To anyone who watches or has watched porn, this is the shame you must wear. It's not just a shame of porn being in our society, because it is something you take part in by supporting the industry watching it. It is personally owned by you by your willingness to watch it.

Those who watch porn or watched it in the past support and condone an industry that degrades all women.

Own that shame. It's yours and mine to bare. And if you can, never return to it. Step away from it and never search for porn again.

Dear NNS,

You sure are great for telling others what to do or what they should be ashamed of. I appreciate living in a fairly free society and am glad that neither you, Ezhil nor your like are in control.

It really seems tough to you that other people are not behaving as you would have them behave. I accept that you are free to believe in your silly superstition. You have that right. Unfortunately you are not willing to extend that tolerance to others.

In present day Saudi Arabia, the Dark Ages and in the US during Prohibition we have examples of what happens when your kind is in control. Ban women driving. Ban alcohol. Ban porn. Ban abortion. Ban people reading the Bible in the vernacular. Ban people thinking for themselves. Ban people doing what you don't want them to do. If there are enough of you we will return to the bad old days.

David f.

Don't be greedy and ignore the harms of porn just because you like it.

You keep trying to turn this conversation away from porn and towards religion. But I am telling you that religion isn't the issue. I have given you the issue, without any religious connection to it. Yet instead of facing any of it you try to change the subject. Tell me this. The porn you look at, is it degrading to women or not? The fantasy you like when you look at porn, can you honestly say you feel it is good?

I've had issues with porn so I know it's addictive nature. I also have come to acknowledge the fantasy of porn versus the reality in the news. Quite an eye opening reality check, when you see a similar situation you've viewed in porn being the news story of abuse in real life. Or hear about the expectations that women face in relationships. Things they don't want to do but feel like they are expected to do. Because of these things I try to turn over a new leaf. The more you know about porn the worse the reality of it that comes out. There is no good that comes from it.

Freedoms of society don't extend to actively harming others. In the same way that freedom of speech doesn't extend to slander or fraud; so also freedom of expression is no excuse for actively harming and degrading women. Porn does that.

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You say your glad I'm not in control of the government, or those like me either. Be careful not to turn this into a topic of personal attacks. Don't dismiss and ignore the points made about porn by trying to attack the people pointing out the harms of it. You say freedom of society, but what you really mean is that you like porn and support it. It has nothing to do with freedoms or harms. Otherwise you would be able to acknowledge the harms of porn as well.

There could be regulations in porn that are available to those in the industry to protect them, instead of abuses in the industry that ignore rules and regulations because no one else will hold them responsible. There could be regulations in the Internet sites so that porn couldn't come from another nation. That way you can be more confidant that the regulations in each country about porn can actively regulate it and can root out the instances of abuses as well as get rid of child porn and incest.

There are things that can be done, to reduce and punish the harms done in pornographic industries. But as you've said, you're happy with how things are. I'm glad you're not in charge of the government either, but I fear some like you are in charge.

Dear NNS,

I favor reducing the harm done by porn. I have acknowledged that porn, alcohol and other activities can be harmful and have also said that banning an activity because it is or can be harmful is incompatible with a free society. I feel consenting sex by adults with no money involved is no business of the government. However, I think there should be instruction in schools as to safer sex, easy availability of contraceptives and lessening the likelihood of unplanned pregnancies. Any business should be regulated as to fairness, safety and good treatment of employees. That applies whether the business is porn or the garment industry. I am bothered very much by the armament industry. The result of that industry creates international tensions and results in great suffering. That industry is far worse than anything derived from the exercise of human desires. When Turnbull expressed his wish that Australia be one of the top ten arms producers, that turned me off him. I regarded that as immoral. We both are concerned with what is moral and immoral even though we are not concerned with the same issues.

I feel that much of your attitude derives from your religion. We are not compartmented. One part of our being affects another part of our being. If you see that as a personal attack I am sorry, but that is the way it is. In our discussion we have revealed much of ourselves. I think I know where you are coming from, and I think you know where I am coming from.

I feel the concern you express for woman in porn is absolutely phony. A pregnant woman may want to terminate her pregnancy for what she may feel is a good reason. You would deny her that right as you would ban abortion in all cases. You don’t seem at all concerned about what a pregnant woman wants. I want fair treatment for men and women who make their living through porn and to preserve the right of a woman to have a legal abortion.

To David f.

If you say you're good with reducing the harms of porn then what are yours thoughts in the suggestions that were made earlier. There are harms, that much is true. Doing nothing and avoiding to take action is not someone who says they want to reduce the harms at all. There have been suggestions short of banning porn that you've ignored, and continue to avoid commenting on. I don't buy your support, especially since you've also acknowledged that there is harm and accepted it as the price to have and enjoy porn, as well as saying that you are happy with the amount of regulations in place right now.

The call for arms and the industries behind weapon making is a topic I would like to see some control on as well. However sidestepping the issues of porn to go to another issue does nothing except show you really care nothing for the harms done in any industry. Perhaps you can see the fault of the logic if the example isn't porn (which you enjoy and support). Why try to fix a neighborhood gang issue when there are international conflicts going on. Should a community care about the issues they have more control over and the harms done in their neighborhood, or should they focus their attention on matters they have less control over that are far worse? The logic you are showing here of sidestepping an issue that you can act on to reduce harm to focus half heartedly on an issue that there is less control to fix, or no follow through to fix, is logic that supports universal neglect through side stepping any issue because there are "greater problems out there."

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