You know how it says in the bible, it is better to pluck your own eye out and go to heaven.. [ rooting from sexual sin]
isn't sexual immorality a mental thing?
lets pretend your a average young guy.. and you suddenly become blind. you've seen most of the world through the internet and books.. and you know what beautiful women look like... and also masturbated to them..
your still thinking lustfully of those women.. so shouldn't you shoot your brains out?
its better to go to heaven without a brain than not go at all?

you see, i'd like to say im a devout christian.. im not a perfect christian.. but i do believe in God and that Jesus Christ is his son, and he is Son of Man and also God.
but i think outside the box.. lol

This post was edited by youro on Jun 7 2011 11:57pm

No. It's not a 'Mental Thing'...

Immorality is very real and does not only hinder itself on the lessons taught in the Bible.

There's no such thing as a perfect Christian.

It is a mental thing when you are thinking of a woman and having sexual thoughts about her.
It's still lust, committing adultery with your brain.
Btw still using the blind man example.. since he can't see beautiful woman.. he visualizes them mentally.

This post was edited by youro on Jun 8 2011 06:56am

Since the Bible doesn't say "if you have lustful thoughts, kill yourself", or anything even remotely close to that, the answer is obviously no.

On a side note, when you see drugs, alcohol, etc, are you driven by an uncontrollable urge to partake of those things? The answer depends on if you're addicted to those things or not, just the same as about lust. Additionally, I would point out that the common sense answer would be to get rid of the temptation whenever possible, in the form of stop looking at sites where there are lots of images of people, or magazines, or television. An alcoholic doesn't keep going to the bar to overcome their addiction, they try and avoid it until they can control it. To claim that lust is uncontrollable is untrue. It may feel like it is, but any addict of any thing will tell you the same thing.

The problem here is that you can't just stop looking at these images because these images are put in just about anything and everything. When something is advertised on television or on the side of a bus, the common theme is to put a woman in a bikini on the front cover. I been on sites that has advertising at the side where they have a beautiful woman with you know what sticking out advertising a game but when you go further you find out that she had absolutely nothing to do with the game at all.

As a matter of fact it was a strategy game. What I am trying to say is that you can't avoid it because it is all around you. It is now you need to learn to be self-controlling and not let these images suck you into temptation.

You can avoid it, and you can control it. You can disable image loading, and block advertisements. You can use other things to view internet articles (consolidated news sites that pull feeds, for instance), or just read reuters or the AP. You can focus on traffic when driving to your location, not on billboards or advertisements. You can turn off the television, and only watch content specifically chosen (netflix, etc). If you commute or someone else is driving, you can read a book during that time.

During the 80s, cigarette ads were everywhere as well, but eventually we realized the danger in promoting such behavior, and it has been severely restricted on all fronts. Obviously that's not a complete apples to apples comparison, but with regards to marketing, it's pretty similar in many regards. If anything, I would say that all this is highly exploitive of the population at large. Fish in a barrel, as it were.

I am not stating that it is easy, because you're right, it is all over the place, and it can be hard to avoid, but if you make a conscious effort to do so, it's not as hard as it first seems. The issue is that most people don't consider it a problem, which is why it is everywhere. If you don't have a problem with it, and don't see it as an issue, then of course there is no chance of change within yourself. Once you approach the issue from that of it is an addiction, then you can start being pro-active towards controlling it, if that is your goal or desire.

To state that it is unavoidable, uncontrollable, and pervasive in everyone is simply untrue. I would fall back on the blind argument, because they are clearly not tempted in the same lustful way, as they have no sight to be tempted with. It just so happens that our society and culture is obsessed with sex. You can tell not only from what you see around you, but by the products marketed by the medical/pharmaceutical companies (viagra, etc). It's a huge money driven business, just like the saying goes: "Sex sells!" It's simply exploitation both of those directly involved (models), and those it's being directed towards.

I agree with this to an extent, but I would expand on it further to state that what do you do when you happen across something particularly gross or that you don't want to see? You look away! Society has just done a pervasive job in trying to convince everyone that it is okay, and that you don't need to look away. We are desensitized to it, much like many other things (violence, gross images, etc).

The interesting thing is that this has always been an issue, regardless of how much or little clothing people wear (our imaginations are pretty incredible). I still contend that it is not completely out of your control, the same as many other forms of addiction. Likely it will be a life-long struggle for many people, but each of us has a thorn (or thorns) to contend with throughout our entire lives, but according to scripture, it is the struggle and journey that is important, not necessarily your success in completely (without effort) overcoming something.