So... are the puritans right, though? I could've sworn that there was a Biblical passage that stated that life was actually supposed to be enjoyed (in both New and Old testaments)... lemme see if I can find it... aha, here's a passage in Ecclesiastes 9:7-9 "Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do. Always be clothed in white, and always annoint your head with oil. Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun - all your meaningless days."
(Was the part about always wearing white meant literally?)
And there was another verse in the New Testament, I think one of my pro-hypnosis sources actually cited it... hmm...

Remember, what is popularly regarded as "good morality" is not necessarily Biblical .

(EDIT: On the other hand, one could point to the passages in Ecclesiastes saying that pleasure is meaningless. Grr, the Bible is so confusing .)
EDIT2: Found another pro-hypnosis source. http://www.hypnobabies.com/mylink.php?id=4014 It's about using hypnosis for childbirth but I think the answer could reasonably be applied to other applications for hypnosis.
EDIT3: This is a bit off-topic, but I found this: http://www.landoverbaptist.org/charms.html ... is that even legal?
EDIT4: An anti-hypnosis argument, this one actually makes sense http://www.allaboutlifechallenges.org/christian-hypnosis-faq.htm
EDIT5: Here's an interesting quote from http://www.getpasseddepression.com/?p=6 :
EDIT6: http://www.durbinhypnosis.com/hypnosisreligion.htm Really long pro-hypnosis, uses the Bible to justify is several times, I skimmed over some of it. Doesn't look like it says anything about my intended use of hypnosis though...
Sorry for all the edits, I just like to keep looking stuff up while I wait for new posts .

Post has been edited 5 time(s), last time on Jun 27 2009, 12:32 am by Jesusfreak.

I have no idea. As I am not religious, I keep my own morals which are my opinions, and I recognize that in some ways they cannot be more "right" than the morals of someone else. In many cases, I believe my morals to be superior to the morals of others, but ultimately morality is personal. For any people, of any religion, I think that finding morality and self is in part an individual journey that cannot be answered solely by others. Do you believe it is right?

As far as religious morals, who may interpret religious texts and define what is holy and what is sin has been an issue that has been fought over for millennia; hundreds of millions if not billions have died in religious wars over who may interpret morality. Martin Luther believed that the individual, not the ecclesiastical authorities, had the right to read the Bible and understand religion for themselves. In nailing his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg in 1517, he started a schism within Western Christianity that was echoed many times and is the root for many European wars; the one that pops to mind the the Thirty Years' War.

I can't really offer any personal advice, only provide historical facts to show that ultimately this is a profound question.

Just to clear this up:
Hypnosis does not present a topic which can suitably be discussed. There are no stances to take, little moral or philosophical question involved, and you haven't actually presented a foundation/claim for discussion. You asked for opinions, not arguments:
While this topic may be serious to you, it does not conform to the standards of the SD forum. In fact, you could answer your own question by reading the bible.
I think DT_Battlekruser is taking care of you though
Though I do have to say, SEN is not your best bet for getting good christian advice. From what I've seen, religion tends to be regarded with a bit of disdain here, I've deleted and seen some rather nasty posts...

Edit:
Technically my post is not, so if you see fit to delete it, no worries.

It says both. A better question to ask is how it can get away with it.

Post has been edited 3 time(s), last time on Jun 27 2009, 4:04 am by ClansAreForGays. Reason: Didn't come off good

I'm not that strict

I just meant that people coming and saying that hypnosis is medically safe or something like that isn't helpful because he's asking for spiritual advice.

EVERYWHERE is like that. Christians are hated EVERYWHERE. People occassionally make fun of me for being Christian in real life (not to mention I have no one to talk to in real life outside a few minutes on Sunday), they made fun of me on eRepublik, they suppress all talk of it on indie-resource, people HATED Christianity and all religion itself back at ol' warboards (has a new name now, but same evil people), I got made fun of for the name "Jesusfreak" on almost a daily basis on b.net... this is technically the most religious site I've seen...

How it can get away with what?

