Teenage boys? (But that would mean lots and lots of dead kittens…so you’re asking why we have so many live adult cats?)
Ditto! 
Yes, and those things are bad when they do that. I think lust is a harmful interference in a marriage, so I find myself thinking that masturbation in itself is fine, but I personally have a very difficult time doing it without lusting.
Everyone lusts, don’t they? I mean, it’s not like you can stop yourself from ever thinking lustful thoughts ever. ISTM that you can only drive yourself crazy trying. If you think you’re in control of your lust, you must be either in a meditative state 24/7, or deluded. FTR, what was that whole ladle stunt, if not masturbation?
Riddle me this:
You’re married. The new girl in the office is HOT, and you can’t help noticing. Just because you don’t stare at her or allow yourself to fantasize about doing the nasty with her doesn’t mean you don’t lust after her. Your options, necessarily, are (a) masturbate while thinking about her occasionally, with a clear conscience; (b) drive yourself crazy by thinking about her all day at work, which will eventually lead you to do something you regret (masturbate with a guilty conscience, at best); or © relieve the urge by cheating on your wife with her. Which is the moral choice?
FTR, IME it is absolutely true that masturbating while fantasizing (sorry, “thinking lustful thoughts”) about a girl who turns me on but who I shouldn’t make a move on, absolutely does keep me from doing things I regret. Quite often, actually.
Everyone has lustful thoughts, but I dont think everyone chooses to then engage in perpetuating such acts. In your hypothetical situation, I think there is another option (d) dont worry about having lustful thoughts, but try and think about her for more than her body. If that doesn’t work, I usually think things like “wow she sure is beautiful,” and not “wow I wanna hump her brains out.”
Oh, and of course the ladle thing was masturbation. I change my mind on issues of sex a lot. I think I may be the only Catholic that has pre-marital sex and yet tries to regulate masturbation and porn watching.
BTW, what does ISTM stand for?
Surely God knows about pre-cum.
Like birth control, masturbation could be an excellent tool for combatting greater ‘sins’ (abortion, pre-marital sex), but alas. No dice.
It must be okay. If God’s not a wanker, then I don’t know who is.
It Seems To Me. (I hope so, anyway.)
I Smite Thee for Masturbating?
No, the other way around–I masturbate because I’m smitten.
And let’s not forget the song… “Every sperm is sacred…”
Saint Monty.
All I know is that this was the scripture cited when I was a youthful Methodist and church camp counselors inveighed against self-pleasure.
Generally no, but in my own particular case it would be as I would be depriving some lucky women of my consumate lovemaking.
Sometimes it can become a burden you know.
Christian here. As a teen, I felt damn guilty, NOT because my church or parents said anything about it (my church probably would have been against it, my parents didn’t have a problem) but because of my (mis)understanding of JC’s words in Matthew 5
about lust=adultery in the heart & the soon-following warning against one’s hand sinning. BUT in the Greek, “lust” isn’t just sexual desire or fantasy- “epithumia” denotes a ravenous irrational passion that depersonalizes the person. Also, the Bible either specifically or by strong inference condemns adultery, fornication, incest, homosexuality (at least some forms), bestiality, and pedophilia. However, God doesn’t seem to get around to forbidding something that is nigh universal.
“I spank the monkey,” obviously. (All o’ y’all are slipping. Sheesh. ;))
I’m having a hard time figuring out what’s so bad about lustful thoughts, with or without masturbation. It seems to me that if you have lustful thoughts that you enjoy, that’s nothing but a good thing. If you have lustful thoughts and masturbation that you enjoy, that is also nothing but a good thing (assuming that these lustful thoughts and masturbation don’t affect anyone else negatively).
I think lust devalues the lusted person into a walking sex symbol, and that it also fosters a preference for the image of a person instead of the actual person.
It depends on what you mean by “lust” (see FriarTed’s post above).
Just ask yourself “what would Jesus beat it to?”