ladybug01 said:
No, something is either right or wrong. Like I said, it cannot be both ok and not ok to commit murder. It cannot both be ok and not ok to do other things, as well.
You are ignoring the fact that the Bible has claerly addressed issues like murder, lying, stealing and gossiping. They are all sin. All the time. There is no argument there!
What we are discussing here is a matter that the Bible does not address specifically and about which Christians disagree... which is parallel to the issue Christians faced when Paul was writing letters to them, the eating of meat that had been offered to idols. Paul did not declare either camp wrong or right!
Mastubation includes lust for another's body. It always involves some form of fantasy. That is explicitly condemned by Christ and the Prophets.
WEll, thanks for sharing far more of your life and thoughts than most of us probably care to know!
I guess it would also be nice to see examples of God smiting people for murder, adultry, lying, stealing. The claim that "God smiting people makes something a sin" does not hold water.
Well, in point of fact, the Bible does give us several examples of God smiting people who committed those sins... Ananias and Sapphria,
Achan and his family, David, whose son Nathanial was taken from him becasue of his sin of murder and adultry... the list could go on.
It trains the person to receive instant gratification and to view his sexual partner as one capable of doing anything for him. That leads to an unhappiness in marriage, and possibly adultry. Besides, all sin hurts God.
I'm gong to assume that you are not married (please correct me if I'm wrong) or, if you are married, it has been for a short while. So, these things you are saying about masturbation and instant gratification and being tempted into adultry I am also going to assume you "know" becasue this is what people - youth leaders, pastors or your parents - have told you. When it comes to sex, hardly anyone tells the whole truth. They don't think it's wise for unmarried young adults to hear the whole truth. They are repeating how they were told it is supposed to be. They are telling you what they want you to do, which is not necessarily what they did or what they choose to do. Bottom line, most Christian parents are not all that comfortable with their own or other people's children being sexual beings. And so their perspective on such matters is not always very helpful.
So, according to St. Paul, it's perfectly alright for me to steal your life savings? Everything is permissible, you know.
You know full well no one is arguing that stealing is right.
Clearly, this is not right- we must use common sense when interpreting Scripture. That everything is permissible is indeed true in instances where the actions are not in and of themselves wrong- like eating meat, but may be made wrong by certain circumstances, such as causing scandel.
Again, on what basis can you say that mastrubation is in and of itself wrong? You have told us that you would be lusting if you did it, but others tell us they do not lust when they mastrubate. Clearly it would be wrong for you, but not for everyone. No one is trying to persuade you to mastrubate!
