The Bible and Masturbation

[Gymnophoria]

I was thinking earlier today about why Christians are against condoms for killing the chance of life but are okay with masturbation (I realise I was wrong in this now), so I Googled it and found this page: http://www.bible.com/bibleanswers_result.php?id=252

Reading through this actually annoyed me a fair bit just because of some of the outrageous claims it seems to make. Keep in mind I've been raised Catholic my whole life but at the moment consider myself somewhere between agnostic and atheist.

First.

In fact, an older definition of masturbation is "self-abuse." Although more modern dictionaries may no longer carry this definition, they are still linked together under self-abuse:

Self-abuse noun¹

1. Abuse of oneself or one's abilities.
2. Masturbation.

I guess this is more a matter of opinion, but the experience is purely pleasureable and, as far as I can tell, doesn't actually cause any physical or emotional damage.

Second.

First of all, masturbation will not truly relieve the sexual pressure that one may feel. It may for a short moment, but in the long run it only creates a deeper desire and capacity for sex, which will lead to more masturbation. If you let yourself become enslaved to a sexual high, you will find that you need to go to increasingly extreme acts to maintain the same degree of excitement.

So... masturbation leads to rape? It doesn't specifically say that but I'm pretty sure that's what the bolded part implies and honestly, I don't see the connection.

Finally.

Self-control takes effort. You may slip occasionally—or even a lot. But remember that God loves you and He will be faithful to perfect His character in you as long you keep submitting to Him. Eventually you will win—and not because of your best efforts, but because of God's mercy

Why would God make you work hard for something only to be told "That wasn't you, I did all for you."?

What are your opinions on this? I realise I'm not good at analysing and putting across my opinion.

[Of Mike and Men]

Originally Posted by Gymnophoria

I was thinking earlier today about why Christians are against condoms for killing the chance of life but are okay with masturbation (I realise I was wrong in this now), so I Googled it and found this page: http://www.bible.com/bibleanswers_result.php?id=252

Reading through this actually annoyed me a fair bit just because of some of the outrageous claims it seems to make. Keep in mind I've been raised Catholic my whole life but at the moment consider myself somewhere between agnostic and atheist.

First.

I guess this is more a matter of opinion, but the experience is purely pleasureable and, as far as I can tell, doesn't actually cause any physical or emotional damage.

Second.

So... masturbation leads to rape? It doesn't specifically say that but I'm pretty sure that's what the bolded part implies and honestly, I don't see the connection.

Finally.

Why would God make you work hard for something only to be told "That wasn't you, I did all for you."?

What are your opinions on this? I realise I'm not good at analysing and putting across my opinion.

I don't believe condoms are wrong, so please, don't classify as all Christians believing safe sex is sinful sex.

As far as masturbation causing harm, one could argue that sex causes the same issues. The reference that I think is implied here, is pornography while masturbating. Which, has lead some people to do horrific acts because of the fantasy porn gave them, which they wanted to act out. You may not see it, but there have been people who are in.jail and have confessed it started with porn.

This doesn't mean it will be like that for all people. But, I have even found, I started out with looking at nude girls when I was younger. It then progressed to videos, various fetishes, etc. It didn't just stay at nude pictures. It grew, in my case.

Ironically, as usual in this world, the more you have the more you want. The more you give, the less you have, the less you want. This world is enslaving, I've found.

[~Mr. Self Destruct~]

Isn't this the 3rd topic on this in the last month?
How many answers do we need?

[Baxter]

Originally Posted by Gymnophoria

Second.

So... masturbation leads to rape? It doesn't specifically say that but I'm pretty sure that's what the bolded part implies and honestly, I don't see the connection.

This part to me just seems like masturbation can result in an obsession with sex, which is true. The more you do it, the more you want it. And we get conditioned to things, so yes, you have to keep 'upping' your excitement. That's how sex obsessions start. This seems to be just saying to make sure you don't become 'enslaved' to the sexual high with masturbation, don't do it at all. Of course, were obviously smart enough to realize now we can do it in moderation without going overboard.

Christians might interpret it differently, but that's how I see it from a practical point of view.