are truly with God, you cannot be miserable with what He has given you.
I am thankful for what He has shown me this past year on my journey of faith. I’m also joyous.

Please do yourself a favor, and say a Rosary or two. Or some heartfelt prayers, like the Divine Office. And say them faithfully. I can guarantee you won’t feel “guilty” or “miserable” afterwards.

I would never say the rosery as I don t beleive in praying to mary. I haven’t been lead astray at all. I have been happily married for over a decade and came to my conclusions from experience. Nothing selfish about mutual masturbation or my spouse masturbating or anything else like that for that mater i get pleasure in her pleasure. Nothing wrong with preventative contraception. As I dont beleive it is sinful. We have used various forms for years and still have more kids than most catjolics. People assume we are catholic by number of kids lol…over 1/2 dozen. That is not a biblical teaching to oppose contraseption just catholic. I don’t beleive I am leading anyone wrong as I beleive you and the catholic beleifs are wrong.

I don’t have guilt of sexual sin as I don’t commit any as I am married and my spouse and I gave ourselves to eachother so anythimg we do with eachother that is loving amd for pleasure to each other is pleasing in God’s eyes.

 

[Burdock]

I would never say the rosery as I don t beleive in praying to mary. I haven’t been lead astray at all. I have been happily married for over a decade and came to my conclusions from experience. Nothing selfish about mutual masturbation or my spouse masturbating or anything else like that for that mater i get pleasure in her pleasure. Nothing wrong with preventative contraception. As I dont beleive it is sinful. We have used various forms for years and still have more kids than most catjolics. People assume we are catholic by number of kids lol…over 1/2 dozen. That is not a biblical teaching to oppose contraseption just catholic. I don’t beleive I am leading anyone wrong as I beleive you and the catholic beleifs are wrong.

I don’t have guilt of sexual sin as I don’t commit any as I am married and my spouse and I gave ourselves to eachother so anythimg we do with eachother that is loving amd for pleasure to each other is pleasing in God’s eyes.

It seems that its only the Catholic church that believes artificial contraception and masturbation is wrong.

 

[Galnextdoor]

All the sexual clinics in high-school suggested it was “normal” and “okay.”

I don’t believe its right. There are folks here claiming there is nothing wrong, including Catholics. Please do understand that this is considered heresy, and in itself is wrong, as you are leading people away from God’s Grace.

Why don’t I believe its right:

• Its a part of this " instant gratification" society we have today. Everything is for “now,” not “oh, I guess it can wait.”
• People claim its natural and healthy. Well, my Priest, who also has a degree in psychology told me that Masturbation often arises in our lives when things get out of control; when we feel helpless. We do it instead of fixing the problems in our lives.
• Its addictive. Even though whatever pleasure obtained is short-lived, and you feel rotten afterwards, you always want to do it again.
  And if history has it correct; practically every thing that was ever addictive seems to have been destructive
• It destroys the meaning of sex. Sex exists for a reason. Masturbation is taking advantage of our bodies’ natural means of “going through the motions” when we have sex, and using it to waste life. By masturbating we are willfully destroying life, whether or not you call sperm life.
  By masturbating we take away the second person and it into perverted self-pleasure.
• Apes and other animals do it. SO WHAT?
  Humans have a moral compass. A soul. True understanding of past, present and future. Not instinctual drives all by themselves.

Protestants teaching its “natural” are misguided; they are clearly oblivious to how people are masturbating.

I agree with you on all the points above. I sort of lost where you were going with the last half of what you said.
I think another point to consider is that the more men masturbate, the less often they have sex. In some places in the world, less sex means less children, which means smaller population. This is part of the reason why it is promoted as a good and natural thing to do.

 

[Galnextdoor]

It seems that its only the Catholic church that believes artificial contraception and masturbation is wrong.

Conservative Hindus, Islamists, Orthodox Jews, and some Evangelical Protestants also feel that artificial contraception is wrong.

 

[bigblu]

It seems that its only the Catholic church that believes artificial contraception and masturbation is wrong.

Doesn’t matter. I am sure others are wrong as well.

 

[bigblu]

I agree with you on all the points above. I sort of lost where you were going with the last half of what you said.
I think another point to consider is that the more men masturbate, the less often they have sex. In some places in the world, less sex means less children, which means smaller population. This is part of the reason why it is promoted as a good and natural thing to do.

