Threading Knuckle Babies

A bunch of friends from Wheaton College started a thread on FaceBook almost two years ago when our mutual friend, Mark Metherell was killed in Iraq. It's a wild place where we kind of started off assuming that we were all the same people we were in school and have found that almost two decades of adulthood has a way of changing folks. We simply refer to it as The Thread.

One of our friends who was raised as a Baptist has converted to Roman Catholicism (he spent over a decade in the Episcopalian/Anglican church from college to his recent conversion). We were discussing the theology of sexuality in the Roman tradition and masturbation came up. Most of the Protestants on The Thread were surprised that the concept of "making knuckle babies," as one post described it, was still verboten.

This was our friend, James' story about how he approached the concept with his mother, a conservative Baptist, whom he thought would side with him:

Regarding masturbation, I've kept my mom a little bit apprised of our discussion, and I thought at least on the issue of masturbation I could get her to agree with the Catholic (me). Mind you, I've never, under any circumstances discussed masterbation with my mother. So this shows you the lengths I'll go to try to reach her (I understand some might find my efforts misguided). So I presented the claim about Protestant liberty.

What was her response? Kind in mind that this is the same mother who banned rock 'n roll in our house growing up, disconnected our cable tv, and once dragged my dad and older brother on a mission to disrupt my brother Stephen's escapades with his girlfriend in high school. I don't say any of this with disrespect, but only offering evidence that would suggest I am within the bounds of logic to think that on this issue she would would agree with me, the Catholic.

"I've never seen that as that big of a crime," she said.

The shock and horror. I really did not want to persue the discussion and pretty much left it at that after a flailing effort, "what would Dad say about your theology now?...Dad?...oh never mind..."

how did jelly fish
make their way from the deep sea
to my shower floor?