Religious views on masturbation
Among the world's religions, views on masturbation vary widely. Some religions view it as a spiritually detrimental practice, some see it as not spiritually detrimental and others take a situational view. Among these latter religions, some view masturbation as allowable if used as a means towards sexual self-control, or as part of healthy self-exploration, but disallow it if it is done with wrong motives or as an addiction.
- Wikipedia article: Religious views on masturbation
masturbation and condemnation thereof, but the sexual act described by this story is coitus interruptus, not masturbation. There is no explicit claim in the Bible that masturbation would be sinful, however a ritual defilement is described in Leviticus.
Traditional Jewish interpretation of the Tanakh
Maimonides stated that the Tanakh does not explicitly prohibit masturbation. On the matter of masturbation, the biblical story of Onan is traditionally interpreted by Jews to be about the emitting sperm outside of vagina and condemnation thereof, applying this story to masturbation, although the Tanakh does not explicitly state that Onan was masturbating. By virtue of Onan, traditional Judaism condemns male masturbation
Traditional Christian interpretation of the Bible
On the matter of masturbation, the biblical story of Onan was traditionally interpreted by Christians to be about the sin of masturbation and condemnation thereof, since it was a constant of the prescientific mind to consider that the child is contained in the sperm the same way a plant is contained in its seed. Some Catholic apologists have stated that the Church Fathers condemn all artificial birth control. However, the Catholic moral theologian Charles E. Curran stated "the fathers of the Church are practically silent on the simple question of masturbation". Arthur J. Mielke stated James Brundage's view as: "the themes of masturbation and sexual fantasy were unimportant to either pagan or Christian writers until the fourth or fifth centuries" (when the rise of monasticism happened).
Judaism
The prohibition of extracting semen in vain (Hebrew: "יסור הוצ"ת זרע לבטלה) is a chazalic prohibition found in the midrash and Talmud. The prohibition forbids a male from intentional wasteful spilling of his semen.
Taoism
Some teachers and practitioners of Traditional Chinese medicine, Taoist meditative and martial arts say that masturbation can cause a lowered energy level in men. They say that ejaculation in this way reduces "origin qi" from dantian, the energy center located in the lower abdomen. Some maintain that sex with a partner does not do this because the partners replenish each other's qi. Some practitioners therefore say that males should not practice martial arts for at least 48 hours after masturbation while others prescribe up to six months, because the loss of Origin Qi does not allow new qi to be created for this kind of time.
Wicca
Wicca, like other religions, has adherents with a spectrum of views ranging from conservative to liberal. Wicca is generally undogmatic, and nothing in Wiccan philosophy prohibits masturbation. On the contrary, Wiccan ethics, summed up in the Wiccan Rede "An it harm none, do as thou wilt", are interpreted by many as endorsing responsible sexual activity of all varieties. This is reinforced in the Charge of the Goddess, a key piece of Wiccan literature, in which the Goddess says, "all acts of love and pleasure are my rituals".
Zoroastrianism
The Zoroastrian holy book Avesta, with its stress on physical cleanliness, lists voluntary masturbation among the unpardonable sins that one can commit.
- More information is available at [ Wikipedia:Religious_views_on_masturbation ]
A 2016 "Psychology Today" article stated that the more religious people are, the more likely they are to restrict their sexual fantasies, have fewer sex partners, use less pornography and express stronger disapproval of the use of sex toys.
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