- joshc on Masturbation Frequency Among Members: “interesting article and comments. how priesthood leaders choose to counsel with members on this issue is up to them, but the issue of masturbation is something that the church has published specific guidance on in recent years. – the current church handbook uses the term ‘masturbation’ in section 32.6.4.1 – the church publication “Missionary Standards for Disciples of Jesus Christ” (2019) uses the term ‘masturbation’ – the question of pornography use has been standardized in pre-mission interviews (2017) but does not specifically use the term ‘masturbation’. also, the church never taught specifically that masturbation caused homosexuality, but even as late as 1992 they did note and were concerned with the correlation between masturbation, pornography use and homosexuality. for more data see: https://mormonr.org/qnas/y4j20/masturbation” Mar 21, 07:15
- on Masturbation Frequency Among Members: “There are many other factors that make this a “gray area” in which bishops and stake presidents should be fearful of entering. Sexuality is influenced by genetics, age, abuse of various types, hormone levels, psychological and emotional factors of many types, etc. It is simply unreasonable and unwise to expect untrained clergy to navigate through this issue. Count me as one who would advocate against placing such a burden on both interviewers and interviewees. I know of several cases in which youth were harmed by aggressive tactics employed by bishops in my area at the express instruction of their stake presidents. Some of these kids will never come back.” Mar 21, 03:18
- on Masturbation Frequency Among Members: “Stephen, Were you responding to me? I never said or suggested it was not a sin, was 100% okay, or that it is the same as washing your hands or clipping your fingernails.” Mar 20, 22:49
- on Masturbation Frequency Among Members: “I guess I’d quibble with the idea that the temple recommend questions are all that should be asked *in all circumstances*. Yes, that is all that should be asked for temple recommends, but with general consulting with a bishop, again especially when dealing with pornography, he’s not necessarily limited to those points. Temple recommend interviews do ask about the law of chastity which, again, a straightforward read of the general authority midrash would suggest includes masturbation. So not having it as a temple recommend question does not ipso facto mean it is not considered a sin. However, I do suspect that we agree in the spirit of things: it’s probably in the Church’s interest to not start delving too much into fine-grained particulars about law of chastity outside the obvious ones like adultery, fornication, and habitual, long-term pornography use. How many dirty thoughts before you’re not temple recommend worthy? How long since you masturbated? How many sex scenes that you watched a little too long before fast forwarding? And Anon and Charles give another good example of a gray area. Given that four out of ten LDS men admit to having masturbated in the past month, it would require a Torquemada type inquisition to try to root it out in wards if we were to be proactive about it, probably burning through all the Church’s personal capital with people in the process. So yes, I agree that this shouldn’t be something proactively hunted down (and I assume the Church’s council on this is stemming from some experiences with overzealous local leaders), but at the same time it does not necessarily follow that it is 100% okay and that masturbation is the same as washing your hands or clipping your fingernails; it’s a continuum.” Mar 20, 21:22
- on Masturbation Frequency Among Members: “Anon brings up a good point. There are some things that are clearly wet dreams, and some things that are clearly masturbation. But what about the gray areas? What if someone is having a dream, and then while they’re kind of awake but not totally, they do the act, even though they wouldn’t do it in the middle of the day? Does that count? I suppose that might be one reason for the Church to say less about this topic; they don’t want people to feel shame for things they do when they’re not totally conscious. In 2014 or 2015, I had a YSA bishop ask me in tithing settlement, “How is the battle going against pornography and masturbation?” I assume he asked the question of everyone, because there was no reason for him to ask me that specifically. I found it an odd, and possibly inappropriate, question to ask unprompted, especially in a routine tithing settlement. (He was otherwise a great, compassionate, wise bishop. I just thought this one time it was a questionable thing to do.)” Mar 20, 18:16
- on Masturbation Frequency Among Members: “Stephen C, But you have seen the brethren specify exactly what questions should be asked in temple recommend interviews and in prospective missionary interviews, with instructions not to deviate from the specified questions. “Do you masturbate?” is not on the list of specified questions. And, you are aware that our handbook says masturbation is not a reason for church discipline. So, that’s why I wrote that the question should not be asked, and that there is no reason to ask the question. I sustain the brethren in specifying the exact questions and instructions not to deviate. But I wonder if some bishops and stake presidents still ask the question. Interviews, especially youth interviews, should never turn into interrogations. I am okay with the principle of teaching members correct principles and letting them govern themselves. I don’t think the brethren want to insert the church into private matters, and I sustain that, too. I know some other members will disagree with me.” Mar 20, 18:05
- on Masturbation Frequency Among Members: “Rec911: I would not be surprised if there’s been an uptick in women having porn issues. DaveW: That’s a good point, I’ve wondered that myself. Since most things change through cohort replacement, basically once the generation that that affected is gone I imagine. Anon: If I recall correctly even the little factories pamphlet made a distinction with wet dreams, so sure, maybe there are some people somewhere that don’t see it as different, but the published material has been pretty clear on. ji: I haven’t seen any materials saying they shouldn’t ask the question, but yes, it would probably be inadvisable to make that a standard question or to start ferreting out the masturbators, but in the context of somebody having, say, a porn addiction it might be relevant. RLS: Bingo, the Church doesn’t really use the word “masturbate anymore, but it refers to it in other terms.” Mar 20, 16:20
- on Masturbation Frequency Among Members: “@adano: Yes, but I’m not sure which way the bias goes! Secular society, or at least a lot of it, considers masturbation to be normal and healthy and frowns upon not doing it. So whether people are inclined to underreport or overreport may depend on which audience they’re thinking about at the time of the interview. @DaveW: I’ve puzzled over that too, and you’ve got a good list of examples. I don’t think this one fits, though. For whatever reason, the Church seems to have developed an aversion to the word masturbation. But it’s pretty clearly covered by this passage from For the Strength of Youth: “In your choices about what you do, look at, read, listen to, think about, post, or text, avoid anything that purposely arouses lustful emotions in others or yourself.”” Mar 20, 15:43
- on Masturbation Frequency Among Members: “Well, bishops and stake presidents are not supposed to ask that question anymore, and there really is no need to ask that question at all, but I wonder if some of them still do.” Mar 20, 14:45
- on Masturbation Frequency Among Members: “A question on that topic is ripe for social desirability bias, meaning respondents not fully admitting to behaviors they perceive as socially frowned upon. This underreporting would be strong among subsets of respondents who have a stronger sense that the behavior is frowned upon–in this case, LDS respondents. I don’t disagree with the broader point that there are definitely people who aren’t doing it–but this survey won’t necessarily capture that rate accurately.” Mar 20, 13:33
