Why is pornography bad?

[Father Heathen]

It depends on the nature of the particular pornography. A lot of it could be considered "bad" in the sense that it could be psychologically unhealthy, but not "bad" if all involved are consenting adults who are not victimizing or violating the rights of innocent people in the process.

 

[linwood]

I'm sure you have something of interest to say here, but I refuse to squint to see what it is.

I believe this is the latest theistic debate theory put forth by Ken Ham.

In addition to burying your opponent in reams of mystical documentation within which no rational evidence exists theists are now coached to post such documentation in the smallest possible text size to destroy the retina of the skeptic even before he discovers there isn`t any rational evidence within it.

Genius I say!!!

 

[Dezzie]

Who in their right mind would ever equate porn with love?

That isn`t the problem of porn, that is the problem of a deeply confused human.

If we could just get past equating sex with love this whole porn thing would blow over.



Sex does not equal love people.

I wasn't saying that porn equates to love. It's more of the way that porn makes sex look like. Sex should be between two people who love each other unconditionally. Porn does not show that. Porn shows sex being just for fun and nothing else. Porn is only for the pleasure... not the love. Technically, sex is there to make babies anyway. The reason why it feels good to us and not but a few other animals is unknown to me. This is the way I see it. People see things differently and I don't think porn spreads a decent "message".

 

[MysticSang'ha]

I wasn't saying that porn equates to love. It's more of the way that porn makes sex look like. Sex should be between two people who love each other unconditionally. Porn does not show that. Porn shows sex being just for fun and nothing else. Porn is only for the pleasure... not the love. Technically, sex is there to make babies anyway. The reason why it feels good to us and not but a few other animals is unknown to me. This is the way I see it. People see things differently and I don't think porn spreads a decent "message".

Well, not quite IMO.

Sex should be between consenting adults who are motivated by whatever floats their boat....love, stress relief, procreation, bonding, play, tantra, etc.

And technically, sex is for pleasure. Saying that it's for making babies "technically" could be seen as not just heterosexist, but not a whole lot of fun, either. What would the point of certain parts of foreplay be, then?

 

[Kilgore Trout]

I wasn't saying that porn equates to love. It's more of the way that porn makes sex look like. Sex should be between two people who love each other unconditionally.

This is so true. Well, except, for when sex should be between 8 men and a woman, or between a dwarf and 5 women.

 

[Dezzie]

And technically, sex is for pleasure. Saying that it's for making babies "technically" could be seen as not just heterosexist, but not a whole lot of fun, either. What would the point of certain parts of foreplay be, then?

Good point... thank you for adding that. You actually caught me being somewhat hypocritical. You are right... sex isn't all just for making babies. It's for the closeness between you and another person. Sex is spiritual but does porn show that? idk... IMO porn doesn't seem very spiritual... Lust is a good word to describe it but I don't have any proof to back up the claim that says lust is bad. It's just how I was brought up. Again... thank you for adding that... you are a very insightful person and I appreciate your point of views! :angel2:

 

[Dezzie]

This is so true. Well, except, for when sex should be between 8 men and a woman, or between a dwarf and 5 women.

Well... my goodness. :cover: But yeah... how do we know that sex is supposed to be between one man and one woman OR one man and another man, OR one woman and another woman? This is another comment that made me think. Thank you.

 

[MysticSang'ha]

Good point... thank you for adding that. You actually caught me being somewhat hypocritical. You are right... sex isn't all just for making babies. It's for the closeness between you and another person. Sex is spiritual but does porn show that? idk... IMO porn doesn't seem very spiritual... Lust is a good word to describe it but I don't have any proof to back up the claim that says lust is bad. It's just how I was brought up. Again... thank you for adding that... you are a very insightful person and I appreciate your point of views! :angel2:

What an incredibly gracious post! :flower:

I can agree that porn doesn't exemplify emotional intimacy. If that's what someone wishes to look for, porn isn't going to cut it. I only disagree with the idea that lust is necessarily a bad thing. Inherently, lust isn't bad or evil or depraved....but it is powerful. When it's misunderstood or feared, it's very easy to attach a label to it.

At any rate, porn has been considered bad because of how it's been politically and culturally attributed to the exploitation of women.

 

[Dezzie]

I just looked up why lust would be considered bad and found this answer: "Lust is okay if you know when to stop or were to draw the line."

After I read that proceeded to look up the word lust in the dictionary: "uncontrolled or illicit sexual desire or appetite; lecherousness."

IMHO, that's not a good thing. Lust is something that is supposedly uncontrollable. So... going back to the first part I posted, how can you draw a line to stop lust from happening if it is uncontrollable? A lot of websites also bring you to religion and what the word means in religion. You have such a hard time finding a Scientific viewpoint, it's ridiculous. The internet sees the word lust and goes, "Oh geez, that word associates with the Seven Deadly Sins... therefore it is associated with the Bible."

