Expert: Griff Ruby - 8/5/2010

Question
Good day,
please i need to know if it is a sin to fantasize non sexually.There are time i just seat and day dream of me being in a relationship with a celebrity or someone that ticks my fancy,like goin to dinner and what not but i keep it non sexual.i need to know if it is a sin.Thanks

Answer
I think it is part of the human condition for it to be impossible to exist without fantasies of a sort.  We can all wonder, what if I were someone else, or somewhere else, or if I had a (whatever - million dollars, key to the city, presidency, life partner, different life partner than the one we have, etc.), and so on.
Obviously we know that if we allow these to descend into lewd fantasies that is not good, in fact just asking for trouble.  Or again even innocuous fantasies can be a problem if they distract us from the realities of our present tasks.
If our fantasies are all that good we could write novels about them, or since they more often are not (or at least we have not the patience or writing skill) we use the fantasies of others by reading their novels.
All of these sorts of amusements, like any amusement, can be easily abused to bad purpose, or even distract us from the necessary duties of life, but so long as they don't (and don't involve anything immoral, be it some lustful situation or even of revenge or murder, etc.) I really can't see any moral implication of them any more than of any other amusement one might typically enjoy as rest and recreation.
One other consequence regarding your own fantasies as described here would be that actually being with the celebrity, if ever realized, would seldom if ever be the "dream date" one can easily fantasize.  More important, we ought not measure up the people we meet who might be important to our future against these fantasies.  Imagine losing out on meeting and getting to know Mr. Right merely because you would rather think about a dream date in knee pads with Paul Williams or whatever.  Such fantasies are only an escape from reality, not a guide to it, and can only hinder one's reality becoming better if taken one whit beyond the mere idle amusement stage.
Therefore the key here is balance.  Some harmless and innocent amusement can be fun, but don't let it take over your life.