Church ruling on former 'beastly sin' shows
flexibility, mercy
I want to discuss a sensitive topic today, which has been a
controversial subject in the Christian church for centuries: onanism. Onanism is often on the minds of middle-aged people in the
United States. This is particularly true of middle-aged church
people who are desperately trying to control the sexual pleasure
of young people. We must be candid about this practice of onanism, described
in the Bible as the spilling of (human) seed upon the ground. In frank terms, we are talking about masturbation, and even
though some innocent people in our readership may not know what
masturbation means, I refuse to attempt an explanation. Since the beginning of the Christian church, people have been
organized against onanism. The opposition was so dedicated to
wiping it out that some people told lies to scare people. For
instance, some clerics and their followers said that masturbation
would cause them to go blind or hair to grow on the palms of their
hands. You may have guessed those scare tactics have not worked. Oh,
there are many men and women who have experienced guilt over onanism,
but during the years many absolutions have wiped out any remorse.
And the practice, according to research, continues. I am not pointing any fingers. There are many who are guilty
and few who are innocent. We are not interested in names. Our
interest merely is in the changing attitude of the church toward
the "beastly sin" of masturbation. Yes, the Catholic Church has issued a new catechism and responsible
scholars have isolated a short excerpt about Onan's sin. The Rev.
Terence Phipps, a lecturer in moral theology at Allen Hall, a
leading seminary in London, said, "Masturbation has always
been regarded as a grave matter." That attitude led many Catholics to regard masturbation as
a mortal sin, one that would send a person to hell for sure. But
Phipps told the London Times the revised catechism makes it clear
onanism need not be sinful. This is shocking news, because in
the Old Testament, a man named Onan obeys God in all things except
that he spills his seed upon the ground. In the next instant,
Onan is struck down and slain by God (Genesis 38). My guess is that God was most concerned about Onan's selfishness
and the avoidance of any responsibility with his partner. By avoiding
responsibility, no children were being produced. That was a big
deal, because populating the neighborhood was a challenge at the
time. Catholicism's latest ruling, however, should help erase some
confusion on the topic. When faced with a case of masturbation,
clergy can assure parents that their young people are simply immature
and have needs that can't be satisfied any other way - at the
moment. Second, it will free clergy to make more merciful rulings in
these cases. In the past, clergy have been resolute in finding
each young person guilty of sin. As they looked out over their
adolescent flock, they made mass judgments about their nocturnal
activities. Now they can view their flock as being free of major
sin and only partially responsible for their onanism. Third, this ruling will liberate generations of older people
who have wondered about the sins of their past and have pleaded
with God to forget those moments of weakness. Alas, there are
people still alive (I am not joking about this) who wonder if
they will not be able to enter heaven because of onanism decades
ago. Now clergy can tell them, without hesitation, to forget past
sins and to leave their disposition in heaven to the mercy of
God. This is the wonder of religion: that it is firm enough to give
us a foundation for our lives and flexible enough to give us mercy
when it is needed. In this case, mercy abounds and most of us
are grateful.
Clark D. Morphew
Posted For April 24, 1999