That’s the problem.
When religion meets common sense, common sense loses every frickin’ time.
I’m agnostic.
This would cause millions of young men to become cock suckers.
Perfectly moral (or, IMHO, not even an issue of morality or lack thereof). I tend to feel that folks who concern themselves with the self-stimulating habits of others should probably find better ways to occupy their time.
Atheist.
Morality is about how you treat other people, not about what you do in the shower. Masturbation feels good, harms no one and is a neccessary act of maintenance for males. The argument about “spitting in God’s face” is inane and ignorant. The male body needs to offload excess seminal fluid as a matter of course. Even if they don’t jerk off (because they don’t have any arms or they’re in a coma or something), it’s going to be released in their sleep. It’s not a fluid that needs to be – or even can be – preserved in the body. Your friend’s religious views on the matter are only so much uninformed, superstitious twaddle.
Nope. Not immoral. I think the religions of the world tend to read way too much meaning into that square foot of body.
Agnostic apathetic: I don’t know and I don’t care.
Lucky bastard.
I think it is perfectly moral.
Christian.
I’m surprised that more people don’t agree with me. I believe that indulging in a little masturbation when the urge presents itself allows the mind to focus on non-sexual things the rest of the time. I have encountered several Christian men who have discussed their “struggles” with lust and porn. I cannot relate. I think they obsess over these things because they don’t get that much-needed, natural release. This could be physiological as well as psychological. I am of the opinion that repression often leads to aggression (or a sudden, overwhelming biological rush, the satisfaction of which would be a crime). Christians already have too much of a reputation for repressing their sexuality, so I wish the “no spilling of the seed” belief would just go away.
If you are struggling with “impure thoughts,” I say go find a private place, get it out of your system, and get your thoughts onto something more constructive. If you know what turns you on and how to deal with it, you can get better at controlling your thoughts and you can better handle yourself, uh, physically and emotionally.
I wish. I was talking about the whole area, not the single protrusion…
I must beg to differ…
“Oh God…
OH GOD…
OHHHHH GOOOOODDDDDDDDDD…”
Sounds like religious conviction to me.
Here to speak up for a traditionally female facet of the discussion:
I know there are a lot of people, especially avid churchgoing teenage girls (I assume the person you were conversing with was in that category) who have the mindset that masturbation is wrong because it’s like “spoiling yourself”, that it’ll ruin how special sex will be with their future (edit: or even current) partner. I, though never an avid churchgoer, used to think like that, and have since realized that idea to be complete hogwash.
Spiritual agnostic, by the way.
I think many would argue that orgasm IS a religious experience.
Also, the argument that it “does not aid procreation” is a short-sighted view. That’s like saying bringing your wife flowers doesn’t aid procreation.
Practice makes perfect. 
You failed to mention what religion you belong to. Maybe it is a secret, but if not you can probably pick up some converts real fast.
The girl in question must believe in screwing, so I suggest the OP dispenses with talking about it. Tell her he’s given up masterbation and wants her body. 
It’s spilling the seed that is frowned on in the Bible.
If you catch it in your hand
if you smear it on your glands
if you take it in your bum
or spead it on your tum
shoot it all over your tits
or lick it off your partner’s bits
then the seed has not been spilt
so get it going up to the hilt
If it feels good, do it.
Aging Hippie
I’m Christian, and I think it’s usually immoral. As for your argument, I think that it works that way for some people, but I find that when I masturbate I just get more horny and lustful in general.
I agree with this quote by C.S. Lewis:
"For me the real evil of masturbation would be that it takes an appetite which, in lawful use, leads the individual out of himself to complete (and correct) his own personality in that of another (and finally in children and even grandchildren) and turns it back; sends the man back into the prison of himself, there to keep a harem of imaginary brides. And this harem, once admitted, works against his ever getting out and really uniting with a real woman. For the harem is always accessible, always subservient, calls for no sacrifices or adjustments, and can be endowed with erotic and psychological attractions which no woman can rival. Among those shadowy brides he is always adored, always the perfect lover; no demand is made on his unselfishness, no mortification ever imposed on his vanity. In the end, they become merely the medium through which he increasingly adores himself. Do read Charles Williams’ Descent into Hell and study the character of Mr. Wentworth.
