No, and that is to even be expected.

He was a prophet whose movement had around 120 or so core disciples along with his apostles, plus thousands who followed him about and considered him a healer and revolutionary teacher.

There are people who have done similar things that are completely lost to history other than small records that vaguely outline the controversy surrounding them… We shouldn’t really expect more in terms of proof…

But what is unique is the fact that we have an extremely well preserved corpus of text surrounding him. We also have some good idea that a lot of his followers were prosecuted and killed, and never recanted in the process, which might incline you to believe in the radical truth that they lived by.

Of course I am biased - I am a Christian - but it really does just seem pointlessly antagonistic to dismiss His Existence at all.

I actually think there’s an argument to be made that a lot of top tier athletes are never doing things like their taxes prior to a big match. It’s just really anticlimactic to say “My spouse/manager/dad does all my paperwork and handles my finances before a fight” than to say “I isolate myslf from my spouse and don’t have any orgasms before a fight.”

I also think that they would make the argument that they have plenty of impulse control and focus, it’s just a matter of the extent to which one has it.

It’s one thing to be a man who does not look at p0rn or masturb8 and only sleeps with his wife and another thing to be a monk.

That is amazing - really good stuff. I will add that to my anecdotes on this topic.

Yeah I believe there’s this weird story about how like… Onani/onanism entered the vocabulary through the Old Testament character and then the notoriously private Japanese adopted the foreign word “onani” to refer to masturb8tion and so it just sticks in my head a bit more and comes out when I feel the need to slightly self-censor in consideration of being on the work net (it’s not an English speaking IT team but, you know how it goes, don’t be the shortest hanging fruit).

I am just a social conservative in the Fediverse offering my two cents.

Sorry to coom on your circle jerk on jerking

I think people believe that onani leads to looking at p0rn, which is inherently exploitative to those involved (men and women) and a foul industry. Likewise, it can produce exaggerated sexual fantasies that are unhealthy and can create predatory relationships.

It’s hard to imagine jerking without explicit content, and once you have gone from Swimsuit edition to Softcore, it’s hard to go back… From softcore to hardcore, it’s hard to go back… From niche hardcore to regular, boring hardcore… It’s hard to go back…

And it leads to becoming a person who does this frequently… And then, what if you want a family? Do you really want to be taht guy who is looking at crazy stuff and rubbing one out while your infant daughter is sleeping 30 feet away in her room? Do you want to be the guy whose wife is out of action from giving birth and you are like “Oh, OK, I will just look at explicit hardcore content and content myself…”

It’s a bad habit.

It also creates crazy expectations of others which may even lead to so desiring some novel experience that you have an affair or “open” your marriage.

But to be entirely fair to the guy’s point:

Lots of top athletes have superstitions about abstaining from intercourse prior to events - some are very extreme, with fighters isolating themselves from their spouses and training for months without any release before their MMA fight/boxing match. Some say they do it for, say, just a week ahead of time, etc.

There are a few who have the opposite philosophy and claim to actually do it more in the week leading up to the fight.

It’s really a massive point of contention because some people claim it is a mere superstition while others absolutely will not break their routine.

There is also the famous incident where Bobby Fisher says that he performed poorly at a tournament because he had sex after the first night and the experience totally removed him from his focus…

This might be why it impacts fighters and certain people whose lifting styles are really about maximized performance and not a routine… If concentration is interrupted, it can result in very poor output. Like I can see how someone who is very intense about what they are doing and requires total focus would be interrupted by any form of sexual distraction. This is probably very, very relevant to guys who are fighters…

This might also have to do with perspectives on sexuality - people who ascribe a lot of meaning to it versus those who do not…

Lots of stuff to consider, I think.