Law of Chastity and Masturbation


JThimm88
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Is this not also the case when a married couple engage in relations? we know that sex is not for procreation alone, so can there not also be a risk of forming a sex addiction when have sex withing the bonds of marriage?

Possibly depends on the level... but in that case it is focused on your spouse, and having a healthy sex life within marriage is a good thing.

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It's been a year and a half since I've gone in for a worthiness/recommend interview, so I was wondering if someone could refresh my mind. When asked if we follow the law of chastity during an interview, are we asked specifically if we masturbate?

Someone told me a disturbing story involving a child being asked a question like that, and I guess I'm wondering if children are asked the specifics? If so, it kind of makes me nervous. As a parent have you ever been able to sit in during an interview when your youngster was getting asked? I don't know how interviews work with children as I joined the Church when I was 19.

No, a question like that is never asked. The only thing asked in regards to that law is "do you keep the law of chastity?" Nothing specific, it's just one question that covers the entire thing.

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Guest saintish

I've never specifically been asked "do you masturbate" but i have had several bishops ask "what does the law of chastity mean to you" and for that matter they asked the same question to clairify other reccomend questions ex: what does it mean to tithe?

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TO BCGUY: Search for this "TO YOUNG MEN ONLY BY BOYD K PACKER pamphlet, an address given at the Priesthood Session of General Conference in October 2, 1976" Other things more or less than this is of the devil, beware...and do not be as the other person in the times of the Bible and the BOM who perverted the ways of the Lord.

This is not to blame you but to give a warning of LOVE ^_^ OK?

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TO BCGUY: Search for this "TO YOUNG MEN ONLY BY BOYD K PACKER pamphlet, an address given at the Priesthood Session of General Conference in October 2, 1976" Other things more or less than this is of the devil, beware...and do not be as the other person in the times of the Bible and the BOM who perverted the ways of the Lord.

This is not to blame you but to give a warning of LOVE ^_^ OK?

That pamphlet was discussed on pg 2 of this thread (among countless other threads). It is no longer in production by the church and to my knowledge can only be obtained by members who still have old copies and through anti sites.
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If the pamplet is no longer in print does that mean the church no longer supports the Packers stance? is there a more modern pamlet that directly addresses the issue of masturbation?

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A Parent’s Guide Chapter 5: Teaching Adolescents: from Twelve to Eighteen Years

this is would be the best that i can find, I'll have to be honest though i'm not sure i 100% agree with the churches stance on masturbation.

The real sin behind breaking any part of the law of chastity is lust. Thinking about someone (real or imaginary) in such a way, outside of a legal marriage, is wrong. It tends to lead to pornography at the very least. But when people talk about where a sin leads, they assume it's okay by itself as long as it doesn't go further than that. But it's not. Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly!

"But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart"

Anyone claiming or thinking that they can masturbate without encouraging lust is wrong. :P

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Masturbation can open the door for other sins. Small sins spread whatever they are. It can take years for people who have developed this habit to overcome it even after they are married and having regular intimate relations with their companion.

In my opinion it just engenders selfishness. But we must not regard masturbation as heinous as fornication or adultery. If one is struggling to overcome the habit be patient yourself. Pray and fast and avoid all forms of pornography. You will eventually overcome if you are diligently seeking the LORD.

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From For the Strength of Youth:

Before marriage, do not do anything to arouse the

powerful emotions that must be expressed only in

marriage. Do not participate in passionate kissing, lie

on top of another person, or touch the private, sacred

parts of another person’s body, with or without clothing.

Do not allow anyone to do that with you. Do not arouse

those emotions in your own body.

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The real sin behind breaking any part of the law of chastity is lust. Thinking about someone (real or imaginary) in such a way, outside of a legal marriage, is wrong. It tends to lead to pornography at the very least. But when people talk about where a sin leads, they assume it's okay by itself as long as it doesn't go further than that. But it's not. Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly!

"But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart"

Anyone claiming or thinking that they can masturbate without encouraging lust is wrong. :P

Honest question:

If I think about my wife while... ya know.... is that kosher?

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Honest question:

If I think about my wife while... ya know.... is that kosher?

If your wife happens to be Miss Piggy... it's definitely not kosher! :lol:

(That was a joke guys... and I know I have a dark sense of humor.)

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If the pamplet is no longer in print does that mean the church no longer supports the Packers stance?

