What do the theists here think about masturbation and porn?

[Bob Kelso]

So you're saying thought crime isn't a staple of Christianity at large? News to me. 

You need to understand what you call "thought crime" actually is. It isn't the feeling of temptation, or a thought that pops into your head. It is when you make the conscious decision to indulge in fantasies of sinful behavior. So to say "even the thought of masturbation is a sin", is wrong.

For example, say you were able to read a person's mind and you found out that this person hated all gay people, wished they'd all die, and spent a lot of time fantasizing about torturing them and burning them to death, and attaining satisfaction from those thoughts. Even if he never actually got up the guts to act on those fantasies and feelings of deep hatred, would knowing all that about him play a role in your perception of his character?

What you call "thought crime" is merely the notion that what is in our hearts and in our thoughts can and do play a role in what type of person we are.

Oh, no, I'm well aware of the differences between passing thoughts and full fledged fantasies. It's also occurred to me that if a person thinks a certain way it's sure to affect their actions. 



Seeing as we're strangers it might help if I told you that I grew up in a Southern Baptist home (with a later influence from Catholicism from another side of the family), and that denomination in particular seems to be unaware of the distinction. I know that my experiences don't make the case for the rest of the world, but for the 20+ years I was a Christian very few people I spoke with took your approach to this issue, and it was an issue I spoke of often because the concept bothered me to no end. A fleeting thought about any sin was just as damning as an imaginative daydream in their eyes, and each was the same as performing the act. 

Matthew 5:28 got thrown around a lot, as did any verses about coveting.