Your magnanimity & dedication to quality make this post frubalworthy!
-
Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.
Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:- Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
- Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
- Access to private conversations with other members.
We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!
Should pornography be banned?
- Thread starter NewGuyOnTheBlock
- Start date
Let's start by making a distinction between grownups and children. The statutory age of consent is a blunt instrument, I'll agree. But we have it and I am quite happy to see it enforced. That wasn't in the OP.
Opposing kiddie porn is not the same as opposition to porn. The damage done to young people being used sexually is huge. Put child molesters in jail, practically forever. That has nothing to do with other kinds of sexual depictions.
Tom
freethinker44
Well-Known Member
Could you list some sources, because the only correlation I have seen, if any correlation exists at all, is that as the availability of porn increases the prevalence of sexual crimes decreases even as other crime rates increase. Even a decrease in child sex abuse appears to correlated with an increased availability of child pornography.
Legalizing pornography: Lower sex crime rates? Study carried out in Czech Republic shows results similar to those in Japan and Denmark -- ScienceDaily
So if you could post some sources that would be great because from what I've seen it's the exact opposite. If you were correct, at a minimum you would expect to see a rise in sexual assaults/abuse but not only are we not seeing that but we are seeing a decrease in sexual related crimes.
Stephen Dedalus
Trickster
I don't watch pornography, because ***** of other people don't make me excited.
But I don't condemn it.
From my atheist point of view, it's a source of pleasure from wich I don't drink.
So, if you consider exciting the pornography, feel free to jerk off, just don't embroil children.
Thats an attempt to fit a correlation with sexual liberalism attitude in a culture and legalizing of porn but that wont always follow. If a culture is prone to objectifying by default then porn will only fuel it. If the culture takes a liberal view and actually respect each other it wouldnt be an issue legal or not.
No, I do not think it should be banned. There is nothing inherently wrong with making and viewing sexually explicit videos or pictures. The problem is that there's a lot of abuse and exploitation in the porn industry, and it needs a lot of regulation. I think it would be a good idea if there were always ethical advocates for the performers on set with them, monitoring. It also puts out harmful and bigoted representations of pretty much everyone involved, but that's because pornography is a product of a racist, sexist, homophobic and transphobic society.
The modeling industry has similar problems, actually. Terry Richardson's perverted antics are a good example of that.
The modeling industry has similar problems, actually. Terry Richardson's perverted antics are a good example of that.
Not having an outlet also leads to obsession. Sexual beings need a sexual release in order to be healthy and balanced.
freethinker44
Well-Known Member
That's the problem though, porn doesn't fuel it. Porn is more accessible and freely available than ever before and yet...
Is Pornography a Catalyst of Sexual Violence? - Reason.com
As Robin Morgan said, "Pornography is the theory; rape is the practice", if this were true we would expect to see an increase in sexual assaults, or at least maintaining it at the same level as other violent crimes and yet it has actually decreased. There may or may not be a correlation between porn and a decrease in sexual crime but one thing is for sure, there is definitely not a correlation between porn and an increase in sexual crime.
ScottySatan
Well-Known Member
Go ahead. I can objectify people plenty with their clothes on, in person.
Porn in general? No. Certain types of porn? Yes.
Porn can have a negative influence expectations on sex, both the activity itself and how women (in particular) view it, if it's the only type of sexual activity exposed to outside one's own.
For example, in porn, the general rule of thumb regarding sexual orientation is this: all men are fully straight, and all women are bisexual. Obviously, this doesn't represent reality at all.
As with all things, proper education is the solution, not banning. Banning it is a terrible idea, anyway, because if nothing else, it would just give more power to the black market, due to the high demand.
But I do support stricter regulations in porn, and believe that certain types of porn should be illegal. (Child porn already is, for example.)
Porn can have a negative influence expectations on sex, both the activity itself and how women (in particular) view it, if it's the only type of sexual activity exposed to outside one's own.
For example, in porn, the general rule of thumb regarding sexual orientation is this: all men are fully straight, and all women are bisexual. Obviously, this doesn't represent reality at all.
