Talk:Masturbation

Why quote the passage from the Arabic Bayán that says, "God forgive you your wet dreams and masturbation..."? I thought that none of the jurisprudence of the Bábi dispensation apply to us unless those confirmed by Bahá'u'lláh. To me, including this quote unfortunately gives an excuse for some Bahá'is to masturbate. This is a serious matter, especially for Bahá'is like myself who have been trying for years to quit. It decreases our determination.

You are right that the Babi jurisprudence is no longer applicable. I'm not sure in this case that what seems to me more a spiritual statement about God forgiving those actions is necessarily a (changeable) social law as opposed to a fundamental spiritual law, but to avoid any ambiguity (and to follow the usual practice of the site of avoiding interpretation), I've moved the quote to its own section on guidance from prior dispensations--leaving it to individuals to determine the extent (if any) of its continuing applicability. I didn't think it gave any excuse, however, as one could not ignore other quotations such as the one from the House calling for struggle, and other statements in the Writings such as the need to be hopeful of God's mercy but not impose upon it. I thought of this quote more in the vein that when people do fail (and the Writings mention it being natural for people to fail, including on the subject of sex), one can be tempted to over-emphasize the subject even further (overemphasis being something to avoid, as per the House statement on the topic). In any case, I think you have raised a good point, and to be safe, I think it should be in its own section about prior dispensations (and there is of course no reason to hide this fact that it was). WikiSysop (talk) 19:00, 24 September 2016 (UTC)