When you see what porn is... people have sex with different partners for money. They sell their bodies to be put on camera. I'm sure some of the people in the porn industry are lustful and can not control themselves... can I say that about all of them? I most certainly can not. I don't know where I am going with this post but... eh... whatever it is, hopefully it matters...

 

[Dezzie]

What an incredibly gracious post! :flower:

Thank you... I just try to make sure I don't ignore the facts that I can be wrong in some cases... I can't be hurt for being wrong!

I can agree that porn doesn't exemplify emotional intimacy. If that's what someone wishes to look for, porn isn't going to cut it. I only disagree with the idea that lust is necessarily a bad thing. Inherently, lust isn't bad or evil or depraved....but it is powerful. When it's misunderstood or feared, it's very easy to attach a label to it.

I definitely agree that lust is powerful... You can't look at lust the wrong way, nor should you get out of control with it. I think between the people you love, it's okay... but if you are just lusting over strangers, it's wrong. IMO of course...

At any rate, porn has been considered bad because of how it's been politically and culturally attributed to the exploitation of women.

I can see this as being a reason, most definitely.

 

[Willamena]

Why is pornography bad?

Usually because of the lighting and camera angles, but sometimes it's just the acting.

 

[linwood]

I wasn't saying that porn equates to love. It's more of the way that porn makes sex look like. Sex should be between two people who love each other unconditionally. Porn does not show that. Porn shows sex being just for fun and nothing else. Porn is only for the pleasure... not the love. Technically, sex is there to make babies anyway. The reason why it feels good to us and not but a few other animals is unknown to me. This is the way I see it. People see things differently and I don't think porn spreads a decent "message".

You`re doing it again.

Sex does not equate to love.

I have had sex with people I did not love and all turned out well.

I`ve loved people who I did not have sex with and everything turned out well.

This is the problem we`re talking about.

When people equate sex and love we get intolerant dogma concerning what we should and should not do with out bodies.

 

[linwood]

You are right... sex isn't all just for making babies. It's for the closeness between you and another person. Sex is spiritual but does porn show that?

Nope, sex isn`t spiritual.

It`s purely physical.

It can be a part of one`s spirituality but is not required.
Sex can and often is no more spiritual than a back rub..thank goodness.

Imposing the false standards and definitions you do on sexual activity creates harm.

Stop that!

 

[EnvisionsFutura]

The reason why I don't like Porn is because it gives a false impression on what love really is. Love between two people shouldn't just be for sexual pleasure. You don't see two people falling in love in a porno... you just see two (sometimes more) recieving that sexual pleasure with strangers.

and then the huge question of whether they are experiencing pleasure in the first place, because I don't think so. Its just two people going on like two cog pieces in a machine, unthinking, unfeeling. I want to see people enjoying the sexperience! I think that not enjoying it is a sin, if sin is anything at all worth avoiding.

 

[EnvisionsFutura]

Nope, sex isn`t spiritual.

It`s purely physical.

It can be a part of one`s spirituality but is not required.
Sex can and often is no more spiritual than a back rub..thank goodness.

Imposing the false standards and definitions you do on sexual activity creates harm.

Stop that!

You seem to be imposing your standards of sexuality, potentially false. Sexuality is an expression of body as well as the mind and soul! A big reason most people don't enjoy sex is because they aren't well spiritually or mentally and often times, if you look all around you a lot of people are suffering in healthy physically too. Sex and enjoying has to do with what you want, what you want to give, and having a healthy imagination among other things.

 

[linwood]

You seem to be imposing your standards of sexuality, potentially false. Sexuality is an expression of body as well as the mind and soul! A big reason most people don't enjoy sex is because they aren't well spiritually or mentally and often times, if you look all around you a lot of people are suffering in healthy physically too. Sex and enjoying has to do with what you want, what you want to give, and having a healthy imagination among other things.

I am the one imposing my standards of sexuality?

Sex is by it`s very definition a physical act.

One may attach any other baggage they wish to this act for their own personal pleasure or expediency but that does not change what the "physical" act of sex is.

I have had a lot of sex and the vast majority of it was neither spiritual or an expression of my "soul" whatever definition you attach to that term for expediencies sake as well.

Attaching such emotional dogma to what is entirely a physical act has caused most of not all of the problems that keep those people you mention who don`t enjoy sex from enjoying it in the first place.

Very circular argument there if you think about it.

Evidence for my point lies with our friends mistake of equating love with sex.
Without the dogma that sex is "spiritual" or only meant to be had if one is in "love" then the previous poster would not be having such difficulties.

 

[Skwim]

I am the one imposing my standards of sexuality?

Sex is by it`s very definition a physical act.

One may attach any other baggage they wish to this act for their own personal pleasure or expediency but that does not change what the "physical" act of sex is.

