Do any churches still teach against masturbation? (bible, quote, marriage)
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In the past, there was certainly a lot discussion by churches that taught the "sin of Odin" as many euphemistically called masturbation, although some included it as sodomy.
One would hope that things are more enlightened now, and that even evangelical church leaders understand that masturbation is a natural activity, both by males and females.
Are there still churches that actively preach against masturbation in today's world? Other than using the biblical suggestions that masturbation should not be done (and that is only, like much else in the bible, an extrapolation), what possible reason would they still preach that?
I was taught a long time ago that masturbation was a waste of seed and that one should rather go to a prostitute. I wonder if that is being taught?
Trying again, after thinking about the subject. It sounds odd to me that one would be taught it's better to go to a prostitute rather than "spilling seed". So impregnating a prostitute is better? I'm pretty sure the Catholic Church still teaches against masturbation, but perhaps not as vocally as it did in the past?
I don't think there's many churches that teach anything on it. Say that word in church, and you'll have the parents coming down on you (aghem!) like a ton of bricks.
The specific sin of Onan was not masturbation, it was premature withdrawal from normal sexual intercourse due to an unwillingness to impregnate his dead brother's wife and "raise up seed" in his dead brother's stead according to the cultural tradition of that day.
It is a stretch to say that ejaculation anywhere but inside a woman whom you have a legitimate right to impregnate is what the point is here, but I suspect this is why masturbation was associated with Onan's "sin".
To my knowledge the Bible never speaks about masturbation, much less prohibits it, so anyone attempting to control masturbation has to jump through some pretty strenuous hoops to justify prohibition Biblically. Appeals must be made to the broader subject of sex in the Bible. One must decry masturbation as "self-centered" and one must cite the short list of specifically "god-approved" sexual contexts, namely, between a man and a woman within marriage. I recall the statement that sexual intercourse itself is not primarily for self-gratification but for gratification of one's spouse (which of course sets up women's "daily duties" quite nicely).
I think what the whole thing boils down to is if you are a Christian and walk in on your teen taking care of themselves ... or you see telltale stains in their bed ... you may feel that you have to Do Something to stop this obsessive and probably perverted "bad habit" because they are obviously fantasizing about something other than deflowering some virtuous Christian virgin on their wedding night, and even then, it's a deplorable lack of self-control.
Sometimes, paradoxically, the way to deal with this kind of thing is to let it be as it is and quit trying to control it. Prohibitions against masturbation accomplish nothing but to perpetuate cycles of guilt and shame and repression around normal healthy human sexuality.
My fundamentalist denomuination never explicitly condemned it, but the whole guilt/shame attitude around sexuality certainly cast a negative shadow over it. I certainly had feelings of guilt and shame about it.
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