# Does the Bible really say it's a sin to use the bathroom? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 19, 2001, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-really-say-its-a-sin-to-use-the-bathroom/65913 "2001-05-19T16:46:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-really-say-its-a-sin-to-use-the-bathroom/65913/21 "2001-05-20T22:06:23Z")
Defecatorium? Latinate dog! I call it the crapper or the shitter, forceful Anglo-Saxon words. Anyone who calls it a defecatorium probably pays heed to the Emperor in Rome and can’t gather the guts to cross Hadrian’s Stoneheap! Damn, sorry about that. I really should stop painting myself up like a demented Smurf and raiding my neighbors. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-really-say-its-a-sin-to-use-the-bathroom/65913/22 "2001-05-20T22:08:14Z")
Just remembered: Crapper was a man’s name, not an Anglo-Saxon-derived word for shit. So don’t fling your feces at my little oversight. ---
**Author:** ![Opus1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/858c86/32.png) [@Opus1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Opus1)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-really-say-its-a-sin-to-use-the-bathroom/65913/23 "2001-05-20T22:26:01Z")
While crapper is indeed a man’s name, the word “crap” (and “crapper”) comes from the Middle English “crappe” meaning “chaff.” Thomas Crapper, like Gen. Joseph Hooker, was one of those men whose last names did not _become_ words, but merely expanded the popularity of already existing terms. (The word “hooker,” meaning “prostitute” predates Gen. Hooker, but experienced increased usage due to Hooker’s troops’ frequenting of prostitutes.) ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2001, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-really-say-its-a-sin-to-use-the-bathroom/65913/24 "2001-05-21T01:05:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by David Cronan \* > \*\*When I first saw this thread I thought it was about not being able to take a bath. Why don’t you Americans use the correct term ? . It is a toilet ,a lavatory, a loo ,a bog but it is not a bathroom. I once saw a very confused conversation between an American tourist and a local guide at the Parthenon in Athens with the guide wondering why this guy suddenly wanted to take a bath. \*\* Confused me too, mate. Let me catch you pissing in _my_ bathroom, and you’ll soon find out it’s a sin. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2001, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-really-say-its-a-sin-to-use-the-bathroom/65913/25 "2001-05-21T01:22:35Z")
Well, I had heard about the “poo = sin” business long before that episode of the Simpsons. They don’t pull those little quips on the show out of the air, you know. Anyway, while I don’t know any Judeo-Christian basis for the idea (besides going a bit far with the scriptures quoted above), back in college a friend of mine was “reaching out” (i.e. converting) an Islamic student. Friend mentioned that Jesus never sinned and the student replied in all seriousness with “Really? He never used the bathroom?” It might not be supportable with the religious texts, but apparently it’s a cross faith issue believed by quite a few people for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2001, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-really-say-its-a-sin-to-use-the-bathroom/65913/26 "2001-05-21T01:52:01Z")
If **Monty** should stumble over this thread, he would quickly straighten things out by telling you that it is always called **the head**. _Or was it that other guy that was in the navy?_ ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Zamboni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@The\_Great\_Zamboni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Zamboni)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2001, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-really-say-its-a-sin-to-use-the-bathroom/65913/27 "2001-05-23T03:50:25Z")
This thread really bloomed. > [@](#): > > 12 Designate a place outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourself. > 13 As part of your equipment have something to dig with, and when you relieve yourself, dig a hole and cover up your excrement. > 14 For the LORD your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, so that he will not see among you anything indecent and turn away from you. Verse 14 looks like it was the one that was twisted in The Simpsons and before (I had heard that before The Simpsons). now it makes sense. It basicly explains that you shouldn’t leave your crap laying around when God, or anyone else is coming over for a visit. You don’t just squat on the floor in front of guests do you? THAT’S the unclean part, not the action of excretion. I’d say I’m a follow-the-Bible-to-the-letter Christian and this verse sure doesn’t look like it says anything about a bodily function being a sin. That’s just stupid. > [@](#): > > 2 "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: `When any man has a bodily discharge, the discharge is unclean. 3 Whether it continues flowing from his body or is blocked, it will make him unclean. This is how his discharge will bring about uncleanness: 4 "`Any bed the man with a discharge lies on will be unclean, and anything he sits on will be unclean. This could be wet dreams, peeing the bed, crapping the bed, playing with yourself, or an infection. It says unclean, not unholy, so maybe it means that a sacred part of life has been violated. I really can’t tell. This is one of those mysterious passages that is hard to interpret rock solid. > [@](#): > > When I first saw this thread I thought it was about not being able to take a bath. Why don’t you Americans use the correct term ? . It is a toilet ,a lavatory, a loo ,a bog but it is not a bathroom. In America it’s bathroom. It’s all in the same room isn’t it? Who cares really? I hate it when people argue over frivolous things and/or change the subject. Leave that argument in another thread please. I hope this is the last of it. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-really-say-its-a-sin-to-use-the-bathroom/65913/28 "2002-06-01T19:21:32Z")
Well, a semen stained sheet isn’t what I’d call clean, is it? Put it in the laundry! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-really-say-its-a-sin-to-use-the-bathroom/65913/29 "2002-06-01T19:42:24Z")
