Why this story matters

(commentary on Genesis 38)

(Page 2 of 4)

The sin of masturbation (continued)

In the 19th century, Dr. Sylvester Graham, inventor of the Graham Cracker, wrote a book called Lecture to Young Men on Chastity. In this book, Graham theorized that excitement of the genital organs could adversely affect over all health.  He warned that continued contemplation of the "charms" of "comely" females could disorder all the functions of the body and impair all the tissues (p.12). And if the mind indulges in the excitement of sexual desire for too long it can even lead to "permanent diseases, and even premature death" (p.8).

In one of the notes in the book, Graham tells of a clergyman who came to him complaining of ill health including a period of insanity. Graham concluded that masturbation was the culprit: “After a careful examination of his case I honestly told him that his symptoms strongly indicated that his system had, at some point in his life, been exceedingly injured by self-pollution" (p.5). Graham advocated curbing the ‘excitement’ of organs like the stomach or genitals through nutrition and abstinence. To aid in this, he espoused a high fiber diet including coarsely ground wheat flour. A convenient example of this was his own cracker, although, today’s version bares little resemblance to the original.

Another proponent of nutrition as a way of promoting ‘clean living’ was John Harvey Kellogg. In 1875, Kellogg became the medical superintendent of the Seventh Day Adventist’s Western Health Reform Institute in Battle Creek, Michigan (later known as the Kellogg Sanitarium). There he developed nutritional meals for his patients that coincided with his religious beliefs. Some of these beliefs concerned the evils of sex which were laid out in his book Plain Facts for Old and Young. In the chapter on masturbation, entitled Solitary Vice, Kellogg quoted from "eminent authors" to bolster his position that masturbation was a very dangerous vice. He quoted one medical writer as saying, "neither the plague, nor war, nor small-pox, nor similar diseases, have produced results so disastrous to humanity as the pernicious habit of Onanism" (I.F Segner, Iowa, 1890, p.233). Kellogg further quoted from a Dr. Gardiner who explained that, “Much of the worthlessness, lassitude, and physical and mental feebleness attributable to the modern woman are to be ascribed to these habits as their initial cause” (Ibid. p.232).

Kellogg’s list of maladies that supposedly result from masturbation is extensive. It's not surprising, then, that he would be in favor of radical preventative measures. One method he advised for preventing girls from masturbating was particularly severe:  “In females, the author has found the application of pure carbolic acid to the clitoris an excellent means of allaying the abnormal excitement” (p.296). A less disturbing remedy concerned diet. People needed to abstain from "exciting" and "irritating" foods like candies and peppermint: "Candies, spices, cinnamon, cloves, peppermint, and all strong essences powerfully excite the genital organs, and lead to the same result” (p.245).  And his concern over proper bowel movements lead Kellogg to develop the first flaked wheat cereal. An attendee of the Kellogg sanitarium, Charles William Post, absorbed these nutritional therapy ideas. He started his own company, Postum Cereals, to rival Kellogg’s Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company. The rest is history.

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