Controversy arose late March after Tartan Insights Editor Brian Erskine pointed out the disagreement between homosexuality and premaritial sex and the Christian faith. While many argued the article's content, it must be noted that the two occurrences that Erskine addressed are not the only causes of sexual irresponsibility that take place in our perverted world.

Christians and non-Christians alike have argued that the process of abortion (except in a few cases) is a horrendous act because it is the murder of the unborn. Many, including myself, have compared the infanticide to the Holocaust because of the sheer numbers of lives taken by their captors.

However, there is a greater holocaust occurring in our world that happens on a large scale in every nation and in every hour. What is this destructive process that I speak of? Masturbation.

Do not take me for a fool - this process more than likely occurs at least twenty times (probably more but I will err on the side of hope) per hour on a college campus when classes are in session and yes, I know that what I am saying covers a large blanket of people not only at our university and the collegiate community, but society as a whole.

Every time a person masturbates, he or she terminates potential life. Sure, it is possible that the expelled bodily fluids might not have produced a child if it was involved in a proper sexual encounter between a man and a woman but unless the odds are 0.00% that those fluids would be unsuccessful, that small (or potentially large) percentage cannot be ignored.

In some cases, masturbation may be more than just the execution of potential life. 1 Peter 2:11 tells us, "Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul" and 2 Timothy 2:22 adds, "Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart." Masturbation is a form of sexual coveting, a dangerous combination for any Christian (and non-Christians as well!) to tangle themselves with. Allow me to cite the 10th Commandment, "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

If the person committing this act is not married to whom he or she is pleasuring himself or herself to, that person is not only terminating the unborn but also committing an adulterous act at the same time. Christ addressed this in Matthew 5:28 when he said, "But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." (POINT OF NOTE: some, like myself, argue that this passage can apply to both men and women although it specifically calls out males.)

Couple the termination of potential life with the implications of adultery and you have a pretty sinful act, here. And it is occurring every day, dear readers. Like animals, our world has become more and more interested in pleasuring oneself in whatever way he or she desires with little or no regard for whether or not that pleasuring is moral or not. 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 charges that we should make the right decisions regarding sexual morality when it says, "For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God."

Too much does our society preach from the podium of Hollywood, the media and the education system that we should give into our desires no matter what people say about them. This cannot and should not occur in a moral society. We must ask ourselves what our actions lead to and if they work towards our faith and glorification of the Lord. If they do not, there is a problem with those actions, dear readers.

I leave you with Romans 14:23, "But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin" and the reminder that there is eternal life in Jesus Christ if we accept Him as our Lord and Savior and turn from the vile desires and short, fleeting temptations that this world offers us, we will not only attain eternal life but treasures that this world can never offer - "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." (Matthew 13:44).