And it not only the faculty of love which is thus sterilized, forced back on itself, but also the faculty of imagination. The true exercise of imagination in my view, is (a) To help us understand other people, (b) To respond to, and, some of us, to produce art. But is has also a bad use: to provide for us, in shadowy form, a substitute for virtues, successes, distinctions, etc. which ought to be sought outside in the real world–e.g., picturing all I’d do if I were rich instead of earning and saving. Masturbation involves this abuse of imagination in erotic matters (which I think bad in itself) and thereby encourages a similar abuse of it in all spheres. After all, almost the main work of life is to come out of our selves, out of the little dark prison we are all born in. Masturbation is to be avoided as all things are to be avoided which retard this process. The danger is that of coming to love the prison.
(From a letter to a Mr. Masson dated March 6, 1956 in the Wade Collection at Wheaton College in Wheaton, IL)"
Does she give Biblical justification for her opposition?
The one usually quoted
is really about Onan refusing to do his duty for his sister-in-law, for which masturbation was the mechanism. It does not say that masturbation is wrong by itself.
Lewis is only talking about extreme cases. One can well agree that if used to such excess that it prevents someone from having human contact, it is wrong. (So is playing video games, watching TV or even reading.) However, a man masturbating to relieve tension when his wife is unavailable because of advanced pregnancy, say, is hardly wrong by Lewis’ standard. Say a man is away on a long trip. Would Lewis prefer masturbation or adultery?
Atheist, btw, but I think the split here is fanaticism, not god belief.
You can have my masturbation when you pry it from my cold dead hands.
Honestly, a omniscient, benevolent creator who would combine such a powerful drive in people with such a mismatch of opportunity and frequency fairly boggles the mind. Next you’ll be telling me that God put some womens’ clitorises a little high up so they could never have a “sanctioned” orgasm as some sort of spiritual challenge. Whatever my spiritual beliefs might be, I just can’t worship that
I see - the old ‘sit-on-your-hand’ trick, eh?
Masturbation certainly isn’t immoral, obviously. But I can find it a bit sapping, energy-wise, and sometimes like the get-up-and-go that a bit of pent-up frustration can bring.
Atheist, me.
I was just reading commentary that said that he didn’t masturbate, but rather practiced coitus interruptus (he pulled out). Since God had told him to father a child for her, God was understandably annoyed at his disobedience. (But not at his masturbation, because he didn’t.)
Christian here
The Bible does not mention masturbation at all, anywhere, so we need to work from principles. As above, the story of Onan relates to his attempting to avoid providing an heir to his brothers wife, by using the withdrawl method (spilling his seed on the ground). But the sinful act was not the spilling of seed, but denying his dead brothers wife a son and an inheritance. So there is no good guide there.
And we need to realise that men will ejaculate occasionally with no external stimulation - it is inbuilt into who we are and how God created us - so if it is the way God made us, then it can’t be a sin just to ejaculate.
The final thing is about the thoughts and attitudes was have when we masturbate. Jesus was pretty clear - we need to keep control of our thoughts and attitudes. And the sexual fantasies that can be built into masturbation (and sex, for that matter) can be the things that draw people into sin. Particularly when we focus our fantasies on specific individuals (But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Matt 5:28). And (as per the quote from C S Lewis) the sexual fantasies and masturbation itself can become an overruling compulsion that damages our relationship with God, others and ourselves. But this is more akin to gluttony, where we give a natural appetite reign over our bodies to our own spiritual and physical destruction. And that does not just apply to sex, but to food and drink and many other things as well.
To sum up my perspective - masturbation is not sinful, or immoral. It’s a part of the way we were created to work, and we gain a lot from having a personal appreciation of our own sexual response. But, like all things, it needs to be in moderation and under our control, and not controlling us. And we need to be keeping our thoughts captive, so that our fantasies don’t lead us into sin. And guilt has no part of the process.
The Church sometimes gets hung up on the little things, and ignores the big picture - poverty, intolerance, sickness. And we are not about changing the world - we are about changing ourselves and helping others (who then may want to change). I admit to a level of frustration that so often, we in the church have got it so badly wrong.
Si