Noctural emissions aren’t the result of an action taken on someone’s part.
My point was that it’s easy to see some things are sins because they obviously result in suffering or loss in the sinner or others. Sins which on their face feel good and presumably don’t hurt anyone are harder to see as immoral, but still are. And yes, I do defer to a higher authority than myself in following church law.
Sure they are–they’re a result of specifically deciding not to have sex or masturbate. If losing (say) a finger were “spitting on God’s gift”, as it were, wouldn’t it be almost as immoral to lose a finger by being careless with a chainsaw as it would be to cut it off intentionally?
So in other words, it’s immoral because It Just Is. The thing is, though, that if your “higher authority” is God, then–even assuming that you believe that the bible is all in God’s words, that each English translation is perfect and divinely inspired, etc., which is fraught with its own problems–how do you deal with the fact that the Bible never mentions masturbation, but does declare that wearing two fabrics at the same time is an abomination that should be punished by death? You’ve worn cotton/nylon blends, haven’t you?
I was thinking along the lines of the discussion of whether abortion is immoral, and folks saying that 1/3 of pregnancies are spontaneously aborted, and does that make those women immoral. An action taken is immoral, not an involuntary bodily function.
No, I meant the higher authority of the Church.
OK. What about when you snap your fingers, killing more cells than you do when you have an abortion? That’s a conscious action which is just as devastating as a natural, spontaneous abortion, which usually happens before the woman knows she was ever pregnant.
What gives the Church authority over God?
I commit that particular garment-related abomination on a regular basis, not to mention a host of others.
The fact that god is always made in man’s image, regardless of which flavor it is.
I knew a guy who told me that when he was young, he honestly believed men only had 100 squirts in them, so you had better use them sparingly, especially if you wanted children. One can imagine his joy at discovering otherwise.
Which church? They don’t all think masturbation is immoral.