First of all, I wonder why you jumped from masturbation to gayness. The 2 are totally unrelated. But in answer to your question about what to tell them, I reply with a resounding..........it depends. On a church sponsored event, such as a camping trip, it wouldn't be appropriate to "teach" any belief that goes against that church's beliefs. However, I don't think that precludes you from giving your honest opinion. I would tell them both what that church believes (if it has an "official" position on the subject, mine doesn't), and I would also tell them what I believed. Not all churches would like this, but I would not be comfortable in a church that expects me to parrot every one of their beliefs with no room for individual thought or interpretation. If you're not at a church sponsored event, just tell them what you believe.

As for what I believe, I see nothing wrong with masturbation itself. If it was that terribly important, God would have put more about it in the Bible The fantasy aspect of it causes some Christians to be against it, but show me a Christian who never has a fantasy and I'll show you a dead Christian. So while I don't think that just because everyone does something, that makes that something ok, I do think that the fact that masturbation crosses every social, economic, and cultural barrier thruout the ages, and even crosses over into the animal kingdom, that is a pretty damn good indication that it is perfectly normal. What I see as a sin is to put a bunch of guilt on Christian boys for doing something that is perfectly harmless to satisfy a biological urge that God put inside them.

Dakota