Mormon Doctor on Masturbation
-
- _Emeritus
- Posts: 10098
- Joined: Mon Oct 23, 2006 7:05 pm
Mormon Doctor on Masturbation
http://www.i4m.com/think/sexuality/mast ... n_help.htm
Quick recap: Masturbation is not evil, Mormon leaders are wrong for saying so, trust the spirit, blah blah blah.
Masturbation was one of the main issues I had with the church. It felt good, it didn't hurt anyone, and it didn't particularly make me want to be a pervert (the perversion came after I tried quitting ^_^ ). My biggest problem was the fact that you had to ask for help from the bishop for it. It was one of those sins that you couldn't just deal with on your own. So, every time I saw the bishop... "Hey! How's the masturbation going?!" Even in public. Can't really trust an official like that.
Quick recap: Masturbation is not evil, Mormon leaders are wrong for saying so, trust the spirit, blah blah blah.
Masturbation was one of the main issues I had with the church. It felt good, it didn't hurt anyone, and it didn't particularly make me want to be a pervert (the perversion came after I tried quitting ^_^ ). My biggest problem was the fact that you had to ask for help from the bishop for it. It was one of those sins that you couldn't just deal with on your own. So, every time I saw the bishop... "Hey! How's the masturbation going?!" Even in public. Can't really trust an official like that.
-
- _Emeritus
- Posts: 5545
- Joined: Tue Oct 24, 2006 2:14 pm
Re: Mormon Doctor on Masturbation
keene wrote:http://www.i4m.com/think/sexuality/masturbation_help.htm
Quick recap: Masturbation is not evil, Mormon leaders are wrong for saying so, trust the spirit, blah blah blah.
Masturbation was one of the main issues I had with the church. It felt good, it didn't hurt anyone, and it didn't particularly make me want to be a pervert (the perversion came after I tried quitting ^_^ ). My biggest problem was the fact that you had to ask for help from the bishop for it. It was one of those sins that you couldn't just deal with on your own. So, every time I saw the bishop... "Hey! How's the masturbation going?!" Even in public. Can't really trust an official like that.
Step 1: Convince others that a natural activity is a dirty sinful activity that turns you into a sex obsesssed, hairy palmed blind man
Step 2: ????
Step 3: Profit
The underpants gnomes strike again
And crawling on the planet's face
Some insects called the human race
Lost in time
And lost in space...and meaning
Some insects called the human race
Lost in time
And lost in space...and meaning
-
- _Emeritus
- Posts: 6914
- Joined: Wed Oct 25, 2006 2:56 am
I've often wondered why they're so against masturbation. My first thought was that if a man masturbates, than he's not as starved for sex. Hence he's not as willing to put up with the amount of problems necessary to have a relationship with a woman. Yet when most women have chosen to put off marriage, it really doesn't matter what the man does, does it? You're just suffering, for no apparent reason.
Is that what they're thinking? Why would they be wrong?
Is that what they're thinking? Why would they be wrong?
And when the confederates saw Jackson standing fearless as a stone wall the army of Northern Virginia took courage and drove the federal army off their land.
-
- _Emeritus
- Posts: 16721
- Joined: Sun Nov 05, 2006 5:06 am
ajax18 wrote:I've often wondered why they're so against masturbation. My first thought was that if a man masturbates, than he's not as starved for sex. Hence he's not as willing to put up with the amount of problems necessary to have a relationship with a woman. Yet when most women have chosen to put off marriage, it really doesn't matter what the man does, does it? You're just suffering, for no apparent reason.
Is that what they're thinking? Why would they be wrong?
I think it's about control. They know that most men masturbate. And like Vegas says, if they can make people feel guilty about something harmless and completely normal, they have control over that person. I know that sounds sinister, but I don't mean it as harshly as it sounds. It's the same reason for the arbitrary rules about earrings and facial hair.
-
- _Emeritus
- Posts: 18195
- Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 1:35 am
The prohibition against masturbation is like many of our other cultural things: it started out as one man's obsession and eventually morphed into the behemoth we have today. You can thank Packer for escalating a harmless activity into a major sin.
Too much power concentrated in one person, weilded with a heavy stick, over a lifetime of unrighteous dominion, and this is what we get. This is exactly what Joseph cautioned against repeatedly. We members have no one to blame but ourselves. If we refused to be led by men with little or no discernment, we'd actually have leaders who knew a real issue from a fabricated one. Thus we get this nonsense with the Word of Wisdom, masturbation, white shirts, multiple earrings, tattoos... it's all nonsense, but we allow ... no, we elevate it to commandment status because we can't allow our leaders to make fools of themselves. We have to take their every foolish word and turn them into commandments.
