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The Forum > Article Comments > The perils of pornography > Comments

The perils of pornography : Comments

By Peter Sellick, published 18/7/2005

Peter Sellick discusses the values pornography can portray

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Nice piece. Sex sells, porn sells, and the media and telecommunications keep pushing it. I've done my own independent survey of sorts over the past few years and women seem to be into it more than men. I might add that the women I know are intelligent educated, classy, sexy and not addicted to porn. Have you noticed that more and more adult companies are headed up by women. Women know what women want, and it's more than just a quick *uck, on or off screen. Heck, I’ve even sold the adult channels, ‘Adults Only’ and ‘Night Moves’ via my involvement in the Australian subscription television industry and the biggest complaint was “not enough pink bits” and "too soft". There's more interesting reading about the porn industry at both the websites of The Australian (Optus SinTel’s) and Media Man Australia. The Eros Journal, put out by the Eros Association, should be compulsory reading for politicians and mainstream media types.
Sexy Sydney Regards
Posted by mediaman, Monday, 25 July 2005 3:42:08 PM
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Sells, we are unlikely to get agreement on this but hopefully we can have some fun anyway.

I'll make some kind of attempt to address the bits that seemed significant in your last post.

Firstly, I'm not convinced that the teachings of the Bible or church are telling me which way the grain runs (so to speak). True enough there are things in there which are usefull but overall I think we can do better. I have not studied other faiths enough to be as confident in my views in regard to alternative teachings but at the same time have not seen evidence to suggest that any have it nailed. Same for secular humanism, it's not there yet. The advantage being that secular belief structures can move on from what does not work rather than having to find dodge's to get around the absolute decree's of a god. There are thinsg to learn but I don't believe your faith can or should form the basis for my choices in life.

Secondly, science done right should be able to tell us more reliably is porn is good or bad for us than religion unless you are concerned about a god punishing you for being naughty. Studies which look at a range of factors can be fairly indicative. Science might struggle a bit on cause and effect (but I think that can be delt with to some extent), eg if timmah's assertion that porn users are social outcasts, dateless and suicidal were proven to be true then the question becomes are they like that because of using porn or do they use porn because it fills a need not being met elsewhere? I've asked similar questions myself about parts of the church. My concern is that all to often research about social issues gets done to suit desired outcomes rather than seeking truth.

R0bert
Posted by R0bert, Monday, 25 July 2005 6:10:44 PM
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RObert.
There is misunderstanding about what I mean by the connection between God and scripture. It is certainly not the case, as in Islam and Mormonism, that scripture is beamed down to earth from God. Rather, it is the case that Israel, for some reason, was the first nation to take its history seriously and reflect on it, incorporating it into history, legend and poetry. This engagement with history is the foundation for the religion of Israel and is quite different from the mythological basis for of religions. The second thing that is important is that the God of Israel was not ordinary theism. There were many safeguards against thinking of God in the usual religious categories. This is where those strange texts in the OT fit, where YHWE is the unnamable name, the one who will be who he will be. The God of Israel could not be placed into any known category, He could not be defined. This saved Israel from the deadening effect of ordinary theism. Our problem is that we inherit an idea of God in the mode of religion, that is theism but this is wide of the mark for both Israel and the church.

As for you assessment of the potency of the Christian story, it is easy for me on the inside to see how potent that is and hard for you on the outside, particularly with all of the nonsense that is written about Christianity. When I look around at the other isms, particularly the secular ones they seem pathetic, they explain nothing and leave us in the dead end of our selves. What I have been trying to do, and evoking much resistance, is to explain recent theological positions (that derive form old ones) so you might see how rich it is. Part of the problem is that it is just so unfashionable to be Christian because the fundamentalists have devalued the language by over inflating Christian claims. It is difficult to clear a space for reasonable discussion.
Posted by Sells, Monday, 25 July 2005 11:16:14 PM
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There seems to be some idea that Christianity is against the sensual. O course there are examples from the Puritans to Catholic hysteria about sex. However if you read the Song of Solomon you will find language that is erotic in the extreme. Israel rejoiced in the relations between men and women. If the NT is read without the old then it is possible, under the influence of the dualism of Hellenic culture to see a division between body and soul that denigrates the body. This has caused much damage because it is a deviation from the original understanding. If Israel can paint a word picture of the erotic then we can certainly enjoy the nude.

The church certainly has some things to say about sexual morality that many find offensive. It says that faithfulness is inextricably associated with sex. We may argue that since we have contraception this does not have to be the case and we can sleep with who we wish on no more than a whim. This is one of the great freedoms of modern life. But how many wish to exercise this freedom as a matter of course? Most people settle down to one partner and realize that infidelity is poison to that partnership. Screwing around is a symptom of a deeper problem for us. How do we comfort ourselves in a world shorn of the transcendent?

"Do we not smell God decaying? - Gods too decay! God is dead. God stays dead. And we have slain him. How shall we console ourselves, chief of all murderers. The holiest and the most powerful that the world has ever possessed has ebbed its blood away beneath our knives - who will wipe this blood from our fingers? What water can make us clean? What propitiations and sacred rites will we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we not ourselves become gods, in order to seem worthy of them? Nietzsche" “The Madman.”

How do we comfort ourselves in the face of this deed?
Posted by Sells, Monday, 25 July 2005 11:53:31 PM
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I'd like to know why religion is so FIXATED with the sex THINGY. It kind of takes the fun out of it and turns it into a turgid little piece of disgusting laundry that seems to give it a bad name. Religion is so uptight with sex outside of the married parent's procreating room -we'll all be horribly exploited, either as sex fiends or victims. A Slave to our Passions! Where's the healthy bits in between? Loosen up Sells! Sex is like driving a car. One should be responsible for one's driving, veer off when a dangerous driver crosses your path, respect the roundabout thingy, hit the brakes when you think it's neccessary and always figure you know more than the other idiots on the road. You can bang on about porn all you like, it's like bad drivers. Some people will never get it and should never get their licence, however, porn, like learning to drive, is a given coming of age without the necessary L plates for a lot. All we can do is watch the road. And shine our thigh high boots.
Posted by Di, Tuesday, 26 July 2005 8:42:44 PM
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Robert,
I’m not sure whether porn is a good thing, but from the physical aspect of the male body, ejaculation becomes necessary. The older the sperm, the less fertile it becomes, so the male body continuously and naturally produces new sperm. This means that the old sperm has to be released, which can occur through intercourse, wet dreams, masturbation etc.

There is now a dilemma in society, in that people are getting married latter, and divorce and separation is much more common. This means that there are more people living alone, and sexual intercourse occurs less frequently than normal or natural (and numerous studies have shown that both husbands and wives have better and more satisfactory sex lives than single people, despite the media which tries to portray the opposite).

So porn is likely to become more common, as a substitute for normal human sexual relations, and I think normal human sexual relations occur in monogamous relationships, as polygamous relationships become far too complicated, particularly if there are children involved.

Overall, I think the whole thing is not very healthy for society
Posted by Timkins, Wednesday, 27 July 2005 8:28:27 AM
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