Question:
If I say that masturbation is neither right nor wrong, am I breaking the laws of thought? The law of the excluded middle states that all statements are either true or false. There is nothing in between or other option.
Answer:
If I say that grey is neither white nor black, the statement is true. If I say that being single or being married are both acceptable states, the statement is true. In the same way, the statement that masturbation is neither right nor wrong is either true or false.
In Romans 14, Paul discusses how some people avoided eating meat due to the possible association with idol worship. Meat from idol temples was often sold in the meat market. Other people understood that idols were nothing, so the meat in the market could not be tainted by idolatry. They ate meat without it bothering their conscience. If a person chooses not to eat meat, he has not sinned. If he chooses to eat meat, he has not sinned. Thus, eating meat is neither right nor wrong. That statement is true.
Masturbation is the same. The act itself is neither right nor wrong. The Scriptures indicated that individual males ejaculate (Leviticus 15:16-17). It wasn’t labeled sinful. The ejaculate itself was unclean, but “unclean” is not sin. Some choose not to masturbate because they strongly associate it with lust (such as pornography). Others can stay away from pornography and see masturbation as a normal act. Neither position is right nor wrong. That statement is true.