Action of Temptation

"The mutilation of the savage has its tragic survival in the self-denial that mars our lives. We are punished for our refusals. Every impulse that we strive to strangle broods in the mind, and poisons us. The body sins once, and has done with its sin, for action is a mode of purification. Nothing remains then but the recollection of a pleasure, or the luxury of a regret. The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it."

Oscar Wilde suggests, by means of Dorian Gray, that yielding to temptation erradicates temptation. In a sense that is true, yet in another sense it is false. Naturally if one gives in to temptation the temptation itself ends, but the consequence is that that temptation then becomes an actual sin. There is, of course, a better way of erradicating temptation. As Christians we know we can cry out to Jesus.

But I don't mean to discuss temptation or sin as an action in vague terms. I want to make it something concrete (not abstract). So I have chosen to address a sin (if it is a sin) that is rarely discussed. Perhaps it is considered, but if it is then it is rarely addressed. Some of you, as readers, may not want to read on. The sin (if it be so) that I chose to address is masturbation.

Some nights ago the guys were in my room and we got around to this topic. They had brought it up in a very vulgar fashion. They were simply cracking jokes about it but since they chose to do it in my room I decided to spin the tables and we soon had a pretty decent debate going.

There are some who believe that masturbation is not a sin. Some of these people are those who simply want to excuse it so that they may entertain it more. Others simply because it sounds elitist in a philosophical sense. There are those who look at it scientifically and even those who acknowledge it's absence from the Scriptures. Among the many who endorse it's validity (as a non-sin, that is) are Dr. James Dobson. Others hold to another stand and suggest that it is indeed a sin. I would have to lean towards this party.

On the other hand I do understand where the non-sin views come from. Masturbation is a common thing among guys, and it is, so I understand, frequent as well among women. Every single guy in my suite has at one point or another in their life masturbated. I'd lay down a healthy bet that every guy in my dorm has also tried it at least once. Of course there are those who are more enslaved to it. I know of one guy who memorizes Scripture every time he goes to a bathroom because if not he'll give into the urge to masturbate. For many taking a shower is a risk and they ask for intense vigilance or accountability for that.

Our mistake lies in the fact that we view masturbation itself as a sin, but that is merely the action or acting out of the sin. The real sin lies in what comes prior to it. The poisoning of our lives by our philosophy or thought content. Perhaps pornography or past sexual encounters or whatever else might detonate sexual arousal. The problem with our sexual arousal is that once it has been wakened it demands satisfaction. Sometimes this satisfaction is a spontaneous release in what is termed as a "wet dream" and, quite honestly, I am not too familiar with those. Another form of satisfaction is by masturbation. If these urges are not satisfied they hurt. It strangles, according to Wilde, our minds, but it actually strangles much more than that (at least for a guy). The urge grows, swells, if you will, with pent up energy that demands release.

Because it will be released involuntarily (wet dream) some say that there is no harm in releasing it purposefully (masturbation). After all, they argue, it harms no one else and will eventually harm us if we do not release it. To suggest that it doesn't harm someone else is absurd. As for it harming ourselves, well, that's our own fault for filling our minds with filth from the start. Perhaps if one could masturbate in an abstract fashion then it might not be sinful, but as it is I would have to insist on it being very sinful. We masturbate to dirty images not to something good or pure.

Another thing about Wilde's comment is that although the body sins once, that is not enough. It is never enough. Masturbation, like all sins but sexual sins in particular, is very addicting. It also does not serve to purify the body. It might release the body from pent up pain, but that is not purification.