Is Porn A Religious Issue?

[strollingbones]

interesting comments on the christian side.....interesting...some even provided links....i will agree with avatar on this one....porn is highly addictive and does give a false sense...you can watch the evolution of society with the evolution of porn

i am old...i can speak of this...the first porns were still photos...racy more than anything...little flash books....normally of cartoon characters in sexual escapades...nothing real serious...now you have the dark brothers...and one marvels at the debbie does the world porn....but there is porn for all occasions...but it does give people a false sense and they do bring that into there relationships....

as allie stated porn does into human bondage but then allie what does in this day and age...if you close down ever business that has human slaves .....or worse uses child labor...how many businesses do you think would be left?

this country has no moral fiber and has not for a long time...we are the country that outlaws the selling of huffing glue ....in the united states but ships it to columbia by the shiploads...we are a country that doesnt care about our children...we allow the rape and abuse of children on a daily basis...what kills me is everyone cries....'i cant spank my child due to cps' but look at the children dying in this country daily.....from abuse?? what the fuck is broken in that system?

i am not a christian but i would sum up the state of affairs in a short biblical verse.....John 11:35 Jesus wept.

but to answer the question...no, not all things are religious and i do not feel porn is a religious issue but again being a pagan i do not feel one must be religious to be moral.

 

[Two Thumbs]

This Super Bowl Sunday, church may be as jarring as a quarterback sack for some worshippers who, after settling into their pews, discover that the subject of the morning's sermon is pornography.

More than 300 churches are expected to celebrate National Porn Sunday on Feb. 6. The members will watch a video sermon featuring current and former NFL players talking about their struggles with pornography.

Religious Groups Tackle An X-Rated Secret : NPR

Is porn itself a problem? If you don't avoid people because of it, if you aren't struggling with desires for illegal acts, is it still a problem?

My liberal attitude about freedom of speech makes me want to knee-jerk answer "no". But the fact is, I have heard my women friends complain about the time their menfolk devote to porn. About the dehumanizing effect it has on some men. And God knows, there are sexual images on the web that I find disturbing.

So, since at least a few of you may hear a sermon on Sunday about porn, I'll ask:

Is porn a religious issue?

It's a "He who is with out sin, cast the first stone" issue.

It's also a parenting issue. If your little girl shows up on the screen blowing someone you utterly failed as a parent.

As far as addiction goes. A man has to be a man and do the right thing. Anyone obsessed with porn needs to grow up.

 

[McPuff]

Huh? how does watching a porno every once in a while mean you have a loveless life? alot of couples watch porn together and women are buying more and more of it every year.

I will never understand this. Basically this is telling your partner, "you aren't attractive enough on your own. I need to look at this other woman/man in order to get in the mood." I don't know about you, but I have never met a woman who would like to be told she was insufficient.

 

[Missourian]

Sometimes I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed.

The most famous example of actively opposing sin comes from Jesus himself !

When He saw the moneychangers defiling the temple, He didn't say "Well, we'll never get them out of every temple."...he turned over they're tables and drove them out.

Can't get much more actively involved in opposing sin than that !

Matthew 21:12, Mark 11:15, Luke 19:45

 

[High_Gravity]

Huh? how does watching a porno every once in a while mean you have a loveless life? alot of couples watch porn together and women are buying more and more of it every year.

I will never understand this. Basically this is telling your partner, "you aren't attractive enough on your own. I need to look at this other woman/man in order to get in the mood." I don't know about you, but I have never met a woman who would like to be told she was insufficient.

I don't see how watching porn tells your partner she is insufficient.

 

[Skull Pilot]

What consenting adults do together or what an adult does singly is no one's business unless by engaging in any particular behavior said adults violate the rights of another.

 

[freeandfun1]

Sometimes I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed.

The most famous example of actively opposing sin comes from Jesus himself !

When He saw the moneychangers defiling the temple, He didn't say "Well, we'll never get them out of every temple."...he turned over they're tables and drove them out.

Can't get much more actively involved in opposing sin than that !

Matthew 21:12, Mark 11:15, Luke 19:45

Again, who said that we're not to oppose sin?

Also, your overlooking WHERE those sins were taking place... in the TEMPLE! Today our sins are also being performed in the temple - ourselves - and that also angers him... but he forgives us for it.

You've taken what I wrote and have extrapolated it out to a claim that I never made.... not sure why other than perhaps just for the sake of debate???