While we're here, though, IS it safe medically to hypnotize yourself for pleasure on a regular basis? It'd be real funny in a bad way if I took all these theological precautions and then end up hurting myself physically .

Oh, and I also got a message saying that you edited my first post for grammar, but I can't find any changes in it whatsoever... o_O

Most importantly, though, is something that occured to me last night:
I might have been going through light hypnosis without even knowing it: I've always had problems getting to sleep quickly (might have something to do with my mattress literally being the same one I had when I was 6). One time, a long time ago, my cousin told me that if I lay completely still for like 5 minutes my body would automatically shut down (I've never successfully done it, I've always had an itch or something within the first couple minutes). Occassionally I would actually try it, as I did this night, and it suddenly occured to me that I was going through a few of the symptoms of hypnosis - specifically, the twitching of the eyes, lowering of blood pressure, feeling of relaxation and desire to relax more, and feeling more energetic afterwards.
Should I be worried about demons taking over my body?

EDIT: Hmm, on a related note, I found a presumably non-Christian source refering to hypnosis several times as "sorcery."
http://www.hypnosisaddiction.com/

EDIT2: While I'm waiting for more answers, I might as well ask more questions:
From my research, it's quite clear that it's possible (and probably even easy) to experience intense pleasure and even orgasm from hypnosis. Which brings up the question: How far should I go with this, if I decide that it's ok to start? Would experiencing orgasm with an unmarried romantic partner (that is, a girlfriend) under hypnosis be considered "sex," as much as oral sex, anal sex, cybersex, etc? Or is using hypnosis to achieve orgasm with a romantic partner perfectly fine?
I suppose the way to decide the answer to this is to find the answer to the question "Why is having extra-marital sex (as in, vaginal intercourse) wrong?" Possible answers I thought of include the following:
1.) Because sex itself unifies man and woman and should only be used under the strongest of commitment (this would open up debate to oralsex, cybersex, and "hypnosex," as some of my sources have called it).
2.) Because intentionally experiencing orgasm (of any kind) before marriage is to give into sexual temptation and immorality (this would rule out all forms of "sex," be it oral, hypnotic, internet, etc).
3.) All intentionally experienced orgasms are using sexuality for pleasure, which is inherently wrong, whether in marriage or out. Having sex out of marriage would result in single parenthood, which is bad for the child.
4.) Because it shows that the sexual partner has the ability to seduce you without a "legal" form of commitment (this would definitely rule out "hypnosex," and all other forms of "sex")
Also, how do I draw the line between "pleasure" and "orgasm"? Is any sexual pleasure outside of marriage wrong (if so, kissing, holding hands, hugging, etc is also wrong), or is only orgasm outside of marriage wrong? Or is orgasm perfectly fine, as long as it does not involve direct contact with another's genitalia as vaginal intercourse and oral sex do (opening up mastuerbation, cybersex, and erotic hypnosis)?

Anyone got any answers? Wish I could just find these myself but every time I look in the Bible, I usually end up with the same questions or more questions due to all the possible ways to interpret it...

EDIT3: Here's a breakthrough! http://www.jaspar.com/signs/True%20or%20False/how_should_we_understand_demons.htm
Demons are not to be believed in according to the Bible at all, according to this person. Judging by one of the comments, "Some can have influence over less active minds," she probably doesn't know much about hypnosis (in reality, intelligent, creative, and active minds are the easiest to hypnotize), but this is some interesting insight in the whole "hypnosis = influence of demons" thing.

Also, where the heck is everyone? I'm barely seeing anyone in the Null forum at all, and only a couple people have even glanced at this thread all day...

Post has been edited 4 time(s), last time on Jun 27 2009, 6:44 pm by Jesusfreak.

Vrael said it; this is not the best place to look for advice on Christian teachings. I don't think anyone has much to say.

Since this is an null topic now...

From a philosophical and scientific point of view I see no problems with hypnosis. I don't see religion as support for an argument. I believe you should consult with your church for the answer. This site does not really offer "faith based" help.

