Masturbation as Protest Against Rejection

I was reading the sexuality issue of Visions, put out by the Canadian Mental Health Assn BC members.

(See page 22 of http://www.cmha.bc.ca/files/08.pdf)

They said a person should seek help if their means of sexual gratification leads to social isolation.

Specifically, one should seek help if one's behavior "has become a substitute for, rather than part of, a meaningful relationship with another person; that is, the solitary behaviour allows you to avoid intimacy."

Masturbation alone appears to fit this criteria since a typical chronic masturbator usually is socially isolated from potential partner of relational sex.

Consequently, the solitary behavior involved around masturbation allows one to "avoid intimacy."

So, intimacy involves a willing partner? Only in a culture where individualism honored and paraded around is this so.

Methinks Western society stil has hang-ups about masturbation.

I think the fact that it is mainly associated with gay male sexual behavior on the Internet is part of this Western cultural hang-up about masturbation.

Well, I am gonna be anal and in denial about masturbation.

I am not avoiding intimacy; I am trying to be *my type*.

To me masturbation is a protest against hundreds of women suffering "not my type" reaction to me.

Selling Islam to the Infidels

Muslims may succeed to force non-Muslims (or even enlightened Muslims) in not offending their religion by threatening them with assassinations, bombs and bullets, but increasingly they have a harder time to sell Islam as a religion of peace and tolerance. In fact sincere respect is rarely gained through intimidation. -- Omid Paydar

This quote by Paydar is significant, especially to me. I once asked a Muslim fellow if we could become friends, and discuss Islam according to essence of jihad (religious education of unbeliever).

He consulted with his father, who forbade him to do so. My chance at befriending a Muslim was dashed..

I do not know of any religion, other than some Protestant sect of Christianity, that specifically forbids a believer from being with an unbeliever in such a fashion.

Apart from a strange email discussion with a Maltese Catholic who believed that meditation was the gateway to the Devil, most Christians I have talked to soon stopped talking to me when I expressed my personal philosophy on God with respect to Buddhism.

Indeed, intolerance might the root of the problem Muslims face in today's world. I have found on the whole that there are many different schools of thought in Islam, some of which espouse Paydar's description of intolerance.

On the whole, enlightened Muslims who have incorporated the virtue of loving-kindness are more tolerant of non-Muslims than the Muslims who threaten violence to force everyone else in not offending their religion.

However, mass media has been filtering out the tolerance of enlightened Muslims and focusing on the intolerance of radical Muslims to sell the product called "Muslim terrorists".

This kind of anti-Muslim propaganda contrasts with the message that the majority of Muslims are tolerant of the West.

War and Violence Neither Muslim nor Christian

War and violence of any kind is a great disrespect to Allah and God.

Any person who represents a religion whose members preach violence do not know of Allah and God. Any Muslim faith that uses violence to promote their religion dishonors Allah. Any Christian or Jewish faith that uses violence and condones war dishonors God.

Thus any Muslim leader who wishes violent death upon anyone offends Allah. And any Christian political leader who starts a war offends God.

Even Buddhists know better than to promote discord, and always value harmony and peace. Small wonder people are discovering Buddhism.

May all Christians, Jews and Muslims come together in peace.