 You know, this was going to be a point-by-point takedown of Father Casey Cole's video, Is Masturbation Immortal Sin, but instead of wasting time doing that, I think it would be more prudent and appropriate to help you avoid hell, especially judging by the comments that was left under his video. Lots of lost sheep being led astray. So let's answer the question. Is pornography and or masturbation immortal sin? Well, the answer is simple. It's a sin. Getting down to brass tacks, that could have been his entire video right there, but instead he decides that he wants to teach on moral theology, and unfortunately what he ends up doing is causing a whole lot of confusion, because the fact of the matter is not everybody needs to know that level of moral theology, especially when we're talking about something that's clear cut like pornography and masturbation. Now, if he had someone who he was counseling one-on-one, say in spiritual direction or in confession, then yes it would be appropriate, but to make that sort of a statement out on the internet to hundreds of thousands of people who don't understand context or nuance and who often misappropriate and apply things to themselves that they shouldn't, not only was his actions inappropriate, quite frankly, it's scandalous. Let me explain to you why what he said is so troubling. I've counseled thousands of men helping them overcome pornography and masturbation. I know what works and I know what doesn't work. And generally speaking, those who seek to dive into the complex and vastly deep waters of moral theology in order to determine the culpability of something that they already know is a sin, are doing one of two things, attempting to pacify their conscience by attempting to justify their actions and their disordered passions to make themselves feel better or they're scrupulous and they're just going down a rabbit hole, but ultimately both of those distract from what actually matters and that's pursuing virtue. Why talk about culpability when you know it's a sin and you can choose to do something to combat that sin? The conversation is kind of silly. Watching his video, I was first of all heartbroken for those that are going to be confused and let astray by the complexity of what he's trying to explain. It reminded me of all the conversations I've had of that same caliber, people who were focused on what didn't matter and wasn't helping them overcome their problems, the things that they were dealing with, whether it was pornography or masturbation or something similar. So that was at the front of my mind, but secondly, I was really confused about what the point of the video was. I felt as if I was observing somebody who was put in charge of a flock of sheep and instead of closing the gate at night so they didn't get taken by wolves, this person left it open because, well, nuance. There's some animals that are going to hurt you and some animals that won't hurt you. It just depends on what they're feeling that one day, but do your best and they'll be okay. That seems irresponsible to me and I can't help but shudder at the conversation that may come in the future if the person who put him in charge of the sheep in the first place calls him to task and says, why are my sheep missing? Why did you let the wolves take them away? Let me be explicitly clear here. The question is masturbation and pornography a mortal sin? That's the wrong question to ask. We know that it's a sin and trying to dive into the details of culpability and ignorance is like arguing about whether you're a small thorn or a large thorn on the crown of thorns that pierced the skull of Christ. It's like saying, well, I may not have pierced his skin, but I scratched it. Well, you still drew blood. So trying to be as fair as possible, I thought to myself, well, maybe he's attempting to help the scrupulous, but then I remembered what I already mentioned, all those conversations that I've had with hundreds of men, thousands of men who some of them were scrupulous. It's not the majority. It's the minority. And that this kind of thinking caused them more problems. It didn't help them overcome anything. In fact, it hindered their progress. And this isn't new. I mean, the saints and the doctors of the church have talked about this. St. Maximilian Colby specifically said, whenever you feel guilty, even if it's because you have consciously committed a sin, something you may have kept doing many, many times, never let the devil deceive you by allowing him to discourage you. Whenever you feel guilty, offer all of your guilt to the Immaculata without analyzing it or examining it as something that belongs to her. In fact, the only reason the Immaculate permits us to fall is to cure us from our self-conceit from pride, to make us humble, and thus make us docile to the divine graces. The devil instead tries to inject in us discouragement and internal depression in those circumstances, which is, in fact, nothing else than our pride surfacing again. And as we know how the devil tempts us, of course he wants us focused on these little details and whether or not we may or may not be culpable, and not on the fact that we've committed a sin, and we've harmed ourselves, we've harmed Christ in some way, and we've probably harmed those around us. Not to mention the next thing that culpability doesn't solve, which is deeply important. It's tough to hear, but it's deeply important to talk about. Now, I want to put a nail in the coffin of this culpability, ignorance, argument, once and for all. And I want you to keep something also in mind. Truth without love is brutality. But love without truth is mere sentimentality. And what that means is, if I truly am being charitable, if I desire the actual good of the other person, I need to tell them the truth. I need to do it charitably as charitably as possible. But that means that hard truths need to be had. And I'm about to give some hard truths that not everybody likes here, but that need to be discussed. There are plenty of people who went and played with Ouija boards having no full understanding of what they were doing, no knowledge that what they were dealing with was grave, and no intent on becoming possessed. And yet, they became possessed. Culpability, ignorance doesn't matter in these cases. The same thing goes in a lot of ways with pornography. We know that much of pornography out there today is actually cursed. And even the ones that are not cursed are still an open doorway to bringing the demonic into your home, affecting you and your family. So, who really cares about culpability when we should be caring about closing that door entirely and making sure nothing negative comes through it? And the final thing that culpability and ignorance has no effect on? It doesn't change that much of the porn that you watch. You're watching someone get raped. It doesn't change that as you view pornography, you're helping fuel an industry of sex trafficking, sacrificing their victims to the flames of disordered passions and desires. Culpability and ignorance don't change that. Sin is sin. So stop asking whether or not you're culpable and start focusing on not sinning. And to that point, I provided you with as many resources as I find trustworthy that I know are more than enough to help you start breaking free. You can find them in the description, my website, Covenant Eyes, Integrity Restored, different people that I've worked with in the past that are authentic Orthodox Catholics set on helping people break free. Not screwing around with the conversation of culpability, but helping you pursue virtue in what really matters. Keep in the fight. Keep your eyes on the prize. Do not allow yourself to become distracted. That's what the enemy wants. Discussions about culpability and invincible ignorance. Instead, focus on Christ. He will help you. Ask our lady. She will help you. All the angels and saints are cheering for you. Keep fighting. Keep moving forward. God bless.