99Percent

The other day I was having breakfast at an IHOP and I noticed a pair of Catholic priests at another table. I thought to myself - poor souls who can't even masturbate without feeling guilty. Then it occured to me, of course they masturbate and probably more regularly than they would admit. They simply confess, ask for God's forgivance, blah blah.

However this can be the exact same reasoning priests do when they commit real wrong acts like pedophilia! Since Catholic priests continually masturbate and then confess they gradually fall in the trap of classifying innocous activities such as masturbation as equally wrong as truly wrong acts like pedophilia, they blur the moral distinction and eventually harm actual people. They still see pedophilia as wrong, but they can recourse to the confession loophole the same way they do when they masturbate.

This is what I find truly frigtening and dangerous about Catholicism.

scigirl

I was having a similar conversation with a girlfriend of mine the other night at dinner.

We reasoned that people who think that any feeling of lust is sinful end up having worse feelings of lust, and thus are more likely to act on them more readily than the rest of us evil sinners. Example - most of us have probably had an illicit fantasy about perhaps a married man, or woman. However, if we are in touch with our sexuality, and have normal and healthy outlets for these fantasies (masturbation, sex with BF, GF, etc) than these fantasies end up being harmless. If we have no outlet, I'm guessing it's possible that the pressure builds up,and the fantasies get worse and worse until something bad has to happen. It explains paradoxes like Jimmy Swaggart going to a hooker, etc.

scigirl

Loren Pechtel

Agreed--it's very dangerous. When you look at morality in absolutes you can't compare various actions--you can't choose the lesser evil so you often end up committing the greater one instead.

In fact, I've come to take any obvious signs of religion as a warning sign that the person is likely not honest.

Eagel4Jesus

If you were raised under the strict rules and no masturbation and no messing around in any form with a BF or GF, then staying that way is not a problem. However, if you are like me, who became a Christian after years of masturbating and a few blowjobs, then it is very hard to live a life without masturbating or messing around of any kind. I always feel guilty anytime I masturbate, even after asking for forgiveness, I do not feel much better unless I never do it again. Unfortunately, I'm sure some Catholic priests have just decided that asking for forgiveness is enough. And therefore they are wrong and probably going to Hell.

Catholics are a denomination that I do not particularly agree with, there are many problems with the Catholic church and it is sad that the majority of Catholic's are not "true Christians" and that the exception is that a Catholic is also a Christian.

The Catholic priests that committed any acts of abuse on another person should never be a minister again. They should be forgiven, yes, but such an act does not come from a small faltering...you almost have to think it out...

Matt

scigirl

I'm sorry you feel that way. Don't you see how messed up that is - to feel guilty for doing absolutely nothing wrong, that isn't hurting anyone?

Religion is weird, man. Glad I don't have to worry about religious "morals" - real-life practical morality is hard enough.

scigirl

Godless Dave

I've met people who were raised that way and believe me it is a problem. Such teachings run contrary to human nature and ignore feelings that come to us naturally.

mecca777

Crikey. So if you crack one off, then pray for forgiveness and feel guilty about it, god rolls his eyes and says "Okey-dokey, try not to do that again until the next time"; but if a Catholic priest rubs the lamp and then prays for forgiveness, he'll "probably go to Hell" because he doesn't feel guilty enough?

I went through the Catholic mincer, and would have been a priest myself one day if I hadn't caught a rare and virulent strain of common sense; I can tell you that men in the Catholic Church - from their first day at seminary* college - are supposed to live life in a constant state of low-level guilt about everything. It's the law.

If god didn't want you to touch it, why did he stuff it full of highly pleasurable nerve endings and suchlike?

* No pun intended.

Eagel4Jesus

Sex is a gift from God. It is supposed to be used according to God's law, which is no sex until marriage (and in the Bible, it does state that a man or woman cannot stop the other from having sex with them in marriage, they belong to each other, so if either one wants some, they have sex, of course, that's my interpretation...)

I'm not saying Catholic's aren't guilty, I know they are. But I think there is a big difference between masturbating and doing something with another person. It takes a lot more to do something with another person than to just masturbate, which just makes me wonder about the priest's that have committed such acts. What I was meaning is that some Catholic priests may not feel guilty in their heart, they might just say so but not truly be guilty, and if not, they may be going to Hell.

A number of my best friends have been raised in the Church (non-denominational if any of you care) and I have never heard of them complaining about that in any way. Both males and females too. Which was what I was basing my statement on.

Matt

Amen-Moses

I blame IHOP, it's something they put in the pancakes.

Amen-Moses

mecca777

So my wife "belongs" to me, and I can fuck her whenever I like regardless of her opinion on the matter; but my own personal cock is off-limits to me? Why the hell do people continue to believe this utter crap? Catholic "loophole" or not, this self-flagellating attitude to hormones and glands would be laughable if it wasn't used to inflict so much misery on people.