Hmm... ok, I've collected a good deal of information. Here's a link to my other discussion on hypnosis: http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/christianity/82428-hypnosis-morally-acceptable-christian-standpoint.html

Also, I have a new idea on how to determine whether or not erotic hypnosis would be ok for my religion and age - survey the population of a popular erotic hypnosis forum site (ie, http://inraptured.com/forum.html?func=listcat ), and see if any of them are good Christians or near my age. What do you think, should I try it? Also, I've looked at the registration form for the site I gave as an example... they didn't have any terms of service from what I've seen so far (and thus no age restriction to join), but one of the required fields to fill out is my name... should I give them my real name, or should I give them the fake name I usually use for internet purpose (which is the one on my email)? (I think I already know the answer but meh)

I think you should try to survey a websites that have more Christians. Use google to help you find such sites.

I've already done so:
http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/christianity/82428-hypnosis-morally-acceptable-christian-standpoint.html

It's not necessarily a Christian site but there's a number of Christians on it.

Right now I'm at the "Inraptured" forum site and I'm going to try and survey the Christian population (a high number of Christians on an erotic hypnosis forum might convince me that it's safe).

Ideally, the opinions of others on this question should not matter to you.

You must be confident in knowing the teachings of Christianity and the interpretation of the Bible by your specific set of beliefs, which must lead you to your own conclusions regarding the morality of hypnosis, which should be completely independent of the opinions of other Christians. Just form your own opinion basd on knowledge of your faith and beliefs. If someone has different opinions, well, so what - they're only opinions. Besides, faith is a very personal thing - nobody should influence you in questions of faith and its applications.

Um... I've got a new problem... I've gotten an account on Inraptured, but then I found THIS...
http://www.inraptured.com/forum.html?func=view&catid=8&id=22196

... Apparently 16 is underage for the site. I'm 16. Gah, it didn't tell me anything about adult content or age restriction on the registration form... what the heck do I do? I've notified the owner of the site of the problem but I'm still waiting for a response.

So you tattled on yourself

I wish I knew you because awkward kids like you are the funniest people to hang out with IRL

Continuing on the subject of erotic hypnosis... is there any "mild" or "light" erotic hypnosis that's NOT "adult" content? I didn't realize this stuff was supposed to be that... er... intense o_O.

Erotic hypnosis? Your're probably not going to find anything erotic that's rated for a 16 year old. Especially not on the internet, but ESPECIALLY not within the dogma of Christianity.

Yes, it turns out that my definition of "erotic" is much, much less intense than most men's definition of "erotic..."

Apparently when most men think "erotic," they think of nudity, vaginal intercourse, sexual teasing, repeated orgasms, and the like. I find those kinds of things disturbing and sometimes outright scary.
When I think "erotic," I think of that wonderful, soft, warm, fuzzy, tingly feeling I had the first (and as of yet, only) time I hugged a girl. I figured "erotic hypnosis" would simply be sensations like that, and perhaps the exploration and indulgence of one's fetishes (for example, I would probably enjoy being hypnotized to imagine a beautiful Indian girl with a soft, silky dress and soft, beautiful feet). Thus, I was sorta surprised by all the "adult content" XD. However, I did find a Christian friend on Inraptured that's agreed to contact me on another forum site, and he might be able to find me some "mild" stuff that's closer to what I'm looking for.

Well, that's not exactly what erotic means.

Quote

erotic: adj. - giving sexual pleasure; sexually arousing (Princeton WordNet)

I don't know how you felt giving a hug, but I associate "the cuddly feeling" with love more than erotic desire.

... You mean most people will try and separate love and erotic desire? As in, it's even possible to have erotic desire without love? That... can't be right o_O.

You know of this thing called pornography? And "one-night stands" and masturbation and "cheating" and all that? >_>
If I'm to guess, perhaps you're confusing the word with "intimacy".

Also... I'm confused as to what your problem is. If sexual lust is of disinterest to you, then simply don't involve it with whatever hypnotic recreation you do or plan to or consider or imagine getting into (however far you may go)?