I also want to pin down BCSpace on this idea. Are you proposing that masturbation is a) not a sin in Mormonism b) not a sin that needs to be confessed in Mormonism c) not a sin that YOU PERSONALLY have ever confessed to a Mormon leader or d) that your Mormon leaders were being derelict in their religious duties?
I agree with Zelder that, growing up, masturbation was heavily emphasized as a sin and as a reason to feel shame. I could give specific examples, but I am interested to see what BCSpace has to say first.
Well, I've never come across any directive to bring up the issue when interviewing youth or adults. Not saying it's not a sin. Greater sins can indeed come from lesser ones.....
You continue to profess a radically different Mormonite experience from anyone else I've known.
The LDS Church I know has never been correctly described on this site.
Most of those dudes you mention asked me about it -- bishops, stake presidents, mission presidents, even zone leaders. In my experience, church leaders were pretty much obsessed with whether and how young LDS men were touching their Johnsons.
I served my mission in the mid 80's. Never was asked.
In 1974, when I was a HS senior, someone in power decided to clamp down on "unworthy" seminary graduates, and forced all of us to pass a "moral cleanliness" interview (in which wanking questions were the featured attraction) in order to graduate. What a pain that was.
I can't speak for 1974. I do get the impression that among the older generation there has been some hullabaloo on the issue and I do see the Onan verse erroneously used from time to time. Other than that, not even a twitch (pun intended). Been to many firesides and talks; have heard it listed as a sin. But not in any major way like you're talking about.