 

[Marie888]

Who cares? if an adult purchases a porno and watches is in his or her own home its nobodies fucking business.

I agree.

The church needs to stay the hell out of peoples bedrooms.

But its ok to schools to publicly teach children in school about "safe sex"? I'm meaning, perhaps think of it the opposite way.. if you were a parent who wanted their children to stay away from sex altogether because of faith, (and wait for marriage/love) but then you have to put them through public school where they are taught about "safe sex", its kinda the same thing. (public schools, stay the hell out of my kids life!)

I'm just sayin.. ya know as a comparison? Maybe not the best comparisons, and I can see the arguments coming... but overall what we all do effects one another's lives. Especially like Allie was talking about in the porn slave trade/human trafficking. (Human Trafficking is a good movie to watch if you haven't seen it ,by the way) It's so horrible. And its reality of what happens in this world. When we think about these children or women (or men) who get kidnapped, strung out on drugs, for the "lusts" of the flesh, instead of thinking of the other persons situation (the ppl in the porn movies) and why they are where they are, it may help keep people away from porn.

Basically, loving others, as we would want to be loved. That means putting down the porn, because the chances are the people who are doing the porn are either slaved into it, or they have been very hurt, or come from troubled or abusive families, are oppressed, etc.

.

 

[McPuff]

Huh? how does watching a porno every once in a while mean you have a loveless life? alot of couples watch porn together and women are buying more and more of it every year.

I will never understand this. Basically this is telling your partner, "you aren't attractive enough on your own. I need to look at this other woman/man in order to get in the mood." I don't know about you, but I have never met a woman who would like to be told she was insufficient.

I don't see how watching porn tells your partner she is insufficient.

If you found her attractive enough to be turned on, you wouldn't need the porn. Watching the porn with her is like telling her she isn't good enough on her own, you need another woman to join you.

 

[Missourian]

Defend that opinion with Scripture, that Christians should accept sinfulness.

Perhaps I was misunderstood... I've NEVER stated we should "accept sinfulness", but I've stated that the first step to overcoming sinfulness is realizing that we cannot overcome sin on our own nor will we ever, in this world, overcome it fully. What we have to accept is that we live in a fallen world and that no matter what we do; we're still sinners.

Romans 3:10 - As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one;

Romans 3:23 - for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

John 1:7-10 - )7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we haven’t sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

While you are doing that, I'll see what I can find defending the opposing opinion that Christians should actively oppose sin in society. I can't pin anything down from memory, but I'll see what I can find.

I agree we are to oppose sin and that we should point out sin and let it be known what are sinful actions. But there is only so much we can do and as such, we are told in Matthew 10:14, “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town.”

In John 16:8, we learn that our job is just to share the Gospel while it's the Holy Spirit’s job to convict people of their sins.

So again, my initial point on this topic was that I feel Churches need to put less emphasis on our behavior and more on what it is that truly redeems us. I say this because I believe that when we do that, more and more Christians will then naturally begin to live lives that are more acceptable to God.

I base this on my own experience, and admit I may be wrong about some of how I feel. See, I was raised in a fairly strict and very hypocritical Christian family. We were raised believing we had to "act" a certain way if we wanted to go to Heaven. As such, I turned away from my faith for many years. But as I got older, I kept feeling as if I was being called back to God. So I started reading on my own and doing my own research and I realized that while my parents had good intentions, they totally misunderstood the scriptures. It's not our actions that save us, but Grace.

If our Bible teachers keep beating people over the head by continually telling them they're going to hell because they're sinners, well, it's counter-productive. Living by example is the best way to introduce people to Christ.

But we must also realize that everybody has free will.

WOW, a lot longer rant than I expected.

In closing, I just want to say I struggle every day with sin, so I am not trying to sound "holier than thou" nor am I trying to brush off the fact that sin is displeasing to God.

I agree...excellent post.

 

[High_Gravity]

I will never understand this. Basically this is telling your partner, "you aren't attractive enough on your own. I need to look at this other woman/man in order to get in the mood." I don't know about you, but I have never met a woman who would like to be told she was insufficient.

I don't see how watching porn tells your partner she is insufficient.

If you found her attractive enough to be turned on, you wouldn't need the porn. Watching the porn with her is like telling her she isn't good enough on her own, you need another woman to join you.

Porn can just be used to spice up the sex life, doesn't mean you don't find your partner any less attractive.

