Hey
I know this is a taboo subject but I would love for some insight.
Is pornography bad?
Is it a sin to watch/purchase/or masturbate to pornography?
I have always wondered what others thought about this question
Your thoughts Please
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Great subject! I find that people label as sin things they do not like to see other people do. I also find that people will not label as sin the things they themselves like to do. I have not seen where the bible says that looking at other people having sex is bad. What describes promescuity?
ReplyDeleteYeah, I certainly think that people should have this conversation more. Maybe some people can point out the scripture.
ReplyDeleteI know one thing is true....we need to have the conversation
I concede that the bible does not mention pornography explicitly. However, I'd refer to Matthew 5:27 which equates looking at a woman in lust to adultery. What is pornography if not a means to look at a person in a lustful manner. Then I would argue that 1 Corinthians 6:18 which states "Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body." and Colossians 3:5 that says "Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry." both point to these actions of viewing pornography and masturbation as sin since sexual lust is a factor of both. Masturbation is a manifestation of the lust of the flesh or self serving desire.
ReplyDelete1 Corinthians 6:18 (NIV "Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body."
ReplyDelete"When tempted, no one should say "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed" (James 1:13-14).
We have temptation so that we can resist and be pure in our minds, body and soul. Our sexual drives were meant to be shared in the intimacy of a relationship- preferably an already married couple. Porn and masturbation is temptation and the actions towards them a sin from ones body.
Two issues come to mind. The first being the injustice in the online porn industry. I read a few articles about it for a class on sexuality once and it made supporting the porn industry sound like buying blood diamonds.
ReplyDeleteAside from that I would imagine that Brian is correct in that it would be hard to imagine things going down without lust being involved.
I just got a new book in the mail for online review called 'wired for intimacy' that looks at how regular online porn viewing changes the male brain. If you are interested I can pass it along if you will blog about it!
Brian and Slgeterna64: I can certainly appreciate the conversation about lust and how a person should flee or avoid lust because the bible relates immorality to the things of the flesh.
ReplyDeleteIs it really that simple though? Can one truly say that this issue is as simple as fleeing?
It would seem that there is something more to this idea of mastubation and pornography. Many people faithfully support these actors and actresses. It is almost a relationship in itself. Some feel that it is more than lust.
What do you say to these people?
Furthermore, what about the married couples who enhance their intimate spaces with these stimuli?
Are they participating in sin too?
Tripp: I will certainly blog about how porn influences or even changes the male brain...that would be an interesting conversation.
ReplyDeleteI am also interested in the injustice piece that you mentioned.
Shall we commence the conversation. It seems like this conversation has layers that I have not considered
Charles: I see no simplicity in the matter. now i do feel the Bible is clear in stating that lustful desire is wrong. but to turn away from such desire is a hard struggle indeed. As far as die hard fans of porn or those who faithfully support actors/actresses of the industry...I argue the origin of the word fan...fanatic. these are people who are fanatically drawn to a genre of file that glorifies fornication. I would say to them 'What are you supporting exactly and if you see it as a relationship of sorts, how healthy is that relationship?'
ReplyDeleteI am not married so my input on that topic would be purely theoretical but I would ask: is fornication an acceptable means of stimulating a marriage relationship?
I certainly feel where you are coming from.
ReplyDeleteThe matter of healthy and unhealthy relationships is another conversation all together.
We can also theoretically consider the marriage question later also.
I don't know that the bible says that lust in itself is bad. I do know that the bible says that lusting after the wrong things is a challenge.
Lust is simply defined as a strong desire and you can strongly desire many things that are actually good.
Just some of my thoughts....i certainly appreciate the insight
I think we have to consider idolatry here. Sins, can easily become idols. When we replace the eternal Godhead with finite fixations, we are led further and further away from what we might call the "new brain" or the spirit and back to the "reptile brain" or the flesh. And, if God is very much concerned with people abiding in the spirit, we would do well to practice those things that keep us in the spirit and out of the reptile brain.
ReplyDeletei am going to be blogging very soon about how pornography changes the male brain...this will be very interesting...stay tuned
ReplyDeleteResearch the female brain, too.
ReplyDelete