I can't answer that, they don't say why it was discontinued. You will have to decide what it means and how much you want to go by it. At the minimum it's worth taking under review (with more current statements) and careful consideration as to what or why and how you want to value it.
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The Law of Chastity | Mormon Beliefs

The teaching to be chaste includes abstaining from pornography and masturbation, lewd talk, vulgar jokes, and having reverence for sex.

Saguaro- Yeah, the wording of that wasn't the greatest. Makes it sound like we are supposed to abstain from.. having a reverence for sex (when everything in the middle is cut out). It's supposed to be that we ARE supposed to have reverence for sex. That is a good thing. To not have reverence for sex would lead to lewd talk, vulgar jokes, and the like. However, that is the official church stance on chastity. Others have already posted the quotes from For The Strength of Youth, but that is one "official source" on the matter, and it addresses that we are supposed to be chaste in our thoughts and actions.

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I have always said, "sex is a normal and natural part of life". Sex is the natural drive of life. It is the force of procreation, that I believe God himself used to create us (not literally in physical sex... but the drive we feel for sex is close to Gods drive as we may feel). Its a natural part of our eternal existence, its a divine gift and all we need to do is give it its divine place in our heart and we will do what is right with that drive. Some of this is teaching of Kabballah but it makes sense to me in that context. According to the Kabballah, heaven is the male and the physical world we live in is the feminine (masculine on top of feminine). When the two become one, we will have a new Earth and a new Heaven.

More Kabballah:

All things are thought in the masculine before becoming and created in the feminine. A potent male will create in the female (all existence was a masculine drive in the feminine... the female forming all creation we see in the physical world). Can we handle the power of creation? Answered by how you handle your sex drive. The two (male and feminine) becomes one flesh (and incomplete as the rib taken from Adam, make the man incomplete without the female... complete only when they become one). Also for physical creation is said "as above, so below". Sex (and the drive) is a vital example of procreative power and is meant for mankind to learn how to control.

The sex drive is a desire that must be controlled to make the attainment of heaven the highest desire (above in the masculine that will result in becoming one... the below feminine merging with the above masculine... its all our desire). If we are of God we will control our desire, but just as an animal is not in control of the desire and does naturally only to procreate in the feminine (below with no thought of the above masculine) and so is not fit for the merging with deity above. We must raise our desire to the above heaven.

Edited by bnaur
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  • 11 months later...

I know this is an old thread. Since I just found this thread I would like to add something to the conversation:

Masturbation is against the law of chastity. But so is lying. Both are topics that are asked about in an interview for a temple recommend.

How many times a day do you lie? And I mean all the lies not only the big ones. If we count all the instances when we don't speak the truth we probably lie dozens or even more times a day. Use the next week to count every single time you don't speak the whole truth. Or better do not - you might be shocked. I try to be honest and tell the truth. But nevertheless I lie way too often. Mostly it's more my subconsciousness trying to avoid an awkward situation or to be nicer and not to offend anybody. Good intentions for sure. But still it's not the truth.

So we try to avoid masturbation because it's against the law of chastity. And that's good and right. But most of us won't hesitate a second to tell the bishop and stake president that they are honest with other people when asked so in the temple interview.

So don't get me wrong: I do believe masturbation is against the will of God and should therefor be avoided. But so is lying. I just wanted to put both sins into perspective.

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Masturbation is against the law of chastity. But so is lying.

Lying is against the law of chastity? I must confess that's a new idea for me. Is this one of your own connections, or is it something from a conference talk or manual I missed?

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I'm doing a little research here, and I did a Google search for Elder Packer and the words "little factory." All I've been able to find are references to it on various blogs and websites. They all seem to reference October 2, 1976 as the date he gave the talk, during the Priesthood session of General Conference. However, according to the Church archives, Elder Packer didn't speak during that Conference at all: October 1976 General Conference Sessions

He spoke in the 1976 conference, and gave that talk, later turned into a pamphlet. It is not on the church's website and the only place you can actually link to the talk are from what some consider to be anti websites.

To me that seems a little 1984, but you can draw your own conclusions.

To the OP, yes that question has been asked in youth interviews by various bishops and stake. We gave a letter to our bishop indicating that if anything of the sort was asked during interviews with the youth in our family it would immediately be reported to CPS.

-RM

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