I read erotic literature… Is it a sin?

You’re an inquisitive teenager says our elder. Don’t judge your beliefs as right or wrong.

Dear EWC:

Alright, so I’m a Christian. I like to read erotic literature because I am a teenager and though I’ve sworn myself to celibacy, I’m still a teenager. I’m not having sex or penetrating myself. I like to read erotic literature because I find it very interesting. But I don’t know. I’ve looked everywhere. Some say no it’s not a sin to read, or yes it is a sin. Like I said, I’m waiting till marriage and I refuse to pleasure myself. I just really like reading the books; I don’t feel bad after reading them. But should I?

It doesn’t take over my life and the books haven’t made me want to do anything physically or break my promise. I just genuinely like reading them. Do I get aroused? Yeah, but I don’t enact in my feelings and I don’t do anything about it. It just goes away on its own. I mean, I get aroused from doing absolutely nothing like at school or whatever. But I’ve never ever wanted to be physical. Honestly, am I a bad person? Should I feel bad because I don’t, but should I? I know it’s not right but it’s like one of those things where you know you’re not supposed to be doing something, but you don’t feel bad because it’s whatever. I don’t know. It’s not corrupting me, like my dad always told me watching “filth” will make me and my siblings want to do horrible things like bestiality, of course I know that was him just lying cause he does that a lot. But I’d like some advice on this issue. I’d appreciate this.

Salvador replies:

Your philosophical/religious leanings influence what you deem to be right or wrong.
Why do you think reading erotic literature is wrong? In other words, you are making that conclusion based on your religious beliefs. So, my advice is not to say that what you believe is right or wrong, OK? You are having normal conflicts teenagers have. You are at an age when you are exploring things in life. You are curious, inquisitive, rebellious, etc. about many things in life. Sexuality is one of them. That is normal. However, I believe your conflict has to do with how you interpret your religious beliefs. Again, why do you believe it is wrong? You may want to look into that more closely.

All of us are sexual beings. So, all of us have sexual thoughts, desires, and wishes. You may be handling your sexual nature by reading about it. To me, that is normal. Also, I believe you are handling it responsibly. When I was a teenager, I was reading a book on sexuality. The book said, “Why be ashamed of talking about something God was not ashamed of creating?”
I hope this reply helped you and that it works out for the best. You sound like a very mature young lady.

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