 

[strollingbones]

high i have a friend who will not allow playboy in her house....her view....she is a living breathing woman....right there within his reach...to bring in porn or playboy is an insult to her...this is the way she thinks

 

[High_Gravity]

high i have a friend who will not allow playboy in her house....her view....she is a living breathing woman....right there within his reach...to bring in porn or playboy is an insult to her...this is the way she thinks

Hey some women are like that, some women aren't, human nature people are different.

 

[Madeline]

Everything is a religious issue.

And yes, Pornography is a plague. It's inherently a lie, a deception. One that is powerfully more addictive than many drugs. It provides the mind with unrealistic expectations of what relationships are and should be. not to mention the exploitation that is involved with it.

Look at the superbowl comercials this weekend. Businesses are paying millions of dollars for 30 Seconds of advertisement because they have research showing that an advertisement that short will make you more inclined to purchase their product. If 30 seconds is enough to influence your purchase/consumption habits, do you honestly think that hours upon hours of pornography, not to mention other things in our media, won't?

What is amazing to me is the time and devotion posters devote to this topic, while never, ever addressing the violations of human rights that go hand in hand with porn.

Porn feeds the slave trade (and yes the salve trade is alive and thriving; thanks for continuing to ignore it's existence as you ponder whether porn is a legal or religious issue, and lisp around about how "porn doesn't debase people, people debase people!"). It also promotes child sex abuse and provides a lucrative market for the vicimtization of children and adults.

I'm calling bullshit here, Allie. I dun doubt there are videos and such made of slaves, but on the whole I think porn actors are free agents.

 

[High_Gravity]

Porn stars are making more money than all of us combined, I would hardly call them slaves.

 

[Madeline]

I will never understand this. Basically this is telling your partner, "you aren't attractive enough on your own. I need to look at this other woman/man in order to get in the mood." I don't know about you, but I have never met a woman who would like to be told she was insufficient.

I don't see how watching porn tells your partner she is insufficient.

If you found her attractive enough to be turned on, you wouldn't need the porn. Watching the porn with her is like telling her she isn't good enough on her own, you need another woman to join you.

Uh, no it isn't.

 

[Madeline]

Porn stars are making more money than all of us combined, I would hardly call them slaves.

O, I have no doubt some actors have been enslaved or coerced, High Gravity, especially for the more violent stuff. I just don't think it's common.

 

[McPuff]

I don't see how watching porn tells your partner she is insufficient.

If you found her attractive enough to be turned on, you wouldn't need the porn. Watching the porn with her is like telling her she isn't good enough on her own, you need another woman to join you.

Uh, no it isn't.

Yeah, it pretty much is. But if you don't see it that's fine.

 

[Missourian]

Sometimes I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed.

The most famous example of actively opposing sin comes from Jesus himself !

When He saw the moneychangers defiling the temple, He didn't say "Well, we'll never get them out of every temple."...he turned over they're tables and drove them out.

Can't get much more actively involved in opposing sin than that !

Matthew 21:12, Mark 11:15, Luke 19:45

Again, who said that we're not to oppose sin?

Also, your overlooking WHERE those sins were taking place... in the TEMPLE! Today our sins are also being performed in the temple - ourselves - and that also angers him... but he forgives us for it.

You've taken what I wrote and have extrapolated it out to a claim that I never made.... not sure why other than perhaps just for the sake of debate???

No, you said 'we should accept that...', and that you had left the church because they were too focused on behavior. Jesus was also focused on behavior. You have studied, why do you condemn the church for teaching the Scripture and the lessons Jesus taught?

I'm not being combative, I'm genuinely interested.

My opinion is the exact opposite, that simply teaching Grace and forgiveness is not enough, and I can back that up with Scripture.

Look at the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13.

 

[dilloduck]

imho religion's concerns are of a spiritual nature yet there are many non-spiritual things will affect a spirit negatively so someone just decided to call them sins.
I think religions in general try to encourage people to be aware of things that are road blocks to a more spiritually centered life.
Humans are prone to abusing things that stimulate "feel good" chemicals (dopamine for one) in our bodies. IF ( the big if ) you are concerned about your spiritual life, religion has identified a few things that will interfere with it and advises of the dangers in such behavior.

Religions aren't designed for those who don't concern themselves with spirituality and those that aren't intersted need to stop taking it so seriously. It doesn't pertain to you.


Porn can give some people a chemical buz. Having a buzz isn't a sin-----obsessing about it to the point of causing the rest of your life to be unbalanced isn't recommended.