Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: ut-emx!blais@emx.utexas.edu (Donald Blais) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Tithing; masturbation; politicking Message-ID: Date: 8 Aug 90 07:55:12 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: UTexas Computation Center, Austin, Texas Lines: 15 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article cms@dragon.uucp writes: > Masturbation: You've got me. The whole Bible's full of sex, but I couldn't >find masturbation in any of the condemnations. You'd think it'd be somewhere, Genesis 38:9 describes how Onan shirked his legal responsiblity to provide an heir for his dead brother. Instead of impregnating his brother's wife, he spilled his seed upon the ground. At some point tradition extended Onan's crime to masturbation. The English word "onanism" is sometimes used as a synonym for "masturbation". The Hebrew word for the same is based on the name Onan as well. -- Donald E. Blais Internet: blais@emx.utexas.edu Computation Center BITNET: blais@utaivc University of Texas UUCP: uunet!cs.utexas.edu!ut-emx!blais Austin, TX 78712 Phone: +1-512-471-3241