Autoeroticism (in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam):
The view that masturbation is sinful is a belief deeply embedded in the traditions of Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Generally, the degree of dissent from this belief seems proportional to degree of infiltration of liberalism and secularism within these traditions. The only exception to this seems to be found in various evangelical Protestant communities, where more permissive attitudes toward autoerotic behavior have prevailed since the 1970s despite their otherwise undaunted conservatism.
I. Christianity
A. Catholicism:
Despite the fact that nearly one out of every five people in the world today is a Catholic, and many Catholics are ignorant of Church teaching or indifferent to it, the Catholic Church continues to stand by its traditional teaching that masturbation is sinful and "gravely disordered." Many faithful Catholics today continue embrace Church teaching and to seek to live lives unstained by autoerotic impurity. The following represent traditional Catholic statements on the subject:
| Masturbation as the forlorn fantasy of the absent 'other' (Thomas Howard) |
| Can we talk? (Mary Beth Bonacci, Envoy magazine) |
| Is masturbation a sin? (Fr. Phil Bloom) |
| Masturbation, a mortal or venial sin? (Fr. Mateo) |
| Will God always forgive me? (Fr. Phil Bloom) |
| A priest counsels an anonymous inquirer (Fr. Phil Bloom) |
| Overcoming the Masturbation Habit (Fr. Harvey, Courage) |
| Testimony of an ELCA Catholic convert (Giles N. Babb) |
| Resources for those struggling with pornography (St. Joseph's Covenant Keepers) |
B. Protestantism:
Despite the fact that Protestant views showed no divergence from traditional Catholic views until the mid-1970s, very few mainline Protestants today regard autoerotic activity as sinful. Even among the most conservative fundamentalists and evangelicals, one finds the opinion that there is nothing wrong with masturbation. One of the most familiar spokesmen for such groups is James Dobson of the well-known, conservative Focus on the Family organization. His own statement (linked below) is based on his father's advice to him when he was a boy:
| "You shouldn't be too concerned about it" (James Dobson, Focus on the Family) |
| "A Bone to Pick with Dr. Dobson: Masturbation" (DeoOmnisGloria) |
II. Islam:
| Islamic ruling on masturbation (Q & A) |
| Muslim prohibitions and cures (Abdullah Ibn Abdur Rahman) |
III. Judaism:
| Jewish attitudes toward sexuality (Tracey R. Rich, Judaism 101) |
| Jewish prohibitions from the Talmud (Sons of Israel) |
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