ARGH!
Too much power concentrated in one person, weilded with a heavy stick, over a lifetime of unrighteous dominion, and this is what we get. This is exactly what Joseph cautioned against repeatedly. We members have no one to blame but ourselves. If we refused to be led by men with little or no discernment, we'd actually have leaders who knew a real issue from a fabricated one. Thus we get this nonsense with the Word of Wisdom, masturbation, white shirts, multiple earrings, tattoos... it's all nonsense, but we allow ... no, we elevate it to commandment status because we can't allow our leaders to make fools of themselves. We have to take their every foolish word and turn them into commandments.
ARGH!
-
- _Emeritus
- Posts: 1417
- Joined: Thu Oct 26, 2006 12:38 pm
Re: Mormon Doctor on Masturbation
keene wrote:http://www.i4m.com/think/sexuality/masturbation_help.htm
Quick recap: Masturbation is not evil, Mormon leaders are wrong for saying so, trust the spirit, blah blah blah.
Masturbation was one of the main issues I had with the church. It felt good, it didn't hurt anyone, and it didn't particularly make me want to be a pervert (the perversion came after I tried quitting ^_^ ). My biggest problem was the fact that you had to ask for help from the bishop for it. It was one of those sins that you couldn't just deal with on your own. So, every time I saw the bishop... "Hey! How's the masturbation going?!" Even in public. Can't really trust an official like that.
You could have answered, "Just great, thanks for lending me a hand with that."
-
- _Emeritus
- Posts: 16721
- Joined: Sun Nov 05, 2006 5:06 am
This thread reminds me of one of the things I dislike so much about Mormon apologetics. The same people who tell me that it was fine and dandy for Joseph Smith to have sex with other women without the knowledge or consent of his wife insist that masturbation is a serious sin. I really, really don't understand this.
-
- _Emeritus
- Posts: 6914
- Joined: Wed Oct 25, 2006 2:56 am
I guess I'm not following. Wouldn't control come from basically getting people to believe what they say, or even to believe that saying anything against what they say is sinful. I know people, myself included, who during times was clear of any of those things, masturbation, facial hair, earrings. Yet they had absolute control over me, and they could always make me feel guilty about other stuff.
I still think it's part of the baby machine push. Most people would say that getting married to have sex is the wrong reason and will lead to unhappiness. I agree that it leads to unhappiness, yet I tend to think that without the sex part of the equation, most marriages just wouldn't happen. Is that a good thing, no marriage over a bad marriage. Perhaps. It's hard to say. But I know what the leaders of the church and other religions have always wanted, more babies and a better home to raise them in.
I still think it's part of the baby machine push. Most people would say that getting married to have sex is the wrong reason and will lead to unhappiness. I agree that it leads to unhappiness, yet I tend to think that without the sex part of the equation, most marriages just wouldn't happen. Is that a good thing, no marriage over a bad marriage. Perhaps. It's hard to say. But I know what the leaders of the church and other religions have always wanted, more babies and a better home to raise them in.
And when the confederates saw Jackson standing fearless as a stone wall the army of Northern Virginia took courage and drove the federal army off their land.
-
- _Emeritus
- Posts: 16721
- Joined: Sun Nov 05, 2006 5:06 am
ajax18 wrote:I guess I'm not following. Wouldn't control come from basically getting people to believe what they say, or even to believe that saying anything against what they say is sinful. I know people, myself included, who during times was clear of any of those things, masturbation, facial hair, earrings. Yet they had absolute control over me, and they could always make me feel guilty about other stuff.
I still think it's part of the baby machine push. Most people would say that getting married to have sex is the wrong reason and will lead to unhappiness. I agree that it leads to unhappiness, yet I tend to think that without the sex part of the equation, most marriages just wouldn't happen. Is that a good thing, no marriage over a bad marriage. Perhaps. It's hard to say. But I know what the leaders of the church and other religions have always wanted, more babies and a better home to raise them in.
I think it's just one piece of the guilt and control mechanism. I was "free" from the burden of masturbation (and no earrings here), but I still found plenty to feel guilty about, as well. The alternative is that they really do believe that there's some slippery slope from masturbation to perversion and homosexuality.