As with all things, proper education is the solution, not banning. Banning it is a terrible idea, anyway, because if nothing else, it would just give more power to the black market, due to the high demand.
But I do support stricter regulations in porn, and believe that certain types of porn should be illegal. (Child porn already is, for example.)
Last edited:
Skwim
Veteran Member
Can you give examples of what sort of regulations you support and which other forms of porn you'd have banned?
"Open up it's the police"
-nervous- "Heh, come on in officer"
"Everything looks alright, you seem like a pretty handy gu- Wait a second! is that a porn magazine? You're going to jail!!"
-nervous- "Heh, come on in officer"
"Everything looks alright, you seem like a pretty handy gu- Wait a second! is that a porn magazine? You're going to jail!!"
NewGuyOnTheBlock
Cult Survivor/Fundamentalist Pentecostal Apostate
Okay, let's get something straight here, never did I mention Kiddie Porn, ever. The correlation between pornography and sexual assault did not mean kiddie porn. And the banning of kiddie porn was never even implied in my questions or discussions. This kind of porn is harmful to others and is thus illegal and should remain so and all of this goes without saying.
I will not defend my previous statements regarding a link between pornography and sexual violence, as after following the links thoughtfully provided then doing a little googling on my own, it appears that my information was out of date and possibly wrong to begin with.
Here is a link that shows that at one time, mostly in the 1980's, there was believed to have been a connection between pornography and sexual violence; so I didn't just pull this out of thin air:
http://www.aic.gov.au/media_library/publications/proceedings/20/goldsmith.pdf
Nonetheless, many current studies seem to be providing inconclusive or contradictory findings. So, without conclusive and consistent evidence, my point was invalid.
I will not defend my previous statements regarding a link between pornography and sexual violence, as after following the links thoughtfully provided then doing a little googling on my own, it appears that my information was out of date and possibly wrong to begin with.
Here is a link that shows that at one time, mostly in the 1980's, there was believed to have been a connection between pornography and sexual violence; so I didn't just pull this out of thin air:
http://www.aic.gov.au/media_library/publications/proceedings/20/goldsmith.pdf
Nonetheless, many current studies seem to be providing inconclusive or contradictory findings. So, without conclusive and consistent evidence, my point was invalid.
Fake casting couch porn comes to mind, any instance where any parties are not okay with what's happening, etc.
Enforcing the laws currently in place is difficult because of the cultural baggage surrounding the issue (good luck taking a problem to court), but that's where sex-positive education come in. But that part's more long-term.
Relax. I only brought it up as an example of currently-existing regulations. Other types of porn are also harmful, however, even though the persons being harmed are adults (either being cheated out of money or a job, having something done that wasn't agreed to, not triple-checking all participating parties for STIs, etc.)
Terrywoodenpic
Oldest Heretic
Pornography is closely connected with the criminal world. who for the most part have no reason to hide what they are doing from the authorities.
If it was criminalised and banned it would still continue but be pushed even further underground. and like prohibition would cause even more organised criminal activity.
Porn has been around since roman times, and beyond... it is not going to go away anytime soon, what ever we may think about it. Some countries in Europe regulate the sex trade quite successfully. And to some extent ensure that the workers have a chance to be protected and kept healthy. In most countries there is little to separate the sex trade in regard to prostitution or pornography.
If it was criminalised and banned it would still continue but be pushed even further underground. and like prohibition would cause even more organised criminal activity.
Porn has been around since roman times, and beyond... it is not going to go away anytime soon, what ever we may think about it. Some countries in Europe regulate the sex trade quite successfully. And to some extent ensure that the workers have a chance to be protected and kept healthy. In most countries there is little to separate the sex trade in regard to prostitution or pornography.
SkylarHunter
Active Member
I would love to see the end of pornography, drugs and junk food. We could replace them with spending quality time with family and friends, practice sports, and cook healthy meals. Imagine how much useful work could get done on this planet if people invested their time in their health and their communities.
Imagine how useless said work would be if all that people could invest in is health and community.
Kilgore Trout
Misanthropic Humanist
The urge to ban things is one of the most useless and counterproductive drives people have.