Anyway, let's discuss Onan, shall we?
Onan was the son of Judah, who was the son of Jacob (called Israel), who was the son of Isaac, who was the son of Abraham in the Book of Genesis in the Bible. Onan is the inspiration for the word onanism, which means masturbation or coitus interruptus (it applies to both, apparently). His story seems to be the basis for the blanket ban of masturbation in most Christian sects. It appears in Genesis 38:1-11. It's not very long, so I've copied the important bit below.
6 And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar.7 And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord slew him.8 And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother's wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother.9 And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother.10 And the thing which he did displeased the Lord: wherefore he slew him also.
The part of this that has always captured the attention of the Western world is the mention of Onan spilling his seed upon the ground. This, it's argued, is what so displeases God about Onan. The claim, as I understand it, is that sperm should not be wasted, as it's a gift from God meant to create life.
I don't agree.
Consider the story carefully: Judah's firstborn Er takes a wife (Tamar), but dies before she conceives any children. Judah commands his second-born son, Onan, to marry Tamar, to give her children for Er's sake. Essentially, it seems to me, it is a command to reproduce as a means of honoring Er. "Raise up seed to thy brother." Onan believes that Tamar's children should not be his (I guess because he felt it disrespectful. Moot point), so, while he's having sex with her ("when he went in unto his brother's wife"), he ejaculates upon the ground to avoid conception. God is wrathful at Onan for something in this series of events and slays him.
The thing is, Onan disobeys his father in the story. There is a clear command from Judah to go in unto Er's wife and raise up seed to Er. There is no two ways about it: Onan does not do this. The father is clearly important to God: the fifth commandment, of course, is "Honor thy father and thy mother," the father chooses spouses for his sons and daughters, the blessings and punishments that God places upon a father are usually inherited by his children, the genealogies of the Old Testament are patrilineal. The father is the key cornerstone of Biblical families, since polygamy often means there are multiple mother figures and way too many children. So disobeying a command from Judah was probably a big deal.
Besides that, Onan is the descendant of Abraham and Israel, both of whom were told by God directly that they would bring forth kingdoms and that they and their children should "be fruitful and multiply." God has given the family a sacred charge to reproduce! His refusal to bring forth children in the family line when he has a chance also seems like something God would not be pleased about.
So far, refusing a father's command and refusing God's charge could be important reasons for smiting Onan. But there's something more that gets me: if sperm is sacred and should not be wasted, then eggs should be the same way. They are, after all, both the haploid gametes of reproduction. But, women waste eggs on a monthly basis! Either there is a double standard, or women are supposed to remain pregnant from puberty to menopause non-stop, or it's not a sin to waste either. I don't see why there should be a double standard, and the second possibility is clearly not the case: older and very young mothers suffer an increased risk of injury and birth defects, and God does not build punishments into righteous acts. So, the third possibility must be the case.
To me, then, the only reasonable conclusion is that God was not mad at Onan for masturbating: he was mad at Onan for disobeying his father and his Lord. Like so much else in the Bible, the story has simply been twisted to fit the preconceptions of society. What's your view on it?
By my hand,
~Michael Akerman
