Christian brainwashing....

[Chris James]

I watched this and started laughing as the premise is so absurd. I remember back in the day when the Catholic Church did its best to convince young impressionable minds that masturbation is a terrible sin. Imagine how many young boys suffered with guilt when they couldn't avoid that most natural of human activities.

And now we have this continuing blather about masturbation for Christian adults. Fortunately Mr. Dawkins has a few timely words for these people and their attempt at brainwashing:

https://youtu.be/bYr48dvZ5As

As an atheist I really think this man has done more to expose the hypocrisy of religion because he only seeks the truth. My favorite line in the video: religious people lie.

[DesDownunder]

I think there is value in liberating minds from religion by disassociating sex, including masturbation, from guilt.

There is absolutely no reason why anyone should feel guilty about a perfectly normal bodily function such as masturbation.

Indeed, I think it should be a celebration if not daily, then at least as the need arises to thwart religious demands to feel guilt about pleasure.

On Professor Dawkins, there is certainly a move afoot amongst the believers to criticize his objections to myth as truth. It is fascinating, if not horrifying, to watch irrational reaction to the scientific method of investigation of life.

[Cole Parker]

I don't understand why the 'cherry picking' argument when discussing the bible can be so easily ignored by those who believe so reverently in the book.

C

[colinian]

I went to Catholic school through the 5th grade, when I was 9 and 10. I escaped St. Mary School and went to Walnut Creek Intermediate School (a middle school, grades 6 through 8). Even though the kids in the fifth grade were probably too young to masturbate, the boys in my class were separated out once a month for a talk by one of the priests about avoiding sin. He introduced us to masturbation (playing with ourselves) and reading porn (nasty magazines and books). Most of us didn't know what he was talking about, but we talked about it in the schoolyard and on the way home. A boy or two in our class who knew what we didn't about sex would start talking to other boys from the class and the word would spread and a day or two later we were all experts. This is how I found out what masturbation was, and what porn was, and what was in the nasty magazines and books.

Thank you, Father Mathias.

Colin

[colinian]

Well, I watched the Dawkins video and it was just like I expected. Then I wrote my post and posted it. I still wanted something to read, so I went back to the Stories and clicked on J.J. Janicki's page — strictly at random, probably because it was near the top of the right-hand column of authors — and there was a story of his I didn't remember, 5 26-11. (Don't as me what the title means, I don't have a clue.) Now, j³ writes stories that make me laugh. His writing style makes me laugh (in a good way). This story made me laugh. But what's most amazing about it is that the subject of the story is the topic of the guy in Dawkins' video. The one at the beginning. Then Dawkins' topic. And in j³'s story. That's a lovely coincidence.

Go read 5 26-11. It's here, it's funny, and the coincidence with the topic of this post was, for me, even funnier.

Colin

[Nigel Gordon]

Please remember it is only the Abrahamic religions that tend to have a hang up about sex. In most none Abrahamic religions sex is seen as a gift from the gods and something to be celebrated. Indeed in some sex is part of the religious rites.

[Merkin]

Well, I watched the Dawkins video and it was just like I expected. Then I wrote my post and posted it. I still wanted something to read, so I went back to the Stories and clicked on J.J. Janicki's page — strictly at random, probably because it was near the top of the right-hand column of authors — and there was a story of his I didn't remember, 5 26-11. (Don't as me what the title means, I don't have a clue.)

Colin

It's the date, Colin. Unless you Catholics have your own system of dating things. Like the Jews. And the Russian Orthodox christians. Or maybe you just make marks on the wall like the fellas in Sing Sing did. For the rest of us, it's perfectly understandable as the date when Theo experiences his big breakthrough. And let me say, as a descendant of a good Unitarian family (from Boston, no less) that I appreciated this wonderful story where no peoples, age groups, faiths, or undertakings were disrespected. Except maybe Texans. But they are probably used to it by now, and would probably feel disrespected if they weren't disrespected. You know what I mean.

[colinian]

I thought it might be a date, but what confused me was the lack of a dash between the 5 and the 26.

Colin

[Cole Parker]

Agreed. He titularly omitted the dash. As the story itself had lots of dash, perhaps he ran out when it came to the title.

C

[Joe]

Well Christian brainwashing certainly worked on me for way too long. I grew up in the wilds of Eastern Nevada. We learned all about sex in the locker room and the pool hall, and about how horribly evil it all was on Sunday. Wouldn't it have been wonderful if Christianity could have seen sex as an integral part of love?

[Cole Parker]

If you're setting up a religion whose main purpose is controlling the masses, what better instrument to use than sex? If they can get people to voluntarily limit their sex lives to what the religion approves of, then they've got them under their thumb.

C

[ChrisR]

Sermons on sexual behavior are essentially like speed limit signs on highways --

kindly placed there by the authorities to remind us we are all scofflaws!

[colinian]

I love being a scofflaw for this reason.

Colin