Religion?

I don't see our religion having an impact on our private activities, such as chastity or other kink. What happens within our bedroom and marriage is our business not the church's. I was raised Lutheran but am now Catholic and very involved with my church.

 

I was raised Lutheran. Attended a Methodist church for a while. Seem to have an on again/off again relationship with my religion. I do believe in a higher power. I believe there is an afterlife though I doubt it’s anything like what common belief is. And I don’t believe that the higher power has any involvement in our day to day lives.

 

Christian. Raised Lutheran.

Depending on how it's done, chastity may very well be the one kink that God approves of! (I'm still wrestling with that one, though.) That is, a monogamous relationship where you honor your wife by embracing her rate of desire. If she prefers you keep your hands off of your penis.....

 

I've been thinking about the Stoic philosophers lately in the context of chastity. If one is locked, one should embrace that fate. And, as a Stoic exercise, voluntary locking to teach yourself that you really don't need to come makes sense. Sort of like Cato the Younger wearing shabby clothes and eating bad food for a couple of weeks now and then.

 

Or Monks and Priests practicing celibacy.

I tend to agree with Oscar, I too was raised Methodist,

And now a personal opinion, no disrespect for others beliefs, my own mother would faint!:
As I grew older and researched religion, historically it's been about control and money. Even the term "Pagan", came about as a disparaging term for the peasants too poor to be in the Catholic church. They worshiped/revered nature, not the devil as often depicted. And what is nature, but a beautiful part of "Creation".
Locked or unlocked, I don't believe the "Divine" is interested and it's none of the Church's business!

 

I learned recently that the idea that there is a prohibition against masturbation in Christianity is pure horse crap.

 

atheist

 

I do believe in God and Jesus, but not in churches nor religions...

 

Raised Southern Baptist

I believe in God and that Christ was his son on Earth. I also believe that you are not going to find a science lesson in the Bible.

 

I do know what you mean here, but your actual words make no sense. Clearly, you must believe in churches and religions, since they are entities which confront us every day. They exist. We see them. Meanwhile God and Jesus present ni physical evidence if their existence.

I think you are calling for a higher sense of spirituality than our current religious organizations provide. I can understand where you're coming from.

 

I am R C but these days more catholic than Roman catholic.

 

Atheist

 

I think the question as phrased is somewhat irrelevant. The replies so far seem to suggest that whatever religion you follow (or none) makes no difference. The real question should be, how does your sense of morality influence your sexual proclivities, if at all. Many people would assume that it's the same thing, but in fact, morality is a very different thing than religious belief. I'm of the opinion that faith only attempts to add a layer of guilt over whatever you do. As an atheist, I dispense with that feeling of guilt, while I do admit to enjoying things that don't stray too far from my internal moral compass.

 

While I know Billus to be an EXCELLENT member and a VERY reasonable and intelligent guy, I must ask the question: What would become of a world where people merely acted according to their own "internal moral compass"?

Please note, the original poster chose to avoid a religious discussion. I am not starting one. I am asking a simple question. What would happen in a world if instead of acting towards a communal "moral compass" (law and order, elected governments, religions, etc.) we all simply chose to act according to our personal one?

My answer is that we are seeing the results right now. Increased violence in Europe and the United States.

Would murder be Ok as long as it suited my own "internal moral compass"? I doubt any serious member here would agree. Thus, there has to be another standard than simply saying the essential equal to "to each his own".

 

I am atheist and anti religious. I don’t go out of my way to discuss my beliefs with anyone but I will certainly hold my ground if it’s put before me. I don’t affiliate myself with any atheist groups because most are far too leftist for my taste.

 

Respecting the OP's wish to avoid a conflict, I won't discuss any implications @jasonpatalonis may raise about my initial post. But I'm happy to exchange views with him in private if he prefers.

 

Billus confirms my belief: He is a wise man. He is correct and we shall discuss privately.

 

I was raised Methodist and am now non-denominational. But I'm still Christian and attend church regularly. I feel that since I'm monogamous to my Mistress, God doesn't object to what we do with each other.

As far as being caged, to me it simply feels right, and I cannot imagine God judging me for that.

 

I go to church. .. probably not enough... Lol.. .dont care if others do or dont. . Alot of people died so i could believe in whatever i want in this country. I am proud to be american. .but i love most countries and most people.. .one thing all of should believe in is karma.. i have seen both sides of karma and have learned many lessons from it.

 

I think for everyone, there will come a time when they will reach out to god and seek something. When all seems hopeless, when your usual narrative just isn't cutting it, apart from the very few, the words 'please god' will pass your lips. Take it from a witness who has seen this in too many bad times. Final hope can bring incredible energy, may be it was there all the time, but personal agendas kind of got in the way. One life, no fear!

 

I tend to think that our internal moral compasses are greatly influenced by religion. God says it's wrong to steal, man says it's wrong to steal; the only difference is the consequences of stealing. With God the consequences tend to be longer lasting.

As for guilt, does one feel guilty after doing something "wrong" because of religion or because they have a strong moral compass?

 

We have an innate sense of right and wrong based on the human emotion of empathy. Through empathy, I have a good idea of knowing what it feels like to be stolen from, deceived, injured, etc.

All the major religions fail when it comes to morality as they all justified the most evil thing a human can do to another which is slavery. Luckily, innate morality eventually overcame the politically expedient religions and PEOPLE stood against the established powers and said, “this is wrong”.

I find it inconceivable that a benevolent creator communicated with humans with any sort of “rules to live by”, that the first thing wouldn’t be, “don’t enslave thy fellow man”.