Do you think there is anything sinful about riding a motorcycle due to the danger involved? If this young man had been driving a car, he wouldn't have been missing for over 24 hours (we're not in the mountains or anything here) and might have received life-saving help.

Are we obliged to take the safest transportation possible?

Taking unnecessary risks out of vanity is probably sinful, but riding a motorcycle, in and of itself, I can't see that being sinful.  Certainly riding a bicycle can be just as dangerous.

If someone wishes to visit friends and commute and lives in the country, the fuel savings from riding a motorcycle could be very substantial.

Any motorcycle enthusiasts here?

I received this via email earlier today as have been thinking about them...
(I don't personally know this person.)

Quote

I just wanted to let everyone know that we did find my brother this afternoon and unfortunately the news was not what we wanted. He [died] Friday night. He was in a motorcycle crash and hit a tree. It took so long to find him because he was so far from the road side no one could see him. He leaves behind 3 children ages 5, 3 and 2. And he will be greatly missed.

What do you suppose are the primary motivations in wanting to ride a motorcycle? The fuel efficiency is appealing, but I doubt many would buy them on that reason alone.

Do you think there is anything sinful about riding a motorcycle due to the danger involved? If this young man had been driving a car, he wouldn't have been missing for over 24 hours (we're not in the mountains or anything here) and might have received life-saving help.

Well.. I'm old enough to drive but my mother would probably never let me drive a motorcycle for obvious reasons. :farmer:

At the same time, I love the idea of having a bike and riding it (particularly a sports bike). I mean, think about it. Riding a motorcycle is incredibly exhilarating. (PIO.. I don't see why riding for the thrill of it is bad.. Since when are Catholics not allowed to be thrilled by anything that's not related to religion  :reporter:?)

I don't see why there would be anything sinful about riding a bike. Just because it's dangerous doesn't necessarily mean that it's sinful to ride a bike. After all, bench pressing 500 pounds over your body is very dangerous, but no one says that's particularly sinful. As long as you're being careful and not trying to kill yourself or recklessly putting others in danger, I don't think it would be a sin.

Obviously doing this has to be sinful:



Even if he's a good driver, who cares? What he's doing is blatantly dangerous, illegal and stupid. His back end is also sliding out a lot..

If you rode a sportsbike on the road and acted as though you were invisible (don't think people in cars won't do something stupid at any point in time. Always assume you're invisible to everyone even if you're wearing high vis. gear) and got into the frame of mind that everything and everyone were trying to kill you, I think you could really decrease the risk of you getting into an accident. Riding with good gear greatly decreases the risk of you getting badly bruised up if you don't die in an accident. I wouldn't want the skin on my legs to peel off if an accident sent me flying. Etc.

If you read the statistics on bike deaths, you'll see that a good chunk of them die from speeding, not wearing a helmet, trying to do tricks on the bike and all kinds of stupid things like that. Not doing things like that increase your survival chances.

Do you think there is an ingrained need for some sort of thrill-seeking among (many) men?

Are there better/worse outlets for this from a Catholic perspective? For example, rather than riding a motorcycle which carries a good degree of danger for very little purpose, would it not be better to seek thrills in a more profitable manner?

I personally think there is much more risk driving a motorcycle here in the states (at least the populous ones) than in 3rd world countries. My in-laws tell me that their families felt very comfortable driving a motorcycle in Indonesia, when the Dutch were still there, but coming here, they would never dream of it.

Do you think there is an ingrained need for some sort of thrill-seeking among (many) men?

I think to a certain extent yes. I think even going so far as to say, "most" would be correct. But even then, some more than others. I, for example, found my last job physically demanding, and with inherent risks- both physical and medical- and part of it was appealing (the physical) . But there's a big difference between that, and someone who will risk driving 100+mph for 'fun' .

Quote from: PartyIsOver221

Just got my bike license recently, but no motorcycle!! I think it could be a sin to drive a motorcycle today with such readily available 4-wheel vehicle transportation. Perhaps in some distant land with no cars and small roads will a motorcycle be required, but I sometimes think driving a bike to commute to work is a death wish for some.

Most people, in my opinion, ride for the "thrill". And I doubt there is an authentic Catholic mentality in that.

Many recreational activities involve some risk.  I can' think of a sport that doesn't.  Some, like football, involve a great deal of risk.  Is that sinful?

PartyIsOver has a point. It's dumb to risk your life, and riding motorcycles can be risking your life. Sports are very rarely life-risking. One could argue that a person's life is at risk every time they drive a car, but they have to get around some kind of way, and cars are much safer than motorcycles.

You'll have to pardon my ignorance but I sincerely cannot understand how riding a motorcycle could be sinful in and of itself. Sure, if one does it out of vanity then yes. If one negates his duties to be a parent, doesn't even bother to try and be safe, etc, etc, I can see that as being sinful. But riding a motorcycle in and of itself? I don't understand. I don't really think that just because it's dangerous is a very good argument at all. If you step outside you could be shot dead. If you drive your car the fuel could leak and that could lead to an explosion. If you get on a plane it could crash killing you and everyone else on board, and probably anyone within close proximity of the crash site. There is an inherent danger (although it does vary) to doing most things and I don't see how riding a motorcycle, in and of itself, could be sinful.  

Surely you can agree that even safely riding a motorcycle is much riskier than these other things you've mentioned?

It's often said that people drop dangerous behavoir when they become a parent due to the new responsibility of having to be there to raise a child. Do they not owe God this same cautiousness with the life they've been given even when there are no children involved?

 :scratchchin:

I remember using Daegus' argument in many different contexts when I was younger.

It's basically a variation of,

"I caught Fr. Murphy watching a docuмentary on TV the other day. Therefore I'm going to get cable and watch TV as my main form of recreation, 2-3 hours a day, and watch everything the average worldling watches".

Sure, no one says it like that, but it's what many people do.

That's why laymen are always watching their priest, because if they catch him having a glass of wine with his meal on a 1st Class feast, they will proceed to stock their fridge with beer and drink 2-3 a day. If they catch Father mentioning football once (even something he could have picked up from a newspaper, and mentioned only to be social) they will proceed to become devoted to watching sports. And so on. Sad, but true.

Daegus' argument is basically:

Since there is some element of risk to EVERYTHING, we can't afford to worry about risk. We CAN'T be worried about risk. As Robert DeNiro once said, "You can get killed walking your doggie!" So if you want to skydive for recreation, go ahead! There's no on/off black & white dividing line as to what's "risky" and what's not.

Of course I disagree. There is acceptable risk, and unacceptable.