Not necessarily true. Some of us have an insatiable sex drive. That is why I am lucky to find a partner that shares in my problem (or blessing depending on how you look st it)

 

[bigblu]

If you want to hear about masturbation and its power over a person, you really need to look on the Moral Forum, but other than that, it seems a taboo subject in most of society. Just look at how society not only justifies homosexuality, but actually promotes it. Not so with masturbation, not so. Do people who masturbate get any consolation from society? No! But with homosexuality, society takes steps so that homosexuals do not feel guilty. Will society ever seek to help people masturbate come out of the closet and become acceptable in our society?

Is masturbation genetic, like homosexuality is supposed to be? How absurd.

I reread your post and my opinion is that it isn’t taboo at all and most people now days just accept it as a normal part of human developement. It is just assumed that everyone does it so there is no need to come out of the closet. It is totally acceptable by most people I know. And no one cares if you do it or not except for a few religious extremists that most people I know chose not to associate with.

 

[Flecth_F_Fletch]

I dont suppose it will change, but I do think the church is wrong. I have left because of damaging beliefs such as this and contraception being wrong.

Odd that what you call damaging has been life-saving and healing for millions of others throughout history.

If the Church is wrong on these areas, what other areas are the incorrect on? Rape? Adultery? Murder?

It becomes hard when we pick and choose, you see.

 

[Flecth_F_Fletch]

How did you determine that masturbation and contraception are actually ok?

It usually involves and unwillingness to stop…

I am guilty of many sins as are most of us, but we could at least be man-enough to acknowledge our sinfulness, and stop being coy about it. When I fall, it is because I failed God, not because His rules must “obviously be incorrect.” To live like that is to have NO standards for ourselves at all. Just admit you sinned, seek absolution, and seek to change your behavior.

 

[Flecth_F_Fletch]

It is a normal stage of development for most people is all im saying.

My toddler would eat skittles for dinner too if I let her; doesn’t mean she needs Dad giving her the green flag to go ahead because that is “normal.”

 

[Flecth_F_Fletch]

My thoughts exactly. I don’t want my children growing up thinking there is something wrong with them or feeling ashamed over regular sexual feelings.

Define “regular.”

I know children you grew up and molested cats. Seriously. One went to jail about 11 years back.

Surely you take a stand there? if so, why? Tens of thousands have homicidal inclinations, worldwide, if not more. Are these to be treated as healthy as well?

Or is the morality of the desire determined by not how many people have the desire, but by whether or not you arbitrarily find the action as outcomes distasteful (killing others in the case of homicidal thoughts)?

Some say the Church is too rigid and legalistic. I maintain forming opinions as you claim to do is too arbitrary and fickle to defend or stand on.

 

[Flecth_F_Fletch]

It seems that its only the Catholic church that believes artificial contraception and masturbation is wrong.

We are the standard bearers for many proud beliefs, you are correct - Mary’s Immaculate Conception, the Eucharist, the Sacraments, and a unique lineage that can be traced directly to Christ.

If your self-imposed exile from the Church did not drive you here, what brought you here? Something did, and it wasn’t as though the mods went looking for ex-Catholics to wander back to the boards and post in masturbation topics.

People who are comfortable in their professed beliefs generally don’t go looking for a debate on websites that teach the opposite beliefs unless there is a reason.

 

[bigblu]

Odd that what you call damaging has been life-saving and healing for millions of others throughout history.

If the Church is wrong on these areas, what other areas are the incorrect on? Rape? Adultery? Murder?

It becomes hard when we pick and choose, you see.

Millions have veen hurt by the catholic church. The crusades. All the young boys molested by preists.

The catholic church can be right some but not all issues. I bet the muslims are right on some issues. I bet even satanists agree on a few issues No it doesn’t become hard to pick and choose what is right and wrong If you actually use your brain. Rape hurts another. Adultery can hurt another. Murder kills another. Masturbation hurts no one else. If you can’t see a difference there then I can’t help you.

 

[bigblu]

My toddler would eat skittles for dinner too if I let her; doesn’t mean she needs Dad giving her the green flag to go ahead because that is “normal.”

Pathetic comparison. If you let a toddler eat nothing but skittles they would eventually die Of starvation of malnurishment. If you give you kids the green light to masturbate the worst that would happen is… well nothing.

 

[bigblu]

We are the standard bearers for many proud beliefs, you are correct - Mary’s Immaculate Conception, the Eucharist, the Sacraments, and a unique lineage that can be traced directly to Christ.

If your self-imposed exile from the Church did not drive you here, what brought you here? Something did, and it wasn’t as though the mods went looking for ex-Catholics to wander back to the boards and post in masturbation topics.

People who are comfortable in their professed beliefs generally don’t go looking for a debate on websites that teach the opposite beliefs unless there is a reason.

I only ended up here after arguing with a catholic friend who asked me to look at the site and what I saw annoyed me enough just to sign up and state my opinion