Self Manipulation

picture provided by: Pilgrim Studios

The other day a coworker asked me if I believed masturbation was a sin. She asked this because of a post one of her friends made on a social media site stating that she believed the act was a necessary choice one made to help in the process of celibacy.  She compared masturbation to vegetarianism; where a man or woman would refrain from having sex with another person in the same way a vegetarian chooses to either only eat poultry and fish, or cut our meat all-together and include dairy their diet instead. My answer to her could be considered a broad one by many standards.  I believe although this personal act of self-manipulation can feel natural to most, it is not one all can handle, therefore; may be a sin for some.

So is masturbation really a sin?  It’s a question I’ve asked God myself.  Though in the Bible it doesn’t come out and directly say it is, there are many factors involved which can relate it to a sinful act.  In Matthew 5:27-29 Jesus says that, “anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her (or lustfully) has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”  This statement is directed toward men, but can also be used when women are looking at men lustfully.   In this way I feel that the act of self-manipulation is a sin, because for many there is no masturbation without the presence of some type of stimulation.  A large percent of people find this in pornography, or in the sexual imaginations of someone they are attracted to. 

My pastor once hinted at the subject during a sermon about marriage.  I can remember sitting in audience thinking, “Finally, I can get my question answered,” but afterward was still left in a sort of fog.  I wanted him to talk more about this subject which naturally seems so taboo, because I’d rather have advice from a more spiritually educated perspective.  What I can remember taking away from his sermon was that it was not a matter of the act, so long as you were thinking about your husband or wife, but a matter of where the act could lead. 

There are instances where this act can become an addiction, and the person finds themselves in a situation where they are no longer able to control the urge to self-manipulate.  In this way, masturbation becomes more of a drug that one uses to gain the euphoric feeling which comes along with the gratification.  Others may find it an easy outlet to gain access to those in the fantasy world whom they would normally not have the same freedoms with in reality.

If you are able to keep your thoughts in control, and they do not wander to persons outside the bonds of marriage, then masturbation, I believe is not a sin for you.  But if you are among a great portion of human beings who find it hard to commit the act without the consistent stimulation of a source outside of matrimony, then masturbation would most definitely be a sin.  After reading passages in the Bible to try and wrap my mind around how the Christian view on this subject would be, this is the conclusion I have come to, and it is the answer I gave to my coworker. My hope is that it cleared some of the clouds from the fog she had in her mind than it did for me when I first started asking the question. 

Elected Trouble

picture provided by: Businessinsider.com

Oh what a world we live in, now that Real Estate Mogul, Donald Trump is called the President of the United States, and the supposed leader of the free world.  The whole ordeal feels like a joke, or better yet, a bad dream which has made its way on to the scene of reality.  The country has been exposed to more than its share of warnings through mass media, rumor, and the words from this man's own mouth, about how crucial our decisions can be.  What direction will we be taken in under the direction of Trump’s leadership? My hope is that we are not a sinking Titanic, with the promise of greatness, but a destiny to fail.  How can a man who has no political background run an entire country?

The 2017 presidential election carried its campaign on the premise of the people’s deep seeded emotions. It’s just too bad those emotions were steeped in hate. Rumors have swirled about someone out of Russia hacking into America’s most confidential computer files and boosting the votes from the Electoral College in Trump’s favor.  It has also been said that Trump received a good portion of his support from the people who reside in the ‘backwoods’ of the nation, and hate groups like the KKK.  I must say that when someone like David Duke, a former grand wizard in the KKK steps up to publicly show his support for Trump, it seems a bit suspicious.  David Duke, a leading voice in a group of neo-Nazi-type Holocaust deniers, has himself been elected to the Louisiana state House of Representatives. It begs one to wonder what direction the government wants to take this country in. Are Latin people to be rounded up and detained?  The women freely fondled and harassed?  Will Muslims still find themselves under the eye of suspicion, and Blacks continually be oppressed?

I struggle though, to fully blame racist for their ignorant points of view. They were once impressionable children who knew no hate. But these impressionable children fell under the influence of hate-filled parents who chose to live their lives inside of such a taxing burden.  I can’t imagine why we call ourselves “the land of the free” when those who consider themselves the “majority” still live in chains. Yes, hate is a burden that keeps you bound in the prison of bitterness which steels every bit of joy you can have when compared to choosing the freedom in giving love instead.

I’ve been around my share of hateful people, and they all seem to share one thing in common; they are all so angry. I’m left to wonder if they are on the verge of a nervous breakdown.  “Racism is so universal in this country, so widespread, and deep-seated, that it is invisible because it is so normal.”-Shirley Chisholm. Will they build a mental facility big enough to house all of America’s racist when the weight of their abhorrence comes crumbling down?

We have now put into office a good representation of what goes on in the minds of the people in this country: lack of self-control, boastful loathing, a lofty thinking of oneself, and an agenda based solely to benefit the security and justice of those who view themselves as a type of deity above the rest of the nation.

History has been revised enough by government to allow for a biased way of thinking. This leads to a patriotism that is neither based on truth nor reality. I do have to say, the American system of government has done a fine job of being cunning enough to drive an educational and mass media system set up to shift the minds of its people so they truly believe they live in a nation who fights for each individual’s liberty and justice.  In truth, the system is set us to promote a false patriotism so that their ideals are established, and their crimes are protected and covered. One nation, who pushes out God, divisible, with liberty and justice for some.