Given that there are so many versions, and so many translations, and the latitude for ‘interpretation’, I think someone with vested interests could find biblical support for just about any point of view or statement. At least, that’s the way it seems to me when I witness debates among those still infected with the religion virus. Going to the bathroom a sin? Yep, it probably says that. Going to the bathroom _not_ a sin? Yep, it probably says that too. Masses of well-documented self-contradiction have never harmed the bible’s popularity. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Harvey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@Max\_Harvey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Harvey)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-really-say-its-a-sin-to-use-the-bathroom/65913/30 "2002-06-01T20:12:40Z")
> [@](#): > > 14 For the LORD your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, so that he will not see among you anything indecent and turn away from you. So the supreme creator of the universe is grossed out by sewage? If he was going to heal someone of a disease, but said disease impairs the afflicted’s bowel control, he’d “turn away” and say “Ooh yuck, she’s got poo all over her”? This verse, along with Leviticus 12 (which states that a woman who gives birth to a female is **twice as “unclean”** as one who gives birth to a male), is IMHO strong evidence that Moses made the whole thing up. Both sections are pure superstition and defy common sense to the point of absurdity. ---
**Author:** ![Avumede](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/avumede/32/7235_2.png) [@Avumede](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avumede)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-really-say-its-a-sin-to-use-the-bathroom/65913/31 "2002-06-01T21:09:44Z")
About Islam and bathroom habits… the Ayatollah Khomeni was well known for his writings which described the real Islamic way to go to the bathroom in meticulous detail. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2002, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-really-say-its-a-sin-to-use-the-bathroom/65913/32 "2002-06-02T13:32:33Z")
I always assumed the Deuteronomy verses were a way of enforcing hygene in a military camp. Disease has killed far more armies than actual combat ever did. Without Deuteronomy: _Typical seargent, BC 1000_: Don’t shit in the camp, youse louses! We’ll all git sick and die, an’ ifn’ I die from youse shittin’ in camp, I’m gonna come back an’ kick yer arse! _Typical Grunt, BC 1000_: Yes, S’gent! Fuck you, s’gent. I’ll shit where I please. With Deuteronomy: _Typical seargent, BC 1000_: Don’t shit in the camp, youse louses! God’ll kick yer arse for all eternity! _Typical Grunt, BC 1000_: Yes, S’gent! Jeeze, God sure has lotsa rules! Better not chance it, though…Don’t want the seargent and God pissed at me. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2002, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-really-say-its-a-sin-to-use-the-bathroom/65913/33 "2002-06-02T14:27:31Z")
> [@](#): > > It is a toilet ,a lavatory, a loo ,a bog but it is not a bathroom. Oh, yeah, _these_ are all non-euphemisms too, right? Besides the ones already mentioned, I’d like to point out that the “lavatory” is literally the sink (or the basin), not the toilet. So, there’s for your accuracy, unless you Brits are perfectly comfortable with peeing in the sink. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2002, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-really-say-its-a-sin-to-use-the-bathroom/65913/34 "2002-06-02T14:38:02Z")
> [@](#): > > It is a toilet ,a lavatory, a loo ,a bog but it is not a bathroom. Oh, yeah, _these_ are all non-euphemisms too, right? Besides the ones already mentioned, I’d like to point out that the “lavatory” is literally the sink (or the basin), not the toilet (which is, itself, a euphemism). So, there’s for your accuracy, unless you Brits are perfectly comfortable with peeing in the sink. Nobody’s mentioned yet that the Canadians call it a “washroom.” ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2002, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-really-say-its-a-sin-to-use-the-bathroom/65913/35 "2002-06-02T15:10:20Z")
“to use the bathroom?” That’s pretty fuzzy. There is a lot of stuff you can do in the bathroom. If you use the bathroom to wash your hands, why would the bible be against that? Sure, ‘to use the bathroom?’ is an old phrase, but these days with our spiffy modern vocabulary I’m sure we could try to use more direct terms ? ---
**Author:** ![urban1a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47c2d/32.png) [@urban1a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/urban1a)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2002, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-really-say-its-a-sin-to-use-the-bathroom/65913/36 "2002-06-02T15:35:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Avumede \* > \*\*About Islam and bathroom habits… the Ayatollah Khomeni was well known for his writings which described the real Islamic way to go to the bathroom in meticulous detail. \*\* Cite please. Bob ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2002, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-really-say-its-a-sin-to-use-the-bathroom/65913/37 "2002-06-02T15:56:22Z")
Much as I hate bible misquoting, I hate _Simpsons_ misquoting more. It really waxes my wroth. The relevant passage is: (Marge and Homer have had a major fight) Rev. Lovejoy: Get a divorce. Mrs. Lovejoy: Mmm-hm. Marge: But isn’t that a sin? Rev. Lovejoy: Marge, _everything_ is a sin. You ever sat down and _read_ this thing? [holds up a bible] Technically, we’re not allowed to go to the bathroom. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2002, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-really-say-its-a-sin-to-use-the-bathroom/65913/38 "2002-06-02T16:08:34Z")
From Cecil’s column: > [@](#): > > According to bathroom historian Frank Muir, Bathroom historian? I knew academics search out unique niches, but the mind boggles! A Ph.D. in bathroom history? An endowed Chair, perhaps (or maybe an endowed throne?) ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2002, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-really-say-its-a-sin-to-use-the-bathroom/65913/39 "2002-06-02T16:10:20Z")
Still no reply to the _Star Trek_ note. The bok in question is _Spock’s World_. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2002, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-really-say-its-a-sin-to-use-the-bathroom/65913/40 "2002-06-02T16:13:14Z")
I mean–“The book”. :o [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-really-say-its-a-sin-to-use-the-bathroom/65913.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-really-say-its-a-sin-to-use-the-bathroom/65913.md?page=3)