Sin doesn’t exist....it’s a religious construct! Whether the bible mentions it or not is immaterial and no point in wondering about a god who doesn’t exist either. The reason religions frown on it is because they use it as a means of exercising control. All religions are obsessed with sex and sexual practices....the insistence that priests in the Catholic Church are celibate is just another example of control, even of their own clergy. Repressed sexuality is probably what caused so many of them to molest children,...better that they engaged in masturbation than that.

After reading briefly some articles on this subject, it seems clear to me the main reason religious people view masturbation as a sin, is because when someone is an euphoric state. It's similar to be really high, it just feels like pure enjoyment. The religious people see this as a problem because the view worshiping "their" god should be the only pure enjoyment in someone's life. So one more reason not to believe in a set religion, masturbation.

Im surprised no one got this one yet. Masturbation is a sin from a biblical basis based on the story of Onan. He was supposed to marry his brothers wife to give her children after his brother died, instead he spilled his seed on the ground and disobeyed god. So short answer: because a lot of early jewish law was designed to make sure they multiplied and some guy decided fucking his brothers widow was too creepy.

This only explains why they would think that male masturbation is a sin though, and when they discourage women from doing it its probably more about not harboring any lustful or impure thoughts, or similarly saying youre not allowed to cum unless youre trying to make more christian soldiers. Thats your one n only reward for doing so and if you discovered and took control of your own sexuality we’d have nothing left to hold over you.

So yeah in short who cares? But since you asked thats more or less where it came from. Pun intended.

I am glad you pleasure yourself.....when you come to Iowa, we can do this together with our fingers, tongues and coitus if you desire

Since I am not religious and do not acknowledge sin... how can I answer? When I Itch, I scratch... since a teen always questioned if you are born with a specific number of masturbations (not hard ons) and once you use them all... you don't die but... that's it... you broke it. Just wondered a lot in my youth but then I started pushing the limits... And some of the conclusions of my research: Did not made me grow taller, did not made me blind, did not made me crazy, could be observed, Still works without any help or assistance of Big Pharma.

Actually the whole 'it's better to let your seed end up in the belly of a whore than spill upon the ground' line is admonishment against masturbation.

2000 years ago in the deserts of the Middle East, mortality rates were high and life expectancy was low. And while genealogy was important socially and for inheritance, it's a survival strategy. If 1 in 5 children survive to adulthood, everyone needs to have five or six kids to ensure one or two adults.

And by religious rhetoric: god gave you the ability to experience that pleasure so you could deny it to yourself as proof of your devotion to God. Because he's a petty, jealous assclown with a borderline personality disorder.

I was curious about your motivation for this question. Are you trying to help a "believer" with their emotional and theological problems? From your profile it would appear that you do not believe in god/gods and so their definitions of sin would logically be irrelevant to you. I believe the culture you live in can affect you emotionally. Are you affected and seeking to resolve emotional conflict?

My tuppence worth: I believe they say that God/gods created humans with the ability to make choices between the right way and the "sinful" way. As other people answering your posting have made points about various points of scripture and interpretations, it is generally taken that the religious would rather have people using sexual urges for procreation in a "married relationship". To discourage non-procreational masturbation, they define it as a sin. Albeit with not much explicit detail about it in the scriptures.

If you enjoy it, or want to enjoy it. Do not let me nor sin deter you.

Best wishes. ?

At one time in America circumcision was practiced to discourage masturbation. Religious nuts did this. Will they practice cutting off hands next? IDK.

I don't recognise the premise of sin to start with so if i want to crack one off I couldn't give a shit what some biblical twat thinks

We're pulling for you pal.

When I was a child, my religiously zealous father asked me if I did that and made a point to remind me that it was a sin.

I think Puritanical religion back in the day began the idea that any kind of sexual desire was sinful, especially for women.

No. It's natural and one of the few pleasures in life that are neither toxic, expensive, fattening nor time-consuming.

I think the religious call it a sin because they know the guilt of believing that will stress your brain, make you hate yourself as unworthy, thus more likely to be on your knees begging for forgiveness on a regular basis for your imperfections.

The sin of Onan is used a lot to justify that. He was cursed for spilling his seed on the ground rather than impregnating his brothers widow.

There's some mentions in the Bible. Something about not spilling/wasting semen. Other teachings about not lusting in your mind... basically sex is never to be enjoyed, sex is strictly for procreation. I remember hearing Jewish married folks traditionally had sex with a sheet between them. And I knew a seven day Adventist that believed you would turn green if you didn't masturbate, or have sex.

As someone said, no god, no sin

Isn't there some sort of "not spilling seed" verse in the Old Testament upon which they rationalize the argument against masturbation? Pretty much, the rule seems to be that if it's fun and you're not a priest, you don't get to have it.

I never heard a religious person say that until I went to USA. Just seems completely bananas to me.

Historically you find religions that are concerned about the number of believers are the strongest against masturbation. Those seed better be fertilizing someone's garden. It also follows from an ancient belief that men had only so many sperm and that masturbation 'wasted' them -- as did homosexuality. So at least in the US there were insane attempts to prevent masturbation in the 19th century. Beds were made for boys with shackles on the sides to keep their hands away from their bodies. Devices that were very much like chastity belts were put on young girls for the same purpose. There were camps where people were exhausted physically based on the belief that healthy people would lose their interest in sex (although now we know the reverse to be true). Graham crackers and corn flakes were invented to provide a 'healthy diet' again so that the urge for masturbation would go away. And into the 20th century kids were told that if they masturbated they would: die, go insane, or grow hair on the palms of their hands. How frightened do you have to be of a behavior to invent the lie that it would kill you???

Sin is a disease invented by religions; so they can sell you the cure.

Only a sin if you use your left hand

Bible belt churches attract the biggest sinners in town! They are conditioned to believe that as long as they attend church, twice on Sunday, once on Wednesday, and allow themselves to be 'shaken down' three times per service, they will still get 'front-row' seats in heaven!

Puts on his God goggles

Masturbation is a sin because it is using sexual stimulation for something beyond procreation. We are supposed to "be fruitful and multiply" not "spill our seed on the ground."

removes goggles

Sin doesn't exist so go forth and rub one out. Or go first and rub four out for all I care. What you do to your own genitalia is your own business. Just, for your own sake, do it in private conditions.

Focus on the Family has toned down their rhetoric on this topic considerably over the years. But here's their current "reasoning" on why masturbation should be discouraged. [focusonthefamily.com]

The "sin" of masturbation is from The book of genesis 38:9 . And actually describes the pulling out method of birth control. God killed Er because he was wicked then Er's dad told Onan to impregnate Er's widow. Onan didn't want to so he jerked off. This pissed off god so he killed Onan too. Then the whole thing gets even weirder when The widow dresses up like a hooker and Er screws her and gets her pregnant without knowing it was her. The whole thing is one convoluted mess of bullshit that religious people don't bother to read. I found that the more I read the bible the less I worried about sin because the whole story never makes sense in a normal fashion. Personally I feel that the pursuit of pleasure is the reason we are here and to not take advantage of an opportunity to enjoy ones life is a waste of time.

There are two types of people in the world: people who admit to masturbating... and liars.