I have had a lot of sex and the vast majority of it was neither spiritual or an expression of my "soul" whatever definition you attach to that term for expediencies sake as well.

Attaching such emotional dogma to what is entirely a physical act has caused most of not all of the problems that keep those people you mention who don`t enjoy sex from enjoying it in the first place.

Very circular argument there if you think about it.

Evidence for my point lies with our friends mistake of equating love with sex.
Without the dogma that sex is "spiritual" or only meant to be had if one is in :love" then the previous poster would not be having such difficulties.

My impression has always been that those who invest sex acts with spiritual connotations and such are usually trying to cover up its raw physical nature with doilies and lace so as to make it more palatable. But to each his own. Need to feel like you're communing with a higher presence or getting in touch with some inner self to get your rocks off ? So be it.

 

[Venatoris]

and then the huge question of whether they are experiencing pleasure in the first place, because I don't think so. Its just two people going on like two cog pieces in a machine, unthinking, unfeeling. I want to see people enjoying the sexperience! I think that not enjoying it is a sin, if sin is anything at all worth avoiding.

Look up "beautiful agony" on google and tell me if those people are enjoying themselves.

It contains no nudity but is still considered pornography so for those who don't want to look it up for whatever reason, I'll summarize the content. All of the videos are focused on the face of one individual either masturbating or having sex. That's it. Facial expressions while experiencing sexual pleasure. I don't find it exploitative or demeaning to any of the people involved and it certainly isn't contributing to the demoralization of society but I'd be interested in what the rest of you think.

These videos are better than half of the blockbuster films I've seen in the last couple years so watch them, it may change some opinions about pornography or at least some generalizations about it.

Oh, I should mention that I heard about this from a friend a few months back and have since got four other friends hooked on it(2 of which are female). Be warned, probably the hottest thing I've ever seen and I've seen a fair variety of porn.

 

[The Neo Nerd]

If sex for any other reason than procreation is bad, then pornography MUST be bad, right? I mean, pronography isn't promoting procreation, is it?

I know watching porn with my girlfriends has lead to practising procreation.

One should be well practised if one wants to do it right.

 

[rusra02]

I believe this is the latest theistic debate theory put forth by Ken Ham.

In addition to burying your opponent in reams of mystical documentation within which no rational evidence exists theists are now coached to post such documentation in the smallest possible text size to destroy the retina of the skeptic even before he discovers there isn`t any rational evidence within it.

Genius I say!!!

Just for you, with apologies for the small type previously used. Enjoy (or not).

Bible principles make it clear that pornography is bad and unacceptable for those claiming to be Christian. “Deaden, therefore, your body members that are upon the earth as respects fornication, uncleanness, sexual appetite, hurtful desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” (Colossians 3:5)
The Bible is not speaking of marital intimacy and pleasure. It is referring to wrong desires for immoral conduct. Such unclean desires can cause one to make sexual gratification more important than all else; in effect, putting it ahead of family and God. One viewing pornography is certainly not deadening his body members toward immoral sexual conduct.

Ephesians 5:3,4 makes it clear that persons engaging in such conduct and refusing to change do not have God's favor. "Let fornication and uncleanness of every sort or greediness not even be mentioned among you, just as it befits holy people; neither shameful conduct nor foolish talking nor obscene jesting, things which are not becoming, but rather the giving of thanks. For you know this, recognizing it for yourselves, that no fornicator or unclean person or greedy person—which means being an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of the Christ and of God."

Following quote from ​

g03 7/22 pp. 6-7 "the National Foundation for Family Research and Education concluded that “exposure to pornography puts viewers at increased risk for developing sexually deviant tendencies.” According to the report, “the rape myth (belief that women cause and enjoy rape, and that rapists are normal) is very widespread in habitual male users of pornography.”
Some researchers say that the repeated use of pornography can interfere with the ability to enjoy and participate in normal marital intimacy. Dr. Victor Cline, a specialist in treating sex addiction, has noticed a recurring progression in the use of pornography. If left unchecked, what starts as casual viewing of pornography can eventually lead to an escalation to more hard-core, aberrant material. This, he claims, can lead to deviant sexual acts. Behavioral scientists agree. Dr. Cline reports that “any type of sexual deviation can be acquired in this way . . . and that it cannot be eliminated even by massive feelings of guilt.” Eventually, the viewer may try to act out the pornography-based, immoral fantasies, often with devastating results.
The course of this problem may be gradual and undetected, concluded Cline. He states: “Like a cancer, it keeps growing and spreading. It rarely ever reverses itself, and it is also very difficult to treat and heal. Denial on the part of the male addict and refusal to confront the problem are typical and predictable, and this almost always leads to marital or couple disharmony, sometimes divorce, and sometimes the breaking up of other intimate relationships.”​