The Christian point of view is that thinking about a girl (or guy) like that (ie. undressing her in your thoughts etc) is just as bad as having pre marital sex. Its not so much the act of masturbation but the thoughts behind it.

On the other side, if you don't care about pre marital sex or what the bible says then its probably quite likely you'll think the above is a load of bollocks

Just to point out, there is a definite difference between admiring someones beauty and thinking a little more deeply about what you'd like to do to them

Oh I do understand that, I'm happily atheist-like. =D No pope or bearded guy in the sky will tell me what to do.

[QUOTE=Dj Yoshi]The only thing that keeps anyone from watching porn are: 1) Guilt 2) Religion or 3) Stupid Parents[/QUOTE]

Or.. Y'know, simply not getting turned on by it.

Is there a difference between jacking off to a picture of them, and jacking off to a photoshopped fake porn picture of them?

Depends, are they ugly?

You guys ruined this thread.

Why do Christians villify thoughts by comparing them to actions? Why would fantasizing about a person be like having sex with them? This notion lacks logic. Sex has consequences. Thoughts don't.

Perhaps the Christian god will reprimand us based on our unpure thoughts. Perhaps there are consequences to thoughts. Will the Christian god be able to justify condemning us for our thoughts to the same degree he will punish equivalent actions? I say he will not be able to justify it, and here's why.

Actions have consequences. If I say an unkind word to someone, she could be down for weeks because of it. However, if I merely think unkind thoughts about her, she will live on undisturbed. In fact, she'll go on to live the exact same even if I think good thoughts about her and never act on those thoughts. I have not affected anything in any way by my thoughts, and thus, I have not done anything wrong.

Thought police. I will never understand them. To me, no thought is forbidden. No notion should be left unexplored. If I daydream about necrophilia, what's it to you? If I undressed some girl last year in my mind, what's it to the Christian god? Why should Christianity resort to thought-policing when thought-policing changes absolutely nothing? Thought-policing certainly does no good. In fact, thought-policing does evil. I'll explain.

If someone is brainwashed into believing certain thoughts are wrong to have, then they begin to feel guilty for them. I know. I've been there. But the problem is, everyone who's ever lived has had these allegedly unpure thoughts. Everyone. Why? Because it's natural. Now you see, through thought-policing, Christianity has made its adherents guilty about something that is quite natural (sound familiar, homosexuals?).

If I masturbate with a blank mind, am I sinning less than if I masturbate to the mental image of an erotic, nude woman? If so, then why? Why is not my mind my own?

Is there a difference? Please tell me how entertaining a mental image in my mind changes a single thing.

I watch porn and masturbate all the time, my girlfriend except this... she does the same thing.

I believe it's not so much thinking about it as it is wishing or hoping for it. IE: Wishing to have pre-marital sex. Thinking and wishing for something are different thigns.

So...wishing for sex is the same thing as having sex?

Would that it were, would that it were...

In the eyes of CHristianity, a sin is a sin. So technically (by Christian standards)... yes.

Oh, please. This logic says telling a fib is of the same severity as the holocaust.

Wrong.

A sin is NOT a sin. Sin has different levels of severity (obviously).

Look, all the bull**** (I've been told it for 9 years. I think I can call it that.) at my school says a sin is a sin. Only us evil satanic heathenistic Catholics (\m/) discriminate in sins with Venial and Mortal sins or whatever they're called. I hate my school, I was just telling you what I've been taught (although I don't believe 85% of it). I'd much prefer it Catholic and be told the same stuff at church and school.

Regarding gods and why your thoughts matter, I refer you to Warhammer 40k.

[quote=The Internet]The Chaos Gods dwell in the Warp...
"The warp is an alternate universe composed entirely of psychic energy generated by the thoughts, emotions and intellectual activity of living beings. The warp, to a much lesser extent, is also influenced by plants and animals. It is sometimes known as the Sea of Souls because of its spiritual reflection of life, but it is also known as the Realm of Chaos." (From Realm of Chaos: The Lost and the Damned.)

The negative thoughts of sentient creatures create disturbances and storms in the warp. Positive thoughts can act like oil on a stormy ocean, and get rid of warp storms. The 'Chaos Gods' are concentrations of the negative thoughts, and are pretty powerful warp storms. The 'Chaos Gods' differ from most warp storms in that they are so big and powerful they become self-aware. However, peaceful areas can also become self-aware.
Khorne, Tzeentch, Slaanesh and Nurgle were all created by the bad vibes of intelligent creatures coming together. Mankind was fairly important in the creation of Khorne, Tzeentch and Nurgle- their negative energies helped tip the balance that gave the mega-storms self-awareness. The creation of those 3 was fairly gradual.

"...the souls of men were troubled, obsessive, guilt ridden, or imperfect. These negative energies congregated together in the warp, drawn to each other by mutual attraction, until they formed troublesome spots of disharmony, rather like a tumour in an animal. These disharmonious forces eventually became the Chaos Powers..." (From Realm of Chaos: The Lost and the Damned.)[/quote]

Of course it's fiction, as far as we know...